The Adventure is Officially Over

...for now.
I'm back at my University (Kenyon College), enrolled in 4 classes: History of the Spanish Language, Classical Islam, Beginning Arabic, and an International Studies seminar.

I'm already making plans to head back to Argentina/Chile once I graduate, but the blog will have to wait about a year for part 2.

Thanks for reading (or looking/skimming).
Chao amigos,
Jeff

Random Stolen Pictures

Aqui estan varias fotos que sacaron mis amigos durante el semestre

Early on in the semester, at the cine


Un asado a la casa de Evan


Evan y yo


Incredible Sunset in Vina



Another Night in Cafe Journal

Another Aspect of Chilean Culture: Machismo and Piropos

Machismo is an essential part of Latin American culture.

“Piropo” is the name for anything that guys here shout out at girls as they walk by.

My friend and I actually did a powerpoint presentation for class about machismo, piropos and the increased effect of alcohol (mainly pisco).

In fact, it’s such an integral part of Chilean culture that when I turned on the Chilean equivalent of Wheel of Fortune, the category was Piropo, and the answer was “vuelve de mis suenos y entra mi vida” which means, “come out of my dreams and into my life.”

My friend Dan and were going to drink some pisco and go down to the main street in Viña to give out some piropos, but alas, we never got the chance.

Suzy was suggesting funny ones to use.

Por ejemplo, “Señorita, no camine bajo el sol, con este calor ve que los bombones se derriten”

Ayer pasé por tu casa y me tiraste un limón, la cáscara cayó al suelo y el jugo en mi corazón.

A veces me pregunto por qué la vida es tan bella. Ahora ya lo sé: Porqué tu estas en ella.

Quien fuera patito de goma para estar en tu bañera.

Im not going to translate them because it wouldn't do them justice.

Apart from piropos, Chileans take a few things seriously: bread, mayonnaise, pisco, and the conservation of electricity.

There is a bakery on practically every corner, (flanked by liquor stores on either side, naturally), and I always had fresh bread in my house. In terms of Mayo, they put it on EVERYTHING in excessive amounts. If they took half the money they spent on mayonnaise and instead used it on electricity, I wouldn't have had to stumble around my house in the dark every night.

Final two weeks in Chile, Part 2

On Monday I said goodbye to Andrea and Kata
me and andrea

the sky that night after i saw Kata

On Tuesday I went to wander the streets of Valpo for the last time. I went up to Cerro Polanco to see it, since I had never been there, but it was one of the sketchiest places I went to in Valparaiso. Everyone was watching me, even though I had my blond hair covered by my hat, and I was glad when I left. I then went to the Plaza O’Higgins to play chess, where I was not so kindly put in my place in the chess world by the chess master of Valparaiso.

Here’s a cool picture I took of the sun setting in the middle of the Congreso

Pablo Neruda once said that the night sky fell on Valparaiso, and this is what he meant:

On Wednesday I went to the Museo Fonck with Elisa then bought some souvenirs, then we headed out on the town for another (my last!) ridiculous night with Juan Carlos.

On Thursday I got empanadas with Tim, then met Suzy for a bit on my halfway stop in Santiago before heading off to the airport for my long flight home.

As it is with all other good things, the Great South American Adventure must come to an end. I haven’t even left yet and I’m already getting nostalgic. I will update with a summary post of my trip in a little bit.

Goodbye, my 6 month chilean home

Last 2 weeks in South America Part 1

Quick summary of my final 10 days in chile:

Tuesday July 10^th I had my final final exam! I went to eat empanadas with Andrea, then went to see Ocean’s 13 with Evan, after learning I got the second highest grade on the oral exam (when I was the only non-native speaker taking it). That night I hung out with my chilean cousin Pato, drinking piscolas and watching Uruguay vs. Brazil in Copa America. Later I went to OH with Pato, met Evan, Samantha and Marco (her pololo) there, then went to Journal, where we met two groups of Chilean girls. The first ones left after a bit, then we met the others – I was talking and dancing to a very attractive 19 year old girl from Santiago who had a cast on her wrist. I don't really know why this detail is important, but it is.

On Wednesday we went back to Journal and I ran into those same Chilean guys from Dan’s apartment, and met all their friends, including some minas.

On Thursday Evan and I went back to Scratch, which was packed with people despite the fact it was pouring outside, and we ran into the girls we had met the previous two nights, pero la magia del gringo ya se habia acabado.

On Friday I went to a vineyard with my dad.

Later that day I went to Santiago to visit Suzy for the last time. We went back out to that same club where we had met, and I left on Saturday afternoon to go home. On Saturday I grabbed a final beer with Evan at Journal before he left at 5 am.

Sunday July 15 was my bday. I went to the Fish Market in Valparaiso with my dad and bought a 5 kilo salmon for about 15 dollars, which my mom cooked in the oven with a bunch of other stuff (that fish lasted us 4 meals (over 2 days) for 5 people!).

My portion



That night we had a special bday ONCE. The 2 year old daughter of my chilean brother came over too, and I had a lot of fun playing with her.

Pics with Bernardita

Wearing my hat!

ALTO MANTAGUA - NACHOS, PISCO, and a FREE RESORT

Finally, the time had come to use my resort prize! On Friday we went to the supermarket and bought supplies for nachos and a whole lot of pisco and coke, then headed up to the Alto Mantagua resort about 35 min north of Vina.

Me on the balcony of our apartment


The view




Krysta and Elisa Making Nachos


Evan and the girls


There ended up being 8 of us there, Evan, Tim, Marco (chilean), Me, Samantha, Elisa, Amelia (elisa's friend), and Krysta.
The girls cooked the nachos for the most part (this is a machista country, remember) and we partied hard into the wee hours of the morning, as they say, with loud music and piscolons.
Security only visited us once to tell us to turn the music down (I was expecting it to be at least 3 times), and they actually didn't throw us out!
My friends left in the early afternoon on Saturday, and a few hours later Suzy came to visit. All of the activities were free, so we first went to a Relaxation Class, then went over to the main building to watch Chile get destroyed 6-1 by Brazil in futbol, then went and sang Karaoke. When we got back to the room, they actually called us to tell us that if we made as much noise as the night before, they would have to ask us to leave. We made rounds 3 and 4 of nachos that day/night. On Sunday afternoon we headed back to Vina early because we ran out of food and didn't want to overpay at the hotel restaurant.

If only this pool had been warm...


Sunset on Saturday Night

I will add pictures of the party when I get them.

UPDATE:

A toast

Huevan being crazy

NACHOS

Huevan and Krysta

Sam and her pololo

CARRETEEEEEEEEEEEE

On Wednesday July 4^th, I got back to Santiago from Mendoza, and I met Suzy for lunch at Havanna (delicious/cheap paninis!), then went to the office of the Alto Mantagua resort, where I was going to try to convince them to let me use it for the next weekend. I had pretty much no hope for getting it when I wanted it, but I worked my magic in the office, joking around with the manager in Spanish and eventually convinced her to let me use it when I wanted to, from June 6-9.

That night we had a big 4^th of July party at Dan’s apartment, then went down to Journal (which was packed with mostly guys, but I ran into a few friends there so it was fun).

On Thursday I was going to stay in and hang out because I was tired, but my friend Andrea (la Colombiana) called and said she and a few friends were going out to Scratch for a big party, so I rallied and met them at the club.

A few weeks ago I took her out to dinner at a really fancy revolving restaurant on the 22^nd floor of a building in Valparaiso overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We spent three hours there talking and getting along really well, then ended up going out dancing and meeting up with Dan (for his birthday carrete) at Duff. It was a lot of fun but I didn’t hang out with her much after that until this Thursday. Here are some pictures from that night:

Andrea and Me

Big group of extranjeros (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and me)

It cost a lot more than usual to get into the club, and I ended up only having 10 pesos (= 2 cents) left in my pocket when the club closed at 5 AM. I need at least 700 pesos to get home from anywhere if it’s after 11 PM. I was about to have to borrow money from Andrea (something I felt more than a little uncomfortable doing), when I got very lucky because I ran into Bruno, the Chilean guy who lives with me, and his brother, who had a car. So we dropped 2 of those girls off at home, and then went back to our house in Recreo.

Mendoza, Argentina Part 2

On Tuesday we went on a tour/trip called Alta Montaña. We went to see the mountain range, including Aconcagua (the highest peak in the Americas), El
Puente Del Inca, and the border of Chile and Argentina.

The cordillera from far away

Natural wall formed by water many years ago

Argentina's Army training in the snow

The Inca Bridge

I'm pretty sure thats Aconcagua in the background


Elisa and me rocking our new hats


At the border - it was freezing up there

Our tour guide was hilarious – he was one of many Argentinians who have strong opinions towards the Chileans. We had some interesting political discussions with him as soon as I whipped out my carnet (Chilean ID card), and his two best quotes from the trip were “never let a Chilean draw a map,” and “living with Chileans is like living with your mother-in-law.”

Here's a picture we took with him at the base of the ski resort

Here's a picture from one of our many legendary late night dance parties

The Last Supper, Mendoza version

We ate like kings every meal – always steak, pasta, and wine, and my love for Argentina was renewed with this trip. I am a big fan of Argentina, but not really of Buenos Aires.

Finally, the amazing view from the plane on the short hop back to Santiago