Pictas

Dipping my toes in the Pacific in Valparaíso

Lobo Marino ("Sea wolf") but really a Sea LION - basking in the sun.

Yo y Pia en Valparaíso

Roses in Parque Araucano, a park close to my apartment.

Alice is here!!!!

Alice is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She got here yesterday morning with no glitches in plane schedules and no intimidating situations with airport security. She ate all of her granola bars before going through customs in Santiago just in case.

Yesterday after Pablo and I picked her up at the airport we came back to the apartment, had breakfast, relaxed for a little while, and then set out for a long day of walking around the city. First we went up Cerro San Cristobal. There is a huge pool up there that overlooks the city. We didn't go in but it is really beautiful and I hope to make it there before I leave. We took the funicular down into Bellavista neighborhood and then walked from there to downtown. It was hot and Alice is still acclimating because she came from a colder climate :/ We saw all of the older downtown buildings, including La Moneda (the government palace), and then caught a bus into Providencia to have lunch with Lucy and Nigel. After lunch, we ate some gelato at a new gelato place. Super yummy. That brought us to 6 pm so we headed home for a quick descanso before going over to Pablo and Magda's for snacks and THE BEATLES Guitar Hero(!!!!!!!)

The game is really cool actually. We were all mesmerized by the graphics. AND I got to sing Revolution, A Hard Day's Night, Can't Buy Me Love, Yellow Submarine, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, etc. Alice played some songs for us on the guitar (on Easy, but she was still great). After a long sesh we went home because we were tired after our day of walking in the heat.

Right now we're sitting in the kitchen and we just had my favorite breakfast of shredded apple, yogurt, and granola. We're going to go pack a little bit before heading out for the day. We leave for the South tonight!!!! I won't have my computer while we are down there but I'll post lots of pics and write all about it when we get back!

I´m sunburnt...jealous?

I have taken to being a huge brat lately when telling people from the midwest how it´s going here. I can´t really help it - my grades are good, the weather is beautiful, the is a pool on my roof, and my semester will be over in about 27 hours.

I´m writing this post from a computer room on campus. I have a final exam in 2 hours but I have studied for it about all I can so I´m taking a break now and when people from my class start to arrive, I´ll study with them for a little while. My location means I can´t put up pictures right now but I´ll put some up this afternoon. :)

I went to Valparaíso again last weekend. It was sunny this time and Pia (friend from soccer who I went with) and I even got to stick our toes in the ocean (which is about as cold as lake superior but still pretty nice). That is the only traveling I have done lately, mostly because I´ve been busy wraping up school. I also ran another 7K race on Nov. 8. Best t-shirt yet.

Oofta, I´m going to have to cut this short. Time for lunch (microwaved chicken breast with tomato sauce - it´s pretty funny how all of these college students bring bagged lunch from home, prepared by their nanas most likely) and studying. I bought a snicker bar (they´re like $1.50 here) for desert. YUM.

P.S. Joe Mauer is the bomb. More later!

Time flies when you're having fun!

Dorky title, I apologize. IT IS TOTALLY SPRING TIME HERE AND I'M SORRY TO BRAG BUT HOLY COW SANTIAGO IS PRETTY! The streets are lined with green leafy trees, the big parks and coming to life with pick-up games of soccer and a billion rose bushes (I noticed them in Parque Araucano - see one of my first posts for a picture and description - for the first time today and literally stopped in my tracks because they are so full and beautiful), the sun is warm and the shade is cool. And the maintenance guys are going to fill our rooftop pool any day now.

I've been really busy the past two weeks with studying (what?!?!) and some fun stuff too. I went rock climbing again but this time in a gym; went camping in the Maipo River Valley just southeast of Santiago; played soccer with a new league team (I'm still playing with the other one but this one was short players last Friday so I got to fill in!); ran another race with Pablo - this time a 7Km; and celebrated Halloween USA-style by carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds... and dressing up of course. (Pictures below)



Like I said, school got crazy all of a sudden. I had two tests last week, a project turn-in this Tuesday, and a quiz today. They've all gone surprisingly well though! The project was kind of interesting, because it was a group project and we started the semester out with 5 people in our group and three people dropped in the two weeks leading up to the due-date, so Gabriel and I had to do it all by ourselves! And there are debates next week related to the same project, but since we would be 2 versus 5 our profe excused us from the debate and is just going to grade us on the written portion, so it worked out kind of sweet! That also means that I don't have any work left to do for that class unless I have to take the final, and I only have to take the final if I don't have a 5.5 (on a 1-7 scale) at the end of the semester. Wahoo!

Speaking of the 1-7 scale, my soccer profe was talking about my soccer class TA the other day and about how great this guy is, and instead of saying "Nico is a 10" like we would in the States, he said, "Nico is a 7, he is definitely a 7." I thought it was funny. Some cultural differences you just don't see coming, you know?

And speaking of soccer, I was talk to my bro-in-law the other day after going to watch him and another friend play some pick-up fútbol, and we got to talking about why I never see men and women playing together here. He told me it's because the mentality is that girls are dangerous to play with because they kick you all the time... I said yeah the bad ones! He agreed, but said that it would be hard to find a group of men who would pay to rent a field and play with a bunch of women. LAME. So naturally that lit a flame under my butt. While I was at Parque Araucano today I saw several different pickup games going on just in the grass, as in no one has to pay to play there, and next week I'm going to go back with my cleats. Mark my words.

I am crazy making plans for traveling after the semester is over. Initially they were more ambitious, but now I think I just want to hop around in the South of Chile where all the rivers, lakes, and volcanoes are. Everyone says it's gorgeous down there, and it will be easier to do with my small budget. Also I feel like since I am studying abroad in Chile after all, I should get to know all of it at least a little bit, especially since it is so different in the North, Middle, and South. Oh! And Alice is coming to visit me!! So she will be my travel companion. SO PUMPED. She'll be here until December the 6th, and I depart the 15th. Between when she leaves and I leave the plan is to get really tan so that I can brag a lot when I get home, only to have it fade in about a week in that nasty Midwest winter climate (that I love so much but really only for about a month).

Ironically, even though I'm dreading coming back to the cold, I have developed a case of Christmas fever lately and Magda and I are going to watch The Holiday tonight. I think it's because classes are coming to a close (2 more weeks!!) and usually that means Christmas is almost here. Regardless, I'm wishing I had the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack on my computer more and more every day. I would love to listen to it while sunning next to the pool. HA! Chau!

Here's a fun one - a crappy climbing wall set up on campus with The Andes as a back drop.