a mighty power for foreigners

"so how many months will you be staying with my family?" alonso teased this morning at breakfast. my death stare prompted a spanish translation for his family. then, five heads turned to see my response.

"pienso que...siempre," i returned with a smile. originally, i had planned to visit guanajuato for a weekend and to stay with alonso's family in silao at the same time as two other wcl guests. but as well-planned excursions often do, it fell apart and i ended up making a solo visit, friday through sunday. on saturday, i got the grand tour of guanajuato. i came after a long line of international guests who have followed up on alonso's hospitable invitation.

i met alonso last fall when he applied for students united's mentoring program. from early on, he made it clear that he came from a beautiful part of mexico, near the city of guanajuato. i didn't think much of it because i'm from detroit and find it to be one of the most beautiful places in the usa. but my interest piqued as my winter adventure drew closer and other people - kate kelly, the friendly tapatio on my flight from atlanta, wouter from the language school - informed me that guanajuato was a must-see. even so, i was wholly unprepared for the potent arrow that struck me when i finally arrived. after maybe a dozen reverent praises - wow. you weren't lying. guanajuato is amazing. - alonso responded with clear satisfaction: "it has a mighty power for foreigners."

my visit took a turn when, on sunday morning, alonso informed me that his mother would like me to join the family for new years in the mountains. he explained that i could go with his family and return to guadalajara late on tuesday evening. ever-adverse to unanticipated changes, i protested:

"i have classes and a bus ticket i have already paid for."
"you want to practice spanish, right? why not practice with my family in the mountains?"
"i don't want to impose. it's your last few days with your family."
"mamí! un momentito, porfa!"
"alonso, no -"
"mamí, puedes explicarle sobre tu invitación a las montañas, por favor? christiane está ocupada porque ya ha pagado por cursos y una boleta por guadalajara."



i emailed wouter about monday classes and asked him to let the bustamantes know not to worry about me before piling into the car with victor and marisa (alonso's parents), alonso, ilse, luís, mariano, our bags, and two remote-controlled helicopters. the ride started out in silence. then rufus wainwright's cover of hallelujah came on the radio. i began sing along quietly. then mariano's pre-pubescent soprano voice came from the backseat. luís and ilse joined on either side of me. after dancing it up to el sondito, the ice was officially broken and the ride passed quickly with stories about mexican artists and legends. what followed was the magic life is made of: stepping into someone else's life for a brief moment. observing religious practices, family jokes, vacation mishaps. then listening as a friend confides about their perspective on what is transpiring. and occasionally stepping away from the wall to participate:

"christiane, conoces thalia?" marisa asked at new years eve dinner.
"sí. un poquito," i replied, happy to have a captive audience with which to practice past tense verbs. "cuando tenía diecinueve años, mi padre trabajaba en alemania. por eso, viajé a -"
"christiane," alonso interrupted with a chuckle, "my mom was asking about thalia - the singer who is playing right now - not italia."


collective laughter covered social shame and the festivities continued. at midnight we ate twelve grapes to reflect on each of twelve months. then the dj turned the music up and we danced our hearts out until 2. un mil gracias to the lara-bravo family for making my farewell to 2012 one for the books.

homesickness

i was a little homesick on christmas. not for lack of fun - the bustamante family did a stellar job of including me in their christmas eve celebrations: in the afternoon, tera let me sew up the lomo, which was stuffed full of fruits and nuts, in preparation for la cena. we went to a contemporary-style mass at 9 then gathered with aunt and cousins back at the house to welcome in baby j's birth. as i listened to the animated dinner conversation, taking cues from body language when my ears failed me, i was happy. but when the celebrations were over, the nostalgia returned. so i made my way to bed and drifted off to the sounds of bedford falls and george bailey's voice.

the funny thing about homesickness is that it often motivates me to set out looking for the familiar; an activity or a food or a person that is sure to make me feel at home. as any directionally-challenged extrovert can attest, this often leads to adventure.

on tuesday, miami brad and i hopped on the 80 bus for la barranca de huatatín to do a little trekking.

we met some friendly hikers along the way.

brad got tired before i did so he turned back early. the hike was pretty rigorous so i was happy to see a middle-aged couple selling fresh piña y naranja juice when i reached the top. on the bus ride back to t-paka, i did what cannons do best - sleep. i woke up thirty minutes later, disoriented, and got off the bus immediately. i was only 40 blocks early. so i took the opportunity to explore a new neighborhood and make it back to the jardin hidalgo just in time for a sweet treat.

i decided to try for a visit to the lds temple in zopopan on wednesday. i took the tur bus (which is WAY nicer than the standard buses) to the center of the upscale suburb and set out to find my spiritual haven. en route, i stumbled across a mormon church.

a poinsetta-filled municipal building.

 

someone's pet cochino.

street art.

and a giant christmas festival in front of a large catholic church. yes, erin, the giant speakers pumped out iterations of feliz navidad no fewer than three times in the twenty minutes it took me to eat my elote with lime, salt, and chile.

i arrived back at the bustamante's just in time to convince canada mike to take the maestro's cumbia class with me. we danced our hearts out - occasionally to the actual beat - for a full hour. 

i never found the temple. but i did find myself ready for a good sleep, another day of language classes, and a trip to the teotihuacan pyramids. and so it goes with homesickness. it starts with a craving for the familiar. but the cure often lies in the unknown and the adventure that comes with it.

lucha libre

it is difficult for me to pass over delightful moments like waking up to a pumped up version of "killing me softly" and a dance class in the courtyard of my home this morning. or recounting the time david kelly, my adolescent - and very secret - crush, totally busted me on prank calling him in the name of learning my past tense verbs. or giving an impromptu english lesson to a group of terrified teenagers in a guadalajara plaza.

it is even more difficult to brush past my first time in el centro de guadalajara. visiting the cathedral just in time for my favorite part of catholic mass - the peace in christ handshake. stumbling across a giant paper maché nativity in the middle of a plaza. seeing two diego rivera paintings up close and personal.

but it is necessary because my day culminated in lucha libre. think: nacho libre meets derby girls; a competitive extrovert's paradise. the fun started before we got into the arena. jeff pulled out his mask and i took a picture.

then i took a picture of jeff and a random kid.

then i took a picture of jeff, seth, and lots of randoms. it was tough to get a good shot because everyone was jumping up and down with excitement.

inside the crowd was rowdy, the lighting poor, and the sense that i was at a theatrical performance rather than a sporting event lingered in the air. like the grinch's heart, my spanish vocabulary grew three times that (or this) day. unfortunately, most of it would be absolutely inappropriate for use in any other context. half the time, the crowd got so caught up in hurling creative - and sometimes musical - insults at rival sections that i completely lost track of what was going on in the ring. other times, wrestlers would repay insults shouted from the crowd with inappropriate gestures or colorful language. The matches were just as much about telling the story of a battle between good and evil as they were competitive athletic competitions. did i mention the wrestlers often wore capes?

although cameras were prohibited in the arena, i snuck in a picture so you too could be a part of the lucha libre experience.

estoy allá ... o allí ... o aquí?

grammar never has been my forte. 

on the plane from atlanta, hearing references to detroit while eavesdropping on conversations (yup, i'm that girl) that switched seamlessly between spanish and english, i momentarily wondered if i had made a buster-esque blunder and the 747 was actually heading north. fortunately, after a two-fer plane-and-roller-coaster-ride, i arrived safely at the guadalajara airport. 

wouter, an amsterdam ex-pat who followed a woman to mexico two children ago, greeted me at the airport as planned and everything went smoothly from there. we chatted in english on the drive to tlaquepaque about program arrangements, travel expectations, and the like, then switched to spanish upon arrival at the bustamante's home. tera, my host mother, seems lovely and the house is fantastic (dad and jim, it reminds me of the saito's home in araçatuba). the open-air kitchen also leads me to believe that the beautiful weather upon arrival is pretty typical. 

now i just need to finish up the lingering law school assignments from last semester so that i can get my adventure on. more. to. follow. buenas noches!

que te vaya bien!

well, friends, it's my penultimate day in chile. this summer...errr, winter...errr, whatever has been one for the books: first time in south america, visiting brazil with dad and jim, living abroad without family, facing my fear of language-learning head-on, trying chirimoya and other foreign foods, getting my shoes shined, and working in a legal internship. and then there's the things that follow me on every adventure: chasing down buses, talking to anybody and everybody, dancing up a storm, and finding myself in the middle of nowhere without a return plan.

after living in three apartments and two neighborhoods, i'm happy to report that santiago and i are officially pals. i've scoped out every indie cine in the central city and found plenty of cafes and hilltop parks in which to unwind. i imagine that if i were to live here for a year, my santiago-love would only grow. when i get frustrated with my language progress, i start listing words and phrases that i have learned since june. one of my favorites is: que te vaya bien! it roughly translates as "fare thee well" and folks say it all the time: when you're going back to the U.S., leaving on a weekend trip, getting out of a cab, going to the grocery store, leaving the grocery store, making a trip to the restroom...

i've used that phrase a lot this week. sunday, megan took off and i said goodbye to my favorite chilena from church. mike and marie left on tuesday. kristel, wednesday. i said goodbye to alberto yesterday. sarah and work friends, today. and i'm not quite finished. paula and i are going out after spanish class tonight. then camila, melissa, and i will squeeze in one final carrete. tomorrow, roxana and i nos juntaremos before meeting elizabeth (a fellow mormon extranjera who has been studying spanish in santiago for the past two months) for almuerzo.

then it's back to regular life. trading blog entries for last-minute internship interviews and knowledge of all things criminal. thanks for joining me on this adventure. 'til the next time: que te vaya bien!

atacama weekend

when meg and i sat down in the airport cafe just in time to see the last torchbearer carry the olympic flame into the stadium, we knew it would be a good weekend. meg, kristel, and i had rushed from work to the airport, barely making it in time to catch kristel's 7:30 flight to calama. we followed on the 8pm and met up to take a shuttle to san pedro de atacama. it was after midnight when we arrived at hostal campo base. our host suggested we give ourselves a good night's rest and a full day to adjust to the altitude to avoid spewing all over the geysers. so we booked a 6am tour to the salt flats and bunked down in our dorm suite (4 beds, private bathroom) with decklin from ireland. the rest of the weekend can be summed up in two words: pure magic.

day one: salt flats + san pedro + sergio's house + star gazing (sort of).

allen and leandro picked us up at 6am to see the salt flats at caixa.

instead of dampening my spirits, the freezing cold weather inspired a lot of spirit fingers.

the andean flamingos didn't mind the weather either.

after caixa and some great lakes, we parked it in a town where i documented all things parked.

returning to san pedro, we booked our sunday adventures and headed to alberto's friend, sergio's, house to hang with some locals. see "alberto knows everyone interesting" in tell the girls. we chatted about the differences between santiago and northern chile, work-life balance, and u.s. politics. when the conversation got too awkward, we split for dinner and some star-gazing on the outskirts of town. clouds and a near-full moon conspired to ruin our fun, but, fortunately, we love moon-gazing, too.

after some soup and hot chocolate, we bunked down to prepare for another full day of adventures.

day two: geysers + sandboarding + moon valley

there are few things i love less than early mornings. namely: war, terrorism, and olives. so getting up at 4am to see geysers in sub-freezing weather was a hard sell. fortunately, derek - our tour guide - was super-hot and inspired another round of spirit fingers.

the sunrise wasn't bad either.

after a geyser-cooked breakfast and a some warm rays, i was ready for my first dip in a natural hot spring, visit to the wetlands, and a photo shoot in a very small village (i.e., population 40). 

when we got back to the hostel, the power was out on the entire block. we didn't mind much. it was a beautiful day so kristel and meg sat outside for a visit and i fell asleep in the hammock listening to a group of brazilian tourists debate which region of brazil was most superior. after waking in time for a quick lunch, we hurried to meet up with the local, la paz-loving hippie guides who transported all the non-local, english-speaking tourists to the dunes for some sandboarding. it. was. fabulous. and we saw the bolivian border on the way. we then wandered through a calcified cave before hiking to the amphitheater in valle de la luna for sunset. 

meg and i quoted from land before time as the fading sun, with its shadows and clouds, cast stories across the desert.

six days left in my latin american adventure. here's to making the most of it.

get out of town

parque mahuida de la reina

i almost didn't go snowboarding on monday. my alarm went off early and i felt lousy. but then i thought of kristel, mike, mike, and meg - and every other santianguino - celebrating the national holiday at el colorado without me. it was too much to bear. i threw on warm clothes, stuffed a few things in my backpack, and booked it to the metro. it was closed. so i flagged down a taxi:

t: where to?
cc: ummm...


realizing i'd left all the information at my apartment, i stumbled through an explanation until the champ of a driver figured out what i was talking about. i made it to the shuttle just in time and immediately began persuading meg that she would probably prefer snowboarding to skiing. fortunately, i was right, the day was fab and, by its end, we were planning a post-finals trip to the mountains for next (north american) winter. winding down the mountain at sunset, i dozed off, listening to the easy cadence of brazilian portuguese emerging from the back of the bus. what a great way to start the week.

when i got to work on friday, gabriela popped her head in my office: there's a big celebration at the law school so nobody's really working today. you are welcome to stay, but i'm leaving at noon. i'd been meaning to find a time when i could visit the museo de la memoria y los derechos humanos without time or social pressure. so i hopped on the metro after lunch and tried to prepare myself. part of post-pinochet transitional justice, the museum has a similar flavor to a holocaust museum. by the time i made it to the second floor - which honored victims and people who spoke out against disappearances and torture - i was a wreck. i crumbled onto a bench in front of a photo collage forming the words nunca más and started to ball. that's when a museum employee approached me quietly:


e: excuse me, miss. the museum is closed. 
cc: (wiping my face before getting up to face him). oh, ok. thanks. 


then, like a police officer making sure you're sober enough to get home, he started a casual convo:


e: first time here?
cc: (whimpering, despite myself). ye-es.
e: where are you from?
cc: the u.s.
e: how long have you been in chile?
cc: (regaining some composure). t-two months.
e: oh, that's great! and how do you find chile?


i looked at his face for a hint of humor. i mean, he was escorting me - a helpless mass of heartache - out of a museum about a 17-year dictatorship that produced over 3,000 victims of torture and extrajudicial killings. but when i only saw sincerity so i made a quick recovery:

high five, cactus!

cc: it's lovely. i really like it.

none of the staff seemed phased by my long face and tear-streaked cheeks. then i realized: i'm in a museum about a 17-year dictatorship that produced over 3,000 victims of torture and extrajudicial killings. i'm not the first person to have this response. one of the most unsettling parts of being in chile has been observing and processing a people and place that is only two decades removed from an oppressive government with which the u.s. was closely linked. as i emerged from the museum and inhaled the crisp, evening air, i took in the bustling market across the street: kids playing tag, teens testing out ollies on their skateboards, and grown folk haggling over the price of fruit. and it hit me: life goes on. because it has to.

on saturday afternoon, meg and i met at tobalaba metro to transfer to the purple line, then catch a bus from simón bolivar station. it was well worth it because parque mahuida, set in the foothills of the andes, was siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic! i creeped on the extreme playground, envying kids in the bounce house and on the ziplines, before grabbing an empanada for the road and setting out on the trail to cerro de la cruz. the hiking was more than a little rigorous and the views were incredible. along the way, we stumbled across a rugby game, made friends with other hikers, a stray pup, and a troop of boy scouts. it reminded me very much of griffith park in la and was everything i could hope for in a saturday afternoon adventure.

la playa, isla negra

parque mahuida

today, kristel, mike, marie, meg, sarah, and i ventured to isla negra to see pablo neruda's third - and favorite - house. but first, we dined at a place along the main road just two doors down from the bus stop. the food was excellent, the staff congenial, and the large screen playing 1980's hits, unbelievable. we almost missed pn's house altogether. but i'm glad we didn't because pablo and i really connect in all things nautical. mom, you would have flipped out in the seashell room. i've never seen anything like it. but the best part of our sunday adventure was climbing across the rocks, singing under the cover of waves crashing, and watching the sunset before making our way back to santiago.

i've enjoyed most of my time in santiago in the city center - providencia, bellavista, lastarria, barrio brasil. but this week i found the best parts on my way out of town.

tell the girls

carlos is a poster-child for chilean hipsters: texas rangers t-shirt coupled with a colorful scarf, full beard, narrow build, hint of a beer belly. you can imagine how i felt when i met him after alberto - a slightly more reserved fellow who appears to know everyone interesting under the age of 35 - invited us to go to a concert with his friends on thursday. the venue and company were great, but the music left something to be desired. so carlos suggested we all go salsa dancing:

cc: i have to work tomorrow. another night?
c: that's not possible.
cc: why not?
c: tonight's the only night. let's go.
cc: i want to, but i can't. i have to work tomorrow at 8.
c: that's disappointing because i really wanted to go salsa dancing with you.

as he engaged sara, megan, and kristel in similar negotiations, i realized carlos was being facetious. he, in fact, could go salsa dancing any night, but was using a tried-and-true technique in fun-lover persuasion: the limited time offer. after several minutes, we prevailed and carlos consented to take us out another night. long after we'd traded in our dancing shoes for dreams, carlos sent alberto a text with a photo of himself and the needling caption: please tell the girls: i'm dancing salsa.

that's the sort of magic this week has been made of. 


on monday, i made a small presentation at our team meeting about ferpa and student privacy laws. in spanish. it was a group effort involving a lot of gesticulation and professional patience. but i did it. after work, i went to a little theater-cafe a la 1515 broadway in detroit to tweak my resume and unwind before dinner-ing at mike and marie's apartment. tuesday brought a fantastic (and cheap) almorzo with megan in a dive-ish bar near los héroes. i had my first spanish language lesson with paula, followed by sushi and euchre at the girls' apartment.

on wednesday, i was making dinner at the apartment when i heard a knock at the door. i paused to let roxana respond and, when she didn't, i opened it. there, at the threshold, stood a fine-looking fellow with a bicycle asking if he might come inside. i wish you would, i thought, as i heard movie soundtrack music playing in the background. in reality, the music was coming from roxana's room and only silence followed. finally, i stepped out of the way and muttered an of course...roxana's in her room. after a few minutes recovering in the kitchen, i offered dinner to roxana and her friend, santiago. we passed the eve talking about bikes and politics and los angeles and atacama and how roxana came to rent the spare room in her apartment to strange foreigners. it was everything i love about people and life. it was also my first hint that the week might be unusual.

thursday, i found myself with a few hours to kill between work and evening plans. i narrowly missed the 5:30 show at el biógrafo so i wandered over to the cineteca nacional where I watched a documentary on santiago's urban development between 1997-2000. interesting, if not difficult to follow. when i emerged from the theater, i immediately noticed an influx in carabineros on the street and a few small tanks. my eyes started to burn and i saw people covering their faces. so this is what tear gas feels like, i thought, as i ducked into the girls' apartment building. the labor protest near universidad católica had turned ugly so we cabbed through the aftermess to bellavista. a lovely poca viernes ensued with jonatan, wcl friends, and albert & co.

on friday, i met individually with my boss to discuss my research assignments. at his suggestion, we started in spanish and only switched to english when absolutely necessary. it is noteworthy that i've scored an exceptionally awesome boss who helps me muddle through verb tenses and reflects what he thinks i am saying rather than switching to english. i met megan and alberto for lunch during which we discovered that alberto is good friends with enrique, the lawyer-poet who won my heart at the national congress in valaparaíso. see above, "alberto knows everyone interesting in chile." but the real fun started when camila called: melissa and i will pick you up at 11:30 for karaoke at chiguagua. chiguagua looks like a standard u.s. karaoke bar - tables, a small stage, a dj - but instead of sitting and listening, everyone got on their feet to dance and sing along. camila took negative two seconds to start choreographing dance numbers, making friends with the people at adjacent tables, and orchestrating a full-fledged photo shoot. (chels, i'm convinced you and camila share a rare strain of the fun gene).  by the time saturday arrived, i was ready to take it easy. so i visited la chascona with megan and got pleasantly lost in cerro san cristóbal for a few hours. 


don't misunderstand me. i still eat lunch alone most days, go to the movies out of panic when i have unexpected free time, and tell people i love champagne instead of mushrooms. but, slowly, this santiago adventure is proving to be something for the memory books. so i'll keep doing what i do. and if they come asking, please tell the girls: i'm out dancing salsa.

una entrevista conmigo

(this one's for you, lyd). i just wrapped up my first week of interning at catholic university, living in an apartment with a stranger who doesn't speak english, and generally being independent-ish in santiago. i figured it's about time to dust off the good ole interview myself technique:

goooood afternoon, this is cap'n sparklepants - a.k.a. sparkle - on smx radio. today we have christiane in the studio to tell us a little about her chilean adventures. cc, you've been in santiago almost six weeks now. what do you make of it?
like munich in '02, santiago has been more of an acquired taste than love at first sight. my happiness seems to be directly related to a modest amount of structure and finding people i can connect with. i didn't start loving munich until i began taking capoeira classes at martinho's studio and became friends with philip and sara; i really got excited about staying here after enrolling in spanish conversation classes, having an animated conversation with my roomie about the atacama desert, and meeting a family friend who is studying acting and screenwriting here. 

so, how's the spanish coming along?
the receptionist at my internship was out sick last week. two staff members stopped by my office to make a request. i thought they were asking me to cover the phones. so i started having a full-fledged panic attack. my heart was racing and i could barely put together a sentence. they seemed thoroughly perplexed and quite insistent. ten minutes later, i realized they were saying that i should call them if i needed anything...so i have a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnng way to go. but it summoned my super-competitive spirit and the game is on: me v. chilean spanish. last week i enrolled in spanish conversation classes and started chatting up my coworkers. on saturday, i turned to dad and liz for a little encouragement, then hung out with locals most of the weekend. i'm not going pro anytime soon. and i am not going home without skillz either.


i can see that you're working hard. are you having any fun?
please. before starting work this week, mike and i spent an afternoon at the giant cemetery and la vega - an open air market - where we ate scrumpdiddliumptious fried fish and rice. and, of course, we stopped in at the mini-arcade to spend all our change before acquiring groceries and parting ways. now that i working, i have been taking advantage of long lunch breaks, free evenings, and weekends to scope out centralized neighborhoods like lastarria, bellas artes, and bellavista. new friends have been helping me navigate the less-touristy spots. camila and i have karaoke-and-dancing plans in the works for next friday after her last exam. return trip to the slopes should be happening soon and (fingers crossed) a trip to atacama. so, yeah. the fun is on.


sounds about right. now, if i'm not mistaken, you moved recently. how are the new digs?
much better now that i mustered up the courage to ask roxana about a space heater. utilities are super-pricey here so it seems like most people keep their apartments pretty cold. and by cold, i mean bone-chilling. that said, my roomie is super-nice, doesn't speak english, and i didn't want to offend her so it took a full week to find the moxy (and the words) to solve the problem. fortunately, she has a kerosene space heater so i put it in my room for a few hours tonight and now it's chilling in the commons area so that it will be warm when i get ready in the morning. the apartment itself is cute and we have a lot in common - roxana loves bike riding, nature, and composting. roxana knows i'm trying to learn spanish so she speaks slowly and answers all my vocab questions. i live in providencia - close to the temple - amidst lots of extranjeros and families. it's very cute by day, and dead at night. fortunately, it's a short metro or cab ride from the city center with more lively options for the night owl.

there's a good nightlife then. in what other ways does santiago rule?
first, the metro. there's a train every 1-2 minutes (even on weekends), it's cheap (roughly $1/ride), and there are stops every 3-4 blocks near the city center. and metro vendors. need nylons for work and thick tights to keep warm? no prob, just select 1 of 50 varieties in the metro station. hands were freezing? no prob, just get gloves in the metro station. second, soups. there's a bajillion different words for soup here - creamy soup, brothy soup, chowdery soup, stew...because chile dishes them all up. and fixed menu lunches. brilliant idea. want to sit down for lunch outside the office and get back within 1-1.5 hours? no prob, just answer "do you want lunch?" in the affirmative and your appetizer, entrée, bev, dessert, and coffee/tea will appear. third, raspberry juice. why mix it with other stuff? it is so bomb by itself. and chirimoya is a great consolation prize for the general scarcity of maracuya. fourth (bonus!), independent movie theaters. santiago is no la, but there are 4 places to watch indie films within a 20-minute walking circuit. fifth (another bonus!), the hilly parks. actually, all the parks. like athens, santiago seems to have embraced the notion that high places = holy places. so cerros throughout the city are vast parks, often with shrines or meditation spots near the top. and there are tons of non-hill parks, too. one of my favorite features are the cafés literarios, which rose up in the early days of post-pinochet democratization.

seems like you've acquired quite the taste for it. now tell me, what are you homesick for?
first, black beans. or beans in general. you can't buy them at a standard grocery so forget about ordering them at a restaurant. second, vegetarian food. i know i went carni for this trip, but between limited winter produce and the abundance of animal flesh, my body has been freaking out a little. third, reliable restaurant delivery. it's been my consistent experience that when i order food for delivery, it's going to take twice as long as they predict, and will only arrive (luke warm) after a follow-up phone call.

well, we're almost out of time. thanks for coming into the studio, cc. before we sign off: any parting words?
while i was out wandering with camila and co., a few folks approached us with a banner and t-shirts that said abrazos libres. i did a double take. then threw my arms wide open. we got our fill of hugs and i explained free hug fridays to the best of my linguistic abilities. the only thing missing in santiago these days are my friends and family in other places. so friday or not, please throw your arms open and let someone give you a giant hug for me.

thanks for being here with us, christiane. that concludes our program for the day. join us next week as we learn about new trends in mapuche rock carving techniques. 'til the next time, this is cap'n sparklepants with smx.

hello, goodbye

i went snowboarding on saturday. this is noteworthy for two reasons: first, it is june. there's been record-breaking heat in dc and detroit. but santiago scraped together just enough snow to warm my heart and open the slopes. so i went snowboarding. in june. in the andes. second, my winter sports track record is bad. correction: i'm great at snowball fights, capture the snow shovel, and sledding. but when it comes to downhill sports, inability to control my velocity and an instinctual aversion to colliding with young children has really interfered with my progress. but i am happy to say that snowboarding attempt #3 proved to be a success. i successfully controlled my speed with that weavy technique (what's it called?) and am planning to return to the slopes later this summer...errr, winter. and rest assured that, despite open mockery, i wore a helmet. because it's empowering and i have a knack for knocking the noggin.

i've also come to terms with the obvious: of the two operative terms in "study abroad," one is significantly more interesting than the other. which is why i'm constructing this blog post mere minutes before my first exam. it's not that i dislike learning. au contraire, mon frère. i just prefer to learn on my own terms: after a good rain cleared the santiago skies, mike, marie, and i took a gander at cerro santa lucía. our group visited the constitutional court, chatted with one of the chief justice, then meandered over to museo nacional de bellas artes. i finally cashed in on the free tour at palacio falabella. george, mike, and i posed as fútbol fans for the u. chile-boca juniors. sarah and i went to check out a movie at cine alemán en la universidad católica. the name should have been a giveaway, but in our enthusiasm for cinema, we neglected to note that we were buying tickets for a german film with spanish subtitles. fortunately, the plotline was predictable. i felt right at home with a cruiser bike and josé miguel of la bicicleta verde to explain about history, architecture, and culture here. and yesterday, i hung with the education protest parade for an hour, asking questions of folks ages 16 to 60 (more on that later).

the official study part of my trip abroad is coming to an end. i have tests today and tomorrow. then, i will pack up my belongings and move in with roxana, a chilean yoga instructor, from whom i am renting a spare room for the rest of my stay here. i will have a few days to kick it and explore before starting an internship with the general counsel at pontificia universidad católica, where i will be reviewing best practices for university legal teams. collectively, our group has had a lot of firsts here: eric - holding a baby, niki - shoe shine, me - casino gambling, sarah - getting deported (guhl. it worked out in the end), vicki - skiing, megan - eating a hot dog. it's been an eventful month and i'm going to miss my school friends a lot; for the 7 staying here, aquí vamos! to the next chapter of chilean adventures!

un sueño en mi boca

la corte suprema, santiago

if i knew how much i'd have to wear business attire for this program, i'm not sure i would have signed up. i mean, it's summer already. errrr...winter. regardless, i need a break from pencil skirts, collared shirts, and heels. especially if i'm living in a city with primarily cobblestone sidewalks. then again, i am planning to enter the legal profession...

and the site visits were incentive enough: vip tours of the central bank, criminal court, national congress, and supreme court. enrique's comparison of the chilean and us legislative systems nearly made me break out in song: i could be your hero, baby...or maybe it was his name. or his plans to study creative writing at nyu in the fall...the national congress was my fave. close second: hearing from the president of the supreme court and then taking pics in his courtroom throne.

committe hearing @ congreso nacional,
valaparaíso

classroom time was also stimulating this week. i am really digging the comparative approaches to social justice class. this week we dabbled in women & employment law, international human rights (the pinochet case), women in the inter-american system, and criminal procedure reforms in chile. it's just so refreshing to hear in detail about how another country tackles some of the big issues we face in the us. on the other hand, the international trade class is well-taught, but i can't bring myself to care about it on any sort of sustainable basis. sorry, dad. i tried. i really did.

this was also the first week that i have felt like santiago is a home of sorts. for starters, i'm beginning to learn enough about chilean history to recognize the significance of major thoroughfares like avenidas 11 de septiembre, de bernardo o'higgins, and de andrés bello. on monday night, i scouted out the nearest lds chapel and managed to ask someone if the church had bathrooms for single students. i was attempting to find a congregation for unmarried students and young professionals, but my language skills failed me big time. after clearing up that blunder, i learned that my ward meets on sundays at 10am. check. i also scoped out the temple, a few parks and neighborhoods, and some sweets shops before heading home. tuesday, i returned to the temple - and actually went inside - to recalibrate from nomadic life of the last four weeks. i am pleased to report that i understood the bulk of the service in spanish. on wednesday, we scouted out plaza de armas and some local sushi bars. today, the central market and centro cultural palacio la moneda (a museum below the presidential palace that a chilean cohort recommended for seeing chilean films). i accidentally chose to watch an argentinian film, juan y eva, which i discovered 20 minutes in was about juan and eva peron. it seemed appropriate as i am flying to buenos aires tomorrow.

catedral metropolitana, plaza de armas
santiago

one of my favorite parts of being in santiago is inducing strangers to talk with me - or at me - in spanish: cabineros outside of government buildings, shop owners, theater staff. i find asking for directions and buying desserts are two good places to start. after explaining that i confuse the words frutilla (strawberry) and frambuesa (rasberry) to a central market vendor, a small crowd of women gathered to point out strawberries, spell words out, and generally describing fruits and juices. but the linguistic highlight of the week came as jen, vicki, mike, and i devoured pieces of passion fruit mousse and chocolate cake from a peruvian-style bakery at the central market. words like perfecto and delicioso seemed totally inadequate. so i blurted out: esta un sueño en mi boca (it's a dream in my mouth)! i'm pretty sure that's not a phrase worth repeating, but it elicited an audible laugh and broad smile from the baker. which added to the sweetness of it all.

a chile summer

bust of abe lincoln in the park
along avenida de andres bello.

i've been in chile for one week. in that time, i have butchered the spanish language innumerable times: telling our program liaison that i was married instead of tired; asking the grocer how to prepare a plantain instead of whether it is ripe; and repeatedly referring to hills as pigs. conversationally, i'm a mess. but it hasn't stopped me from doing what i do best: navigating public transit, finding parks and used book shops, and fraternizing with strangers. 

santiago is at the foot of the andes. fyi. for me, this came as a surprise through the airplane window. it's a large city (7 or 8 million), but it manages to feel pretty intimate. probably because my days revolve around a 2-mile path between my apartment and school and the study abroad group includes super-hospitable staff and students from the universidad de chile. 2011 brought significant student protests (primarily) regarding the post-secondary education system. the effects of those protests linger on campus and in lunchtime discussions. but my evenings have included, primarily, culinary exploration with surprise concerts/dance parties here and there. my classes have been fantastic overall. especially the comparative approaches to social justice course. socio-politically speaking, three things have stood out to me: (1) privatizing just about everything, the chilean government puts u.s. conservatives to shame; (2) chile abides by a civil code (like the french) instead of common law (like the english and us). that means rules and regulations, not court decisions, determine how the law develops. (3) the catholic church has greatly influenced, and continues to influence, social norms and laws. i look forward to getting to know the city better over the next few months.

villa grimaldi, parque por la paz
human rights tour with the study abroad crew

we spent the weekend in viña del mar and valaparaiso. it's autumn here so it's pretty cold (somewhere between la and nor cal, temperature-wise), but i relished my time with seafood and the pacific ocean. i vacationed the nights away with karaoke and dancing. paradise, indeed. i also gambled in a casino for the first time. after winning $50 in a game akin to black jack, i decided to tap out and check gambling off my bucket list. today's highlight was definitely a photo expedition in valaparaiso with study abroad friends, jen and sarah. we met a lovely gentlemen, hector, who lives in the former vacation home of bernardo o'higgins, which is located in a now-modest neighborhood in the hills.

but it's nearly one and class comes early tomorrow. so the rest of the stories will have to wait. or to be told via incriminating photos on facebook. 'til the next time, love from santiago.