A Ring on the Finger?
I went to the doctor yesterday in the medical center that is on campus and I think I had the best doctor´s visit I have had in a long time- probably because the guy was so cute.
While he was busy prescribing me antibiotics for my bronchitis, I was busy checking out his ring finger- WHAT? Since when have I ever looked at ring fingers to see if a guy is married? Never... before yesterday.
And then I started to think- I guess the guys that I have been meeting are in the apropriate age bracket of marraige. And while that is definitely not what I am looking for, I guess it is something that does need to be considered before trying to get his phone number (not specifically the doctor´s- I mean anyone´s). But if I think about it, there are several people from my graduating high school class with families of their own. Scary. That means that I am growing up.
But in Santiago, the situation is a bit different because half of the time people don´t even wear rings, let alone talk about their significant other.
Take my friend Claudio for example- I met him in Reno because he studied at UNR for a year. Up there, we weren´t best of buds but we talked occasionally and he was at my birthday party. Here in Santiago, we went to lunch and talked about going scuba diving together, sent some emails, and then he invited me to his brother´s house for a get-together.
Upon arrival, I walked in and he introduced me to everyone, including his "Señora". I didn´t get it at first. But then it dawned on me- he is married! I had no idea- he lives with his parents and he had never before mentioned having a wife in the whole year and a half that I have known him. And it isn´t like he got married recently because he has an 8 year old son with her!
Now mind you- he never tried to make a move on me and I didn´t ever see him with anyone in Reno. And while I guess it isn´t morally wrong to just "not mention" a wife and kid (with one on the way!)- it is a little deceptive.
But in a country where divorce was legalized less than two months ago (after a twenty year debate in Congress), I guess I can´t be too suprised. When people in general live in a culture in which they haven´t had the option to separate from someone and legally marry a new partner- I guess the law won´t prevent them from looking. And that is evident considering that the infidelity rate here is sky high. But it works because everyone accepts it.
But is that the way the rules work down here in Santiago? Or in Latin America? Maybe so, because my friend Adrien has had some problems with a classmate coming on to her, to later discover that he is married and his wife is coming to visit soon (he is Mexican and the wife still lives up there). Now that, I would say, is morally wrong.
I don´t mean to generalize all people because not all people cheat on their spouses. But when something is accepted as the norm- does that mean it is neccesarily right? And from who´s perspective? This isn´t my culture, but I am immersed in it, and that knowledge of the cheating tendency definitely makes me a bit wary of even dating someome down here...including really cute doctors.
Almost Done
My last day of classes are tomorrow- I have one quiz in my Intercultural Health class and really nothing else, although I still have to finish a few essays and turn them in. But other than that, I am almost able to breathe freely (although not well because I am still sick and there is still smog in Santiago).
But, no plans for my winter break yet before going home. I will probably do some volunteering, but nothing much more than that because I am super broke. It looks like I won´t be seeing much outside of Santiago and San Bernardino in July.
Piropos
Latin men are known for their piropos (come-ons, compliments, pick-up lines, whatever). Some women (who are not from a latin american country) are really bothered by them, but I think it is quite funny. Today, I went to buy an ice cream and then had to walk about five blocks to come to the Internet place. On my way here, I must have passed about thirty men at a construction site where they are working on the street, and the reactions are priceless.
Now, mind you I am not wearing a revealing outfit (I have on jeans and a V-neck sweater with a t-shirt underneath, so there is no cleavage or anything like that), I don´t have an ounce of make up on my face, and my hair it thrown back haphazardly in a barette.
So the first guy I passed (probably about 55 years old) actually stopped working just to stare at me. The next guy, who was welding, stopped as well and murmerd something under his breath. Then next group of males (there were about five of them) were in the middle of a conversation and as I passed, I heard one of them whistle (signaling the next group of guys down the street) and a different one say something about how sweet it was (me? the ice cream? whatever). Since the guys down the way had already been notified of my aproach, it was hard to not laugh as I walked towards them and heard one of them begin to sing (this is normal- they will start to sing a song about being lonely, or about romance, or whatever instead of saying something directly).
At the end of the street on the corner where I had to turn, there was another group, so I had to turn my attention on to my ice cream and pretend like they didn´t exist while walking through their whistles. And lastly, before turning into the building, there was a man sitting in a car reading a new paper who stopped and said "gracias" as I walked by.
And I have to admit, it isn´t that bad to receive the compliments on most occasions. However, it can get out of hand sometimes when they go over the top and start saying dirty comments, or when they are drunk and way too obvious, because sometimes it makes a girl feel quite uncomfortable. It is going to be quite different going back to the US where you walk down the street and don´t get compliments, let alone even get noticed.
Rotary Host Counselor
Last night, I finally met my host counselor! Better five months late than never, right? His name is Javier Sande and he has been a Rotarian for about two years- really nice guy. He is married to his sister-in-law´s best friend (aw, isn´t that cute...and they are neighbors moreover!) and they have the most darling children- very well spoken. Well, I ate dinner at their house last night and we got to know each other a bit. They made me feel right at home and very comfortable. Hopefully we will see each other more often than once every five months...
Women´s Health
So I think I have figured out what the women in Chile do to be so thin- they never exercise, don´t eat breakfast, eat ice cream for lunch, don´t snack, smoke a million cigarettes, and then eat a small dinner really late and say that they had a big lunch. Healthy diet, isn´t it? I am sure that the lifespan of Chileans can´t be very high- and lung cancer rate definitely has to be up there, too.
In my Intercultural Health class, I have to do some sort of study and I think I am going to study the health habits of young women in general and what their notions of "healthy" are. But since it is a group project, I have to find a group that is interested in studying the same thing, which may prove hard because I don´t know if Chileans are into identifying their own bad habits... I would say that more than half of the people in this class smoke- and they are all nursing majors!!
I´m Walking on Sunshine
Today is the most beautiful day Santiago has seen in quite a while-sunny skies and a slight breeze. Now if only I didn´t have to be inside working on a group project....
Just read about the defecit the Lakers are facing- Dad, what is going on? You´d better whip them into shape!
I also recently learned that I don´t have any real finals....what a bummer. That means that I have about three weeks to do nothing before going back home to visit the fam.... It will be oh-so-difficult to find things to fill my time. I was going to go down south for a week to help build houses again, but the last few days fall when I will be heading home. Guess I´ll have to travel or something... ;-)
What Has Been Missing in My Life
I was in the grocery store today and happened to see something that I have been missing in my life since coming down to Chile- cottage cheese! My favorite!
I bought it of course (along with a deli vegetable mix, crackers, and an orange) to eat for dinner....only to be disappointed. Boo. It was not nearly as good as the Stater Bros. brand cottage cheese- as a matter of fact, it really wasn´t even as good as Knudsen (which isn´t really that good anyways). Actually, it kind of sucked. I paid 892 pesos for cottage cheese that I didn´t like.
I think that when I go home (in July for my sister´s wedding) I am going to eat cottage cheese every day... and In-N-Out, and Rosa Maria´s, and some good Mexican food- everything that I can´t get here.
Sick Again
Hmmm...so I am sick again but this time with a chest cold. I bought some medicine at the 24 hr pharmacy and it seems like it has already started to kick in so that is cool...
I am settling into my apartment quite nicely. Although I have already been there for a month, it doesn´t really seem like it because Adrien was with me for two weeks and then I went to Peru for a week. Today I went and bought a heater for the place because it is colder inside than out without one. It works very nicely and I am quite toasty and comfortable...
Quick shoutout to my brother- congratulations on your graduation Miguel!! I am so proud of you!
Wish I had more time and something of purpose to write about but I have to work on a presentation right now, so I guess this will be all for today... Chau!
Accents
Sometimes I don`t know if people are just trying to be nice when they tell me that I have a really good accent. I guess I try to imitate what I hear so that I don`t stick out too horribly, but at times, it just doesn`t work. People are always asking "Where are you from?" and I definitely get tired of it. I feel like I tell my recent history to everyone and their mom just about every other day. It used to be kind of fun, but now that I am managing quite well, actually have a life here and didn`t just get off the plane yesterday- it is just irritating.
But as the Australian-Chilean told me at one point- I am always going to have an accent. Lucky him- he grew up in between Santiago and I don`t remember where in Australia, so he is fluent in both languages and has the corresponding accent.
But I guess that having an accent is helpful in some ways- like when I say something incorrectly or act culturally out of context-because the people will then just chalk it up to me being a gringa. And if I had a perfect Chilean accent, then they would assume that I was Chilean and therefore think that I am stupid for not knowing how to conjugate verbs properly or use the subjunctive tense at appropriate times.
So Jorge was right- it might be impossible for me hide my gringa roots and I have come to accept that. Besides- I am not Chilean, so there really isn`t a need for people to think that I am.
If you think about it, every region in the US has their own accent- from NY to Georgia to yes, even CA. And if Jorge were to go to the US, he would stick out just as much as I do here. But I guess that is what makes life interesting- being different and learning to accept that fact. So the next time someone makes a comment on my accent and asks me where I am from, I`ll have to remind myself that they are just interested in knowing where I am from and about me and I shouldn`t get irritated. After all, that is the reason why I am here...
Being Right
I am usually a pretty good judge of character but have problems listening to my intuitions. I hate being right sometimes...
School
So all this time I haven´t really written about school... but I am attending La Universidad Católica in case you forgot. I do have school responsibilities you know. So I am going to take this chance to explain a little bit of what I have been doing this past week in classes, just to give you an understanding of what my university life is like.
In my Human Rights and Moral Conflicts class, I had a test on Tuesday over some theortical texts on the arguments for and against euthanasia. Today, I met with my group from this same class because we have to do research on the possbilities of a Red Light District in Santiago and argue the moral and ethical, as well as political and economic aspects of this proposition. Today, I went to a Café Con Piernas (read one of my first few blogs to find out more info about what one is) and spoke with an owner to find out his perspective of the pros and cons.
In my Intercultural Health class on Tuesday, we listened to a Mapuche Machi, an important psychologist-doctor-religious-like figure in the indigenous Mapuche culture of Chile. It was very interesting. Today we learned about an ethnonursing (very rough translation) model which applies transculturation points of view to an intercultural application in the nursing field. I have a group project coming up in this class as well, but I don´t really know what it is yet.
In my Formation of the Family class (very interesting from the perspective of a conservative Catholic developing country), I recently had to interview one person from a couple (or ex-couple) in order to investigate some of the problems and postive aspects that they have encountered in couplehood. I still have to finish my conclusions and turn it in...
In my Spanish class, I have to write a short story using all of the grammatical stuructures that we have recently studied. And in my photography class, I haven´t really been doing many hands-on things in the lab, but I did take some awesome pictures while in Machu Pichuu and need to print some in order to submit them for the exposition that we are going to have at the end of the semester.
So now you have a small idea of what I am up to. Right now, I am also working on my mid-year report to hand into Rotary, which has to be in English and Spanish. All this, plus my volunteer work. And I try to get to the gym every once in a while, but that hasn´t been very frequent in the past few weeks. I am just a little bit busy... :-)
Floods
I won`t ever leave home without an umbrella. Not that it would have helped all that much, I suppose. Because after my computer class (well, half class since we started at 12:30 and I had to leave to go to school) I was stuck in the rain waiting for the bus for about twenty minutes. By the time I finally caught the right one, the streets were flooded and I was frozen and drenched to the bone.
The bus ride to school, which should have taken about twenty-five minutes, took about an hour. At one point, there was actually water coming into the bus and up to the first stair- as if I were in a boat. People had to build make-shift bridges just to get across the street. Seriously- it felt like Santiago was going to sink.
I had been told that the southern part of Santiago is prone to flooding, but I really had no idea. Imagine the floods on Sierra Way but times 10. That is how a few comunities in Santiago are- and not just a street. All of them.
As you can imagine, I am not looking forward to going home tonight because I don`t have a heater (one that works anyways) and my television is in the shop... Oh well, I guess that means that i have to write my paper...
Latin Time
So I am sitting in a library that is about an hour away from my house in order to do some volunteer work teaching people how to use computers. Of course the class, which was supposed to start at 11:30, hasn´t started yet because none of the students have showed up. Typical. I would guess that they will be here within the next fifteen minutes or so....
In the meantime, since I have nothing else to do (well, that is a lie- there is always something to do) I figured that I would pop in and let you know that I am alive. A little cold maybe- it is dark and gloomy today with threatening rain clouds. I miss the perfect weather that I was able to enjoy in Peru.
Not Being Where I Was At
This past week flew by, but at the same time it went by so slowly, mainly because my thoughts were in other places- home, Chile, school, Rotary, friends, Reno, things I do, things I don't do, things I should have done, things I shouldn't have... Because of this I think it was a little hard to really enjoy where I was.
But in general, I had a great time. I got a lot of good shopping done for presents for my people back home and saw some amazing places. It was also great to spend time with my friend Mark and share stories of what we have both been up to...he might come back down to South America and may make a stop in Chile to visit me. And most of all, I learned a lot of interesting things and I think I got some pretty good photographs. When I have the time, I will be excited to print them in the photo lab at school.
Well, I don't really have much to write right now. There is way too much to try and describe what I saw and where I visited this past week, so I will just leave with a few questions that I have asked myself recently and that you might find of interest to ask yourself-
1. Where am I at in life right now?
2. Where do I want to be?
3. What is preventing me from getting there?
4. What more do I need to get there?
Tourist Attraction
Here I am in Cusco, Peru and it is just as touristy as I had imagined. The plane ride here (which I almost slept through) was full of international people- there must have been about fifteen languages spoken on that plane. I think that at any given moment, the population here is made up of 50% foreigners.
But this is definitely going to be the most expensive week of my life. I haven`t ever just taken a straight vacation like this without any real purpose. If I would have come by myself, it would have been a lot less expensive because I wouldn`t be staying the place that I am at, amongst other things. But I didn`t really take part in the reservations aspect- I just showed up.
This week definitely won`t be lond enough for me- I will want to come back for sure. But I don`t know if I will be able to ever again- which makes all the money that I am throwing down worth it. What is a little credit card debt anyways?
Tomorrow I visit Machu Pichu- I am hoping to get some good photograps, which will be priceless. In the words of Mark`s friend- ¨They are just a bunch of rocks, but I guess they are pretty interesting.¨
SIDE NOTE-
Just read that the Laker`s will be in the playoffs- enjoy the games mom and dad!
From Lima, Peru
I think that the airport in Santiago is just bad luck for me. If you will remember, when I first arrived I had an incident with my passport. Well, this time, I kept my passport around my neck so as to not have any problems. And when I was at home, I carefully stowed my Chilean identification card in a safe place because I thought I wouldn´t need it and didn´t want to lose it while out of the country.
Unfortunately- they wouldn´t let me fly without it! So, I got to pay 20.000 pesos (about $28) in order to go all the way home and back (hour and a half) in order to get it. I literally walked on to my international flight. I can´t believe that I made it. If I wouldn´t have made the flight, I would have lost the price of the flight because it was non-refundable. That would have sucked.
But I made it- and I am writing from the airport in Lima where I have to wait six hours for my flight to Cuzco where my friend Mark will meet me at the airport. Right now, I am already sick with a pretty nasty head cold and an infection in one of my nose piercings. Luckily the pharmacies are open 24 hrs and dispense every imaginable type of medicine, so I am armed with an antibiotic for the sinus and topical cream for the nose.
Well, I have no clue what is in store for me this week- besides studying. I brought a lot with me and I swear I am going to get it done. Really. I have no choice.
