My time in Chile is coming to an end.

It´s so weird. I remember during week two thinking, "goodness, I have six weeks left. Sooooo much time," and now all I can think of is how quickly it has passed by, as cliché as that sounds.

I´m ready to be home. I´ve had an excellent time full of lots of sporadic moments, but I can´t wait to get home to my family and WSU. That´s one of the things about traveling, I always feel good to come home. It´s amazing experience but I always come back feeling proud of where I come from.

My time here has been exhausting in a good way. I´ve accomplished learning more Spanish. I´ve had six articles published in a fairly prominent newspaper. I made a lot of great friends down here. I learned a lot about a culture that I knew nothing about when I arrived. More or less, I think I´ve accomplished everything I came here to do.

One of the hardest parts of going home is answering the question, "so how was it? Tell me ALL about your trip." Where do I even start with something like this? The big moments, like meeting President Bachelet or accidentally being cast as an extra in a Chilean movie? My very first salsa lesson or the time I tried my first completo? My decision to leave my host family? Sútbol? The internship? I can´t even pick out the most important bits to share, because they´re all so much a part of the experience as a whole.

Perhaps I can share my biggest lesson. I can never expect to understand a culture or another group of people without living in it. It´s so funny to think of all the stereotypes people have about cultures they don´t understand. I surely had them about Chile. I had my expectations... lots of latin music, hot men, long nights of dancing. And yeah, I got all of that. It lived up to my expectations. But there´s so much more to this part of the world. Their love of a good time, a good night out. The fight for more women´s rights. The way everyone gives out money to the people begging on the streets without judging their intentions or whether they´ll just use it to buy a pack of cigarettes. The countless numbers of songs and chants they have for soccer games. These and so many more that I could never finish listing.

A few entries back I promised a worst of/peeves of Chile list, so I´m fulfilling that responsibility with this entry.

1. Nescafé

The Lonely Planet guidebook thoroughly warned me of this problem, and for my first month in Chile I was thoroughly warned of the acidic, powdery mess that is Nestle´s version of coffee. During my first month in Chile, I wasn´t even aware that real coffee existed here until I stunbled across a restaurant with café cortado on the menu (apparently they had café cortados at restaurants I had frequented previously, I just couldn´t undertand the menu). Well, that was great. But the point is, Nescafé is the common version of coffee here and I cannot wait to get home and have the real version at my disposal.

2. PDA

It´s called "pinchando" between people who aren´t dating, "pololeando" between people who are... and it´s everywhere. There´s people making out on the bus, in the streets, on the elevator, at the dinner table... and if you go to the beach, it is EVERYWHERE. Frankly, it´s a little overwhelming. I feel bad for the single people in this country.

3. A lack of central heating

I know I´ve gone over this. But it´s really, really sad. Along with this is never having dry clothes. I hate putting on damp clothes when it´s freezing.

4. How every TV talk show has a table dancing/lap dancing segment

You know, this part is actually a little funny but really uncomfortable at the same time. Their versions of the Today Show and group talk shows always have these guest stars/porn stars who wear next to nothing, hop on the desk and do a little booty-shaking for like ten minutes. It´s so weird. I can´t figure it out.

5. The Reggaeton beat

All of the youth here are obsessed with reggaeton, and the rhythm is always that same, typical, pulsing, boring beat for every song. There´s really only so many ways you can dance to it.

6. Saying something in Spanish and receiving a reply in English

This happens so much. I want to be like, "yo, I´m trying to learn the language here. The least you can do is help me out a little." And I have to wonder, what if I spoke French, or German? I mean, I could come from any other Western-looking country and they would have no idea.

7. Anti-Bush sentiments

It´s not even so much the sentiments as being approached and harrassed at random about him. During my first three weeks here I was harrassed on five different occasions about Bush, four of which were by absolutely random people on the bus, or on the street with whom I didn´t initiate conversation. It´s really a matter of respect. I wouldn´t approach a Chilean student in the U.S. and say, "Pinochet blows. THAT was a bad choice" or anything along those lines, so I feel like the same respect is deserved on my part when I visit their country.

8. Not knowing who to trust

This is really a given with any travel situation, but it does become slightly exhausting at times. I feel like it also dampens my interactions with the people here.

I peaced out of work early on Friday and, with my friend Jessica, headed to the booming metropolis of Santiago for the weekend to museum-hop.

In true Jessica-and-Monique style, we also pretty much ate our way through the weekend as well, downing fruit salad from the fería, completos, lattés, alfajores and white wine during our 3-day stay. Our excuse is that this is our last week and Chile, so we´re going to eat as much Chilean food as possible before we return to the states... where I can bet money we won´t be able to find 3-completo-italianos-plus-two-drinks-for-$2 deals.

But back to museums. The first stop Saturday was Museo de Bellas Artes, situated in the indie-trendy Bellas Artes district of the city. I have to note the building itself was worth the 300peso (60 cents) entry, though the exhibits were less than captivating.

Next was the natural history museum, which was pretty much in the sketchiest part of the city. We got slightly past the point with the preserved 8-year-old (he was a tribal sacrifice or something that was locked up and froze to death... it was pretty gross and morbid)... and then we decided to get out of there. Luckily admission was free.

Then there was Yarur´s new Museo de la Moda, which opened in June, featuring vintage clothing from the 1700s to 1990s owned by this super-loaded Chilean family. I don´t think it was worth the $5 admission, nor walking in freezing cold rain for 20 minutes... but it was neat to see. And the New York Times raved about it in a full-page article.

After being thoroughly soaked to the bone by Mother Nature´s rain spell, we sought refuge in the apartment, where we ended up spooning by a space heater and watching episodes of Papi Ricky until we were warm enough (and our shoes dry enough... I was dumb enough to wear Converse) to buy completos. It was pretty cute.

Sunday required a trip to the artesan/book fería at la Plaza de Armas to buy chocolate, fruit salad and gifts for our friends and family. Then we booked it back to the apartment to watch the World Cup finals, bought completos at half-time, and made it home by 6.

During the finals of the FIFA U20 World Cup yesterday, La Rojita took 3rd place with a 1-0 win over Austria. The goal is accredited to Martinez, but the overall stellar performance and professionalism demonstrated on and off the field has to go to Cristopher Toselli, goalie/my personal favorite. He also broke a U20 record for number of minutes without a goal scored against him (492... so he only beat the record by a minute or so, but who´s counting?!)

It´s been interesting to see the difference in press coverage over the incident in Toronto following the Thursday slaughter by Argentina and the fights that broke out with Canadian police. The same AP story I see repeated over and over in Canadian and US publications says the players were completely out of line, attacking the cops to the point where they had no choice but to whip out the taser. Chilean news (which, by the way, every major news station and newspaper in the country was in an uproar over this for all of Friday and Saturday... if there was any other news going on in the country I´m not aware of it because this was basically the only story covered) said it was more or less a case of discrimination... the players were only trying to meet-and-greet with fans when the police came out of nowhere and attacked them, treating them "like animals." And last I heard, I think FIFA said the players were only responsible for their actions on the field... but don´t quote me on this.

I love the media.

As for me, I think they were young, rowdy, frustrated guys who stepped a little bit out of line and the police totally overreacted. I don´t think there was need to attack , taser and injure 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds whose careers (and physical well-being) could be put in jeopardy. I think a few of the hotheaded players made some bad decisions to act up, and this could come back to bite them in a few years. I feel bad for their parents who had to watch their sons in the spotlight like this, and i feel really bad for the players who felt the need to stick by their teammates but didn´t want to get involved and now may face consequences in the future.

But overall, I´m really pleased with them this year. So they acted up a little, and perhaps they wanted to be world champions. But they played an incredible season that totally compensated for the failures of La Roja in the Copa America. And I am so stoked to see what some of these boys will do in the future.

So I haven´t updated in a week, I´m having huge blog withdrawals and I´m leaving for Santiago in T minus 5 minutes... but the briefest of sports updates is absolutely necessary.

Recap:
FIFA Sub20 World Cup
Last night, Argentina v. La Rojita
= DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA
Yellow cards like candy
Really angry Chilean players
Argentina won, 2-0
Took an entire Canadian police force to keep La Rojita from beating up the refs (look this up on YouTube, the TV footage was incredible. For WSU students, think of that time Tony Bennett flipped out on the court and threw off his jacket and whatnot. This is like 5x better)
La Rojita was later tear-gassed on the streets or something (if I understood the news correctly) while signing autographs, 7 were arrested
Hella drama between Canadian officials, police, FIFA, Chilean fans and the Sub-20 jugadores

Main point: Basically, there are a lot of angry, angry people in Chile and Canada right now.

If you can read Spanish, I´m sure this article explains it so much better than I could in under three minutes.

http://www.emol.com/noticias/deportes/detalle/detallenoticias.asp?idnoticia=263126

Updates to come.

This just in: I LOVE my job.

In case you haven´t already noticed, I´m a lists person. I like them, they´re effective at sharing information, and I use them a lot.

So I made a "best of" list for Chile of things I like the most so far. I might tack on a "best of part deux" in a week or something, but for now, here´s a few things that make my life about this country.

1. LA ROJITA (namely, Arturo Vidal and Cristopher Toselli... they´re kind of amazing)

La Rojita is the name for the Chilean Sub 20 national team, which is currently playing in the FIFA World Cup in Edmonton, Canada. They´re all 18-20 years old and I´m kind of in love with them (plus they´re a refreshing counterpart to the Chilean national team that got booted out of the Copa America earlier this week during a horrendous 6-1 loss to Brazil... there´s a lot more drama to that story, but you can read it all online).

Currently La Rojita is the only selection in the Cup that has no goals against them. Oh, and they beat Portugal last night... Nigeria is up next. I love these boys.

2. The obsession with 80s music here, plus hearing Spanish covers of English songs.

3. Mullets. I know this should be on a "WORST OF" list, but I think it´s the funniest thing ever. There´s this phrase we coined week one... "Chilean men would be so much hotter if the weren´t all sporting mullets" and heavens to betsy is it applicable. They are EVERYWHERE. At least they tend to be more subtle than, like, the all-out butt rock kind of mullet that can be found in some parts of the U.S. I blame the 80s music.

4. Any time any Chilean person tries to say anything in English. We tried to teach a guy how to say "tickle" the other day and it was a lost cause.
Us: "Flatten your voice. TIH-ckle"
Sebastián: "Tayyyyy-ckle."

5. Any time any Chilean yells the one English phrase they know at us. I also think this is funny, because you never know what you´re going to hear. It typically tends to be something along the lines of "Bush is a horrible person" except with more profanity, or someone drunk man bursting out in song, "youuuu arrrre sooooo beauuuuutifulllll to meeeeeeee."

6. Chilean slang. They tack on a "po" for any statement that needs emphasis. There´s a lot of sípos, nopos, en serio-pos, but my favorite is "¡chaopo!" Also, "cachai" on the end of a sentence is synonymous with "do you get it?" But the verb "cachar" is used for a lot of things in casual speech and when someone says "voy a cachar" they could really be referring to any action they are about to do. Pololo/polola are other favorites of mine; those mean boyfriend and girlfriend, respectively. And "pololear" is the all-inclusive verb for when two people who are dating hook up. My friend´s host mother explained that to her... I reckon that conversation must have been awkward.

7. Pan with every meal. The food here in general. Which, by the way, the word here for every damn thing on the dinner table is "rico".

A brief glimpse at my first family meal in Chile:
Ambar: "¿Te gusta la sopa, Mónica?"
Me: "Sí. Gracias, es muy sabrosa."
Ambar: "Sabrosa.... mmm, yeah. ¿Pero es rica, sípo?"
Me: "Uhhhh... ¿sí? Po."
Ambar: "La carne con arroz es muy rica, también. ¿Quieres pan, Mónica? Este es súper rico."
Me: "Right..."

8. An ocean view to kill for from every house. The rich have it, the poor have it, everyone has it. It is absolutely breathtaking.

9. A decent lunch for less than US $4.

10. The obsession with dancing. My host grandfather told me that dancing here is a separate, non-verbal language here where people can connect with total strangers in a way that cannot be expressed with words. I thought that was really interesting.

11. The dramatic narrator for all of the commercials on Warner Channel. I wish I knew how to make a recording of it to put on here. So try to imagine these phrases with a really thick, super-dramatic male, mid-40s Chilean accent:
"Ya volvemos con... TRAH-VE-LERRRRR"
"Mujeres iiiiirreverentes. The L Werrrrrrrrrd"
"Nueva serie... nueva temporada... Studio 60 on de Sunset Striiiiiiiiiip"

It kills me every time.

12. While we´re on the subject of announcers, the way the La Rojita announcer says "Alexis Sanchezsssssssssssssss"

13. Subtitles. Because when you´re watching Seth Cohen´s antics on the first season of the O.C. or all of those subtle jokes on Gilmore Girls, it just can´t be translated. The subtitles tend to cut out proper nouns and everything so it´s all totally lost. Not like anyone here would get it anyway. Can you just imagine Arrested Development or The Office subtitled?...

14. Chivalry. At least in my experience, the men here have been a little more chivalrous as far as picking up the tab for an entire table and walking us home and making sure we get home safely and whatnot. Of course, there´s different degrees of it, as in any culture.

15. Open doors and hospitality. The first day I went to my friend´s house on Cerro Castillo, she said her host mother flipped out when she let me leave without eating something (mind you, I was only there for about three minutes). Kind of like how grandparents are always shoving food down our throat in the states, well, everyone here does that, regardless of age. And they are so open to guests, too. For the first few weeks here, my same aforementioned friend couldn´t distinguish who was part of her host family and who wasn´t because there were always tons of visitors flocking to her house. I love how social everyone is here.

Preview: a "WORST OF" list is in the works.

Okay readers, here´s your word for the day.
Internship = la práctica

So it´s the tail end of my third week at El Mercurio de Valparaíso. There´s like six people in the newsroom... two reporters, two editors and two graphics people. I reckon everyone else is out doing something slightly more important. I was sick yesterday with a little stomach bug so there really isn´t much for me to do today except for wait for a response from the V Región Greenpeace rep in Santiago about my article on the environment/economic growth.

So I´m watching a morning talk show, and if you combine the Today Show with sporadic interventions of table dancing and telenovela clips, you get this. Whatever it is. I think it´s called "Buenos días a todos" or something.

The real reason I wanted to write a work blog today is to brag about what´s going down at El Mercurio this afternoon. So, pretty much, there´s a work party today. But last time I checked, most lunch hour sponsored office parties in the U.S. don´t include hard liquor with the entrance fee (dos mil, or US $4). Yep, that´s right. All four floors of this building are throwing a unified carrete in the lunchroom, which brings us to words 2 and 3 for the day:

carrete = party
carretear = to party

Come circulation desk, come receptionists, come La Estrella y El Mercurio, come digital radio 91.7, come lunch staff, come general manager... and Donner and Blitzen. 1002 Esmerelda THROWDOWN.

At least Saturday´s papers and the afternoon radio shows should be interesting. Chileans do love their parties.

Which leads me to a word on Chilean nightlife, because I would like to note that closing time for bars in Pullman, WA, is the hour that nightlife BEGINS. My friend Francisco said that a night isn´t a night unless you go out to party and get breakfast afterward, which must be the case since the typical Friday/Saturday here starts at 2am and can last until 8.

And I thought WSU students could party. Chileans put gringo college students to shame.

I´ve only managed to pull the all-nighter once (I napped for three hours before, left for the dance at midnight, and came back at 6:30 am ... and the club was still packed when we left), but my body pretty much hated me after that and I was a zombie the next day.

I think it´s just amazing how much a part of the culture it is here. Everyone everywhere goes out all the time. They dance until a ridiculous hour and then go to work the next day like it isn´t a big deal. Even the 40, 50, 60-year-old reporters at work participate at their respected hangouts. I mean, I guess there´s people in the states that do this but I always thought they were half-nuts. I just wonder how these people can carretear four nights of the week without completely burning out. I think I´ll maintain my grandma-esque lifestyle.

The walk from my house to Alvarez, the closest main street in downtown Viña, requires a swift fifteen-minute walk downhill through a slightly grungy part of town. I make this walk usually twice or three times a day because there is nothing fun or exciting to do up where I live.

During my third week in Chile I noticed a group of four local teens (three boys and one girl) vigorously washing a graffiti-covered wall with coat after coat of white paint. I didn´t really pay attention to it, I just felt kind of bad that they were doing it in the cold and assumed it was some sort of community service thing.

When I passed by eight hours later they were still there, only the scene had changed. The sidewalk was cluttered with upwards of 30 cans of spray paint and a hot mess of tools and nozzles and paper towels and face masks and plastic bags. It was close to 10pm now, and the same students were sketching out the drawing by the light of a battery-operated lamp.

I saw them the next morning. I saw them for three days after that until they finally finished the mural.

Graffiti and public art is such an interesting way to learn the culture of a city. In Viña there is hardly anything incredible, with the exception of the the work these adolescents did and a few other murals. In Buenos Aires, loaded phrases with reference to politics, religion and homosexuality were on every street corner in red and black paint. And in Valparaíso it ranges. There´s a lot of romantic "te amo ____"´s and religiously-influenced "dios es mi vida"´s around downtown and near churches. In the kitschy bohemian district of Cerros Alegre and Concepción, tags and stenciled art clutter the staircases. I´ve made it a hobby to roam around town with my digital camera snapping photos of intriguing art.

As for my personal favorites? One is a stencil of Amelie wearing a bandana around her mouth that said "Amelie es terorista." The other is a phrase on Paseo Yugoslavo that says "TURISTA TERORISTA" in thick black letters.

During my freshman year at Annie Wright School in Ms. Hajduk´s second period geography class, our final project was to complete an extensive presentation about three countries in the world. The only country I remember choosing is Argentina (I think another was Indonesia because I liked saying "Jakarta", but don´t quote me on it).

Well almost six years ago now in that ancient secondary school overlooking the waterfront, I never actually expected to end up visitng Buenos Aires. But when there´s a $135 round-trip ticket offer on LAN Chile airlines, how could I possible refuse?

So my first week in Chile I booked a trip, and two weeks later I arrived in what very well be my favorite city in the world.

Landing at Ezeiza and driving into the city, particularly on a day with bad weather, can be really deceptive. Choosing a legitimate taxi, which is then driven by a sketchy (a better Chilean term would be "flaite") cab driver with the rat tail who reeks of cigarettes can really put off tourists. As can driving through what an Argentinian at our hostel told us was the "shantytown" of Buenos Aires before reaching the center of the city (all the while passing graffiti spelling out phrases in deep red paint like "bush=terrorista" and "liberación comunista").

It was not love at first sight.

My two gringa friends looked at me wide-eyed but speechless, all of us refraining to say anything in English lest the cab driver would attempt to rob us (theft is more common for tourists in cabs than on the streets in B.A.) or charge us more than $20.

But after arriving in our cozy hostel near the trendy Palermo district, my infatuation began.

A Brief List of Everything Amazing About Buenos Aires:

1. Gorgeous population:
So, prior to arriving in Argentina thought Sao Paolo was the reigning Most Attractive City in the World. Au contraire. I´m fairly certain Argentina is the hottest country in the world. During our two weeks in Chile prior to the trip my friends and I had been keeping a mental tally of the number of heart-stoppingly attractive Chilean men we had seen, and we were up to 8 (I know this sounds terribly shallow, but bear with me and keep reading). Well, after about five minutes of walking down the street in Palermo, Argentina had kicked Chile´s butt. I can´t even describe it... just an incredibly unfair gene pool I guess. And it helped that they were flawlessly dressed to the nines with their trendy Burberry scarves and skinny jeans and trench coats, trés Londres. I convinced myself that people-watching is an incredibly gratifying cultural experience.

2. Havanna Alfajores
Buenos Aires has Havanna coffee shops like Seattle has Starbucks: they´re everywhere. But what officially makes Havanna superior is the to-die-for chocolate and extensive selection of specialty coffee drinks. Namely alfajores. For those uninformed of this life-changing confection, it´s basically manjar (refer to entry "la comida chilena" for a description) sandwiched by light cookies and covered in meringue or chocolate. After trying them (and falling in love with them, obviously) they are available for purchase in Havanna stores AND duty free at the airport in boxes of 6, 12 and 24.

3. Parrillas:

Grills. I don´t even like steak that much, but unless you are vegan or vegetarian there is really no point in going and not indulging in their signature plata.

4. Cheap food:

I really can´t explain this any better than with a real-life example:

For our last night of our magical weekend in BA, my friends and I went to a really nice restaurant/tango house Café Tortoni. After seeing the show we decided to dine in the charming upstairs section. We had the best table service I think I´ve ever had in my life... our waiter, Alonso, was the nicest older Argentinian man ever and he TOTALLY brought us extra dessert.

Anyway, I was ridiculously hungry that night and figured to "splurge" on my last night in BA so I ordered a glass of hard cider, starter of cheese and olives, steak and the most expensive dessert on the list. My bill was less than US $15 and I was so full I could barely move when I left.

5. MALBA:

MALBA (I forget the name in it´s entirety) is one of many museums the city has to offer and has an impressive collection of works by national artists. Also, in the gift shop you can buy coasters shaped like cheese slices. I thought that was pretty cool. Whatever.

6. $30 cashmere sweaters on Calle Florida:

I really feel like this category is self-explanatory

7. La Boca:

It´s extremely touristy but I can´t help but love this little district in northwest BA. It´s one of the few places you can get a free decent tango show in the street, plus the artesanal feria and vividly-painted buildings are charming and great photo opportunities.

8. The really hot people:

For added emphasis I think this is worth adding twice.

9. The national pride:

White and sky blue everywhere. I don´t think I´ve ever met a group of people so proud of their country, but it´s pretty awesome to see.

10. Streets that are ten or twenty lanes across:

I bet you wish I were kidding. I do not recommend attempting to drive in Buenos Aires.

11. They totally appreciate Oasis and Coldplay more than most countries and it´s kind of cute:

While having lunch in San Telmo after the Sunday feria we heard an entire Coldplay greatest hits album. And every bar we went to played Oasis at some point during the evening.

12. Cheap yerba maté:

I don´t think I can ever move myself to buy a $4 box of yerba maté at Marlene´s after buying a 100-pack for under a dollar. But since it appears I have enough to last me a year now, I won´t have to worry about that for awhile.

There´s a lot more things to say about Buenos Aires, but my hand is aching so I figured I would take a little break. Stay posted for a "the day i became enamored with buenos aires: part deux" entry.

Since eating is probably my favorite activity in the world, I feel like a journal entry dedicated to la comida chilena is absolutely mandatory.

To be honest, I was scared to death of chilean food when I was reading my Lonely Planet guidebook pre-embarkment. It ranted of the horrible Nescafé (which really is absolutely vile, but I´ve learned to stomach it a little bit as long as it has heaps of sugar) and heavy, greasy meals.

Now, Chilean food is not the stereotypical spicy, four-alarm cuisine of our Central American counterparts. It´s mild, a bit flavorless and nothing too special, but I´ve learned it has a beautiful simplicity to it. Every meal has basic staples... meat, starch, vegetable, bread. No surprises, ever.

But there are a few things that anyone that visits Chile must try:
1. Onces. Direct translation: elevenses, and I can´t even tell you why. En serio, if you do nothing else in this country eat onces, onces and more onces. Onces is kind of a late afternoon tea and bread affair. In the household it typically consists of pancito (these little breads served at pretty much every meal) that have palta (avocado), mantequilla (butter) or manjar (dulce de-mostamazingthingever- leche). Dining out, onces typically consist of a té or café cortado with milk, cookies, a tiny cup of mineral water, a sandwich or empanada and a postre (my favorite being panqueques with manjar).
2. Palta. The avocado here is like butter.
3. Manjar. Think caramel. It´s a bit too sweet for my liking, but you will have no regrets trying it. I´m bringing three big jars back to the states.
4. Wine. Chile is known for it´s impressive range of whites and reds. Caramenere is pretty swanky here, and I like the sauvigon blancs as well. My first morning in Chile my program took our group wine tasting at Casablanca Viñamar at 9:30 in the morning. That was probably the best "bienvenido a Chile" we could have asked for. For those who enjoy mulled wine or sangria, navegado is a must. It is red wine heated with citrus juices, cinnamon and other spices, very typical for Chilean winters.
5. Kunstmann. If you´re more of a beer drinker, this German brew from southern Chile is to die for. I like to think of it as a beer that even women can enjoy. It´s sweet and golden and fantastic. If you fancy a heftier cerveza, try Negra.
6. Pan, pan, pan. If I could take a suitcase full of bread home, I would do it. It is absolutely fantastic and a staple of the Chilean diet.
7. Sopaipillas. My friend´s host mother told her sopaipillas are what Chileans eat when it rains, which turns out to be true. They are a rich, buttery frybread that taste absolutely divine when warm.
8. Empanadas. I´m not a big fan, but this snack can be found in any minimarket for something around 40-50 cents in US prices. You can find one filled with anything... shrimp, apple, ham and cheese, scallops...
9. Mayonesa. I hate mayonnaise, but this is different and Chileans are completely addicted to it. My teacher at the language school explained that historically mayonesa used to be a luxury food, and now that the common person has access to it everyone eats it. It can´t even be compared to that jiggly Best Foods imitation we have at home. Chilean mayonesa is mild, creamy and amazing.
10. Completos. Think of a hot dog drowning in mayonesa, palta and tomato. It´s the equivalent of Pita Pit (or Munchy´z hot dogs for those who hail from WSU) for college students in the U.S.

*NOTE: There is only one word used to describe food here: rico. If something is really good, you can tag a "súper" on the beginning of that.

I live with a typical, hard-working young Chilean couple in their thirties. They are unmarried and have two little girls, Mey and Lisue-Anne, aged 3 and 7 respectively. Coming into this experience, I never expected to have a host family of this sort (I imagined an older, well-traveled couple who happened to like gringos or a middle-aged family with children my age). In retrospect, I probably have the most unique living situation of all of my gringo friends in Chile, mostly because my family is just so typical. The mother, Ambar, works eight hours a day and attends night classes, so I hardly see her. The father, Carlos, works long hours as well and surfs on the weekend, so I see him at night. Then there is the nana who cooks, cleans, serves as a caretaker for the children and generally does everything the couple couldn´t possibly have time for.

We also have a kitten, Josi, who is loved and adored as much as a child (except by me because I am allergic to her).

The apartment is small but sufficient and located on a hill that overlooks all of Viña del Mar, with a breathtaking view of the ocean from the living room. The whole host experience is a little odd since we rarely eat together or see each other, but I typically eat almuerzo (lunch) and onces (evening tea with bread) with the daughters and nana, with family almuerzos reserved for the weekend.

Our apartment complex is a large, fairly new development with a huge range of occupants, from older couples to young families. Though neighbors rarely seem to be good friends, it is not uncommon to have visitors stop by once, twice, or five times a week to borrow a cup of sugar, half a stick of butter or two cups of milk for something.

Living here has made me realize there are quite a few luxuries I´ve taken forgranted in the states. First and foremost, there is no central heating here, so even though the winter isn´t far too different from Seattle weather, it is cold every minute of the day because there is no place to find refuge. Actually, it is often deceptively colder inside the house than outside. I sleep with seven heavy blankets and walk around the apartment wrapped in at least one, if not two.

To obtain hot water to shower or wash dishes there is this machine in the kitchen that I need to light a match while pressing some other button simultaneously, then slide a lever to the right and twist some knob to open the gas. After five weeks I still can´t do this, so every time I want to shower I have to ask someone else in the house to turn it on.

Since utilities are so expensive for families here, every time we wash our clothes we hang them on a line to dry even though they own a dryer (it is used to store plastic bags, don´t ask me why. My friend´s host family has a dishwasher that they use to store tupperware containers). This often means I have to plan ahead close to five or six days in advance. In the dead of the Chilean winter with rain spells and lots of humidity, it is virtually impossible for clothes to dry. If I do a load of laundry Monday my clothes probably won´t be fit to wear until Thursday or Friday.

For all of the money they must save freezing (I´ve resorted to drinking lots of tea and wearing five layers to stay warm), I will never understand why there is no recycling system here. Everything we buy is in glass or plastic bottles or other sorts of recyclable containers, and it seems so logical to have a nice heaping blue bin that a recycling man can come buy and pick up every week. Yet there is none, so I can´t help but feel this big wave of guilt every time I go throw away a perfectly recyclable container. I don´t think I will ever get used to it.

To all who have passed by and clicked the link to my blog for the past month and a bit, I extend my sincerest apologies for the lack of content. nevertheless, the blog server is up and running now and I will attempt to recap the past month and a half of my life in chile.

I feel it might be best to begin with my reasons for visiting this skinny, oddly-shaped country. That tends to be the one of the most common questions I am asked by chilenos, second only to "de donde eres?" (in which I have to explain I am not, in fact, from Washington, D.C. but rather from the other superior coast, an explanation which is quickly followed by, "ayyyypo. Kurt Cobain!"

I am currently interning as a reporter at El Mercurio de Valparaíso, and will continue to do so through the end of July. My responsiblities are the same as those at The Daily Evergreen at Washington State University, where I work at home. I receive an assignment, hit the streets, write it up, and it gets published. The key difference is that I came to this country speaking virtually no castellano, and after three weeks of language school I´m not sure I was quite prepared. But it is fantastic experience, and through it I´ve met president Michelle Bachelet, other government and municipal officials in the region, and had a great excuse to talk to citizens.

As for the blog, I am hoping to offer some insight to anyone who has even the slightest interest in the region. There´s a lot to love about this region, but also a lot that required serious adjustment and cultural acceptance on my part. I came to this country with the mission to make every day an adventure, and I certainly received more than I bargained for.

Chao--