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Some things I learned about Chile…

As I said before, I will list some of the things I learned about Chile just like I did Costa Rica. This might apply to only southern Chile, and it’s not in order because I list it as it comes into my mind, so here goes…

1. Who let the dogs out? (Ruff, ruff, ruff ruff ruff)
2. Si-po, no-po, ya-po
3. Hablo castellano cachai?
4. Ma o meno, eso no ma, nosotro somo, etc… you get the idea.
5. Insanely crazy amounts of modismo y garabatos…(Gracias a mis estudiantes)
6. Cazuela, empenadas, barros lucos, pichanga, sopaipillas, mariscos, pullmay, porotos and many more…
7. Pancito, aguaita, tecito, cafecito…everything is ito, ita, cito, cita.
8. Colo colo is the team to root for if you’re in the South…
9. Canal 13, TVN, Mega, Chilevision.
10. Donde esta Elisa? Cuenta conmigo, Corazon Rebelde, Yingo, Peloton etc.
11. Que levante la mano!
12. Quiero ser libre, libre libre como el viento!
13. Y hoy te vas, te vas, te vas, te vas!
14. Si es verdad, dejalo ahi, hechizado y embrujado por ti!
15. The buses are very very nice.
16. Paros.
17. Chilean time.
18. Americo y La Noche (As listed above 11-14)
19. Valdivia IS the pearl of the South.
20. Landscapes in the South region of Los Rios and Los Lagos are some of the most beautiful that I’ve seen. The only problem is that the tourism industry is very undeveloped.
21. Asados.
22. Aji, pebre, a lo pobre etc.
23. 80’s music.
24. Jugos are like being drowned in fruits.
25. Cumbia and Salsa are different.
26. Cueca!
27. Conflicts between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. (Chilean army owned, no offense).
28. Los Mapuches, Mapudungun, Temuco.
29. Plaza de Armas.
30. Every city has common street names: O’higgins, Arauco, Yungay, etc. (All important people in Chilean history).
31. Chile al mundial!
32. The driest desert Atacama and the coldest continent Antarctica in the same country.
33. Isla de Pascua (aka Rapa Nui or Easter Island) is completely different from Chilean culture, and has a different language, but is part of Chile.
34. Southern Chile was colonized by Germans…?!
35. Kunstmann (Torobayo, Bock, Miel), one of the tastiest beer I’ve drunk (cheap too).
36. Crudos.
37. Lobos marinos.
38. Escudo, Cristal, Brahma etc.
39. Bilz y pap.
40. Aji.
41. Falabella vs Ripley.
42. Cruz Verde vs Ahumada.
43. Schopdog.
44. Paris, Johnsons, La Polar, Taboada.
45. Lider, Bigger, Santa Isabel, Unimarc.
46. Piñera, Frei, Ominami, Arrate.
47. Super 8.

More to be added later…as it comes to me…

P.S. TV programs only apply for the six months I lived in Chile.

2 months left

Seriously? The first week in Santiago seemed like forever ago, yet the feeling of it lingers around never too far off. Time is a strange concept. People say time changes everything but that doesn’t make sense because for every reaction there’s an action and time doesn’t act, people do. Sure, memories fade through time but that doesn’t mean it’s “time’s” doing, it is simply our minds losing grip on the things that aren’t as important or relevant. Time is also known as the fourth dimension and it is said that nothing travels faster than light, which is true because energy is required for matter to travel, and traveling at the speed of light takes an infinite amount of energy because of mass. Theoretically, time slows down when reaching close to the speed of light so it’s possible to “live” longer but one would still age traveling at that speed. Weird stuff…

Anyway, no idea what I’m doing after this…probably going to take a time-out and plan my next move which is odd because doing this is kind of my time off to think about what to do next. I’m complicated…quack. I will miss this place though, that’s for sure.

This world has so much to offer…

I’m not sure if I’ll ever stop and settle. Lewis Carroll once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there”. The problem is I know where I want to go, I just don’t know which roads to take. Robert Frost took the one less traveled by and that made all the difference for him, however, the two roads were the same. The more places I visit the stronger my desire to travel. I loved almost every country and place I’ve been, I just wasn’t in love with it. I love it here in Valdivia. It’s so beautiful and the people are great. There is so much to see here and I doubt I’ll be able to see everything. Then to think that this is only a small city in a small region in a small country in comparison to the world, I mean, come on. Am I going to stay? I don’t think so.

I’m still learning something new every day. Knowledge is power. The more I’m around other people, the more I learn about the world and myself. It’s pretty amazing. 3 more months left here in Chile. After that, it’s time to move on and do it over.

Winter vacation!

My second month in Chile is almost over…time has gone by sooooo fast it’s insane. The second semester is starting on Monday. Anyhow, winter vacation was awesome. We pretty much saw most of what Northern Chile has to offer. Not gonna go into details, that’s for my journal.

Let’s see…we left on a Saturday night from Valdivia to Santiago. Spent a day in Santiago waiting for Katie then left at night for La Serena, which is about 7 hours north of Santiago. La Serena is a beach town and it was beautiful there. Sunny for the most part, but still cold. From there we also visited Vicuna and the Elqui Valley where the famous poet Gabriela Mistral lived (She was the first Latin-American woman to win the Nobel Prize of Literature). It was cloudy that day so we didn’t get to see much. We had navegado though (Navegado is hot wine with oranges and cinnamon and amazingly good). We spent another half-day back in La Serena then left for Copiapo.

We tried to go to the Parque Nacional de Tres Cruces located east of Copiapo but it just wasn’t meant to be…it was a holiday, the tour offices were on strike and we found out from a local that the road to the park was blocked because of snow the night before. So, we packed up and headed to Caldera which is only an hour bus ride away. Caldera is another beach town on the coast and the saying that everything works out in the end held true, it did work out because there was a celebration that day in Caldera. It was the celebration of the construction of the first railway by the Norris Brothers in 1850 in South America I guess. So, we went around town checking out the festivities, napped right on the beach, and then got wine and drank on the beach. Saw some more festivities then decided to go to Empenapolis (City of Empenada) and get some empanadas. They were bomb ass. I know things taste good when you’re hungry and buzzed, but those empanadas were so good. After that, we headed back to the hostel, listened to some music, and passed out. Nichole went down one of those air-filled bumpy slides.

The next day we went to Bahia Inglesa which is only a colectivo ride away. The beach there was amazingly beautiful. I’ve seen some pretty beaches in my life but this one definitely makes it to one of my top 5. Even though it was still really cold. We sat on the beach, napped a little, ate lunch, went around a little more, and stopped near a cliff and threw rocks. After that, we went back to Caldera to watch the sunset then took about bags and camped out at Americano restaurant to wait for our night bus which took us to San Pedro de Atacama.

The night bus arrived nearly an hour late. We got to Antofagasta and changed buses to Calama, then changed buses to San Pedro de Atacama. Many hours later we finally arrived and found a hostel. Then we signed up for the Valle de la Luna and El Tatio Geysers tour. That same afternoon/evening we walked through Valle de la Muerte, saw the Tres Marias, and watched the sunset by the sand dunes. It was so breathtaking because the Cordillera (Mountain range) changes color as the sun sets. Definitely another sunset that makes it to my top 5. After that, we went back to the hostel and slept because we had to wake up at 4 am for the Tatio Geysers tour.

And so we woke up around 4, the van came to the hostel and picked us up, there was supposed to be another Brazilian couple coming with us but they weren’t there. So we ended up leaving late having to wait for them and shit. We were in a van and it was just us and the guide. It took over an hour to get there and the road was a dirt road with bumps and rocks so we pretty much were shaken up the whole way but off-roading for me was awesome, loved it. Anyway, we arrived at the Geysers and it was blistering cold but the water there (Geysers) was boiling hot. Steams were all over the place and not far from the Geysers water turned to ice (literally 30 feet away). Absolutely crazy. Our tour included breakfast so our guide hard-boiled our eggs in the water. After breakfast, we went to the hot springs. Nichole and I took a dip. The water wasn’t extremely hot, but the sand under it was. It was a nice bath though, met and talked to some peeps in the water. Not long after we got back into the van and headed to Machuga, a tiny village with 8 people living in it. Ate some llama meat with onions, very tasty. Went back to San Pedro, chilled, and left for Arica that night.

We arrived in Arica in the morning, found a hostel, and met another German guy (he just went up to us at the bus station and asked if he could come with us to the hospital because he didn’t know any around), slept till noon then walked to the centro. Got up to the hill with a huge statue of Jesus and some cannons. Arica was one of the important places during the War of the Pacific where the army of Chile took Arica from Peru in under an hour. That hill overlooked the whole city. After that, we went around centro again. We wanted to watch Harry Potter but the lady at the box office said it was in Spanish…which sucked cause I was so excited about it. So, instead of watching Harry Potter, we started drinking. We bar-hopped, chilled, drank some more, encountered 2 other volunteers, bought some more alcohol, took a colectivo back and drank some more, listened to some music, and passed the hell out. To rationalize and justify this amount of alcohol: it WAS our (quartet) last night.

The next day we had lunch and bid goodbye. Kevin and Nichole were continuing up to Machu Picchu and Katie and I started our journey back to Temuco/Valdivia, respectively. We got on the bus at 15:45 on Tuesday the 21st and arrived in Santiago at 21:00 on Wednesday the 22nd…30 hours of bus ride. Then I got on the bus at 21:50 and arrived in Valdivia at 08:00 on Thursday the 23rd. 40 hours of bus ride. I’m pretty proud. So that ends what I must say an amazingly fun and amusing trip. Damn!

School starts again on Monday. I’m still waiting to upload some pictures (need the cable back). That’s about it. I’ve also been thinking about life after Chile…really not sure where I want to go or what I want to do. I slept for 12 hours last night and had so many different dreams it was craaaazy. It was, in a way, my brain releasing almost everything I’ve thought about. Every time I woke up and fell back asleep it was a different dream. One was in French and two were in Spanish, the rest was in either English or Chinese. The bus ride has something to do with it, or so I thought anyway.

Keep it real. Peace out.

Embarking on another journey…

I meant to write this before I left for Chile, but I’ve just been really busy and haven’t had the time to really sit down and write anything. I’ve been here for 3 weeks now and it’s been freaking awesome! Let’s start with the first week in Santiago…this is gonna take a while since I’m doing this by memory.

The first day I arrived was pretty ugly…it was cold and rainy and foggy and cloudy when I got to the airport, and it was cold. Anyway, after an hour or so I got to the hostel…and must I say it’s one of the nicest hostels that I’ve stayed at…screw Rocking J’s. Anyway, since I arrived early there weren’t that many volunteers there yet. I took a shower and nap and later in the afternoon, more volunteers started showing up. Basically, it was greet and meet and whatnot. Drank some wine…some beer, then ate dinner and went out to this place called Dublin, an Irish Pub…go figures. Tasted my first Pisco Sour and found out that one shot of whiskey actually means two…they give you a shitload here. Anyway…some of us left earlier to go to bed because we wanted to visit el Cerro San Cristobal the next morning to attend mass and so we did.

The next day we got up pretty early, ate breakfast, and left to take the metro. Apparently, it was a holiday so after we got to the bottom of the hill, instead of having to walk up (which would taken an hour at least), we got to take the tram up for free. It reminded me of the tram that goes up to the peak in Hong Kong. So we got up, walked a little more then attended mass in the little church. After that, we took some pictures and saw the Virgen and left. Not gonna go into details. We then took the metro to Santa Lucia to visit the fort which was built about a century ago as a lookout for enemies (Spaniards). It was really sunny so we got to see the mountains. After that, we left and went back to the hostel for the 4 pm meeting thing. Met almost everyone else. Took some visa photos…and took the Spanish diagnostic test thing. Then I think we went to dinner or something…

The first day of orientation was tiring…and after the first few days it was really getting a little boring…breakfast sucked at the hostel…dinner sucked too. Anyway, the orientation consisted of a TEFL workshop, Spanish classes, and informational meetings. At the end of the week we found out our placements and host family and got the news that the strike was over (It was a strike that lasted 3 weeks and in most regions, there was no school). Anyway, we also found out the time that we had to leave for our regions. Luckily, I was in the Los Rios region so we had an extra day in Santiago. So, all of us going to Los Rios decided to take a day trip to Valparaiso. It was another cloudy day but it was still nice. We went up the Concepcion hill and another one whose name I don’t remember. Also visited the port and whatnot. It was a nice trip. After that, we went back to the hostel and got ready for our 10-hour bus ride.

The bus ride wasn’t all that bad…I slept the whole way (it was an overnight ride) and the seats were semi-cama so it was nice. We got to Valdivia around 8 or 9 I don’t remember exactly. Met the regional coordinator and some other people. Then our host families came and picked us up…I was the first to go.

My host dad came to pick me up. We talked and I had a hard time understanding because of the Chilean accent. Anyway, I’m used to it now. So, the family that I’m living with is really awesome. Mom, Dad, and 5 kids…4 daughters and a 5 year old boy. The youngest daughter goes to the school INSAT (Instituto Superior de Administracion y Turismo) which is the school I work at. The two older daughters are both getting married by next Feb. The other one studies at a local university.

The first two weeks have been really awesome. My host teacher is really really nice. The students are also nice, but since they’re high school students discipline is always an issue. It reminded me of (junior) high school in Hong Kong, except this time I’m the teacher and I’ve got the power! I have to work 24 hours a week plus some extra hours for planning with my host teacher and doing some extracurricular activities.

It’s been great also because I’ve been exposed to a lot of the cultural aspects already. There are always gatherings and such at the house. Families are really close here. Last weekend we cooked over 150 lbs of seafood…and I’m not kidding…it was cooked in some of the biggest pots that I’ve seen. They call it ‘Pulmay’, which is basically a seafood combo with chicken, potatoes, and soup. I also had cazuela, sopaipillas, and some other local yummy tasty food whose names I don’t remember. That’s about it. So, so far it’s been great.

I made a list of things I learned from Costa Rica, and I’m planning to make one for Chile also…already have a lot…just waiting for it.

Oh, and this program that I’m on is called English Opens Doors. It’s a program funded by the Ministry of Education and the government here in Chile. I recommend it.

World Digital Library

The World Digital Library was launched today offering access to ancient texts, paintings, films, books, and such from all around the world to the general public. The main purpose is to provide a better cross-cultural understanding. The site includes items going back to 8000 BC. It’s really fascinating. Definitely browse around for a good read and tour through history. Read more here.

Tomorrow is Earth Day…I’m considering watching the movie “Earth” by Disney Nature. It’s supposed to be really good similar to the Planet Earth series by Discovery. It’s interesting because shouldn’t every day be Earth Day? I googled Earth Day and found this article in Newsweek. It’s another good read…anyway, not going to philosophize much, Happy Earth Day!

Random thoughts at night…

May it be the moon, the stars, the darkness or that mysterious atmosphere deep in the night, thoughts and feelings always surge at this time of day, well, night. Haven’t written in a while because life has been pretty ordinary. I’ve been reading up on a lot of things that I want to learn on my own because I don’t have nor wish to spend the time or money to take classes and study. That desire isn’t strong enough. I’ve also been having doubts about wanting to travel and see the world mainly because even though I’ve been self-sufficient in teaching English and traveling, I feel like I should be looking for a long-term well-paying job to support my parents. My Dad’s work schedule has been cut in half (due to the economic recession of course) and it’s pretty much impossible for him to change jobs because his English isn’t that good. They sacrificed so much for my sister and I moving to the US. I know that we’re still pretty well off and they want me to see the world and I will. I just need to find a high-paying job that allows me to travel…right…shouldn’t be that hard…*roll eyes* *scoff*

NBA Playoffs have been sweeeeet, 8 games in 2 days. I love Family Guy, it was on earlier on Adultswim. Had a glass of milk and I’ve been eating spicy food…so damn good. The clock is ticking, I wish I was at the beach. The Fifth Element is on right now, Chris Tucker is funny…haha…ok, done rambling. Later gator.

2 weeks in

Haven’t eaten beans for 2 weeks…I miss casados…even though I’ve been eating SO WELL maaaaan. It’s great being back home, feels like I’ve never left. Siento extraño en que estoy rodeado de la gente quien habla solo ingles. Y también las programas que están en ingles pero no hay subtítulos. Y que no se atardece hasta mas tarde en la noche. Y que hace muchísimo frío! Es posible que voy a quedar aquí por 2 meses mas…y ya quiero viajar y ir a un nuevo lugar. Sip, algunos de mis mejores amigos están aquí y sip, mi familia también y la extraño, sin embargo, mi deseo de viajar y ver el mundo esta mucho mas fuerte que los demás. Bueno, cambia de tema…

…El desempleo aquí en California es muy grave. Todavía estoy buscando un trabajo a medio tiempo. La verdad es que siento malo porque mucho trabajo requiere que queda por lo menos 3 meses o mas y solo quedo 2 meses, no quiero mentir que voy a trabajar mas y después sale. Bueno, no importa…Cheers!

Letting go isn’t the end of the world…

It’s the beginning of a new life. 2 more days left until leaving Costa Rica behind for good. Bittersweet is really the only word to describe this feeling. Still don’t know what to do yet once I get home…I’ll figure it out when I get back…never the one who plans.

—> Just got back from buying some gifts downtown. It’s weird because it was probably the last time taking the Carmiol bus to downtown San Jose and walking down Avenida Central…which brought back many memories. San Jose has been my home for a long while and every time getting back to San Jose from the beach it feels like home, it’s comfortable and familiar and I know exactly where I am. Definitely immersed in the culture and everything now and like every other experience it has to end sometime. Even though I didn’t take any Spanish classes here and I’ve been teaching English almost every day, my Spanish still improved a lot. There’s only so much to learn in class. I also thought of more things that I’ve learned about Costa Rica:

34. You’re not supposed to throw toilet paper into the toilet, use the garbage bin.
35. Cover your mouth with your left hand and finger smack with the right hand while you laugh or something funny happens.
36. Ticos love checking out girls, and I don’t mean just looking top to bottom, their heads follow the girl left to right and right to left and their heads move in sync…it’s amazing really.
37. No army here.
38. Nightclub here doesn’t mean a bar/club/disco, it means a strip club.
39. Red light doesn’t mean shit here when there aren’t many cars.
40. Always support local businesses, even an extra dollar for tips means a lot here.
41. “Costa Rica Named First BioGem Country by NRDC”
42. Huge differences between the Caribbean Coast and the Pacific Coast.
43. They play soccer on basketball courts…
44. Honking is a warning to other drivers that you’re crossing an intersection so they don’t crash into you, it’s a signal, and they converse with it, especially cab drivers.
45. Pura Vida!

That’s about it really…this kinda marks the end of my journey here in Costa Rica…and so, here I am, packing up and getting ready to leave otra vez…

1:25 am, 3/9 ——-> Estoy disfrutando mis últimos momentos en Casa Luna y Costa Rica. En unas horas voy a salir para el aeropuerto, otra vez. Estoy triste y no voy a esconderlo. Este me ha pasado muchas veces y estoy acostumbrado. El fin nunca es el fin, es el comienzo de algo nuevo. Bueno ya, tengo que tomar una siesta porque estoy muy cansado de anoche.

Life is a series of rooms…

…and who we get stuck in the rooms with adds up to what our lives are (If you know where this is from you are my new best friend). It’s always the hardest to leave people behind. We hold the key to unlocking the door leading to other rooms. The door is there and ultimately we have to walk through it, can’t stay forever. Rooms can change and furniture can be rearranged, but the person living there stays the same. His or her appearance might change with time and might be deceiving but deep down inside, they’re still the same. People don’t change. They want to change. They want to believe that they can change but they don’t. Personality stays forever. It’s the decisions they make that give the illusion of change. Those decisions are what make us different.

Having said that, not sure where to go from here. The point is, my life has been very fortunate and blessed to be stuck with so many good people. Things I can take with me. Places I can revisit. It’s the people that I miss and will always miss. Live and treasure the moments of each day, especially today because it’s a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.