Chi chi chi! Le le le! Viva Chile!!

I survived finals. Packed up all my stuff. Said see ya later to the host fam. Flew to Chile. Exhausting, but fantastic.

I left for Chile last Friday morning with my friend Meg. We took a flight into Santiago, then bused it an hour and a half to Valparaiso. We were greeted in Valparaiso with... no taxis. Why? Because we arrived during the World Cup game, of course! So we went to a restaurant that was close to the bus station until the game was over. Oh my goodness, the Chileans get soooo into their futbol games, it's amazing. The experience was so much fun. Everyone was cheering, clapping, shouting, "CHI CHI CHI! LE LE LE! VIVA CHILE!" On top of that, we shared one of Chile's signature dishes, chorrillana. Which is, basically, french fries with whatever the heck you want on top. I think ours had beef, chorizo, egg, mushroom, onion, I don't even remember. A whole lot of stuff. It was delicious, but we only needed to try it once. We were probably 5 bites away from a heart attack.

After the game, we finally got a taxi to take to our hostel. The streets of Valparaiso were craaaaazy!! Even though Chile had lost! People were running around with flags, hanging out the back of trucks cheering, running around in groups chanting, it was really the best welcome into Chile ever.

So the taxi driver drives down this tiny little street and stops, points down these steps in front of us, and says, your hostel is down those steps and down the alley to the left. Ok! Alright! This is strange. So we lug our stuff down the steps and down an alley and sure enough our hostel was down there! It was a really nice hostel, and it had only been running for 5 months. It used to be a bar and the top floor, where the rooms were, was an art gallery. So there were chains hanging from the ceiling that used to hold art. At first it looked kind of creepy, but once we understood it was less threatening.

The view from our window onto Valpo was great. The city is situated on a bunch of hills, and each neighborhood is a different hill. The streets just twist around, not really a plan whatsoever. The art on the walls is insanely cool. The entire city has this very bohemian feel, very artsy. I took a lot of pictures of the graffiti, which I will post on Picasa soon. Valpo was definitely affected by the earthquake, a lot of the buildings had collapsed and a lot of the sidewalks were being redone. Besides the apparent reconstruction that has to take place, Valpo is still a beautiful city.

The first day in Valpo we just walked around and got a feel for the city. We didn't get lost, which I was sure we were going to do because the streets are sooo strange. But I think because the streets are so weird and because the art is so unique that you are able to remember landmarks really well and find your way back relatively easily. At night we went to a restaurant with two American girls that we met, one of which is living for a while in Santiago teaching English.

Second day in Valpo was probably my favorite day of the trip. We went to the bus station and wanted to take a bus to Isla Negra to see one of Pablo Neruda's houses. So we went up to this information desk, and this guy Mario says well, we have a tour that takes you for half of the day for 30,000 pesos and we'll take you not only to Isla Negra but some other places as well! (By the way, Chilean pesos are basically like 10,000 pesos = $20) So we decided that would be worth our time, and he called his friend Jorge.

So we spent the whole day with Jorge, from noon until about 6:00. It was a fantastic day. First, he took us to Casablanca, to a winery where we did a delicious wine tasting. After Casablanca we went to Isla Negra. We had to wait about an hour for a tour of Pablo Neruda's house, so we went to a little restaurant with Jorge. I had pastel de jaiba, which is basically crab pie. Soooo good. Then we were able to tour Pablo Neruda's AWESOME house. He seems like such a cool guy. The whole thing is sea-themed, and apparently he had parties all the time there. The whole house had beautiful views of the ocean; I can imagine that it would have been a great place to write. His and his wife Matilde's graves are actually right there outside the house as well, facing the ocean. I told Jorge that I was going to buy the house. If I do, you're all invited :) We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house but you can see pictures at this website - http://www.fundacionneruda.org/imagenes_islanegra.htm

After Isla Negra, Jorge took us to the beach where we walked around for a little bit and then he drove us through Viña del Mar, a city next to Valparaiso. By that time, it was dark and his sons were calling him. I felt bad, but I think he had fun that day too. We learned so much about him, and it was really fun to speak in Spanish all day. At first, it seemed pretty sketchy that it was only going to be me and Meg and Jorge all day, but it turned out to be a great experience.

At night, we went out with a VERY diverse mix of people from the hostel. I'll try to remember: me and Meg, the two other American girls, a guy from Brazil and his dad, two guys from Germany who were studying in Santiago and one of their Chilean girlfriends, and a guy from Colombia. We went out to a bar and shared some beer and ate empanadas. (Empanadas are HUGE in Chile! I usually eat three for lunch in Buenos Aires, but I only needed one for dinner in Chile!) Then, we went to this old prison that they had turned into some sort of cultural center. There was a Chilean rock band playing and people were dancing and it was soooo weird but soooo awesome at the same time. Our international mix of people and the fact that we were watching a Chilean rock band in an old prison in Valparaiso was really kind of difficult to take in.

The next day Meg and I went down to the port because Jorge (another Jorge) at the hostel told us that there were boat tours you could take and have a pretty good view of the city. So, we went down to the port and it was a MESSSSSS. The whole port was basically bumper boats and everyone is just trying to get you to take a tour on their boat and there's no organization at all. Eventually this guy came up to us and seemed legitimate enough, for what the situation was, and we got on his boat and he took us around for a little bit in the bay. His story was fantastic. He apparently lived in Brooklyn for five years, and worked with his dad. His English was hilarious, basically he had just learned a bunch of slang. So the way he talked was like a little gangster, and he had on clothes that made him look like a Chilean rapper. Anyway, he was in the United States for five years but he started to have nightmares all the time and he missed his wife and his family a ton, so he told his dad that he was going to return to Chile. So he told us the story of his surprise return to his mom and all his family and it was adorable. He apparently now is doing pretty well and just kept saying thank you to the United States for providing him with what he has. I really wished the boat ride could have been longer because his story was so fascinating to me.

After the boat tour we took a bus over to Viña del Mar, so we could see it during the day. We saw the Reloj de Flores, the flower clock, which was pretty cool. But basically we just sat on the beach for a long time. It was super relaxing and the sun was really strong. I felt like it was a perfect end to our time in Valparaiso.

The next day we took a bus back to Santiago, after a big dilemma of whether to leave before or after the World Cup game. I'm tellin' ya, the World Cup changes everything. Our problem was that our hostel was located basically in the center of the city, which is really dangerous while a game is going on. Whether Chile won or lost, the police and military were planning on there being a lot of beer and a lot of rioting. Ultimately, we decided to go early, before the game, and everything turned out just fine. We walked around in the neighborhood where our hostel was for a little bit, and then watched the game back at the hostel. We probably picked the worst day ever to visit Santiago, because besides there being a World Cup game, there also was a holiday, so all the museums and a lot of stores were closed. A couple hours after the game, of which Chile lost :(, we decided to venture down towards the center of the city. There were so many military trucks and men in uniform standing around and on horses. It was really kind of creepy. Basically no one was walking around, the whole center had emptied. I really would like to go back to Santiago someday because I feel like I didn't get a real representation of the city. I enjoyed my time there regardless.

All of the Chilean people that we met on our trip were the sweetest, most helpful people I have met in South America. All of the cab drivers, all of the hostel people, the restaurant workers, everyone. It really gave me a good impression of Chile and I would definitely be willing to go back. I feel like it would be an awesome place to stay for a while. The accent is definitely different and I had a hard time understanding it, which frustrated me. But I feel like I will be visiting Chile again in the future.

For now, I am back in Buenos Aires. Today, I checked into a hostel, which was soooo weird. The city feels so different when I'm not at my host family's apartment. I went over there to see them today and had dinner there which was great. I met their new student, who's staying in my room, which is extra weird. But she is really cool and I think I'll be able to hang out with her and her friends a little bit. In fact, I'm taking a trip to Salta starting on Thursday and she will be there this weekend, too. So that couldn't have worked out any more perfectly. Salta is in the northwest part of Argentina, pretty close to Bolivia. This trip will be my first solo trip. I'm excited and a little bit nervous at the same time because I have no idea what to expect. The bus trip is about 21 hours each way, and I'm just going to stay in a hostel. I have a bunch of research to do tomorrow to make sure that I make the most of my time there. I think that it will feel pretty good to have done a trip by myself. Very empowering. Let's just hope that everything goes as planned.

After Salta, I'm staying in a better place in Buenos Aires than this hostel; it's a B&B that my host mom helped me reserve that's only a block away from her (I'm going to miss her). Then, after three nights there, I get to head to the airport and welcome my family to Buenos Aires. I can't wait :)

Nearing the End

More self-evaluation. Study abroad gives me a lot of that. What I have learned this weekend...

I am the master of procrastination.

Three papers... two finals... before Thursday.

Excuse me, if the World Cup is going on while I am studying abroad in a country that actually has a good team, doesn't that give me a free pass for finals week? No? Ok, back to the books then.

6 days before goodbye tears with host family.
21 days before hugs with real family.

It's a Wonderful Life

Today was extraordinary.

Basically it epitomized my past three months here in the duration of about six hours. It dealt with everything from transportation to knowing the city to lots of Spanish speaking to food to being independent.

I have been in contact with Dr. Marcos from the Instituto de Zoonosis "Luis Pasteur" de Buenos Aires since I have been here, which is thanks to a professor at Hope who studies the history of public health in Argentina. I went to the institute one time in what I believe was April, and Dr. Marcos showed me around and explained what the institute does. The institute is funded by the government and was created in 1927 in order to control zoonotic diseases, or diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans. For example, a large part of the institute deals with rabies, of which has been successfully controlled between humans and dogs in Buenos Aires (the last human case was in 1976 and the last canine case was in 1981). The institute also sees animals for regular veterinary visits, but its central mission statement is: "... to understand everything about the diagnosis, prevention and control of zoonoses in urban Buenos Aires, in order to preserve the good health of human and animal population of the City ..."

I asked Dr. Marcos if there was something that I could do at the institute to understand in more depth what effect it has on the city, and he informed me about their traveling clinics. What a perfect opportunity. I have plans to get my master's in public health in the future, and being able to observe a very specific type of public health in a big city like Buenos Aires is such an eye-opening experience. So now starts my story about today.

I woke up early this morning and found a new bus to take to get to Parque Centenario, where the institute is located. This is a pretty good feat, because it's difficult to know the exact route of the buses and where exactly you should get off. But everything went down perfectly and I made it to the institute on time. Which, in Argentina, being on time doesn't really matter, but Dr. Marcos told me the traveling clinics were leaving at 8 am, so I didn't want to miss out. I went upstairs and met about twenty people who were all drinking mate and chatting. We didn't end up leaving the institute until probably 8:45, and out of the twenty or so in the room only six of us left. We went right outside of a shantytown in Puerto Madero, and there was already a group of people with their dogs waiting for us.

When the institute has traveling clinics, there is someone who goes to the shantytown and organizes a group of people who need to have their dogs or cats castrated. They tell them when and where to go, and all the surgeries are funded by the government. I was talking to one of the vet techs, and she said that yesterday they went to the shantytown but no one showed up because of bad communication between organizers, but this isn't common.

The traveling clinic is pretty cool. Inside there are two operating tables, sinks, counters, cabinets, lights, even a remote control air conditioning system. They also keep mate materials in one of the cabinets, of which everyone partakes throughout all the surgeries (not the people doing the surgeries, of course). Everything was kept highly sterile, and it reminded me of any other animal clinic.

One by one the people brought their animals up into the clinic. There were two cats and four dogs castrated. The animals aren't supposed to eat for 12 hours before the surgery, or else the anesthesia won't work and they will suffer a lot of pain, become sick, vomit, and have a high probability of dying. We encountered this problem with one of the dogs that was supposed to be castrated. The anesthesia wasn't working, so they had to ask the owner the last time the dog ate. However, because the dogs live in a shantytown, it's difficult to control them and know for sure when the last time they ate was, because it's very possible that they could have dug into some trash. For this reason there was only four dogs castrated and not five. It was really cool to stand there and watch all the castrations and ask tons of questions. By the end I felt like I could have done the surgery myself!

Today I was at the highest Spanish-speaking ability that I have been at yet. I could understand everything that everyone was asking me. The veterinarians were making jokes with me and I could make jokes back. If someone had just met me, they would ask someone else, "Ella habla español?" and the people I was with would say, "Si! Ella habla español muy bien!" And I would think to myself SCORE! I loved having the opportunity to be around medical personnel who speak Spanish today, because it allowed me to realize that I now have a better capacity of understanding material specific to what I want to do in life.

After we arrived back at the institute, I walked to the subte (without a map) and took it to Abasto, which is giant shopping mall on the same street that I live but about ten blocks down. (Abasto also has the only kosher McDonald's outside of Israel.) I have been to Abasto at night to go to the cinema, but never during the day. So I decided to walk around, and it was really relaxing to be by myself in the mall (and without my debit card). I went to the food court, bought a chicken shwarma, sat and ate and just people watched, realizing that I was able to understand all the conversations around me. It was great. I no longer felt like an anxious, lost foreigner. People could understand me and I could understand them and I was sitting in a mall in Buenos Aires by myself with a chicken shwarma after a morning hanging out with veterinarians. Is this my life? Can this happen everyday? That moment was perfect.

I feel like I am 100x more knowledgeable about the world than when I first came here. Today made me realize the progress that I have made towards my goals in life and how much I have grown as a person since that first step off the plane. Not that I'm counting or anything, but there are 37 more days until my family arrives, and 37 more days to grow independently 5,000 miles away from home. Let's do this.