Friday, October 19, 2007

2 meses mas?

wow. i apologize for being absolutely terrible at updating this thing. a quick recap on my last few weeks here in chile:

  • a couple of weeks ago, Jen and I decided to rent bikes and ride up to a city called Horcon, north of vina...well, first we had to get out of vina, but it was a bit complicated because on the north end of vina there was some construction, so riding the sidewalk wasnt really an option for a portion of the way...luckily, there was an older guy riding a bike in front of us right before the construction part, so we just decided, what the heck? let's follow this guy, he seems like he knows what he's doing! hahaha. welll, that decision, which i probably never would have done in the states, led us to riding our bikes through vina traffic, right along side teh cars, dodging oncoming traffic, and eventually leading us to safety...omg it was crazy...jen and i were yelling at eachother in the traffic, trying ot contain our...surprise/shock/amazement about what were doing...it was crazy. ok, but anyway, the ride turned out to be wayyy more north than we originally thought, but we only decided to turn around after riding a good 3 hours north, and still not reaching the town...hahah...Jen is a triathlete, aka, she can bike/go up hills/not die...I, on the other hand, was...struggling. There were a few pretty good hills, but i guess to make up for those hills, i had some great views: the view up and down the coast, some hills/mts. in the distance, etc. So anyway, after deciding to turn around, we biked back to Con Con, got some empanadas really fast, and took our time coming back to vina/valpo to return the bikes...we rented the bikes out at 10 that morning, and returned them at 4 that afternoon...needless to say, my legs were dead! oh! and how could i forget? I got in a head-on collision! on my bike, of course....we were on a sidewalk (a pretty narrow one..) along the highway in between vina and valpo, i was in front, and coming toward us were two guys on bikes...so i get over to the right side of the sidewalk, which i thought was normal...but the guy coming our way decided to go the same way as me...sooooo we ended up just crashing head-on...it was pretty hysterical...jen and i just could not stop laughing...i think the guy was just soo embarrassed, he said nothing and biked off...hahah...no injuries, but soo soo funny!
  • the next day we ran in a "5k" in vina...adidas is doing a running tour through all of Chile, and they had a 5k here in vina, it was free, near our houses, so we were like, why not? well anyway, this "5k" turned out to be maybe 2 miles...i really don't know what it is here in Chile with races, but everyone ive done so far (ok, only 3, but still!) is either so blatantly short, or too long. But after the race, one guy was saying that they just call it a 5k for marketing purposes...ok, that kind of makes sense, but whats so hard about naming it for the distance it really is, or just making it a real 5k race?! Nonetheless, it was fun. It's really funny here: there are lots of free races (maybe thats why i shouldnt count on them being the real distance...?) but before everyrace when everyone gathers together near the start, there's a stage with people leading aerobic exercises (like jazzercize, i suppose), yoga/stretching sessions, and just major 'pump up' stuff going on. it's really funny to watch/be a spectator at that sort of thing, especially because i think if something like that were to happen in the states before a race, not a whole lot of people would take part in it, or be embarrassed to be jumping around doing crazy things like that...! but here, everyone does it!
  • i read a whole novel (300 pages, in spanish por supuesto) in 24 hrs for a test the next day. i really really thought i would either a)never finish it on time, or b) just not start it in the first place, and see what happens...oh but no, i did it. in retrospect, it's just so funny...i just had this inclination that the chileans in my class wouldnt do it, and figured it wouldnt be a problem if i didnt do it either, but man, i did it...and it was actually a good book! but, when i got to class the next day, only me and the two other gringos in my class, and two chileans had actually read the novel. and what did the other studnets do when she passed out teh test to us? oh, they left. yep, that's right. they said they had 'other stuff' to do, and that's why they couldnt finish it, but um, hello? and i dont? gee, getting some sleep that night would've been nice...oh well, we took the test, and we most definitely got some major brownie points from our prof. yesss!
  • i traveled to Santiago to the Spanish consulate to get my passport notarized for my spanish visa...I really had no idea where the consulate was, aside from teh address, but i asked Pam y Vivi (the most amazing program coordinators) if i should call to ask for directions, or if they knew where it was, but they jsut took over for me. Pam called the consulate right away, asked them what metro station to get off at, and then printed out some maps for me to see how to get there! I didn't even ask for that much, muchless expect that! Anyway, it was reallllly easy. the consulate turned out to be just a few blocks away from the metro station, and i just had to drop off my papers and passport, and that's it! Jess came with me (she insisted i not travel alone), so when i was done with what i had to do after a quick 15 minutes, we were like, ughhh what do we do now? So we ended up walking around for about an hour, before deciding that santiago is just so big, and you'd have to have an idea of what you wanted to do there/know where to go, in order to do something worth your while, so we went to a restaurant real quick before heading back to vina...Then, the next week i went back to pick up my paperwork from the consulate, and mail it off...it felt great to be able to navigate my way through these transactions alone in chile! yes!
  • last weekend, Christan, Jen and I went hiking/camping in El Parque Nacional La Campana, between vina and santiago, because we had monday off school for some religious holiday...we left friday afternoon, stayed in a hostel in Olmue on friday night after going grocery shopping for the next couple of days....So early Saturday we arrived at the park, talked to the guy at the entrance who told us about some waterfalls at the other side of the park, so we decided that was our goal for the weekend--to hike over to them before we leave monday morning...So Saturday was really just a day full of uphill climbing with our heavy backpacks on, full of food and water...mann...its almost a week later and i still feel it in my legs/butt! turns out the trail wasn't clearly marked, so we ended up taking a wrong turn at the top of the mountain, making us go in the wrong direction for the waterfalls, so we ended up somewhere totally different, thus making it impossible for us to be able tos ee the waterfalls, but oh well. So we got to the campsite that night, and well, i think i just attract boy scouts. even in foreign countries. there were TONS of boys running around, well into the night, all around the campsite...the boyscouts here have chants that they kept shouting nonstop all weekend, and it was pretty interesting because, well, as far as i know, when the boyscouts/really when anyone goes camping in the staes, you get up with teh sun, or relatively early, right? or am i mistaken? well, we were heading out for our hike the second day around 12 after having an easy morning, and the boys were just then getting up and ready...and then at night they were up till like 12-1ish...is that weird or is it just me? ok whatever. the weekend was fun. the three of us ended up camping in a 2-PERSON TENT. biggest. mistake. ever. the first night, i was lucky enough to be in the middle, which basically means, lay on the hard ground (we didnt have sleeping pads), and dont move. dont move at all. even if youre uncomf, cold, hot, in pain, or need to go the bathroom. it was super painful. i slept a good 1.5 hrs that night. the next night i was on the outside, whihc is equally painful, but with more space to move my head...that was good. :) all in all, it was a good weekend. really relaxing and fun!
ok, i know there's more, but those stand out in my memory right now...and oh my gosh! less than two months left here! how crazy...time has just absolutely flown by down here...maybe because i'm in the other hemisphere?! JUST KIDDING.

cuidense!
-amor-

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