LYNDSAY IN THE WORLD

6 Months of Being Back

2011-12-12T22:37:00.004-03:00

It seems like 6 months into my exchange was a lifetime ago, and now being back for 6 months I feel like life has fast-forwarded on me. What have I been up to since being back in Canada you may ask? Well, I spent my summer working up in northern Ontario, then after only two weeks at home I moved into University and have entered the world of constant stress.

Sometimes it's hard for me to understand and feel what is really "home" to me right now. I've only spent 4 weeks at "home" and in "my room", but now it doesn't really feel right. Is my dorm room my new home? Or is Chile my home? It's so hard to place myself now, with so many connections and memories, especially in Chile, it's so hard to let go.

Being a rebound is probably the hardest part of the exchange process. Honestly there isn't a day that goes by that I don't have a thought about Chile, my friends, and life there. It took me a while to stop crying on a daily basis, but in truth it still happens a lot. Yeah we all need to move-on in life but there's still a big part of my heart and soul in Chile. There's also the difficulty of not annoying or boring people with your stories although you can't help it when they just slip-out.

I know it seems silly (especially because I live with 11 people) but sometimes I feel so isolated and lonely. The people who I have confided in the most are so far away from me, and when I'm feeling homesick for Chile who really wants to hear about it? I truly believe that some of my best friends who I could absolutely be myself around are still in Chile, and there is little chance for me to see them anytime soon. Hopelessness and lack of motivation are also taking a toll on me. Yeah, so I'm in university, "a time to discover who you are", I've already been there, done that, but without the educational discipline.

I never wanted to loose that spark that I had while on exchange, so livid and ready to learn and explore. But in reality I may have fallen into a rut, I feel stuck, and it's not the first time. I think most rebounds experience this feeling, whether it be a short occurrence or an ongoing battle of trying to fit back in. We've experienced and lived through so much at a young age, and then we come back to our homeland and realize that nothing has really changed, life is going on like you had planned before you went abroad.

A month ago I had started to think about this whole grand-inspiring blog post about being back for six months and what I have experienced, but here I am rambling on about how sad I am - poor ex-exchange student who got to live in a foreign country and is now in reality wah wah wah. Heck, I doubt anyone will even read this post now that I have no funny and exciting stories to share.

Anyways I thought I would give and update into the on-going life of an exchange student - now a rebound. If there are future or current exchange students who happen to be reading this don't be discouraged, all of the emotions of the pre, during, and after exchange will all be worth it one day.

As for me right now I'm concentrated on trying to survive and pass first-year university, enjoy the winter and snow that have been absent from my life for almost 2 years. and maybe plan a foreign travel in the near-ish future. On wednesday I'll be presenting my Rotary presentation about my exchange - let's all hope that I don't cry during the middle of it!

On a side note Rotary District 7080 is facing a serious dilemma, the future of Youth Exchange in district 7080 is at risk. Due to a decrease of volunteer host-families, the district will be unable to host many students and in return will be sending out less students, or even have to shutdown the program. If you have never thought about being a host-family before it's not to late to have a great experience wherever you may be. Just a friendly reminder to open your home to a friendly exchange student!

With that I will leave you with a video that I had put together a while ago with a bunch of photos from a boat-ride on my Patagonia trip!

Well... I'm back

2011-06-18T15:50:00.007-04:00

Here I am, sitting in my own room in my small town, looking out my window into my court where the lawns are green, there's no fences or gates around the houses, we leave our cars and front doors unlocked and the humid summer air is making me sweat when I'm doing nothing. I've been driving by myself again, ordering food in english, paying for things with Canadian currency, running into old neighbours, seeing friends again, biking in the country were everything is green and the houses are pretty and perfect... so far away from everything I used to know and was living these past 10 months.

My last two weeks in Chile were constant non-stop days. I was out everyday doing something, last minute shopping, spending time with friends and partying for my last time. By the end of my second last week I thought I was ready to go home, I felt satisfied and the idea of leaving seemed really nice. But by my last week in Chile I did not want to leave at all. By the time you can count down the days in single-digits things really start to hit you that the time is coming to an end. I had my despedida on Saturday night and some of my friends and I went out to a disco for the night. I finally got to my house at noon the next day after only sleeping 4 hours and then had to finish up my packing. My best Chilean girlfriend came over as I was packing and also gave me some last minute gifts that really mean a lot, especially the letter she wrote and we both started to cry after I read it. We then had our last family lunch together (I'm going to miss my host-dads weekend cooking), and then I had to say my goodbye's to my Grandma and host-brother who weren't coming to the airport. The whole way to the airport Cony (my Chilean friend) and I didn't even talk, or couldn't. All we could do was look out the window and hold back our tears as best we could. But I couldn't hold back that well as this was the last time I was going to be able to see these streets and places that had become so familiar to me.

We arrived at the airport and already some of my friends had been there waiting. Finally checked my baggage (two overweight bags and having to leave my guitar behind) and then had all the final goodbye's. This day was one of the hardest days in my life. I was an emotional wreck and it was impossible to fight my tears. I couldn't stop hugging all my friends, there never felt like there was enough hugging and talking to fill that gap that I knew I was going to have once I stepped through security and left my Chilean life behind. I had become so attached to the country, the people, and my life there. Why was I leaving all of this and going back to Canada where I knew nothing had changed... was I leaving to early? Saying goodbye to some of my best friends in the world was horrible. Luckily I wasn't travelling alone, I was with my best friend from exchange Emily from Toronto. We only met each other here in Chile and it's crazy to imagine our exchanges without each other. They would not be the same and we would not be the same. We had become like sisters, or more like twins, and we've gone through this whole year together and have some of the best and craziest memories together. So we went through security together crying and shaking and almost having a mishap of Emily not being able to leave the country since she's 17. We finally got to our plane and the tears where still coming. The take-off and landing were really hard because it officially symbolized "the end" of exchange.

My exchange has been filled with new opportunities, adventure, hard times, amazing times, love, loss, self-building, new experiences, sadness, happiness, and so many other things. I have truly grown as a person and I think some people might be surprised by it. I still don't know if I've changed drastically or just little parts of me, but I feel like I'm more myself now, and I'm really content with it. Exchange was the best impulse-decision of my life, I literally had never thought about taking a gap year before university until I heard that one announcement on the morning announcements my grade 12 year.

The reverse culture-shock is real, I feel like I'm just on vacation visiting and will go back to Chile soon. But that's obviously not a reality. It's really hard to realize that I can't be in Chile anymore, I honestly want to be there right now instead of Canada. But that's how life goes, and it's on to the next chapter of my life.

As for life now I'm at home waiting for family friends to come over for my step-dad's birthday, a regular weekend where my family loves to entertain and cook. Luckily I was able to go to Emily's house last night and we spent time talking on her roof about exchange and life, and how we've been dealing with being home. Only the other exchange students truly "get it". Next weekend I'm leaving to go live and work up in northern Ontario in Killarney Provincial Park for two months and won't be home until the end of the summer. I'm not so worried about leaving my Canadian family and friends, it's the worry of how will I still be able to contact my Chileans, we're already a hemisphere away...

Daniel after his "birthday" with all his Canadian loot (his birthday is July 8 so we celebrated in June!)

Family dinner at Los Buenos Muchachos

Me and my girl Cony my last night

Last hours at home

First host-parents on the left, second on the right

Nicole, Cony and Daniel

My Grandma is the best

Maybe I'll keep writing in my blog, most likely random reflections or stories from my year

TE AMO CHILE ♥
Los amo mis amigos chilenos y los intercambistas
Nunca los olvidaré
Ustedes son los mejores del mundo, de verdad!

2 weeks

2011-05-29T22:04:00.009-04:00

Wow - I just looked back on my post that I wrote when I had only been in Chile for 2 weeks and here I am... with only 2 weeks left in my exchange. I know I say this a lot but really my exchange went by way to fast. Re-looking at some of my first photos here in Chile I see and know that there has been such a big change since those first few days, weeks, months here. Especially looking at photos of the kids in my class. When I first took those photos with them I had no clue who they were, what their personalities were like, what their life was like. But now they're my family who I unfortunately have to say hasta luego to in a short time.

I've made some of my best friends here, and in such a short span of time we've become so close. I have my best Chilean amigo, amiga, and gringa... they all know who they are, and I couldn't imagine my time here without them. It' amazing how you can travel so far away from your homeland and find people who feel like you've known them all your life. People who you tell them things you may have never told your best friends back home. It's things like this that make it seem impossible to get on that plane back home.

It's only 14 days until I'm on that plane and I'm already starting to turn into an emotional wreck. Sometimes I feel like I could cry instantly - it's the mix of being so excited to go home and see my family, friends, and my familiar world... and then the unimaginable reality that I will no longer be in Chile and never sure of when I can come back. Sometimes exchange feels to unfair in that aspect... I've finally made my life here and your telling me I have to leave?!

As for life lately I've been trying to keep busy busy! On friday I had my last day of school. The night before I had made a cake (delicious Lyndsay-style) for my class. The day was actually quite boring as my classmates had to actually work in their classes. But I was able to get one of my uniform shirts signed by mostly everyone while I was anxiously awaiting to do my Rotary presentation for my class - but I never ended up doing it! For our last class of the day they had organized a goodbye party and ordered sushi and pizza for everyone! After devouring our food and my cake I made a little speech/nervous blab about how much I love my class and that I'll miss them - which is the truth! They've really become my family here, and I can't thank them enough.

Friday night was the birthday party of one of my good exchange friends. A lot of the exchange students came and we made the most out of night dancing and laughing until the sun rose. Unfortunately it was also the last time that us Santiago kids would have the opportunity to see the exchange students who live further south like Curico and Talca. So early in the morning with 3 hours of sleep we had to say our goodbye's and part our ways. The goodbye's don't seem real, I don't know if they ever will. Then on Saturday night I went out with my Chilean friends to celebrate the 18th birthday of one of my friends. It's going to be hard going home and not being able to go and dance in a club, it's so normal now, but the music wouldn't be as good anyways! Oh course my Sunday I'm dead from little sleep but I'm trying to make the most out of the little time I have left, spending one weekend night with exchange students and the other with my Chileans.

a mix of Canada, USA, France and Germany!

So that's where I am, not quite sure what I'll do in my next two weeks but hopefully exploring parts of Santiago, last shopping trips, and hopefully if we get some rain/snow I'll have the chance to go skiing (but that's a big hopefully).

Beavertale Round 3

2011-05-23T19:15:00.003-04:00

Third and final Rotary Beavertale...
_______________________________________

298 days, 18 hours, and 40 minutes. From the time I boarded my plane in Canada until I will board my plane here in Chile to head back to my familiar world. But somewhere in those 298 days this country has become so familiar to me now; the places, the people, the language, the food, the streets, my life. When you start out your exchange you never really think of it coming to an end. Being put into a foreign land not knowing anything, to speaking the language and having friends that feel like you’ve had forever, how can this come to an end? My last months here have passed by so fast and have been the best months of my exchange. Its heart wrenching to know that I only have one more month left of this life, but I have so many memories and stories that I will be able to carry on with me for forever.

March started off with my second Rotary trip, this time to the North of Chile. The first couple of days we spent up in La Serena and Valle de Elqui which are only about 7 hours north of Santiago. One night we stayed in the Valley at an accommodation with an observatory. I’ve already seen the amazing stars in Chile but the sky was fully illuminated with no moon, the Milky Way galaxy visible, planet Saturn evident through the telescope, and the mountains of the valley framed the sky as if you were staring straight up into a glorious painting. For the whole trip we travelled by bus and had two nights onboard. After our first night onboard we woke-up to a drastic change of scenery. We stopped in Antofagasta and saw la mano de Dios (hand of God), and then straddled the Tropic of Capricorn while we continued on towards San Pedro de Atacama in the Atacama Desert. When we went on a horseback ride in San Pedro I was amazed to see all the mountains and volcanoes in the distance; I didn’t expect to see so many volcanoes. During our days spent in San Pedro de Atacama we went to the Salar de Atacama (a salt field) with flamingos, Valle de la Muerte, and Valle de la Luna where it literally looked like you could have been on the moon! The next morning we woke-up at 4:30 am to take a long and bumpy bus ride up to the Geysers del Tatio (4,320 meters above sea level). On our way back down we stopped in a few small villages where we sampled llama meat and were attacked by locals with water balloons! We then travelled to our last city, Arica, which is at the very north of Chile boarding Peru. After a day of travelling up 4,500 meters to a volcano we received news of the earthquake that hit Japan and that the coast of Chile was under a tsunami warning – and we were right on the coast! Luckily nothing happened to Chile other than a few big waves although we were ready to evacuate if needed. It’s safe to say we clocked-in quite a few kilometres in those 10 days!

March brought the reality of back to school and all the joys of the Chilean school system. I was a little worried of going back into school as I wasn’t sure how far I had progressed with my Spanish and hadn’t seen many of my school friends over the summer. But the truth is this year has been so much better! I’m able to follow along in class, understand my friends’ conversations and hearing the many “Lyndsay, hablas español!!” at the start really made me feel comfortable again. I feel like I talk the most fluent and most comfortably with my school friends. I think it’s because I’ve known them since my first week here and that I’ve grown to feel as if I’ve always been in that class. The school days are still long but now being in 4° Medio we get to leave a bit earlier as most of my classmates are in Preuniversitario (Pre-university). My poor classmates have to attend school for the regular hours and then go to their Preuniversitarios after for a few hours where they study intensively for the PSU test (Chilean SAT) in November that will determine which university they will attend next year.

I’ve also been filling in some of my free-time now after school by joining a university field hockey team here in Santiago. By chance, and my host-mom asking if I could practice with them for a few minutes, the coach invited me to join the team! I’m training with the field hockey team from the Universidad Diego Portales. I’m not able to play in the actual games since I’m not registered as a student. But it’s been great finally playing a sport again that I love and hanging out with my new group of field hockey friends. I mean, one day for practice we had a kung-fu class – now that was interesting!

In April came another holiday – Pascua/Easter. My family and I left on Good Friday to go to the campo with my host-dad’s family. Out of all the un-rainy days there are in central-Chile it seemed to just pour down as we were driving. We arrived to a lot of mud and cooler than normal temperatures. We spent our days baking calzones rotos (literal translation – torn underwear) which are small fried dough pastries, and three kinds of mouth-watering empanadas! The older cousins and I even went out to a disco one night – I didn’t believe my cousin at first when she said there was one out there! It was such a weird feeling having Easter in autumn. When it warmed-up it felt as if it could be warm Thanksgiving Day instead of a crisp spring Easter day. My season senses have been so mixed-up this year.

Lorana! In May I had the most amazing opportunity to travel to Easter Island/Isla de Pascua/Rapa Nui on my final Rotary trip! I fell in love with the island and everything about it. We flew almost 4,000 kilometres into the middle of the Pacific Ocean and we arrived on the small, humid, and magical island of Rapa Nui. The sky was a brilliant blue, the many green covered volcanoes were so vivid, and the air was as clean as could be. We visited many places to look at the Moais (the famous rock statues on the island), learned about the culture and traditions, and even took a horseback ride up to the highest point on the island. Up there you could see the tiny island below you, and in the distance, for 360°, was pure ocean. No land in sight for miles! It was such a cool experience to know how far away and secluded you are from everything else that you know in the world. We also experienced some of the most bi-polar weather on the island. One minute it would be sunny with barely a cloud in the sky and then it would be pouring rain on you the next. We experienced the change in weather as we were hiking up to a crater. Of course we weren’t expecting the rain, and then suddenly we were poured on. After it had stopped, and we were on our way down again, the rain came harder than before and a river appeared on our path where there wasn’t one before! This was one of the funniest memories: A whole bunch of foreign kids having fun in the rain as we were all slipping and sliding in the mud, soaking wet. The whole feel to the trip was so relaxed – a true island vibe. But the best part of it was being with some of the best people ever, the exchange students!

My exchange has been a constant up and down ride the entire year. I’ve felt so many emotions in such a short period of time and yet I’ve grown so much from it. From having my highest of highs, to my lowest of lows, exchange and Chile have truly shaped me into the person that I have become today. But it’s not only the experiences and life lessons that shape you it’s also the amazing people and friends who have come into your life along the way.

My exchange student family - It’s so strange to look-back on our very first day-trip together where we were all new “doe-eyed” exchange students in this foreign land called Chile. But now we call this country home. We know how to get around it better than some locals, we now speak the language, we know where to go to carretear, we are always there when another exchange student needs help or someone to hangout with, and most importantly we’ve found a place to call home and a new family from all over the world! I’ve made some of the best memories during my time here with my exchange friends. Even though we come from so many countries, different walks of life, and are all our individual persons, we have an unbreakable bond as exchange students. I will never forget the incredible people who I have shared my year with, and the most hilarious and special moments we’ve had together!

Mis amigos chilenos – the people who have gone through my exchange with me from the start to the finish. They’ve seen me at my worst when I arrived not able to say a word, to now at my hilarious attempt to be as Chilean as I can be! From going on our class trip to the south and Argentina to celebrating everyone’s 18th birthdays, I am truly going to miss my Chilean friends and class. Some days I feel like I’ve known them forever, especially my group of close friends that I’ve made. It seems so surreal that in a month I won’t be able to greet them with a kiss every morning, hear about the latest news in their lives, or dance, sing, and laugh like the crazy people that we are! But I know I’ll always be a part of my class as their Gringa, la Lyndsay.

With only four weeks left it’s hard to imagine how fast my exchange has gone by. I’ve learned so much and have grown a lot as a person in just these short 10 months. I’m not sure who I’ll be when I return back home or if a difference will even been seen by my family. But I’ve experienced so many things in just a short period of time. My exchange has been the best, worst, happiest, loneliest, most exciting, most difficult, most interesting, and life building year of my life. I see beauty in this life and country everyday – I wouldn’t trade my exchange for anything!

Thank you to everyone who has made this amazing year happen for me. To my supportive family in Canada, the Rotarians of District 7080, and my Chilean family and friends you have all made a difference in one girl’s life.

Un beso,

Lyndsay

Isla de Pascua Photos

2011-05-14T12:12:00.007-04:00

Half carved out Moai

After our soaking wet trek back down the hill

Roomies!

O Canada!

7 Moai facing the ocean

They painted all of our faces with tribal designs

The top of the island

Our friend/bus driver Jimmy!

Easter Island/Isla de Pascua/Rapa Nui

2011-05-13T20:02:00.005-04:00

In whichever language you prefer this island has captured my heart.

We stepped off the plane on the 4th of May to a humid but yet clean-air filled island. I'm not accustomed to humidity anymore so it was such a shocker at first. We picked-up up bags in an airport that could be described as an shoe box and then were greeted with beautiful tropical flower necklaces. We then headed to our hotel (finally only one hotel for the whole trip), where Rotary was really nice and allowed us to choose our own rooms - a room with 6 other of my good friends... needless to say we had the best/party room!

On our first full day of the trip we went to go Moai-spotting (Moai are the rock figures that Easter Island is known for). At our second location we were already starting to witness the bi-polar weather the island had to offer -rain, sun, rain, sun. As we were starting our small hike up to see a lagoon we got rained on hard. People were slipping, falling, getting muddy and wet. By the time we made it up it had stopped raining. But on our way back down we got poured on! A river appeared where there had not been a river before... and everyone was absolutely drenched after! I really enjoyed being soaked like that, the weather never bothered me on the island because it was warm enough and the whole atmosphere just made it fun! As we were driving to another spot we drove into rain, but it was only raining on one side of the bus and not the other! We then saw the most famous 15 Moai altogether, before it started to rain again and I ran with my camera to the bus. After we went to "el ombligo" (belly button) which is a magnetic rock, or something - when you put a compass over the middle it just spins in circles... how the Rapa Nui figured out this special spot or rock is such a mystery! After being soaked all day long we went to the sand beach on the island. The water was warm and clear, the sand was white, and there were palm trees and Moai in eyesight - such a relaxing place!

On Friday we drove-up to the Rano Kau volcano crater which was so beautiful. Again as we were walking around the crater we were rained on. But not before I was able to pick and eat a natural growing guava fruit! Also on this part of the island is a smaller island where there used to be a competition for the ruler of the island way way back in the day. I won't go into the story but it ends with the first man to swim to a small island with an egg. After lunch we went to a Jardin Infital (preschool) to play with young kids and give them balloons and snacks.

Saturday we saw things like where the buns for the moai came from (the special rock), a naturally made lava cave where there's a banana plantation, and the 7 Moai that face outwards to the ocean - all others face inland. In our free time around the small town we were picked up by our friend/bus driver in his "off-duty" truck. Driving around the island in the back of a pick-up truck, waving the the cops,waving to our Rotarians, a bunch of exchange students just singing and taking in the wind... uhh island life!

Sunday we took a 3-4 hour horseback ride up to the highest point on the island. After a very slow start with my horse we were finally able to jog and gallop with our horses out in the open rolling hills. Everything was so stunning, there's just so much greenery and untouched land on the island. At the very top of the highest volcano all you could see for 360 degrees was the ocean. Below you was the entire small island and then in the distance was just ocean, ocean and ocean! Not one spec of land in sight - you were truly far away from everything and everyone! We then finished our trip by spending the rest of the day at the beach again swimming, working on getting a tan, playing soccer/water sports, and the trip-ly cheerleading photo.

This trip was the most amazing trip I've been on, and especially out of the Rotary trips that I've gone on here. The Rotarians gave us full respect, trust, and privacy - actually treating us as real people which really improved the whole mood to the trip and actually being interested to talking with us.

Personally I think the most beautiful place in Chile is Patagonia but Easter Island had such a simple beauty to it. The endless number of green covered volcanoes and hills, the black volcanic rock at the shores, the bright blue sky, clear Pacific waters, the beautiful tropical flowers, the mystical and interesting Moai, and the overall island feel. I truly love the island, it was actually a little hard to leave as I jokingly (but I would have) ran back towards the airport away from the plane. It was for sure a trip of a life time and I would return back there in a heartbeat!

Lorana!

41 days...

2011-05-02T21:44:00.004-03:00

It's official, I now know when I'll be heading back to to the Great-White North, and it's coming faster than I want it to. I'll be leaving Chile on June 12th and arriving in Toronto on June 13th bright and early. That only gives me six more weeks in this beautiful country... not enough time, not enough.

These last two months especially I've really felt at home here. Like I've really fit in, and found my place here in this big city. I've also gotten so much closer with my Chilean friends which was a huge challenge in the beginning, but now I don't know how I can leave them now. There are going to be a lot of difficult goodbye's coming at me soon. As much as I don't like going to school I love the time that I have with my classmates. Even if I'm sitting with people and not talking, just listening I enjoy every minute of it and the atmosphere that I'm surrounded in - even though my school looks quite feo.

There's so much that I'll know that I will miss about living here. But there's also that feeling inside of me that knows, "Yep... I could go back home now." Sometimes I feel like I've exhausted this city, gone so many places, made a lot of memories, met a lot of people, and so much more. You can only live in the dream-world of exchange for so long, and then it's back to reality. But don't get me wrong, I am truly excited to see my family, friends, house, eat my favourite foods, drive, have my own family rules, and have my small-town life again.

But while I'm reflecting on the little time I have left here I'm also gearing up to head to Easter Island/Isla de Pascua/Rapa Nui on Wednesday on my third and final Rotary trip! Also tomorrow I'll be meeting two girls at the airport, who were my bosses when I did Ontario Rangers and now we'll be co-workers this summer, as their traveling and volunteering here. Maybe I'll be lucky and do the "Santiago tour" once again - hmmmm 4 times now??

And on a side note - finally I'm 18 and can vote in elections, but yet I miss the Federal Election!

Photos from the past week's birthday activities of Cony and David

Chilean School System

2011-04-27T20:48:00.000-03:00

The one thing is Chile that continues to frustrate me! The Chilean school system is so different from Canada I don't know if I could ever understand it or will ever agree with it. But that's just cultural difference.
I'll give you a break down:

Colegio (College)
From Pre-Kinder to 4 Medio (Pre-Kindergarten - grade 12). You're in the same curso (class) for every class with the same kids. In the older grades you have some elective class, whether you choose to go into the Science/math stream or the humanities where you just have extra classes of the same subject on top of the standard class (ex. extra chemistry class). There aren't elective classes to specialize in something you enjoy/want to pursue in the future. Also all classes are at the same level, no College/University difference.

Colegio's are either public, private, or a mix. The schools differ a lot, especially seing and hearing about every exchange students school, it's interesting so see what social-class everyone is in. So you have to pay for your child to have a decent basic education.

Classes in colegio can be utterly craziness at times! There have been so many moments in which the idea of the teacher is the room was pointless. From my experience the teachers don't seem to have lesson plans most of the time, I don't know how some of the kids can learn if no material is given in class. Also I've noticed that some kids buy extra textbooks to learn from (ex. my biology elective class). The respect-level for the teachers are almost non-existent at times when kids talk over the teacher and do their own thing whether answering their cell phones, painting nails, putting stickers all over the room (I'm guilty!), or whatever!

The PSU
The big dreaded PSU... the Chilean version of the USA's SAT test. This standardized test focuses on Language and Math. This is the biggest thing is a Chilean teenagers life, especially in 4 Medio. The score on the PSU determines what University one can get into, especially if they want to go to the good, less-expensive public Universities. They have PSU practice tests in colegio (once I had to do... the second time I didn't bother!) and there's so much pressure to constantly study, which brings me to the next stage...

Preuniversitario (Pre-University)
I loath these institutions this year as they have stolen all of my friends! In order to get a "better score" on the PSU most of the 4 Medio population attend preuniversitarios. On-top of a school day from 8 am - 3 pm the students go to another 2-3 hours of extra classes focusing on the PSU subjects and don't get home until 7 pm or so. Again you have to pay extra for these institutions so not every family can afford it, and they run from April-December when the PSU is. My opinion is that honestly it's quite silly to have these institutions when your still studying and learning in school, why not just learn there!

La U - Universidad (University)
There are two types of Universities - Public (Universidad de Chile, U de Catolica, U de Santiago, etc.) or Private. In order to get into a Public university you need to have a high score on the PSU, but to get into a Private university money is more of a factor. Student Residences and what Canadians would call "University-life" don't exist. They have sports teams but there's no student clubs or culture outside of classes. I've never been to a University class but I have heard they're much like colegio (but more organized), no grand lecture halls that you would find in Canada. The students seem to be at school all day as well, no only 2 hours of class a day.

Overall I'm still not a fan of the Chilean school system, I'm pretty happy to have the opportunity of a Canadian education and am actually quite excited to finally getting out of "high school" and into University this fall!

Hockey de pasto... mi vida ocupada!

2011-04-15T21:03:00.008-03:00

That's what my life finally seems to be! After receiving news that I gotten a job back in Canada that I really wanted for the summer I have been coming to the conclusion that my exchange is almost over! I think I know when I'll be arriving back in Canada and that means I have just under 2 months left here! Already a month has passed by since my North trip... these next 2 will absolutely FLY by! It's a little sad to think that I'm cutting my exchange a month short and coming back in June, (even though my visa is good until August Rotary wants us gone by mid-July.) But spending 2 weeks back home then heading off into the wilderness for 2 months in the summer I think I won't be as occupied in the state of "darn it... I'm back in my small town and not in Chile."

Back to feeling busy... field hockey has started to take over my free time here! This past week I had a scrimmage on Monday, practice Tuesday, rest day Wednesday, and a practice/game Thursday. Although I did find out I can't play in real games with the team - a little thing about not actually being a student in the university! So my day usually looks like this:

Wake-up at 6 am, go to school
Get out of school at 3:30-4:15 and take the metro home (40 minutes or so)
Change and have an hour or so in my house
Take the 1 hour trip by metro and bus to the stadium that we practice/play in
Practice
Return home around 10-11 pm depending on if my host-brother is also playing soccer

So needles to say I'm dead by Friday night... I wish I could just to to bed early on a regular basis sometimes - but that's not my Chilean life in any aspects!

Even trying to find a night to have dinner with friends seems to be a challenge with conflicting schedules! But it's nice to finally have my life be busy. I wish I could take the few lonely and not so busy first months and use them now - but that's the life of exchange. It's what your dealt with and how you deal... I've just come into full swing of my exchange in my last couple of months.

I can already tell that the tone and sound of this entry will sound weird, I've been typing spanish words and then deleting them, and also talking to friends in spanish then writing my blog in english... the brain can only handle so much!

Here's some pictures from the last "photo shoot" in school when I brought my camera

The girls

In the "Jardin de Eva"

Yo ♥ Santiago

I dyed my hair brown... ha ha as if!

4 Medio!

A photo from when a bunch of the exchange students stood outside La Moneda (Government Palace) for the anniversary of Rotary - you can spot me with the only red blazer!

Field hockey, Kanye West and a 5,3

2011-04-04T19:40:00.009-03:00

Well the title sure sums up my last week... you may think all these things are quite random but sometimes thats how my life feels here - a mix of everything!

A couple of weeks ago I went to the gym with my host-Mama and older brother (he was in the USA for exchange but came home in March when I got home from my North trip!) Our gym is in one of the "stadios" (stadiums) because my host-Papa plays soccer there. Anyways as we were leaving and walking towards the car we spotted girls playing field hockey. I got instantly excited and blurted out how much I love field hockey and miss playing it. So my host-Mama walks to the field and asks the coach if I could join in and play with them, and the coach said yes! So I had a few minutes playing and then as I started to leave one of the girls asked if I wanted to come back next week as they train Tuesdays and Thursdays - oh course! Unluckly for me the week after was when I got sick so I couldn't go. But this past Tuesday and Thursday I went to both of the practices and they've been kicking my butt! The majority of the practices have been running and conditioning exercises... which haven't been in my daily schedule for a loooong time! But being able to play a sport again feels so good, and the girls on the team are all so nice! So I'm technically playing for the Universidad Diego Portales even though I'm not a student and I'm still not sure how many games we'll end up playing.

Kanye West - oh how a talented performer you are! Yesterday I went to Lollapalooza (a music festival - first time ever in Chile) with a group of the exchange students. We saw bands such as 311, Sublime, 30 Seconds to Mars and Kanye West! We waited at least 1.5 hours pushed up against the fence of the stage sweating and being smushed with thousands of people! But it was so worth it! The show was fantastic and we were only a few feet away... AMAZING MEMORY! I can now say I survived my first South American concert!

The boys rocking out

Waiting for Kanye...

Just sayin'... zero zoom

5,3 out of 7... that was my mark on my english test that I just took in school! I'll just leave it at that... and the fact that I am not looking forward to writing essays in University when I get home!

Chilean clinics are fast

2011-03-25T23:13:00.003-03:00

On Monday I woke-up with a sore throat, made it through my day at school although feeling quite sick on the way home in metro - just thinking it was because I was wearing my gym uniform (sweatpants) when it was still a good 30 C out. On Tuesday morning I woke-up almost unable to breathe as my throat was so swollen and hurt so bad. In tears I finally got out of bed to tell my host-parents that I couldn't breathe, host-dad replies "Sooo... your not going to school?" - typical parents! My host-Mama had decided that I should go to the hospital to get checked out as I had a high fever. I've always been worried about going and getting medical help in Chile - I know their a really developed country but still... anyways I was thankful for any help at this time! The clinic we went to was nicer than any Canadian hospital I've been in and we got into a room and saw a doctor right away - but you do need to have money to pay for these great services. I ended up being diagnosed with tonsillitis... that would explain the burning throat sensation, why haven't had had these suckers taken out before?!

With a shot of penicillin and two attempts *ouch* of getting an IV into me (first IV ever, not a big fan of needles or seeing my own blood) I was getting healthier by the minute! I feel asleep while I was waiting for my IV to finish and when I woke-up one of my Tias (aunts) was there. I seriously love how my family is always there to help each other out, and since my parents had to obviously go to work. After getting wheeled to another room my aunt was there trying to talk to me, but it was so hard with such a fiver and drowsiness of the drugs to stay awake. Finally after a few hours I was finally done with my IV and honestly felt a heck of a lot better than before! Picked-up my medication and I was back home in no time, in bed, for the rest of the day. I don't know if I've ever slept so much before. I would sleep, wake-up for medication, sleep, wake-up for water, sleep, sleep... I was dead to the world! Luckily I was only really sick for 2 days but ended up spending 3 days at home. Today I had had enough of little human interaction and my room, so feeling quite well I got-up bright and early and went to school. I think I even surprised my parents in the morning, they thought I was joking the night before about going to school!

So I'm all better, no more enfermadita! In an ending note, take care of your tonsils... if you have them!!

Fotos del Norte

2011-03-19T14:23:00.012-03:00

At the pisco plant

Valle de Elqui

La Serena

Antofagasta

Tropic of Capricorn

Salar de Atacama

Valle de Muerte

Valle de la luna

Geyers el Tatio

Llama kabob mmmm....

street parade

Arica

Volcano Parinacota and Lago Chungará

Chau Norte!

North Trip!

2011-03-18T16:01:00.010-03:00

North trip, north trip... where do I start? It seems to be harder and harder to write a big long entry especially after a Rotary trip. I forget so many funny things or memorable moments, along with getting so tired of writing in english. Anyways here we go!

March 4
Met-up with everyone in Santiago bright and early. There were also some news faces as the new Kiwis and Australian were with us along with some exchangers from the South district. We drove up to La Serena, which I've done the long ride before, but before getting to La Serena we stopped out in the boonies. There we saw some petroglyphs and then stopped at a winery - finally after 6 months I made it to a Chilean vineyard! Getting to La Serena we had some free time to go swimming or shop around. Then, after dinner we were going to go to the casino, but as we were all walking in one of the guys in the group got stopped since he looked younger than 18... oh well! So from there we had a night walk back to our cabañas which included learning some German words - most that will help me to insult someone if needed!

March 5
Headed to Valle de Elqui where we had lunch in a restaurant that cooks their food with solar energy, aka boxes that get really hot and cook your food. On our way we also stopped at a really big man-made lake and ate some cactus fruit. After we went to one of many Pisco distilleries, but at this plant their pisco is only sold outside of Chile, and it's darn expensive out of Chile! In the night we had the opportunity to go sky gazing. In the valley the sky was SO bright along with the beautiful milky way, no light pollution at all, not even the moon! While my group was in our observatory dome we had asked if we could see a planet and out guide told us to come back after all the groups were done because Saturn was visible at the moment. So after waiting for everyone to finish up, hanging out at the campfire, messing with the guys cabaña and talking to a Russian star photographer we were able to see Saturn!!

March 6
We had the afternoon to relax a bit, hang by the pool because we were off on our 19 hour overnight bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama!

March 7
Woke-up after maybe sleeping 2 hours and jumped out of the bus in Antofagasta to see the mano de dios (Hand of God) - little sleep and hand standing in front of giant hand-sculptures early in the morning don't mix well. On our way to San Pedro we also stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn! Again my geography-nerd came out and I thought it was really cool! After driving through a lot, a lot, a lot of sand and desert we made it to little San Pedro de Atacama. There we were able to go horseback riding - I'm happy to say I've riding in Patagonia and now in the Atacama desert! It was quite a different experience as there was surprisingly quite a bit of vegetation in the area but then we were completely surrounded by volcanoes!

March 8
Went to Salar de Atacama which is a natural reserve completely formed out of salt with flamingos living there. The colours were so pretty and the reflections from the volcanoes and mountains in the distance were so pretty. The salt fields were just so interesting-looking, I loved it! This day involved some random food purchases such as a liter of ice cream (cheaper than a single, but still the three of us couldn't finish it) and a quarter of a watermelon. After lunch we went to Valle de Muerte (Valley of Death) and then to Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). In Valle de la Luna we went through a cave and then came out of top of it. Travel further into the valley it really started to look as if you could be on the moon. After climbing a big sand dune and missing the sunset we had a spectacular view over the valley while a tiny slice of the moon was visible.

March 9
Waking-up at 4:30 am we traveled 2.5 hours on very bumpy road up to the Geysers El Tatio (4,320 meters above sea level). We had to arrive early because the geysers are most active when it's colder. It was really cool to see these natural wonders as the sky was brightening and you could see snow covered mountain-tops close by. On our way back we took a scenic twisty and tourny route and stopped in a little village. There we were able to buy some fresh rico pan and also sample some llama kabobs! Yep... I ate llama meat, after 6 years of vegetarianism, and guess what... it actually tasted really good! After packing up we were on our way again more north. Heading towards the coast we stopped in a little town (of maybe 40 people) to see a church (common theme of the trip). While there all of a sudden there was an impromptu parade with the townsfolk. So us curious exchangers went to check it out... then the people started to dance with us and perhaps mildly harasses us... the came the water balloon attacks! It was quite a strange experience this random parade with tradition costumes and such. Overnight on the bus again...

March 10
After a really horrible night on the bus with no A/C until about 7 of us had to ask we made it to Arica! Arica is the most Northern city in Chile, cuddling up right on the boarder of Peru. Initially the Rotarians had told us that those who where 18 could hop over the boarder to see Peru, which I was so excited for. But in the end it didn't work out, and as it wouldn't have been fair to everyone else who's younger. In Arica we went and saw the giant sculpture of Jesus that faces towards the rest of Chile then had a day at the beach! The water was so warm compared to the freezing Pacific waters of central Chile.

March 11
Traveled way high up to Volcano Parinacota and Lago Chungará which the lake is more than 4500 meters above sea level. On our way up to the lake we stopped to take a walk in a scenic area. As we were walking you could start to see everyone walk slower and slower... then eventually stopping. The air was so thin that it was so hard to breath, I defiantly felt the effects of it. Also in the morning we had heard about the earthquake that had just happened in Japan. We were also told that the coast of Chile was under a tsunami alert... great, we were staying on the coast of Chile! After getting back to the hotel, making some phone calls to parents to reassure them that we would be fine, we went to a newspaper and had a tour and got our picture taken. Sometimes I can worry to much but when you see everyone driving out of the city, and then being told that the police has evacuated the city due to the alert yet we had gone to get a picture taken was a little nerve racking. At least Rotary told us to pack a bag and have our shoes ready so we could run if needed... makes me feel so safe. After waiting around for a bit in the hotel a group of us went up on a hill at the time of the alert to see if we could see any waves comes in. The alert time had come and passed so we all headed back to the hotel, safe and sound.

March 12
Traveled in our second home (aka the bus) to Valle de Azapa. On our way out of Arica it was really creepy to see the sea. The water was so pulled back, it was really abnormal. We saw another old church, and mummies older than the mummies in Egypt! After practicing our song for an hour (oh you'll hear more about the song later in time) we finally had some free time as it was our last night of the trip. The town was still pretty dead after the tsunami alert but we were able to have some fun. We had a dinner out and then after went to a discotheque where we watched a performance of the traditional dance of Arica. Rotary had then rented out the VIP area of the disco so that we could have a night out... and not mix with the Chileans... like that worked!

March 13
On our last day of our trip they took us to ferias. Usually I love ferias but these one's were with ropa americana or in other words second hand north american clothes - I even saw things with Value Village tags on them! We also went to this giant ropa americana store where you could buy clothing by the kilo... but instead we just played on the huge pile of clothing! After our shopping adventures it was time to head back to a colder Santiago.

I really loved the North, it was so different and so spectacular. Even if I had to pick if I liked Patagonia or North more I'm not quite sure which I would choose. There's still more I want to see and do in the North like sand-boarding, and going to the salt flats and salt lakes. That just means I'll have to come back!

Today has been 8 months since I arrived in Chile!

2011-03-03T18:12:00.001-03:00

I'm leaving bright and early tomorrow morning to head to the very North of Chile, for 9 days, in a bus, with a bunch of exchange students!

So long summer...

2011-02-27T20:16:00.006-03:00

It's that time of year again, back to school... yeah... I'm entering into grade 12, or 4 Medio, one more time! This will be my 2nd time re-entering high school after I've graduated... what?! My last two weeks of summer have been kind of busy. I took spanish lessons to help brush up and improve as I had time before heading back into school. The school was really great organizing events and more opportunities to practice and learn. I've also met some really nice people who I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. It just so happens that there's 4 girls from the school living in a Chilean families house just 2 blocks away from me, and my Mama happens to be really good friends with the family! Anyways it's been fun meeting some more "exchange students" and going out doing things like salsa dancing - or my interpretation of it!

It's quite scary to see how fast summer went by, those 2 1/2 months just disappeared - I don't even want to imagine what the rest of my exchange will be like! Summer was great and really nice being in the southern hemisphere as the northern hemisphere exchangers don't get summer vacation! But in all honestly I'm looking forward to going back to school, see all my classmates again, this time being able to understand and speak more spanish, and hopefully looking forward to spending more time with my Chilean friends. But I am already dreading having to wake-up at 6:30 am... after being used to not falling asleep until the wee hours of the day.

P.S. I made Kraft Dinner for the first time in over 6 months... it was like a little piece of home, that good old fake bright orange cheese powder!

At the salsateca - Brasil, Brasil, Canada, Sweden

A bit windy at the top of Santa Lucia

Crazy Texans

Well I'm off to get my backpack packed and my uniform out and ready!

Beavertale Round 2

2011-02-20T17:01:00.002-03:00

Here's my second Beavertale for my district back home. If you actually read my blog then nothing should be new news! Again to check-out the other Outbounds Beavertale's go to...

http://rotary7080.org/
Youth Exchange 7080
BeaverTales

Yeah there's no direct link, sorry!

¿Donde se fue el tiempo? Here I am, already six months through my Exchange and I still cannot fathom how fast the time just seems to fly by. Some days it seems as if I have just arrived, still discovering new things and new words. But yet at other instances, it seems as if I’ve lived here forever, seeing this country as my own and feeling a part of the Chilean culture. These past six months have taught me many things and have opened my eyes up to new ideas, opportunities, and ways of life. Every day is still an adventure and there’s always something new to discover and learn, I’m just taking things day by day and enjoying them while I’m still here!

At the start of December I ended my school year here early to go with Rotary to the “end of the world” otherwise known as Patagonia. I had travelled to a part of Patagonia in Argentina with my class but this was much more different and spectacular! About 50 excited and energy-filled exchange students flew to Punta Arenas (known as the world’s most Southern city), as we started on our “fully-epic” trip! We spent the first day in Punta Arenas, kissed the toe of the Indian statue to bring good luck and to return to Punta Arenas, and then headed to a penguin sanctuary. Seeing these tiny creatures was one of many highlights of the trip. Coming from Canada you never think that you’ll have the chance to see these adorable birds in the wild! We also spent four days in Torres del Paine National Park. All I have to say is – WOW! The well-known granite spires were breathtaking surrounded by blue-green glacial lakes and rocky green mountains covered with Patagonian flowers. From bearing the cold and swimming in a glacial-water river, taking an 8 hour boat ride, seeing glaciers, horseback riding in the open Patagonian terrain, and the many memories and near-sleepless nights, this trip was truly amazing! I can say for sure that I have never seen a more beautiful and breathtaking place in my life! The Chilean Patagonia is truly a magical and inspiring landscape!

Sun, shorts, and the beach... this was my Christmas. In Chile they celebrate Christmas on the 24th. My host-family is a little different as we didn’t get together with family for the holiday although my older host-brother did come home from university in Argentina. On the day of the 24th it was a relaxed day at home and we started to eat our Christmas dinner around 10:30 pm, which was not quite the feast as you would have in Canada. At midnight everyone ripped open their presents as we said our “Feliz Navidad’s”. On the 25th my family and I headed to a small town near the coast where I met one of my uncles. After we had lunch together, we headed to the beach, Viña del Mar. Never would I have ever imagined that I would be putting my bare feet into the Pacific Ocean on Christmas day!

The day after Christmas presented another change; this was a change in host-families! I now live in a new comuna called Recoleta which is right beside Cerro San Cristobal and about an hour on public transit from my first house. Living in this new house and neighbourhood I feel like I really am in Chile. The architecture and buildings of this area are much older but I find them so much more beautiful with more culture, character and history behind them. My Mama and Papa are really nice and kind-hearted people and they made me feel welcomed in the home right away. They even spent one night teaching me the cueca, the national dance of Chile, which my host-Papa and I proudly showed off at our next family gathering! I also now have a host-brother and a grandmother who lives in the house but in her own wing. Even though I am far from my school and school friends I think I will enjoy living with this family until the end of my exchange.

After a few days with my new family it was New Years Eve. I went with my family to a beach called Las Cruces where I met a lot of uncles, aunts, and cousins! After watching the sunset over the Pacific for the last time in the year 2010 we started to get our night started! My host-Papa had cooked up a delicious asado and the whole family sat down for a meal at around 10 pm. After dinner the dancing started – music was blaring, anticipation was building, everyone was dancing, then... cinco, cuatro, tres, dos, uno... FELIZ AÑO NUEVO! At midnight everyone went around to each family member giving them a kiss, hug, and a “feliz año nuevo” as we watched the fireworks go off in the nearby port city of San Antonio. Here in Chile they have some traditions for the New Year. One is to wear yellow underwear to bring good luck, and another is to eat 12 grapes - each grape representing every month of the year. After all of the hugs were done, on we went with the dancing, and we sure danced the night away! On the first day of the new year I headed out with one of my uncles, cousin, and brother to the “secret point.” This was where I swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever along with attempting to surf! The day was total bliss, sitting on a secluded beach, hearing the Pacific waves crash, breathing in fresh ocean air on January 1st in Chile... this is my life!

This “summer” I’ve had a few opportunities to travel a little bit, especially to the coast. In the middle of January I had a great visit from my Canadian big brother! After a couple of days sightseeing in Santiago and getting him accustomed to a new country we headed to Viña del Mar for two nights along with a day trip to Valparaíso. After exploring the central coast we jumped on a bus to go 7 hours north up to another coast city, La Serena. After having a mishap of getting off in the wrong city, walking around while there were no street names on the streets, we managed to get ourselves to the right city! One day we went on a day trip a couple more hours away to a place called Isla Dama. Here we were able to take a boat out to see this pristine white sand island with aqua waters along with seeing penguins, sea lions, and dolphins! The next night we went to an observatory as the north of Chile is well-known for having some of the clearest skies in the world. As soon as we stepped out of our van and looked up I was in shock, there were so many stars and I have never seen them so bright before! I learned a lot from this trip as I had to plan and book everything by myself along with having to do all the translating and talking. It was really nice having my brother come to visit, but it also seemed a little weird. For him it was just a vacation, while for me this was my life. Mixing my Chilean life and someone from my Canadian life was a weird feeling, but it was fun to show off my new country!

As well, I had the opportunity to spend 4 nights in Valparaíso with my exchange friend, her Canadian mom, and her mom’s friend as we had a girls’ trip to the coast. We had fun exploring some back alleys with beautiful graffiti-esque murals, eating delicious seafood and taking in some sun on the beaches nearby. After those days I hopped on a bus and joined my host-family at another beach a few hours away. After having a relaxing summer day with family we then headed to el campo (the country) where my host-Papa is from. There I had an eye-opening view of another different way of life. My host-Papas parents live on the same plot of land as two of my aunts and their families. There were chickens walking around freely, sheep, grape vines, loud children, people talking with such heavy accents I could barely understand, and delicious home cooked meals! We spent the weekend there and attended a wedding on the Saturday. Unfortunately I didn’t have the experience of witnessing the actual wedding ceremony but I sure did enjoy the dancing as the cousins and I danced until 4 am!

If there’s something that would define Chile it would be music and dancing. These two things are in the hearts and souls of every Chilean. There’s always music playing, in my house, on the street, in the public buses and I just don’t know how I will be able to go home and not have the familiar sounds of my now much beloved Spanish music. I find myself dancing all the time or humming along to the beats of my favourite Spanish songs. I’ve truly learned to embrace dancing into my life whether it’s at family get-togethers or a night out at a discotheque with my friends – it’s the new Latina in me!

With every passing month here it’s hard to face the fact that I will have to return back to Canada at some point. Everything here feels so normal now. I’m no longer noticing things that stand out, now I’m embracing the things that make this country so unique and I love it! I no longer feel as if I am the gringa who doesn’t know how to get places, can’t speak the language, use slang words, or is afraid or self-conscience when constantly being stared or whistled at in public. I see myself as more Chilean now, and even get a little frustrated when store vendors assume I don’t know how to speak Spanish or that I’m a tourist – I actually enjoy helping the poor lost-looking tourists here! Even though at times life can still be quite hard and lonely there are always the moments and memories that I think to myself how much I love Chile!

As for now I’m going try and make the most out of my last two weeks of summer vacation and then it’s back into school, which honestly I am looking forward to as I get to see all my Chilean friends again! Thank you Rotary District 7080 and my host-club of Cambridge North for this opportunity to be living this life that I am now!

Besitos desde el otro lado de del ecuador

Lyndsay

Summer as of lately...

2011-02-18T19:49:00.007-03:00

Just as the temperatures are starting to get just a tiny bit cooler at night it's hard to believe my Chilean summer is almost over! I've been slacking as of lately in the blog, and even journal-ing daily events.. but hey, it's summer!

On the 6th of February I was invited to go to Valparaiso with Emily, her Canadian mom, and her mom's friend for 4 nights. We stayed in a lovely little hotel on Cerro Conception which was such an old building but with a brilliant rooftop view over the city and harbor. In the days Emily and I headed to Viña del Mar and also to Reñaca (known as the young and "hip" beach.. but not quite on a Tuesday!) We also made the best out of the nightlife in Viña on Monday and Tuesday even randomly visiting the casino to check it out and we met up with two friends from Santiago one night. After a few days of taking in sun and eating delicious seafood Emily and I hopped on a bus on the night of the 9th as I had to go and meet-up with my host-family at another beach and she had to return to her summer host-family in another beach as well.

After spending a much needed relaxing day on the beach in Las Cruces with my family we left on Friday morning to go to el campo or the country. Here is where my host-dad is from and his parents, and two sisters still live on the same piece of land. Now coming from Ayr and seeing a lot of rural Ontario in my short lifetime I have never experienced country like this before or even as one of my Chilean cousins said "este es campo, campo!" There were chickens running around freely, a stray kitten, sheep, baby chicks, grape vines growing so naturally and the family and their houses were so close together. The days at the campo may had passed slow but the kids were able to do something at night at least. On Friday night the cousins and I went to go and see the final soccer game for the 18-30 local age group. After the game they had an tent set-up for a dance. After waiting around for a bit deciding if we should stay or not, waiting for the music to be good I decided to say, "hey... let's just go in!!", I mean why stand around doing nothing? There were people of all ages in there and we had fun. Although after not sleeping so well for a week I was pretty tired by 2 am and just wanted to go home. Eventually my host-parents came and picked us all up and I was so relieved!

On Saturday night was the wedding of one of my host-Papa's cousins. I didn't get to go to the main wedding part but I sure had fun at the reception. In Chile they have a tradition at weddings where in one wedding cake the tie string to different small plastic objects (usually things such as a wedding ring, baby, cupid arrow, etc.) Being a single lady I was able to pull out one of the strings and what did I get... a baby! My host-family laughed because this isn't the first time that I've pulled a baby out of a wedding cake as I did the same thing when my host-Mama put together a mock-wedding for one of my aunt and uncle's anniversary! I seriously love receptions at weddings, and really just dancing overall now! I danced the night away with my cousins and we got home around 4 am.

Today the 18th also marks 6 months since I've arrived here... where has the time gone?!

Part 2 of the Wallis Kid's Adventure

2011-01-31T23:30:00.011-03:00

Cerro San Cristobal - Santiago

Valpariso

Top of Valpariso at poet Pablo Neruda's house

On Wednesday morning luckily we had no troubles with our bus or getting there. I think we really lucked out with my random choosing of seats because we were on the second level of our bus in the two front seats with a panoramic view in front of us... it was amazing! About 7 hours later we came to a stop by the beach, so we got off... then after walking around, being confused my the map not matching up, and besides the fact that the painted on street signs didn't have all the street names on them... I realized we had gotten off one stop earlier than needed, in Coquimbo! I don't think my brother was to impressed but I thought it was funny, and hey, we got to see another town right! Easily enough we got onto a micro only costing us $2 and then a 15 minute ride to La Serena. This time the map made sense and we were able to make it to our hostel. We were in another part of the hostel a street away from the main part so we went over at night to converse and meet people. Luckily there were 2 Swiss girls who could speak english with my brother along with an Argentinian and Chileans. We ended up going out to a disco for the night... got home around 5 am.

On our way to La Serena

After 2 hours of sleep Matt and I got up at 7 am for our tour to Isla Dama. We got to see penguins, dolphins, sea lions and beautiful aqua waters at the island. It surely felt like a long day and I was able to take a quick 2 hour nap before getting up again. This time when we went over to the main hostel the Swiss girls were gone and now there was a young couple from Sweden, again they spoke english. Again the group of us went out to a disco by the beach and danced until they closed at 4 am, then headed into the casino where I bumped into two exchange students!

Isla Dama

On Friday we finally had the opportunity to sleep which was nice. We went out to lunch with our group and finally ate some very fresh seafood! Unfortunately every day had been overcast so we never really made it onto the beach or in the water along with being busy the whole time. At night we went on an observatory tour and it was amazing - as soon as we got out of the van way up high in the mountains and looked-up, I think I went into shock, the sky was so clear and the stars we sooooo bright! It was a little disappointing that they didn't give us an english tour like we had asked but looking through the telescopes or just with your bare-eyes the stars were amazing! After the tour we decided to stay in for the night. We just talked until 4 am when we had to say goodbye to our friends that we had met in the hostel.

Saturday morning I roll over, look at my phone and it says 10:18 am... our bus back to Santiago leaves at 10:30 am!! Quickly out of bed and thankful we packed the night before we were out the door and running - I felt like I was in the amazing race! Got to the terminal just time time to find out our bus was late... 45 minutes later it finally arrived, what luck we've had with buses! The last day and a half was spent in Santiago, just hanging out, relaxing, and buying a few last minute things to send back home so my suitcases might be lighter when I get back!

It was great to have my brother come and visit, although I think it did more for him than for me which I'm really happy for! It felt so weird being with him because for him it was just a vacation and for me this is my life. One thing is for sure, I'm so excited to travel by myself now! I'm already starting to get ideas of where to go, and I love the idea of hostels and meeting great and interesting people, then making plans and just going! Also knowing that I can plan a trip all by myself, without parents, and in a foreign language, being able to make mistakes and fix them makes me feel so independent.

Part 1 of the Wallis Kid Adventure

2011-01-25T23:36:00.009-03:00

My brother arrived the Chile last Friday and its really been weird but also really awesome having him here. I feel like I´m the tour guide, constantly having to decide what to do... well I guess I have lived here for 5 months! Anyways we started off our first couple days in Santiago, just trying to ease him into a foreign country and a HOT climate. On Friday after a lunch we headed up to Cerro San Cristobal (its such a short walk from my house now), and then we walked around a bit, visited Patio Bellavista and we walked down Pio Nono. On Saturday I planned a walking tour. We started at metro station Los Heroes and walked out way down the red metro line. Stopping at all the touristy or important things to see, we also went to the top of Cerro Santa Lucia during the middle of the day. We then headed to my Tio and Tia´s house for an asado - my brother loved the churipan and pebre (who doesn´t!?) On Sunday we had a relaxing day, woke-up late, went for a walk around and visited la Vega and the fish market, had lunch then headed out Parque Arauco. It didn´t feel right showing him this huge Americanized mall... I mean, it´s just a mall! We ended up seeing a movie, with subtitles for his sake! Once we got home we had to get packed up for our early morning bus ride.

On Monday we travelled to Viña del Mar. We surely started the day off right, cold showers (must have run out of gas), and then a rush to find the correct bus terminal which I didn´t know existed until 20 minutes before our bus! But we made it, made it to Viña and thankfully it cleared up and was sunny! After finding our hostel we walked around Viña, saw the girant flower clock (still don´t know why its so cool), then went to the beach. Went out to dinner at an Arabian resturant... not the resturants forte, but we had a good night out and reliving all these old childhood 90´s and early 2000´s music that was being played!

Today we went to Valpariso to go and explore. I myself haven't seen very much of this city so it was nice to be able to walk, and walk, and walk! We first went on a little boat tour around the bay, I translated for Matt since the guide was speaking in Spanish, and even saw a US Marine submarine. We then got Matt his first empanada which was special in its own right. After lunch we decided to go and find the Pablo Nerudo house on the top of one of the hills. In Valpariso they have all these elevators that can bring you to the top of the hill... this one wasn't working. So we climbed our way up the never-ending staircase up the side of the hill. After getting a little lost/confused we finally made our way to the famous poets house. It was such an amazing house with 5 floors and such interesting things. We then headed back down the hill and jumped on a micro back to Viña.

We´re just staying in at the hostel tonight hoping to get decent sleep before our bus to La Serena tomorrow morning!

5 months

2011-01-18T16:21:00.003-03:00

Today marks 5 months that I've been in Chile. 153 days in a new country, new culture and living a new life. It's also about half-way through my exchange (depending on if I return in June or July), and I still don't really know how to feel about it.

The time has passed by so quickly in my exchange, and I feel like I've experienced so much, the good and the bad parts of life. Honestly this time last year I would have never expected my life to be like this, and feeling the way that I am now.

I guess I've kind of fallen into a slump right now. I mean realizing that half of my year is over I can't help but look back and think of the "what ifs" and if I've wasted some of my limited time here. Who knows when I'll be able to return again, if I'll be able to visit the exchange students, see my host-family again, classmates..? I know it's bad to think about the "what ifs" in life but when you have a lot of time to think like I do, sometimes you think to much. I also feel like my world is a little upside down right now, just a million emotions and feelings hitting me all at once, but I'm learning that sometimes I just have to let go and learn from things. Ok, so I know that's a little broad but I'm not going to spill my entire life over the world wide web.

Anyways my life is going on here. I have such a great host-family and it's summer right now! I also think that traveling will help a bit as well, for when my brother comes in 3 days!

Can you imagine.. 2 Wallis kids in Chile!

Musica

2011-01-10T22:29:00.015-03:00

So I think it's about time I share the soundtrack of my exchange... well at least for the first half! Here are a few songs that have defined my exchange/have been overplayed to the max that I love them/are in my "Año de Intercambio" iPod playlist!

Danza Kuduro - Don Omar
I don't how may times I have heard this song (especially New Years eve... I think that was a record!)

Arriba la vida - Croni-K

La Despedida - Daddy Yankee

Disco Pogo - Frauenarzt & Manny Marc
You might notice that this song isn't even in Spanish, but German! Yeah we have a lot of German exchange students, and this song is so catchy!

Lalala Mundial - Baby Rasta & Gringo

Descontrol - Daddy Yankee

Bartender - Alexis & Fido

Cuando Cuando Es - J King y Maximan

Mi Niña Bonita - Chino y Nacho

Si No Le Contesto - Plan B

So there's just a little sampling of what I've been hearing for the last 5 months - thankfully not many of who are are reading this can speak spanish... because reggaeton music doesn't always have the nicest or most polite lyrics!

I also bought an acoustic guitar today, so I can hopefully spend some of my free time learning how to play, although more mellow music than reggaeton! Two of my worst skills: learning languages and music - might as well conquer both in the same year!

My brother is coming to visit in 11 days!!

Chau 2010, Bienvenida 2011

2011-01-07T00:29:00.006-03:00

Feliz año nuevo!

One more year gone and past, usually I don't feel much or think to much after New Years but spending one in a foreign country really made me think this year. Last year at New Years I was in the shock mode still of receiving my exchange and was in a wanderlust of "where do I want to go?" or "Where will they send me? What will my life me like?" Well now I'm living it!

For New Years I was with my new family and we headed out to the beach to an uncle's house. They live at this beach called Las Cruces, a really cute beach town and had a spectacular view of the Pacific and a short walk to the beach. Once we arrived I met the whole family, well at least my host-Mama's side. Honestly I feel so happy and excited to have so much family now, it feels like I could have been back home with my parents family and our extended family of friends and kids. I also have quite a few cousins now, little boys, and it feels so normal playing video games or chasing after them. The family was so welcoming to me, although my spanish is much more limited than the last exchange student they had, they were still interested in talking with me. After hanging around for a while we had an asado and dinner around 10 pm. By the time it was midnight we were all outside listening to the radio doing the countdown, I was equipped with my Chile-New Years hat, confetti gun, and noise maker ready for midnight! FELIZ AÑO!!

Once it was midnight everyone went around giving every person a big hug, a kiss, and a "feliz año" salude. Then they served a traditional drink after - champagne with pineapple ice cream and we watched the fireworks far away while the dancing was just getting started! That's right, we were one of those families that has the music blasting and dance the night away! There were some good dance moves, along with some "simon-says" dancing... oh it was funny!

Some New Years traditions:

wearing yellow underwear for good luck (they would sell these on the street as well)
eating 12 grapes after midnight (one for every month - I said mine in Spanish first, then English... extra luck in both languages!)

After not getting to much sleep along with the fact I slept in the same room as a tiny baby I headed down to the beach with my little cousins and watched them try to get into the water. Then after lunch I headed out with my host-brother, Uncle, and one cousin to the "secret point." It was such a surreal feeling - driving with all the windows down, listening to "The real Slim Shady" on repeat, surfboards on top of the car on January 1st. We met-up on the road with some of my uncle's friends who directed us to the "secret point." We drove through this community of huge houses, it seemed a little like rich California to me. We ended up at this private beach in our regular vehicles with surfboards while the citizens of the neighborhood had their personal 4-wheelers for the whole family, designer sunglasses, and Mercedes cars that got stuck in the sand - I think we crashed the beach! We then walked for a 1/2 hour to get to our "secret point." While my uncle and cousin were getting their surf stuff on I decided I was going swimming... my host brother didn't believe I was going to do it. First time ever swimming in the Pacific was on New Years day, in Chile... how many can say that. But not only did I go once, but twice... in Canada we do polar-bear dips, a little bit of cold ocean water isn't that bad! After my second swim I decided to try surfing. Never being taught what to do I just went for it, and I sure made a fool out of myself. I never did stand up, but I had some good body surfs, and I also obtained some battle scars on my knees! It was truly such a relaxing and chill day to say the least, such a cool way to spend the first day of the new year. Finally getting home around 10:30 pm, I took a needed shower since I was freezing, had some once, then a few of us headed down to the arcade by the beach for a while.

I have to say honestly I really enjoyed my New Years a lot more than Christmas. Maybe it's because Christmas is more of a family thing. But I didn't even mind the fact that I couldn't go out and party with my friends here for New Years. Being with my new family and the whole family was really fun and it reminded me of New Years past with the "gang" of family-friends and all the kids (who happened to be boys) back home when I was younger.

I think I've also finally come to the conclusion that I'm in Chile, living my life here, on exchange, this is real. It hit me on New Years eve day when we were driving and I was just looking out at the landscape, listening to reggeaton, driving with my Chilean family - I'm really here. It was also reinforced when I was sitting on the beach New Years day, being able to spend half of 2011 in Chile... how amazing is that!

Christmas in Chile

2010-12-27T13:12:00.007-03:00

Feliz Navidad a todos!

Christmas in Chile sure was different. First of all let's start off with the weather - bright and sunny, I was wearing shorts, birkenstocks, and a t-shirt on Christmas eve, and then a sundress on Christmas day... a little different from heavy sweaters and boots that I would normally be wearing in Canada!

Christmas eve day I woke-up, met my older host-brother who had just arrived home from Argentina, had a little something for breakfast, showered, and relaxed. For lunch we had completos (hotdogs) then some more time to just relax and chill (lately I've gotten into watching Friends with spanish subtitles or The OC in spanish... that's hard!) Around 9 pm we had a "snack" so some left overs, pan de pascua, aceitunas, my homemade ginger snap cookies, leche con cola de mono, etc. Then around 10:30 pm was the "meal." Nothing like Canadian Christmas with a big meal with all the fixings but we just had a little bit of turkey and potato salad. We skyped with my host-brother in Kentucky when we were eating and after just talking. Then after midnight that's when we opened up our presents. Again a little less-dramatic than my typical Canadian Christmas, everyone just ripped theirs open at once... I was the weird one to wait until they told me "Open them open them!!!" I stayed up until 2:30 am with my family and then finally headed to sleep because I knew I had an early morning.

On Christmas day I woke-up early to Skype with my mom and step-dad back home and open up our presents together. I think for the both of us Christmas just doesn't feel right being away from each other, me being parent-less and them being child-less. After that my Chilean family and I went to the house of one of my host-uncle's whom I'd never met before. He lives 15 mins. from Viña del Mar. So we arrived and talked a bit, then had lunch, some more turkey, then my family headed to the coast. We drove through Viña del Mar and then to Reñaca where I got to put my feet in the Pacific ocean for the first time in the southern hemisphere (i've still yet to swim in the pacific.. ever!) I can say I've never been close to going to a beach on a Christmas day before! We walked around a bit then went back to my host-uncle's. We stayed there and had once then headed back home. My family wasn't doing anything so I skyped with more family back home, my grandparents then my dad, step-mom, step-brother. After all of that it was fairly late.... but then I started to pack. Why pack you may ask? Well you see I was changing houses the next day! Yep, one day after Christmas I switched families!

I'm probably one of the worst packers in the world but I finally managed to get all of my stuff into quite a few bags. My new parents came to my now-old house with my friend from Pennsylvania (whom I switched with), and we did the big switch-a-roo. I now live in the comuna Recoleta, in my house is my mama, papa, host-brother, and also my host-grandma. It's close to the centro of Santiago and also to Cerro San Cristobal, Bellavista, and huge-cheap-shopping area Patranato. It's such a different feeling being in this area, I feel like I'm more in Chile now, although I can't be out late because it's quite a peligroso area. Unlike Las Condes my street doesn't look like there's houses, its more of flat-fronted buildings, kind of a surprise of what's inside! My house is really nice inside, and is quite larger than my last house. My parents showed me my room (with a queen bed and my own bathroom - score!) and then the rest of the house with a nice large patio also. After I got some of my stuff settled into my room I went on a walk with my parents to the supermarket nearby as they showed me landmarks, major streets, and where the closest metro station is. I think I'll be quite happy living here for the rest of my exchange, although it is very far away from my school and friends I'll make it work!

So overall my Chilean Christmas experience was, well... different, as well every family here has their own way of celebrating. For me it feels like I just skipped over another major holiday, as if it never happened. Thankfully all the major celebrations are over - in October was Thanksgiving/three family member birthdays, then November was my birthday, and now Christmas has come and passed. By no means am I complaining, it's just interesting to be apart from what I'm "used to" and doing things in a different way - but that's what exchange is all about right!

It's Christmas time?

2010-12-21T22:41:00.004-03:00

This thought has been in my head since the start of December. I can't even comprehend the fact that Christmas is four days away! I've been anticipating hits of homesickness due to the holiday season, but its just so surreal that I don't believe its actually going to be Christmas. The weather here has certainly turned up, and it's for sure summer now! I even have my first sunburn to prove it... so while everyone back home is experiencing 3-6 feet of snow, I'm just here basking in 36 C weather in summertime. Not to brag or anything, I mean, I really do miss that white stuff sometimes, the smells of Christmas baking, and sounds of Christmas music playing over and over.

I also was able to view the lunar eclipse last night, I stayed up really late with two of my friends to watch it (ok, we dozed off quite a bit since it was 4:30 am), but it was pretty interesting to know that I was able to view the same eclipse as people back home were.

Time has gone by so fast here, I had my 4 month Chile-versary on Saturday... 4 months already!! Although sometimes I feel like I haven't achieved much on my exchange so far, as I look back through my journal, blog, and photos I have already done so much, but yet there's so much more in-store for me! I can't wait to make the most out of the rest of my exchange here, I already feel so at home in the country, I can't even imagine having to leave it.

Last Sunday we had a big Rotary meeting with all of the exchange students. We also got to meet two short-term exchange students from South Africa. Rotary also had a surprise for all of the Inbounds. All of a sudden they opened up the curtain and there on the windows were posters with photos on them. Everyone had photos from back home that their parents had sent - my photo was my dog, the biggest thing from home that I miss. Rotary also had letters for everyone that our parents had wrote for us. That was truly a worthwhile meeting, and it also gave us exchange students an opportunity to juntar after and hangout!

With my doggy Smeagol (yes from Lord of the Rings....) and photos of my host-brother on exchange right now in Kentucky, USA - I'm also liking the spelling of my name.. more Chilean, like cachai, but Lyndsai

I also attempted some slacklinning yesterday, it sure is harder than it looks!

Well I'm off to watch a Christmas-themed movie to try and get in the spirit - but with spanish subtitles of course!

Fotos de patagonia

2010-12-15T13:47:00.015-03:00

Volcano Osorno from the plane

Punta Arenas

Los intercambistas

Kissing the toe (minus lip action)

Your typical penguins

Penguins!

At the "end of the world!"

In Torres del Paine

Cheerleaders from around the world - USA, Germany, Canada!

Oh yeah glacier!

Soulja boyin' it on the boat

With my councilors

Patagonia Rotary Trip!

2010-12-15T13:07:00.011-03:00

Sunday December 5th
Woke up after only one and a half hours and sleep and headed to the airport to join the rest of the exchange students going on the South trip! We had a pretty early flight but we arrived in Punta Arenas in the morning and then had the opportunity to tour around the city. The city was really quite small with not a lot to do. But we visited the plaza in which the statue with the "magical toe" is. The belief is that if you kiss the toe you will one day return to Punta Arenas. The toe has been discoloured from so many people kissing it! We then had some time to buy things - me and Emily bought penguin hats... yeah some people thought they were funny, but we were serious about these hats... I mean we were going to see penguins! After lunch we had some more free time then after headed out to the Seno Otway Penguin Sanctuary. I have to admit it: I love penguins! As soon as I saw my first penguin waddle by I fell in love with these little creatures! For me it was one of many highlights of the trip, how often to you get to see penguins in their natural habitat?! Being out in the open it was amazing to see how different the geography was from anywhere else I had ever been. Also everything seemed so bright, and with the sun everything seemed so clear - beautiful! On our way back we stopped at this big cemetery in Punta Arenas. There were so many grave spots, or little houses with a few tombs, and then these really weirdly shaped trees!

Monday December 6th
We took a drive out into the countryside and first stopped at a monument of Chile with a star of where we were. It was crazy to see how far south we really were! After we headed to an old fort called Fort Bulnes. After lots of picture taking we hopped on our bus and traveled to Puerto Natales.

Tuesday December 7th
Torres del Paine day! We left early from our hotel and headed towards the Torres del Paine National Park. We had a few stops along the way to see different views along with some wild alpacas! We also went to the cueva de milodon which was a huge cave including a life sized statue of one of the giant creatures. After a little while more we finally entered the park. We got off and walked a little bit to a look out point. It was so beautiful, and also so relaxing to see the amazing mountains and blue/white glacier lakes. It was also VERY windy up in the open, you could even lean into the wind and almost get taken away, or get blown over like one of the Rotarians. We then arrived at our hotel - a beautiful 4 star hotel with the most amazing view ever! When we looked out our window we had the most "picture-perfect" view of the mountains in the park. After settling in a bit a group of us went for a polar-dip in the freezing river! I had to do it, and I also had to go full out, head underwater and all! It was quite refreshing after the fact when your legs would stop stinging!

Wednesday December 8th
We went for a little hike up a hill in the morning. Getting yet another amazing view of the mountains and lakes it was amazing to be higher up and take it all in. After lunch we went on a 3-hour boat tour on Lago Grey. We were able to see a glacier along with some icebergs. That was pretty amazing to see a glacier - yet again another first in my life! But there are so many glaciers here, up high in the mountains, beside the lakes, just everywhere you can see these thousands of year old ice fields!

Thursday December 9th
Horseback riding in the morning! I was in the first group to go, and although it rained on us it was so good to ride a horse again. Although it was different not having to wear a helmet for safety, or not testing us to see if we were able to ride a horse, never mind jog or canter on one. That was truly another experience horseback riding in the amazing open landscape of Patagonia with amazing views, and then cantering on a horse feeling so free! After waiting for the other two groups to finish we waited by the fire, napped, played cards, just exchange student things. After lunch we had to head back to Puerto Natales for our final night of the trip!

Friday December 10th
Packed up and then went for an 8-hour boat ride, and we thought 3 hours was long before... We found different activities to keep ourselves occupied, like "fast photos" and handstands. I now have over 1,000 photos due to our fascination with my cameras fast shutter and our creativity! But during the boat ride we saw birds, sea lions, etc. We then took a small boat ride out into a glacier lake to get closer to another glacier. But first thing we did was hit an iceberg... no Titanic action but it was still pretty funny to say that we hit an iceberg! We then went for an asado for lunch including chicken, churipan, lamb, and horse meat!

Overall the trip was so amazing/la raja! The best parts were being able to spend so much time with all of the exchange students, building new friendships and strengthening others. All of the inside jokes, handstands, and memorable quotes will live on through my exchange here, I'm so happy that I went on the trip! Although it was also quite sad because this is the only and final trip with the oldies (New Zealanders and Aussie) because they'll be leaving in January. Even after only getting 2-4 hours of sleep every night on the trip, losing a lot of spanish, I couldn't be happier with the trip! It's still hard to believe that I have traveled to such an amazing place here in Chile. Patagonia has been the most beautiful place I have seen so far in my life, the landscape is so different, the mountains and glacier lakes are breath-taking and being able to experience the sunlight until around 10:30 - 11 pm was truly special!

Lesson of the Day: Never try to return something in Chile

2010-11-30T18:16:00.008-03:00

Saturday I finally got to check another thing off my "to do list" - I climbed Cerro San Cristobal in Santiago. I met-up with my exchange friend Jo-Ellen and her Chilean amiga and we headed to the cerro. We took the road trail up to the top, and it was stinking hot out that day. Sure we could have started earlier, but why not go at 12 when the suns out! We were hoping to go the pools that are part way up the hill... but those weren't open (darn it). We finally made it to the top, saw the Virgin Mary, saw all the smog covering Santiago, and were able to see the beautiful city that we can say that we live in. It's quite weird, I still haven't gotten that shock of "I'm living in Chile, this is my life!! What?!" But once I was at the top it was just like "Cool - this is my city, I live here"... no intense realizations, but maybe I've already passed that point and haven't noticed. After some mote con huesillo we decided to take the trolley car down the side of the hill (another thing off the list!) I want to climb the cerro again but next time really hike it. I'm talking off-paved trail/perhaps trespassing/trekking up the side of it! And plus I forgot my dear Traveling Gnome!

Nos ♥ Santiago!

Smoggy Santiago from the top of Cerro San Cristobal

Ok and now to the title of this post...
On Sunday I met-up with Emily and we had some lunch then went shopping. At one of the big department stores here (not mentioning any names.... Paris) we found lots of good deals and these watches that were 1/2 off - so we bought them. Then we realized that they were full price because we didn't have the "store card." After having many problems with the somewhat in-knowledgeable salesperson we went to another salesperson to return our watches. It took a lot of waiting, and waiting, and then explaining our problem, then waiting, then following a person to another level, waiting, getting official papers and paperwork done for returning the item including our ID cards, then going back upstairs, signing the official forms... all in all it took over 30 minutes to finally return a little item. Now, I'm no professional or anything, but after working in a big chain department store in Canada this kind of thing should NOT be very difficult! Anyways just yet another experience in Chile, and I may boycott going into the store for a while now.

Only in Chile

Today is the last day of November, I only have 3 more days of school, and I leave for Patagonia on my Rotary trip in 5 days! Things are starting to go really fast... its crazy!

Beavertale Round 1

2010-11-23T21:22:00.018-03:00

'Tis the season for a Beavertale! No not the delicious pastry, not the tail of our national animal, but the summary of the first 3rd of every Outbounds' exchange in district 7080.

It's already crazy to see the first three months gone just like that, and having to report on what we've been doing, I mean... I've been here almost 100 days now!

So here we go, my Beavertale for you. I'm not able to have a direct link so I'll post the whole thing here (mind you it's lengthy), but you can check out the rest of the 7080 Beavertales and my lovely picture out at...
>http://rotary7080.org/
>Youth Exchange 7080
>BeaverTales

Chile, my new home. A land rich of diversity, culture, geography, liveliness, and a true sense of unity. My first three months living in this great country have truly been a whirlwind of adventure and a lot of learning. Arriving on a cool mid-August day nearing the end of the Chilean winter, I had little idea of what my life was about to become. So far my time here has been challenging, difficult, frustrating and yet so satisfying and enjoyable at the same time! I have experienced things I would have never thought I would, and have already learned so much about the language, the culture, and myself. The little quirks of Chile make me smile every day, and it’s amazing how you can adopt a country as your own and in return the people adopt you as well. My time here has been short but already I have had many adventures and stories that I will remember for a long time.

Here in Chile I am living in the capital, Santiago, with a population of almost 6 million people. Coming from a small village in Canada I have slowly started to turn into a city girl! There is a fairly good public transit system here and I am the fondest of the metro that covers the entire underground of the city. It is generally safe and easy to take, even for a gringa like me! The city is so unique with its many different comunas to live in, the different traditions and aspects that set them apart and make them unique. The best part about living in Santiago is that there seems to always be a view of the great Andes Mountain range. They seem to peak-out everywhere and after a rainy night the smog has cleared and the snow-capped wonders are so bright and majestic. I can’t help but constantly admire these wondrous formations; they make you feel so small and yet so grateful to be living amidst them.

After a few days of running around the city to get proper papers in place I started school right away. Going into my new school I was not nervous at all, something that would have been a nightmare to me in Canada. I had already been known to some of my classmates and teachers and had talked to a few of them prior to me joining the class. Here I am in 3° Medio (grade 11) in a very small Adventist school with grades Pre-Kinder to 4° Medio. Right away I was welcomed into the class with besos (kisses, typical Chilean greeting) from everyone and the fun of communicating in Spanglish began! Since my school is a lot smaller than most Chilean schools my class is a very tight-knit group, and I have been able to find my place in the class with a great group of fun-loving and friendly amigos. I am no longer the gringa or exchange student, I am just another student in the class, the same as everyone else! Schools here also have a lot of spirit, especially for the anniversary of the school. During the anniversary the school is split into Alianzias in which you compete against the others in different competitions and games. There was so much liveliness, cheering, laughter, and smiles all around for the two days of my schools Alianzias. School has become the most helpful tool for learning Spanish because I am constantly surrounded by it day in and day out. I also have supportive friends and teachers who pressure me to learn as fast as I can so that I will be able to communicate as if I were Chilena!

My Spanish has slowly but surely been improving. Coming with no knowledge of Spanish at all I am surprised and proud of how far I have progressed. Although they don’t quite speak Spanish here, instead it’s “Chileano.” Chileans have a tendency to speak at rapid speeds with a lot of slang, along with dropping sounds and letters when they talk. But this also gives an extra challenge to my exchange as I try to pick-up the slang so that I can become Chilean and communicate the same as my friends do! I have also started to notice my English slowly getting worse as I am becoming more accustomed to my new language along with my R’s starting to roll off my tongue more naturally. It’s truly incredible at how at the beginning the impossible task of speaking Spanish is starting to become a reality for me now.

The last few months here in Chile the country has accomplished quite a few milestones. Starting in September, Chile celebrated its Bicentennial Anniversary, 200 years of Independence and great traditions! I headed down south with my family on a 12 hour drive to Temuco where we met-up with some old friends and celebrated the Chilean way. Food is of high importance here and there is never a lack of it. My celebration consisted of delicious empanadas, bread, desserts, typical Chilean dishes, and of course the much beloved Chilean barbeque – the asado! My school also had a celebration for the Bicentennial and each class had to perform a traditional Chilean dance. I dressed up along with the rest of my class and danced in front of the entire school and the parents, again one of those things that would terrify me back home but here it seemed so normal and I had so much fun! In October the whole country came together to watch the rescue of the 33 trapped miners. It was truly amazing to see the spirit and unity throughout the entire process, and when the first miner surfaced I don’t know if there was one person who hasn’t happy and excited to see their country pull through and do the unimaginable!

My Rotary district here is quite large with over 40 exchange students in it from all around the world. My first introduction to Rotary down here was when I had to represent District 7080 and Canada along with a fellow Canadian exchange student as District 7080 in Canada had donated an ambulance here in Chile. It was a day of lots of smiles for photos and feeling quite proud of my District back home for being so proactive and charitable. I also had the opportunity to travel to ocean cities such as Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, and San Antonio on a Rotary weekend with the entire district. It’s truly great to have such a diverse group of exchange students and you always know that someone will be willing to go somewhere, explore, or hangout when given the chance!

When given the ability to travel or see a new part of the country I always jump at the opportunity. My opportunity came when my class took their school trip to Bariloche in a part of Patagonia in Argentina. We also visited the south of Chile including places such as Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt. This was such an amazing experience. Not only were the vistas breathtaking, almost unimaginable and the lakes were so blue and clear. We had the most perfect weather. The opportunity to spend six days with my classmates speaking in Spanish and creating memories was a once in a lifetime opportunity! It was so interesting to travel to Argentina, hear the different accent, see the Swiss influence and get another stamp in my passport. The Chilean part of our trip was also incredible in the Los Lagos (lake) region. In Puerto Varas there are two active volcanoes sitting pretty across the lake just waiting for their moment to erupt, my first sight of a volcano ever! The week truly helped me to integrate more into my life here in Chile and has greatly improved my Spanish and my relationships with friends and teachers.

The culture and the people here are so refreshing and different. There is never a dull moment wherever you are. The culture and traditions thrive strongly here as Chileans are proud of their heritage. Although I have only been here for a few months, time has flown by. As another month passes I am constantly looking forward to the “what next” as my adventure continues here in Chile!

There are sometimes no words in either English or Spanish to express how thankful I am to have this opportunity and amazing experience. Thank you Rotary District 7080 and everyone else who has supported me in my desire to have this great opportunity and live 11 great months in a country that I can now consider home!

Disfruta la vida

Lyndsay

18th Birthday/Mi Cumple

2010-11-18T00:05:00.003-03:00

"Feliz Cumpleaños!" - that was the first thing I was greeted with when I arrived at school Monday morning. As soon as I was walking toward the group of classmates near my classroom all the girls got big grins then surrounded me in a circle and started to sing "Feliz Cumpleaños" and then after "Happy Birthday!" Then all the hugs and kisses after from everyone. All day I had people coming up to me, from different grades, some I've barely talked to but still they gave me a "Feliz Cumpleaños" and a kiss. At lunch my classmates broke into song again for me - they're so cute, I love them!

The night before my birthday my host-mom had told me that my friends had planned a surprise party for me the next day after school. I was a little disappointed that I knew about it but she didn't want me to feel sad on my birthday, but it's good because I would had made sure I had plans anyways! So all throughout the day I saw my friends whispering to each other, and then two of my friends asked me if I wanted to go to the mall with them after school to look at iPod accessories... one guy was almost laughing when he asked me, it was a little obvious but I went for it with enthusiasm pretending to know nothing. So after wondering around the mall for a while I got a "Vamos(let's go)"... so I asked where... and all I got was another "Vamos!" Starting to walk towards the exit and to the street closest to my house all of a sudden my 4 best girlfriends walk-by carrying a birthday balloon - cover blown. I finally admitted to the guys that I knew all about the party and they were kinda irked that I didn't say anything and had to make them make-up a stupid plan to distract me. So we hung out for a while, got some ice cream then walked back to my house to give some more time.

I know your jealous of my hat

Back at home I was greeted with a surprise from my Chilean chicas, host-mom, and Titi (lady who comes every other day to clean/family friend). We had completos (hot dogs) and then some torta (birthday cake). I was then sang 3 different versions of happy birthday (Religious, Spanish, English) and then had 3 wishes - I always that it was only 1! After making up my mind of what my 3 wishes were I blew-out my candles and then SPLAT - I had my face pushed into my cake! This is a Chilean tradition, but the birthday person's face in the cake. Needles to say I had some frosting up my nose and a face-print in my cake!

The gang: Simon, Marimar, Cony, Daniel, Barbara, Nicole

This is what friends are for!

It's weird having a birthday in another country, another thing that kinda makes it not really feel real that your technically another year older. Also I feel like I've matured so much, even before arriving in Chile, and now being here for 3 months I've matured and changed more than I think I can really realize.

I've also been expecting a lovely package from Canada for quite a while now... I really hope those stories of people actually stealing parcels isn't true!

Fotos de mi viaje

2010-11-17T18:59:00.006-03:00

Bariloche, Argentina!

My traveling Gnome even made an appearance!

Plaza Italia in Bariloche, not to be confused with the REAL Plaza Italia in Providencia, Santiago!

Hot Spring pool

Volcano Osorno

Puerto Varas

Payback on the boys!

Frutillar, Chile

Back in Santiago

Argentina, the south of Chile, and my amazing classmates!

2010-11-16T21:08:00.021-03:00

One more stamp in my passport, one more country that I will have to go back and explore more

On Sunday I showed up bright and early at the Santiago airport and joined-up with my classmates and got ready to depart for our "Gira de Estudio." But first we got our long awaited for poleron (hoodie that you'll see in all my pictures!) that had all our our names/nicknames on the back - I was even able to get a little maple leaf beside my name, Canadian pride all day, everyday! While waiting to check our baggage I noticed two ladies with Mountain Equipment Co-op gear... knowing its a Canadian brand and finally seeing a little Canadian puffin on a bag I stopped them and asked where they were from. They were both from Vancouver, but the one lady actually knew where Ayr was, and had been through it a couple of times! Woah small world! I'm getting in a habit of talking to random gringos here now. We flew from Santiago to Osorno (in Chile) then took a bus over into Argentina. It was a lot different than traveling to the states because we had to give papers (I had to get an exit stamp) on our way out of Chile, then stop again once in Argentina. On the way to Bariloche I started to notice the architecture styles, I was thinking Austrian or Swiss. As it turned out Bariloche has a HUGE Swiss influence, little flags and mountain dogs, and I can't forget all the chocolate shops! Once at the hotel we were able to hangout, then went for a walk in the night - it was really cold because there's a lake right there and with the wind...!

Monday we took a bus tour to see different parts of the surrounding area of Bariloche. The best was when we took a chairlift up a hill and had a magnificent view of the lakes and mountains... truly breathtaking, I couldn't stop snapping photos! After the tour we returned to the main tourist part and did some shopping, then went to a chocolate factory. At night we convinced our chaperons to go to a discotheque, we were the only ones there on a Monday night - but we made it fun!

Tuesday we went out into the country to a place called "Tom Wellsley." I don't really know how to explain it but they had games set-up, and horseback riding (really strange experience because the horses seemed to be trained on where to go and not pay attention to the rider), and then we also had competitions against a school from Argentina (I think they cheated at some... as I was told by some classmates).

Wednesday we we up early and left the hotel to travel back into Chile. It was a weird feeling but once I crossed the border I felt like I was "home" again. Similar to when I travel in the US then return home. We went to a National park with hot springs and also had lunch there. It was fun to go on the really hot water, then attempt to go into the freezing river, then back into the hot springs. After the swimming we headed to Puerto Varas. I really liked this city, it had a German influence to it, although it was VERY touristy. There was a big clear-water lake and across from the city were two active volcanoes - my first time seeing a real volcano!

Thursday we drove to Saltos Rio Petrohue where there were these waterfalls and turquoise water! We were able to take a jet-boat out closer to the falls so I did - my group had a good time humming the theme song to Titanic, and since no one knew the english words I just had to start singing! After we drove to another lake close by, I'm not sure what was extremely special about it but I think if it wasn't overcast I could tell. After we then drove to Puerto Montt for lunch and then did some shopping (Christmas shopping!) in a feria. After returning to the hotel in Puerto Varas I headed out to go exploring with the girls in my room. Then all of a sudden we got a phone call saying the guys had gotten into our room. So we ran back to find our clean room totally overturned... literally the beds were EVERYWHERE! The girls all got together for some payback but first we needed outfits. So we all headed down to the feria and bought the same hats, then put on some war paint and we were ready to go! I'm still not sure what the plan was but we ended up kidnapping two guys! After dinner we were given awards for the trip - I won Miss. Participativa and got a lovely toilet paper sash (it's so going on my Rotary jacket!). After the awards we had free time, along with some Spanish karaoke!

Friday we got up early and packed and were ready to go... except our plane got canceled! We ended up having a much later flight so we had the whole day! I went down to hangout at the beach with a bunch of my classmates, then we all headed to Frutillar (another very heavy German influence.) We then had to finally head to the airport in Puerto Montt and leave the beautiful south.

I can't truly explain how happy I am to have had the opportunity to go on the trip with my classmates. Not only were there beautiful vistas but I was able to bond and become closer with my friends and companeros! I would strongly suggest for any future exchange students to go on a trip like this if they have the chance with their classmates. Also spending 6 days of only Spanish or the option of not talking has greatly helped me. After returning back to my home I am now finding it difficult to think in english and writing for long periods is also getting difficult. I'm slowly starting the lose my grammar and am constantly forgetting english words! Although my Spanish vocabulary is still limited and speaking is the hardest I am starting to say things as they come to my mind in Spanish.

Blogger is being really weird and I can't seem to upload photos, so I'll have another post with just photos!

besitos!

I'm Back!

2010-11-14T20:39:00.004-03:00

I have a lot of writing to catch-up on so I'll share my experiences from my trip a bit later. All I have to say for now is "Wow!" it was beautiful and such a great opportunity to spend time with my classmates!

Well I'm off to write my Beavertale for my Rotary District back home... you can check-out old ones at http://rotary7080.org and look under Youth Exchange then Beavertales

Saludes

Alianzas

2010-11-06T12:51:00.005-03:00

On Wednesday and Thursday were the Anniversary celebrations for my school. They split the school-body into 4 different colour Alianzas (Alliances) -my class was in the Amarillo (Yellow) Alianza along with 6 Basico, Kinder, and Pre-Kinder classes. Every Alianza also had a theme - this year they were all based on movies and we were La Sirenita (The Little Mermaid).

Both days consisted of games and competitions ranging from what Alianza had the most pairs of Nike shoes, an intense game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, best costume made of re-used materials, 3-legged futbal, comedy act, and other random competitions.

In the night on Thursday after school we had a Gala to finish the Alianza festivities. Everyone dressed up in formal attire and we had musical performances from each Alianza and awards and then it was announced that the Verde Alianza won (they had 4 Medio... they always win!), but we did come second!

I leave for the South and Argentina tomorrow morning so expect stories about my time there next post!

2010-11-03T20:42:00.006-03:00

Friday - It rained like crazy the night before, I mean full out pouring rain. In the moring the mountains that have been stripped of snow were completely covered again. The air was super-clean, the wind was freezing and it had actually snowed in areas higher up like where one of my exchange friends lives! After school I went straight for warm clothes, some hot chocolate and even had to put my bed warmer on again!

Saturday - Traveled to San Bernardo with 4 other exchange students to another exchangers house. We helped set-up for her host-brothers birthday party, us girls made A LOT of sandwiches! We also dyed one girls blond, blond hair (no, not me... don't worry!) and that ended up taking up time doing it in the dark outside. Finally people started arriving around 12-12:30ish and the party got started. Parties here don't seem to really start until 1-1:30ish and they end pretty late 3-4 am... or whenever you can stay up until, like 6:30 am...!

Sunday - Traveled back home, slept then tried to make plans for Halloween. I had originally planned to stay in Las Condes but with unofficial plans I ended up going to Maipu to Emily's (Canadian BEF [Best Exchange Friend]) and we went out to a Halloween party there. With not much practice with the "Chilean-style dancing" I think we did pretty well, and plus our costumes of "Gringas" were so legitimate!

Monday - Was another holiday so I stayed at Emily's and then we went to her Grandma's house to go swimming because it was sooooooo hot! I ended up getting back home fairly late but it was a successful and busy weekend!

Tuesday - Had to rent a "Little Mermaid" costume... you'll find out why in a later post!

Wednesday - Day 1 of Alianzias... again, you have to wait for the next post!

October was different not having any of the fall colours, the smells of autumn, pumpkins and Halloween decorations. In fact there was very little Halloween spirit here one thing that I would have never thought I would miss but I did.

But it's springtime here, the flowers are so pretty, the spring smells are everywhere, the temperature can sometimes pass for Canadian summer, and I can now wear my school uniform without tights!

Only 4 more days until I leave for Argentina! I still can't believe it, its come so fast, also a sign that my first couple of months have gone so fast and that I've been here for 11 weeks now! The longest I have been away from home and my family before was 2 months when I worked as an Ontario Ranger, and now I'm on my way to living in a foreign country for 11 months!

Tid-bits of the last week

2010-10-26T23:02:00.007-03:00

Nothing to exciting has happened here lately, maybe its because I've started to adjust to my life here. Things are starting to feel more normal, the school uniform, the rush to school... but not to rushed because I'm on Chilean time now, the attempts at speaking Spanish at school (still not very successful, only some of my friends can understand me), the teachers telling me to be quiet (that should be good right?!), public transit, my room, once with the host-fam, exchange student hangouts... just stuff.

Last Friday I was approached by some younger girls in my school because they heard I was a cheerleader (porrista) in Canada and they wanted me to help them with their group at school - why not! So I skipped the last hour of my class on Friday to start helping some of the girls with basic stunts, and then spotted some back-walkovers... all those hours of coaching birthday parties at Cheersport really helped! Then on Monday I helped again but this time armed with a picture of my team back home and some drawings of what I wanted to girls to learn eventually. It's really difficult, frustrating, and a little scary when I can't fully communicate what to do and how to do it safely - but at least I can just grab the little ones and say to "No, put her down that's not safe." But we've made progress on technique and of course they wanted me back again the next day, and the next day... but maybe tomorrow!

Cheersport Shark influence... had to be done!

Sometimes I get a little panic-attack when I see a World map, like the other day in the mall... and you realize how far away your are from your home country... but then again it's so amazing that your able to live this far away for 11 months!

Life gets more normal when you bake a batch of your real-Mom's AMAZING chocolate chip cookies, and they don't turn out the same, but your host-Mom wants the recipe in Spanish!

One the cookie-note it's time to start getting my butt-in-gear again... the affects of bread, potatoes, manjar and lack of strenuous physical activity are starting to have an affect. I've been trying for about a month now to find a field hockey team here. The first one I approached was very recreational, and an hour into the practice they had done nothing. I've also e-mail two other clubs (more competitive) and one responded, eventually, so I went to see the practice tonight but no one was there. It's frustrating when I don't get replies or no one shows up for the time of the practice shown because I can't have the opportunity to talk with a coach, talking on the phone is still not an option with my limited language. So I may just find a regular gym here hopefully!

Only 12 more days until I travel to Argentina with my class!

Why there's a Quebec flag for sale in the market in Santa Lucia I will never know!

The Unexpected

2010-10-19T22:52:00.004-03:00

Sometimes during exchange there's things that happen in which you would have never bargained for when you left your normal and comfortable life in your home country. Things that you never even thought would happen, never crossed your mind about a "what if" when your not in your own country. I know I wrote earlier that I didn't want to write about the sad things but it's truly just another part of exchange. The last 2 weeks have been extremely difficult for me especially being out of Canada. I have had to deal with the death of a very close and beloved Uncle in which no one had expected to happen. Also going along with the passing was Thanksgiving, a big family holiday back home. These last couple of weeks have truly made myself stronger as I have had to deal with the grief and flood of different emotions along with the regular exchange frustrations/emotions. But life also goes on here in Chile, and having to deal with other frustrations and difficulties/situations here as well has sure kept my mind occupied for a couple of weeks and restless nights. But like one of my exchange student friends told me, "life still happens, no matter where you are, life things still happen." It's so true and you truly can't do much about things back home other than staying in contact with those who you love and can help you. I've also been lucky enough to have great exchange friends here, Chilean friends, and other supporters who have helped me to deal with an unexpected occurrence or have been sympathetic to my situation. The other problem is that I feel like my Spanish hasn't progressed within the last few weeks which is not a good sign, and adds more stress and pressure to my situation... but that's just a short fall-back.

That being said you have to continue on with your new life, new people, new surroundings, and new culture because you truly can't stay preoccupied for to long or else you'll be wasting all your energy and thoughts on things that you can't fix. The other day I got a library card for this cute library/cultural center here in Las Condes (don't know how useful it'll be once I switch houses.) There's a lot of green-space which is nice in the city, so I've taken advantage of the children's books and I have the opportunity to sit under a tree, read or listen to music when I need some alone time not in my room. It's a hopeful thought that I'll be able to understand the books soon without my dictionary... it'll come in time!

On a good note this past Saturday I went to Fantasilandia with a group of exchange students. Fantasilandia is like Canada's Wonderland - but much smaller with a lot of flaites and english names used for all of the rides... weird. It was a good day and I even managed to get soaked on the second last ride!

The Gang: Me, Emily, Rachel, Billy, Katie, Ayrton, Jo-Ellen (missing Stephen and Sam)

I've also been here in Chile now for 2 months! I can honestly say that I really like Chile, I'm still finding my life here but I truly do enjoy living here and would not go back to Canada right now even if you shoved a one-way ticket in my face.

Los 33 Mineros

2010-10-17T13:53:00.008-03:00

As it was huge world news everyone knows that the 33 trapped miners are now free! The news coverage has always been pretty big here but it started to be continous 1-2 days before the start of the mission. I watched the first miner come to the surface with my host-family, we were clapping and so happy! Every news channel was constantly coverage on the mission. I also watched the last miner come up and that was real emotional as well. It's such an amazing thing to have these men survive, they were so far down with little contact and supplies for so long, and with a small chance of digging down to the right place... truly a miracle! It was really cool to be in a country when something like this happened. Not that it was a good thing that happened, but to see the whole country come together as one for these strangers trapped in the mine.

chi chi chi le le le los mineros de chile!

Not-So-Typical Thanksgiving

2010-10-12T23:04:00.005-03:00

It was more difficult than I thought to be missing Thanksgiving this year. I'm usually accustomed to at least 2, maybe 3 Thanksgiving dinners back home but this year no big bird, stuffing, or pumpkin pie for me! On Sunday my good exchange friend/fellow Canadian met me in Santiago and we went out for sushi and walked around Providencia. A lot of stores and restaurants were closed, I think it must be a Sunday thing, possibly for religious reasons. We decided that we would make our own Thanksgiving dinner for my host-family for once. So we bought some sliced turkey, mashed-up some potatoes, cooked some squash, made some gravy and BAM - Thanksgiving dinner!

I don't think my host-family fully understood what Thanksgiving was but it was a good meal!

Things that I am thankful for but not limited to...

My family in Canada
My friends - Canadian, Exchange, Chilean
My host-family
Rotary and my exchange
Opportunity and freedom
Food - even if it does make me gain "exchange weight"
A roof over my head
Skype

Amusing Things

2010-10-09T22:41:00.008-04:00

The huge flag in front of The Moneda

The other day I went to Santa Lucia to a feria with my Kiwi friend and I bought colourful Chile pants - much needed, once you buy Chile pants... you never go back!

I also purchased some things for special people's birthdays and even some Christmas presents early!

At the top of Cerro Santa Lucia

Before that we went to another market in Los Dominicos and saw these miniature trees... so weird!

This tree was planted in 1975

Saw some Japanese-esque or something dressed girls... it was un poco extraño to say the least!

I also ate my first Big Mac in my life... an accomplishment which my friends back home are proud of - one more thing off my "to do in Chile" list!

Today I wandered around the city solo
Purchased a much needed Chile purse and walked a lot then headed to Plaza de Armas
I saw a bunch of old men playing chess, it was intense!

I love it when men try to "compliment the gringa" but end-up making no sense because they can't even pronounce "gorgeous" properly

I finally found chocolate chips to make my mom's sacred chocolate chip cookies one day, and they were also selling Canadian Maple Syrup... only for $25 CDN! (Rip-off!)

I find it hilarious when my host-grandma insults my host-dad, because now I can understand it!

The other day I was looking at the new match box that we use to light our hot water and when I turned it over there was a picture of Pamela Anderson... uhhhhh?!

My host-dad bought a torta (birthday cake) because the neighbors have a pre-teen birthday party going on... really random, but awesome!

Happy Thanksgiving back home!

City Tour

2010-10-05T10:06:00.006-04:00

This past weekend I went with all the exchange student from my district to the coast - Pacific that is! We all travelled by bus to Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, and San Antonio. At Valparaíso we went on a boat ride around the port, saw some sea lions, did some shopping with all sorts of artesian things, and had lunch. We then went on travelling again and with all honesty I cannot remember the chain or events, just that exchange students are awesome!

I also purchased my first alpaca sweater and some new bracelets. I go crazy for bracelets here, and so do a lot of exchange students, its just this obsession we have, no big deal.

On Sunday we stopped at a few more places including Isla Negro with one of Pablo Neruda's houses (famous Chilean poet with GORGEOUS houses), San Antonio and went through the feria where I was told to carry my backpack on my front (what a tourist), and then we headed back to have an asado.

Edit: I forgot to mention about our bus hitting a wall... yep, our trusty coach bus was turning and ran right into a cliff... oh Chile you make me laugh way too much!

Sharing

2010-09-27T18:27:00.002-04:00

Right from Kindergarten we've been taught to share with others and to not be greedy. Here in Chile I find sharing taken to a whole other level.

Example 1: Food
You share ALL your food, ALL the time! Especially at school your food is fair game. During breaks if you have a snack or buy something you can guarantee to only eat less than half of it because everyone comes up, asks, or just takes a piece of whatever you have. Even if its just a piece of bread, cookies, chips, juice, sandwich, whatever, you bound to share it with at least two other people. At lunch your food is also free game. At my table there's usually forks going everywhere, trying bits of every one's food, and asking if your going to finish it. I find if you ask who wants to finish your food its divided up and gone pretty quickly! But also its polite to offer food to people as well, its just the culture.

Example 2: Space
Ok so it's not the same type of sharing as the food example but living in Santiago, a city of approx. 5 million, sharing space especially in transit is special. I've now experienced the "sardine-can effect" on the metro and it was not comfortable for me. Or also on the buses when you have people falling into you, again not pleasant. Having so much space and the "personal-respectful space" in Canada its been difficult adjusting to touching a few random people everyday on transit.

This week there's a Pastor from the USA who will be preaching everyday at school. He talks and then its translated for everyone else. Hearing opinions and thoughts that differ significantly from mine can be frustrating at times, especially when I can now understand it. He's very good at what he does and is very strong minded, I'm actually looking forward to hear what he has to say everyday.

Happy 200th Birthday Chile!

2010-09-23T22:35:00.006-04:00

On Thursday I headed down south with my host family to Temuco which is in the Araucanía Region in Chile. It was about a 12-13 hour drive in total after picking up my host-dad at work, my iPod and the empty backseat were my best friends! Something that came as a surprise to me is that we had to pay to use public bathrooms in the gas stations, mind you it wasn't much, but still... that's not as fair for women! We stayed at a friends of my host-parents in Temuco and as soon as we arrived passed 12 am we ate... this was a very common theme for the holiday as I will soon explain!

On Friday I went with my host mom to visit some friends (they used to live in Temuco, so lots of friends and family.) We then came back and had an asado, went to a market and saw half-alive chickens and turkeys for sale along with amazing fresh produce, came back and ate some more, went to a park area that looked over the city, then to a friends house with more food, and then back again and more friends came over.

On Saturday we went to Carahue where my host-dad is from. We saw these old trains that are only from that area and then saw a parade for the holiday celebrations. The parade had no floats, clowns, or people throwing candy out. There were a lot of groups that walked along, schools, native Mapuche people, and most importantly the huasos (Chilean cowboys.) At the end of the parade all the huasos lined-up (mind you I was cringing the whole time while half the horses were spooked) and then people danced the cueca! After that they poured some chicha (typical Chilean drink) into a cacho (bull horn) and passed it around for people to drink. Luckily I was up near the front so my host-mom told they guy that I'm from Canada and I needed to drink it, so I did! After the parade and running into family and friends of my host-family we went to three different houses of my host-dad's family, all including lots of food! We returned back to Temuco and ate, then headed to the fireworks display which ended up as a big taco (traffic-jam) and it only lasted a few minutes, different than our Canadian displays for sure.

Sunday we went to a place where they had holiday festivities for all ages along with displays and such. We also saw a rodeo when we were there, I enjoyed it but it also made me a little sad. Being the animal-lover that I am it was hard to see cows being smashed into the walls, and then some bleeding or not wanting to get back up, but that's the culture and entertainment! The day consisted of some more good food, asado, and more visits with family friends.

On Monday was our driving back home day, but we stopped at the market first to grab some more things. I love going to the markets and seeing all the fresh produce and crafts, and the different people, it's always interesting! Like any holiday, the traffic was pretty bad heading back to the "big city" and we got stuck in a few more tacos.

It was nice to see some more country and a different area of Chile. Whenever I get out of the city and see different things it reminds me of the reasons why I tried so hard to convince Rotary to send me to Chile - the diversity! Driving South the mountains are always on your left side, and vice-versa on the way North. During a few moments some of the South reminded me a lot of Canada, especially rural Ontario, lots of greenery, fields and trees. But then the trees go away, and you can see far in the distance and all of the rolling hills, no longer mountains but giant hills! Also, on our way home we stopped at the Salto del Laja which was a little waterfall and it was so beautiful and was in a little tourist town which we stopped for almuerzo in and once again ate a lot of food!

Chilean food consumption:

Empanadas (everyone had empanadas, and everyone makes them differently so you HAD to try them!)
Asado
Sopapillas (fried bread)
Sopa de campo
Pan de Pascua
Pan, pan and more pan! (bread)
Chilenitos (the manjar filled one's are the best!)

And a lot more, those are just a few that I can remember or can find the name for! Overall I felt like I gained my entire "exchange weight" during the holiday, but thankfully that feeling is gone now and I'm back to eating normally!

Something else that I keep on forgetting to write about is how they use "la" before someone's name as if they were a subject. So therefore I am used to hearing "la Lyndsay" a lot and I've even started to use it to refer to my friends... I'm starting to speak Chilean! Also one of my friends told me that I was speaking good Spanish when I returned from the holiday - ok... good Spanish for me is speaking broken-Spanish sentences, but it was nice that she said that and it gave me an extra confidence boost to keep on practicing! I've also started to get into the habit of picking-up one of the free metro newspapers that they hand out on the street. As long as there's no line or I'm not running to late to school I quickly grab one so I have reading material for school and I can practice my Spanish and try to stay informed about what is going on in the news... if I can understand, and if not, there's always sudoku!

Bicentenario/CALC/Rotary/Life

2010-09-15T09:40:00.018-04:00

Yesterday was yet another productive day at school. I showed up not getting the memo that I didn't have to wear my uniform, whatever I'm an exchange student! I also didn't know how big of a deal the day was for the Bicentenario. Every class had a little booth set up that represented certain years of Chile or different aspects to the culture and people. So we spent the morning setting up the booth, listening to music, and taking pictures. Then we had to travel to all the stations and get stamps on this piece of card - this was for our mark in school. I didn't really learn anything, everyone was just really concerned about getting all the stamps and taking pictures on my camera, it was a good day! We were supposed to get out at 1:45 but everything was done with at 1 so we got to go home a little early.

I went home, took a siesta, woke-up, got ready and headed back to school for 5. I then went to a friends house to get changed and ready for our schools Bicentenario Celebration. Luckily I was able to borrow an outfit fairly last minute, including a ruffled blouse... so attractive! It was so cool to see everyone in tradition Chilean clothing, and at least everyone wore the same things, although it was way more funny to see the gringa wearing it! My class's dance went pretty well, I like performing (the cheerleader in me), but I swear there was an excessive amount of people taking pictures where I happened to be... maybe I was the first gringa to dance at this school?

My class - 3° Medio

Every Chilean knows the cueca

A famous actress showed up!

After some more pictures with friends I had to head home, get changed, and then go to my first Rotary meeting. My clubs meeting is at night, I think we arrived at maybe 9:45 or so. Also we were served dinner! I haven't had real dinner in a month! It was also their meeting celebrating the 18th of September so we had empanadas for starters and then after the meeting some Rotarians danced a little cueca! Also here Rotary is more of a couples thing, so both husband and wife go to the meetings, and we didn't have a speaker or presentation. I was also asked if I was from Australia... it's nice to be thought of as something else than American all the time. We left around midnight and I headed straight to bed because I had one more day of school before the holiday!

I got to school today and only two other people showed up in my class. Luckily they were two of my good friends but still... this is the worst turnout I've ever seen in my life! I mean compared to the lack of students at Southwood before Christmas vacation or the last day of school this is nothing! Even my teacher asked me why I was at school - I'm an exchange student, enough said. So everyone ended up in the computer lab, on Facebook, watching a pirated version of The Karate Kid dubbed over in Spanish with Chinese subtitles and the teachers gave us snacks! We were supposed to leave at 1 but we left early and me and my three amigas headed to the Alto Las Condes Mall. It was cool because you could see a lot of Las Condes from up high. Then two of my friends went home and I went with Cony to the Parque Arauco Mall (which is the giant Americanized one) and we walked around a bit, I ate KFC for the first time in many years, bumped into Stephen randomly (the guy from Ayr), and then we went to the actual park. We just sat and talked, listened to music, and basked in the sun in the middle of the park. I love how they have parks everywhere in Las Condes. It was a good ending to my last day before the holiday!

Things I notice:

There is graffiti everywhere, but a lot of it is more like art than vandalism
A lot of people smoke - On my first day in Chile my host mom smelled my clothes and said they smelled like Canada, because in Chile everything smells like smoke
Most kids bring lunches to school that you warm up in a microwave - I'm getting really good at fighting for a spot for my containers!
Some places have these mini workout gyms outside, I thought they were a joke until one day I saw tons of people using them
Sometimes if you miss your bus stop because the bus is like a sardine can and you can't see outside, the next one could be a long ways away, so you elbow your way through to make sure you get off the next time

By the way, today is the one month anniversary of Chile and I!

2010-09-13T22:40:00.003-04:00

So this picture is a little over due but it was my first completo! One of my host-mom's friends gave it to her for "The Gringa" to eat! Wasn't bad, and luckily there wasn't any mayo on it (not a big fan), although I think I'm still a ketchup girl at heart!

Yesterday was a dreary day, it rained all day and was miserable. But the thing that I like is that when it rains in Santiago, it snows in the Andes. In the morning and even in the afternoon you could see the fresh white powder that seems to brighten up the range, and also the rain helps to clear out the smog for a little while.

My school's 18th of September celebration is tomorrow, I'll be clad in a Chilean style dress along with everyone else in my class... ohhhhhh photos!

2010-09-10T23:29:00.003-04:00

Spanish - what seems at the moment the most unreachable task of my life, becoming fluent.
Although I have to admit Spanish is one of the more easier languages to learn, because it's no Japanese or Thai with its own alphabet. Although I have started to notice how I'm beginning to understand more during the conversations of others. It also really helps when people slow down when they are talking (my host-family is amazing at the slow and simple words with actions) because the Spanish here is muy rápido! It's one thing to understand the conversation and what is going on/being talked about but it's a whole different ball game when it comes to speaking and responding!

Being here for 3.5 weeks there has been improvement in my Spanish especially since I came with nothing! My goal was at 3 weeks to be able to form some sentences, and I'm partially there. I have been able to ask for permission for things and make some points in which my host family or classmates can somewhat understand me. It's coming along, slowly but surely, and I've been learning new Spanish words daily - some that are useless and some that I will eventually be able to create sentences with.

Chile's national holiday, Vacaciones de Septiembre, is coming up next week and its the celebration of 200 years! It's a really big holiday and pretty much lasts a week. I've been told there is typically a lot of dancing, food, drink, and more food. Next week I have classes from Monday-Wednesday but they're only half days. Also my school is having a little fiesta and the classes are dancing, and guess who will be joining?! Yep - I volunteered to dance with my class, the only thing is that I need to find a typical Chilean style dress so I can look the part. The dance that my class is doing is really simple (I forget the name) but it also depends on your partner... I was the last girl to join in... enough said. But it'll be fun anyways - look for hilarious pictures coming soon!

The weather here is starting to warm up thankfully, even the last few days the temperature in Canada and here have been the same... and we're just starting to enter spring! On the days when the sun is out I swear I can feel myself getting a tan during break, but then i come back in, rosy cheeks and I'm still the white girl!

I'm also starting to constantly say or think "Hey, this is Chile" in so many situations. Whether its the kissy sounds that follow me around, the crowded buses where I almost couldn't get off of this morning and had to push myself through, the supermarket that is half under construction but is still a supermarket, how I never know what class I have or what to do, or the the bags of mayo and ketchup in place of jars, things are just different here - and I like it. I've already memorized the pattern of the one car alarm that seems to go off daily somewhere, and the dogs that never stop barking or sound like they want to kill each other are becoming normal background noise.

Mañana is the first orientation for all the 4340 Inbounds!