With just under two months left until school, I am sure most of you are just as anxious as I am to get back.  Though I will miss the lazy days of summer, not having to stress over finals, and the luxury of having a room all to myself, I can’t wait to be in Rome.  Yes, Rome.  The Eternal City where Audrey Hepburn took a holiday, Nat King Cole sang a sad goodbye, Julius Caesar dictated, and countless men and women have tossed their coins in the hopes of one day returning to this breathtaking city.

Ever since I submitted my application way back in November, I have been nervously counting the days until my departure.  Travel books have been bought and lists of countries to visit have been made.  Soon, I will have to start the daunting task of deciding what to pack.  You would think it would be fairly simple.  Not so.  Since I will be gone a whole year, I have to pack for virtually every type of weather and situation.  But, with TSA’s limitations on the number of bags I can bring aboard the plane, my number of clothes and other necessities has dwindled to a scary few.

I am that girl who packs every piece of clothing she owns, justifying this insane packing style by saying, “who knows what type of mood I’ll be in!”  Disregarding practicality and weather, I pack for style, comfort, mood, and worst-case scenarios.  Sure, I will be shopping in Italy.  Who wouldn’t?  But until I go shopping, I have to have options.  This poses an enormous problem to my sanity and packing abilities.  I am so unsure of what to pack and what to leave at home that I’m pretty sure I will still be packing the morning of my flight.  I can imagine being in the car, halfway there, and wishing I had packed that extra pair of shoes, or that hat I might need for running.  What is my solution to this packing dilemma?  Well, for now, it’s to not think about it.  Instead, I will just continue to focus on the mountains of gelato, coffee, cannoli, pasta, and pizza that I will be consuming.  Some of you may be reading this and thinking, “by eating all that she’ll have to buy new clothes anyways.”  Well…let’s just pray it doesn’t come to that.  I guess that is what running is for!

While the next seven-ish weeks will, hopefully, give me plenty of time to prepare myself for all things foreign, it will be a struggle to contain my excitement.  To me, studying in Rome means opportunities, traveling trips, immersion, growth, and the inevitable (and petrifying) experience of getting lost.  It will be quite entertaining to see how these next several months turn out.  Fingers crossed that I survive!

Ciao per ora,

Elizabeth

I just got back from the Italian Consulate of Detroit this morning, and can’t believe this is actually happening– I’ve been waiting my entire life to study abroad in Europe, and I’m only 50 days away from my arrival in Rome!  I plan to travel as much as I can and fully immerse myself in Italian culture while studying at the JFRC. Wishing the days could go by faster…Here’s to the start of a truly fantastic semester!

As usual I’m going around telling my friends, “I’ll believe it when I land.” Somehow I’m still in disbelief that I’m leaving in a little over a month and a half.  Studying in another country, living and experiencing the culture on a daily basis is not something I thought would happen when I began Loyola. I’m so excited for this experience (nervous of course), but I know I’ll have an amazing end to my career as an undergraduate.

So, Visa application has been sent in and everything is set. Time to wait for August 30th.

The reason why I labeled this blog Louis, is simply because that is the name of mi gato aqui en Santiago!

As lame sauce as this may sound, he has grown to be one of my most loyal and cuddly companions while living here!

He sleeps with me every night, keeping my feet warm and he is always waiting for me anxiously when I come at night after a long day at the University, with lots and lots of purring and hugs ( yes he seriously does give me hugs with his paws!)

I normally am not fond of cats to be honest, more of a kitten person with the whole cute cuddly thing going on- but Louis has proved to me that not just dogs are loyal, cuddly and always willing to show you love at the end of the day. Alright you may be wondering,  why is she writing about her cat? The only reason I have is that I love animals and wear my heart on my sleeve and it makes me sad that I’ll have to say Chao Chao to Louis forever, in just one short week! The same with all of the friends I have made here- finally starting to hit me a little bit, how I finally can converse with my chilean friends with ease and how comfortable we feel around each other.

I really can’t believe that I studied abroad- in Chile- for 6 months… and I’ll be going home soon. It’s one of the weirdest feelings I’ve ever felt. It feels like it is the right time for me to go home, but at the same time it feels as if It went by so, so rapidly.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, possibly because whenever something big is happening it always takes a long time for it to really hit me, because I feel like I always am living in the moment and not really aware of how quickly the future is coming- even more so since I’ve been here in Chile.

I’ve been having, the most amazing times of my life… not kidding. Not only have I seen some of the most beautiful places on earth, I’ve learned so much about this countries history, culture, people and for this- I have also been able to reflect on my own country and customs. I have come to realize a different way of life, and gained a totally different perspective than my North American point of view that I always have had.

I’ve made friends that I will never forget, and gained some much knowledge in such a short period of time. It’s quite insane just how much you well you learn of a  language when you live in the country for long enough and are just forced to learn the language to survive!

Enough reflection for now though, I still have a week left to do all of that- and I’m sure I’ll probably want to be blogging like crazy while I’m sitting in the airplane, overwhelmed with the feeling of being in some kind of time machine- a connection device, that will transport me from this world- to a whole different world- the United States.

Entonces, as it pours rain here, and I’m bundled up in my winter coat, pants and double layer of socks, and I cup my hot cup of Nescafe.. I’m listening and giving a little bit of advice to my host sister- she is practicing for her Presentation tomorrow that she has been busily preparing for since the first day I arrived! She recently just graduated from university, with a major in Graphic Designer and is finishing up her first book- a book filled with really cool art and poems that she is going to be displaying and presenting tomorrow to her University alums and professors!

Yesterday when I woke up for breakfast before heading off to classes, there were two of her head professors of Poetry- who have been here once before. They are definitely one of the most interesting people that I’ve met, about 50-60 year old men, always wearing french berets and glasses on their noses, and talking incredibly loud about anything from the 200 year old wine they drank last night, national news, to poetry they have been working on.

In fact the last time they visited my house, we sat around the table talking, laughing ( most subjects were well over my head in spanish) and we turned on the TV to see him on a TV show being interviewed, and this was back in March when it was terribly hot outside and he ended up “showering” in the garden outside to escape the heat- quite a character indeed. Anyway, so the other day they were here again, and I had the pleasure of having breakfast with them, and they mentioned that they knew there were really bad forest fires outside of Denver right now- which definitely impressed me how well informed they are- most Chileans respond when I say I’m from Colorado by saying ” Oh is that near Miami? ” haha.

Today while I was in my journalism class, vigorously working on my final presentation with my other journalism friends, one of the classmates ran up and told us there were really bad protests going on below in the street! So of course my friend Fabio and I both exchange glances and grab our cameras and are down there within a few minutes.

It turned out to be really fun, and I got some great footage of police arresting a few crazy students who were yelling insults and throwing rocks at the police- and Fabio and I ended up being pretty wet from the water and tear gas they were spraying at us from the army tanks, but nothing bad passed and in the end we were just tired and felt we had another great day as journalists 🙂

I’ll be uploading a few close up pics of the police using their dispersion techniques at students protesting and spraying them with tear gas! Oh, how I’ll miss the active protesting of Chile, and as my mom told me tonight at dinner- the students here are very passionate about their education and won’t stop until it is free and equal.

This past weekend, was more of a relaxing- rainy weekend for me as well. On friday after my painting class I walked over to a chilean friend- Fabio’s apartment that is about 20 minute walk, his apartment reminded me a lot of Hong Kong actually- very small, cramped, and a bit dirty with lots of loud noises outside of people cooking, cars rushing bye and the sweet sickly smell of woman cleaning, cooking and smoking cigarettes all at once. We hung out, people watching from his awesome view in his room since he lives on the 24th floor of his building downtown, then we climbed up to the roof and took a few pictures as well, then we met up with more chileans and went a bar to just converse, drink beers and relax and enjoy the weekend after a long week of classes! On Saturday it poured rain for most of the day- Teresa and I went to starbucks and did homework and I painted all afternoon, my final project for my painting class. I have to say though- all the rain and cold and huge puddles the size of lakes that are in every intersection ( once I actually saw someone take a taxi to cross the street- that is how bad the rain is here at times), it is well worth it the days after, because all the rain clears the sky and smog and the beautiful Andes mountains are incredibly spectacular. They are so big, I can’t even describe always looming over the clouds in the distance, and after the rain clouds clear- the peaks are glittering brightly in the snow, covered in magnificent snow… it’s unlike anything I could ever imagine. Santiago truly is a unique city, trapped between the gigantic, mind boggling  Andes Mountains on one side, the Pacific Coast on the other, Patagonia and the thousands of lakes in the South and rugged, dry, mountainous Atacama to the north.

Sunday was equally as relaxing, very brisk again and rainy consisting of catching up on sleep and homework and of course cuddling with Louis for most of the day 🙂

On Monday though, it was sunny finally! I spent the day enjoying the sun and the view of the Andes-  playing tennis after my classes in some free public courts just 15 minutes from my house, it was a great day, and ended by going out for ice cream with friends and laughing about how much of a clutz and accident prone I am.

Now, I have a lot of homework to try and fit into this week before I fly back to the states- a few very long spanish essays, presentations and tons to read. I’m thinking this beautiful rain storm tonight will either- lull me to sleep or put me in the mood to study- vamos a ver!

“Live as if you are to die tomorrow, Learn as if you are to live forever. ” -Ghandi

After a series of unfortunate events this past weekend, lets just say it was either bad luck, bad kharma or just good ol’ Shirley staying true to her clumsyness… I had just the inspiration I needed last night!

After spending almost a full day at the hospital getting x-rays and finding out I’ll be in a boot for about 2-3 weeks and no more running, Capoiera or Yoga (my chilean activities I do to keep busy!) and having to try to explain to a staff at the hospital my foreign health insurance that was completely in English- in a strictly speaking Spanish hospital… I was a little down in the dumps.

I walked over/ limped in my boot to my good friend Teresa’s house down the street and we just finally had the chance to relax, sip cups of steaming tea and catch up- since we both have been so busy lately with people visiting, school, trips, etc.

She left to go to her volleyball practice all the way back at Alberto Hurtaado (about 40 minutes from where we live) and I wobbled on home in the cold, COLD dark chilean winter night- a lot harsher than you would imagine!

To my surprise I came home to find my host mother cooking up a huge storm! I asked her if we were having a special dinner tonight and she said yes when Sebastian, (her oldest son who lives in Mexico City now but just got done climbing Mt. Everest so he’s back home for a week) returns home tonight. Curious, I asked ” Oh, where is he right now?” and she casually responded, ” He is at La Moneda (Chilean White House!) receiving his congratulations and shaking the hand with the president!”

Quite amazing! So, we had a great dinner that night of Ravioli, Sweet Coconut Rice, Stir-fry, and orange and caramel crepes for dessert! While talking all about his amazing 16 day climb to the top of Mt. Everest. My first impression of my host brother was wow, he is really rugged,tan, missing a few fingers, and just really humble. He has been spending his life training and climbing mountains, traveled all over the world. We got to talk all about the dead bodies he saw on the way up the mountain, his training, all the other climbers he met, how crazy Swiss people are, the Yaks that were huge and snowy creatures that he encountered after the 3rd base camp, frost bite, and how mental strength is the key to doing anything you want.

I suppose that is true even with just a simple injury such a sprained ankle, or true with living and studying in another country for 6 months. It’s all how your attitude is and you will get have as much fun as you let yourself and accomplish as much as you put into it.

The Chilean winter has definitely set in here! Last night I had more trouble sleeping from the cold than my aching swollen ankle! I was all wrapped up in 2 sweaters, sweat pants, smart wool socks, and a winter jacket- while cuddling with a heated water sack that my mom gave me— and still was freezing! Today I moved a lawn chair out in the garden directly under the sun and just relaxed soaking up the warmth (still with multiple layers on) and read a book.

I’m going to be attempting to hobble my way onto the metro today and to class at the University, at least now from an anthropological stand point I can compare the gawking and stares of people at my giant ugly boot on my foot from Chileans to Americans since this isn’t the first time I’ve been through this. Reactions to come.

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
― Ralph W. Emerson

It’s been over a month since I last blogged- oops look like I have been adopting the Chilean lifestyle maybe a little too much 🙂

My study abroad experience so far has been spectacular, a once in a lifetime learning experience that I got the chance to share with my “Pololo” or boyfriend from Loyola over the last past 2 weeks! He came and visited me, I got to show him around my new home- Santiago and then we also traveled up North to the driest desert in the whole world- The Atacama. I know what you’re probably thinking- ew who would want to go spend a week a desert? All pre-concieved expectations or thoughts that I had before going where instantly thrown out the window when we landed in the plane, seeing the beautiful snow capped Andes painting the horizon and the endless foothills dotting the skyline that slowly descended into the glorious peaking sand dunes, caves, and canyons that jutted out from the mars like landscape. It was like nothing I have ever seen before, it didn’t feel like we were even on earth anymore. We were in some kind of far, far away land where time moved slower, sand was constantly layering your skins, clothes and hair, and you had adventures constantly at your fingertips. We spent that week staying in a really nice  hostel where I got to know one of the owners really well and practice my spanish! We also met a nice Chilean couple that looked just like Mr. and Mrs. Claus… no joke. On the first day we were there we were hiking just a few km out to some Ruins to go climb and we ran into them in their car and they offered us a ride, of course we declined saying the hike was the best part there! Constantly over the next few days we would run into them, we would help take pictures, see Geysers together, and eventually watch Santa Claus jump into some hot springs in the middle of the desert and I leaned against Rick trying to battle the altitude sickness.

We rented off-roading bikes for 2 days and explored all over! We rode to more ruins, to Valle de La Coyo, Valle de La Luna (Valley of the Moon- named after it’s craters and space like appearance), Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley) and everywhere in-between. Off roading was really fun and an adrenaline rush too. We hiked almost everyday too, exploring salt flats, caves and dried up river beds that winded through many canyons. We ended our trip by watching an amazing sunset over the beautiful Atacama desert and then having to spend the night in the airport- freezing cold and sleep deprived, I somehow smooth talked my spanish skills into being able to catch the next flight home, a god send after spending over 12 hours huddled in a corner in the airport.

I still can’t really wrap my head around all that I’ve learned and done since I arrived in Santiago over 5 months ago. I know, it won’t really hit me all the friends I’ve made here, new language that is part of who I am, the culture that I have learned to either adapt in some ways and in other ways still feels foreign to me. I know for certain what I’ve gained from this experience is a new sense of independence and confidence.

The other night when I was at my friend Maria Jose’s house just hanging out and one of her sisters asked me why I chose to come to Chile (if I had one chilean peso for every time that question was asked..I’d be rich) I responded by saying, I knew if I could come and live in such a foreign, far away place then I could do anything else in the world.

I still believe that’s so true, I conquered this amazing journey- now just about 3 weeks away from heading home to Colorado to be with my Family, I know I am a different person than I was when I left them in January..

I know that I am constantly having to remind myself, I didn’t choose to come live here because I thought it would be comfortable, or even as nice as what I’m used to at home. I came here to challenge myself, to live without the comfort of all my normal amenities, routines, friends, family and even my own language. And that the feeling of being homesick or frustrated is totally normal and expected and I shouldn’t fear it!

Another thing that I’ve learned being here is that, I am not a solo traveler, I get lonely easy. That yes Chile is beautiful and there are so many opportunities but it doesn’t mean half as much to me if I can’t share it with a friend or loved one and cherish it together.

Oh another nice chilean adventure I have under my belt as of yesterday– I was on a bike ride just exploring my surrounding neighborhoods when I was bitten by a stray dog! I was riding my bike along a street close to my house when he just came running up all excited and grabbed my ankle/leg and just tore at it- ripping my pants and leaving me on the ground with a bloody leg. The dog didn’t mean any harm, just got overly excited I think- but it hurt and still does really badly! I can see where his teeth tore my skin, it’s pretty cool. But I ended up having to ride in a scary car with the police here, Carabineros to a hospital clinic where they just cleaned up my wound and prescribed me some antibiotics. I was so nervous to have to ride in the car with a bunch of the carabinero’s since they usually aren’t the friendliest people- but most turned out to be nice, one even wanted to add me on face book and another asked me to give him English lessons. But when they asked me what I was studying and I said Journalism- they all gave me pretty dirty looks and went on a rant how the journalism in Chile is very mediocre and dirty, usually not telling the truth.

It was an experience that I’m glad is over with, and I can just chalk it up to a funny story!

Today I’m going to a music festival in a huge park downtown with a few more Chilean friends!

I’ll try to not wait another month before updating this time 🙂

“This is what travel is about. We strain to renew our capacity for wonder, to shock ourselves into astonishment once again.”

Even though I blog about every week, its so impossible to capture everything that has been happening in my life in Chile!

Today was amazing, this will sound really cheesy but I just felt so alive! Being here in Chile, with my photography and journalism friends has made me so certain and so passionate about my calling to photojournalism. I have never felt more like where I belong, then when I am hanging out with my chilean friends debating about politics, human rights, religion and of course journalism in the news. Of course, I stick out a lot too, I’m constantly learning more about how just how different American culture is from Latin American culture, and how much I have to learn. Chilean culture really is so rich and diverse.

Chileans are extremely passionate people, about everything. They express things in ways that Americans usually don’t, they are not reserved in any sense. They also are really politically active, artistic and close with their families- in comparison to the united states. Chileans live at home until they are in their early 30’s and that is completely normal, and my friends are all very open with their love to each other and their families. The other day one of my friends was telling me much he loved his mom and how he would die for her, just in a casual conversation.. and my host mom and host sister are always holding hands, hugging, kissing on the cheeks constantly- it is just the culture here!

Today I went to a huge protest/march for better education, more rights for the Mapuche or indigenous people of Chile and for freedom of the press- all huge issues in Chile. I am not exaggerating when I say this, 80,000 people showed up in the streets to dance, protest and exercise their right to assemble peacefully. I took lots and lots of photos and had fun participating too!

It really wasn’t violent until the end of the march after we had all marched all though out Central and up to a different Stadium that was really beautiful and antique looking where there was live music, speakers, more dancing and protesting. Unfortunately the dancing turned into mosh pitting and then a riot broke up, my friends took really good care of me and we managed to struggle our way to safety! Soaked in sweat, covered in confetti, and feeling extremely triumphant we made our way back to the metro where we reluctantly went back to classes for the afternoon. We stopped at a street market on the way though and we all bought soy burgers, juice and candy before going to the University. After classes we heard shooting outside on the streets from tear gas bombs and they had shut the big entrance doors meaning there was trouble, so naturally of course we had to go check it out. With all of our cameras in hand and bandanas soaked in lemon juice to counteract the tear gas we headed down to the action like real journalists. As we were witnessing some riots, some soldiers came up to a few friends and I who were taking videos and demanded to see our identification cards and they wanted to search our backpacks.. my heart started beating really fast as we all dug in our pockets for our ID’s and opened our bags. They quickly scanned our ID’s and looked through our bags and told us that if we weren’t journalists we weren’t allowed to be taking pictures and that it wasn’t safe here so we needed to leave.

It was one of the scariest moments, but at the same time nothing compared to the moments I experienced while In Ghana with the soldiers searching our things and demanding passports every 10 miles.

I had a little quiz in yoga class today too, but it was easy peasy and my teacher even commented that she could tell this wasn’t my first time doing yoga!

This past weekend I went to the coast, Valparieso to a beautiful sea side city made up of colorful homes situated on rolling hills. Me and my friend Cassie, and Pablo (another foreign exchange student from Peru) decided we would strip down and dive into the freezing, literally, water of the Pacific Ocean! And we did, we literally did a little Chilean polar plunge! That plus some delicious sea food and a tour of Pablo Neruda’s amazing house made for a great weekend!

Unfortunately there is rain in the forecast and COLD WEATHER! not my favorite, time to pull out the sweaters and endless cups of hot tea for me!

The other night, my host mom and I had a really great bonding time- she helped me proof read all of my essay’s that I’ve been working on and we had a great discussion about the her family, my family, relationships, love, racism, really everything that can be discussed haha. Then we baked some delicious cookies together and ate them while drinking tea and bonding more- I am so lucky to have such a great family here that I can learn so much from!

This weekend I plan on making a little field trip up to the Andes with a friend studying from German, possibly going to some hot springs with my mom and sister, working on a documentary and photo essay for a journalism class with my friends, and exploring santiago with them all! I can’t wait 🙂

No matter how far a person can go, the horizon is still way beyond you. -Zora Hurston

I am gluten intolerant. Usually, I get the response “oh, that is unfortunate, it seems so hard.” It can be extremely difficult when all I want is to to order a pizza from the joint down the street or a eat a cookie that my friends just baked.

Initially, gluten intolerance and travel do not seem like a good pairing. They can actually seem like a nightmare if you think of all the things you cannot eat. Often times, they require more planning, reading labels, printing out cards in various languages explaining your condition, and attempting to ask the waiter in their native language if there is anything without gluten in their restaurant. However, the more places you travel the better you become at finding options that are  satisfying and allow you to experience some of the local flavor.

Some cuisines are better than other. I have to say that in my four months in Prague I was unable to eat about 90 percent of  Czech food because they love their wheat flour. I was able to eat most of the meat they prepared and their potatoes. However, most of their sauces were thickened with wheat so I would often have to ask for them to hold the sauce. Their most famous dishes knedliky (bread dumplings),  smazeny syr (fried cheese), bramboraky (fried potato pancakes), kolache (sweet fruit pastry) and of course beer are needless to say not gluten intolerant friendly. I struggled in Prague when I went to restaurants.  I was able to cook my food fairly easily. The local Billa had gluten free pasta, bread, deserts, chips, etc. I eventually found a gluten free beer and an entirely gluten free restaurant. Plus, my favorite food of all time is Mexican. Mexican is very easy for gluten intolerant people because of good ole corn tortillas. I managed to find the one restaurant and it became my favorite place in the city.

Paris was particularly difficult as well because all I wanted to do was grab a baguette at a bakery and smear brie cheese all over it.  Every morning I met my friends in Montmartre and they would pick out their pastries, crepes, and croissants. I’ll be honest, it nearly killed me.

In the Netherlands and Belgium, I ate my fair share of frites. They were naturally gluten free as long as they did not use the same oil to fry them and other bread products. I ate a modified version of Wiener Schnitzel in Austria. I had the best spicy goulash in Hungary. In Germany, due to their diversity I had Thai, India, and Vietnamese food.

Surprisingly, Italy was the best country for gluten intolerances. Because their diet consists almost exclusively of wheat products, young children are tested for gluten intolerances and celiacs disease. There are tons of restaurants that offer wonderful gluten free options. Rome was my best food location and I felt like I gained 10 pounds in 4 days being there. I visited with my friend studying in Rome who is also gluten intolerant. I had an amazing time eating pasta, pizza, gelato in gluten free cones, cakes, and biscotti. It was gluten free heaven.

Due to my initial struggle in Prague whenever I met an Australian backpacker, I immediately hounded them if they know about gluten intolerances and the accessibility of gluten free food in Australia. I met one girl in Krakow, that was actually gluten free too. Although she was from Perth and not Melbourne, she insisted that it was fairly easy to be gluten free in Australia. Hallelujah!!

When I arrived in Melbourne, I went to the local grocery store, Cole’s, and found half an aisle of gluten free products from brownies to crackers. At least I knew I could cook gluten free foods, but how about the restaurants. Nearly every restaurant has at least one gluten free option. It is fantastic. Even fast food pizza chains Dominos and Pizza Hut have gluten free crust. WIth the exception of one cafe, I have been able to eat anywhere my friends wanted to go.

I reently got back from a road trip in the countryside. I stopped a a tiny local grocery store, not expecting to find anything. Much to my surprise, they had a tiny but mighty gluten free section. Australia is wonderful for individuals with gluten intolerances.

With that being said, being gluten free is not cheap. While there are many options here, restaurants usually charge anywhere from 3 to 6 dollars extra for the meal to be gluten free. Thus, on a student budget I opt to cook the majority of my food at home.  Even in stores the products can be a bit of steep. I was craving brownies last week so I purchased a mix for a whopping 6 dollars. It really killed me to buy it, but I had such a chocolate craving, I caved. I made them and while at home I have made many GF mixes, the final product was awful. Not only was my chocolate craving not satisfied but I was irritated that I had spend a bloody fortune on them. I complained for about a minute before I googled the company online and sent them a email politely notifying them of their less than stellar product. Now, I am not usually a complainer, but what can I say? Do not mess with me and chocolate. I received a prompt email asking for my home address and within 2 days I had a package of gluten free products to make up for my dissatisfaction. Lesson learned: do not be afraid to give the company feedback on their product. They will send you more free things to keep you satisfied and happy.

I made a quick list of the countries that were good/bad/ok for people with gluten intolerances. These are just based on my opinions and experiences so some people may have different ideas and disagree.

Fantastic: Australia, Italy

Good: Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany (Schar is a German Gluten Free company that sells their products all across Europe), Spain

Just All right (had some difficulty with traditional dishes): France, Austria, Croatia, Montenegro,Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary

Poor: Czech Republic, Poland (hard when eating out, ok in stores), Slovakia

Any of my fellow GF travelers. I wish you the best of luck. Happy eating!!

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