Czech it out!

This weekend my friends and I visited possibly of of the most beautiful places I have even been. With the city being a museum in and of itself we were able to roam around without much of a plan simply admiring all the views this city has to offer.

We stayed at a really nice hostel a little bit outside of downtown and were able to take the tram very easily to all of the destinations inside the city. You don’t need a ton of time to see Prague. I recommend exactly what we did which was a three night trip. We got there on a Friday and left Monday afternoon. Prague is the perfect city for the combination of a beautiful historic place but also has some great nightlife. Every student visiting here seemed to be on the pub crawl we went on. We were able to meet young people from all over Europe and had quite an awesome experience.

The city at times is so pretty you feel like you are walking through a storybook world, especially when we visited the Prague castle, a camera simply cannot capture what we saw. On top of this the weather was perfect, and we just wanted to spend every minute outside. We took a comprehensive 3 hour walking tour of the old part of the city and learned a lot. The food was also really great, we enjoyed authentic mexican food for the first time in awhile and also some traditional czech cuisine, great sausage! Don’t let me forget Starbucks, they are everywhere in Prague.

With the semester coming to an end I am so happy I had the chance to visit this city. It was not one of the places I had planned on going to but I am so glad that I did. Sometimes it is nice to visit the places that are not your typical Paris, London, Barcelona.. etc. To anyone considering going to Prague while they are abroad I say it is a must!

Ciao.

After countless hours fretting and packing, I’ve made it Cairns, Australia. It’s hot, and beautiful, and Australians really are whacky and love their beer.
Orientation has been a week long adventure, giving us a taste of what we can expect for the rest of the trip. After we finally start to get used to the heat of Cairns, we traveled to the Atherton Tablelands, where it’s much cooler unless you are in the rainforest, which of course, we were. We’ve already had the opportunity to hold koalas, pet baby crocodiles, and feed kangaroos and wallabies. We even saw tree Kangaroos and a platypus on a night time canoe in Yungaburra.
We will be settling into our homestays soon, so expect an update then!

So, I’m suppose to be reading a huge article right now for my Poverty and Development class that I have in about an hour, but I thought it would be more productive just to blog. (:

This last week has gone by really fast! I can’t believe that it is going to be April in just a few short days, and that I will be turning 20! Que Loco! I got my birthday package in the mail from my parents, the best surprise ever! It’s a little insane to think how far that little pink package has come just to get to me! Unfortunately I don’t have anything super duper exciting to tell you, haven’t gone hiking in Patagonia or surfing at one of the greatest beaches in the world.. but I have been just experiencing the chilean way of life! This past weekend I went to one of the other foreign exchange student’s birthday party! She is from Belgium and she has the coolest spanish accent because her native tongue is French.

I also went and saw one of the best movies ever! In English of course, the Hunger Games! Loved it! It’s definitely not as big of a deal here in South America, in fact no one really has heard of it except for us.

I’ve been giving my sister English lessons almost every night and in return my sister and my mom have been giving me spanish lessons! 🙂

It works out perfectly and is really good practice for both my spanish and hopefully future ESL teacher skills.

Last night while my family and I were drinking our cups of tea together and watching the news on TV we had a really good discussion about all of the hate crimes that have been occurring in Santiago. It’s so horrible and disheartening to see that there have been young homosexual boys, just around my age that have been beaten to death in their homes and even on the streets…

The society here is so different from that of the U.S because of the generation gap, that almost reminds me a little bit of the Middle East, how the older generation tends to be more conservative and the younger generation is very progressive and will fight for their rights. I think this is also because Chile is still a very young democracy, they just had a military Coup, as a dictator in the 70’s. I know that my host family here is very supportive of the gay rights movement and a lot more progressive and understanding than my older host family that was obviously homophobic.

It’s a really serious issue, but just one of the many issues that Chile has, being one of the most isolated countries in South America, with the ocean on one side and Andes on the other and Atacama in the north, it is not a very accessible or open place to the world!

This past Tuesday our professor was sick so we didn’t have any classes so a few friends and I just hopped on the Metro and explored the City a little bit! We went to one of the really hipster, artsy parts of Santiago and got delicious gelato (which I ended up spilling all over my white skirt, dark chocolate flavor doesn’t look like chocolate on a skirt) and we meandered around taking pictures! I also just had a really bad day with luck because I also ended up getting pooped on by a pigeon and sitting in some dog poop in the park- but that’s just typical Shirley.

I’ll be sure to update you with how my Chilean Birthday goes and my weekend! The Santiago marathon is on  Sunday so I am hoping I can ride my bike downtown and go cheer on some runners! It’ll be really cool to be able to compare the Santiago marathon with other marathons I’ve been to in NYC, Chicago, Midwest. But I know it’ll probably be kind of sad too because the only marathons I go to watch I always go with my family and we cheer on my dad! So I’ll probably end up going but then catch myself looking in the crowd for my dad running.

On saturday- My Birthday! We are going on a little class field trip to one of the detention centers where they held the prisoners during the dictatorship, so I’m sure that will be really interesting too!

Besos y Abrezos !!

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” -E.B White

This past Friday I tagged along on a study trip to Ostia Antica, an ancient town.  We received a personal tour given by one of the professors that is here at JFRC.  It was extremely interesting!  We were also able to eat our lunches right on the steps of the amphitheater.  It was amazing thinking about all of the people thousands of years ago that used to wander the very streets I was stepping on.  From Ostia, we took a short bus ride to the Christian catacombs located right in Rome.  These were very cool, but very creepy as well.  The first level underground, which we walked through, was 12 meters beneath the earth’s surface.  The walls were very high but narrow.  I was able to see the indents in the wall where bodies used to be placed.  It was such a unique experience, and I’m so glad that I signed up for this study trip.

Then, the following day I attended the school trip to Assisi for a pilgrimage.  We left early in the morning and returned very late into the night.  During the day, we toured the Basilica of Sant Maria degli Angeli, the Basilica of San Francesco, and the Basilica of San Chiara.  The whole town was very quaint and provided a beautiful view of the countryside.  It was such a peaceful place.  We spent most of our time wandering through the basilicas, praying, or eating..a lot.  We were provided full meals that left me full for days afterwards.  This trip was also a great experience, and I only wish I had a little more time there to explore even more.

London, why are you so wonderful?

It has been at least 60 degrees everyday in London since my last blog post! It has been sunny, perhaps raining a total of two times, and did I mention it’s been wonderfully warm?

Because it will be impossible to write everything I have done within the past weeks, I will highlight a few of my many extraordinary experiences, as well as one or two of my not so great experiences…

First off, my trip to Scotland! Edinburgh was beautiful… although it was completely different from what I was expecting. When we arrived we went on a coach/ walking tour to see some of the main sights like the Edinburgh Castle as well as some other beautiful sights of the city. After the tour we had down time to explore the city so a couple friends and I decided we wanted to go to a pub for some lunch. None of us had our passports because well the horror stories we hear about passports getting stolen have made us protective of them, but we thought we all looked over 18 (oh and we are all over 18), and we weren’t going to get any alcoholic beverages so we would be able to get into any pub. That was so not the case! We were seated at the first pub we went to, but when the waitress asked for our IDs and we didn’t have any, they kicked us out! We were all shocked! Apparently Scotland is very strict about pubs and will not allow anyone in without a proper ID, even if you are there just to eat. So we eventually found a restaurant, but we were all so bummed out about the pub experience that we weren’t too excited about Edinburgh any more.

Later that evening when went to a “whiskey tasting” with our tour group, which really just consisted of us going to a pub and buying whiskey, another disappointment as we thought we would be going to an actual distillery. We stayed out until 10pm and then we went back and went to bed. The next morning we did a Highlands tour, which was beautiful. We got to see the Loch Ness and Ulrich Castle. That was definitely the high light of my trip to Scotland! I actually tried haggis, which for those of you who don’t know what that is (or who are squeamish… you might not want to read the next line!) it is a sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs finely chopped and mixed with various spices, all cooked in the sheep’s stomach. I know it sounds really gross and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try it, but I’m glad I did, as I will never have it again, but I can say I’ve had it before 🙂 I also had Iron Bru, the only soda product in the world that out sells Coca- Cola (only in Scotland, of course). It tasted like cough syrup so I’m not sure how it outsells Coke in Scotland but alas, it does.

Edinburgh was a beautiful city that I would like to go to again, I just wouldn’t do an organized tour as it is a small enough city that I could have easily explored on my own!

Last weekend I went to the annual “Chocolate Festival” here in London. It was fantastic! It was every chocoholic’s dream, as chocolate was everywhere! A couple of friends and I were able to go to a FREE champagne and chocolate tasting and I got to learn a lot about chocolate (who knew it was such a complicated process with the beans and all!).

The past couple of weeks have been geared towards doing school work- yes I guess studying abroad does entail studying…. darn- it! I’ve had a lot of papers to write and I have to start studying for exams, as they start in a couple weeks 🙁 However, I did manage to see Wicked a week ago! It was truly wonderful!

My spring break started last week, and continues until the 16th of April! It has been nice to not have to go to class. I feel so lucky because my mom was able to come over on Friday the 6th of April. She will be visiting me until next Saturday! It’s SO nice having a familiar face and having my mom here! On Friday we went to Harrods, an exquisite and gigantic department store. It is a very upscale place! They had a pair of crystal male shoes, that cost only 3,000 GBP (about $4500). We then walked to Hyde Park and then grabbed dinner at Olleys, one of the best fish n chips places in London.

Yesterday we did a lot of touristy things like we went to Parliament (yes I said hi to Big Ben!), Westminster Abbey (it was beautiful! There is so much history in that one place, it’s fascinating), Buckingham Palace, and we walked through St. James Park (which was beautiful because all of the flowers are blooming and there were so many birds and wild life out and about). It was a little freaky because people would hold their arms out with bread crumbs in their hands and pigeons would land on them and eat the bread crumbs. Weird right?

This morning we woke up early and went to mass, which was a different experience than I’m used to. For example, since most people are Anglican and not Catholic, the church was very small and there were a maximum of 30 people there for mass. They didn’t have an organist for music so everyone sang acapella. We will be leaving for Paris in 15 minutes! I’m so excited! 🙂

Well that’s all folks, for now! I will do a better job of updating my blog, I promise 🙂

Cheers from London!

I am now a 20 year old Chilean… well at least half of that statement is true!  Thank goodness for Easter break, while a lot of the other gringas here have their family from the USA visiting, or took an overly priced bus ticket up to the north for a weekend getaway Teresa and I decided after being invited to numerous asados (barbecues in the park!), carretes ( parties) and just having the chance to have one long weekend where we could relax, hang out with Chileans and our families- to stay in Santiago.

So, we didn’t have school on Thursday or Friday which was very lucky for me because I might have had one of the most active 3 day weeks in a while- with my chilean mom commenting to me ” Tienes demasiado energia!” (you have too much energy). That is an understatement if anyone knows me well enough.

On Monday morning, I rode my bike to school, went to my Yoga class, then rode my bike back ( about 12 miles in total) then had just enough to relax, eat lunch , shower and then go all the way back to school to my first practice of Capoeira! It is a type of brazilian martial arts, a mixture of dance, gymnastics and fighting! It is the coolest and hardest thing I have ever tried. I was so sore, seriously. But by the time I have about 3 months training, I’ll be a brazilian warrior in the making- watch out USA!

I had a schedule similar to that for the week, so I was dead and so ready for a break come Thursday!

On Thursday Teresa and I met up at a park and relaxed, and then ate onces (chilean version of tapas) with my mom, consisting of  delicious fresh baked bread, tomatoes, potatoes,cucumbers and some type of fried zucchini!

Afterwards we lazily walked around, ended up at the mall listening to a live band, eating delicious gelato and seeing a movie that was about Chicago! It was a really fun relaxing evening. On Friday Teresa and I went out to a discoteca and danced the night away- literally. We didn’t get back until about 5 AM, the usual time for Chileans. It was a very memorable and fun night to say the least! The next day we both just slept A LOT and we’re actually really sick..not too fun, but worth it for sure, actually made us feel even more Chilean- going out till 5 AM then regaining energy all day- SO Chilean of us.

Today, Easter I actually ran a 10k! ( Yes, I am now in the metric system! ) It was a beautiful, lovely Sunday morning filled with lots of families on bike rides and couples walking their dogs or going to church! After my run my older brother Javier came over and my mom made a delicious brunch of stir fry with pasta and a delicious raspberry cake! We ate lots and lots and drank endless cups of tea chatting. Afterwards my brother and I went on a Easter bike ride together to try and find an apartment that mi Pololo (boyfriend) Rick can stay in when he visits in May! We found one, but it was super sketchy and my brother said we probably shouldn’t go inside- so after hesitantly ringing the doorbell and hearing a million dogs bark we both exchanged glances and ran down the street in fear. It was pretty funny 🙂

Now, Teresa and I are both just relaxing, it just started raining too, the first rainfall since I’ve been here. I really wanted to go out and do a photo shoot because I finally got a new memory card and have been itching to take some good shots in the city, but with the rain – might have to take a rain check…no pun intended.

Oh and my host family here isn’t religious just like me, mi madre described her religion as being “mente abierta” or open minded, and that couldn’t be anymore similar to me! Another perfect match in that way!

Hoping that you all have a cheerful and tranquil holiday

Besos y Abrezos!

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

Really, it’s true. Though, I would have to say that the pierogi is beyond delicious.  Now, I know what you’re thinking. Poland doesn’t exactly sound like a top-rated destination. So why would I go there? There are many reasons, actually. If I could, I’d go back all over again.

I spent the weekend in Krakow, which is in the south. To say that it’s an amazing city is an understatement. It’s so full of rich culture and history. Our hostel was about a five minute walk away from the Krakow Castle and only a few more from the main center. We spent a lot of time exploring and just enjoying. Krakow reminds me of a mix between Prague and something more modern. The remnants of communist influence are still there, but the city feels like it’s moving toward modernity. I just loved how old the city felt, but it wasn’t so left behind.

Our big trip of the weekend however, was actually about 65km away from the city. One thing three history majors absolutely could not pass up was a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. In fact, I believe it’s not something anybody should pass up. It made for a very intense day, but I believe I understand so much more about the history of WWII and the Holocaust.

It’s truly an experience I will never forget. I spent the entire day feeling numb and just shocked in general. It’s so easy to learn about the Holocaust in school and think you understand what happened, but it’s a completely different story to go there. It’s more about a feeling that you get when you’re there. To be walking where thousands of people were murdered and forced to labor until they were simply too exhausted to go on is an indescribable experience. I cannot possibly convey to you how truly sick I felt with all human beings at that moment. To be in a place where innocents were put through trials tougher than anything any one of us will ever face is gut wrenching.

It was an awful day, but I am so glad that I experienced it. I believe that everyone should go to a concentration camp at some point during their life. We need to be reminded of these horrors in order to assure that nothing like this ever happens again. It may seem like what happened in Auschwitz and the hundreds of other concentration camps around Europe was a long time ago, but it really wasn’t. Auschwitz was only liberated 67 years ago. There are people alive today that can still remember it. I also visited Sachsenhausen concentration camp outside of Berlin over spring break and even though that camp was also liberated in 1945, it was still used by the Soviets for another 10 years. Not everything ended when WWII did. We must keep that in mind.

If this post comes across as a bit preachy, I apologize. This is a subject I feel very strongly about and I want to do my part to make sure the horrific events of WWII are never forgotten. My trip to Auschwitz is something that will stay with me forever and I am glad for that.

However, even though I’ve seen the worst in humanity, I’ve also seen some of the best as well. I met some of the friendliest people while I was in Germany and Poland. People of today should not be blamed for their predecessor’s actions and I honestly believe that the world is working toward becoming a better place.

And to leave you with one final, happy thought, here’s a picture of some of the most delicious pierogi in the world.

So many things to catch up on, I don’t even know where to start! I’m happy to say that I now finally feel a little bit more at home here, I have my group of friends at school that I go to lunch with instead of solo all the time, to go out with on the weekends, talk about anything with and just relax with in my long gaps between classes! One of my best friends here is a guy named Vicente ( I doubt he will be reading this, he doesn’t really speak English, although it’s much better than any other Chilean)  He is one of the nicest, funniest guys in the world- oh and he is gay! We hang out for hours literally just lounging in the park or walking around the city talking all about life, the obstacle of being Gay in a country that is so backwards, our hopes dreams, and even fashion! He is a journalism major also, and we have a lot of the same goals in life, it’s funny because he is always talking about how he needs to get out of his home country, travel and widen his perspectives- and that is exactly what I am doing right now and was saying about 6 months ago! He is coming to New York City next December and January with a local YMCA here that helps Latinos come to the USA and work, so fingers crossed I will be paying him a visit next winter to help him with the culture shock as he has been helping me here.

Last weekend my friends and I went to a concert in Estadio Nacional, about an hour from my house- it’s the biggest stadium in Santiago, where they used to torture people and have public executions during the dictatorship. It was a concert called “Un cancion para no olivdar” or A song to never forget, in memorial of the dictatorship. It was really cool, I heard lots of singers and speakers that were really passionate and moving! I took lots of really cool pictures too and of course lots of salsa dancing took place! On Sunday I got my own little personal tour of Santiago with another one of my Chilean friends! We walked probably at least 10 miles, no joke! We walked all over Santiago- we visited the park where Daniel Zamudio ( a teenage homosexual) was beaten to death a few weeks ago for being gay, and visited his memorial, I saw more stadiums and museums that were very old and are now just a pile or rubble from a huge earthquake that happened in 2008. I saw the Memorial for Victor Jarra ( a singer, artist, poet and political activist during the Dictatorship that would paint beautiful murals and sing songs about freedom and the struggle for human rights, he was arrested by the Government and tortured by having his tongue and fingers cut off while he was still alive then shot to death by 44 bullets of a machine gun then his body was thrown into the streets as a warning to all other Chileans). The memorial is now, ironically enough a deserted site filled with graffiti, homeless people, trash and stray dogs- I wanted to take pictures but my chilean friends advised me it was not safe to take my camera out- but the site will always be held in my memory. It goes to show, how a country is left after a communist dictatorship- and how the struggle with poverty and human rights is still such a problem here.

After that awesome tour, our feet hurt SO BADLY! So much walking- but I was happy to go home that night and have delicious dinner waiting for me with the family- homemade soup, avacado, tomato, cheese sandwiches and apple Kuchen! Yesterday during my Photojournalism class, we took a field trip to go visit a famous photo exhibit, it was by a chilean photographer who traveled to India and took pictures of the people in the streets, rivers and temples- it was so beautiful but devastating. Hannah if you are reading this- I’m so proud of you for going to India, and I know you are going to make a difference! 🙂

I also went to the Chilean Modern Art Museum with some friends and explored looking at art, more photography and what not, I ended the afternoon by getting delicious soy burgers with some vegetarian friends and watching the Barcelona/Chelsea futbol game! After the futbol game, and after my voice was a little strained for yelling at Alexis Sanchez (chilean playing on the Barcelona team) I went to a march with more aspiring journalism students from Chile! It was a protest against the repression and cutting down of forests in Patagonia! It was so cool and we even got to go make some posters and march around, I was a little scared of the Carbineros (Chilean corrupt police that are brutal! ) but everything was pretty peaceful!

This has been a long entry! But I’ll wrap it up by saying that this weekend I’ll be off to the coast with other foreign exchange students to explore an older city called Valparerisó!

Miss you all!

“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” – Alan Keightley