Chileen in Chile

Hello loyal followers! We have gotten past the 4 month mark! I apologize once again for my now quite predictable skip of last week's post as I was frazzled with a final paper. But goodness me oh my, the past 14 days have been some of my absolute favorites of this entire adventure. I went to the absolute north of colonial Chile (La Serena) and I went down down to the southern most point I have ever been (Pucón). I sat on a nature reserve island where the water was only for the animals and birds would come stand on you if you had any source of fresh water. And I stood below an active, steamy volcano that erupted the year I graduated high school. Oh and 2/3 of my classes finished. My host mom got her car stollen because NOTHING in her life seems to be working out right now, and I fell asleep in another movie we went to as a class. But summaries are no fun! Let's jump right in shall we?! I last left you following our trip to Buenos Aires. Four days after we flew back across th...

I am back from my last international journey while abroad. How crazy is THAT to say. Luckily I am in a country that is so gosh darn ecologically diverse that I still have plenty of traveling to do without even crossing a border (including a 4 day program trip this weekend to La Serena!) For the past five days, I have been frolicking around Buenos Aires. Due to the Aerolineas Argentinas strike on Tuesday, our flights ended up getting moved to Wednesday... but not at the same time. So for the first time, I flew internationally alone. Even though it is only a two hour and very casual flight from Santiago to BA, I felt like I checked off a big Abroad Bucket List ™  item. But even more, I had about ten hours to explore this new city on my own. Find the hostel on my own. Get completely overcharged by a cab driver on my own. Set my own pace as I meandered through the tree lined side streets and peaked into cafes that felt like Paris on my own. Pick up a paper map at the front desk of t...

Hello my dear fam! Welcome to the last blog of October (!?!??) following a beautiful week of warm Santiago spring weather. I have to preface this blog saying that it won't be very long or full of adventures because this week was very low key and beautiful and I spent most of it trying to spend as much time as I could meandering around with the people I love and doing not a whole lot. But I did meet 5 kittens, explore Santiago's most incredible farmer's market, went to the Hollywood Hills of Chile, and confronted Pedro Pablo about stealing my hidden cereal collection. So maybe this week was crazier than I thought!  1) Adding a new kind of baby to my Chilean life Carina's host cat had five little beebs a little over month ago, and after finally leaving the bedroom closet they were closed up in and exploring the world a couple of feet away from their mother, we were allowed to visit and cuddle them. Goodness me oh my were my expectations more than met. I just want t...

What!? It's Sunday and Olivia has actually posted a blog on time! Wow, let us rejoice.  This week has flown by! I know that tends to be a reoccurring sentiment, but it surely doesn't make it any less true. This week was full of enjoying spring that has finally made its way to Santiago. Today was in the mid 80s and this coming week is looking to be just as cozy. That means it's time for my June era toenail polish to bid farewell as the Chacos and Birks move to the front of my closet. Trufa (my cafe of choice) removed the tent sides from their outdoor dining area allowing the warm air to sneak in as I sat with friends for 3 hours on Wednesday. And everything about that afternoon was made better by the sandwich I had! Baguette. Serrano ham (about which we had a long discussion, and in fact not all Serrano ham is from the Real Deal Iberian Pig ™  fed with acorns. Do your research before purchasing). Watercress covered with a dijon mustard and olive oil dressing that remind...