20 Días

CIEE group scavenger hunt (can you see it?)

Carretear: "carr-et-ey-arr" v. to go out, to party, to have fun en masse 

Sorry for the week-long respite, its been a busy one! Where to start....

I want to rectify any insinuation that my host brother is a complete crazy-man, because he has turned out to be a great ally and friend here in Chile (and I think I have somehow agreed to go to the next "active energy release" session?). He and I went running along the beach toward Reñaca (about 8k...I can't believe I survived in the 40 degree night) to see the lights of Valparaíso across the water. (Here I'd like to make a note that no, dearest actual brother Ben, I have not replaced you and I love you most. I'd also like to remind my family and friends that yes, you must continue to give up all hope of wedding bells...no short Chilean husbands for this gringa). After lamenting my lack of Chilean friends due to the university strike, he invited me to meet his friends last Friday at a get-together in Concón, another small city on the outskirts of Valparaíso. It was wonderful to finally get to talk to Chileans with no other Americans around, no escape route for when I get tired of maneuvering the jungle of self-expression in a foreign language. They certainly know how to carretear in style...we made two veggie dips ourselves, experimenting with a bunch of different fresh herbs and spices in the food processor,  peeling carrots and celery by hand (a common thing in Chile, they remove the skins from all fruits and vegetables) as munchies. His friends had also already prepared grape tomatoes encrusted in a cream cheese mixture with chopped nuts rolled on top as well (to die for...and I don't even like grape tomatoes!). Most of his friends are in their upper 20s, finishing out psychology school as well, but I didn't find it hard to talk with them. Its much easier for me to find things in common with a crowd who doesn't need to go to a loud bar and drink excessively in order to have a good time.

 One of the funniest things about hanging out with Chileans is their fascination with the pronunciation of my name. Spanish does not have the syllable "OR" because you roll the majority of your R's, therefore when someone says "Lauren" it sounds like they have a huge bread roll stuffed in the back of their mouth that they are about to swallow. I usually tell people my name is Lorena, something easier to pronounce. I haven't met one Chilean, my host family included, who can pronounce the OR sound in my name, as it typically comes out "Laahhorhin"...or something to that effect. I make fun of my family because often they call me Rayna, a girl they had a few years ago from Hawaii who apparently looked exactly like me, and they typically laugh at themselves each and every time they attempt saying my name as well. My host brother also finds the name of my school, Tulane, hilarious because apparently "Tula" in spanish is crude slang for a certain part of male anatomy...sorry girls in the TULA a Capella Choir back in New Orleans! (note to parents: bring my host brother a Tshirt to force him to wear around Valparaíso when you visit, I can see the embarrassment already....)

On to actual activities I've been participating in. As you can see above, my program had us divide into teams (Oh yes, we were team Bieber Fever...name chosen by one of the guys, no lie.) to compete for ice cream. We had to look for and take photos of different locations in the city, translate Chilean "modismos" by asking people on the street, and complete challenges at different checkpoints within a two hour time span. Gloriously and with dignity, we came in last. In the end, kindergarten style, everyone got heaping mounds of free ice cream at Bravíssimo (delicious local franchise) anyway. 

I've also been exploring Valparaíso a bit more, taking the metro (much cleaner and easier than the crowded "micro" buses) downtown at night with friends to walk around the cobblestone streets looking for hole-in-the-wall bars, restaurants, bakeries, and gelato shops (including a return to Entre Masas for more empanadas). My latest mission is to find a wool llama sweater at one of the numerous artesanía vending booths. While it is still frigid by my standards, things are starting to slightly and slowly warm up. I have even graduated from regular to fingerless gloves (also with llamas on them). 

Changing subjects- update on the strike: protests are getting closer to home. People have taken to the streets, banging pots and pans galore up and down the main drag and even up here in my secluded hill. Chileans love a good excuse to make some noise, so many non-students as well as younger students have enjoyed participating. More than 130 people were arrested in Santiago last week and many of my friends have experienced the tear gas mixed with water used to disperse student protestors, but it is slowly dying down as the government continues drafting a new proposal for improved public university education. We'll see if I have classes with Chileans any time soon. In the meantime, I'm going to start planning what to do with my 4 day weekend! I'm going rock climbing on Friday (despite my complete lack of upper body strength...) and I've joined a local group that plays frisbee every Sunday so I hope to keep going to that as well. Any day trip ideas, previous visitors to my great country of Chile?