Trippin

The past couple weeks have made for a bit more exciting subject material for you all.  What with warmer temperatures and all, we've been more antsy to get out.  A couple weekends ago, Marie, Vicky, and I spontaneously decided to hit up a nearby town further into the interior, Limache.  It was roughly a 45 minute train ride and an absolutely gorgeous trip.  It's so nice to leave the city feel of Viña and land in the middle of mountains and country.  We walked through Limache a bit, then asked a random dude if there was any place to go horseback riding; he directed us toward Olmué, about a half-hour micro ride further into the rural interior.  We asked the micro driver to let us know when we got close to a horse-riding place; I was a little on edge about actually finding anywhere, but sure enough we were dropped off a short, dirt-paved distance from a place that rented out horses. We snagged some and meandered around the winding paths out on the countryside - at least as far as the horses would cooperate.   It was absolutely gorgeous.

After that, we headed back to Limache and took the train back to Viña so that Marie and I could make it back for a free circus that Marie's host mom had found.  It was pretty basic circus stuff, although I was impressed with how many foreign acts made an appearance.  China, Mongolia, Russia (or Belarus; couldn't understand the announcer too well), the U.S., and Ukraine were all represented and did their countries proud.

The other day Judith, Marie's host mom, took us to see a free film about the end of the Pinochet dictatorship.  In the...1980s (I think?  That sounds about right...) there was a vote taken to decide if the dictator would hold power for an additional eight years or if the country would take a democratic turn.  Every day for a period of time, television networks were to broadcast 15 minutes of propaganda per side - Si for keeping Pinochet in power and No for booting him.  The film (titled No) documented the struggle in creating the "no" propaganda.  Marie and I had a class and had to sneak out early, but it was interesting (if not super hard to understand).  It was especially relevant since today Chile is holding local elections.

Also this weekend, our program took us out to Isla Negra, the location of another house belonging to Pablo Neruda.  We spent several hours just wandering the beach and the tiny town (including a stop at a little cafe for some jugo natural - fruit juice).  It was so cute and secluded and we all decided that it would be a pretty great summer home location.  The beach was gorgeous; Neruda really had it made with his beautiful house overlooking the view.

On a more serious note, you all can be praying for Antonio and his family as they mourn the loss of his brother-in-law.  He had been in the hospital for awhile and seemed to be on the upswing when he suddenly passed away a couple nights ago.  From what Alice says, Antonio's family is big and really close, so it's gonna take some time and lots of support to adjust.

Spring Has Sprung

Things are finally starting to get nice around here - less rain and more sun!  We've gotten some chance to take advantage of Spring, especially since this past weekend was a long weekend (some Catholic holiday...?).  One day we hit Concón for empanadas and a walk along the beach.  I double checked and the Pacific is, indeed, way too cold for swimming.  Especially coming from a background with the Caribbean.  Also for the long weekend, Florencia's parents were in Santiago (her mom had some event thing with work) so she stayed here.  Needless to say, all of my time spent at the depto was filled with drawing, playing with her toys, reading, and trying to convince her that I really do need naps.

Over the weekend, there was an event in Valparaíso called Mil Tambores (A Thousand Drums), where groups of drummers vied for attention while reggaeton performers set a mellow mood.  I think there was also some circus-type thing as well; like, earlier in the day there were kids activities.  Apparently Sunday, the day we didn't go, there was body painting and parades and all.  What we did see was still a pretty hefty dose of culture, though.

Also, our most recent group excursion was to Santiago for a soccer match between Chile and Argentina.  I love Chile and everything... but they never really had much chance at winning haha.  Argentina scored two goals within the first few minutes of the game and Chile had nothing to show for it until the final three minutes, when they scored their one and only goal.  It was so cool to see Lionel Messi play, though!  Our assistant director, Jaime, argues that Messi is the greatest futbolista the world has ever seen.  It was overall a fun cultural experience, though, with vendors and way-too-enthusiastic fans all over the place.  Our group got into the Chile pride too, and almost everyone was decked out in red shirts and face paint.

Tremors!

Not to sound like a broken record, but life is moving at a pretty normal pace, with a few mentionables:

• We went to an asado (i.e. cookout) at a friend's house in Valparaíso last weekend.  Valpo is way harder to navigate than Viña, and Freya had to meet up with us to guide us up the winding road to the off-season hostel where she and ten other students live.  It was a lot of fun, though, to meet all kinds of crazy travelers from around the world.
• I can now say that I've tried vegemite.  Freya (above-mentioned friend from the asado) is an Australian student who's been here since last semester, and the other day she brought a big tube of it along with a pack of crackers to share with the class.  It was interesting; not bad at all, actually, but maybe that was just the cracker covering it up...?
• I've been able to get more involved with church recently, including the start of a small group (as of last week), attending a missions seminar featuring a Chilean missionary recently returned from Mozambique, a lunch for exchange students, etc.
• Marie, Vicky, and I bought bus tickets to San Pedro de Atacama - the worlds driest desert located in the northernmost region of Chile.  We'll be gone from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, although the ride one-way is some 22-24 hours (yet also considerably cheaper than plane tickets...)
• I have now been through two tremors.  Well, ok, that's false.  Rephrase: I've been through a lot of tremors, but I've been conscious for two of them.  They've typically happened in the wee hours of the morning so I sleep through them, but last weekend one hit around 10:30 p.m.  It wasn't too exciting; my bed started shaking as if the neighbors downstairs were being rowdy and it took me a second to figure out what it actually was.  Today another, considerably stronger one hit, reportedly rating a 5.7 on the Richter scale.  I was at school for this one, waiting for the bus in a little study area when all the sudden the windows started rattling all crazy and there was this sound like persistent rolling thunder.  Instead of fading, though, it kept getting louder and I could totally feel the building shaking at its foundations.  It passed in a matter of seconds, but it was certainly impressive.
  [Sidenote: Actual big-deal, for-real harmful earthquakes are classified anywhere above a 7 on the Richter scale and only happen once every twenty years or so here.  The last one was in 2010; everyone still talks about it and there are a lot of buildings still under repair.  All that to say, there is essentially zero chance of me being caught in an earthquake, so don't exhaust yourself worrying about that :) ]

"We're in a band!"

A couple weeks ago, Jaime (one of the international office directors) started making rounds asking if any students played instruments and would be interested in forming a band to play for "El Día de la Universidad" - University Day.  He ended up with a good core group composed of three exchange students and two Chileans (including himself); mid-last week we finally got around to meeting each other, choosing songs, and rehearsing.  We were a bit pressed for time and only had four days to fine tune everything, plus we were lacking a drummer so we had to figure out who would switch around instruments for which songs and all that jazz.  After two months without so much as touching a guitar, it was so refreshing to chill with a guitar in my lap and let my muscle memory do the work (even though my fingers were raw by the end of our first seven-hour jam...rough).  There was also some last-minute panic the night before the gig when we couldn't get ahold of a drumset and the other band playing before us refused to let us use theirs.  Everything fell together though, and Jaime, our self-proclaimed manager, calmed his nerves enough to shred a few killer solos on electric.  The performance was short - only a three-song set list - but all the rehearsals and late nights are what made it, and we all agreed that we want to keep playing and learning songs together, whether or not we have a gig to play.  

Los Gringos Locos