How do you say baby shower in Spanish?

Oh, baby shower. Ha, who knew? Well if you can't hypothesize from that intro I did indeed go to a baby shower this weekend. Mama's niece, Pia, had a guagua (baby) and had everyone over at her house in Pirque (just south of Santiago) to spend time with the baby, eat snacks and of course gift her something useful for a newborn. Although I was not originally invited Mama decided that she would be so nice as to extend the invite my way. She told me that I needed to have a gift and that she was making a torta de pañales, a.k.a. a diaper cake. She thought of it all by herself, too! I was impressed, not gonna lie. I had two days to think of something creative, and if I was coming with someone bringing a diaper cake my gift had better be good.

So of course I hit the books (ahem...opened my laptop...ahem) to do a little investigating to find ideas for last minute and inexpensive yet creative baby shower gifts. Well 9 out of 10 searches suggested diaper cakes and the other 1 suggested planting a tree. Hmmm. I guess that means Kelsey needs to put on her thinking cap and find something creative all on her own! Well rather than doing that I went to bed and when I woke up the next morning the first thing I saw was the colorful Easter basket my parents had sent me!

(Cue: light bulb)

Unfortunately the basket was covered in pink and the baby is a boy, but I was able to go to the mall and find some cute basket-stuffers (including perhaps the cutest baby mittens I've ever seen) and some blue and white ribbon to cover the basket. It ended up turning out great and Mama was a little jealous (not because my gift was better than hers, but because she wanted me to leave her the basket, which I would have done anyways!) The other moms there liked the gift too, so I was able to enjoy a moment of "gringa pride" for not being a total flake 100% of the time.

The rest of the pre-Sunday week was also pretty great: Tuesday I took a test for my class on Asia, and was surprised to celebrate Cuasimodo at San Joaquin! I went to Mass at 1:00 and before entering I saw a procession of people in white on horses coming down the street. They parked the horses outside of the temple and went inside. They were all wearing spurs and white clothes with coverings for their heads (I'm not sure why). Cuasimodo is a celebration in Chile that is usually celebrated the Sunday after Easter and it is a ceremony of bringing the Eucharist to the sick and the elderly who could not go to receive it themselves. This procession was pretty cool and an answer to my own prayers! I had found out about this tradition after the fact so I was unable to see it for myself and was a bit bummed. All of a sudden I'm on campus over a month later and they are celebrating Cuasimodo! How nifty!
On Wenesday before my one and only class I went to another UC-sponsored sports taller (workshop..ish) and had a great time! It was Fitball UC and was a workout with giant "fitness orbs," as some may say. Not only did I get a free hat from Energy Fitness and a free apple but I also made a friend named Paulina and our photo made the website gallery! After class I went to Patronato with Steph. Patronato is a sector of Santiago lined with a lot of really cheap stores where not only women go to find great clothing deals but also robbers to try to get away with a wallet or two--but no worries, we made it out A-OK! The $12 jeans and $10 hoodies didn't exactly reel me in but it was fun just to see how cheap clothing really is here and talk to a couple of the kiosk-owners feigning interest in their products.

Thursday we got yet another professor in our Asia class (this being our fifth) who just talked and talked and talked. It was actually pretty awesome and I could understand him! Not being the youngest professor I've ever had made him seem a bit more credible (General rule of thumb: the older the professor, the easier to unerstand), and he came in beginning to talk about Confucius and somehow worked his way to talking about parks in Korea and massaging cows to get good beef in Japan. It was inspiring to see someone with such a broad knowledge base! After class Ellie and I met up with Chama and Pablo for some chelas at Budapest cervecería. Apparently it is known for an artisan brew and because we pass by every day on our way to and from school we decided we would finally give 'er a try. It was a really nice night so we sat outside, enjoyed some quesadillas and beers, and made it home and in bed before 12:30. Not a bad start to a weekend!

On Friday night after teaching I was lucky enough to see my friend Hector! He came to SPHS (Sauk Prairie High School) when I was a senior and was in my Spanish class hoping to pick up on a bit of English. We jived really well and always had some great laughs so when I magically remembered that he lives in Chile I decided to send him a message and next thing I know he calls me and invites me to a birthday party! He coincidentally lives about 15 minutes from me (which is SUPER CLOSE) and it was so great to catch up and go to a birthday party for a complete stranger. Luckily this complete stranger 1) had delicious lúcuma birthday cake and 2) rented out the upstairs to a bar so it was free to get in.Saturday we all went out to celebrate our German friend, Svenja's last night in Santiago. She had been here for a year and was finally going back home. She lived in Casa Suecia so I met her there and she is a total sweetheart. We found a place that lets in extranjeros (foreigners) and students for free so we went there and next thing I knew it was 5 am! Well as they say in Chile, aprovechar!

I got up on Sunday just in time to get ready and go to mass at 12:00 and then headed to Pirque for the shower! It was really great to spend some time with Mama and the rest of the fam, including four-year-old Esperanza and my other cousin, Maria Jesus.
We played with the puppies, they showed me the river and we played with play-doh. I've never felt like such an adult. However, there were some great photo ops:
I am now ready to begin a new week after getting jacked up at spinning tonight and enjoying a beautiful, sunny day with gorgeous views of the snow-topped Andes!

Besitos!
Kelsey Marie