12 Days to go...

I can not talk about preparing to go to Nicaragua without talking about my new job. To finance this trip I have been working almost full time at a Mexican Taqueria called "La Verdad". I applied there purely because of it's convenience. It is right next to Fenway Park and takes me about 7 minutes to walkthere. But now after three months, it has taken over my life and it is the job that I love to hate.

On my training day, I walked in to find that the girl who would be training me had only been working at the taqueria for two days and was one of the more clueless individuals I have met in my life. After about an hour of asking her questions to which she could not respond I left, telling t

he manager to call me when someone was working that could train me. About two weeks later I get a call asking why I have not been showing up for my shifts...

After sorting out a bit of confusion I go in again to find that I am working my first shift alone without any training. Also, everything, menu, cash register, and co-workers included, is in spanish. Thank goodness for those months in Chile because I was able to pick things up pretty quickly... My job is not hard. I take orders for take out, answer the phone, and run food to the bar.

When there are no customers I mostly focus on not dying of boredom and pry into my co-workers lives. In the back where I spend most of my time, I am the only gringa so I have been able to practice my spanish regularly. The boys in the back are mostly from El Salvador and we have bonded over mopping at the end of ten-hour shifts and listening to a mezcla of Kanye and Spanish Christian music on a repeat cycle. After two months of invitations, I agreed to go to church with them and have now been promised a bling-ed out bible for Christmas.

When there are customers, my job gets a little interesting. The only people really who want to get a burrito or taco to go between 11pm and 2am are drunk or wish they were drunk. So far I have had go find two people passed out on the bathroom floor, called 911 twice to break up serious fights , had four marriage proposals, given six people food that they were not even aware they ordered and get asked for my phone number on average about 3 times per

weekend.

Like I said, it's the job I love to hate.

I have enough money for Nicaragua and still some for next semester tuition and though I have said I am quitting about a million times, I probably wont...and that's La Verdad. :D

Getting out of the Cold

Hi all!

Back on the road again soon. This time I am heading to the lovely city, San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua!! I took a class over the semester about Nicaraguan health and politics and the end of the semester was suppose to be a trip to Nicaragua as a class. Sadly the trip was cancelled to due safety reasons. The cancellation was considered very unnecessary by some (ie: me) and so me and two other girls from my class decided to go anyway. Simmons has been quite a pain and made very clear their disapproval, but we do live in a free country so I take off on Jan 4th.

When I am there I will have the opportunity to work with optometrist students from Harvard who will be doing eye exams and need translators!! Very excited!! I also will be able to visit the battered women's shelter that was started from the money raised by Simmons performances of The Vagina Monologues (which I will be performing in, in Feb). Right now there is only funds for two women and their children but we hope to raise enough money to expand from our February shows!!

In the process of packing. I am much more relaxed than when I was packing for Chile. I will only be gone for 12 days. Pretty much all I packed was shoes and school supplies for Nicaraguan kids, two bathing suits, and my passport. I am packing so early because I am being kicked out of my dorm tomorrow for the Christmas break. I will be spending some time in Allston at my friend Shira's and working in Boston, then going to New Hampshire for the Holiday, then back to Allston, then off to San Juan, then back to Boston right in time for the spring semester. Think I need a bigger suitcase.

And most importantly, when I walked home from work the other day it took me about a half hour to defrost so I am excited to getting out of the cold.

More later!!

Cusco Peru in June

At last I have finished writing my endlessly long paper (29 pages in spanish...not doubled spaced). I did the presentation and handed in my work journal. The only thing left to do is wait for the grades but that wont come for awhile so I am free to be on summer vacation!!! We celebrated Dia de Arica on the 6th with fireworks and such and it was the perfect way to end my time in Chile.



My saint of a mother changed my plane ticket for me to stay in South America for ten days after my classes ended so I packed up a backpack and Anneliese (a friend of mine from our program) and I headed to Peru enroute to Machu Pichu!!! We have not yet gotten there but we have had quite the adventure.



We left Monday morning from Arica in a taxi to cross the border of Peru into Tacna (only about 45 minutes away). I love the border into Peru because even though there were signs everywhere saying not to bring fruits or vegetables into the country...I still brought two tomatos, a kiwi, and a lemon through without anyone saying anything. Also Anneliese had lost her Chilean visa and the border guard was just like...you shouldnt lose you visa and gave her a new one to fill out. Overall it didnt take us very long. We thought we might be late for the bus in Tacna but at the bus station we learned that we gained an hour when we went into Peru!! Had time to buy snacks and use the bathroom (very important). At ten we got onto the bus to Arriquippa. It was about a 7 hour trip but I didnt notice at all because I slept most of the way (catching up from the sleep I lost with all the festivities of the dia de arica). In Arriquippa we had four hours to kill before our next bus so we took a terrifying taxi ride into the center of the city to Plaza de Armas. I thought that drivers in Chile were scary...but it was nothing compared to this ride. It seems to be that there are no traffic laws at all!! Very funny. At one point we asked the driver if you had to drive on the left side of the road in Peru (he said yes...but we have yet to see any other evidence of this in other parts of Peru). Plaza de Armas is supercool. It feels like being in Italy or some European country with a huge church on one side and buildings all around a park with fountains. We ate dinner outside on a second story balcony (Soup, rice, vegetables, eggs and orange juice for 15 soles = $5). Got back safely to the bus station for our next bus at 9pm.



At about 7am we stopped for awhile and then the driver turned the engine off. I got out to see what was going on and there was a huge line of buses and trucks and a few cars just stopped. The driver said that there had been a landslide and no one could get through. Anneliese and I walked up to the front to see what was going on. When we got to the front there was only like a few rocks in the middle of the road and a few wooden beams and no one was doing anything to move them. It was very odd, we were like...Do they want help?? Because we can move these... I asked a woman if there were more rocks ahead and she said yes so we accepted this answer and just started walking around. We happened to be stopped in the bread capital of chile so we of course bought some bread and it was awesome. After a while Anneliese went to take a nap in the bus and I walked back up front to see what was going on. There were a lot more people this time and a man standing up on a hill speaking to all the people and kind of like rallying then together. I got the jist that they were very angry about something. I started asking around and finally this guy from Arriquippa helped me out. It wasnt a strike after all...the people who live in the campos were having strikes (paros) all over the area. They were trying to get the attention of the government to help pay for damages that destroyed a lot of places in floods in February. They would only break up and let the people by if a sufficient number of police came to break them up. In the mean time we were stuck there and a mini-riot broke out with rock throwing and everything. I got out of there pretty quick with the helpful guy (michol). We were stuck there for about 6 1/2 hours.

Finally we were able to pass and we got to Cusco but it was around 4:30pm. Still we wanted to get to Aguas Calientes to stay for the night so we could go to Machu Pichu early in the morning so we got a taxi with a nice couple from Chile that we had spent a lot of the last couple hours with to take us to the train station. The entire way there were giant boulders and trees in the roads from where people had been striking all day. We almost got to the train station when we were stopped dead again. Again, Anneliese and I went out to explore what was happening. Along the way we met a couple from England, a few people from Minnesota, and 15 roudy Canadians :) who had all been stuck in this spot for awhile. We sent one of the Minnesota boys all the way up the road to see what was going on. He came back saying it was another angry mob with about 100 meters of rock piled up behind them. Instead of waiting around for the drunken angry people to move the rock, the chilean couple and we decided to go and find a place to stay in the last little pueblo for the night. We found a place for cheap with hot shower(!) and went out for pizza where the pizza guy tried to get us to go out dancing. Instead we went to bed around 10:00pm. We were so exhausted. Got up at 2:40am and took a taxi with the same chilean couple to go to the train station to get a ticket early. Unfortunaltey...everyone who had had tickets for the day before but had not been able to get to the train station due to the strikes were given first priority and we couldnt get a train until 10:10am!!! We wandered around and got breakfast (I asked for an egg sandwich but instead got chicken and tomatoes and lettuce sandwich...a bit odd at 6am...and i am a vegetarian but i ate it anyway). Finally got on the bus to go to the train...got on the train without flaws and then AT LAST got to aguas calientes more the 24 hours later than planned. Got a bus up to Machu Pichu and everything was all worth it. It was incredible. We literally could not take enough pictures...It was the coolest. I am very very very glad it all worked out. Taking a break from being on the road for a bit and spending some time in Agua Calientes.

Until next time...Laura

Wandering around Chile

Por fin!!!! I have a new camera and can post pics with my blog!!

Independent Study!! This is the part of my program where they say..."Ok girls...go study something in Chile...come back in a month with a 20 page paper in Spanish and tell us about it!"

I chose for some insane reason to study in three different parts of Chile. I guess I had an idea in my mind that I was going to compare them...but they are so different that I am just busting my butt write about all three of them. I am studying about how pregnant women, specifically indigenes pregnant women who live in rural areas in Chile, access the attention they need during their pregnancy.

I started about in the south of Chile in a little town called Carahue. I must say that Carahue is not my favorite place in the world to be. It is small and crawling with angsty teenagers who have nothing to do but yell after the gringa who is wandering around. I think that I have never been verbally molested so much in my life. It was quite a pain.
I stayed with a mapuche woman and her two kids Antu (age 6) and Miñaculla (age 1 1/2) and her 16 year old neice for the week. This was pretty cool. The house was heated and food was cooked over a wood stove and I spent my time coloring and practicing writing numbers with Antu (girl...in case you were wondering) who is basically the cutest six-year-old anywhere. During the day I went to the hospital and hung out with the midwife. They have some very interesting things in place to be sure that the women are not stuck in labor out in the campo. For instance...if a woman lives far without access to transportation, she (at 36 weeks) can come stay in a house next to the hospital until she gives birth. The house is like a hotel where the women can come and go until they go into labor. From Carahue, I made my way up to Putre. This involved, taking an hour and a half bus from Carahue to Temuco. Finding a taxi from the Temuco bus station to the Temuco airport. Convincing the taxi driver that I have a brain and am not going to pay 8,000 pesos for a taxi ride, taking a plane from Temuco to Santiago, waiting around in the Santiago airport for the red eye flight to Arica, getting to arica, taking a taxi from the Arica airport into Arica, finding a place to stay for the night (thank you Anneliese!) getting up early, walking to the Paloma bus station and taking a bus to Putre. Whew. Got there all in one piece though. Spent a week in Putre going to the consultorio and hiking with my french friend Cyrille.

A little harder to study in Putre because there are, in fact, only two pregnant women and they dont have to make appointments. They just show up whenever they want. Also el matron has some interesting hours...but I managed to get the info I needed. I was so sooooo much happier to be in Putre. I think that it is my favorite place on earth. First of all, it is soooo beautiful. Second of all it is really really peaceful and the people are very friendly. I made friends with both locals and travelers passing though in my hostel. It was very sad to leave. :(

And now some photos. yayayay. From the camera that I bought in Carahue!! (Actually I believe that it was the only camera for sale in all of Carahue...the lady at the store was like...you want what???)

The matronas office in Carahue and the house where women from el campo can stay when they are nearing the end of their pregnancy.

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The matrons office and consultorio in Putre!

South of Chile!!

Oh dear. Catching up again!!!

So trip to the south. Sadly, our last day living with our Chilean families was April 24th. We had a giant dinner with all the public health chicas and all the families together and it was a very nice last hurrah. Sat morning we got up ´pretty early to go to the Arica airport for our flight to TEMUCO!!! First time to the south of chile. Everyone was very excited. Very amusing plan ride because we were on one of those planes that lands like in every city. Went from Arica to Iquique, I think iquique to maybe calama?? Then we landed in Santiago and had a layover and then finally got on the flight to temuco. Arrived sometime in the evening. It was dark but everyone was still very very very excited to see green. We have been a little tired of the sandbox desert of Arica and so it was nice to see trees and grass again. Temuco is nice. It is another place where it is easy to forget that you are in Chile...except when you see the guys riding down the highway in their horses and carriages.

We had about a week of classes in Temuco and the areas surrounding Temuco. This was very very cool because the focus was traditional medicine and Mapuche people. We had all of our classes outside or in Rukas (like huts with straw roofs a fireplace built into the middle of it). Having class with a fire is awesome but amazingly distracting. Very easy to get sucked into watching the flames.

The highlights of these classes were...
-Walking through the woods learning about medicines that can be made from different trees and plants
-visiting hospitals that use specifically tradicional medicine and talking with the Machis that work there
-having class outside overlooking tree covered hills and drinking coffee to keep warm
-eating lunch in rukas and taking after-lunch walks to visit the sheep and chickens
And my all-time favorite part...
-The day where we went to a little pueblo that got hit by the earthquake in Feb but didnt receive any help. We helped build a posta (like a little tiny health clinic) that was well away from the ocean (in case of future tsunamis) I will admit that i was not much help in the building but I did make the most giant pot of hot chocolate you have ever seen over an open fire. Then I played with a ton of the little girls who live in the pueblo and taught them how to play tic tac toe. In exchange they gave me a tour of the pueblo which included the outhouse, the best place to view the ocean, and the cemetary that is haunted by a crying baby. (This was sad because they also took me to the grave of the mother of one of the little girls who died last year. :( :( ). Overall it was the coolest day...and all the men from the pueblo (and Shira and Karman) made amazing progress on the posta. They even put the roof on. Very sad to say goodbye to all the little girls. I want to take them all home with me.

The last bit of our trip in the south together, we stayed in Pucon. It is cute there but a bit touristy. The best part was visiting a waterfall...which Mei-lani and meredith and i managed to climb to the top of and stand on a rock just about where the water was falling down the cliff. The water is so blue that it looks unnatural like someone colored it with eggdye. It´s quite beautiful.

That was it for out visit to Temuco and other parts of the south. The next post will be about the beginning of my independent study!!!

Again sorry about spelling as I can not spell and my chilean computer just tells me everything is spelled wrong. :)

Love!!
Laura

Why Everyday is an Adventure

Last catching up post. After this I will be better about posting. :)

Interesting happenings that I want to talk about from living in Arica. First...the reason why I was so behind on blogging and am not able to post pictures. A couple of weeks ago I had lunch with my family and then walked to class to take my final oral exam about the public health system in Chile (se llama FONASA...muy interestante si quieres mas información...pienso que es mejor de los Estados Unidos...entonces). When I got back my plan was to pack up my things and finish some homework because our program was heading to Peru for the weekend to have classes and such. When I got back to my room my plans were diverted a little because it literally looked like a tornado had gone through my room. All of the drawers were pulled out of the dresser and everything was dumped on the floor. My mattress was pulled off the bed. Everything from the closet was pulled out and thrown into the next room...and of course...I was missing my computer, computer case, charger cords, chilean power adapters, camera, cell phone, license, credit card, and all the money I had taken out that morning to take to peru (in soles) some pesos, and my sad little $20 american dollars that I had for the plane ride home. We figure that someone climbed in my window easily because under my window is the roof of the first floor. I decided that I couldn´t be upset because it wouldnt help any...and I still had clothes and my passport so I was all set. I had two hours to talk to the police, fix my room, pack for Peru, and get myself to the University to meet the bus to Peru. I did not, however, bother to finish my homework. :) Its been a pain without those things...but nothing I cant handle. I am just sad because I lost all my pictures. :(

Going with the theme of this post...everyday...even when we are not going to Peru really is an adventure. The week after we got back from Peru was the 21st birthday of three of the girls in our program. We, of course, had big plans for celebrating their 21st´s in Chile. Unfortunatly most of us were sick from something we all ate in Peru. No one was really up so a big bash with all our stomache sicknesses. We had a little party in the evening at the house of one of the girls. We were sitting around just chatting and not eating the cake when one of our program directors says "I have a surprise for you". He opens the door and an entire band of seven mariachi men come in playing instruments and singing. It was one of the biggest shocks I think any of us have ever had!! I was hilarious. They stayed and played and danced for a good half hour and then left as though nothing had happened. After we were all sitting there like..."WHat just happened??" It was very funny and very amusing.

The best part of this Mariachi story is that bacause Arica is such a small city, and everyone knows everyone, we of course ran into four of the Mariachi guys the next night at one of our favorite bars. They invited us to go salsa-ing with them. One of the them is a salsa instructor when he is not busy being a mariachi guy...which was great because it was like I had my own personal salsa lesson all night. Oh Chile...

As I am writing this it is Friday, April 24th. I am leaving on a plane tomorrow to go to Temuco (way more South)...so next time you here from me it will be from the green part of Chile. :) We are out of the desert por un rato.

Ciao Ciao
-Laura

Sandy San Pedro

More catching up...

After our excursion to Putre I returned to Arica for about two hours...and then jumped on a bus with 7 other girls from the program for an inpromtu trip to San Pedro. (Jumped being a loose term as we had some dificulties in the bus station with ladrones and passports and such :p). The bus left at 10:00pm from Arica and we arrived in San Pedro at 10:00am the next morning. I really really need to learn how to sleep on long bus rides like that.

San Pedro is probably the most incredible place I have ever seen in my life. The actual town of San Pedro is very small and really only consists of two streets full of resturants, shops, and hostels. But the area around it is so amazing. It´s in the middle of the altacama desert like Arica but it is very different landscape-wise.

One of the coolest things we did was swim in a salt lake in the middle of the desert. The salt in this lake is more concentrated than the salt in the Dead Sea. It was the weirdest thing to swim. You really couldn´t put your feet down onto the lake floor if you tried...we just floated. When we got out the sun dried us really quickly and we had salt caked onto our skin and hair. It was very uncomfortable in the coolest was possible.

We were kind of nuts. The first day we got to San Pedro (after the 12 hour bus trip without sleep) we jumped right into things. The second day we got up at 3:00am to take a bus up into the altiplano to watch the sun rise around these really cool, really active geisers. They were shooting off all around us (really close!!). There were also areas where steam was just continually pouring out of the ground. We had cheese sandwiches and coffee as the sun came up around all the steam and water coming out of the ground. It really was like being on a completely other planet.

Other highlights of San Pedro...

- Visiting salt flats (just flat... forever... of salt!! So cool)
- Having avacado sandwiches and strawberry wine and watching the sun set in the Valle de la Luna
-Hiking up among Incan Ruinas from the 13th century
-Listening to tradicional stories from an Incan desendent tour guy on a bus hurtling across the desert without roads
-Meeting other really awesome people in the hostel and sleeping on triple-decker bunkbeds
-Riding on a bus with a llama!!
-Reading in "El Centrito" and meeting a guy who showed us where he living by referring to the tattoo of Chile he had on his leg
-Leaving on the 10:00pm bus Sunday night...not sleeping and arriving again in Arica Mon Morning at 6:00am in time for class at 9:00am!!

Was. Amazing. I literally loved every second of this trip.

Next time on catching up...back in Arica!!
Ciao,
Laura

And sorry if there are misspellings...but since I am using a Chilean computer...my spell check tells me that every word is spelled wrong. ;D