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
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
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
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
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Catching Up
Bah. Sorry I am such a fail blogger guys. There is so much that has happened that I dont even know what to write about. I think I am going to just try and catch up the last month this week a little each day so bear with me :)
First Putre. About three weeks ago I went with the program to Putre. Its a little pueblo about two hours away from Arica way way up in the mountains. We were given coca leaves to chew (the stuff you can make into cocaine) because it gives you energy and cures altitude sickness. It basically is a staple at the breakfast table there. You can either just chew it or make it into tea. Putre is so peaceeful, especially after Arica. Not many people are out during the middle of the day. Walking around felt like a ghost town. (A very pretty ghost town). There are mountains all around the town and one afternoon some friends and I hike a little way up to be able to overlook the town. With the view we felt like we were in the end of "the sound of music". While we were walking up there were herders bringing their cows and sheep from grazing for the day. The view was beautiful and I have decided at some point that I have to go back there.
We had classes while we were up there. Probably my favorite classes that I have had so far in my life. Two Aymaran women who use tradicional medicine talked with us. With looked at (and smelled) all the herbs they had (that they get from the fields and such surrounding Putre). One women uses masages as major part of her healing. She demonstrated using us and our various ailments (altitude sickness, sore knees and wrists...the mantaray bite). Everyone that she demonstrated on felt a whole lot better. It was very interesting and all that she did made a lot of sense. The other woman was a tradicional partera (like a midwife but more involved). She started by showing up all the different herbs that women have to take during their pregnancy...and all the different things that can induce labor (such as ground up fox skulls) and told us about the tradicions surrounding Aymaran births. (For example, the placenta is thought to be a second child and is given a burial outside the home. Also, the father gets to hold the baby first and is the one to name it). She gave us a demonstration (using my friend Karman) of what they do when the baby is breach. Basically the woman lays on a large piece of fabric that is folded like a triangle. Then two people, One on either side, rock her in different directions kind of forcefully. Those Aymaran woman were small but very very strong...and they said it works very well! The whole day was very very interesting and exciting.
Also in Putre I...
-asisted in smuggling hotel blanket outside to gaze at the stars (it´s freeeezing at night).
-played in a soccer game with some local Aymaran women
-sent postcards at the postoffice which is located in a local woman´s livingroom
-ate alpaca (not so happy about this as I am still trying to be a vegetarian)
-visited another local pueblo, Belin (Spanish word for Bethlahem) and visited the school of 7 students
-went in a hot spring!!! Very hot!
-Saw a volcano
-met some very nice British people who were traveling through
- drank hot chocolate (very unlike american hot chocolate...basically hot milk with chunks of chocolate bar in it).
Sorry no pictures in this one...visit my facebook page for those. Story on why another time.
So that was Putre. :) :) :) Amazing and one more reason on my list of why I probably wont be coming back. Love to all!!
Laura
First Putre. About three weeks ago I went with the program to Putre. Its a little pueblo about two hours away from Arica way way up in the mountains. We were given coca leaves to chew (the stuff you can make into cocaine) because it gives you energy and cures altitude sickness. It basically is a staple at the breakfast table there. You can either just chew it or make it into tea. Putre is so peaceeful, especially after Arica. Not many people are out during the middle of the day. Walking around felt like a ghost town. (A very pretty ghost town). There are mountains all around the town and one afternoon some friends and I hike a little way up to be able to overlook the town. With the view we felt like we were in the end of "the sound of music". While we were walking up there were herders bringing their cows and sheep from grazing for the day. The view was beautiful and I have decided at some point that I have to go back there.
We had classes while we were up there. Probably my favorite classes that I have had so far in my life. Two Aymaran women who use tradicional medicine talked with us. With looked at (and smelled) all the herbs they had (that they get from the fields and such surrounding Putre). One women uses masages as major part of her healing. She demonstrated using us and our various ailments (altitude sickness, sore knees and wrists...the mantaray bite). Everyone that she demonstrated on felt a whole lot better. It was very interesting and all that she did made a lot of sense. The other woman was a tradicional partera (like a midwife but more involved). She started by showing up all the different herbs that women have to take during their pregnancy...and all the different things that can induce labor (such as ground up fox skulls) and told us about the tradicions surrounding Aymaran births. (For example, the placenta is thought to be a second child and is given a burial outside the home. Also, the father gets to hold the baby first and is the one to name it). She gave us a demonstration (using my friend Karman) of what they do when the baby is breach. Basically the woman lays on a large piece of fabric that is folded like a triangle. Then two people, One on either side, rock her in different directions kind of forcefully. Those Aymaran woman were small but very very strong...and they said it works very well! The whole day was very very interesting and exciting.
Also in Putre I...
-asisted in smuggling hotel blanket outside to gaze at the stars (it´s freeeezing at night).
-played in a soccer game with some local Aymaran women
-sent postcards at the postoffice which is located in a local woman´s livingroom
-ate alpaca (not so happy about this as I am still trying to be a vegetarian)
-visited another local pueblo, Belin (Spanish word for Bethlahem) and visited the school of 7 students
-went in a hot spring!!! Very hot!
-Saw a volcano
-met some very nice British people who were traveling through
- drank hot chocolate (very unlike american hot chocolate...basically hot milk with chunks of chocolate bar in it).
Sorry no pictures in this one...visit my facebook page for those. Story on why another time.
So that was Putre. :) :) :) Amazing and one more reason on my list of why I probably wont be coming back. Love to all!!
Laura
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