Chao, Chao Chile!

Saying good-bye to my Chilean family and friends was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.  My two weeks in Chile was the best experience of my life so far, and I will never forget it.  My favorite thing of all of Chile is the people there.  They are so friendly and I also had a blast spending time with them. 

My last week in Chile was definitely tiring.  Along with classes, all of the UNI students tried to do everything that we wanted to do during our last week.  Monday night, our "primos" (literally meaning cousins, but they are our conversation partners) threw a party for us.  They invited us over to one of the prima's houses and made completos for us.  Completos are really big hot dogs with guacamole, mayo, and tomatoes.  I am not a big fan of hot dogs, but I do enjoy eating these.  They are kind of hard to eat because they load all the ingredients on it.  Still, very delicious!

Katie and I eating completos

Wednesday was a relieving day.  We had our final exam in culture that day.  Once it was over, we felt that we were free!  Not exactly though, because we still had classes on Thursday and Friday, but we had nothing due.  We just had to go for activities.  Later in the afternoon, we all met downtown at Schopdog.  It is a restaurant where they are known for their huge rockets full of beer.  We didn't go there for the beer though.  We met there to discuss our plans on how we were getting home.  We found out that the border closes at midnight on Monday morning and didn't open until 7 or 8 am.  Therefore, we needed to discuss where we were going to stay in Tacna, Peru on Sunday night, and if we were wanting to go by taxi or bus. 

After our meeting, Allyson Berry, Katie Wencl, Katie Kinsella, Rachel Zidon, and I walked around downtown and did a little shopping.  I ended up buying a pink and black scarf.  I love it!  Eventually, we went to Dimango's and got ice cream.  They have the BEST ice cream... and it is really cheap, too.  There we met up with our Chilean friends, Romina and Cynthia.  We said good-bye to Allyson and Rachel and the rest of us walked around downtown for a while.  We also walked to the beach and captured some awesome photos. 

Katie Wencl, Katie Kinsella, me, and Romina

Me and Cynthia

After classes on Thursday, our coordinator arranged for Rachel Zidon, Katie Wencl, Allyson Berry, and I to go visit a Junior College.  Students at this school ranged from elementary to high school level.  The four of us were chosen to go because we are all teaching majors.  The other three girls are TESOL majors and I am a Spanish-Teaching major.  At the school, we stopped in 3 classrooms that were learning English.  We first observed the room and then later had to go in front of the room and speak in English and in Spanish about the topic they were learning about that day.  We felt like celebrities because everyone was coming up to us and asking to take photos with us.  It was pretty funny. 

Later in the day, Rachel Zidon, Katie Wencl, and I went over to Cynthia's house to eat supper and hang out.  We watched the movie, "Despicable Me" (in Spanish), and tried to converse in Spanish as much as we could.  Later on in the night we hung out with her whole family and just talked with them.  It was a pretty fun night.  It wasn't over yet, though.  After we were done at her house, I went out with some of the group to the casino.  I didn't go there to gamble; I went there for karaoke!  All of us picked out English songs to sing... we didn't want to try any of the Spanish songs, haha.  Once it hit 1 o'clock we decided to go home.  We had class at 8 in the morning!

Katie Kinsella, Allyson Berry, and me

Friday was our last day of classes.  We only had one and we went there to find out our grades and to talk about how the class went for us in the two months.  Once the class was over we all went home and got ready for our closing ceremony.  The ceremony was pretty short and sweet.  We got our certificates and gifts and then headed over to the restaurant called Lo Nuestro.  There we had a buffet and said our good-byes to our professors and to the rest of the people we wouldn't see later.  It was there when everything started hitting me that some of these people I may never see again.  Which made me feel very sad.  The rest of the weekend we tried to go out, have fun, and spend time with all of our Chilean friends.  It was definitely a lot of fun, but always in the back of my mind I would think that this all was coming to an end. 

Sunday I packed up all of my things.  I actually found it easier to pack everything up than I thought.  Usually it takes me forever to even get started.  While I was packing, I wanted to empty out one of my duffle bags that had been sitting in my closet to repack it.  As I was reaching in to pull things out, suddenly I saw a big, black thing move really fast in the bag.  I freaked out, haha - creeped out.  That bug was so HUGE and gross. 
After I finished packing, our family took us over to our host dad's parent's house.  We ate lunch there and hung out with the family.  I really enjoyed spending time with them and talking.  It was amazing, because I felt like I actually was understanding everything they were saying and was able to have a conversation with all of them.  Eventually they had to take Allyson, my roommate, and me to the terminal.  They drove us there and we ended up running into Kim, our leader, and her Chilean boyfriend, Javier.  We originally thought we were going to take a taxi, but we decided to ride in the bus with Kim and Javier.  We didn't think we were going to take the bus, because we heard it wasn't as safe as a taxi.  Since we would be with Kim and Javier we knew we would be fine.  Taking a bus is a lot cheaper as well, so it saved us money.  There in the terminal we said our good-byes.  Some of our primos came to say good-bye to us, too.  It was really emotional.  I hugged everyone like a hundred times saying good-bye.  I was told to get on the bus and we all got on and looked through the ends and waved to all our friends and family.  It was so sad.  I didn't want to say chao.  Eventually, our bus left and we headed to Tacna, Peru where we would stay the night.

The next morning we took taxis to the Tacna airport.  We all got in line and ordered our tickets.  Unfortunately, the airplane ran out of spots on the plane and some of our group was told that they were not going to get on the plane and would have to wait for the next one later in the day.  So, we said good-bye to those students and got on the plane.  We were all sitting there ready to go, when all of the sudden we saw the students on the plane.  They had extra spots and were able to get on.  We were so thankful.  We did not want to split the group up.  Later, we arrived in the Lima airport.  There we had a 14 hour layover that we all were dreading.  It actually didn't turn out that bad.  We watched movies on laptops, ate in the restaurants, and some people even left and toured Lima for a little bit.  When we were able to go check in, we found out that our flight was delayed about an hour.  So, the crew had to reschedule all of our flights.  Some of us didn't get all of our tickets printed, but we thought we were all on the same flights.  It also turned out that instead of getting home about 3 pm, we were going to get home around 6 pm.  This made a few of the students uneasy, but I was just happy that we were still going to get home on the same day.

The flight from Lima to Atlanta went very smooth for me.  I slept most of the time.  When we arrived in Atlanta, I went up to the front desk to ask them to print my tickets for the next flights.  There I found out that I wasn't even on the same flight as everyone else to get to Minneapolis.  The group was leaving at 12:10 and Allyson Berry, Liz Bauer, and I were on the flight at 1:50.  I was happy I wasn't alone, but I was upset at first because I thought it screwed up my next flight.  They told me I would catch my next flight with the rest of the group though.  Everything went fine and we met up with our group in Minneapolis.  When we tried to leave Minneapolis to get to Cedar Rapids we noticed that they were taking forever to board.  It turned out that they had some maintenance problems.  We eventually boarded and our plane pulled out, but we sat for about a half hour.  I was starting to get really anxious.  I just wanted to get done flying and be home.  Our plane landed in Cedar Rapids about a half hour later than planned.  It was definitely a tiring trip back home. 

Our families greeted all of us when we came off the plane.  We grabbed our bags and said our final good-byes to our group.  This part was sad for me as well.  I just kept saying, "I'll see you in three weeks!"  I have been with this group for 2 months and saw them everyday.  Now our trip was actually over.  I always will remember my summer in Chile.  It was definitely an amazing experience and I miss Chile and everyone so much!  I do consider Chile to be my second home.  I want to go back someday to visit or maybe study for a semester there.  Who knows?  All I know is is that I want to go back.  I will always have Chile in my heart.  For now though.. Chao, Chao Chile! 

Chi-Chi-Chi, le-le-le! VIVA CHILE!

I just had to put the chant (Chi-Chi-Chi, le-le-le! VIVA CHILE!) as my title.  I absolutely love it, and people say it here all the time.  Plus, I'm horrible at coming up with titles so I thought it worked lol.  Anyway, compared to my last post this will be very short.  Much hasn't really happened, because I have been very busy with school.  Our professors are starting to pound us with homework as we get into our final week of classes.

Once I arrived home from my free week in Peru.  I walked into my room to find a big, brown box sitting on my bed.  It was the package I had been waiting for!!  The package from mi madre back at home in U.S. =)  I asked my mom for two things in particular: chocolate ( I have been craving it like crazy.. everyone has haha) and goldfish (my most favorite snack)!!  Not only were those things in it, but crackers, oreos, SKITTLES (I love skittles-- just so you know), gummy life savers, gum (definitely been needing that), and 4th of July things.  Too bad 4th of July was already over haha.. oh well.  At first I thought the package was amazing, but now after having it for two weeks, I'm thinking that my mom was wanting me to gain some calories.  I try to share as much as possible, because I only have three weeks to finish it (one more to go).  I will definitely be saving some for all the airplane rides home.  Anyway, THANKS MOM!

That first weekend after I arrived back home in Arica, I did go out with my friends.  Unfortunately, I ended up losing my camera.  I am not sure if it was stolen or it fell out of my purse.  Now, I won't be able to share that many photos =(   I will however try to steal some from my friends, so I can still show what is all going on. 

The week though, was one of the busiest weeks of my life.  We all had so much homework, so I was locked in my room doing homework the whole time.  On Thursday, I was on the computer doing my homework and talking with my mother on facebook, when all of the sudden.. EARTHQUAKE!!!  It was a very tiny one haha.  Those earthquakes I like.  I have never experienced a full-out earthquake, which I'm kind of thankful for.  The little earthquakes are kind of fun though and not really scary at all.  Except for when you are sleeping and wake up to it.  When it first happened, I thought someone was in my room shaking my bed.  About a half hour later though, after the earthquake on Thursday, the internet went out at our house.  Allyson and I were kind of upset, because we needed the internet to do our homework.  We waited a while until our host mom came home and she told us the whole city's internet is out.  Our internet didn't come back on till about 10:00 at night.  It was kind of frustrating, but its times like those where you realize how much you rely on the internet for entertainment and other things.  Hope it never happens again! 

On the weekend, I enjoyed my time with my friends.  On Sunday, I went to bar called Naif and watched the Chile vs. Venezuela soccer game.  I have to admit, it was pretty cool watching the game there.  They had two huge, big screen TVs to watch from.  I also, had the most fun ever watching a soccer game.  The Chileans get so into the game.  They have so much pride for their country and cheer like no other!  The only downside was Chile lost the game.  I felt so bad to see all the disappointed Chileans.  I was really excited to see them win and to see how Chileans celebrate afterwards.  I heard it was crazy for the past games.  So, unfortunately that was one experience I did not have.  I missed my opportunity the last time, doing homework.. boooo! =(  Oh well, maybe some other time???  We'll see.  ;) 

This week had also been very busy.  We had papers, a presentation, and our literature final all this week.  I just had my literature final today.  It was an oral final!  Talk about scary! haha  Overall, I'm glad I got it over with.  I am officially done with one class!  Now, all I have left is the culture and writing class.  We have one more paper due for writing, along with a paper and final exam for culture.  I am really excited to get them over with, but also sad.  I'm sad, because that means that my time will be finished here in Chile.  I have enjoyed all my experiences here.  Yes, there has been downfalls and frustrating moments, but I'll never regret my summer here in Chile.  I feel like I have learned so much and want to continue to learn here.  All good things come to an end though, right?  This weekend and next week I'm going to try to do everything that I want to do and make it the best time ever.  This weekend I am going to Tacna for an excursion, so watch for my next post about that!  Chau!

Rachel's prima, Rachel, Allyson, Katie, and me at Naif

CISP group celebrating Phil's birthday!

Beautiful Nightmare?

Last time I left, I said that I was going on an excursion and my trip to Peru.  Well, let me just say that this will probably be a realllllllyy long blog post haha.  It will be a good story though, I'll promise you that! =)

Last weekend, on Friday after classes, our group met at the university to leave for our excursion to go up into the mountains.  It was an overnight excursion so we had to pack our book bags full with all our overnight things.  It was kind of a long drive, but I sat next to Katie Wencl, who always keeps me entertained, and plus we also made a few stops so the drive didn't seem so long.  On the way, the view was absolutely gorgeous!  It was also a little bit scary seeing how high we were and I will say that South American drivers are a little crazy haha.  Sometimes it just seemed that we were so close to the edge.  I kept praying that nothing would happen to us haha. 

Katie and me

For our few stops, we would look at different types of plants and animals that you would only find up in the mountains and only in Chile.  We also made a stop at a church with a cemetery.  Before our final destination, we took a walk through a little town up in the mountains called Socoroma.  It was kind of like a ghost town.  There were no people around.  Our professor said that the people are gone to work on their farms and would return later at night, and some people return only on weekends. When we finally arrived in the town, Putre, we decided who was going to stay in what hotel.  We had to have 8 in one and 8 in the other.  I ended up staying in La Paloma.  It was a decent place.  After deciding who was staying where, everyone joined at my hotel for dinner.  We had alpaca meat, rice, potatoes, peas, and carrots.  One thing I have noticed here, also when I went to Ecuador two years ago, that in South America they like to eat their vegetables cold.  It doesn't really bother me, but some people in the group don't like it.  The meal was really delicious and I think it was my actual first "dinner" since I've been here.  Usually at my home in Arica, I only eat pan (bread) for dinner.  It was nice to change it up a bit.  After eating, we all put on extra warm clothes and went to bed.  I shared my room with Katie Wencl.  We had two beds, but we ended up sharing one because it was so cold up there in the mountains.

The next morning we all gathered at 8 to eat breakfast.  We had the usual... bread haha.  We all loaded up the bus and headed off to Lago (Lake) Chungara.  On our way there, we were able to stop to see and take some pictures with llamas.  There is one main llama that is the favorite, Lolly, who stays by the police building, and all the tourists like to go and feed her bread and cookies.  It was funny, because when we came to stop, all the llamas came right up to our bus and were waiting for us to come out.  They sometimes sneezed or spit on our group.  It was pretty hilarious.. probably because it didn't happen to me ;) 

We arrived at Lago Chungara and it was beautiful!  Not only was the lake pretty, but right next to it is Parinacota Volcano.  Everyone loved taking pictures of the place.  Afterwards, we headed to the hot springs in the mountains.  They were really hot, but it felt good because we were all freezing up in the mountains.  I did get a little dizzy when we were done.  I laid down for a while and it made me feel much better!  We all ate lunch and headed home.  It was a long, cold trip.. I enjoyed it though.  When I got home I just unpacked my things, and repacked because I was leaving for Peru the next morning.  Which finally leads us to the greatest story of all!!.. =)

Sunday morning, I got up and got ready to meet my group:  Janae, Katie, and Liz.  We all gathered at Liz's house and took a taxi from there to the terminal.  We arrived there and didn't really see any other students there.  We weren't totally sure what to do except for to get a taxi to take us to Tacna, Peru.  Janae went and asked a lady and she said that it is the terminal next door.  We walked outside and couldn't really see the terminal.  We stood around trying to figure out what to do and a guy called us over.  He asked us if we wanted to go to Tacna and we said yes.  He said that he would take us for $50!  We knew this wasn't right and stood there trying to figure what we were going to do.  When we were talking I happened to turn my head over and saw a guy ("an angel"), about our age, shaking his finger and head at us telling us no.  I told the girls about the guy and we walked away.  A little bit later, our angel came over to us and asked us what we were wanting to do.  We told him that we wanted to go to Tacna.  Our angel said he would help us out.  So, he walked us over to the terminal next door, got us a taxi, and made sure it was safe and cheap.  He helped us out big time! 

When we arrived in Tacna, we met a security guard, who also helped us out.  He told us that there is a lot of fake money in Peru and helped us determine what was real and what wasn't.  We found some of our friends and decided to go eat lunch before we got on our bus.  Katie W. and I shared a huge plate of chicken, rice, and papas fritas (french fries).  It was finally time for us to leave and we all boarded the bus.  I believe it was a 6 hour bus ride to Arequipa.  When we arrived, we got a taxi to take us to our hostel.  We stayed at Misti House.  The room that we stayed in had only bunk beds.. we were pretty sure we didn't sign up for that room, but they insisted that we did.  We also had to share a public bathroom.  It kind of grossed me out haha.  After getting settled in our room, we decided to go walk around downtown.  We ended up only looking for places to eat.. we were hungry after all.  We ended up going into this pizza place, where Katie and I shared lasagna and Janae and Liz shared a pizza.  The food actually wasn't that great and knew we would not go back there again.  We went back to our hostel and eventually went to bed.  When we woke up, I found out that the hot water didn't turn on till 8.  So, Katie and I sat around for a while waiting for the hot water.  When we went to go shower, tons of people already had been in.  We had hot water at first, but all the sudden it turned freezing cold.  The owner said that too many people showered and used up all the hot water.  If people wanted to shower, they had to wait a half hour or so for the hot water to come back on.  Once we were all ready, we checked out, and headed to a little diner for breakfast.  We all ordered the "American Breakfast."  Which consisted of eggs with ham and cheese, bread, mixed fruit, and choice of tea or coffee.  The food was really good and was our first actual "breakfast."  We only receive bread for breakfast at our homes in Arica.  When we were done eating, we decided to go shopping.  Liz, Janae, and Katie were buying tons of things already, but me, the little money saver that I am, just watched them and helped them out when they couldn't decide on things.  Finally at the end though, I did see some bracelets that I really liked and ended up buying them.  After that, we wanted to explore something in Arequipa.  We saw this big cathedral and ended up getting a tour of it.  It had an amazing view from the top of it.  When we left, we ran into a waiter and he convinced us to go eat at the restaurant that he worked at.  It also had an amazing view.  We sat outside and of course took tons of pictures...

Liz had been wanting to try guinea pig, since its really known here.  Well.. she ordered it.  They brought it out so we could take pictures of it.  When we were done, they took it back into the kitchen to cut off its head and its hands.  She actually liked it!  I was too scared to try it, but the other girls thought that it was pretty good too. 

Afterwards, we had to go back to the terminal to get on our bus to head to Cuzco.  We showed up really earlier and were ready to go.  They finally called for people to show their tickets, so I went up and handed them mine and Katie's.  They crossed off Katie's name on the list and then looked at my ticket.  The guy told me that I was not on the list.  A lady eventually came over and said that I have the wrong ticket.  That it is actually for tomorrow.  They noticed that Katie's was wrong too.  Katie turned around and told Janae what happened and they had the wrong ones too.  Katie and I were freaking out, because at first we thought that we were going to miss Machu Picchu.  When we thought about it though, we would get to Cuzco early in the morning and would be able to catch our train to go to Machu Picchu.  Earlier when we were waiting for our bus, we met these girls that were from Iowa State.  They gave us the name of the hotel that they stayed at the night before and told us that it was a pretty good hotel.  After we calmed down, we got a taxi and headed to the hotel.  We arrived and asked the guy if he had any rooms open.  He said he only had a honeymoon suite and just one regular room.  Since Janae, was the one who ordered our tickets, she apologized and let Katie and I have the honeymoon suite.  The room was huge and was just what we needed after finding out that we had the wrong tickets.  We all really wanted to do something fun to get our minds off of things, so we had the owner of the hotel get us a taxi to go downtown.  We stopped at this little diner and ordered ice cream!  That was definitely what we needed to make us feel better. 

Me and Katie

The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, showered, and packed up all our things.  We had a lot of time, because our bus didn't leave till 9:00 at night.  We ended up going to the Santuarios Andinos UCSM Museum.  Unfortunately, the place didn't allow photography, so no photos. =(   The place was really cool though.  We first watched a 20 minute film and was guided through the museum.  It had artifacts and objects belonging to the Inca Period (550 years old) on display (mom you would of loved it).  They even had a frozen body, Juanita, on display.  She was a sacrifice to the gods and her body ended up freezing because she was in the mountains.  They believed that she was royalty, because she wore red.  Her body still contained all her organs and even still had her brain.  They were able to tell that she ate meat and some other things as her last meal.  It was really cool.  For the rest of the day, we just shopped and ate haha.  We went to the terminal early though, because we wanted to make sure our tickets were correct.  We found out that we would be able to leave on the earlier bus, which was only a half hour earlier, for $30 extra.  The worker said that we would get bigger chairs and an extra snack.  She also said that, there would be no need to upgrade, because our bus should arrive on time and not to worry.  We listened to her and kept our old tickets.  We slept most of the night, even though it was really uncomfortable and cold.  We woke up at 5:30 and tried to start getting ready since we would have no time because we had to go straight to the train station.  Our train boarded at 7:12 and left at 7:42.  Our bus was supposed to get in at 6:00 and it would be a half hour drive to the train station.  It was starting to push 6:00 and Janae finally asked when we would arrive.  The lady said that we had 30 more minutes.  We were really starting to get worried.  Our bus didn't arrive till 7:40ish.  We ran right off the bus and asked the first taxi driver that we saw to go straight to the train station.  We arrived too late, our train was gone.  When we walked up to the teller, a guy that was from our bus was standing there.  He asked us if we were supposed to be on the train too.  The teller told us that if we leave now we might be able to catch the train in Ollantaytambo.  We rushed right back to the taxi and we let the guy come along with us.  Our taxi driver was flying.. we were driving so fast, but I really didn't care.  I just wanted to go to Machu Picchu.  On the way there, we talked with the guy.  He was actually 21 years old and was from Massachusetts studying in Santiago, Chile.  He was a really nice guy.  We finally arrive coming in to Ollantaytambo, and we could see the train.  We all starting cheering.  Now, we just had to get to the train station before it left.  Our taxi driver was trying to drive as fast as he could through the city, but it can't be that easy.. can it?  Police were everywhere, driving really slow.  I guess the president was in town and there was extra police there.  We finally pull up to the road and our taxi driver told us that we needed to run.  We all jump out of the car, grab our bags, and start to run.  All of the sudden I hear people yelling at us.  I turn and look and its the police.  Katie turns back and says, "El tren, el tren!"  They were like, "OH!  GOO!!"  So we continue to run and some how we get into the front of the line.  The people working just quickly glance at our tickets and let us go through the gate.  We continue to run until we found the part of the train where we would get on.  We were so out of breath.  The rest of our group had such surprised looks on their faces.  It was definitely a movie moment.  It was the craziest thing that has ever happened. 

We finally got to Machu Picchu.  We seriously thought our nightmare was over and we could just sit back and relax.  It was time to split up in our groups again.  Katie had to go to the bathroom, so Janae and I waited outside while Liz went with her.  The whole crowd eventually disappeared and headed to go to Machu Picchu.  Janae and I finally went into the bathroom to find the girls, because they were taking too long.  When we were done, we walked out and tried to find the entrance.  We finally ran into a huge group of people and saw one of our friends, Emily.  She told us that we need to go get a Machu Picchu ticket.  We got in line and found out that it was the line to get bus tickets to go up the mountain.  Katie really wanted to hike up the mountain, so when we got up to the front of the line we told the lady that we were wanting to walk and if we needed anything more.  The lady told us no.  So, we started walking and enjoying our time.  20 minutes later, we finally run into the "actual" entrance to hike up the mountain.  The security guard asked us if we were wanting to walk and if we had good, strong legs because it was about a 1 hour hike.  We finally got through and started to hike up.  Man, it was hard!  We kept on having to take breaks, with the altitude and everything, it just made it even harder.  It was a great view though and we were completely enjoying it.  We would occasionally meet people heading down the hill.. I was starting to figure out why people go down, not up haha.  We kept asking people, "how much longer?!"  We finally ended up running into these two ladies.  We started to converse with them and we asked them how much longer.  She said that we had 20 more minutes.  She also said that we should probably hurry, that they close the gate at 2.  We were shocked!  We had no idea that it closed at 2.  We looked at our clocks and it was 1:15!  So, we started running and walking as fast as we could, trying to take no breaks.  It got to the point where we needed one and sat for a while.  When we got up to start walking, Janae had a muscle spasm.  Katie and I were thinking, "you can't be serious!"  We were wanting to hurry so bad, we did not want to miss Machu Picchu.  Liz stayed with Janae and Katie and I tried to hurry as fast as we could to at least get to the entrance.  We were trying to run up the stairs and then all of the sudden I slipped and fell.  I fell down probably 3 or 4 stairs, trying to catch myself to stop.  I sat there in so much pain.  My thigh was throbbing and hurt really bad.  Katie kept asking me if I broke anything.  After sitting for a while, I tried to get up.  I was going to see Machu Picchu, no matter what! lol  I tried putting pressure on my leg, but it was too much pain.  Knowing that I could miss Machu Picchu, gave me the strength to try to continue.. I only had 10 more minutes left.  Through all the pain, I finally made it up.  It took us almost 2 hours!  Katie and I literally were wanting to cry with excitement that we made it up.  Janae and Liz made it up shortly after we did.  We walked up to the entrance and the lady asked for our tickets.  Katie handed her our train ticket and the lady said no, your Machu Picchu ticket.  Katie said, "This is not our ticket?"  The lady said, "No, you need a Machu Picchu ticket."  I said, "The lady told us down there that we didn't need anything!"  The lady said that it was probably just a miscommunication and if one of us heads down the mountain now and buys us tickets that we would probably be able to make it.  We needed to hurry though, because the ticket office closed at 2:00.  Liz and Janae decided that they would go down and buy the tickets.  I looked at my clock and it was 1:40.  Katie and I could not believe what was happening.  After all what we went through to get here, we just couldn't believe it that we might not see Machu Picchu.  Katie and I waited for a half hour, almost about to give up.  We were starving at this point and decided to share a hot dog and ice cream.  It did make us feel a little bit better.. amazing what food can do haha.  Both of us just kept staring at the buses coming up the mountain, hoping that they would be on the bus.  It was never them.  Katie and I really started to believe that they were not going to come back up.. that it was too late.  An hour had passed and we were so close to giving up, when all of the sudden we saw Janae and Liz get off the bus.  Katie and I ran to them and Liz held up the tickets and Katie and I screamed and ran to them and hugged them.  We were so excited.  All the people turned and stared at us, asking what was going on.  It turned out the bus takes 20-25 minutes just to go down or up the mountain AND that the ticket office really didn't close till 2:30.  Plus the fact, that the ticket office was in the middle of no where.  Oh well, we got the tickets.  We ran to the entrance and the people that worked there that knew our story kept making jokes with us.  We entered Machu Picchu and let me tell you it was amazing!!!!!  One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  It was crazy to think that people actually made it.  The view was just incredible. 

At the end, before we left, I looked down at my leg and my thigh had swollen like a balloon.  It was huge! haha  I had tons of bruises and wasn't really able to walk.  I'm doing ok now though.  It is getting better.  Our train didn't leave till 9:30, so we had a lot of time at Machu Picchu.  The actual park closed at 5:00, so we went and shopped and got some food.  We ate at this place where I got Mexican food.  I was so excited, because I had been craving it.  I got chicken enchiladas!  They were delicious!  After we were done eating, we sat and talked for a while, when all of the sudden the electricity went out!  It went out 3 times.  We believe that it was because of all the festivities that were going on.  Later on, we got on our train and headed to our hostel in Ollantaytambo.  Our hostel was actually owned by Quechua people.  They gave us the best breakfast in the morning and we all had hot showers.  We definitely enjoyed our stay there.  We needed to get to Cuzco where our bus left.  We found a taxi that would take us there.  On our way out our taxi driver told us that they were not letting anymore people in and eventually weren't going to let people out.  All because of the president being in town.  It was a good thing that we left when we did or else we would of been stuck there. 

When we arrived in Cuzco, we decided we wanted to to go the Chocolate Museum.  The place actually let people come in (on appt) and learn how they make chocolate and make their own flavors.  It would of been really cool to do that.  Before I left, I did buy a candy bar.  I still have not tried it yet, but I'm excited to eat it.  I'm sure it will be delicious! 

After that, there really isn't anything else interesting to tell.  Just that we rode a bus back home, nothing too much more to say.  I think this is long enough, so I'm going to stop here.  I hope you enjoyed my long, crazy story.  It was definitely an experience.  I'm glad everything worked out and I can look back at it and laugh.  Until my next update.. Chauuuuuu!!! =D

Almost 4 weeks!

It is almost my fourth week here in Chile!  Crazy to think, right?  Not much has happened since I last wrote, but figured I would still update because I probably won't be able to write until after I come back from Machu Picchu! 

Friday, I had classes.. the usual haha.  Later that night though, our group went out to Monesterio, a local pub, to hear our group leader's boyfriend play in a band.  They were awesome!  The singer had such a unique and amazing voice.

Our group leader's (Kim's) boyfriend is on the left, Javier.



Saturday night we were invited to un asado (barbecue) at one of Javier's friend's house.  It was a gorgeous house and had a perfect view of the beach in the backyard.  We all had tons of fun playing games, hanging out, and eating great food. 

Sunday was kind of a chill day for me.  I met up with my friend Janae to work on our presentation that was supposed to be due Wednesday, but it got moved to Friday.  Works for me! haha 

Monday was a holiday here, so we had no classes.  My host family took me and my house mate, Allyson, to different areas in Arica.  They took us a cemetary to visit our host mother's father's grave.  It was a private cemetary and it was very similar to the United States.  Afterwards, we went to this place called Eco-Truly.  The people that live there practice Hinduism and live in these interesting houses.  They also use no water.  It was very interesting to see.  I would not live there though haha.  When we were done visiting Eco-Truly, we went to a place for lunch.  Can't remember what it was called.. but I ate some good food.  I had pastel de choclo.  It was mainly of corn, chicken, olives, and I have no idea what else was in it haha.  It was good though. 

Also, my mom has been begging me to show pictures of my host family so here is some.

Antonio (my host father), me, and Allyson

Me, Karla (my host mother), Allyson, and Francisca (my sister)

Last but not least, I'm going to talk about Machu Picchu!  The plan is that I leave Sunday for Tacna, Peru.  From there, I will take a bus to Arequipa and will stay in a hostel called Misti House.  The next day, I will have pretty much all day in Arequipa until I leave for Cuzco on a bus at 9:00 pm.  We will travel at night and will arrive in Cuzco around 6:00 am.  I will stay the night in Cuzco at another hostel called El Tuco.  Then at 7am on Wednesday, I will be at Machu Picchu!  I will be there all day and won't leave until 9:30.  I heard it is amazing there at night, so it will be awesome to see.  I will take a bus to a town called Ollantaytambo and stay at Hostel Los Andes.  Thursday, I will travel back to Cuzco and that night will have another bus ride to Arequipa.  After arriving in the morning, I will go back to Tacna and eventually back home here in Arica on Friday.  Should be an exhausting trip, but it will be all worth it. 

This week is going to be a hectic week, because tomorrow I have a quiz, Thursday an oral exam, Friday a presentation, and then at 1:00 on Friday I will leave for my overnight excursion in the mountains.  Not sure if I'm looking forward to that or not because they say it is freezing there.  Well, I need to get some studying done!  Until next time.. chauuuu!! =)

Chhiiiiiiillllllleee!!!

We ended up finding a place for us to have our classes in.  We first tried a different place across town that belonged to the university, but the next day the students took over that part as well.  I'm ok with it, because we would of had to take taxis everyday to go to class.  Now, we are renting a classroom that is right next to the university.  It is a little farther of a walk and is a really small classroom, but at least we don't have to take taxis and wake up earlier. 

During the week my primo, Diego, asked me if I wanted to hang with him sometime this weekend.  We decided to hang out on Friday and invited my roommate, Allyson, and her primo, Mauro, and his girlfriend to go along with us.  We met at the university and took a bus downtown.  We walked around and they showed us a few new places and taught us some new Spanish words.  They ended up taking us to a place where they make natural juices.  I ordered Frutilla Leche (which is strawberries with milk).  It was delicious! 

On Saturday, we left at 8:30 in the morning for our second excursion.  We went to the Terminal Agropecuario (Agro - which is like a farmer's market), Parcela de las aceitunas (place where they grow olives), a place where we could view geoglifos, and etc.  At the Agro we walked around and learned about all different, local grown foods in Chile.  Some of the products are from Peru and Bolivia as well.  We got to taste a few things; food is definitely different here in Chile haha. 

As we were traveling to a few different places, I was starting to feel sick.  My upper stomach was hurting really bad and sometimes I felt like I couldn't breath.  My professor was kind enough to let me stay on the bus while everyone else enjoyed the excursion.  The day before my stomach was hurting a little bit, but I didn't think much of it because our malaria medicine that we take has been making people sick.  I thought that I was just not feeling well because of the medicine.  On Saturday though, I was starting to wonder something different because it was not going away and felt like it was getting worse.  What we believed that happened was that when I took the pill, I didn't drink enough water for it to go all the way down to my stomach.  I was having tons of pain in my chest, upper stomach, and my back.  I was able to get medicine that would help.  I am doing much better now, so no worries! =)

On Tuesday, we all met up downtown to talk about our free week of travel.  All of us students decided that we are going to Machu Picchu!  We ordered our tickets, booked our hostels, and are all set to go!  It was better if we split up in groups, so in my group is Janae Holtkamp, Katie Wencl, and Liz Bauer.  We are the best group! ;)  I will go into more detail later about exactly when, where, and how about the trip once I have all the information. 

After our meeting, Allyson, Katie Kinsella, and I went to a restaurant called Schopdog.  We all got crispy chicken sandwiches that had cheese, tomato, avocado, and mayo on it.  I asked for no avocado haha, even though they have really good avocado here.  We also went and exchanged more money.  I have already gone through $100.  Eeeekkkkk!!!  I blame it on the taxis.. we have been taking taxis everywhere.  We have started walking downtown, but don't think we can do it every time because it is a 30-45 minute walk. 

Later that night, Janae, Katie W., and I took a collectivo downtown to meet up with some of the members of our group to watch a parade.  I'm still not quit sure what the parade was for, but my guess is that they were celebrating the end of fall and the start of winter.  Don't know why that would be a celebration =P  The winter here isn't that bad though.  I think I will take the weather here over the 100 degree weather in Iowa =)  At the parade we sat outside of a restaurant to watch.  Janae and I shared some french fries that had salsa and queso on it.  It was pretty good.  I also had a chocolate milkshake.. hoping that it would solve my chocolate craving, but I'm still craving chocolate.  I hope to buy some soon!  I did ask my mom to send me some haha.. along with goldfish =) 

Well, that's it for now.  Here are some pictures from the parade!  Chauuuu!!

El fin de semana!.. the weekend!

Sorry, about not writing on Sunday like I said.  It is hard to get to my computer and have time to actually write something.  Probably shouldn't say when I'll post next ;)  This past weekend, was one of the best!

Friday, our primos threw us a welcoming barbecue party.  It was at Allyson's primo's (Mauro's) house.  It was so cute, because they had American flags hanging and a welcome sign with all of our names on it.  The party started about 7:30, but we didn't eat until 10:30.  I was starving! haha  It was very delicious food though.  We had chicken or steak, rice, corn (with mayo on it... that's how they eat their corn), and potato salad.  When everyone was done eating, we all just hung out, danced, and played musical chairs.  I came in second against Phil.  We first tied, but he ended up winning.  He only won, because I got dizzy and fell haha =P 

Rachel, Kenzie, Ray, Bri, Ally, Me, Liz, Janae, and Hayley

On Saturday, my host family took Allyson and me to the beach!  We got ice cream and walked over to the rugby game.  We only stayed for a few minutes of the game.  Also, we ended up running into Liz!  She ended up coming back home with us and joined us for lunch.  We ate soup, corn (with mayo again haha), and they had steak and rice.. while I had chicken and rice.  After eating, Allyson wanted to take a nap.  Liz, my host father, and I sat around the table and talked.  He ended up showing some pictures of some special race that was held here.  Boys would of totally loved the conversation haha.  It was still interesting though, and it helped that Liz knew a lot about the topic.  Later that night, we all met downtown to go hang out at this place called Chill-Out.  Afterwards, we all took taxis and went to the club, Drake, to go dancing.  It was a pretty fun night.

Me, Katie, and Hayley

Yesterday, was kind of interesting.  Not about my classes haha, but there has been a strike going on at the university.  If I understand correctly, the government is trying to make all the universities in Chile private, which will raise the cost of school.  All students across Chile are having strikes at their schools and some schools have been taken over by the students.  Last night, some of the students took over the university here in Arica.  The students are taking classrooms and are not wanting to have classes at all this week.  For us foreign students, it looks like we may have to have classes somewhere else.  Today, we are supposed to watch a movie, but it just got moved to the American Corner in the library.  We will have to see where we will end up having classes this week. 

I have a test on Thursday and a paper due Friday.. hopefully by some chance we can't have class! =P  doubt it though, unfortunately haha.  Well, that is all I have for you now.. until next time... Chau! =)

And The Classes Begin!

Monday, was my first day of classes.  What a day! haha  My first class was from 8:00-10:00 a.m. The class is called Cultura Hispanoamericana and my professor's name is Jaime Gomez.  He graduated from Iowa!  I already met him before the actual first day of class, because he was the one that took us on our excursion on Sunday (the day before).  I can already tell that this is going to be my favorite class.  I can understand most of what he says and the subject is the most interesting to me.  After my 8:00 class, I have a break which is called "cafecito" from 10:00-11:00.  It is in the American Corner of the library and only English is spoken there (yaaayyy =P ).  At 11:30 I have my next class, Espanol Escrito, with Monica Neira.  She seems really nice and helpful.  I can tell I will learn a lot from her.  Our first assignment for her is to interview a Chilean and write a 2 page story about their life.  I think I'm going to choose my new friend, Carolina, who helps with CISP.  The class gets over at 1:30, and then I go home to eat lunch and have a little break.  At 3:15 I leave with Allyson and Liz to go back to the university and go to our class, Literatura Hispanoamericana.  Our professor's name is Miria Luque and she speaks no English.  So, if we don't understand anything all of us students kind of have to rely on each other to help out.  To be honest, this is my least favorite class and I dread going to it haha.  Our first assignment was to read this long story that made no sense to me.  Hopefully the class will get better though.  Luckily, we don't always have the same classes everyday and at the same time.  We have each class three times a week and usually get done with class around 12:00 p.m.  Mondays are the worst.  After tomorrow I will have completed my first week of classes! 

After my first day of classes, we all met up at 9:30 downtown with our primos to celebrate the 7th of June.  The 7th of June is kind of like our 4th of July.  It is celebrating their independence from Peru.  Everyone went shopping, watched clown shows, and just hung out.  At 12:00 we watched the fireworks and took tons of pictures.  It was a really fun night! =)

On Tuesday, we all went to the beach!  It was super fun, but it was really cold.  Of course the day we wanted to go the beach, the sun was hidden by tons of clouds.  Oh well, we made the best of it.  This day was also my first time trying helado (ice cream) in Chile.  They had a little restaurant next to the beach and we all went there to get food or ice cream.  It was delicious!  haha 

Katie and Me

Bri, Liz, and Katie

Now, the weekend is coming up and hopefully on Sunday I can write what I did.  Until then, CHAUUUU!!!

Finally in Chile!

I made it!!  Finally in Chile!!  It was a very long day to get here, but it was all worth it.  I love the people here and the city.  Everyone is so friendly!  =)

The first day that I arrived was a day to relax, sleep, and hang out with my host family.   

The second day though, the UNI students and I met up with our "primos" (our conversation partners) in el centro (downtown).  My primo's name is Diego.  He is very sweet and I know he will be a great conversation partner.  He knows English so well.. its almost not fair haha.  All of us students walked around downtown, exchanged some of our money, and went shopping for things that we needed.  Of course, the first thing I wanted to buy was a hair straightener! =) 

                                 Diego, me, Allyson's primo, and Allyson

Later on we had a birthday party for Hayley, a UNI student.  It was fun for all of us to get together, hang out, and meet every ones host moms.  Afterwards we went to a club called Drake.  Very different from the ones in the U.S.  The clubs here don't open till midnight and everyone stays till 5 a.m.  That is something I will probably have to get used to.  They actually play a lot of the U.S.'s music here.  Its kind of funny.. they know the words and everything. 

On Saturday, we all went to a party for the foreign exchange students.  This day was a blast!  We met tons of Chileans and most of them spoke English.  We ate lunch there and hung out with everyone.  The Chileans taught us tons of new words and some of the slang words that they use.  We also danced salsa with them.  Well, I didn't haha.. I'm not much of a dancer... BUT I did play musical chairs! haha  Tons of people played and I think I got 6th place haha.  The day was muy divertido!

Today was our first excursión for our culture class.  We went to the Museo del Morro de Arica, some caves, and around Arica.  It was very interesting learning all the information, but towards the middle my brain was starting to hurt because I was concentrating too hard to understand.  Chileans speak really fast.. it is taking a while to get used to them speaking and fully understanding. 

Overall though, I am having a blast here.  It is so much fun to go out and explore and meet everyone.  Classes start tomorrow, so we will see how that goes.  Here are some pictures of what we did today and I hope you enjoy them!  I will try to update again soon!  Chau! =)