Sunday is the halfway mark of my timre in Chile. While I desperately want a Shawn's blueberry bagel, upon my return I know that my stomach's satisfaction will not be worth the mental pain of leaving Chile. Clearly when spending time in another country, you're going to come across some funny little cultural details that make you turn your head up and say, "Wait, what?!" In honor of my halfway mark, here are some little Chilean oddities that either really frustrate me, or that I've come to know and love.
1. Nescafé: Chileans do not drink coffee in "ground bean" form like we do. In fact, most of them do not own nor know how to use a coffee maker. Instead, it is completely customary (both at home and at restaurants) to just heat up some water and put some "coffee powder" in it. This creates a liquid that, as you might of guessed, takes very little like real coffee and instead, like coffee flavored water. ick. ALSO: Even Chilean coffee cafés don't brew coffee. You may have a cappuchino, mocha, expresso shots, or latte, but coffee shops don't brew coffee. An americano is the closest thing I've come.
2. Libraries: The library at my university does not allow you to bring backpacks inside. The second week of school I rolled into the library to do some homework on my two hour break between classes, and the man at the reference desk curtly told me that there are no backpacks in the library. I stared at him dumbfounded and said, "But all my homework is in here!" He pointed to lockers along the wall, where I joined the other students in simply taking everything that was previously in my backpack out and carrying it in my hands. This is not just a U. Católica rule, even at the Govt-run National Library and others in the city, no backpacks are allowed.
3. White bread: Chileans only eat white bread. Wheat is sold in the stores, and finally now my host mom will occasionally buy it for me on special request, but as a general rule, no wheat bread ever passes Chilean lips. The bad part about this? Pancito (a roll of bread) is served with every meal except breakfast.
4. No central heat/AC: The entire country of Chile lives without either air conditioning or central heating. Not in businesses, not at school, not in restaurants, not at home. The story I've been told is that it's too expensive, which I suppose makes sense. However, it gets down to the 30's at night in the winter. Since its now fall leading into winter here, I've been finding it very hard to sit at my desk and write papers with blue, freezing hands. This means I usually end up doing homework in bed, but you know where that leads...
5. Stray dogs/General love of dogs: Chile has a dog problem. There are hundreds of thousands of stray dogs living on the street here. Think of it this way, dogs are to Chile what cows are to India. Also, Chileans in general LOVE dogs. Most families have at least one, and to say you don't like dogs would be super strange, because for the most part, everybody just flat out adores their dogs (stray and domesticated).
6. Toilet Paper Troubles: In a lot of public restrooms there is no TP in the actual stalls. Even at the hoity-toity private catholic university that I attend here, no TP in the stalls. However, there is a giant roll on the wall at the end of the rows of stalls, and you just go and grab your TP and take it into the stall with you. You also use TP to dry your hands after you wash them. This is upsetting because a) If you've got a little more work to do in the bathroom, everyone knows by how much toilet paper you've taken...and b) its just generally hard to anticipate exactly how much TP you're going to need. Awkward.
Alright, well maybe I've blogged about only the things that frustrate me. But these aren't complaints, just little differences that make me understand that some of the things I see as givens in my every day life in the States just--aren't! And that, in a nutshell, is why I love to travel. Living in different countries expands the way I think and helps me to put myself inside the minds of others. But oh for a bagel...
Be well.
Amy
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
A 21 Year Old Song
Hello all! As many of you know, my 21st birthday was last Wednesday. Leading into my birthday I was feeling a little down about being away from family an friends for the big event--everyone I know here I have known for only 2 months, so how could they care that much? Well although these friends are new, they are friends of gold just the same. They made my 21st birthday very memorable and special.
The actual day of my birthday I got to sleep in, and spent the morning opening cards from home, skypeing with my Mom, and working on homework. I ate lunch and then got a call from the CIEE office that there was a package for me, so I went to pick it up and found myself a box of dark chocolates from my Aunt Janet and her family. After that my Human Rights class met to visit the Museum of Memory and Human Rights here in Santiago, and the class greeted me with a muffin with candles and sang Happy Birthday (picture below)! From there I went straight to an interview for a paper I'm working on.
Thursday night my friends took me out for the "21 part," and we went to a bar and danced and sang karaoke and I had my first 21 year old drink (a raspberry mojito). Perhaps most special of all, my host family threw a party for me Friday night at our house. We had a Chilean "Choripan" (a type of barbeque) and about 20 of my friends came. It was so fun to have everyone there together, and I think people really enjoyed the party. Everyone sang Feliz Cumpleaños to me as I blew out all 21 (can you believe how old I am?) candles on my cake. I am so thankful for the 21 years I have had, and marvel at how blessed I have been in my life. I have a wonderful family, friends who love me, good health, a God who cares for me, and many opportunities to see and experience other parts of the world.
Anyway, now that the birthday is said and done, the real work begins. In the next three weeks I've got two essays to write (one is a 20-page research paper on Human Rights during the Pinochet dictatorship), 2 exams, and 2 presentations. This would stress me out in the States too, but the added difficulty of doing all of this in Spanish makes it harder. Also, all these assignments are worth between 30 and 60 percent of my final grades! Yikes. I think starting this week, time is going to begin to race by and before I know it the end of June will be here, classes will be ending, and I'll be preparing to return home.
I have plans for the next four weekends, so I'm sure it will be hard just to find a time to rest while trying to get everything done. This coming Friday I'm going to Talca, where the epicenter of the earthquake was, to help build homes for Chilean families still living in tents in the wake of the terremoto in February. They really need homes going up as winter is coming! The weekend after that I fly to San Pedro de Atacama with CIEE to see the desert and the highlights of the north of Chile. Then, the weekend after that my Mom, Aunt Janet, and Mom's childhood friend Natalie will all be here visiting. I can't wait! I will spend that whole week with them and then we're going to Viña del Mar/Valparaiso for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the week they're here. It is going to be a crazy month of May, but I know it will be amazing. I'll try to update at some point, although I'm not sure when that will be.
To those of you in the States who sent cards or facebook greetings for my birthday, thank you so much. Feeling so loved from so far away was one of the most special parts of my birthday.
Love and blessing to you all,
Amy
The actual day of my birthday I got to sleep in, and spent the morning opening cards from home, skypeing with my Mom, and working on homework. I ate lunch and then got a call from the CIEE office that there was a package for me, so I went to pick it up and found myself a box of dark chocolates from my Aunt Janet and her family. After that my Human Rights class met to visit the Museum of Memory and Human Rights here in Santiago, and the class greeted me with a muffin with candles and sang Happy Birthday (picture below)! From there I went straight to an interview for a paper I'm working on.
Thursday night my friends took me out for the "21 part," and we went to a bar and danced and sang karaoke and I had my first 21 year old drink (a raspberry mojito). Perhaps most special of all, my host family threw a party for me Friday night at our house. We had a Chilean "Choripan" (a type of barbeque) and about 20 of my friends came. It was so fun to have everyone there together, and I think people really enjoyed the party. Everyone sang Feliz Cumpleaños to me as I blew out all 21 (can you believe how old I am?) candles on my cake. I am so thankful for the 21 years I have had, and marvel at how blessed I have been in my life. I have a wonderful family, friends who love me, good health, a God who cares for me, and many opportunities to see and experience other parts of the world.
Anyway, now that the birthday is said and done, the real work begins. In the next three weeks I've got two essays to write (one is a 20-page research paper on Human Rights during the Pinochet dictatorship), 2 exams, and 2 presentations. This would stress me out in the States too, but the added difficulty of doing all of this in Spanish makes it harder. Also, all these assignments are worth between 30 and 60 percent of my final grades! Yikes. I think starting this week, time is going to begin to race by and before I know it the end of June will be here, classes will be ending, and I'll be preparing to return home.
I have plans for the next four weekends, so I'm sure it will be hard just to find a time to rest while trying to get everything done. This coming Friday I'm going to Talca, where the epicenter of the earthquake was, to help build homes for Chilean families still living in tents in the wake of the terremoto in February. They really need homes going up as winter is coming! The weekend after that I fly to San Pedro de Atacama with CIEE to see the desert and the highlights of the north of Chile. Then, the weekend after that my Mom, Aunt Janet, and Mom's childhood friend Natalie will all be here visiting. I can't wait! I will spend that whole week with them and then we're going to Viña del Mar/Valparaiso for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the week they're here. It is going to be a crazy month of May, but I know it will be amazing. I'll try to update at some point, although I'm not sure when that will be.
To those of you in the States who sent cards or facebook greetings for my birthday, thank you so much. Feeling so loved from so far away was one of the most special parts of my birthday.
Love and blessing to you all,
Amy
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Even to the Ends of the Earth
The past week I had the incredible opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful places on God's earth-Patagonia (specifically Chile's national park, Torres del Paine). Classes were cancelled Thursday and Friday the week before Easter, so I took the liberty of skipping a bit of school and going south for a whole week. While I missed being at home with my family (and the Mixes!) during Easter, spending Easter Sunday watching the sun rise over spectacular mountain vistas seemed to me the best way of celebrating our living God! Here is one of the many pictures I took in Torres del Paine:
It seems that God proving His faithfulness to me is going to be the story of my life. Getting to Patagonia was stressful because I had to miss school, and we took red eye flights there and back so I was pretty tired even going into this vacation. We decided that we wanted to hike the famous "W" of Torres del Paine, however this usually takes 5 days and we only had 4 days free to backpack through the park. Additionally, we didn't have the appropriate gear (tents, cold weather sleeping bags, hiking boots, camping stoves, etc.) to complete the hike. However, we found a place to rent all the gear once we arrived, and God used an exhausting four days of hiking and camping to teach me about his faithfulness and love for me. In four days we hiked about 40 miles over rocky and hilly terrain with 30 pound packs on our backs. This was super challenging for me! Below is a picture of the route we backpacked through Torres del Paine (it makes it easy to see why it is called the "W").
And here is a picture of where we camped the first night. Makes it easy to understand why it was impossible for this trip not to be spiritual, doesn't it!?!
This is me in front of the famed Torres (Towers) of Torres del Paine:
We had flown into the southernmost city in South America, and the Bible verse that kept me going over these physically and mentally challenging days was, "I am with you always, even to the ends of the earth." Though the going was tough, every day I was reenergized by the beauty of the earth that God gave me. I think God has blessed me by allowing me to recognize His grace in my life. Here in Santiago grace comes not only though week-long trips to Patagonia, but also through little things like peanut butter, good conversations with my host family, and finding ways to cut time off the daily commute :)
This weekend we have a cultural trip to Valparaiso/Vina del Mar with CIEE (my study abroad program). It should be a fun three days in what we call "Gringolandia" (land of the gringos, since we will be a group of 40 or so Americans, haha). Its hard to believe that I am almost two months into my time here in Santiago. Sometimes I miss people and things from home so much that I want to return tomorrow, but usually I am filled with thankfulness for the time I have here.
So here's a funny thing (and then I promise I will end this eternal blog). One of my greatest fears before coming to study in Chile was living in a Spanish-speaking culture. I was scared I wouldn't understand my professors and that I would feel unable to adequately express myself in Spanish. However, Spanish has become such a big part of my everyday life and the way I process things that I am afraid it will be the thing I miss most once I leave Santiago! In fact, I am so sad about no longer being surrounded by Spanish-speakers once I return to the US that I started to look for jobs in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries once I graduate. (Mom, do not freak out. We will talk.) Fancy that!
It seems that God proving His faithfulness to me is going to be the story of my life. Getting to Patagonia was stressful because I had to miss school, and we took red eye flights there and back so I was pretty tired even going into this vacation. We decided that we wanted to hike the famous "W" of Torres del Paine, however this usually takes 5 days and we only had 4 days free to backpack through the park. Additionally, we didn't have the appropriate gear (tents, cold weather sleeping bags, hiking boots, camping stoves, etc.) to complete the hike. However, we found a place to rent all the gear once we arrived, and God used an exhausting four days of hiking and camping to teach me about his faithfulness and love for me. In four days we hiked about 40 miles over rocky and hilly terrain with 30 pound packs on our backs. This was super challenging for me! Below is a picture of the route we backpacked through Torres del Paine (it makes it easy to see why it is called the "W").
And here is a picture of where we camped the first night. Makes it easy to understand why it was impossible for this trip not to be spiritual, doesn't it!?!
This is me in front of the famed Torres (Towers) of Torres del Paine:
We had flown into the southernmost city in South America, and the Bible verse that kept me going over these physically and mentally challenging days was, "I am with you always, even to the ends of the earth." Though the going was tough, every day I was reenergized by the beauty of the earth that God gave me. I think God has blessed me by allowing me to recognize His grace in my life. Here in Santiago grace comes not only though week-long trips to Patagonia, but also through little things like peanut butter, good conversations with my host family, and finding ways to cut time off the daily commute :)
This weekend we have a cultural trip to Valparaiso/Vina del Mar with CIEE (my study abroad program). It should be a fun three days in what we call "Gringolandia" (land of the gringos, since we will be a group of 40 or so Americans, haha). Its hard to believe that I am almost two months into my time here in Santiago. Sometimes I miss people and things from home so much that I want to return tomorrow, but usually I am filled with thankfulness for the time I have here.
So here's a funny thing (and then I promise I will end this eternal blog). One of my greatest fears before coming to study in Chile was living in a Spanish-speaking culture. I was scared I wouldn't understand my professors and that I would feel unable to adequately express myself in Spanish. However, Spanish has become such a big part of my everyday life and the way I process things that I am afraid it will be the thing I miss most once I leave Santiago! In fact, I am so sad about no longer being surrounded by Spanish-speakers once I return to the US that I started to look for jobs in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries once I graduate. (Mom, do not freak out. We will talk.) Fancy that!
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