oops! Prelude to going home...trip through Argentina

So, before going home, I decided to travel through South America. I actually planned to work for a couple weeks (literally two) before heading home, but after the program, I decided to relax. So, after the final ceremony in Santiago with all the surviving 8-month, 6-month, and 4-month volunteers, and a trip to Vina Del Mar and Valpo, I left for Buenos Aires. My friend and fellow volunteer, Lindsay, had kept in touch and took a quick two hour flight on LAN. I must say, for a short flight we felt like we were flying in first class. The stewardess offered us food, and we each had tv screens with movies, a selection of tv shows, or music.

We arrived and checked into Palermo House where we were meeting two other volunteers. The next few day were spent touring the city; the botanical gardens, japanese gardens, and the other landmarks around Plaza Italia. We visited Melba, Buenos Aires' museum of modern art. We then mapped out the next 15 days. Ok, well, Lindsay actually planned out each day's schedule, roughly, but we had a plan. We left for Iguazu National Park in the northern tip of Argentina. 20 hours later on a shady bus full of creepy looking men, and 9 media lunas (croissants) later, we arrived safely in Puerto Iguazu. That afternoon we went into the park and did a jeep ride (Indiana Jones style) to the river. At the river, we got into a speed boat. The guides were particularly fond of Lindsay and I, and had us sit at the edge of the boat and dunked us straight into the falls! We loved it! We encountered a couple iguanas, many more mosquitos (it is the tropics), and more volunteers! Luis, Brian, Mike, and Mark were also visiting. We met up with them later in Buenos Aires.

We decided we'd had enough of Iguazu after seeing the park and walking around town, so we headed back to Buenos Aires to catch the ferry to Colonia, Uruguay. The bus station at Retiro is right by the port where we caught the Buquebus (ferry bus). Three hours later, we were in Uruguay! We enjoyed the beach town and celebrated by having some grill (morcilla, chorizo, and chicken). We headed east to Punto Del Diablo, another serene pueblo known for beautiful beaches. We arrived to Punto Del Diablo with the equivalent $52 US dollars between the two of us. The value of the Uruguayan peso is 22 pesos to the dollar, and thank god, the dollar goes a long way. We were able to sleep and eat on our 52 dollars collectively. I kept boasting to Lindsay that we were dining on fresh french bread (true) and pate (well, actually, canned turkey meat in spam form) for only a dollar. Not really by choice. We were able to pull it off. Still, the trip was relaxing and the sights were amazing. We even found a rock in the form of a butt, so I decided we were actually in Punto Del Pototo instead. =)

We had a final day or so in Colonia before heading back to Buenos Aires. We biked along the coast and saw a retired bull fighting stadium. The beaches of Uruguay were calm and murky, more like a riverside than the ocean. There were reeds growing along the coast out to the ocean and little islands spotted the horizon. The tourists walk around with wooden cups of hierba matte with special silver straws. It seemed liked the typical summer beverage. We travled back to Argentina's capital on the express Buquebus, a 50 minute commute.

We returned to Palermo House where the boys were staying, along with the girl (volunteers) from Mejillones. We went dancing at a discoteque, where the best songs being played were "Crazy" and some Backstreet Boys oldie. Sunday, we visited the feria at San Telmo, a large bustle of all sorts of crafts, clothing, and knicknacks. The streets are cobblestoned and the buildings stylishly victorian. Another sight-seer unfortunately went on a weekday when the barrio is quiet and the only shops open are antiques. However, on Sunday, it was quite a spectacle. Small tango bands (accordions, violins, cellos, and drums) play along the open streets. Tango performers dance to crowds of tourists. Everything about San Telmo is decorated. Either as a prank or as artistic expression, wooden legs dangled from the trash cans as if some unfortunate tango dancer had been dumped (literally). I would've taken a pic of it, but my battery died before I got to it. Lindsay and I walked from San Telmo into La Boca to see Caminito. The quick history about Caminito is the famous brightly painted buildings, originally maintained from left-over shipping paint. Now its a historic sight, very popular for tourists. The restaurants offer tango shows on the street patios and allow diners to take photos with the dancers.

That evening we went out for parillada with another volunteer whose family lives in the city. We were hoping to go to a tenedor libre (buffet-style) parillada to cut down on the spending costs. However, the intended place was closed and we traveled to another restaurant along calle Santa Fe. After saving ourselves for a big dinner, the food was scrumptious. That was my final night in the city. I returned to Hostelling International in Santiago. In comparison to Buenos Aires, Santiago is fome. You can spend at most two days sight-seeing Santiago before moving on. In comparison, each barrio in Buenos Aires offers something to see, and you could spend a good week within the city alone. However, landing into Santiago felt like coming home. The accent in Argentina is distinct and people weren't used to the Chilean Spanish I had picked up in the past 8 months. My last day I had coffee with Lindsay and her friend Andrew at Cafe Brazil, having my last cafe helado (coffee- vanilla ice cream concoction). We said goodbye to Lindsay, who returned to her home in Quilpue. Then, Andrew and I went to the rose garden to relax before meeting his friends in San Martin. I heard their stories about living in Santiago as part of another volunteer program. We returned to La Moneda to sit on the grass in front of the fountain pools, and then that was it. I picked up my luggage from HI, had my last chat with the guys who worked at reception, and went to the airport.

The flight was only 10 hours to LAX. Arriving in LA, I wasn't ready to adjust to life back in the States. I forgot how nice it was not being able to understand conversations going on around me. I knew I would miss the life I created in Chile and the home I was used to. However, flying along the Bay Area, passing Monterey, I felt a familiarity of home. Life resumed its pattern with my parents as if I had never left the country for 8 months. Only I felt the change of being back in the States. Slowly, re-integration into life as I knew it for the previous 24 years of my life became easier. Well, perhaps I'm being just a little over dramatic as my parents invited me on their holiday vacation to Hawaii. So, I'm back in tropical warm weather as it was in South America (it's summer there). But, my friends were right. Living on another side of the world was a life changing event. Unpredictable, filled with problems you'd never imagine or encounter at home due to cultural differences. But an experience completely unique to each individual. Two of the 8-month girls are engaged to a Chilean. However, one of them mentioned to me how much she disliked the Chilean people and their dispositions. Who knows how well things will turn out as they are planning to live in the US. In my opinion, I love the people--their warmth and hospitality, the friendliness and closeness to family. Being a foreigner, living in another country not only gave me a good perspective of a new culture but a different perpective on my own culture.

As I say goodbye to Chile, I hope to keep a part of the experience with me always. After vacation I'll start looking into work as a bilingual teacher. I don't want to lose the language I've learned and enjoyed my teaching experience (as a volunteer). I'm not returning to Chile for another year as intended, but hope to go back there some time soon.

8 month reflections and my return home

God. So much has happened since I last wrote in my blog. I think I mentioned the dialogue competition. All those extra hours of practicing pronunciation, acting, and fluency...my four students could the entire dialogue better than I. In fact, each person could recite their part and their partner's part, and could probably even have recited it in their sleep. Nevertheless, my school didn't make it to finals but I was proud of them anyway. After the dialogue
RAMON AS BOB MARLEY (AKA JACOB MARLEY)
came the debates for high schoolers. I had a chance to listen to the debates and heard the winning team for our region, Olivia's school Santa Emilia. We also participated in the Spelling Bee, held by Jeannette's school, Colegio Marta Narea Diaz. The school year ended in a flash, at least for me, as I left just before the students started their final exams. We celebrated the end of the year with my 8th graders, who memorized my version of Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" Putting a play together in legible "8th grade English" for my class of 23 students took some finagling, but I managed to pull it off in three weeks. However, in my haste, I accidentally named Ebeneezer Scrooge's old business partner BOB MARLEY. Luckily, my students just rolled with it, although they're very aware of who Bob Marley actually is. (By the time I realized my mistake, we had already performed Bob Marley instead of Jacob Marley). The point is, it didn't really affect their ability to practice English, right?

The last couple weeks were filled with seeing what I had missed for 8 months: a tour of the air base (not just my little pink school in the civilian community) and a trip to La Portada, Antofagasta's famous natural landmark. And, no, unlike the misconception of non-Antofagangsta volunteers, La Portada is not made of bird caca. The staircase leading down to the beach closest to La Portada was closed due to falling rock. However, Emily's friend Manuel knew another entrance by rope down to the beach. Then, we ate at a traditional little restaurant in the north by Via Azul. It was known for its seafood dishes and grilled steak.










During vacation in September for Chile's independence day, Sept. 18th, I did some traveling. I visited "the fairgrounds" aka al fondo, or la ramada in the city. Families and friends squish into an area of the city where there's amusement rides, dancing, and of course food and drink. Only the best... pastel de choclo, chorillana, choripan, carne asado, completos and the like. And of course, typical fair stuff like cotton candy, candied apples, puffed rice, etc. I went to the ramada at the Ruinas de Huanchaca as well and saw people dancing multiple variations of the cueca (the national dance) to a live band.

I didn't celebrate much with my host family. By this time, I had switched family on account of a rubella scare (they thought I would infect my two year old host brother). After it was concluded I wouldn't infect anyone, I decided to live elsewhere anyway. The move wasn't easy and I was body-blocked out of the house by my 60ish, 4'10" host mother but only after she sweetly told me that "I was welcome in her home at any time" Chilean hypocrisy reflected so much by their passive aggressiveness. So, I moved into the home of the regional coordinator, Anna Maria, and her mother, sister, and son. My new host mom almost forgot to put up the Chilean flag. If she had forgotten, she could have been fined by the govt. We drank a little moscatel for the occasion.

I visited my girls in Iquique, Karinna and Pepa, and met Pepa's brother Nano (Adrian) as well. We did a little karaoke on my solo visit. I also took a weekend trip to Iquique with Olivia, TJ, Jeannette as a last harrah. We ate seafood at the "best seafood restaurant in the city," El Va-gon. Actually, it was called The Wagon, but it sounds much nicer as va-gon. It must have previously been a western-themed restaurant. There was a nice view from the second floor, and it was located along the warf by the casino and expensive hotels. I bought Argentinian candies for my host family at Zofri and visited Pepa at Hogar y Casa. We also sunbathed at the beach, la cavancha, and had a night of dancing at the discoteque.

Another big memory before leaving Antofa was the earthquake. I was sitting at home eating lunch before my wednesday afternoon classes when the room began to shake. At first I thought a train was passing by, until the shaking got more violent and didn't stop. My host mother opened the front door and motioned me by her side. Having survived the quake of '89 in the Bay Area, I thought she was telling me to walk out of the house. Instead, Carlita, her 16 year old daughter, and I huddled in the arms of my host mother as she said a quick prayer in Spanish during the quake. Antofagasta survived with very little damage to the city or its citizens. Except the poorly designed awning of The Radisson, which crashed onto two (empty) parked cars, which CNN ate up and threw to the media and my poor parents in the States. It was the little towns of Maria Elena and Tocopilla that got the brunt of the damage, whose houses are still made of adobe. Many were left homeless and without support systems after the damage. The government brought relief to them, but it was a sad sight to view.

I celebrated my 25th birthday out of the country, for the first time. We went out for sushi, had drinks at Jeannettes, and listened to traditional music at the Cafe Del Sol. I spent the night out until 6am. The actual day was spent recovering from that night and visiting Las Colonias, an international celebration by the beach. Different ethnicities sell traditional foods and demonstrate their dances by the costanera.

My final week of class was sad. Well, most of my students and the faculty were sad. (Although kids in my 4th grade Friday class cheered or fake cried at my leaving.... we have class together from 4-5:30pm on Fridays) My sixth graders brought in presents and did a rendition of "My Heart Will Go On" that brought me to tears. I also received a photo of the faculty and an once with my teachers before I left. And, although I'm don't enjoy promoting relgion in my blog, the groundskeeper/ maintenance worker sent me off with the "Consagracion a Dio Nuestro Padre" I was intending to write it down here, but its a little to lengthy for that now.