Motes and Mercados and Museos...Oh My!

How different Santiago is (transportation-wise) than my good ol' South Dakota! I find myself walking and walking and walking....and then usually walking a little more. However, I've found that here, the walking goes by so fast with tons of little stands and shops and interesting people to keep you occupied along the way. And if you've got a good friend by your side, time sure flies! Aside from walking, I've found the subway and bus systems very helpful. Once I finally got up the nerve to try the subway, I was pleasantly surprised by how much less tired I was once arriving to school! (and much less sweaty for that matter...)

-huge Christmas tree in central Santiago-

Things have gone well since my last post. Christmas came and went like a flash! To be blunt, I don't really feel as though I had Christmas this year. No family and no snow... If your Christmas traditions are anything like mine, all of you Mid-Westerners, you can do the math on that one. But nonetheless, I enjoyed seeing how they celebrate here in Santiago, Chile, and was happy to see that the core rituals are very similar. I went to the house of my host family's grandma on Christmas Eve and we had a big dinner and then opened presents. My Spanish was really put to the test this night due to the "family effect"...you know, when families all get together and everybody talks at warp speed?? Yeah, happens here, too! :) Christmas day, for me, was spent sleeping, Skyping with family, and watching movies...can't go wrong there!

In other news, I'm happy to anounce that I passed my first exam and have, therefore, moved onto the next level at school! While I am impressed with myself and thrilled to have passed, I also am biting my nails at the thought of the next level of my Spanish ability...However, so far class this week has gone well!

One memorable day last week was spent outside of school with my new friend Leila. She's a friend from school and she met up with me in her neighborhood of Las Condes where we went shopping at the local mall there. After our shopping fix was satisfied, we headed through metros and bus stations to El Cerro de Santa Lucia. I know I posted about this last time, as I did visit it the first day of school...but being that Leila hadn't been there and I forget my camera when I went the first time, we decided to visit.

-at El Cerro de Santa Luica again-

We took lots of pictures and took our time slowly winding up to the top of the stony mini-mountain. This time, I also had the opportunity and time to stop and try a popular drink called Mote con Huesillos. It's a very popular Chilean concoction and although I still cannot fully describe what it is (looks interesting..), from what I gather, it has these little barley pieces that are corn-like (mote) with cooked, dried peaches (huesillos). These things are served to you in a cup of syrupy fruit juice (like what peaches come with in the can). If you're ever in Chile, you'll have to try it for yourself!

-mote con huesillos-

After the climbing, we were by far ready for some down-time. Leila invited me to one of her distant relatives' house in the neighborhood of La Reina. Boy oh boy, we found the "rich" neighborhood! The property where her cousin lives was so beautiful, with a fancy intercom-equipped gate, and long driveway, and a gorgeous home. I felt super priviledged that night to be able to mingle with their guests, many of whom were bi- and trilingual! Two of the children there knew FOUR languages!! Whoosh! Talk about a bright future. It was really neat to see. The guests at the house were all so encouraging with our speaking Spanish and overall, I was able to enjoy wonderful food with stimulating people...just what I needed after a long, challenging week!

Other days, outside of school, have been spent with my new friends walking around the city. Often, we'll choose a place of Santiago we want to visit, then either walk there or take the metro there, find some place to eat lunch, and then explore until evening comes. It's a really great "ritual" we have set up and I very much enjoy walking, talking, and visiting different parts of Santiago.

-some of our school group in front of El Mercado Central-

-Leila and I enjoying lunch in El Mercado Central-

On top of just exploring in our little group, there are usually activities after school we can sign up for. Since our trip to El Cerro de Santa Lucia, we've visited El Mercado Central, which is in the center of Santiago and they have different restaurants that are famous for their fish and mariscos. We also visited the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. It was really cool to see the very different artifacts and hear about the history.

-Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino-

Thank you to everybody that has been checking on and thinking of me! I'm blessed. Also, I've got a fun weekend full of traveling coming up...so make sure to check back soon! I hope everybody has a safe and fun New Year weekend! Chao pescao! :)


Love,
Andrea

Que?? No Entiendo...Repeta, Por Favor...

The above title pretty much sums up how I've been feeling for the 4 days that I've been in Chile..."What? I don't understand...repeat, please..." :) But, as I've also said a million and one times thus far, "Esta bien"..."It's okay."

-flying into Miami-

-the nifty gadgets on my international flight-

I FINALLY arrived in Chile after more than 24 hours of flying (and waiting). And when I did finally arrive in Chile, the adventures were already lining up for me. After making it to the other side of the riDICulously long line for customs, I found myself delighted to see BOTH of my suitcases waiting for me. I thought to myself, "Wonderful! Things are going off without a hitch!"

Then, I began looking for my transfer from the program with whom I am studying (Escuelas y Centros de Espanol en Latin America...ECELA), but to no avail. However, every flight of my trip had been delayed and I arrived more than 2 hours later than I had told the school...so I wasn't very surprised to find myself without a ride to my host family's house. So there I was, a complete "gringa" (an American, more or less) alone in the Santiago airport with very little Spanish practice. Long story short, after some "kind" gentleman found me a taxi, the police got involved (yes...the police...) and asked how much this man was charging me for the taxi. When the police stopped me, I honestly didn't know yet since the taxi man and I were still walking to his car. After a lot of heated Spanish and a call to my host family, I realized that this taxi was "illegal" and was going to rip me off. Whoosh! Gracias a Dios por la policia de Santiago!! Thank God for the Santiago police. After this, the police that spotted the taxi man and I helped me find a transfer, for a good price, to my host family's house. What a start to my trip, huh?!

After my little run-in with the illegal taxi man and after arriving to my house, meeting the family, and settling in, I was more than overwhelmed. My host mom, Nancy, was so kind and took me walking to show me where I needed to go for school the next morning and showed me around the area where they live. They live in Providencia, a nice neighborhood with tons of malls, little tiendas, restaurants, and a Starbucks across the street! :) The apartment is very small, especially my room, but it's definitely plenty of space and I enjoy the location. Sometimes the noise is very hard to get used to (one night a bomb went off nearby...Nancy said it happens a lot and it's just teenagers protesting and the "bombs" are just for the noise...but still!)

I went to bed pretty early Sunday night (my first night) because I had a placement exam early Monday morning to see what level Spanish class I needed to be put in.

-the front of my school-

After 30 minutes of walking like a tourist to my school, I arrived completely sweaty and frantic at being 1 minute late. NOTE: Latin Americans are. not. punctual (especially Brazilians...) So after fretting the entire walk there, I realized all was well. Once done with my exam, I was placed in "Intermediate 1A". And although all of the materials that I have learned so far are the things I already learned in the United States, I always feel totally lost and insufficient. School is super challenging and my "profesora", although very nice and helpful, is very strict and makes me say everything correctly. There are 4 students in my class...1 Spanish-speaker from Canada, 2 Brazilians, and me. Obviously out of the above listed students, I am the most inept at speaking Spanish, so usually class is a little intense for me :/ But "esta bien"!

Aside from school, which takes up 4 hours of each day, I have been trying to participate in every activity possible to get as much out of the experience as I can. The school offers activities after classes a lot of the days, which is nice. The first day, we were taken on a tour of a place in the heart of Santiago called El Cerro de Santa Lucia. It was a beautiful place! We had to climb and climb up tons of hills and stairs, but each level we went up had another great view of Santiago...a perfect first experience. And yesterday, the school showed the movie "El Ofanato"...a horror-type Spanish movie that all of the Chileans fawn over. It was pretty good, but again, my Spanish is lacking which always contributes to not getting everything during stories and such. Yesterday (Tuesday), a few friends and I went out exploring in the neighborhood of Bellavista. It has a lot of trendy little restaurants and places to buy neat gifts and such. The neighborhood is really beautiful and it was fun roaming around there!

-me on Patio Bellavista-

Because my host family (Nancy, the mom, and her two sons Sebastian and Claudio) are always either working or out, school has been an awesome outlet for me to meet people. Already I have become friends with 2 Brazilians who took me under their wings, Gustavo and Jefferson. Gustavo knows Spanish, Portuguese, and English...so helfpul!! They are both very patient with me and my choppy attempts to tell stories and contribute to conversations. I've also met tons of other people from all over...one guy from Paris, a few from the U.S., a lot of Brazilians, and a lot of Germans. Everybody is so willing to meet everybody else, so we have a good time mingling on our breaks and during activities.

Overall, my 4 days here so far have been wild. I'm always tired, mentally and phsycially, but I would have to definitely say the 4 days have been positive! This is only the beginning of my trip and I'm very excited to see what the rest of it has in store for me!

So, with all of that said, MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I hope all of you in the Midwest are enjoying your blizzard. This will be my first Christmas without snow! I sure picked my timing right, eh? :)

Love and miss you all...I'll be sure to update again soon!

Chao!

Chile Is Here! ...well, kinda

So, my excursions began yesterday at 8am when the time came for me to drive to Minneapolis/Andover to stay with my friend Katie. The drive was pretty quick and painless (maybe too quick...I got a speeding ticket...shoot). After arriving in Minneapolis and dropping off my wonderful travel buddy Fernando at the airport for his flight, I headed to Andover where Katie lives. We had a great time catching up, and before I knew it, it was time to get ready for bed in preparation of my 3:30am wake-up.

If any of you know me, I am not a morning person, so getting up was a little rough. And to be completely honest, excitement didn't change things because I wasn't excited. The flight part has been the one thing I've been nervous about the entire pre-trip time and I today already, I have been given plenty of reason to have been nervous (notice that I am blogging when I'm supposed to be flying...)

So now here I sit at Gate C12, where my plane should have already loaded and taken off by now, but we are still waiting to board. Ish. Any other time I would not have really minded a delay, but considering I have to make 2 other flights after this one, the delay only presents unwanted frustration and anxiety.

However, I know that things will work out! I will make it to Santiago eventually, with or without my baggage, ha! But if any of you out there have a private jet, fly it my way, would ya?

In closing, here is a picture of my good friend Katie and I when she dropped me off at the airport this morning. Katie, if you're reading this, THANK YOU for waking up soooo early and supporting me. It really meant a lot :)


Thanks for reading, and hopefully my next blog is from Chile!! Saludos amigos.


-Andrea

IT'S OFFICIAL: Compré mi boleto!

It's finally official! A short (ha!) 7 months later than planned, I am finally officially making my way down south...waaaay south :)

While I had originally intended on going to both Argentina and Chile...and then I changed my mind to just Argentina...NOW (big breath!) I have decided on Chile. I will be studying there for 3 weeks over my Christmas break from school and am very anxious.

anx⋅ious/ˈæŋkʃəs, ˈæŋ-/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [angk-shuhs, ang-] –adjective

1.	full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried; solicitous: Her parents were anxious about her poor health.

2.	earnestly desirous; eager (usually fol. by an infinitive or for): anxious to please; anxious for our happiness.

3.	attended with or showing solicitude or uneasiness: anxious forebodings.

While I must admit I am feeling all of the above definitions of "anxious", mostly I am eager to go! It's been a long time coming for this trip and even longer for me simply wanting to travel outside of the U.S. and the time is finally here!

My intentions are to revive this old blog so that friends and family can see a few pictures and have a few updates on how my trip goes as I am down there...

So stay tuned! :D

To the Best Man I've Ever Known

Arnold O. Hanson: August 22, 1924- April 10, 1009

Last week on Friday, April 10, 2009, my grandpa passed away. I wasn't even at home when it happened so I never really got to say a last goodbye or anything. In an attempt to try to compensate for not being there when he passed, I really want to do this post to tell people about this great man who left the world...

First off, in the blog title, "best man I've ever known" is not in any way an exaggeration. My grandpa was literally the nicest, sweetest, and funniest guy. When I shuffle through the memories I have of being out at my grandparents' house (which occurred quite a lot being that they only lived across town), I honestly cannot remember a single time when he was unkind to somebody. Don't get me wrong, he was strict when he needed to be...but he wouldn't hurt a fly (maybe a cat, though, haha).

At least a third of my "Grandpa flashbacks" are of him hauling us grandkids around in a little trailer that he'd hook to his lawn mower/tractor. My grandma and grandpa had a house just outside city limits and had a lot of property to ride around on...and boy did we cover it all (INCLUDING ditches....backwards....) Grandpa was ALWAYS the jokester and a visit never ended without a good laugh and big goofy grin from him. Even when he was in his last stages of Alzheimer's, every now and again his "old self" would just shine through with a hysterical look, complete with crinkled eyebrows and ridiculous smile...what a ham!

I remember when he got really sick last year and he was in the hospital for quite a few days...I was there pretty much every day over the weekend and would talk to him when he was coherent. During one of our strained conversations, it got brought up that I was going to school for Nursing, and he stopped and looked up at me and said "You will be the BEST nurse!" and I just lost it. I really do hope I can make him proud!!

His visitation and funeral were really beautiful and you couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by all of the love and support of all of his family, friends, and acquaintances that showed up. The night before the visitation, all of the family got together and gathered pictures of him to display...boy had I forgotten Grandpa over the last year when his Alzheimer's got really bad. Going through those pictures was so neat, remembering how he really was.

He was just such a wonderful man and somebody who I will always feel nothing but respect for. EVERYBODY loved him and I can only hope that one day, somebody can say the same about me. My grandpa is somebody who loved life and found pleasure in simple things like morning coffees at HyVee and buying bananas for people (haha).

Most of all, he's somebody I will always love and will never forget.

Dancing With Myself!

And so here's the post I was anticipating to be the official "I'M GOING TO ARGENTINAAAAA!" statement...not so much, kids. However, it has been postponed and is scheduled to commence in May of 2010!

Why the delay you ask? Well, basically, timing. While I never thought I'd let something like timing get in my way of a study abroad experience (see previous enthusiastic post about nothing stopping me), I guess that's part of growing up...you start to really take different things into account. You weigh the pros and cons. Needless to say, I was bummed at first but so many wonderful things have come of my change of plans and I'm very excited to see what the near future holds!

Aside from the itinerary switch-up, I've had some really great weeks since I last blogged---and I'd like to document a few of them. This is probably going to be a longer post, but stick with me folks...I feel like I have some good things to say!

First of all...
I worked at the Festival of Cultures last Friday. My initial motivation for doing it was basically to just get a few extra credit points for my Spanish class (typical right?)...but I ended up staying twice as long for other reasons. Our booth was sort of a "drinks paradise", if you will, where we were making pina coladas, strawberry daiquiris, etc (non-alcoholic of course!) I arrived and was immediately overtaken by the hustle and bustle of getting the drinks made and out to the line-waiters chop! chop! Upon leaving awhile later (and only when I really had to), I was stung with a rather uplifting realization...when people work together for a common cause, even one as trivial as making slushies, we can accomplish so much and in such powerful ways! I know, I know...we were making slushies....for a festival....but seriously! It applies to a lot of deeper things, too! :] Ha. (Insert the peace & love hippie euphoria here.)

Secondly...
I'm only 21! I guess it turns out I'M STILL YOUNG!! This rather obvious self-characterstic has been something that I keep re-realizing lately (not sure how you re-realize something but let's go with it...) Quite a few things have been happening recently that have been tough; and they are things that bring to light how important it is to live these years up as fully as I can! I have great friends and awesome family and soooo much to be thankful for and soooo many years ahead of me (God-willing!) And sometimes the things that get me digging holes are things that should be making me want to climb mountains! This year (it's already April?!...well, for the rest of this year) I am going to make the honest, daily, devoted effort to be happy with every day...and to make the best out of every situation. Life sucks sometimes. Yes, we've all been down at the bottom of that hill; but life is also too short to not turn the not-so-pleasant moments into ways to make the future moments 10X better. (My apologies for the cliche-ness and overly optimistic quality of the above paragraph...but it's all sooo true, right?!)

Thirdly...
Kudos to a good friend of mine for showing me a song by The Donnas called "Dancing With Myself"! To all of you girls out there who think being single is lame...think again! :P Sometimes I really think the world gives us this "To be happy: Be in a relationship" expectation. FALSE. Half the people I know that are in relationships are not happy. And if they are happy, a good share of them don't have very many experiences to show for it! Now, don't get me wrong, I do think relationships, when had at the appropriate times, are a wonderful thing---statistically, they have even been shown to improve men's overall health and well-being (ha, wonder why that is...) But I also think flying solo is liberating if you have the right mentality. If you sit around and wish on every star that somebody, anybody, comes along so you don't have to be alone...good luck, amigo! However, if you look at it like The Donnas do and have the "if I had the chance, I'd ask the world to dance" outlook...you'll do just fine ;)

In closing (whew! told ya!)...I still will indeed be doing the whole "Carpe Diem" thing like I said in my previous post...but just in different ways than I had anticipated. Ahhh, life...so full of surprises, no? Until next time, I'll just be up on the table dancin' with myself (and my friends of course!)---Ha!

Happy week, all!

Mi Pasaporte Ha Llegado!

My passport has arrived, and here's the proof! :] It was nice seeing it come in the mail...one less thing to worry about in the planning processes. I also, a few weeks ago, received my "official letter of acceptance" to the ECELA program with whom I'll be studying. Exciting, right?!

Basically all I need to get tacked down now is the financial stuff (isn't that always the case??) I think my biggest concern is going through with all of this, and then coming home and regretting having spent so much money. However, that's a smaller portion of my thoughts. The bigger portion of my sometimes-spontaneous brain is all but shouting "CARPE DIEM!"...which is the side I'm tending to lead toward these days. I'm not in college for a whole lot longer, will be diving into the Nursing program soon, and feel that NOW is the time!

My job is basically set for when I come back after my 4-week excursion, so that's another prompting factor pushing me toward going; not having to worry about finding a job once I come back.

Well, kids...I wish I could say this was the "I'm 100% sure I'm going!" post but it's not quite there yet. Stay tuned, though...I feel a burst of adventurous spontaneity coming in this spring air ;)


P.S. You all best get yourselves outside and enjoy the beautiful South Dakota rarity of today!!

Elated Nurse-To-Be

"Dear Andrea,
It is my pleasure to inform you that the Admissions and Scholastic Standards Committee for Undergraduate Nursing has recommended to me that you be accepted for admission to the first semester of the nursing major for Fall 2009. I am happy to concur with the committee's recommendation."



Hospitals of the world, look out, here I come!! :D

Today I headed to my mailbox for probably the 20th time within the last week and was both excited and nervous to open the little metal door and see one lonely envelope sitting there with the "South Dakota State University Nursing Dept" logo in the top left corner.

After ripping open the envelope and whipping open the piece of paper, all I could focus on was the "It is my pleasu--" HALLELUJAH! I then had to read it about 2 more times to actually believe my quick assumption of being accepted. I was overcome with happiness, relief, excitement, and every other positive "O.M.G." emotion that you can think of.

At this point in my life, I am just SO ready to finally have a set plan laid out before me. Without a doubt, I will still be seeking out adventures throughout this time, but it's nice to have a "home base" so to speak...

In closing, I want to shoot out a huge THANK YOU to everybody who has been so supportive of me during this both difficult and now exciting time. I really appreciate all of the prayers and constant "you can do it"s...how blessed am I?!

With all that said, the only other thing I can think to say is....Life is good. :D

Hopefully more Argentina/Chile updates coming soon...

Mis Esperanzas

Today I made a $100 non-refundable investment into what I hope will become my "Argentina/Chile" fund. For the last SEVERAL months, I've been not-so-secretly pursuing a trip to Argentina and Chile for this summer. I've had about 3-4 years of Spanish and I just feel that taking a trip abroad is the next step for me. Although all of the specifics are still very much in the "uhh...I'm still not sure" stages, I'm very hopeful!!

With high hopes, here are a few photos of some of my (possible) summer destinations (thanks, Google!):

Santiago, Chile

Buenos Aires, ArgentinaBariloche, Argentina

Tenga un buen dia!! Adios!

Now That I'm A True Chicagoan...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year! My days leading up to and day of New Year's were all spent in the "Windy City": CHICAGO! Three friends of mine and I made the trek to see Umphrey's McGee in the Auditorium Theatre for three...yes, that's right kids...THREE nights of outta-control music, don't-stop-'til-ya-drop dancing, and blow-your-mind light shows. And that was just how we spent our evenings! The days were equally as fun...filled with window-shopping, sightseeing, great food, LOTS of walking, and bonding with friends.

Day 1...Monday, December 29th
Our three-day expedition began at literally the crack of dawn---I even got to see an honest-to-God sunrise as we traveled down the winter roads toward Chicago. After a quick and painless 9 or so hours of driving (no thanks to the icy roads, strong winds, or rush-hour traffic) we arrived at our hotel. The Essex was perfect! When we got an unbelievably great deal online for our 3 nights, I was skeptical about the quality we'd see at the hotel, but I am happy to say that we were pleasantly surprised. After we each claimed our territories within the room (literally), we all hit the streets to explore awhile before that evening's show.

Nearly right away, we located a "quaint" little place a few blocks from our hotel called "The Corner Bakery" and grabbed some dinner. We then headed back to the hotel, threw on some concert clothes, and walked a short 4 blocks to the venue.

The Auditorium Theatre, where we were to enjoy 3 nights of Umphrey's McGee, is generally more geared toward plays or operas, so one can imagine it was GORGEOUS. Although I would not have labeled it the sterotypical "jam band concert venue", once we got there, it gave off a great vibe and was, in my humble opinion, a great location choice.

To sum up the next 3 hours of madness, Night 1 Umphrey's McGee= amaaaaazing! And having 7th row dead center didn't hurt... especially Plunger>Bottom Half w/Triple Wide teases...made my night!!

Day 2...Tuesday, December 30th

As expected, we were all exhausted the next morning, but I decided to wake up semi-early to begin my day with a quick workout in the hotel gym followed by a short swim and relaxing sit in the sauna. After we all showered and got ready, we again set out to the streets of Chicago where we visited "The Bean" (per my redundant requests....just as cool as I had hoped! :] ).We then continued our touristy walk down Michigan Ave, heading toward our eventual destination of "Fogo de Chao", a Brazilian Steakhouse that will feed you until you theoretically die. Lliterally, we were all ready to ROLL back to our hotel rather than WALK due to the extreme eating that went on while we were there. All in all, however, totally worth it!

We did end up making it back to the hotel despite our ridiculous food-intake and some of us napped while others of us just relaxed and watched some TV to pass the 2 hours until concert time (aka : I napped). After Night 1, we were all stoked to see what Umphrey's had up their sleeves for Night 2.

As anticipated, Umph's dealed out another nasty set. I even got my Bright Lights (w/Stanley Jordan on guitar...mad man!) Although I did suffer from a lame headache through most of the show, I managed to get some great pictures of the band, lights, and my crazy friends gettin' down...

Day 3...Wednesday, December 31st...NEW YEAR'S EVE!
Night 2 was an early show, but we ended up sleeping in QUITE late on the morning of Day 3...mostly in preparation for what we foresaw to be one fiiiiiine night of ringing in the New Year.

Once we all finally rolled out of bed and got ready, we decided to seek out a few stores each of us had in mind. And when most of those ideas were a bust, we simply high-tailed it to the nearest Chipotle (of course) and enjoyed a quick sit-down. After eating, we decided that the hotel sauna sounded heavenly in contrast to the bone-chilling Chicago weather so we jaywalked back (because we are true Chicagoans) and enjoyed some relaxing pool and sauna time.

Before we knew it, concert time was drawing near...and next thing I knew, we were enthusiastically walking down the street toward what would hopefully be the best night yet.

I can say, without hesitation, that I thought Night 3 was theeee best of the three night run. Guests were blues singer Koko Taylor and Japanese guitarist Shun Kikuta followed by the Chicago Mass Choir (amaaaaaaazing!)....definitely a goosebump moment when the Chicago Mass Choir joined in with Umphrey's already amazing playing.

Chicago was an awesome trip. Great company, great hotel, great surroundings, great outings, and of course, great concerts. Everything went so smoothly and I couldn't have asked for a better 3 days or a better way to start 2009! In closing: Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful....tradition :]

Happy 2009!!!