Pucón

From March 13-March 16, ISA took all of us to Pucón. For those not familiar with this touristy area, think Lake Geneva + any tourist spot in Colorado. Basically, it was Gringoland, and sometimes, ISA land. Its a 12 hour bus ride from Viña, so we got there bright and early Friday morning. We went on this big tour around the hot spots of Pucón. We saw two very beautiful water falls, Salto Palguin y Salto La China if I'm correct. Then we went to the Ojos del Carburgua, very pretty. Sat on the top of one of the waterfalls and just took in the views. From there....we trekked to the hot springs. If you ever get a chance to visit a hot springs, do it. It was so amazing. There were 2 hot springs we preoccupied. One was a nice warm temperature, and kind of shallow. The other was hotter, but deeper. We were all taking turns going from one to another, and then into the river! What a refreshing afternoon.

The next day, I went to the Parque Nacional Huerquehue. I ended up going with my friend Daphne, it was really nice and relaxing. I trekked on my own for a bit and got some sweet shots.

On the last day, I went rafting! Definitely a blast. I did bajo, which is the beginner version, but I definitely think I could have done the more intense version. After that, I relaxed for a little bit, found a sweet park and swung on the swings. Definitely a awesome weekend.

Spanish Lesson

The slang and vocab here is by far one of the most interesting parts so far. They say that if you master Chilean Spanish, you can speak Spanish everywhere because Chilean is the most difficult. I'm still getting a grasp on what words they use here instead of those that have been drilled into my brain since 5th grade Spanish. Here are some of the basics:

gringo(a) - This just means foreigner here. It is not a mean term, just more of a statement. Many moms here will say "mi hija gringita," and use it affectionately.

pololo(a) - The term they use here for boyfriend and girlfriend. They don't really use "novio" here.

luca - One thousand pesos....which is about $2 American.

guagua - baby, bambi

This weekend I'm off to Pucón. Its in the south, a nice long 12 hour bus ride.

Universidad y Familia

Finally started back schooling today. It was so weird because I haven't had regular classes since mid-December. At UAI (Universidad Adolfo Ibañez), there isn't even a map! So I get there 30 minutes before my class starts and I'm so lost. Ask the guy at the desk, but still couldn't figure it out. Finally saw some gringo mates....and felt much better.

There were only about 8 of us, all from ISA in the class....so it was pretty confortable. The prof was kind of nervous...she's straight out of grad school and was having some trouble with her English. Luckily, I had my Spanish Dictionary to help her out. The class was to go from 11-2, but we had a half hour break in between which was nice. I have another class today, a class in Spanish, con Chileanos. I'm not gonna lie, kind of nervous for it. I changed this class from my previous time so I could have it with mi amiga gringa, Stephanie, but from what I've heard from the others, not the easiest thing. What's different here is that I don't ever buy my books. All of us have to get photocopies, which is definitely new. And sooo much cheaper. However, because its once a week, that means I have a book to read per week.

In casa news, my wireless internet that I had been secretly using has failed me. I think they figured it out and locked it up on me. Its such a sad story. I am working on borrowing an ethernet cable, which would be super sweet. I just need to figure out after that where I can plug it in.

The other day at lunch, mi familia preceeded to tell me all the mugging stories of their previous students. One was mugged in the day time in front of the Congress building. One was mugged in Mendoza. No wonder they never had a phone to give me! I figure though....I won't go out for a drink taking a purse full of valuable and such. As long as I'm responsable and aware...I should be fine. My family is so cute...they are always telling me "¡con cuidado, con cuidado!" I went out for a drink with my sister last week; she's so sweet. She's a lot more badass then she comes off.

Chile and The Fam

For those of you planning on visiting Chile, do what the books say. Santiago was fun, but I saw everthing I needed to see in 3 days. The Presidential House was sweet, the views were amazing, and the night life was interesting (Santo Secreto....think Mad Ave on crack). Definitely worth a visit, but I though Santiago wasn't really special.

Now Viña del Mar y Valparaiso....yes. These places have character. I live in Viña, right next to the border to Valpo, so I get a good view of both cities. Valpo is a rougher....more grungy (but in a good way). It's got this run down, I don't care kind of attitude that I really like. I haven't seen much of it yet (the navy, some stores, the other university), but I'm sure that'll change.

Viña is way ritzier. In the downtown part, it reminds me a lot of California. The downtown isn't too ritzy, just very busy and very cool. Its further down, closer to the malls where Viña is very chic. There were little palm umbrella for people, many vendors, and unfortunately, corporate America (Pizza Hut is neighboring Dominos).

My family is really great. My older sister (23) and my dad understand my Spanish the best and have been acting as translator for the rest of my family. My madre is so sweet, and she laughs very easily. My younger siblings (15 year old sister and 8 year old brother) were more shy at first and are slowly warming up. They just started school on Wednesday, and I haven't seen them as much as the others.

Today, I'm going to some beaches (Renacca and such). Hopefully I can even out my awkward burn tan that I'm rocking right now. School starts Monday, but I don't have class until Tuesday, so it'll be a nice weekend for me. I promise pictures will come! I happen to be one of the few without wireless (even my US fam has wireless now!), so I need to just go to a wireless cafe and upload for hours.