2 weeks

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).

Easter Island/Isla de Pascua/Rapa Nui

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!

Field hockey, Kanye West and a 5,3

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!

North Trip!

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!

Fotos de patagonia

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!

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

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!

Not-So-Typical Thanksgiving

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