NEW BLOG

I wish I had a post about being in South America, but I don't. However, I've decided to create another blog with my new adventures that I encounter in life. If you wish to follow it, it can be found here: http://ilovebeingadventurous.blogspot.ca/

The End.

Well, my escapades in South America have come to an end and I've been home since late Monday afternoon. I've been working on this post for days and have rewritten it several times. I apologize for not getting it done earlier, but finding the right words to summarize the end of my trip has been difficult. I now am able to understand why it takes authors forever to write the last part of a series or even finish writing a book--you fall in love with your plot and characters and have to shine them in the best light possible, even the villains.

Everyone I met on my trip I would consider to be the heroes of my adventure--especially my family. And I found myself trying to figure out who the 'villain' could be for a few days, and the only person I could think of was myself. Now, that sounds really dark and kind of creepy. But I mean it in the sense that I came into their culture blind and close minded with the typical American perspective of the South American culture. In Bolivia, I felt that I was more 'villainized' because we were constantly with American students and hardly spending anytime immersed into the culture. So it was easy to complain about not having our favorite restaurants and foods, their pace of life, etc. After Bolivia, I wasn't really sure what I had expected of myself or what my expectations of the Chilean culture would be. And for the first day or two in Chile I felt myself saying, "Oh, back home we have it like this..." "My parents do it like that...". I told myself I need to stop bringing things up from home because I was there to live and experience their culture--not to bring the US to them. I still shared some customs with them, just not as frequently. Once I was able to 'let go' of the US for a few weeks, I actually began to feel Chilean.

The people I have ran into thus far have all asked me how my trip was and all I can find myself saying is that it was absolutely great and even though I only have around eighty dollars to my name, it was worth every penny. I find myself getting frustrated at the same time, for two reasons. One, it's hard to summarize an entire nine weeks into a ten minute conversation because everything I've experienced deserves to be talked about for hours and days on end, and deserves more than "it was great". I feel as if I'm holding in a juicy secret on the latest gossip and exploding internally with the news. Except my juicy secret it the adventure of a lifetime. And two, both Bolivia and Chile were two totally different experiences and each should be talked about separately. Bolivia was more emotionally challenging while Chile was more personally challenging--if that makes sense. It's not fair to categorize them as one trip.

I'm happy to be home with my family and am thankful for the short time I have with them before heading back to school, but there's a part of my heart that is aching to be back roaming the streets of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. And there's another part that is aching to be with children like Cliffer in the orphanages of Bolivia.

My family called me Monday night to make sure that I was doing alright and it was really wonderful hearing their voices (except I was so tired that I don't think my Spanish made sense). But at the same time, it made me sad not being with them. I know that one day I'll go back and visit, but until then, I'm here, in the States. Sad and dealing with reverse culture shock. But that's okay--because it was all absolutely worth it! If I came back super happy, I think I would be mad at myself for not making the most of my experience. It might take a while to get back to my 100% Altential because a huge part of my identity is in Chile. An identity I didn't even realize I had. I was so worried about culture shock and being unhappy in a foreign country and missing my family back home. Especially because I was really on my own in Chile, whereas in Bolivia, I was constantly surrounded by my friends and speaking English. But my life and experiences in Chile are one of the happiest moments of my life! And of course I missed my family at home, but sometimes I didn't have time to think about missing them because I was given a new family. Parents and grandparents all in one. Sisters. A brother-in-law. A niece and nephew. All of whom I miss like crazy. Among many other things:

• The stray dogs who would roam the streets in search of a good belly rub or in search of a travel companion to the nearest coffee shop.
• The familiar faces of the metro--especially the guy who thought his hair was stylish, but in fact, it was just gross. I really wish I would have gotten a picture of it because it probably made mullets look good. 
• The fresh air and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks every day.
• Both the American and Chilean friends I made; sharing this adventure with them was the best
• Talking in Spanish on a daily basis and having miscommunication based on vocabulary. Example: pera--pear, perra--female dog (also bitch). Not a good one to mix up...  
• The local street vendors, especially the guy who sold candy in blocks that looked like cow udders... super sketchy.
• The street performers doing crazy tricks (for money of course) or camping out at the corner or metro with their guitars and serenading all of the city.
• My mom mocking me whenever I would say "OK", and eventually it became a part of her vocabulary.
• The fresh bread and what seemed to have been an unlimited supply of avocado. I went to the grocery store at like 10:30 Monday night because I was craving avocado...
• Greeting people with a kiss on the cheek.
• The sound of Emilia's Batman voice and the endless questions about my friends and family back home from her: ¿cómo se llama? ¿quien es? ¿por qué?
• The city life. The city life there was a slower pace than typical city life in the States, but in a sense, that's what I loved most about it. People weren't always rushed to go places and do things, they appreciated every single second, minute, and hour with the people they were with rather than worrying about being late.
• Being called a gringa on a daily basis.
• Hearing the weird variations of my name. Ex: Ah-Lee-Sun
• The IDEA of instant coffee, but not the coffee itself (it was disgusting) and I secretly judged those who brought home cannisters of it for souvenirs...  
• The stories from my dad and staying up with him having tea

Seriously, my list is endless and could eventually get boring for you to read.

And so my readers, thank you so much for following me on my adventures for the past nine weeks or so! But mostly, thank you for those who have supported me both financially and emotionally on my trip--especially the random messages of encouragement I would receive. It means the world to me. I also realize I never posted my pictures, and so you can find my pictures from Bolivia here and my picture from Chile here. This isn't the end of my blog. It's just a pause. When I return to South America, or decide to conquer a different region of the world, I'll be sure to write about it--and I hope that's soon! Until then, my words of advice to you all: if you have the opportunity to immerse yourself into another culture, I strongly recommend it. You'll learn a ton about yourself and gain a brand new perspective of the world. So, go conquer the world and have your own adventures that I can read about!

Love,
Allison

It's The Final Countdown

Dream team Joey Tempest and John Norum once said,"it's the final countdown, we're leaving together, the final countdown, we'll all miss [Chile] so, it's the final countdown..." This dream team is also known as Europe. Well my avid readers, it really is the final countdown. Not counting the time it takes to get to the airport, my time at the airport, or my time in the air, I only have two and a half days left of being in this beautiful country you all know as Chile. I guess I know it as Chile too, but it's probably not the same Chile that you are all familiar with. For instance, you might not know the familiarity of seeing the same stray yellow lab with a limp hobbling up and down the sidewalks near the metro station almost every day. Or the familiar faces on the metro. And so, as each second turns into a minute and each minute turns into an hour and each hour turns into a day, I grow sadder and sadder. Sad to leave the familiarities and afraid to forget them. Then again, I've always been someone with an immense amount of fear--especially when it comes to my basement. In the dark. Where there are definitely monsters lurking in the corners near the furnace. My grandma sent me an email a few weeks ago saying something along the lines of the same girl who was (and still is) afraid to go in the basement without another person (i.e: Stephanie) is thousands of miles away. Strange how that fear seems to disappear when it comes to a life changing adventure. An adventure that brings two completely different cultures together. Especially when it comes to sharing recipes...


Lydia and I made chili for her family on Tuesday night. Surprisingly, chili is not a known dish in Chile. And so, eating chili in Chile when it was chilly outside was a perfect way to spend the night. Her family is incredible and will definitely be missed. Her mom has so much love to offer and the first thing she told me when I met her after dropping Lydia off on day 1 was, "If you don't like your family, you can come stay with us for the six weeks!". For a stranger to say that to another stranger with such sincerity, is incredible.

Last night, Claudia took Lydia, Anna, and I out for margaritas to celebrate her last day of radiotherapy.(In case you didn't know, she had breast cancer in November and has had chemo or radio everyday since then.) It was a great day for her and am so happy that she's okay now! She is such an inspiration and acts as if nothing had happened--her heart is filled with immense amounts of joy, she's always smiling or laughing, and always making sure I'm okay.

It was a good night and got back around one. I would have liked to stay out later with her and sing more karaoke, but I naturally procrastinated the two presentations I had to work on. So, I was up until 3:30 working on homework. Come on profes, we're in Chile! It's our last week. And we have presentations.

I'm just glad class for today is over. After two presentations, I'm exhausted (Spanish still overwhelms me sometimes) and I don't have these giant projects hanging over me and constantly battling with the little devil on my shoulder playing bad cop and telling me that it's okay to be social, grades don't matter. Well, kids. They do. But I'm pretty sure both presentations went pretty well. Did I stumble across my words as if I was drunk the majority of the time? Yes. But that's because my brain is thinking in Spanish way faster than I can actually speak it, so I have double the Spanish happening which is double the confusion which leads to me sounding like a drunk. But I promise, I wasn't.

Oh, and my one presentation with Hope that had to be an hour and a half long, was about the education system in Chile. Is it another sign? Possibly. Am I confused? More than ever. Do I want to cry about my chaotic foggy life? Absolutely. I might have even told my professor about my internal debate and my life story. What did he say? Teach in Chile.

LIFFEEEEEEEE. 

awkward selfie of how distraught i'm feeling

Where's Gringa?

One week from today I’ll be killing time at the Atlanta airport for seven hours before my flight home. It’s hard to believe how fast this time has gone and it breaks my heart to think that I’ll be back in the States. BUT I still have one week left here and I’m going to seize every opportunity that I have! Anyways, here’s an update on my life:

Wednesday morning Sean and I were sitting in the little coffee shop area on campus, when a girl asked Sean if she could sit by us. In the process, she spilled her soda, and Sean helped her clean it up. Meanwhile, I was waiting for my queso caliente and was super confused by what was going on. But when I got back to the table, Sean and her had started a conversation and I joined in. She later asked us if we wanted to get lunch with her. We ended up going to a little restaurant above the market and walked around Valparaíso.

One thing I admire about the Chilean culture is that they are always so friendly and not afraid to start a conversation with a random stranger, or in this case, two gringos. Everywhere I go, people are extremely open to talking—on the metro, standing in line, etc. Probably because I’m a gringa... But it’s all so genuine.

Part of our group left this past Saturday, and so to say good-bye to them we all went out for Chinese food Wednesday night. Eating Chinese food in South America felt a little bit weird...but it was still delicious. When I got home, Claudia and I stayed up for an hour avoiding homework and work solely talking about the Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, and other musicals.

Then Thursday night I went with Anna to a church service downtown and it was an interesting experience. Only because on our way down there, she decided she had to go to the bathroom. And so, we couldn’t find the bathroom in the church, so we left and went to a different building. Here we asked the guy at the desk if we could use the bathroom and he asked us why. Well, why else would someone be asking to use the bathroom? He let her in. Meanwhile, I spent time talking to him about life as an exchange student. When Anna was done, we still carried on conversation.  Once he found out we were single, he asked us for our phone numbers and if we wanted to go get a beer with him sometime before we left. For any girl, this is probably an ideal situation: single, guy wanting your phone number, and an invite to go get a beer. However, ladies, imagine being in this situation and the guy being well over 60...

After church that night, I headed back to Anna’s house and spent time with her family. Her mom talks pretty fast, but somehow, she was really easy to understand. Friday morning we (Anna, her brother (Diego) and I) woke up early for a full day of hiking. It was much more successful than our hiking adventure in Bolivia. Except for the few hundred times we almost died on the way down... When we got to the top, we found a cave and decided to walk through it. It was probably the home of a puma. And we probably could have ended up being dinner. But, YOICO (you’re only in Chile once)! The risk was definitely worth it. There was another group of Chilenos who were hiking as well, and we decided to become friends when we explored the cave. It might have had something to do with the fact that they had a headlamp... 

our friends we made in the cave.

just hangin' out with some plants.

hiking crew.

Later that night, our ‘once’ was four hours long. I was up until midnight or so talking with my mom about life and it was wonderful. I loved every single second of it. Saturday morning I woke up early to head over to the farmer’s market with my parents. Everything there is really cheap and incredibly fresh. If only fruit and vegetables in the States could be that cheap. We then took a rode trip to the North and had a picnic. 

my new family and i

claudia and i

Sunday Lorena, Osvaldo, Darrio, and Emilia all came over for lunch. I really admire their sense of family. Every weekend they get together for lunch—even if it’s just an hour—and are always so happy about it. Their sense of family and community is incredible. It makes me sad to think that I don’t even see my immediate family that often because of school. We talked over drinks and of course lunch. When my mom thinks I don’t understand something, which is very rare at this point, she repeats it a lot at a very high volume. Osvaldo then told her that I may be a gringa, but I’m not deaf.

With each passing day, I feel more and more comfortable here in the Chilean culture and less like a gringa. However, I am looking forward to not being the tallest one anywhere I go. Or the one with the fairest skin or lightest hair. It’ll be nice to blend in once again and not be a walking “Where’s Waldo?”

Not So Charming

Horseback riding is something I often associate with Prince Charming. I dream of riding off into the sunset with my true love--probably due to my influence of Disney growing up. And so a few weeks ago when I heard that we were going horseback riding, I imagined that it would be perfect. Everything would go smoothly. It'd be beautiful. And Maybe I'd find my Chilean Prince Charming. However, things did not go smoothly and Prince Charming was never found.

Our adventure began a little before noon. We were in a small town called Con Con just about an hour outside of Valparaiso. We were on our horses ready to adventure once went through 'orientation' and got all geared up (chaps and all). But this is where the complications start. My horse wouldn't move--no matter how hard I kicked it. And so, I had to switch horses. This one was doing pretty well until we had to cross the river/lake. As we were beginning to cross, I managed to halfway fall into the water. The entire left side of my body was wet. I don't know how it happened, but it is yet another confirmation of my lack of grace. Once I regained my balance and repositioned myself on my horse, it chose not to cross. So we sat in the water for about fifteen minutes. My feet were upward, about level with the horse's head, as to prevent my feet from being in the water. But while sitting like this, Sean's horse managed to poop on my foot. At that point, I decided it was better to have wet shoes than it was to have a pile of horse s*** on my shoes, and so I just completely submerged my feet into the water. I was wet knee down.

My horse still wouldn't cross. So I had to get off my horse, and switch to another horse. We crossed with no problem whatsoever. And with my luck, it was the lead horse--he liked to run. A lot. And be in the lead. Something that can be kind of scary for an amateur horse rider--or really scary. However, it was an adventure. I figured that death by horse in Chile is an okay way to go. We were trotting through the forest and my horse would sporadically decide to run, catching me off guard, and then causing the other horses behind me to run. One of the horses decided to follow my horse's lead, Hope's horse, got a little out of control. Hope hit a tree branch. Scratched her face. And was bleeding. A lot. She looked like she got out of a horror movie by the time she was cleaned up. Then our guide got kicked by a horse. And then my horse started getting mad at me because I was trying to get him to stop moving while everyone else was stationary while cleaning up Hope's battle wounds.

By the time that was finished, I decided it was probably a good idea to switch horses (we had three to spare because Hope, Macarena (our director), and the guide went back to get Hope further medical attention). At this point, I figured that things could only get better from there. And they did. We were running through the sand dunes, which were incredible. I felt like I was in a Western film and should have been chewing straw and using cowboy lingo. Once we got past the sand dunes, we were at the ocean. That's when I decided to be really brave and let my horse run at a speed faster than trotting: galloping. It was incredible. A magnificent creature. Wind blowing through our hair. The sound of the sea. And the sound of its gallops. The only thing missing was Prince Charming and a sunset.

In order to get back to the ranch, we had to cross the same river/lake as earlier. Everything went smoothly. But then Jill's horse decided to poop in the middle of the river. Meaning, those who were behind her, had to cross through it. And because my new horse was a midget horse, I was pretty much submerged from the waste down with poop going all over me...

When we got back to the ranch, lunch was served and there was a campfire and it was just a perfect way to end such a wonderful day! The people who work the ranch kept apologizing for everything that went wrong and my thoughts the entire time were: everything that went wrong made this trip so much better. It made life more exciting and created really great stories. It was a beautiful day and my four horses were my Prince Charming!

the river/lake we had to cross.

the sand dunes.

me and my final horse.

group picture! 

all of our shoes were around the fire to dry. by the time we left, my boots were still wet. 

the ranch!

Vino, El Mar, Amigos: Los Ingredientes Para Un Corazón Feliz

Two weeks from today, my South American adventure will come to an end. Early on this week, I was feeling ready to come home. I was missing the familiarity of the States, my family, my friends, speaking English, and pretty much everything. But after the end of this week, I find myself wishing that I had more time in this beautiful country and I don't want to come home. For those of you counting down the days until my arrival back in the states you might be wondering, why all of a sudden did you change your mind? I guess if you're indifferent about my presence in the country, you could still be wondering the same thing. 

Thursday night the majority of our group chose to go out but I decided to be antisocial and stay in. The reasoning behind it was to try to spend more time with my family--after all, I'm here more for the culture rather than spending time with Americans speaking English all the time (even though those moments are often times incredibly refreshing and really fun). And so, I stayed in and talked with my mom slash watched some TV with her slash listened to her sing. I was glad with my decision.

Friday was also a really great day. In my sociopolitical class, we talked about Chile's education system. Naturally, due to my indecisiveness, it made me really confused about my future. It was one of the first times in class where I actually partook in conversation willingly. I loved it. Interesting fact: Chile is said to have one of the best education systems in South America (maybe even the world?). However, there are some universities where they have only fifty books for all of the students in a major. Imagine being a nursing student, along with hundreds of others at your university, and having to share fifty books amongst your peers. That would be rough. But because books are so expensive to purchase, it has to happen like that. As a result, many professors just photocopy the readings because author's aren't protected.

In between our classes, we walked along the beach and sat on the rocks, where we watched the sea lions for a little over an hour. They're so CUTE. But as cute as they are, they'll never replace cows. I also really enjoyed having that time near the sea, in the sun, and with my thoughts--I was able to journal, take more pictures, etc:

 I went to Lydia's house for lunch and ate one to many spoonfuls of potatoes... Her family is wonderful and I really enjoy spending time with them. Her siblings made fun of me for still having nightmares about Paranormal Activity 4. Her mom yells at me for not wearing shoes or slippers in the house, and just my socks. Her dog is adorable and ridiculously spoiled. And like any Chilean family, the food is always fantastic. After lunch we went to the artisan market and walked up and down the streets purchasing a few souvenirs here and there. We went back to her house for 'once' and then headed over to my house afterwards. That night we bought popcorn seeds, a chocolate bar, Dulce de Leche, and watched a lot of Friends. It was wonderful.

Saturday has probably been one of my favorite days since being here. We had to meet at the University at 9:30 to head on over to Casablanca--another part of Chile--for a tour of two vineyards and a tour of Pablo Neruda's other house, Isla Negra. I couldn't have asked for a better day. The weather was absolutely wonderful and there was so much SUN. Something I haven't seen in a few days.Yesterday was the first day that I didn't have to wear my jacket. The first vineyard we want to was called Viña Indomita. There we were able to taste three different wines, all of which were really good, at least in the opinion of an amateur wine drinker:

the red wine on the far right was my favorite.

a photo of the vineyard from afar.

After Viña Indomita, we went to Viña Emiliana, which is a smaller vineyard and it all is completely organic. I could taste the difference between the wines and appreciated the ones at this vineyard much more. Also, it was much more beautiful. There were chickens, alpacas, cats, rolling hills, much more sun, etc. Here, we were able to taste four types of wine (two white, two red). 

this was my favorite bottle. 

After the vineyards, we went to lunch at a restaurant along the coast. Unfortunately, seven glasses of wine and a forty five minute car ride and an empty stomach don't mix well... We got to the restaurant and once we got our food, we were only allotted ten minutes to eat, because we had to make it to Isla Negra by 4:00 in time for our tour. Eating steaming hot fried fish and french fries burns your taste buds, a consequence that took away my tastebuds for today's food. Shoot.

However, Isla Negra was beautiful and it was worth burning off all of my tastebuds for Not just the house, the view from the house. If I got to wake up every morning and see the view that Pablo Neruda was able to see, I'd have bruises on my arms from pinching myself so often to make sure that I didn't die and go to heaven. Literally. Pictures don't do it justice. And even if I had the writing ability of Pablo Neruda, I couldn't even describe it in words. 

All in all, life has been great. My heart and soul are happy and with each day, I need to remember how blessed I am to be here and to have an opportunity like this. 

Sushi: It's Not For Everyone

After

Before

Last night we went out for Sushi and it was an experience I don't need to relive. We ordered three plates of nine rolls to share between each of us. Nine per person. I ate one and spit out the second. Then forced Anna and Jill to eat the other 25. I'm not really sure what the types were. I'm assuming gross? One of them had fish eggs on it. I held it in my mouth for about five or six minutes contemplating what to do with it. I couldn't swallow it. I couldn't chew it. So it slowly disintegrated. Fish eggs then proceeded to get stuck in the sockets where my wisdom teeth once were. With that said, I then decided to spit it into my napkin. At this point of my life, I probably have baby fish swimming t through my body and growing in my gums. 

After that awful experience, Anna and I met up with her friend Carla, and Carla's friend Nicholas, to experience Chilean nightlife. Meaning, we intended on staying out until 3 AM--which is considered early. On average, a Chilean stays out until about 5, 6, 7, or they just never stop... But because of my sushi experience, I needed to eat something before going out. We were going to meet Carla at the mall so we went there and I just got ice-cream...from McDonald's.

After the mall, at about 10:30 we walked to Café Journal for Gringo Wednesday. Carla's favorite night to go to Café Journal. We split a pitcher of beer and made friends within ten minutes with the people sitting behind us. One of the girls was from the States visiting her host family and friends (for the third time within the past three years); she said that if we wanted, she could give Anna and I a tour of the city. Gringo Wednesday should become more of a ritual with the two weeks I have left. But our adventure of Chilean night life ended when we were yawning continuously at 1 AM. I can probably conclude that I'm not cut out to be an active participant of Chile's night life.

Beside the baby fish swimming around my body, last night was fun. There's supposed to be another protest today and we hoped that classes would get cancelled. But they're not. And I'm tired. And don't really want to go to my next class. However, I probably need to. It's kind of important.