I'll get back to that later, but the past week and a half have been kind of a blur, similar to the past 4 1/2 months I suppose. To do a little summary, I've been trying to stay on top of schoolwork, however I'm not doing the best job. I will send out a disclaimer to any future study abroader: If you want to have a successful semester I suggest you start working hard from the beginning, and prevent any natural disasters (i.e. earthquakes) which could lead to cancelled classes and confusion. Keeping these things in mind you should have a successful semester. Also, I advise you to keep a blog, but perhaps don't become too attached to it. Don't worry, you will be the only one updating it, therefore if you check it more often than you write in it you may be in trouble.
Alright, back to my life, which I am sure you're all dying to know about...
This week it actually rained a pretty substantial amount, which means two things: 1) you'll need an umbrella and 2) the next day there will be an absolutely breath-taking view of the Andes. I don't honestly know the last time I have gotten excited for rain, but let's just say that the views of the cordillera were pretty stellar. I took a few photos near my house but the best ones were at campus and on the metro ride on the way home. The first is the church at San Joaquin accompanied by an Andean backdrop. 
It's hard to imagine not being able to see these bad boys, seeing as they are ENORMOUS and look so close, but on any other day the smog is covering them and all you can see is, well, air pollution.More currently and as some may already know, Chile won their first game in the 2010 World Cup, beating Honduras 1-0! For those of you who haven't been following or perhaps aren't soccer fans, the world cup is a once every four years occurrence where 32 qualifying teams compete for the gold. According to Wikipedia, the world's most reliable source, it is "the most widely viewed sporting event in the world", (yes, more viewers than our beloved Super Bowl or NBA championships) therefore I'm sure you are all staying home from work and school to watch the games, especially those of you in Wisconsin.
I got up early and watched the game but unfortunately don't have much to tell. It was funny to see everything just stop for a few hours on a Wednesday morning and then see the passengers (and drivers) sticking their heads out their car windows and honking their horns going slightly over the speed limit after the win. The vuvuzelas are also pretty popular not only in South Africa but also in Santiago and after the game they were making their presence known.
In other news, last week I read at mass here at Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves! The week prior Josefina (a young woman who kindly befriended me when she saw me coming to mass alone) had asked me if I would be interested in reading for the evening mass and after trying to convince her why I shouldn't she convinced me why I should. It was a good experience and it might happen again for my last mass here next weekend (I can't believe I'm saying that!).
As in things of note Laura and I have been trying to take advantage of every and I mean EVERY little Santiago thing/treat/experience. There is still a lot left to experience but I am happy knowing that we are having a good time! One of these includes eating empanadas simply because they are amazing and probably the food I will miss the most.
And as for my yesterday, which was spectacular, we went canopying (a.k.a. ziplining)! It was a lot of fun and so worthwhile. A group of us had actually gone in hopes of doing parapente, hang-gliding, but due to the lack of wind we would have only been able to be in the air for about 3-4 minutes, when it normally lasts about 10-15 (and it's expensive either way, so might as well get every peso's worth!). We went to a place called Geoaventura which is a company that specializes in all sorts of outdoors activities including hang-gliding, ziplining, bungee-jumping, ropes courses, etc. After being disappointed by not being able to do parapente we decided to see what else there was and found canopying! It was so much fun, and although I had done it once in Ecuador 2 years ago, this was way cooler!
We had come in a group of 7 (2 men, 5 women) and while the men waited all five of us women headed for the hills in a rickety old pick-up truck! We got our gear on and after being told I looked hands-down the most foolish (unfortunately you can't erase the "gomer" gene from your DNA) I got even more excited. The ride up was.. interesting to say the least. It was extremely steep on a dirt path. We all almost fell out the back numerous times but surely it would have been worth it. We got to the top and made it down all five of the cables, stopping at a platform between each one. The whole adventure occupied the majority of the afternoon and the day was absolutely perfect. Sunshine, snow-capped mountains in clear sight and bellies full on empanadas that we dined on before going to Geoaventura. The company was also spectacular and we had a lot of good laughs and made some great memories. The best part was that I was once again able to go back to Cajón del Maipo and see a different part! The region is so big I could go every weekend and see something new!
Last night was Alyssa Offutt's 21st birthday so her friend threw a little party for her at his apartment and a lot of people from our program came. It may have been one of the last times we're all together so it was nice to just enjoy the company and head home rather "early" (2:30 am).Today Loreto and Enrique (Mama's sister and brother-in-law) came over for lunch and I had a nice time conversing with the family and listening to Carlitos crack jokes. Each time I eat a meal with Mama and Carlos I am reminded that they were the absolute perfect fit for a host family for me, it's almost ridiculous. We have such similar senses of humor and thank goodness for that! Trying to convince Carlos why Wisconsin in the winter is so great was hard, but let's just say he got a kick out of hunting and ice-fishing.
Well that's all I have for now, back to the paper writing!
CHI CHI CHI, LE LE LE, VIVA CHILE!
Love,
Kelsey Marie
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