Alesia's Birthday with the Family

So fun, as always uncomfortable at the start but then it was great. This one boy talked to me about movies and delt with my Spanish.  Gabi has an adorable blonde haired blue eyed daughter. Nice older woman I think could tell I was feeling awkeard and tried to include me by asking me a question in Spanish I didn't understand.  This resulted in a bright bright red face on my part.  I really like that woman though she always goes out of her way to talk to me and ask me questions. A ton of food and sweets. Alesia liked the ring I gave her, I liked it so I am glad she does.

Little girl kept asking me words to translate to English and got really energetic toward the end of the night.  Both of the boys went to go play legos with the kids, it was kind of adorable.  Her uncle also doted on her it was sweet.

Lots of sipo, Chilean slang

Alesia's pololo is awesome. Him and I talked about religion and traditions in Oklahoma and here. He said it was nice to finally meet me. Such a nice guy to everyone, Alesia picked a good one. It was a great evening and most importantly now I get to sleep.

Tons of cakes, one pineapple,apple, berry and the orange one that Jaime, Alesia's pololo made. The orange was really good!

Mapuche New Year y Renaca

Mapuche New Year: Katies host parents drove us up the the botanical park to catch some of the new year. They are so nice, the mother is so excited to share everything. While in the car there was a song that came on that sounded almost exactly like an Spanish Elvis, then we learned that he was actually italian, but they didn't know his name. We listened to oldies in the car and I enjoyed being driving around. By the time we got to the grounds where the Mapuche New Year was going on we learned that it was over, but there were still some people up there. So we drove up there and looked around. I am bummed we missed the festivities because it looked like it was a good time. There was a square of tents set up made of wood and leaves with different families cooking in these tents. They were all very square and connected. They were grilling a ton of meat and everyone was working together to prepare the rest of the meal. It was pretty cool to see. The mom asked where we could find someone to talk to about the festivities and we found ourselves talking to this older man who represented the 'tribe' more or less. He told us about how the festival was intended to raise awareness about the injusties done to the Mapuche people and share their culture with the world and maintain it within their families. He was very interesting. When Dana took a picture he said that you must ask before you take a picture because some people get very offended. We were all sitting in his little hut on spare chairs and on peoples jackets. They were so hospitable. Then a woman came around and offered us this oatmeal bread that looked sorta like uncooked hashbrowns and marmalade. They tasted a little strange but very hearty and I enjoyed them quite a bit.

Then the mom asked if we wanted to go to Reñaca, Dana hesitated at first because her host family has big at home dinners on Sunday. Then Katies mom turned into my aunt, I kid you not, this woman channeled my aunt and persuaded her to go. She was like how often do you get to have beautiful days like this you must go to the beach. Dana broke down. So they drove us up the hill and we got to see beautiful views of the town and the mountains in the background. It was a different side of Viña because it wasn't coastal and the views were much different. Then we went to Gardens de Viña, this area was the 'posh' area and many of the homes resembled ones in the states, with front yards and different designs.

Then they drove us to the beach on the way they pointed out their favorite empanadas place. I was starved so we went there first before the beach. As to be assumed, I over ordered and ate all of it. I got one fried shrimp and cheese one and a baked cheese, ham, tomato and olive one. They were heavenly. I prefered the baked one because it had more flavor. The shrimp one was just shrimp and cheese and it was sort of boring. All the goodies sunk down the bottom of the little breaded package so when I got to the end it was a cheesy mess. But I love it all. I was going to save one then I ended up eating it all. I've been so hungry lately I don't know whats wrong with me.

La playa: was under construction but once we walked down to it, it was so beautiful. I had to take my shoes off and put my feet in the water. Little did I know the water moves much quicker here. One second your feet are in the water the next it's up to your knees. I still loved it. It wasn't terribly cold. It was a beautiful time on the beach. I understand why it is so popular. The waves are so powerful and it smells so much like the sea. The rocks also make for beautiful waves. It might be the most beautiful beach I have seen. But at the same time there wasn't a ton of space for people to lay out, the water comes up so far onto the beach.

Walking tour 2

19 Julio
Fuimos a (we went to)
- Pablo Neruda's house La Sebastiana. Neruda was an awesome dude. I officially love every single one of his houses. This one had a great view of the beach http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Neruda
- walking tour of the street art
- had a traditional dish AKA huge fat lunch. It consisted of french fries, egg, onion and a huge I MEAN HUGE pile of meat. This was a beast. I ate way too much of it. But hey, it's a cultural experience right? It was in this amazing cool resturant with nick nacks all around the room and people wrote on every possible surface. I am pretty sure they only surved the fry dish too. The place is J Cruz and was in Valpo (cool website below)
http://www.jcruz.cl/

- bought my ticket to Peru after extensive deliberation
- went to class around 6:30 then the sniffles came into play, full force. In class we learned more about the chilean education system. This link talks about it more extensively http://www.mineduc.cl/
-was miserable and had to take a cold shower when I got home. Needless to say, my cold is sticking around :(

Hoy necesito descansar. Today I need to rest. Class this morning was interesting but yesterday was a very long day.

Primer Dia de Clase

Hoy fuimos a clase.  I was kind of bummed out because there weren't other students in our class, just us OSU folks.  But the lecture was interesting, the professor really enjoys to talk.  He told us about Chile and gave us a general overview of Latin American history and development.  He talked about the different structures and how Cuba has a very successful education system, because it is completely centralized and government controlled.  Then Martha brought up an excellent point when she said, well then after school they must realize that the government continues to control their choices and options for advancement.  It was an interesting class, as an American de los EEUU, communism is a ideology very hard for me to accept.  Her in Latin America it is a commonly supported idea and Finland and places like that seem to have a very centralized system and they like it.  I don't know.  Whenever people start comparing the USA with other places like Cuba and even Chile, I think they forget how huge USA is.  And although everything is 'bad' there right now, it's not as bad as it could be.  Especially because the country is huge, with a ton of different goals and ideologies.  It was mildly frustrating at times to voice my opinion because I am so uninformed.  But in my mind people should have the choice to work hard for what they desire, and that means working hard to get scholarships to go to University.  Or get a job to pay for university.  The professor also said that in Chile it is difficult to work while in school, which I guess would be a problem. I know I've been blessed with never having to live with a huge fear of debt or money problem, but I still think a completely centralized education system would not work in the states.

Then after that we went to the Cafe and got some VERY cheap tea and cookies.  Then we took the metro to the Cafe Journal, a gringo bar where we were hoping the thunder game was playing. No such luck.  I got a mango juice drink, it was yummmmmmmmmmmy.  I am looking forward to going back there.  It's supposedly the place to be.

Did I mention it's raining. It has been all day.  We had to talk to 1 Norte only to learn that the bus we needed was literally where we began.  Eventually, after the help of a nice man at the first wrong bus stop, then another nice man at the magazine hut, we ended up in the right direction on the right bus. THEN AGAIN the nice chilean bus driver helped me with my stop at los fresnos.  I am so lucky to have a decent sense of direction.  I found my way back home perfectly, I didn't get lost once.  But of course I second guessed myself and thought I was lost. But I wasn't :)  It was great to go into the city and see more of it.  It made me excited for everything. My host sister has her boyfriend over, I guess its common for him to come over and spend the night.  The mama said it's safer than them getting a hotel room so its acceptable.  That's so strange to me.  It does make me want a pololo, but my mother would probably kill me if I started dating a chilean boy.