getting ready to go.....

Ok...so just a few things to say before I head up north for my journey of heat and taking in the sun!!
Firstly....things i forgot in my last entry. I bought cd´s to copy the pics from my computer..and then learned that the computer in my house doesn´t copy cds.....so now i have to copy pics to my ipod and transfer to a friends computer and yadda yadda.....que fastidioso (how annoying..)
Other thing...i was bored with my hair sunday night..hadn´t done anything to it for nearly three months...so went to the bathroom and cut my bangs.. Then my host sister cut the rest of it for me....it still has good length, but the ends are gone and...well, i think it looks better (altho not that many ppl noticed..but i´m used to that).
What else can i say....i packed my suitcase yesterday, borrowing one that´s not quite as big as mine (altho this could be bad...i don´t have a ton of room for souvenirs....)
Today is my last day of class with the cuarto medios..cuz they´ll be done when I return. Kinda weird!! I´m super excited tho. I have a rotary meeting tonight...they start at 9...and i´ll get home around midnight...which is gonna be stellar!! (the air transfer is coming to get me at around 6 15 tomoro morning..rough). Also have a ton of other things to do in the meantime.....crazy busy life..but i love it!!
Also..got an email from the ppl in charge of the trip, only allowed to speak spanish. Its super cool (i was worried about losing spanish..), but gonna be tough i think.
Also things to note...yesterday it snowed..like full on. The snow didn´t stay...but that´s like it snowing in mid april at home. CRAZINESS!!!
Well...that´s my random..really badly written blog entry for before i head out.
Not sure if i´ll blog in the next three weeks or not...so when i return..it´ll be huge!!

The weekend

I figure that while I am home and have the time..i should try and write what I can...as I´m heading away in 3 days (wow...craziness). Friday, after history (in which after I quickly wrote my blog I actually got a lot done, and have all the info that I need for my test, plus more i think....), we had math. Once again, did absolutely nothing and chatted with classmates and such. I had been worried in the morning, cuz there was a mandatory meeting for apoderados (ie parents/guardians) the night before..and mine hadnt´gone. Usually, the apoderado has to come in and explain their absence and yada yada....but nothing was said to me, and life continued as normal. I was extremely tired friday afternoon/night because of the lack of sleep from the nights before, going out til late and having to get up for school. Therefore, I didn´t go out friday night and just hung out with my family. I still went to bed around midnight tho...and woke up saturday around 10. I then decided to work on some scholarship applications for school next year...and so looked up scholarships, downloaded applications etc for about an hour. It´s overwhelming to look at...because everything is more complicated with due dates, reference letters, transcripts etc...along with other things. I am so glad that I don´t have to apply for school while I´m abroad!!! After lunch, I walked to the zona franca to look for sunblock and other stuff for my upcoming adventure....didn´t find it....but it was a good walk anyways, minus the fact that for some reason the back of my ankle got irritated, and started to bleed (stuff like that always seems to happen to me here....) it´s weird cuz the walk is like 10 -20 minutes..and i walk to school in those shoes and nothing happens. At around 4, a friend (Gabi) came over and then we went out for a walk, where we met up with some other girls in the class and hung out with them. Funny story (altho maybe it´ll be a you had to be there moment....) a guy in a military uniform was walking towards us, and some of the girls were joking that it was my pololo coming (boyfriend...) then Gabi and i went to go get some ice cream, and when we came back..the guy was sitting like 3 feet away from the group of girls. Gabi and i started laughing like crazy (muerto con risa..ie dying with laughter), it was a bit awkward. When we left..i asked who the guy was, and the girls had no idea...he had asked them a question and then sat down. so awkward and funny..lots of laughs. At about 7, I went to go help out with the english debate group (we were sposed to be there at 7 sharp...i´m becomng a bit chilean and sometimes late for things....bad!!! altho I am still early by Chilean standards.) There was nobody home when I arrived, so I listened to some tunes as I waited for Harold to come by to head out for the night. He came around 11..and around 12 a friend of his came to get us here. We first went to una parcela (like a cabin outside the city) but it wasn´t overly interesting..so left awhile later. It did have a gorgeous view tho..the city at night (unfortunately i had forgotten my camera...) We then went to the disco....but were missing some money, and i and another girl didn´t have our id cards. I taught her how to speak bad spanish like me.....haha, and a few phrases in english..cuz she is blonde with blue eyes so could pass for a foreigner. She didn´t need them..and we eventually got enough money to get in. Stayed there until about 4 30ish.....(the girl i was sposed to go home with left...so harold and i went in cab to my place, arriving around 5ish....we had to get money for the cab first.) I felt bad about arriving home late (it was starting to get light when i got hom....craziness!) but my host family was still not home. I washed my hair in the sink..cuz i had fresh sheets and didn´t want them to smell smoky:) I didn´t sleep overly well, which was surprising. In the morning..i heard a knocking type sound..but didn´t think much of it until it had continued for a good 10 minutes or so (at least it felt like it..) my host sister was locked out. I couldn´t sleep after that. At about 1ish...Gabi came by again and we went to car races. It was a fair ways out of town, and nothing like sauble speedway. there were however 3 accidents (right after the other....and near the end, hence after the 3rd, the races stopped early.) I got home and talked to my host family.. whom i hadn´t really talked to in like 2 days. Then watched walk in the clouds with mema and johanna and went to bed around 12. (ps..good movie) Today, was the 2nd round of the english debate. We won!!! I was super proud of the group from my school..they did an amazing job, and I fully agree that the internet should not be censored!! There is one more round..and if they win the round, go to santiago. I´ll only be around to help for 4 days, but after that have told them to email me arguments for me to proofread and call my cell for other questions. We´ve had some good times. After, a few of us went to a cafe with one of the profs to celebrate. It was yummy...and now here i am....
Should head out...things to do...
que te vaya bien

National Parks and I....

So.....last Saturday, in the morning, I walked al centro to meet up with a friend of mine to buy my plane ticket (more on that in a sec). She came with me to make sure that I got a good deal and wasn´t cheated (everyone knows I´m a foreigner..) After that we walked around talking and such...and that was the morning (keep in mind that it takes about 45 minutes to walk from my house downtown, and that´s going at a good pace..with a friend it takes at least an hour). In the afternoon, I hung out with another friend, Harold, for about an hour before meeting up with Claudia again to find one of the English teachers houses and work on the debate. When I arrived home, noone was there. I found a note saying my fam would be back soon; I had figured noone would be there, because I had heard talk of a birthday for a friend of my host parents. Awhile later, another phone call asking if I was ok, and saying that they would be home much later (ie the next morning...hehe) Gonzalo called in the afternoon and asked what I was doing sunday..and so far didn´t have any plans. I was invited to go with him on a mystery excursion (the mystery part being that I had no clue where we were going..only that it was a tour thing, I had to bring a lunch, and extra clothes, and that it was a day in the outdoors...) So...I woke up at 8 to call Gonzalo and wake him up....and then got my lunch together, ate some breakfast and was ready when he picked me up at 8:45. We waited at his house, chillin and talking (a bit about the standard chilean lateness..as we were supposed to be picked up at 9, and they arrived at 9 45) And then we got in the vans and headed out. I met another english teacher volunteer (this one actually from england...) so it was cool to talk to her a bit. We stopped at some old boats that are beached. They were pretty cool, took some pics and such. It´s hard to describe them.....A lady sitting next to me in the van brought back a piece of rhubarb, not knowing if I would know what it was. I did....And then we got back in the vans and continued driving......I had no idea how long the drive was. Turns out in total about 2 1/2 hours. We arrived at Parque Nacional Pali Aike. I had read about this park...and was excited that we had gone here (but I mean really..i would have been stoked about anywhere...) I had kinda figured tho that since the park was a fair distance, I may not get to see it. It is the site of an old volcano....so there was lots of volcanic rock and an immense amount of wide open space, it was gorgeous. Also some very cool mosses and stuff on the rocks (i tested out my artsy picture taking skills....) We saw evidence of pumas...but no live evidence (kinda glad about that...) Lunch was an interesting experience with all the wind.....the vans were parked strategically to try and block it. We went into the volcano....as in climbed down, very carefully....normally you put your hands on the grass to keep from sliding....but this wasn´t grass (forget the name) but it pricked and stuck into your hand...so no dice with that one. We were originally sposed to be back in Punta Arenas at 5...but at that hour we were still in the park (without cell phone reception...). At about 6 20ish..my parents were contacted and told I´d be arriving home later. Gonzalo mentioned how red my eyes were..but I didn´t think much of it on the way home. We were lucky..because I learned that it had rained most of the day in Punta Arenas, but we had had gorgeous sun. I ate a bit of food..then headed to bed, exhausted from a day of hiking and being outside. The next morning...my eyes were super sore, and I couldn´t actually open one of them. I didn´t go to school, and spent most of the day in my bed. I was able to open my eye only for short periods of time, and what I saw was very blurry. The worrying thing was that I had my contacts in, and my eyes were so swollen and painful that I couldn´t take them out. I wore my sunglasses at lunch....because the light hurt and also to spare my host family from looking at it....Tuesday morning, I again didn´t go to school...and was finally able to remove one of my contacts at around 10 30. (in the eye that was mostly normal)..it was incredibly dry. skechy. I was able to see much much better, and figured I would go get my Chilean id card and deposit the money for my trips...(again....i´m keeping you in suspense...hehe) since these things can only be done in the mornings, and I figured i probably shouldn´t miss another morning of school..due to the upcoming lack of class....I got to the bank after getting my card (went about 8 blocks too far in the collectivo, so had a nice walk...) and learned that apparently i needed my passport to deposit money...so I returned to my house, removed my other contact, ate lunch, and then headed back to the bank. After that...I quickly went home and changed to go to school in the afternoon. There have now been many comments about how the wilderness and I don´t get along (first leg, now eye....). I still love it tho. Wednesday, classes in the morning, and in the afternoon I helped out with the english debate again. We were told Tuesday that we are the opposition team to censoring the internet...while we had been told the previous week we were the proposition; therefore we have had to redo all our arguments. Very frustrating..especially since the other group knew the whole time that they were the proposition....we lost more than a week of work! After working on that...I went home and hung out there for a bit until Harold came by to go watch soccer. There are binational games between Chile and Argentina right now, so the stands were packed. The game with Punta Arenas started at 10 at night....(we watched the first as well..starting at about 8ish). I was...as usual, a bit sick and so we walked back to my house around 11 or so, at the middle of the game. The next morning, many of my classmates and I were very tired (they had stayed til the end....around midnight....punta arenas lost 3-2, the other team scored in the last minute...). Yesterday,morning classes. At lunch, I talked with Maxiel for a while (she had gone to argentina for a week) and then walked back to school to help out with the debate. We spend a lot of time on it...but talk about other stuff too, and its fun, so it doesn´t seem like work to me, which is good. I left around 6ish to meet up with Harold and we talked as we watched some track stuff (hurdles and the 4 by 4....and I had fond memories of the west hill track team...) Then we walked to a gym downtown (which i didn´t know existed) to watch some basketball, meeting up with another friend, Pierre along the way. After that, we walked back to my house and I pretty much headed straight to bed, talking a bit with my host parents and grabbing a bite to eat. And now..here I am..friday morning...exhausted from 2 nights without a ton of sleep and....now goingto tell you about the reason for the plane ticket.
Next Friday morning (at 20 to 8..what was I thinking when I bought the ticket?) I am flying out of Punta Arenas to Santiago. Then..the 18th, I am joining a group of other exchange students (from the santiago district) and heading to the north in bus for 9 days. Should be fun......Then, I´m staying in Santiago for a few days...and going on another Rotary trip to Easter Island!!!! We return to Santiago the 6th, and I return to Punta Arenas the 7th. When I get back, there are no classes the 8th...and the oldest year...the cuartos, finish classes on the 7th....it´ll be weird my last week of school with like 100 of the students gone.
So....i have no idea when I´ll blog next, and no idea if I´ll be blogging on my trip, but I´m sure it´ll be amazing (and I´ll be trying very hard not to get some kind of injury....)

Halloween and Holidays

What great alliteration....
So, Tuesday was halloween. I had invitations to go to the disco and a birthday of a friend; however I was sick thanks to the very quickly changing climate here in Punta Arenas. (Combined, I think, with a lack of sleep from Saturday night...). So I spent my halloween in my house. I also ran out of money on my cellphone, so couldn´t call anyone to get actual directions to the location of the birthday (don´t have house phone numbers, and can´t call cell phones from a house phone). We didn´t have any candy, so I felt pretty bad hiding from the little kids who came to the door. There are no supermen or princesses in this part of the world...all the costumes are witches, goblins, etc. I slept for a ridiculously long time, and had breakfast wednesday morning around 11. Mema commented how late it was when she got up a few minutes later...I had forgotten to change the clock next to my bed and had actually woken up earlier, but thought it was an hour earlier, so fell back asleep.
(Ps...I wasn´t playing hooky, this was a holiday. ) After lunch (porotos..which is not only traditional, but also one of my favorite foods here....possibly because the main ingredient is a type of white bean, also contains carrots etc and a spicy type of sausage...yummy stuff), Mema and I went to the cemetery to walk. The holiday is All Saints day or something.....day of the dead, so everyone goes to the cemetery to lay flowers on their loved one´s graves. My Chilean family doesn´t have anyone in the cemetery, but it is very pretty with all the flowers. There are also markets of flowers outside (you could buy flowers to plant for 500 pesos...which is a bit over a dollar canadian). We ran into my tio, tia, and abuela who gave us a ride home. (Uncle, aunt, and grandma). I was, by the way, back to using my winter jacket with a toque and mittens due to chilly wind. The other day, it snowed a bit when I was walking to school. So, my days are longer, but its not all that much warmer here right now.
Later in the afternoon, I watched Ciudad de Dios (City of God), a Brazilian movie with spanish subtitles. I had never seen it before, and was a bit disturbed at the fact that young boys were killing in the wars of the drug lords. I was, however, quite proud of the fact that i understood the whole movie. (Spanish and portuguese do not sound very similar......brazil will be an experience, that´s for sure!!)
Thursday morning, classes as regular. I walked to school for the first time since busting up my knee. It was good, and I could notice a difference in my energy level (higher). I talked to my brother for a bit on MSN which was nice. For some reason, we do not have recuperacion now from the strike in june (and to be honest...the reason isn´t important..i´m just glad to have more free afternoons!) So, yesterday afternoon I went to go get my rotary allowance and then walked to school to help with making completos..hot dogs, in order to fund the sweaters that we are going to have made for the class. I get one too (a sweater that is...) and also helped out with the next round of english debate. Then we had a practice for the song that I will be singing (with 2 ppl from my class) at the grad of the cuartos. My commencement in Canada is this weekend.....
I walked home after that, and hung out with my host parents until I went to bed.
And now..I should return to doing other things....
keep smilling!