Friday Night Update

Hola! I want to start putting up blog post on Friday nights! Right now it's Saturday morning but I have to start sometime. Let's Recap the Week! I've been sick! Yeah pretty much sums it up! Upload a new video to my youtube channel! Started a new design for my blog. And I've come up with some goals! Let us dive in...

Being sick is not fun. What are those people called that actually fake being sick? Hypercondriacs? That would be the worst thing in the world to have to go around all the time trying to be and act sick. I couldn't do it. Well I could but man would I be miserable. I think by Monday I will be back to my normal self. Maybe a small sniffle here and there.

I have another video to upload to youtube but I need to figure out how to reduce the background noise. My camera has a lot of static that I don't think should be there. So if your someone that watches my few videos be looking for it around middle of next week. Yeah I even procrastinate with procrastinating. My youtube channel is here!

Like the way my blog looks? Totally original I know! Actually I signed up for a wordpress and I was really excited and was about to scrap this blog and make that my main blog! But to do simple CSS edits you have to pay like $15 bucks a month. And then you don't have the ability for Ad's but they can put Ad's on your site in which you don't get any reward. There was a few other things I ended up not liking and came back here! Yey. Although I must admit wordpress has functionality I really wish blogger did and their business model is well genius but I still refuse to pay for any service online! But yes so right now I'm creating my own layout. Hopefully it will be up soon.

Right now I don't feel like i'm getting much done. The only thing I have to do is learn Spanish! Even that I feel like i'm failing at. I blame the sickness for that because I just don't have the patients to listen let alone put a sentence together. Tomorrow I have to do some dedicated practice! I'll try to get two hours in.

Really, I have nothing to do. Back home I always something to do next. Example! I would wake up at 6 for practice. Then I'd come home shower and make some breakfast. I would cram whatever homework was due into the little bit of free time I had and head off to class. Then internship. Evening practice! Home to shower and make dinner. Then evening class and well homework/procrastination/friends/library/internet/tv/video games. And then sleep to wake up and do it all again. And that was my life for the last 4 years! In Chile it's wake up around 1, eat lunch, go to 4 to 6 hours of class, come home, eat, internet, and sleep!

I've come up with a list of stuff that is going to occupy my days in Chile. I have to start going to bed by 12. Thats the only way this is going to work! I'll post later on how thats working out. I start volunteer teaching kids in English sometime next month! I'm really looking forward to it.

Also, usually I have a pretty big goal in my life that keeps me rolling forward. So I've decided that the Leadville 100 Mile Run is all mine! I think I can break 20 hrs if I have a good year of running. As time goes on i'll readjust my goal-time depending if I think I can go faster or slower! Maybe i'll even win it....

Sorry that was so long and ramblely but thats whats on my mind right now!

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Sick In Chile

So I could be doing my homework or bettering my Spanish but I'd rather Blog instead. I've actually spent most of the day in bed watching videos on YouTube and reading articles on America's Healthcare Reform. Youtube was fun and the Healthcare was just infuriating. Oh well...

Anyone that knows me, knows i'm not a "Big Ole Cuddly Bear" when i'm sick. Typically i'm pretty miserable and usually cry until someone brings me chicken noddle soup and a box of Kleenex. Speaking of Kleenex I bought some yesterday. I was only trying to buy one box of them but somehow bought 24 mini-packages of the kind you carry in your pocket. It only cost $4 american dollars so I'm not complaining.

I keep getting asked what is it like down there?!?! It's a lot the same and yet still very different. I mean Chile doesn't equal the stone age like a few of you seem to think. Yes they do have electricity and running water. People drive cars and buildings have elevators. Teenagers play video games and watch porn. They have washers and dryers but don't use the dryer much to save on electric. The biggest difference I have found in General is peoples obsession with America (a.k.a. The United Sates for those annoying smart asses that say South America is still America too! ReTARDs). Overall I would call that a bad thing. Example: Sarah Palin continues to be a hot topic down here. Boring!

Oh so I've been here for a tad bit more than a month. My Spanish has improved a lot. But I still can't come close to holding a full conversation even if I was only talking to a piece of cheese. For awhile there I was scared I wasn't going to learn a thing and just waste a couple grand on a really long vacation in South America.

Quick tip on learning new words in another language. You want to translate a word from English to Spanish. So you want to learn that word English to Spanish. Like this!
Knife - El Cuchillo
You also want to do the same for phrases!
How was your day? - ¿Cómo fue tu día?
Since I started studying words and phrases like that I have been able to recall the words a lot easier. Anyway thats my two cents on that....

Overall it's been a good month! I'll try to do these a little bit more often. And I'll try to give some better examples on whats really different about Chile. Also keep an eye out on youtube for some of my new videos that i've made down here! Till Next Time!

Stra10

Silence

Hola! God i'm tired. I think not being able to talk to people really makes me tired. I haven't had a conversation that was more advance than these: "How are you?" "What did you do?" and "Do you like it?". I am dying for a conversation that involves something than me talking about myself...

I went skiing in the Andes yesterday! It was a good time. Lots of fresh powder to learn how to snowboard through. I had never snowboard in powder and boy do I wish had someone there that could have given me tips on it. One random Chilean told me I had to think I was surfing. Now I was grateful for his insight to how to glide ever so gracefully over the foot of powder that I kept sinking into like quick sand but I've never surfed. So his words fell on a daft intellect or at least onto a set of ears that have never experience hanging ten! Oh and I made it down the hill before him. (It took me a good 30 minutes!) By end of the day I was holding my own in the unforgiving powder. In part because most of it had been plowed over already and also because I was to tired to fall down again.

I've found that knowing I can't communicate has made me very reserved and maybe even a little standoffish. This morning on the Miccro (what they call the buses here) there was a man dressed in a clown outfit providing entertainment. I sat next to a man that clown took to be a "Gringo" but was actually Chilean. Then the clown started talking to be but all I wanted to do was ignore him. Then he started talking in English. So I responded in Spanish. Then he started talking in Spanish. I couldn't understand him. So I told him I didn't understand him in English. Then he made a joke and the whole bus laughed. I did not! Clown then ranted on about the United States. Guy sitting next to me translated. Basically the clown was bitter he wasn't American. He then asked me for money. I told him I didn't have any. He called me Cheap in Spanish. Yeah well I think he is a moron! I don't like anyone that talks on a Miccro! Although a Chilean chica did obviously sit next to me when there obviously were other open seats. She was cute! She didn't speak any english! We only traded smiles!

Ok well i'm tired and tired!

Stra10

An Interesting End to a Night!

Ok let us take a moment to blog! It’s been two weeks and three days. How is my Spanish? Terrible! Why? Because I speak to too many American students in a day and I’ve only had three days of class. However, my everyday absolutely need to know Spanish is improving. I also understand almost everything that people say to me directly. But it’s about impossible to understand what random people are saying to one another.

Some of you might be wondering about an incident I had mentioned on facebook and twitter about a super bitchy Chilean woman saving my life. (I like to refer to her as Chilean Bitch) Well in Chile it’s more likely that you will get robbed than anything. Anyway here is how the story goes, the clubs where closing and it was time to go home. I live on the north end of Vina del Mar so I have to take a different bus than everyone else. I figured hey it won’t be bad to go alone I haven’t had any trouble since I’ve been here and heck what could possibly happen on a bus. I bet you can guess how this ended. So I get on a bus that is standing room only and in the back of the bus is a group of six Chilean guys just being insane. They were being loud, hitting on girls, and trying to start fights though the window. If I was them I probably would have been doing the same thing. Right before the bus pulled out a street fight broke out. The fight quickly surrounded the whole bus and everyone inside the bus went nuts. The guys in the back of the bus were hanging out the tiny windows swing at anyone they could. One guy outside got pined up against the rear bus door and one guy inside started kicking him in the back through the door while another one was beating him upside the head by hanging out the window. Just pure chaos! I have never seen anything like that. Also girls were out there slugging it out. It was probably a good 45 seconds of pure madness and intensity. In the end it left 3 guys knocked out bleeding on the ground. One of them looked really badly injured. He was bleeding from the ears and didn’t look like he was going to regain consciousness anytime soon. And then the bus pulls out almost running over one of the guys that was knocked out.

So there I was the only “Gringo” on a bus full of Chileans that just witnessed a massacre. The excitement of the fight rolled around the bus for awhile. The guys in the back kept trying to talk to me asking if I was having a good time and if the fight was amazing. I figured it was best if I just ignored them. After a bit the Chilean next to me asked me where I was from and I figured oh what the heck is wrong with a little small talk. So I told him and quickly the guys in the back became fascinated. (Right now the bus is about quarter way to where I want to get off. Also the bus ride is a good 25 to 30 minutes) Between my ability to understand Spanish and their knowledge of English an interesting exchange of fragmented sentences turned into a conversation. They first asked me about Michael Jackson and if I went to his funeral. No! They also told me that Brittany Spears and Sarah Palin are hot and that they all would have sex with them. Then they asked if I liked sex. They love Obama and think George W. Bush is Satan. I couldn’t understand their reasons for saying that but I don’t think it could have been for any intelligent reasons. As this level of kindergarden conversation countined I caught one of the guys slipping his hand into my jacket pocket. Hey responded with “disculpa.” Which in spanish means oh sorry I didn’t mean to do that.

Now I’m kind of on guard and I’m only halfway home. Some people get off the bus and a seat opens up and I figured if I sit down I’m less likely to get pick pocketed. As I’m sitting there the same guy that had his hand in my pocket also kept feeling my jacket and telling everyone how much he liked it and that he wanted it. I’m not scared just really pissed off that there is a huge likely hood I’m going to lose my jacket to these ass holes. Now they start telling me that I have to pay the bus driver again. I think they thought I was retarded. Next they tried asking me for my cell phone number. Which I lied and told them I didn’t have one. Then they wanted to take a picture with me but none of them had a camera and they kept telling me to use mine. Which this time I told them the truth that I didn’t have one. Ijust left out the minor detail at least not on me. Then they wanted to know what time it was. Now thankfully my watch had moved halfway up my forearm sometime during the night, so I easily tricked them into thinking I wasn’t actually wearing one. They seemed disappointed I didn’t have a cell phone, camera, or a watch on me but I was wearing a nice jacket.

With a little over 13 blocks to my stop a large horrid of people from downtown Vina del Mar get on the bus. In this horrid of people was the one of the bitchiest Chilean girls I have seen. She would have been one of the girls slugging it out in the street fight and would have walked away un-scratched. Oh and she was hot! But anyway, she got on in the back so she was a bit of a distraction while the guys figured they could maybe get lucky with her. She quickly put them all in their place slapped one and yelled at another something so intense and loud in Spanish that the whole bus went quite for about 3 seconds. Quickly the attention was back on me and instead of just the guys in the back wanting whatever was mine the whole bus seemed to want whatever was mine. Bitchy Chilean girl quickly took my defense but not without insulting me first in both Spanish and perfect English telling me that I was an idiot for being on there alone not knowing Spanish and finished with the fact that these guys were going to steal my jacket. I told her I knew that much. She told me not to be an ass.

Two quick side notes! First, there was a Chilean old man sitting in front of me and right before I got pushed off the bus by Chilean Bitch he turns around and says to me, “you don’t look scared! But you should be!” I really had the urge to punch him. Second Chilean Bitch had two friends with her. Both of them were really nice and kept trying to talk to me while Chilean Bitch was going on a rampage defending me in a fury of Spanglish that I couldn’t understand. The two friends kept trying to figure out how to make more small talk with me in English among themselves in Spanish so I would just answer them before they ever got around to figuring out how to ask me in English. Confusing! But they were nice…

Ok back to the story. So Chilean Bitch asked me where I was getting off. I really was hesitant to tell her where. So I figured I’d lie and tell her the wrong block in case any of those guys were going to get off too. In my premature level of Spanish I actually told her the truth which I didn’t realize until I was pushed off the bus! So Chilean Bitch stopped the bus for me and told me to run if the guys in the back followed me off the bus. When I stood up a few things happened. First male hands grabbed my ass. This was not to feel me up but to steal my wallet. Thankfully it was in my front pocket and there was nothing in it either. Second the bus roared with ramblings of “Gringo.” Third Chilean Bitch pushed, no wait threw, me off the bus. Fourth while I was being thrown out into the street I somehow inadvertently dodged three swing for my head. One from inside the bus. Another from a guy sitting in front of the door. The last was from the guy who first wanted my jacket. He was hanging out the small window in the back of the bus. Luckily all I felt was a nice breeze from knocks on my hair.

Overall I’m pretty happy at the outcome of this situation. I kept my jacket, watch, phone, and wallet all while avoiding any injury. Well maybe a hair or two suffered a little knocked rash. I have to thank Chilean Bitch for saving my life though. If it wasn't for her I think things might have ended a bit worse. So Chilean Bitch if you ever read this, Thank You! I also learned a few lessons. Don’t wear anything nice. Don’t wear your $10 dollar watch. Always deny having a cell phone. Don’t talk to strangers (oh wait that sound familiar) at night. Always travel with at least one other Gringo.

That turned into a lot longer story than I thought it would! Overall Chile is amazing! The night life is too. But like any place one must be careful. Viva la Chile!


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Cuando en Chile! Viva la Chile!

So it has been a week and one day since I have arrived in Chile. The past 7 days have felt like a lifetime. Since I have started my adventure in the land of the Chileans I have come to embrace the term “Cuando en Chile! Viva la Chile!” which simply means “When in chile. Live Chile!”

For example: In Chile they do not have heat in homes, schools, businesses, restaurants, clubs, or public places. (disclaimer I’ve only been to Santiago, Vina del Mar, and Valparaiso) They choose not to have heat. They could have it but they don’t want it. And no one complains about not having it. I on the other hand have been freezing my butt off. The first 3 days we spent in a hotel/condo type thing and they had one heater in there that was placed in a one window pane glass sliding door. So much for insulation. Then when I got to my new home for the next 5 months I quickly came to notice they didn’t have a single heater. That’s ok. Instead I have about 10 blankets on my bed that I refuse to come out from under in the morning. I’ve already started to adjust to the cold and it doesn’t bother me but then again that just might be the 3 sweatshirts I’m wearing keeping me nice and cozy.

So “Cuando en Chile! Viva la Chile!” is my way of accepting everything different about Chile!

The group I came with is freaking awesome. I feel for the most part everyone is here to have a good time, meet new people, experience new things, and well to learn Spanish! Some have already taken care of learn the Spanish part but the majority are on their way. And a few of us are just starting, like me! The west coast is the majority in the group. The mid west has a good showing. But the east coast is defiantly out numbered here. Those of us that are from the east coast could so take all of those from the west and mid west!

But anyway there is so much I want to say so I’m just going to keep it short. Classes start next week so I’ll have a lot more free time to myself and I’ll try to post at least once a week for the time I’m down here.

7 Days Till Chile

So last night I watched Anthony Bourdain No Reservations on Chile. It was like 2am and I was about to go to bed but while flipping through I saw he was in Chile so I had to watch it. I realized last night that I really don't know much about Chile. All I really know is in the 70's america helped stage a military coo. Then in the early 90's they elected their first president. And ever since then they have been turning in a world power and they have the best wine! Heck i don't even know how much that is true but that is what I think I know about Chile. Lord I need a Chilean History book.

Only 7 Days! I kind of feel like this life is coming to an end and i'm going to be placed in a whole new universe. Oh hell yeah bring on the aliens. The family I'll be living with is really smart. Three of them are engineers and the mother is a insurance adjuster. The best part is that they live less than three blocks from the beach.

I really hope I take advantage of this adventure. I think my fears of being that hermit that doesn't get out and experience will actually make me experience every part of the Chilean culture. The language barrier oddly enough is what I feel is going to be the most frustrating for me. So speaking of which i'm gonna go now and practice an hour of Spanish.

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22 Days Till Chile

Chile is fast and coming! Today I bought my plane ticket and sent my final paper work into the Study Abroad office. I also got my Yellow Fever shot today. Shots make me tired. I slept a good 6 hours since 8am. Maybe it's just me milking the whole getting a shot ordeal. So the only thing I have left is my Visa. God don't even get me started! Those people are irritating. But it's ok. I believe it will all workout. The only good thing that is going to come of me having to get my Visa is my trip to DC. I love DC. I've only been there 3 times but I just think the city is so friggin awesome!

But anyway....

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