Travelling

Travelling is so exciting. I get to see the world from an outside perspective. Everything I see is a new experience, every experience is unfamiliar, and unfamiliar experiences are intriguing to my mind because I am not used to them. Not only do I see things differently, but my interpretations change, my reactions change, my expectations change, my thoughts change. One of the enlightenments of my trip is how everyone around me is so attracted to my presence. To feel like people want to pay attention to me is a feeling that I have sought during my life. I now realize that people warm to me because the feelings I have on the inside are projected outwards in my actions. Needs and desires are merely a reflexion of inaction, people react by pushing feelings outwards through actions. My trip has been so exciting because it has forced me to commit my feelings into actions. As time evolves during my experience my reactions will change. They say that it takes someone at least six months to adapt to different culture. I am positive my life will change throughout these six months. On saturday all of the friends I have now are leaving, the great experiences we shared will be unforgotten memories. My family and I are adopting new ways of interacting. Communication is more complicated, I need to start bonding on a personal level, otherwise; I do not know how to interact with them. The awkward stage of meeting and getting to know eachother will come to an end, and we will have to work towards a new level or risk disinteraction. When I begin school next week I will have to adapt to a new routine. I will have to make new friends and forge new relationships. I will no longer have a crutch of communication I have now with my Gringo friends. This is a new and terrifying experience. I have given myself to my cause, and I am ready for new experiences. My feelings are never fulfilled. I am constantly evolving and growing more knowledgeable. This is my road to self actualization. This is what travelling is all about.

Maitencillo

Even though I didnt get to go to Buenas Aires I still had a great weekend. Thank you havi for inviting me to your aunts cabin. I had a really nice weekend. On friday we took the bus to my friends aunts beach house in Maitencillo (the same place my chilean parents have their house). On our way up to Maitencillo we my a day trip to Valle Hermosa (beautiful valley). Valle hermosa is surrounded by beautiful valleys and is the capital of sweaters of South America. The town was a mile long street of stores selling sweaters, a whole lot of sweaters. They had some really great sweaters, they are made with Alpaca material. I bought a couple. They had some beautiful sweaters and summer dresses for girls. That reminds me, I am having a hard time with gift ideas. I could really use some input. Dresses, scarfs, jewelry, sweaters, mittens, hats, shoes, cigarettes, wine, and other stuff is really cheap down here. Give me some ideas amigas y amigos. Anyway, We got to the beach house that night and Havi made us a great meal for dinner with beer and wine. That night we went to the beach and jumped around on the rocks as the waves crashed and the stars lit the sky. The next day we woke up and went back to the beach. I collected a bag full of seashells. She sells sea shells by the sea shore. Say it ten times fast. Saturday night we got back to Vina.We drove to Valparaiso Saturday night to go party. It was an interesting night. I saw my pilates teacher there. And these girls came up and started taking pictures with me. At first I thought they were taking pictures so I moved out of the way, but they followed me and jumped beside me to take more photos. Yeah im a rockstar. On sunday I just chilled out and watched movies and had a lazy day. Pretty good weekend aside from getting trapped in the Andes. Argentina Im not giving up on you.

Dont cry for me Argentina I wiill be back

I left for Argentina on thursday morning. Warning, dont ever try to go to Argentina without your passport. I left my passport in Vina. Worst day of my life. We got to the Argentina border at around noon. All I had was a photocopy of my passport, my visa, and my student ID card from the U of L. They made everyone get off the bus at the checkpoint and it was time to say goodbye to my friends; they wouldnt let me in. I asked the Cabineros for some help and they pointed me towards a store with telephones and burgers. All I remember is that the Andes are really f#@king cold. I called my mom in Chile to let her know what happened, then I went to figure out how to get back to Chile. Four hours later a ski bus picked me up on his way back from Mendoza. I got to Santiago around 10:30pm. There were no buses back to Vina, but luckily someone asked me if I needed a cab for 15000 pesos (30 dollars). I got back to my house around 1 am. About 7 hours before I would have made it to Buenas Aires. Argentina I will see you soon. Im happy that my ticket is still valid :).

Extreme Sports por el fin de semana

So can I just start off by saying I love Chile one more time. On Saturday me an four amigos/amigas took a bus to Concon to go surfing. Surfing takes a little practice (trust me its harder than it looks). First you have to swim out to the perfect spot. Then you have to choose your wave. About 10 second before the wave comes, turn around paddle for your life and feel the wave. As soon as you feel the wave taking you for a ride you gotta pop it like a rockstar. Back foot first, front foot next and then hands up, and ride that bad boy till the wave falls down. Takes a little practice and rough wipeouts, but riding that wave is the best feeling in the world. Our instructor was awesome. First we took a long run down the beach to get warmed up ( I didnt understand why he made us run at first; I thought he was just fucking with us cause we were gringos, but we had to get warmed up cause surfing takes alot of energy). Then he taught us how to get up on dry land. Finally, the best quote of the day ´´lets go do therapy´´, and he pointed out to the water. We surfed for about 2:30 to 3 hours. Got up a couple of times and started to become like those professional riders you see in surf magazines. Surfing was freakin gnarley!!! At the end of the day i was so tired I got smoked in the head with my surf board ouch!!! After we finished surfing we ate empanadas at the surfing hut during sunset and then went for a horseback ride on the beach. Anyone who is ever in Chile should definately go to ConCon. The bus ride is beautiful and ConCon is a place with great restaurants, ice cream, and lots to do. The surfing place I went to is called esculas de surf, and their website is www.escuelasdesurfchile.com. You can catch any bus from Vina or Valparaiso that says ConCon on it. The whole day cost less than $50 dollars.

On Sunday we went Canopy (Zip Lining in English). I dont know what was more fun canopy or surfing. Canopy is in the Jardin Botanica on the Outskirts of Vina del Mar. Jardin Botanica is a huge rainforest with over 10,000 different trees and plants nitive to Chile. Plants in the area range from different types of medicinal plants, palm trees, cacti, palm trees, fuchsia. It is lightly dense area with trees and plants, creeks, ponds, and other beautiful surroundings in humid tropical like forest. We got to the park around four oclock and lost our way for about half an hour. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. It was pretty dark by then because of the solar eclipse. Canopy in the dark is crazy. By the end it was pitch black and the only way to see the end of the line was the flash of our camera. The instructors there are very careful and you are strapped in at all times. At times we were more than 200 ft in the air (Not recommended for people afraid of heights). We took turns zip lining from one platform to the next. Some of the lines seemed close to half a football field long. When you are zipping between trees and braches in the dark it is super freaky intense. There are about 10 zip lines to do and the course took about 1:30 with four people. After we finished Canapy it was like 7 oclock and we were about to catch a taxi outta there, but none of our cell phones had reception and the guide told us it was unlikely that a cab would come into the national park at that time of night. He told us that they would guide us through the forest to where we could catch buses. Thank fricken god because these guys had head lamps and guided us through the rough terrain of steap and narrow paths with big rocks and streams. There is no friken way we would have made it out of that forest alive with the little light we had with our cell phones. i fell a couple of times into ditches and stubbed my foot on rocks, so I dont even want to think what would have happened without a flashlight. Man, I bet all those guys thought of us as stupid gringos. I don´t blame them. Those guys were muy bacan. I talked to them about the forest. The instructors were all graduates of a program that teaches sociology of the forest. The natural environment is very important to them and they talked to me about sustainability and eco-tourism. They travel to different canopy sites in Chile. One guy told me that his families house was destroyed by the earthquake. His father is rebuilding the house and the new home is almost finished. I would like to volunteer one of my weeks to go help with the reconstuction. Those guys have the best job in the world and their passion for the environment is inspirational. Canopy is another thing people should put on their do not miss list of things to do in Chile. Zip lining costs only $20 dollars and a well  earned tip. We took a collectivo there and a bus back. The website is www.conopysuramerica.com. 
What a great weekend!!

Settling In

I bought a guitar the other day and my papa Chilena is teaching me how to play. Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Da. My goodness I am not very good. Practice, Practice, Practice. I am so busy with everything. Guitarra, Pilates           ( Mardes y Jueves), Intercambio with other Chilean students, School work, comidas, and of course fiestas. This weekend my friends are trying to rent a cabin in the woods. It has waterfalls, horseback riding, wilderness, and other beautiful scenery. If that falls through im gonna travel up to ConCon to go surfing if the weather holds up. Still trying to figure out my weekend. Well see what happens. Yo check out some of the sweet graffiti pics I took this week.

Casino

Anoche, vamos a el casino con mis amigos gringos. On our way there we ran into a large group of flaites (Sketchy Chilenos). Big trouble, they chased us and punched some of my friends in the face. Jeremiah got it the worst. I felt really bad, but all I could do was stand back and yell run. I felt so bad afterwards cause I think it was partly my fault. I mistaked them for all the other nice chileans in Chile and was like waaasssuuuppp. I think it offended them. Shit, my bad; i´m just glad nobody got seriously hurt.We still ended up going to this disco bar at the casino. I danced up a storm on the dancefloor with Marlene, our spanish tourguide. These chicanas sure know how to move their hips. It is not easy keeping up with them.

Tonight, im going to call Camilla to come out with me. I really like Camilla, but it is really hard to get to know someone with the language barrier. It just makes me want to work that much harder for her attention, and if she is a down to earth girl then thats awesome. She is a very cool girl. Camilla is 22, she just recently moved away from her parents. She has a nice pad in Renaca overlooking the beach. Renaca has the longest beach in the region and is busy with people in the summer. Camilla goes to university and is taking courses in adventure tourism. She is an avid surfer and loves the outdoors.This weekend definately seems like it is passing by way too fast. Aya quiero mas de tiempo por los fin de semanas.