here's me in front a shrine to the virgin mary in la catdral in the plaza de armas. i only took this picture because i saw chileans do it first.


tomorrow there are major labor practice demonstrations planned in the streets of santiago. in addition, the allegedly terrible transantiago bus system is also a greivance worth quejando (complaining) about. this means transit is shot (supposedly) and there may be no way to get to school tomorrow. above and beyond that, going out downtown may be dangerous. when the crowds get too big huge police trucks come out and spray water on people and also sometimes teargas. we learned the best foil to this is eating a lemon, so that's a common joke now amongst us. our program director told us "i don't want you going there" and we all replied, "it's ok, we'll just bring lemons!". anyway, the judgement will come in the form of a phone call tonight after the 9pm evening news, so we all sit, like kids waiting for the weather report the night before a snowday, and we just keeping asking ourselves will it stick?

and mom don't worry, i won't mess with the riot.

emily's hostmother wrote a children's book and we were invited to the release party. i pictured it like a chic nyc book release party, only on the top floor of a high rise in downtown santiago. it was actually in the cultural center of la reina. we entered through a hallway with very graphic portraits of various bare body parts; there was even a picture of a barbie doll with her legs spread. whatever, it's art. but then we enter a room with children's music playing, tables set up with cookies and cakes and a stage with a whimsical backdrop. kids are filing in, i guess through the porno hallway, and some are dressed in halloween costumes. shortly, a lady comes out and plays us a song on the guitar, and then enter a few kids and an older man in a costume who sit down to be the audience. emily's mom, teresa, had come in with them and she sat down to read the story. but, she only read selected parts. carl and issell bought the book later, and it was a solid 40-50 pages. a children's book. they sang another song, then there was some dancing and then they gave out candy, and as we sat eating it we noticed the costumed man get up and hug the guitar player, then kiss her, then they made out just a little. pda is very common in santiago, but for teenagers on the street who can't makeout in their houses. not in front of kids on sugarhighs. a few minutes later we noticed these adults plus a few more had moved into the courtyard to smoke cigarettes.
cultural adjustment.

finally a good story

so, we had lunch the other day at some restaurant called "los heroes: restauran, bar y mas" there were six of us so they took us to the basement where we were the only ones. seis gringos. the placemats had sudoku and on tv there was this weird 80s channel and each successive song was better than the last. we ate a full meal, even postres (dessert) and two pitchers of beer and the whole lunch cost $8 each. it's our new favorite spot.
so then we walked around downtown and ended up at la plaza de armas (seen above). we found a street performer with a large crowd of about 100 people, and right away he singled us out. "Gringos! Where are you from? Come a-here! United States y Chile, Washington, y Chile!" He brought us into the center of the circle, made fun of us, made fun of the crowd, asked the boys if they were gay, sang a little Donna Summers, and even had some interactive play acting where we each picked up Emily while saying, "Tranquilo, bebe, yo te salvare!" (Calm down, babe, I'll save you). This was about a 30 minute experience, and he was almost done with us but he needed a final stunt. He excused all of us but Carl who insists he was feeling the cerveza and asked Carl to promise him something. He spit on his hand and Carl did the same and they shook, much to the entertainment of the crowd. Then he explained, "the Gringo promised that if I got 40 tips, he would kiss me". The crowd started passing out their coins, and before we knew it the guy had 40 tips. He chased Carl around the circle for a good 2 minutes, and finally he laid a big wet one on him. Asqueroso! Carl tried to laugh it off but we were all a bit traumatized. Oh, Santiago. And weird street performers who smell.

i'm here

i made it!
here's the view from my bedroom window.

tomorrow we are going to the supermercado!

one week left

i took the 930 am N4 bus that picks up right across from the berkshire apartments and rode it down massachusetts avenue. at the cathedral stop my friend garreth got on the bus, but i didn't stop him for his attention. garreth is so cute and happened to have done the same program in santiago last year. i was excited just to be on the same bus as him.
so i got off at the first dupont circle stop and i started walking, and as the bus passed me i was spotted. he got off the bus at the stop near the krispy kreme and approached me directly. it was great; he walked me to the consulate and we talked about the summer and the neighborhood where i'll be staying, which is where he lived as well. i just love how no matter where i go in dc, i see someone i know.

so i got to my appointment on time, and as i waited for my stamps and seals i watched the chilean news station they were playing. last night it snowed in santiago for the first time in 8 years. it was the coldest day in the last 10 years. and in dc? the hottest day in 10 years. funny. funny how i will go from 100 degrees farenheit to about 0 to -5 celsius in one 9 hour flight.

but the visa is out of the way, permanently stamped in my passport.
now it's a one week countdown.