so i'm back in the us of a.
brazil was amazing. i've never been anywhere as hot, as humid, as colorful and vibrant as Brazil. i landed in Rio and stuck around for about 24 hours. we went to the beach at copacabana, visited a working favela (a slum). then we were off to the capital, brasilia.
the city sits in the middle of the savanna, actually locating in the rainforest but you wouldn't be able to tell. it was a completely planned city, built in the shadow of the ussr in the 70s. it's shaped like an airplane. all (or most) buildings were designed by neimeyer, who designed the UN building in new york. people live in superblocks, which are rows and columns of apartment buildings, named only by numbers. we felt like we were living 1984.
our program had set us up at the nicest hotel in brasilia, one who flew the UN flag as high as the Brazilian flag because it hosted so many heads of state and dignitaries. we rolled in at 12 pm with pizza and beer and the concierge rolled their eyes.
anyway, 24 hrs in brasilia was enough and we headed off to salvador de bahia. the city sits 13 degrees south of the equator, and my hair has never been as curly in my life. the influence of afro-brazilian life was fascinating, especially since racism practically does not exist there. everyone wants dark skin, nice hips and to be able to samba. our tour guide told us if you are white in salvador you're either sick or a tourist. we got a lot of time to walk around the old town, go to the beach, the pool, go shopping. on our last day we took a boat tour to two islands, drank caipirinhas (the brazilian national drink) i ate shrimp and we tanned. we were so sad to leave one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
so my last week in santiago was spent writing papers and doing finals. it was sad to say goodbye to our kids in la pintana. our last day in spanish was spent doing oral presentations, which included a song about pinochet and the making of pisco sours and passing out of manjar cake. it was a really great way to leave our universidad diego portales. we went out and partied on friday and saturday night; i reunited with a chilean friend named pablo whom i had met in september. on sunday marie and i went to viña and stayed with my friend char.
on tuesday i went to the concha y toro vineyard with bevin, then i had lunch with pablo in bellavista and we went to the top of cerro san cristobal via furnicular. i got home to la reina, then my mother and brother drove me to the airport. we cried when we said goodbye, and i landed in baltimore on wednesday at 10am.
i miss chile already. here's a despedida video i made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u9zLry8Kjw
Friday, December 14, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
all apologies
i had no idea that i hadn't updated in so long. it's probably because between that last birthday party and when my family came to visit, i had either a presentation, test or paper every other day for ten days. the boring side of a gringa abroad. still, i appreciate the interest from everyone and can promise that this entry will be so long that you never want to read this blog again.
to start, my mom landed in chile on the sunday before thanksgiving, and i cried at the airport when i saw her. it had been the longest stretch of time in my whole life that i had not seen her, since i'm the spoiled maryland kid that goes to school in dc. my chilean mother (didn't that get confusing, differentiating between my american mom and my chilean mom, since refer to both as simply mom) took us to the aparthotel, which i guess is when they rent out unsold apartment units as hotels. it was killer, with a pool on the roof and everything. we had lunch at my house in la reina. this is when i found out my whole family speaks english! i knew that my brother does because he went to bilingual school, but my chilean mother understands almost everything if you just say it slowly enough! i've been tricked this whole time!
after a delicious chilean lunch that i'm sure my birthmother enjoyed we went to a little touristy town called pomaire to the southwest of santiago. the industry there is based on a type of terra cotta clay that they make everything out of. i bought a vidrificado necklace-- vidrio means glass-- and mom took advantage of how cheap everything was, buying three purses and necklaces and more. we ate ice cream and the whole time i acted as translator between my mothers, since though patti understands english, she feels more comfortable talking in spanish.
the next day mom found the mercado central in my tourbook that i obviously had not read enough of. it is right next to the river on the yellow line at cal y canto, but i still got us lost a little bit because the market was actually inside of this huge yellow building. but once we got in, oh wow. there were fish stalls and restaurants and stray cats and vegetable stands. mom loved it. we ate apples and peaches that we bought there and then got reeled in by a waiter at the restaurant in the center called la joya del mar-- the jewel of the sea-- who promised us a plate for two of salmon and two sides for about $8. he did not disappoint, either. for $20 the two of us ate parmesean clams and the salmon, with two drinks plus two complimentary pisco sours and digestives.
the next few days we spent with me in school and my mom showing herself around santiago, which actually paid off since on the day that i was in school taking two final exams she was by the gubernatorial palace, la moneda, watching la presidenta michele bachelet. i tried to teach her how to say it in spanish, which usually ended in her saying "yo vi michele goulet".
on thanksgiving she made mashed potatoes and we went to my program director's house to eat. we got to call my aunt on a vonage phone. she didnt answer ar first, but she called right back. i told her, "aunt tina, this might be a really expensive call for you."
"why?" she asked.
"well, cause we're in chile" i replied.
"oh shit. call me back" she said and the phone clicked.
we hadn't planned on calling the family, but once i heard everyone on the other side i was glad that we did.
bonny landed that night, so we were off to the airport again. she found us and we headed out to the car. patti asked me why i was being so cold to her, i guess because we didn't hug and i didn't cry upon her arrival. it was kindof funny because that's how it usually goes when we see each other, plus mom was too busy hugging her.
on friday we went to viña del mar and valparaiso, and had a really nice family time. we rode the bus where they sold us fanta, but i soon realized that it was the only bus in chile i had ever taken that did not have a bathroom. what an anomaly. they saw the ocean and rode an ascensor in valpo, and i gave them a mini tour modeled off the one i had taken a few weeks earlier. in both santiago and valpo we missed pablo neruda's house because of time.
on saturday we went to the market across from the cerro santa lucia, where santiago was founded. bonny didn't feel that great, which wasn't a good combination with the heat. we went to my house for a delicious lunch, then andrea drove us to the teleferico, or cable cars and we rode to the top of cerro san cristobal. it was really beautiful to see the whole city, we ate cotton candy and then we rode down to Bellavista in the funicular on the other side of the hill. We walked around the barrio until it was time to go home, where we stopped for an ice cream once (once is like a smaller version of dinner) and bonny got coffee. we slept, and on sunday i led the mad rush back to la reina so i could hurry off to rio de janeiro, brasil.
their trip was too short and so was our goodbye. we left them at the metro station, i told mom i'd see her in 3 weeks and i looked at bons and said i didnt know when i'd see her. then we got in the car and patti drove 100 feet to the gas station, where i could still see them. i figured by the time i walked over to them the elevator they were waiting for would have come, so i sat in the car and i cried.
pictures to come, give me a few hours and i'll write all about brazil.
to start, my mom landed in chile on the sunday before thanksgiving, and i cried at the airport when i saw her. it had been the longest stretch of time in my whole life that i had not seen her, since i'm the spoiled maryland kid that goes to school in dc. my chilean mother (didn't that get confusing, differentiating between my american mom and my chilean mom, since refer to both as simply mom) took us to the aparthotel, which i guess is when they rent out unsold apartment units as hotels. it was killer, with a pool on the roof and everything. we had lunch at my house in la reina. this is when i found out my whole family speaks english! i knew that my brother does because he went to bilingual school, but my chilean mother understands almost everything if you just say it slowly enough! i've been tricked this whole time!
after a delicious chilean lunch that i'm sure my birthmother enjoyed we went to a little touristy town called pomaire to the southwest of santiago. the industry there is based on a type of terra cotta clay that they make everything out of. i bought a vidrificado necklace-- vidrio means glass-- and mom took advantage of how cheap everything was, buying three purses and necklaces and more. we ate ice cream and the whole time i acted as translator between my mothers, since though patti understands english, she feels more comfortable talking in spanish.
the next day mom found the mercado central in my tourbook that i obviously had not read enough of. it is right next to the river on the yellow line at cal y canto, but i still got us lost a little bit because the market was actually inside of this huge yellow building. but once we got in, oh wow. there were fish stalls and restaurants and stray cats and vegetable stands. mom loved it. we ate apples and peaches that we bought there and then got reeled in by a waiter at the restaurant in the center called la joya del mar-- the jewel of the sea-- who promised us a plate for two of salmon and two sides for about $8. he did not disappoint, either. for $20 the two of us ate parmesean clams and the salmon, with two drinks plus two complimentary pisco sours and digestives.
the next few days we spent with me in school and my mom showing herself around santiago, which actually paid off since on the day that i was in school taking two final exams she was by the gubernatorial palace, la moneda, watching la presidenta michele bachelet. i tried to teach her how to say it in spanish, which usually ended in her saying "yo vi michele goulet".
on thanksgiving she made mashed potatoes and we went to my program director's house to eat. we got to call my aunt on a vonage phone. she didnt answer ar first, but she called right back. i told her, "aunt tina, this might be a really expensive call for you."
"why?" she asked.
"well, cause we're in chile" i replied.
"oh shit. call me back" she said and the phone clicked.
we hadn't planned on calling the family, but once i heard everyone on the other side i was glad that we did.
bonny landed that night, so we were off to the airport again. she found us and we headed out to the car. patti asked me why i was being so cold to her, i guess because we didn't hug and i didn't cry upon her arrival. it was kindof funny because that's how it usually goes when we see each other, plus mom was too busy hugging her.
on friday we went to viña del mar and valparaiso, and had a really nice family time. we rode the bus where they sold us fanta, but i soon realized that it was the only bus in chile i had ever taken that did not have a bathroom. what an anomaly. they saw the ocean and rode an ascensor in valpo, and i gave them a mini tour modeled off the one i had taken a few weeks earlier. in both santiago and valpo we missed pablo neruda's house because of time.
on saturday we went to the market across from the cerro santa lucia, where santiago was founded. bonny didn't feel that great, which wasn't a good combination with the heat. we went to my house for a delicious lunch, then andrea drove us to the teleferico, or cable cars and we rode to the top of cerro san cristobal. it was really beautiful to see the whole city, we ate cotton candy and then we rode down to Bellavista in the funicular on the other side of the hill. We walked around the barrio until it was time to go home, where we stopped for an ice cream once (once is like a smaller version of dinner) and bonny got coffee. we slept, and on sunday i led the mad rush back to la reina so i could hurry off to rio de janeiro, brasil.
their trip was too short and so was our goodbye. we left them at the metro station, i told mom i'd see her in 3 weeks and i looked at bons and said i didnt know when i'd see her. then we got in the car and patti drove 100 feet to the gas station, where i could still see them. i figured by the time i walked over to them the elevator they were waiting for would have come, so i sat in the car and i cried.
pictures to come, give me a few hours and i'll write all about brazil.
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