Toddler, Trips, & Track
7 years ago
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Curicó and Talca
So, I'm going wayy back for this update, but it was a fun trip and there are some neat pictures so it's worth writing about.
Central has two different study abroad programs here in Chile. My program here in Valdivia and then a shorter 6-week summer program up north in Valparaíso. I knew one of the girls who was coming down for this program so we decided to try and meet up for a weekend. It was a little difficult finding a weekend that worked, and a place to go since we're about 13 hours away and she had classes on Friday. So we tried to do some research and settled on Curicó. Needless to say it wasn't quite what we expected when we got there. It's supposed to be a really cute town but was strong affected by the earthquake because it's located pretty close to the epicenter, and also because most of the buildings are (were) over 100 years old and made of adobe. On top of that, it was winter so low season for any touristy things. However, we made the most of it and had fun exploring the city, riding micros, visiting a winery and eating delicious food, climbing a random hill, and getting to know our hostal owner (and locking her out of her house when we left... oops!).
Then on Sunday we decided it was time for a change so we headed about an hour south down to Talca. Talca was also pretty affected by the earthquake but it was a larger town so we got do a little more exploring. Plus, it was sunny which was a nice treat for Greg, Rachel and I who by that point had already experienced enough rain here in Valdivia. We found some ice cream (yum!) and eventually were directed by some friendly people to another nice hill where we could walk around and there was a good place to eat. Fabulous, except we needed to take a collectivo to get there. We found where the collectivos were passing, but every time our number passed us it was full. Problem. So we flagged down a random collectivo and the driver said even though it wasn't his route he would take us there. He showed us where to go and also gave us his phone number and said he'd come back to pick us up if we needed to.
The park/hill ended up being beautiful and the lunch was also absolutely delicious. We walked around for a while and even got to take a nice boat ride on a small river. For lunch we had a huge pot of chicken cooked with mariscos and ponche - which is like sangria but made with white wine. We were all satisfied and decided if anything that lunch had made our trip worth it! Plus it was cheap :). We called the collectivo driver and had the best taxi ride back to the bus terminal - dancing laughing and singing the whole way - and we saw Ashley off and then the rest of us waited for a few more hours playing cards until our bus left to go back to Valdivia.
Central has two different study abroad programs here in Chile. My program here in Valdivia and then a shorter 6-week summer program up north in Valparaíso. I knew one of the girls who was coming down for this program so we decided to try and meet up for a weekend. It was a little difficult finding a weekend that worked, and a place to go since we're about 13 hours away and she had classes on Friday. So we tried to do some research and settled on Curicó. Needless to say it wasn't quite what we expected when we got there. It's supposed to be a really cute town but was strong affected by the earthquake because it's located pretty close to the epicenter, and also because most of the buildings are (were) over 100 years old and made of adobe. On top of that, it was winter so low season for any touristy things. However, we made the most of it and had fun exploring the city, riding micros, visiting a winery and eating delicious food, climbing a random hill, and getting to know our hostal owner (and locking her out of her house when we left... oops!).
Then on Sunday we decided it was time for a change so we headed about an hour south down to Talca. Talca was also pretty affected by the earthquake but it was a larger town so we got do a little more exploring. Plus, it was sunny which was a nice treat for Greg, Rachel and I who by that point had already experienced enough rain here in Valdivia. We found some ice cream (yum!) and eventually were directed by some friendly people to another nice hill where we could walk around and there was a good place to eat. Fabulous, except we needed to take a collectivo to get there. We found where the collectivos were passing, but every time our number passed us it was full. Problem. So we flagged down a random collectivo and the driver said even though it wasn't his route he would take us there. He showed us where to go and also gave us his phone number and said he'd come back to pick us up if we needed to.
The park/hill ended up being beautiful and the lunch was also absolutely delicious. We walked around for a while and even got to take a nice boat ride on a small river. For lunch we had a huge pot of chicken cooked with mariscos and ponche - which is like sangria but made with white wine. We were all satisfied and decided if anything that lunch had made our trip worth it! Plus it was cheap :). We called the collectivo driver and had the best taxi ride back to the bus terminal - dancing laughing and singing the whole way - and we saw Ashley off and then the rest of us waited for a few more hours playing cards until our bus left to go back to Valdivia.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Lampa
I started writing this blog about two weeks ago but never got around to finishing it. Now I'm sitting in my room with all my bags packed to leave Valdivia tomorrow night. I'm all done with my classes (finally) and it's hard to believe that my time here has really come to an end.... so I feel like some reminiscing is in order. I've been walking around with a lot of mixed emotions lately. I keep thinking of things I would love to do here - go skiing in the Andes, travel further south or north, go to Buenos Aires, spend more time with the friends and families I've gotten to know and love - but at the same time I'm very ready to be home in the arms of my friends, family, and fiance! It's hard being torn between the two cultures, knowing that when I leave a part of me will still be here, with the way of life and my friends. It's also hard not knowing if I'll ever see these people again. I would love to come back but at this point I can't say if that will be possible or not in the future.
A few weeks ago we had a long weekend due to holiday that fell on a Monday. A while back when I did Un Techo Para Chile, I met a chilean who has a class with the other girl from Central and we hit it off pretty well. She's super outgoing and a lot of fun to talk to. She's in her second year studying history and education at the university and after the weekend we would get together once a week or so to eat lunch and catch up a little bit. She even met Jake when he came - which was quite the funny picture since she's barely 5 feet tall. She lives up in the countryside (campo) just north of Santiago and invited me to come visit her home and family with her. Of course that has been one of my favorite things to do here in Chile, so I made sure to take her up on the offer and went home with her for the long weekend.
It was a very nice relaxing weekend and I can't explain how good it felt to be separated from "city" life. We walked almost everywhere and I got to see the sun after being stuck in the rain for way too long in Valdivia. I also loved getting to see her life which is quite different from the families I've met here in Valdivia. Her family is adorable and incredibly frienly (they called me their prodigal daughter all weekend!) but they come from the lower working class (compared to the family I live with, whose kids go to the most expensive high school in the area) and her parents work to provide for their kids so that they can study at the university and have opportunities that they weren't able to have. They make a lot of sacrifices for this (like putting off the completion of their house!) but are proud and happy to do it. And if you ask them, they say they don't expect anything in return once she graduates (although, of course she will continue to care for them). This was just really interesting for me to see, as it presents a pretty typical different parent-child interaction of Chile. For instance if you go talk about going out for lunch or dancing with a chilean, occasionally they'll say they can but that they have to call their parents to have them deposit money in their bank account. At times this has been weird for me, after being "financially independent" for some time now but has been just another thing to learn about the culture here.
We didn't do a whole lot over the weekend, and that felt good. We mostly just hung out with her friends (who she hadn't seen in 3 months) and we watched a couple movies. I also got to go to mass with her Sunday morning and a Bible study afterwards. It was fun to meet some more of the community at church. Everyone was very welcoming (like always) and an older man even bought me cake and coffee! This is something that I've fallen in love with in regards to Chilean culture - their warmth and hospitality, especially to foreigners. And it's something that I'm going to miss a lot. In a lot of ways been fun to be "the gringa" and to talk about my life in the US to Chileans and see their reactions to some of our traditions (like the drinking age, fraternities/sororities and the changing of lasts names with marriage). And, I think I've had to explain Thanksgiving at least to 10 different people now too. :)
So that's that. I've got one more weekend to post about and then my upcoming travels as well. Tomorrow I leave Valdivia and head up to La Serena which is about 7 hours north of Santiago. I'm looking forward to seeing the sun again and enjoying some warmer weather (it might hit 60! haha). Then I fly out Wednesday and get home on Thursday afternoon. It'll be good to be home, but it'll also be hard to leave this country that has very much become a part of who I am.
Oh, for those of you interested... a large part of why parents pay for everything is that jobs are extremely hard to come by here without a college degree, and if you find one, you're lucky to make more than $10 for an 8 hour day of work - not necesarrily conducive for paying for college (which costs about $5000 a year at the public universities, not including food and housing).
Me with Belén and her family
A few weeks ago we had a long weekend due to holiday that fell on a Monday. A while back when I did Un Techo Para Chile, I met a chilean who has a class with the other girl from Central and we hit it off pretty well. She's super outgoing and a lot of fun to talk to. She's in her second year studying history and education at the university and after the weekend we would get together once a week or so to eat lunch and catch up a little bit. She even met Jake when he came - which was quite the funny picture since she's barely 5 feet tall. She lives up in the countryside (campo) just north of Santiago and invited me to come visit her home and family with her. Of course that has been one of my favorite things to do here in Chile, so I made sure to take her up on the offer and went home with her for the long weekend.
It was a very nice relaxing weekend and I can't explain how good it felt to be separated from "city" life. We walked almost everywhere and I got to see the sun after being stuck in the rain for way too long in Valdivia. I also loved getting to see her life which is quite different from the families I've met here in Valdivia. Her family is adorable and incredibly frienly (they called me their prodigal daughter all weekend!) but they come from the lower working class (compared to the family I live with, whose kids go to the most expensive high school in the area) and her parents work to provide for their kids so that they can study at the university and have opportunities that they weren't able to have. They make a lot of sacrifices for this (like putting off the completion of their house!) but are proud and happy to do it. And if you ask them, they say they don't expect anything in return once she graduates (although, of course she will continue to care for them). This was just really interesting for me to see, as it presents a pretty typical different parent-child interaction of Chile. For instance if you go talk about going out for lunch or dancing with a chilean, occasionally they'll say they can but that they have to call their parents to have them deposit money in their bank account. At times this has been weird for me, after being "financially independent" for some time now but has been just another thing to learn about the culture here.
We didn't do a whole lot over the weekend, and that felt good. We mostly just hung out with her friends (who she hadn't seen in 3 months) and we watched a couple movies. I also got to go to mass with her Sunday morning and a Bible study afterwards. It was fun to meet some more of the community at church. Everyone was very welcoming (like always) and an older man even bought me cake and coffee! This is something that I've fallen in love with in regards to Chilean culture - their warmth and hospitality, especially to foreigners. And it's something that I'm going to miss a lot. In a lot of ways been fun to be "the gringa" and to talk about my life in the US to Chileans and see their reactions to some of our traditions (like the drinking age, fraternities/sororities and the changing of lasts names with marriage). And, I think I've had to explain Thanksgiving at least to 10 different people now too. :)
So that's that. I've got one more weekend to post about and then my upcoming travels as well. Tomorrow I leave Valdivia and head up to La Serena which is about 7 hours north of Santiago. I'm looking forward to seeing the sun again and enjoying some warmer weather (it might hit 60! haha). Then I fly out Wednesday and get home on Thursday afternoon. It'll be good to be home, but it'll also be hard to leave this country that has very much become a part of who I am.
Oh, for those of you interested... a large part of why parents pay for everything is that jobs are extremely hard to come by here without a college degree, and if you find one, you're lucky to make more than $10 for an 8 hour day of work - not necesarrily conducive for paying for college (which costs about $5000 a year at the public universities, not including food and housing).
Me with Belén and her family
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Our God of the Nations
I think it was about a month ago now that I got the chance to go back down to Purranque to visit my friend Carolina. Carolina just started her fourth studying law at the university and I met her through the Bible study I attend on Wednesday nights. I had spent a weekend at her house a while back, and they invited to come again to celebrate the baptism of her boyfriend Felipe. Purranque is only about 2.5 hours from Valdivia by bus so I left Saturday afternoon and got down to Purranque in time to watch part of a movie with Carolina and Felipe and then we went to their youth group survice they have on Saturday nights. It was really neat to be back here and see some familiar faces, and to just feel the warmth of a church family. Their church is a lot different than what I'm used in a number of ways but it still never ceases to amaze me how it still feels so similar and comfortable. It's a smaller church (about 50 people) and it's evangelical, which has a slightly different style than the CRC I grew up with :) . Even still, I reallyed enjoyed the service - we sang songs (with words on a projector, and some I recognized from their english versions!) and a lady from their church talked about staying involved in the church and contributing to its growth as young adults. Afterwards we dropped Felipe off at his grandparents house for the night and Carolina and I went back to her house. I really enjoy talking with Carolina. We're obviously not as open/close as I am with my friends in Michigan, but it's still been very nice to find someone like her to share time with.
Sunday they got up and went to Sunday school while I stayed behind to do my own devotions and then we met up again for lunch with Felipe's family. It still always amazes me how hospitable everyone seems to be here. Even though his family didn't know me at all (and to that, I was only the friend of his girlfriend! hah!), they invited me to eat with them and tried really hard to include me in the conversation - asking me about my studies in Chile and in the US and how I had met Carolina. I really enjoyed taking part in a "sunday family dinner" with them, although it made me miss being at home with my own family a bit.
Shortly after lunch (it's a 2ish hour process once you have el postre and tea) we headed back to church for Felipe's baptism. I had been looking forward to this for a while since I've always enjoyed watching people get baptised. There's something really powerful in the symbolism of it all, and after learning a bit about Felipe - who he used to be and how he's been changing - I was really excited for him to have this event to "mark" in a way his change and his new life in Christ. The service of course was longgg, but I loved it. The passion that the church has is evident, and because it's a smaller church they really do act like a huge family. For example, they start off with a time of prayer and they just ask people in the congregation to shout out/share prayer requests and updates. It's encouraging to be in this time of community again and to be reminded of the power and expanse of our God. He's not just a God in english, but also in spanish, french, chinese, german, dutch, etc... I loved praising Him in spanish as well - it just added to this idea that our God is the God of every nation, tribe, and tongue. The baptisms were at the end, and this was as enjoyable as I expected. Five people got baptized and it was very cool to see how everyone shared in their joy and excitement.
So, that was basically that weekend. I spent the night with Carolina again on Sunday and then we headed back to Valdivia on Monday. I see her every once in a while, but we've both been pretty busy so it's generally just at Bible study. We did get a chance to go out and get hot chocolate though on Tuesday which was nice to do to catch up and talk about family, school, etc... I'm hoping to go back once more to visit her and her family in Purranque and then possibly up to Temuco to visit her boyfriend (who lives and works there). Time is running out though, as I now have less than 3 weeks left in Chile.
One last thing that was especially neat about this weekend (and my time here in general) was/is seeing so many of the similarities that exist between Chile and the US. Even though I'm thousands of miles away, so many things here are parallels of traditions or customs in the US, but with their own Chilean twist (spanish, food, table manners, time schedules.. hah!). Like for instance the church, it's the same God with the same beliefs, but it has a different feel because of the surrounding culture. In that way, it's been incredibly interesting to contrast the two cultures and to analize the pros and cons of each one. There are so many things I love about the Chilean culture, but I'm also starting to realize more of the things that I miss about culture and lifestyle in US. Hopefully I'll manage to get a list going to share.
That's about it. I now officially have one week left of classes - which includes just two papers and a final project. I'm ready to be done! Thankfully I get to take a break a little bit this weekend since it's a long weekend (there's a holiday on Monday) and I'm going up to a city near Santiago with another friend to visit with her and her family. I'm excited to spend time with them, AND more importantly... I'm excited for the last Chile futbol game in the world cup - hopefully they'll win and then they will advance (along with the US who has already qualified - yay!) to the second round.
Ojalá que les vaya bien! Un beso - Chau!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Life goes on.
Wow, it's been two weeks already since my last blog post, it's amazing how fast time goes by and gets filled with various activities. There's still some events I want to talk about from a month ago, but I think I'll focus today on recent events and will try my best to put up some of the other stories/thoughts later.
To begin with, this week has been pretty crazy - filled with a few new "firsts", celebrations, and important dates. I'll start with last Saturday and work my way through my week....
Saturday was the first US game in World Cup in South Africa, and as luck would have it, we played England - significant because there's a large group of "gringos" (Americans) here and we hang out with one guy from England so a bunch of us went to a local bar to watch the game. It was basically empty except for all of us so we had fun watching the game, especially since we tied (most of us thought we would lose). After the game, I ran around town to finish buying an outfit to go to a wedding. I met an english professor here through the British guy (Greg) and especially during my first month here, spent a lot of time with her (Alexia), her fiancee (Floris) and Greg. Some of you might remember me talking about them in an earlier blog post I think. Anyways, their wedding was this past Saturday and they had invited Greg and I to join in celebrating with them. I ended up buying a completely different dress (my third one of the week actually, hah!) but had fun trying on clothes with the sales ladies who were super helpful. I ran home and changed to go to the wedding. The ceremony was at 7 in the Lutheran Church here and was short but very nice. In many ways it was similar to American weddings with a flower girl and the entrance of the bride with her dad, but it definitely had a slightly chilean feel. For example, the bride and groom get ready at their houses and then drive to the church, and the ceremony basically starts when the bride gets there (which, she always arrives "late" on purpose). Then, after the ceremony the real party starts. They had the reception at a really nice restaurant just outside of town. It was a smaller reception (about 70 people) but one of the funnest weddings I've been too. It was a very relaxed setting, and everyone seemed to have a great time. This too had some similar elements like the first dance, cake cutting, and bouqet toss along with some very "chilean" aspects - the two main ones being that a "good" wedding lasts until at least 5 am, and that half way through the reception the bride and groom bring out cotillón. This surprised me since I had never heard about it or seen it but it was a lot of fun. Basically, cotillón includes varios party hats, masks, ties, whistles, horns, etc... (similar stuff to things at a New Years Eve party). Everyone had a blast putting the things on and dancing to all the reggaeton! Oh, and of course the food was delicous.
Sunday through Thursday were filled with a lot of homework and classes it seemed - I can definitely tell that it's the end of the semester (two more weeks left!). I'm getting a little stressed with everything that I have this week, but once I get past Wednesday I'm in the last kick which I anticipate will feel really good :). Memorable events included Chile's first world cup came, leading Bible study Wednesday night in spanish, "celebrating" four years of dating with Jake, passing the "one month until I'm home" date, and then of course... my birthday! I didn't get to do anything special with Jake (obviously) but we did get to talk and as always I enjoyed looking at where we've come from. This year was extra fun too, because we can look forward to a life full of the memories we've already been making, something that makes me really excited. Realizing I only have one month left here is a weird feeling. In many ways, I'm ready to be home - I want to see my friends, family, fiancee, and could REALLY use a good dose of sunshine, daylight, the beach and summer break. At the same time, I've loved my time here and have developed some really good friendships that will be hard to leave. Especially knowing that I don't plan on returning to Chile in the near future. Then... my birthday. The day itself was normal (and busy with school.. first time ever, and I can say I definitely did not like it!). Then at night I had a special dinner with cake with my host family and afterwards I went out with a group of gringos and a few chileans to a local bar that was showing the final game of the NBA playoffs. It was fun to just hang out and talk and they even bought me a cake and balloons! There was also a music group playing who came over and serenaded me in spanish and english! Afterwards we went out dancing at a local disco. It was a fun way to spend the night with some good friends here. I laughed A LOT and will definitely remember my first chilean birthday.
So, that's the past week. I think I managed to keep it somewhat short even. :)
Chau!
To begin with, this week has been pretty crazy - filled with a few new "firsts", celebrations, and important dates. I'll start with last Saturday and work my way through my week....
Saturday was the first US game in World Cup in South Africa, and as luck would have it, we played England - significant because there's a large group of "gringos" (Americans) here and we hang out with one guy from England so a bunch of us went to a local bar to watch the game. It was basically empty except for all of us so we had fun watching the game, especially since we tied (most of us thought we would lose). After the game, I ran around town to finish buying an outfit to go to a wedding. I met an english professor here through the British guy (Greg) and especially during my first month here, spent a lot of time with her (Alexia), her fiancee (Floris) and Greg. Some of you might remember me talking about them in an earlier blog post I think. Anyways, their wedding was this past Saturday and they had invited Greg and I to join in celebrating with them. I ended up buying a completely different dress (my third one of the week actually, hah!) but had fun trying on clothes with the sales ladies who were super helpful. I ran home and changed to go to the wedding. The ceremony was at 7 in the Lutheran Church here and was short but very nice. In many ways it was similar to American weddings with a flower girl and the entrance of the bride with her dad, but it definitely had a slightly chilean feel. For example, the bride and groom get ready at their houses and then drive to the church, and the ceremony basically starts when the bride gets there (which, she always arrives "late" on purpose). Then, after the ceremony the real party starts. They had the reception at a really nice restaurant just outside of town. It was a smaller reception (about 70 people) but one of the funnest weddings I've been too. It was a very relaxed setting, and everyone seemed to have a great time. This too had some similar elements like the first dance, cake cutting, and bouqet toss along with some very "chilean" aspects - the two main ones being that a "good" wedding lasts until at least 5 am, and that half way through the reception the bride and groom bring out cotillón. This surprised me since I had never heard about it or seen it but it was a lot of fun. Basically, cotillón includes varios party hats, masks, ties, whistles, horns, etc... (similar stuff to things at a New Years Eve party). Everyone had a blast putting the things on and dancing to all the reggaeton! Oh, and of course the food was delicous.
Sunday through Thursday were filled with a lot of homework and classes it seemed - I can definitely tell that it's the end of the semester (two more weeks left!). I'm getting a little stressed with everything that I have this week, but once I get past Wednesday I'm in the last kick which I anticipate will feel really good :). Memorable events included Chile's first world cup came, leading Bible study Wednesday night in spanish, "celebrating" four years of dating with Jake, passing the "one month until I'm home" date, and then of course... my birthday! I didn't get to do anything special with Jake (obviously) but we did get to talk and as always I enjoyed looking at where we've come from. This year was extra fun too, because we can look forward to a life full of the memories we've already been making, something that makes me really excited. Realizing I only have one month left here is a weird feeling. In many ways, I'm ready to be home - I want to see my friends, family, fiancee, and could REALLY use a good dose of sunshine, daylight, the beach and summer break. At the same time, I've loved my time here and have developed some really good friendships that will be hard to leave. Especially knowing that I don't plan on returning to Chile in the near future. Then... my birthday. The day itself was normal (and busy with school.. first time ever, and I can say I definitely did not like it!). Then at night I had a special dinner with cake with my host family and afterwards I went out with a group of gringos and a few chileans to a local bar that was showing the final game of the NBA playoffs. It was fun to just hang out and talk and they even bought me a cake and balloons! There was also a music group playing who came over and serenaded me in spanish and english! Afterwards we went out dancing at a local disco. It was a fun way to spend the night with some good friends here. I laughed A LOT and will definitely remember my first chilean birthday.
So, that's the past week. I think I managed to keep it somewhat short even. :)
Chau!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
mi cumple!
This is a short public service announcement for all of you faithful blog readers....
As you may have noted, we have now moved into the month of June. Not only is this a great month due to the warm weather it brings to Michigan (although, it's going down in my book slightly because of the gross weather it brings to Valdivia, but that's beside the point) it's also right in the middle of the year (crazy!), and most importantly.... It's my birthday month!
And today, marks exactly two weeks until my birthday. YAY.
And you should also know, that I really like receiving cards with hand written notes for my birthday (more than chocolate even!). And it only costs about $1 to send a card here to Chile, and it only takes a week to get here to my house (giving you a whole week to write it and go to the post office and mail it).
And, finally, to complete my shameless plug, here's my address for those who may have forgotten it.
Las Lengas N°641 - Isla Teja
Valdivia, Chile
All that being said. I'll still love you even if you don't send me a birthday card. :)
As you may have noted, we have now moved into the month of June. Not only is this a great month due to the warm weather it brings to Michigan (although, it's going down in my book slightly because of the gross weather it brings to Valdivia, but that's beside the point) it's also right in the middle of the year (crazy!), and most importantly.... It's my birthday month!
And today, marks exactly two weeks until my birthday. YAY.
And you should also know, that I really like receiving cards with hand written notes for my birthday (more than chocolate even!). And it only costs about $1 to send a card here to Chile, and it only takes a week to get here to my house (giving you a whole week to write it and go to the post office and mail it).
And, finally, to complete my shameless plug, here's my address for those who may have forgotten it.
Las Lengas N°641 - Isla Teja
Valdivia, Chile
All that being said. I'll still love you even if you don't send me a birthday card. :)
Monday, May 31, 2010
We're Engaged!
Well, in all honesty I should probably be reading about chilean anthropology right now. Unfortunately, it's not holding my interest very well, and I did originally intend to write this post last week. So I guess nows as good a time as any...
p.s. I'm warning you in advanced this blog is long and somehwhat lovey-dovey.
....
Yep, it's official, Jake and I are (finally) engaged! :)
So, for those of you interested, here's my "official" story (Jake's might be added later if anybody is interested in his side of the story), along with a few other stories about our wonderful weekend in Mendoza.
I should probably start by saying that I honestly thought there was no way that Jake would propose while he was here, for a number of reasons. To begin with, he was coming directly from Honduras where he had been since the beginning of February. Also, before he left for Honduras he was incredibly busy studying for the MCAT and getting stuff together for his trip. Based on that, I figured even if he decided to propose here, he would never have had time to get everything together before he left. Also, I figured he would think it was too "cliche" to propose here, and on top of all that, after all his "you're going to have to wait until September/October/November/December/January" talk, I really thought it wasn't going to happen until at least October. That being said, I guess I was wrong :).
Anyways, so we got into Mendoza Friday night and started our adventure trying to find a hostel (family and friends who know us well, you will enjoy this story...). We had a few recommendations from friends and a couple we had found online, and set off to go find them. This proved to be more difficult than we thought... for numberous reasons. First, the information lady told us we could take a taxi or a colectivo. We figured we would go for the colectivo, seeing as how they are cheaper and they're basically the same thing as a taxi, except they can take more than one customer at a time (so it often takes longer to get where you want to go). Unfortunately, in Argentina apparently colectivo means city bus.... so we tried to take the city bus since we were there anyways. Except you need change, or a card and you pay into a machine on the bus. But we only had bills. But by the time we realized this, people were coming on behind us and the bus was moving. oops #1. So we're on the bus, and we're looking for the plazas, except we don't see them. We see one, and decide to get off. Wrong one. oops #2. While we are there, looking like very lost and dumb tourists, we come across a nice old man. I (we?) am (are) mildly suspicious but he proves to be very helpful in showing us where we need to go (we were going completely the wrong direction. oops #3) and even gives us change to we can take the bus and pay for it this time... Except we start waiting for the bus and are on the wrong side of the street. Oops #4. Thankfully the nice man corrects us and we are able to get on the right bus and make it to the right plaza. Finally, we find the hostel we want. It's full. Apparently due to the holiday weekend in chile, everything is packed. Thankfully, we remember where the other one was somewhat, and make it there. They just barely have room for us. Phew. We also manage to find a place to eat, a bank, and walk around the city without getting lost! And thus begins our Argentinan adventures....
(I'll try to keep the rest of these shorter, but no promises. I really don't want to start reading...)
Saturday morning we get up and eat breakfast, and decide to find the big park that's nearby. Thankfully we had no problems finding this. We grabbed a few snacks/drinks and started walking around. We decided we wanted to go up Cerro de la Gloria, since it was supposed to have a nice view and a cool statue. We started walking and really enjoyed the park. It was beautiful and had great trails for walking/running. As we got closer to the cerro though, we realized most people choose to drive, or take a taxi up, and for good reason. hah! We kept walking though and ended up really enjoying the walk (even though it was long) and got to see some cool sights, and managed to not get run over (although we did get redirected by the police at some point to a safer road...). We also found a taxi/bus to take us back down. Good choice.
We just kind of hung out the rest of the day, walking around the city and doing a little bit of souvenier shopping. We also were hoping to find a wine tour for Sunday morning since they the popular thing to do in Mendoza (with close to 200 vineyards!) but had a really hard time finding one. We had finally given up hope and were looking at other touristy things to do (hiking trips and such) when we by chance happened upon an agency that was doing one! After that, we finally headed for dinner. Argentina is pretty well known for good Italian restaurants, and since we both like pasta we figured we would find a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. We had seen one that afternoon and headed back that direction. It was a nice restaurant and we enoyed just talking and eating dinner (we even got dessert!), and we had a nice waiter who we let practice his english :).
Over dinner, Jake told me that we should walk around to all the different plazas (there are 5) afterwards. I was mildly sleepy but decided it would be fun. At this point I was also starting to think that there was a slight chance that he had something more planned. He had been extra giddy all week, plus had even made some comment about a ring when I was looking at some of the handmade rings and jewelry in the park earlier that day. Plus, he seemed to be putting extra effort into making this night fun/special. First we went to Plaza Italia where we swang on the swings and took some pictures by one of the many beautiful fountains in Mendoza. The second plaza was España and here Jake decided that we should dance. We slowed danced a little under the stars and of course did a little swing dancing while he sang to me :) (insert "awwws" here.. hah!). At this point, I was trying REALLY hard not to get my hopes up, especially as we were walking to the third plaza and I asked him what we were going to do and he simply said "Oh, I have an idea"; however, we get to the third plaza, and it's incredibly lame with graffiti everywhere. I sensed that Jake was a little disappointed and we kept walking without any major events. We headed back to my favorite plaza (of course we went to plaza españa on accident first... par for the course for us I guess!). Anyways, Plaza Chile which was right by our hostel and we had been there the night before. I thought it was especially cool because all the benches have neat designs and names of cities in Chile. Jake decided we should go to the bench "Santiago" and we sat there for a while talking a little more. After a bit, I suggested we find Valdivia again (my "hometown") and when we stood up Jake told me that he had a gift for me. Yep, at this point I was trying not to freak out since I had basically figured out what was coming. He had me close my eyes and hold out my hands and started talking; however, I'm not sure I really remember what he said, other than that he wanted to give me from the moment he landed in Santiago (or something like that). Anyways, I opened my eyes and there he was on one knee. He took my hand and started to talk some more (all I remember thinking is, get to the point and give me my ring... oops.. hah sorry Jake!) and finally "popped the question". Of course I said yes, and I think I even started to laugh since I was still quite surprised. He pulled out the ring, and just kept thinking "I can't believe this is happening!" and kept laughing and saying "No way!". Defnitely not the way I always thought I would react (I imagined tears since I tend to cry really easily!), but fun and exciting nonetheless. Oh, and I should also mention that I did hit him numerous times afterwards because I was shocked that he actually proposed, and more so that he managed to put it all together while he was in Honduras!
We walked around the rest of the night, and at one point I do remember crying a little bit :). It was exciting to finally be able to talk about getting married and not have to be hypothetical about it. It's still a little surreal but at the same time a wonderful feeling. I'm excited to start planning not just a wedding, but our life together. There's a lot of changes that are coming in the next few years, but we've already figured out a lot together, that I'm just excited to continue changing and growing with him.
So that's it. Sunday we had a good time on the wine tour (the scenery was beautiful and it was fun trying some different wines) and got to enjoy some more of the beautiful weather (it barely rains in Mendoza, a nice change from Valdivia). We had one more night at the hostel and then headed back to Santiago on Monday.
Hope you enjoyed reading, sorry that it was massively long! Let me know if I missed anything important. Oh and I'll try to post the pictures up later for those of you not on facebook).
Love you all, Chau!
p.s. I'm warning you in advanced this blog is long and somehwhat lovey-dovey.
....
Yep, it's official, Jake and I are (finally) engaged! :)
So, for those of you interested, here's my "official" story (Jake's might be added later if anybody is interested in his side of the story), along with a few other stories about our wonderful weekend in Mendoza.
I should probably start by saying that I honestly thought there was no way that Jake would propose while he was here, for a number of reasons. To begin with, he was coming directly from Honduras where he had been since the beginning of February. Also, before he left for Honduras he was incredibly busy studying for the MCAT and getting stuff together for his trip. Based on that, I figured even if he decided to propose here, he would never have had time to get everything together before he left. Also, I figured he would think it was too "cliche" to propose here, and on top of all that, after all his "you're going to have to wait until September/October/November/December/January" talk, I really thought it wasn't going to happen until at least October. That being said, I guess I was wrong :).
Anyways, so we got into Mendoza Friday night and started our adventure trying to find a hostel (family and friends who know us well, you will enjoy this story...). We had a few recommendations from friends and a couple we had found online, and set off to go find them. This proved to be more difficult than we thought... for numberous reasons. First, the information lady told us we could take a taxi or a colectivo. We figured we would go for the colectivo, seeing as how they are cheaper and they're basically the same thing as a taxi, except they can take more than one customer at a time (so it often takes longer to get where you want to go). Unfortunately, in Argentina apparently colectivo means city bus.... so we tried to take the city bus since we were there anyways. Except you need change, or a card and you pay into a machine on the bus. But we only had bills. But by the time we realized this, people were coming on behind us and the bus was moving. oops #1. So we're on the bus, and we're looking for the plazas, except we don't see them. We see one, and decide to get off. Wrong one. oops #2. While we are there, looking like very lost and dumb tourists, we come across a nice old man. I (we?) am (are) mildly suspicious but he proves to be very helpful in showing us where we need to go (we were going completely the wrong direction. oops #3) and even gives us change to we can take the bus and pay for it this time... Except we start waiting for the bus and are on the wrong side of the street. Oops #4. Thankfully the nice man corrects us and we are able to get on the right bus and make it to the right plaza. Finally, we find the hostel we want. It's full. Apparently due to the holiday weekend in chile, everything is packed. Thankfully, we remember where the other one was somewhat, and make it there. They just barely have room for us. Phew. We also manage to find a place to eat, a bank, and walk around the city without getting lost! And thus begins our Argentinan adventures....
(I'll try to keep the rest of these shorter, but no promises. I really don't want to start reading...)
Saturday morning we get up and eat breakfast, and decide to find the big park that's nearby. Thankfully we had no problems finding this. We grabbed a few snacks/drinks and started walking around. We decided we wanted to go up Cerro de la Gloria, since it was supposed to have a nice view and a cool statue. We started walking and really enjoyed the park. It was beautiful and had great trails for walking/running. As we got closer to the cerro though, we realized most people choose to drive, or take a taxi up, and for good reason. hah! We kept walking though and ended up really enjoying the walk (even though it was long) and got to see some cool sights, and managed to not get run over (although we did get redirected by the police at some point to a safer road...). We also found a taxi/bus to take us back down. Good choice.
We just kind of hung out the rest of the day, walking around the city and doing a little bit of souvenier shopping. We also were hoping to find a wine tour for Sunday morning since they the popular thing to do in Mendoza (with close to 200 vineyards!) but had a really hard time finding one. We had finally given up hope and were looking at other touristy things to do (hiking trips and such) when we by chance happened upon an agency that was doing one! After that, we finally headed for dinner. Argentina is pretty well known for good Italian restaurants, and since we both like pasta we figured we would find a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. We had seen one that afternoon and headed back that direction. It was a nice restaurant and we enoyed just talking and eating dinner (we even got dessert!), and we had a nice waiter who we let practice his english :).
Over dinner, Jake told me that we should walk around to all the different plazas (there are 5) afterwards. I was mildly sleepy but decided it would be fun. At this point I was also starting to think that there was a slight chance that he had something more planned. He had been extra giddy all week, plus had even made some comment about a ring when I was looking at some of the handmade rings and jewelry in the park earlier that day. Plus, he seemed to be putting extra effort into making this night fun/special. First we went to Plaza Italia where we swang on the swings and took some pictures by one of the many beautiful fountains in Mendoza. The second plaza was España and here Jake decided that we should dance. We slowed danced a little under the stars and of course did a little swing dancing while he sang to me :) (insert "awwws" here.. hah!). At this point, I was trying REALLY hard not to get my hopes up, especially as we were walking to the third plaza and I asked him what we were going to do and he simply said "Oh, I have an idea"; however, we get to the third plaza, and it's incredibly lame with graffiti everywhere. I sensed that Jake was a little disappointed and we kept walking without any major events. We headed back to my favorite plaza (of course we went to plaza españa on accident first... par for the course for us I guess!). Anyways, Plaza Chile which was right by our hostel and we had been there the night before. I thought it was especially cool because all the benches have neat designs and names of cities in Chile. Jake decided we should go to the bench "Santiago" and we sat there for a while talking a little more. After a bit, I suggested we find Valdivia again (my "hometown") and when we stood up Jake told me that he had a gift for me. Yep, at this point I was trying not to freak out since I had basically figured out what was coming. He had me close my eyes and hold out my hands and started talking; however, I'm not sure I really remember what he said, other than that he wanted to give me from the moment he landed in Santiago (or something like that). Anyways, I opened my eyes and there he was on one knee. He took my hand and started to talk some more (all I remember thinking is, get to the point and give me my ring... oops.. hah sorry Jake!) and finally "popped the question". Of course I said yes, and I think I even started to laugh since I was still quite surprised. He pulled out the ring, and just kept thinking "I can't believe this is happening!" and kept laughing and saying "No way!". Defnitely not the way I always thought I would react (I imagined tears since I tend to cry really easily!), but fun and exciting nonetheless. Oh, and I should also mention that I did hit him numerous times afterwards because I was shocked that he actually proposed, and more so that he managed to put it all together while he was in Honduras!
We walked around the rest of the night, and at one point I do remember crying a little bit :). It was exciting to finally be able to talk about getting married and not have to be hypothetical about it. It's still a little surreal but at the same time a wonderful feeling. I'm excited to start planning not just a wedding, but our life together. There's a lot of changes that are coming in the next few years, but we've already figured out a lot together, that I'm just excited to continue changing and growing with him.
So that's it. Sunday we had a good time on the wine tour (the scenery was beautiful and it was fun trying some different wines) and got to enjoy some more of the beautiful weather (it barely rains in Mendoza, a nice change from Valdivia). We had one more night at the hostel and then headed back to Santiago on Monday.
Hope you enjoyed reading, sorry that it was massively long! Let me know if I missed anything important. Oh and I'll try to post the pictures up later for those of you not on facebook).
Love you all, Chau!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
My Favorite Visitor
I apologize to my mom, sister, grandma and grandpa, because although I loved having them here, Jake wins the prize for being my favorite visitor... :)
After getting home early Monday morning from Un Techo Para Chile, I spent the day trying to catch up on sleep and life and anxiously waiting to hear from Jake. Of course I never heard from him and had to just show up at the bus station hoping he had managed to get on a bus in order to arrive in Valdivia around 7 (we had tentatively figured out that he would get in around that time). Thankfully, he had managed to get one, and got in around 8 or 8,30. I was relieved to see him and had a good laugh when I found out he hadn't called me because he had packed my cell phone number in the wrong bag...
We dropped his stuff off at his hostel and then headed out to get some food at one of my favorite local places here, La Ultima Frontera. It's a neat bar/restaurant with good food and a fun atmosphere. Tuesday I went to class (and also skipped a class.. ha) and Jake came to my house to meet my host family and eat lunch with us. It was a really rainy day so we just hung out inside. Then at night we went out to La Cervecería Kunstmann with some of the other gringos and friends I have here. It was fun to have him meet them and have some good laughs. Wednesday we got to eat lunch with one of my chilean friends. This was fun, especially because she's not quite 5 feet tall, making for quite the comparison with Jake (I missed this photo op unfortunately!). Then at night I made him a typical chilean "once" (dinner) - bread with palta (avocado) and tomato (one of my favorite meals actually!). Thursday was our last day in Valdivia. We went out for lunch again with a friend and then ate once with my host family before heading off to the bus terminal. I almost forgot my camera (would have been tragic!) but thankfully remembered when we were still within walking distance to go back and get it. We took a bus from Valdivia to Santiago and got in Friday morning and hopped on another bus that took us over/through the Andes Mountains to Mendoza in Argentina. There we eventually found a hostel and walked around the city (more to come on Mendoza in a few days).
Overall my time with Jake was wonderful. It was one of the first times in a long time where we were able to be together without rushing from one thing to the next, or be preoccupied about homework or school, or whatever. We got to spend a lot of time talking and catching up. Sharing how we've been changing over the semester and relishing the fact that we're continuing to change and grow in so many similar ways. I also enjoyed showing him my life in Valdivia, and exploring a new city with him. It never ceases to amaze me all the different cultures and landscapes that exist. The mountains were breath taking, and the city of Mendoza was beautiful with the mountains as a backdrop and all the vineyards that the city is known for.
Being with Jake was also a good reminder of the fact that although I'm loving my experiences here, I'm also very excited to be home again. I'm blessed to have met some great people here that I can share this time with, but there's no replacing my friends and family from home. They (you) mean so much to me and I'm realizing the truth behind the fact that relationships are what make life worth while. They take a lot of work but as they say in spanish, valen la pena (they're worth the effort/pain).
I'll try to post some pictures and a few stories about Mendoza in the next few days :)
Chauu
After getting home early Monday morning from Un Techo Para Chile, I spent the day trying to catch up on sleep and life and anxiously waiting to hear from Jake. Of course I never heard from him and had to just show up at the bus station hoping he had managed to get on a bus in order to arrive in Valdivia around 7 (we had tentatively figured out that he would get in around that time). Thankfully, he had managed to get one, and got in around 8 or 8,30. I was relieved to see him and had a good laugh when I found out he hadn't called me because he had packed my cell phone number in the wrong bag...
We dropped his stuff off at his hostel and then headed out to get some food at one of my favorite local places here, La Ultima Frontera. It's a neat bar/restaurant with good food and a fun atmosphere. Tuesday I went to class (and also skipped a class.. ha) and Jake came to my house to meet my host family and eat lunch with us. It was a really rainy day so we just hung out inside. Then at night we went out to La Cervecería Kunstmann with some of the other gringos and friends I have here. It was fun to have him meet them and have some good laughs. Wednesday we got to eat lunch with one of my chilean friends. This was fun, especially because she's not quite 5 feet tall, making for quite the comparison with Jake (I missed this photo op unfortunately!). Then at night I made him a typical chilean "once" (dinner) - bread with palta (avocado) and tomato (one of my favorite meals actually!). Thursday was our last day in Valdivia. We went out for lunch again with a friend and then ate once with my host family before heading off to the bus terminal. I almost forgot my camera (would have been tragic!) but thankfully remembered when we were still within walking distance to go back and get it. We took a bus from Valdivia to Santiago and got in Friday morning and hopped on another bus that took us over/through the Andes Mountains to Mendoza in Argentina. There we eventually found a hostel and walked around the city (more to come on Mendoza in a few days).
Overall my time with Jake was wonderful. It was one of the first times in a long time where we were able to be together without rushing from one thing to the next, or be preoccupied about homework or school, or whatever. We got to spend a lot of time talking and catching up. Sharing how we've been changing over the semester and relishing the fact that we're continuing to change and grow in so many similar ways. I also enjoyed showing him my life in Valdivia, and exploring a new city with him. It never ceases to amaze me all the different cultures and landscapes that exist. The mountains were breath taking, and the city of Mendoza was beautiful with the mountains as a backdrop and all the vineyards that the city is known for.
Being with Jake was also a good reminder of the fact that although I'm loving my experiences here, I'm also very excited to be home again. I'm blessed to have met some great people here that I can share this time with, but there's no replacing my friends and family from home. They (you) mean so much to me and I'm realizing the truth behind the fact that relationships are what make life worth while. They take a lot of work but as they say in spanish, valen la pena (they're worth the effort/pain).
I'll try to post some pictures and a few stories about Mendoza in the next few days :)
Chauu
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