final essays, tests, dinners... wrapping up

Hello everyone! sorry for being so lazy but I'm still alive and well in chile and want to update you on my life! (I also might be using this as a way to procrastinate from the millions of papers i have to write before Wednesday)

So I have 2 more weeks left before I head back to America, speaking English, eating chipotle and being with my friends and family and while I know it will be sad to leave this place and this crazy experience I am really ready to get back. These past couple weeks I've been busy with homework, a program trip to La Serena which we called Spring Break 2010, and then last week Daniel came to visit me! My host family is great, but I can't help but feel that I've been spending so much time with my friends or in my room that I don't spend that much time with them anymore. My mom keeps asking me to come to her store (it's officially open and so great!) and just sit with her and her friends and hang out, but between homework, hanging out with friends, and dexter season 5...(okay not an excuse) I haven't really done that yet and at the end of the day I'm really ready to get back to my real family!

Last week with Daniel was so incredible and we had the best week ever. Between exploring sand dunes, going to the beach, eating at crazy restaurants, (one didn't even have a menu), introducing him to my host family and friends, staying out until 4am at a dance club that was mostly 35 year olds and up, singing karaoke, eating our body weight in ice cream, taking him to two of my classes, and exploring valparaiso, it was so hard to see him go but I know i'll be back at kenyon in no time! While I really appreciate my experience in Chile it also makes me appreciate Kenyon more and realize that I shouldn't take it for granted. I miss my friends, miss the deli, lacrosse, dance parties at the cove, and I even miss the library sometimes! I can't wait to get back and tell everyone about my crazy experiences and hear about what i've missed at school!

lost my camera so this is one of the 3 pictures I actually have to prove that Daniel actually made it here :)

This next week is finals week so I have a lot of work to do, but unlike the states everything is super disorganized for example I have emailed my history teacher 3 times asking him for the topic on our paper and he has yet to respond... I did however have my last photo class today (and for those of you that don't know I actually had nightmares about that class because I got an F on my first assignment) and I passed the class! I'm actually really proud of myself because there were so many times that I was thinking about just not going anymore and accepting the F because the teacher was so hard and really didn't like explaining concepts again and again to us foreign students, but I did it and I worked really hard and while I ended up with only a C+ I feel really proud of myself for not giving up and plowing through because in the end it was worth it. I took a class in a different country, in a different language, with a teacher that basically made us teach ourselves how to do everything, but I did it!! Now i just need to finish up 3 more papers and the at 6:45AM on Thursday morning I'm off to Patagonia with my dad to camp for 6 days in Torres del Paine! So excited, but so many things to do before hand! yikes! Okay enough procrastination, but I miss you all and good luck with finals and i'll see you all soon!! xoxo

EASTER ISLAND

2 posts in one day! Look at me! So I just got back today from the most incredible trip ever- Easter island! My mom and I went from Friday until Tuesday and stayed at this amazing hotel and had a great time exploring the entire island. Basically, Easter Island (also called Rapa Nui) was first settled around 1200 AD and according to oral tradition, archeological evidence and wikipedia (yeah I did a little research) the people that inhabited the island made massive statues called moai that represented their ancestors. They carved the moai out of volcanic rock or out of this fairly large mountain on the island in an area called the quarry, and then they would place the moai on platforms so that they faced the land in order to watch over their tribes.

The Quarry where the Moai were carved and then taken to their platforms by a lot of men because they weigh over a ton!

After awhile the island became over populated and the people decided they didn’t believe in the moai anymore so they took the moais down and they developed the birdman competition, where the culture and class system seemed to rely on the “birdman” which was the winner of the birdman competition—each tribe would chose one boy around 16 to compete and basically they would jump off a cliff, swim about a mile on to this mini island in order to find a specific bird egg and once they found it the head of their tribe would cut off their hair and the boy would be awarded the purest virgin as his wife and they would go live in a house for a year together and wouldn’t come out until they had a baby! Around 1860s however the entire population of Easter Island was killed or removed from the island. Most were taken as slaves to Peru, and then a few years later the Peruvians returned their slaves to Easter Island but some had gotten small pox and other diseases which spread to the whole island so after a few years the population was wiped out and the island became a place for Christian missionaries and also it was used as a sheep ranch. There were about 111 original rapa nui people left on the island and these people are the ones that carry the oral traditions about their culture and from these 111 the island population has slowly recovered—today there are about 4,000 people that live on the island however not all are originally from Rapa Nui. Whew okay history lesson over (please note I’m not positive about some of the above information) but I just wanted to give you a little background knowledge.

On our trip we did everything from hiking up to the birdman crater and saw where they had the birdman competition, to going to the quarry the place where the moai were made, to waking up at sunrise and seeing the incredible 15 moai, a day at the beach, a dance show and Rapa Nui bbq, hiking along the coast, and listening to all of the history and traditions that make you really appreciate and understand the Rapa Nui culture. One of my favorite adventures my mom and I went on was our hike up to the birdman crater. It was a fairly long hike and we weren’t exactly sure where we were going and our guide was a very Rapa Nui character, he had dreadlocks down to his hip and really funny. On our hike I think we may have seen a hundred horses, which we quickly learned being on the island was not so uncommon given that there are over 6,000 horses on the island. All of the horses are branded and technically have owners but they graze and poop wherever they want whether that is on the side of the road or right next to a giant moai statue. Also on the hike our guide told us about the birdman competition and how red bull had actually come to the island and wanted to recreate the competition (I guess cause red bull “it gives you wings?”) but they decided it was way too dangerous and not worth it.

Birdman crater

Lots of horses... I took about a zillion pictures, I couldn't help myself!

Another moment that I really enjoyed is that my mom and I got up early to watch the sunrise by the great 15 moai and it was outstanding. The island is not only beyond beautiful but there is so much amazing history and you start to see the statues not just as statues but as representing the Rapa Nui history. I’m not a very religious person but my mom and I agreed it was almost a spiritual experience standing in front of these moai statues as we watched this incredible sunrise.

the platform with the 15 Moai at sunrise

Another one of my favorite things was our last night the hotel had an authentic Rapa nui bbq and dance show! (interesting fact, although Chile owns Easter Island there is a law that all of the land belongs to the rapa nui people so for example if you want to open a hotel one of the owners must be rapa nui.) The bbq was delicious and afterwards everyone sat down to watch the dance show, which was really great because in school my friends and I are taking a class on traditional dancing and we’re learning one of the Rapa Nui dances! This dancing however was completely different than my dance class because the dancers were so passionate and crazy! The boy dancers, they couldn’t have been older than 17, were jumping around, screaming and singing while they only wore loin cloths with paint all over their bodies. My mom and I both got asked to dance which was a little uncomfortable and awkward but really fun nonetheless.

Overall the trip was amazing and if you ever have the chance to go you should! After we got back my mom and I spent one last night in Santiago before she headed back to the states and I headed back to reality. Saying goodbye was really hard, but I know that’s normal. I just got a taste of home and eating great food, speaking English, and being super spoiled and I wasn’t ready to let it go. Also the only negative of the trip was that on the way over to Easter Island I left my baby blanket on the plane and while I’ve always slept with my blanket being in Chile I just become so attached to it because it smelled like home and was something to hold on to at night or when I was feeling a little homesick. Basically I was beside myself especially after we called the airlines a million times and they said they didn’t have it, but I know it will be okay. I also have a feeling these next few weeks are going to fly by because next weekend I’m going to La Serena, a really pretty beach town in the north of Chile, and then the next weekend DANIEL LIPSEY IS COMING TO CHILE! I’m so excited I think I might actually explode from excitement!

I miss you guys a lot and will try to write again soon!

San Pedro de Atacama desert

Hi everyone! Ahhh i've been so bad at keeping up with this but here is a post on one of my latest adventures to San Pedro de Atacama desert in the north of Chile!

Day 1

We started our trip by leaving for the airport on Thursday night and then spent the night in the Santiago airport because our flight was at 5am Friday morning. Spending the night in the airport was a little rough mainly because they blasted intense Spanish music and also Justin Bieber throughout the airport all night. Finally we boarded our flight at 5am and arrived into Calama at 7am and then someone from our hostel picked us up and we arrived in San Pedro de Atacama passed out for a few hours at our hostel and then went on our first tour! On this tour we went to see some valleys that were really cool and then the old salt mines. After that we hiked up a mountain (more like a huge sand dune) and sat and watched the sunset and then the moonrise. It was so beautiful and the colors on the mountains were amazing to watch. That night we went out for a really cheap dinner and went to bed really early because we were so exhausted given that the night before we slept for around 2 hours in the airport.

watching the moon rise with my friends molly, laine, and ali.

Day 2

The next day we woke up early and headed out on a tour with our guide “Eric” who didn’t speak too much English but loved to speak it anyways. We started our tour with our bus breaking down about 20 min. in, but luckily another tour had space so we jumped on board. On this tour we got to see FLAMINGOS! Real live flamingos, little did I know they lived in chile of all places! They were so cool and the scenery was so beautiful too. The water was so still and we were surrounded by only the mountains and the desert. After the flamingos we went on a long bus ride and our guide wouldn’t tell us where we were going. After a few hours of driving up hill we came across an amazing lake that was situated in the mountains. It was so amazing and the scenery was unbelievable. After the lake we had a small lunch in a small desert town and then made our way back to the hostel. That night we decided to cook a simple pasta dinner at the hostel, which probably wasn’t a good idea because we all got a little sick. Whoops. After dinner we headed to bed early and set our alarms for 3:30am because our next tour was at 4am!

FLAMINGOS!

Amazing lake in the middle of the mountains.

Day 3

At 3:30am the next day we all woke up half asleep and put on about 8 pounds of warm layers and headed out on our next tour. After a 2 hour bus ride up hill in the complete dark we finally arrived at the top of a mountain where there were hundreds of geysers. Some were super tiny and some were huge, and although it was super early and below freezing out, the scene was really cool. After watching the geysers we went to the hot springs where my friend, ali, and I jumped in. Some parts of the spring were lukewarm to freezing but then other parts were burning hot. It was really cool to be swimming in the middle of mountains and it was very hard to get out. After the hot springs we drove through the mountains and came across so many wild llamas and other animals. Then we stopped in a tiny, tiny town, like 20 houses, and ate llama shishkabobs and empanadas! At first I was very hesitant to try it, but I have to admit they were so good! I love llama! After the town we headed back to the hotel and napped for a few hours until we embarked on our final tour of our trip. On this tour we went to a salt lake, which is very similar to the Dead Sea because when you went in you floated! It was so cool, without moving at all we just laid in the water and floated. It was pretty cold but the air outside was so hot and dry that it felt really good. After the salt lake we went to another swimming hole that was so cold so none of us went in. It was really pretty though, but it had gotten so windy outside that I was scared of freezing to death if I went in. After this we went to another lake that was situated in between mountains to watch the sunset. Our tour guide brought cookies, chips and pisco sour for everyone and we all sat and watched the colors change over the mountains and water. It was so beautiful and I could’ve sat there forever. After this tour we got back to our hotel around 8:30 and were so tired so even though it was our last night in Atacama we went passed out very early.

4am tour of the geysers and the sunrise!

LLAMAS!

The trip was so amazing and it was crazy how much we did in so little time. From seeing flamingos, to eating llama, to floating in a salt lake, I definitely recommend going here if you ever have the opportunity! Right now I’m sitting at the airport ready to head back to Vina del mar and I’m so excited because my parents, my real live American parents, are coming to Chile today! We’re going to spend a few days in Vina del mar, then a day in Santiago, and then my mom and I are going to Isla de Pascua/Easter Island/Rapa Nui which is this amazing tropical island 5 hours off the coast of Chile. Everyone in Chile talks about Easter Island all the time and I’m learning about it in each of my classes and its supposed to be incredible. I’m so excited!

xoxo, Abby