¿Alguien por Tenis?

Tennis, Anyone?


Played tennis this afternoon with a bunch of carabineros-in-training. (I believe carabineros have already come up in this blog. They are ubiquitous in these parts!) My friend Abi's host sister Marcela is a tennis instructor, and on Friday afternoons she teaches lessons at the "Comisaría de Carabineros," or the police station. The funny thing is that the future caribineros are terrible at tennis! I mean really terrible! Nonetheless, lot's of fun.

Marcela (in pink in the center),  Abi and I,  and the boys!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo a los Judios!

L'Shanah Tova!


Not that that I would call myself a "super Jew" but it feels very weird to be in a place where the High Holidays simply don't exist.  It's not as if I feel sad, or miss home, in the same way that I did when I went to Hillel for the High Holidays freshman year (Note: Going through the motions of the High Holidays with the Hillel crowd is a poor substitute for the real deal at home with family.), it's just... strange. Case in point: While my family was probably in synagogue this morning for Rosh Hashanah, I was participating in a "simulacro de terremoto," or an earthquake drill.  And, while my family will be fasting for Yom Kippur, I will be celebrating Chilean Independence Day (Probably not a good idea to mess around with the Day of Atonement, but I can't fast during Chile's bicentennial celebration! What to do?!). 


Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year. :) 

University of Tarapaca

First day of school

Something exciting?!?

Calle 21 de Mayo after school

Muerto por Araña

Death by Spider


Yesterday in Spanish class, la professora made a point of warning us about las "arañas de rincones," or the spiders that dwell in corners. You should know that as I was deciding on a study abroad location, I specifically searched out spiders indigenous to each location I was considering. So I knew what I was getting into. I know that Chile had spiders. But I figured at least Chile wouldn't be as dangerous as, say, Brazil. So apparently the one spider that presents a danger in Chile is the araña de rincon. As per its name the spider likes dark corners and dirt. For this reason, we are not to leave piles of clothes on the floor, and we are supposed to shake out our shoes before we put them on. Last night, I actually pulled my bed out from the corner a little bit as a precautionary measure! Not only do these spiders bite, but their venom can be fatal if the bite goes untreated. For some reason, the Chileans are incredibly nonchalant about this whole thing. Well yes, they say, the bites ARE pretty serious, but the spiders are timid so you don't have to worry. So essentially, the only thing saving me from certain death is the fact that that these spiders are "shy." The Chileans seem to be content with this idea. I, on the other hand, am freaking out. My one source of comfort is that my sister Cote is 16 years old and has only ever seen one in her life. I really hope I am long gone before she sees another one!

Éxito y Fracaso

Success and Failure


Let's being with success. Yesterday, some of my compañeras and I decided to search out a local gym. We knew that we had a few options, but we decided to check out CorpoBallo first. The other popular gym is called Koala-- very tempting name, but farther away and more expensive. Well, we happened to get lucky at CorpoBallo, because we were invited to join a step aerobics class that was beginning just as we arrived. If you haven't done a step aerobics class in Spanish, you are missing out on some great fun. I don't think I can do justice to the class by describing it here, but suffice it to say that there was a lot of "Arribba! Woooo!" and "Al otro lado," and "Muy bien, chicas!" set to music ranging from Pitbull's Calle 8 to Micheal Jackson's Thriller. We all joined the gym at the end of the class. 10 mil pesos for a month with unlimited classes is a sweet deal!


And now... for the failure. I was feeling really inspired after the gym excursion, so I thought I would go to salsa class at the University last night. I convinced my friend Jenn to come with me, and the two of us set off with high hopes and low skill-levels.  Unfortunately, it was harder to find the correct building than we had anticipated, and we spent a good ten minutes wandering around the campus before we decided we had better ask someone. We were standing around looking like little lost gringas when we actually saw someone we knew-- Sebastian, one of the "jovenes" who had been at our orientation! Sebastion explained to us how to get to the building, but apparently thought better of that idea, and in the end, very kindly escorted us there himself. Of course, we had already missed the majority of the class, but at least we know for next time. 


Up next: Pilates at the gym this evening. Wish me luck!

Corrección

I was informed today that bananas are actually bananos.  


Nonetheless, I wore mine out on the town today, and it was a huge success!

¿Como?

I chose "¿Como?" for the tile of my latest blog post because, roughly translated, it means "Huh?," and I've been using it a lot lately. Yesterday, I moved in with my host family. I have parents (Iván y Jessica), a sister (Cote, 16 years old), a brother (Felipe, 14 years old), and a grandma and grandpa. We also have a dog, Romi, but she lives on the patio. :-/ The family is adorable. When I mentioned that college apparel is very popular in the U.S., and that I would love to get something from the University of Tarapacá, Iván, who works at the University, promptly presented me with an UTA t-shirt. Jessica took great care to warn me about a group of deviant boys in the neighborhood. I know she was serious because she was speaking at about half her normal speed so that I would understand. 

Today, Cote and I bonded when she helped me pick out a fanny pack at the flea market. They are called "bananas" here,  and they are very "in" right now. Bananas can be especially useful at the discoteca, when you want your hands free for dancing. When I went out last night, I can't even begin to describe what a hindrance it was to have my bag over my shoulder as I was dancing*. So you see, it was imperative that I go out and purchase a banana lo antes posible, or "as soon as possible".

Posing in my room wearing my "banana"

A closer look

*A few additional notes on la experiencia discoteca: 

1) Chileans can DANCE

2) The real party begins at 1:00/2:00am ends at 4:00/5:00am

3) The one guy who tried to creepily hit on the girls in my group was an American. Nice job making us gringos look bad!

Gringas en su Hábitat Natural

For the past two days we've been in orientation. Yesterday was mostly safety and security, SIT policies, and things like that. We did get the chance to meet some "jovenes" when some of Rosanna's daughter's friends came to visit. (Rosanna is the director or our program, and her daughter is our age.) By far the best part of the day! The Chileans were extremely friendly and patient, talking with us, answering all of our questions, clarifying things if necessary, telling us the best places to party, uh... I mean study. Truly, they were great! In the interest of full disclosure, however, I will you the one thing about Chilean youth that doesn't sit quite right with me: Mullets. Yes, the mullet is here, in Arica. And it is everywhere. As I told mom, she need not worry about Chilean lovers if this trend keeps up. 

Today was much different. We basically took a tour all around Arica. I will let the photos speak for themselves. (Note: I haven't posted any pictures of El Morro, but we did go there! El Morro is a monument atop a steep hill commemorating the battle in which Chile won the land that is Arica from Peru. Also, because it can be seen from anywhere in the city, we were told it can be quite useful as a landmark if you get lost.)

This beach is called "El Gringo," after the first person to win the surfing
world championship held here each year. This particular gringo was Australian.

See? I have friends. :D

A misty morning at the seaside caves

Many people think that these caves were formed by water, but actually the
rock here is volcanic and the caves were formed by magma

Graffiti in the caves.  It says, " Yo soy la luz del mundo."
Translation: "I am the light of the world."

A little seal friend

La bandera de Chile