Back in the USA
Today I arrived back in the US. What a change from the warm sunny climate of Chile! I am currently in northern IL, almost right on the lakefront, and my fingers are chilly and my nose a little nippy as I type:-)
Last night while I was flying out of Santiago I actually got a little teary-eyed. For the short time that I was there I managed to make several real friendships and gain an appreciation for Chile that I never had before. The country, the culture and the people became real to me in a way that I didn't really expect. One month doesn't seem like a long enough time to truly invest in a different culture, but I guess that is what happened to me. Now to try and think it all out a bit!
Hope you don't mind joining me on an exploration of what this trip has meant to me. No more live updates from the Southern hemisphere, but I feel like my adventures with Chile may be just beginning. I'll keep you updated on how that goes!
Departure Day
Today is my last day in the Southern hemisphere for at least a bit. Chile has been awesome! I needed a rest so badly that you could almost see my frayed nerves;-) I didn't expect it to come during a short term class, but it certainly has. One benefit of having my laptop stolen was that I was forced to slow down and let go of deadlines and homework. Most of last week I spent lying on the beach reading or just thinking about life. It is hard to find time to think, as a general rule, and I am going to miss it. I am also going to miss all the wonderful people that I met here: Claudia and Carlo, Tia Nana, all the Davilas, Cindy..... I thought this blog would end when I left Chile, but there is so much more to traveling than just being there. Now I have to process the whole thing, so you get to hear more about this fascinating January for the next few weeks at least.
A better day in the South
Today we went to the beach and I spent 4 hours lying in the sun and reading a paperback adventure novel! This has been one of the most relaxing courses that I have ever taken;-) I certainly needed the slower pace and the beautiful weather. It hasn´t rained once since I got here, and it is cool at the coast with breezes straight off the ocean. God has been so kind to me to give me such a great time, and such a great tan!
Well, the tan might not be so great. Currently it looks like a sunburn... Jana told me there is hole in the ozone over Chile, and I thought SPF 40 sunscreen would be adequate, but not quite. It isn´t terribly painful, and the fact that it will turn into a nice tan makes the minor difficulty less terrible.
Not much more here. Life is good. Carlos, Claudia´s husband, is coming in tonight to spend the weekend. On Monday I will head back into Santiago with him and go back to the Davilas. Then, just a short time more and I will be heading to frigid Chicago, where my walks will take place in the snow, rather than in the warm sand.
Hard times in the Southern Hemisphere
Life in Chile was going well until Tuesday afternoon. When I returned to the apartment with my Chilean host family everything looked fine... until I looked for my laptop. I thought Claudia may have moved it, but when I asked her she said "no" and turned to look in her room. Both of our laptops and my digital camera were gone. The police came and Claudia and I spent about an hour scanning security camera footage. There was a man in dark clothes delivering a package to the apartment down the hall when we left for the store, and the police thought he was probably connected. We finally saw one of the building emplyees leave the front desk with package. It took him 6 minutes to do a 30 second errand.There is little hope that we will get the computers back and less for the camera. The police think that it was probably someone living in the building acting with the employee, maybe even the man down the hall that received the package. This has been hard. I lost all my coursework for this time here: my daily journal entries and 178 pictures for a photo essay. Claudia and her family have been wonderful, but it is still difficult. On top of that loss, I will have to pay the college for my laptop, since it was still technically theirs. That won´t be too easy on a student payroll:(Aside from this hardship, it has been wonderful here! We are in a building that is just across the street from the Pacific Ocean in Viña del Mar. Yesterday we took the morning to go into Valiparaiso and see the port. Chile has been very good to me! Relaxing pace and newfound friends and fun with my horrible Spanish! It will be hard to go back to the duldrums of winter in Kentucky. There will be no more pictures to add to the blog, but I will try to write one or two more updates before I leave.
This is a fascinating picture. On a wall with a bunch of markers was this inscription: "Es mas deseable una hermosa muerte que una larga vida." This roughly translates to: "It is better to have a beautiful death than a long life." Kind of creepy, I thought, but very suitable to a cemetery:-)
Just a small taste of the beautiful structures that filled Cementario General.
One of the halls in a large crypt. I just love how the line of pillars leads to the open doorway and the tree.
Fun in the Cementario General
Today Jana and I went to the Cementario General. I know it sounds strange to list a visit to a cemetery as a highlight of your trip but I found it fascinating. I love to visit cemeteries! I don't think it is because I am morbid, since I am very much in love with life, but there is something about all the stories that are lying in one place that just calls to me. I agree with Anne of Green Gables: Cemeteries do provide so much scope for the imagination!
Anyway, the cemetery was beautiful and very interesting. I took 98 pictures while I was there; many were for my photographic essay but some were just because I liked them. This is an old cemetery so many of the crypts are more elaborate than what you see in the US. I am posting a few pictures for you to enjoy as well!
Jana and Cindy, outside of Cindy's apartment.
Girls' night out...
Tonight Jana and I spent the evening out with her friend Cindy. Cindy has lived for the past 8 years in Chile, working full time. She is Canadian, from Toronto, and has been married to a Chilean man since 2000. We had a lovely time chatting at a country club-like place near where Cindy lives. I enjoyed getting to know another woman close to my own age (she is 30) and appreciated her insights into living in Chile. Jana has been very generous in sharing her friends with me! It is such a blessing that we get along so well:-)
The princess in her garden!
The results of Alyssa's exploration of my make-up bag. Not quite my normal style! Alyssa enjoyed wearing my sparkly lipstick:-)
Full Princess Treatment
Alyssa enjoys giving, and receiving, the "Full Princess Treatment." Here is the results of many (and I do mean many!) hair-do's and a complete exploration of my make-up bag:-) Alyssa gave me her full treatment, including the use of her favorite jewels. I in turn made her up as well as I could. I hope that you enjoy the results.
More from Santiago
Yesterday I went downtown to see more of Santiago and visit some sites for my independent study. The day was a gorgeous, with a nice breeze and relatively clear skies (except for a bit of smog). We went to several churches and the cathedral, saw a panoramic view of the city from Cerro Santa Lucia and went to the National History Museum. And I got hardly any pictures because my camera battery died and I forgot to bring the other one! So, it looks like we may go back downtown before I leave so I can get the rest of the pictures I need for my photo essay.
Annie's Parents' house. They had the pool in their yard, although it is almost like one big yard just divided up by paths, flowers and hedges.
Alyssa, Christopher and Me after a long afternoon of swimming. Check out the gardens! The picture doesn't do them justice!
A bit of today
Rodney wasn’t feeling well this morning. He stayed home and we went to church in Longquen, a town about 45 minutes south of the Davilas home. The church is small and meets in a room in a gymnasium. After church we went to Annie and Pius’s home for lunch. They are a Swiss/Chilean family with grown children. Their two youngest children were out of town, but their oldest son Adrian and a nephew from Switzerland named Philip were there. After a LARGE and delicious lunch of German-type food Annie, Jana, Christopher, Alyssa and I went down by the pool. The water was cool, but not too cold, and the property is so beautiful.
Annie and Pius live on a large piece of property with several houses. Annie’s sister and her family live in one house, and Annie’s parents live in another. The property is large and beautifully landscaped. Since it is summer the flowers are in bloom and the grass is lush and green. There are several gardens and they have three cows, a llama and a pack of dogs;-)
Me on at the monument steps, behind me is the city of Santiago. Sorry it's so hazy...
Full view of the statues at the monument. You can't see it very well in the picture, but Mary is treading on the serpent....
A bit more of what's been happening...
On Friday Jana and I went to Cerro San Cristobel to see a large monument to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception. The statue is in a park with a chapel, a smaller crucifix, a chapel and an outdoor ampitheater. There are other picnic areas and a zoo as well. The road up was steep and twisty, but we saw a lot of bicyclists and skaters. You wouldn’t catch me trying to make it up that road! It would have killed me before I was a quarter of the way up. Going down, however, would have been pretty exciting;-)
The view from the monument was spectacular in every direction. You could see all of Santiago and over to the mountains! The day was a little hazy, but Jana said that on a clear day the view was even more fantastic. Here are a couple of pictures of the park including one with a tiny bit of view.
A slow day in Santiago
Today has been slow and I like it. It is hard to believe that I have already been gone for almost a week. I suppose that I should feel like I am not at home....this afternoon I took a nap with a fan blowing on me because it was roughly 90*F in the shade! The heat is dry, though, and I haven't been feeling overwhelmed by it. Being the "walking inferno", I don't need the added heat:-) Jana really feels the heat, and when I hear her talk I realize that I am not the only one.We talked about homeschooling today. She gave me a good idea of what she was considering doing and what she would like my role to be. Working here looks good, but I am still praying about what I should do. Leaving the US for a year is not an easy decision. Besides, I am terrible at closing doors--the options seem so attractive! Still finding out what is involved in coming and looking at all my options.Today we stayed home and watched The Two Towers. Christopher really likes the movies, and Alyssa gets the edited version. I almost forgot what it is like to watch complex movies with children. There is a lot more explanations, fast-forwarding and simplification. Whew! It makes movie viewing complicated!I just found out today that my cousin David and his wife Angela are in New Zealand. I'm not the only one enjoying the north/south flip in the seasons! New Zealand is a gorgeous country, from the reports of my acquaintances and all the pictures I've seen. I wonder if tourism has grown since the release of the LOTR films.There is not a whole lot more to say. I played several games of Boggle with Jana, helped her around the house, did some internet research on the upcoming presidential run-off election and religion in Chile. A calm but productive day~ for the most part:-)
Just a hint of the beauty of the coastline of Chile...and where I spent New Years.
The Davila family: L-R Rodney, Alyssa, Christopher and Jana.
Our home at the beach.
Alyssa and Christopher playing in the Pacific
I've finally arrived!
Time to update the blog! My travels to Chile were uneventful. Planes left on time, seatmates were mostly agreeable and Miami airport was nicer than Atlanta—cleaner and better looking by far. By the time I finally arrived at the Davila home on Thursday, 29 December 2005, at 11:30 am Chile time (3 hours later than CST) I had been traveling for almost 20 hours! I was able to get an aisle seat from Miami to Santiago, which was great for my knee, but it was still very crowded for someone who is 5’8” and I didn’t sleep very well during the flight.
My luggage was way past my own travel allowances. I brought most of the year’s homeschooling supplies as well as some hard-to-find groceries for the Davilas and it meant that I carried more than twice my normal baggage. Even packing for hot weather in Chile and cold weather in Chicago, my own packing was minimal. After carting luggage all over the world, I am finally learning to pack small, if not exactly light;-) I must say, after trying to manage 2 suitcases and two carry-ons that were at maximum weight limits, I was glad to unpack and hand Jana all those books! Not to mention the 2 large jars of peanut butter, 6-pack of bottled A&W Root beer, and miscellaneous other foodstuffs!
If one of my goals for this trip is to discover if I am supposed to come back to Santiago after I graduate, my first week with the Davilas was a perfect beginning. The day I arrived I found out that we were going camping. And we were leaving the next morning! Jana said that the camping trip would either really connect us, or show us definitely that we couldn’t work together.
We camped about 4.5 hours north of Santiago on the Pacific coast just south of the town of La Serena (if you want to find it on the map). The campground was very lovely….and sandy. I have never spent so much time at the ocean before and it was beautiful! Our site was very shady, but the ground was very hard, and I was sleeping with just a foam mat. I started to feel my age when I had to get up off the ground in the mornings ;-) It was great to spend time so closely with the Davilas. I enjoyed playing with Christopher (10) and Alyssa (8) and was able to have several serious heart-to-heart conversations with Jana and Rodney. After even such a short time here, I feel like I have a much better understanding of what a year here with the Davilas will entail. We cut our stay short by a day because Christopher was not feeling well and had a fever. We arrived back today, my first day with access to email and all of you!
Some of the funny things about being in Chile:
- There is a hole in the ozone over Chile, and even with SPF 50 sunblock on I managed to get sunburned at the beach!
- This is the first New Years that I have been able to spend somewhere where shorts were required apparel!
- Camping with almost strangers makes you feel like family!
- When you are making observations about religion, you see it many things that you may never have seen it before: in decorations, people’s decision-making and political situations. It’s amazing!
- Making lunch the largest meal of the day becomes more and more logical;-)
