A very odd day.

Went out last night with my assigned "intercambio" partner, who actually spent a semester in Utah so he really doesn't need any help from me (whereas I think he got the poor end of the deal since my Spanish probably hurts him terribly). We brought along some classmates and a couple of his friends and had a good time. For some reason the bar was actually packed full of dancing kids at 7pm, which goes against everything I knew about nightlife in Chile. So far every bar I have been to doesn't perk up until 1 or 2- so what's the deal? I asked intercambio Ernesto and he said "these people have probably been here since 3pm! I came here once at 11am and left at 4pm drunk!". I had a test today, really shouldn't have gone out at all, 7pm or not.

So, yeah. You learn something new every day. I also learned today how easy it is to get robbed. Janelle and Tim and I walked over to the Jumbo supermarket from the school to get some random stuff, and we grabbed Sarah on the way out because Janelle and Sarah had plans to go to a teahouse I had found. The plan was, I would show them what bus to take to go to the teahouse. So we get on the bus and Janelle and I pay and sit down. The bus driver is inching along with traffic so Sarah is having trouble standing straight and has her wallet out to pay the driver. A boy steps on to the bus and for a moment looks like he's going to pay and board with us. Then he reaches out smoothly, with a determined and detached look on his face, and snatches Sarah's wallet from her hands. She tugs at it but her grip was just not prepared for a struggle and he takes off with it. I watch the whole thing go down in slow motion, and she takes about 5 seconds to register what just happened and runs off the bus after the guy. We of course hop off the bus and watch her weave in and out of bus traffic after the thief, in a skirt with tights and little ballerina flats. She almost had him, but I guess he disappeared. It was so sad. She had to cancel her debit card, and she had all that adrenaline in her. It was an interesting day indeed.

Update

Alright, I have a minute to actually write about what's going on, and not just post picture after picture. That's so much easier than thinking of something interesting to say!

Host mom is quirkily adorable. She insists on remaking my bed even if I already did, to military tightness- the second I leave the room, probably. Every night, she'll grab the big fluffy cat (a bizarro version of Josh's cat at home), slinging it over one shoulder, and wander off cooing singsong nonsense at it. When it's cold, she tugs her shawl around her and sings "Frío, frío, frío, fríoo!" or while offering a tea or coffee to you (which is always a little coffee or a little tea, apparently) she will sing "Tecito! Cafecito, cafeceeeeeetooooow". I thought this was unique to her, but after mentioning it to my classmates I found that it's just what older ladies around here seem to do! Another conversation we had to compare notes on was "so, do your jeans magically get ironed?" which someone else asked me. Thankfully, no, my host fam isn't quite that zealous. I have a feeling I would just wear them all the time to avoid that situation.
Papá is a retired veterinarian and he sure has a lot of faith in my language ability. Kind of him, but probably premature. He will talk at length to me while I try not to lose track of what eye contact is; about Chile, about medicine, whatever the subject is. Host mom will stop him mid-rant and say some version of "why are you bothering, she totally can't understand you" and he will say "yes, yes she does!" and smile, and continue. For the record, I catch about 40% if I'm lucky. One day when Mamá was asking me a tough question, Papá put his hand on my shoulder and said "Mira. Mas.... o menos. Mas o menos." He meant that if I am ever unsure of how to respond to a question, I need only to say "more or less." In Chilean, of course, what he really said was "Mah or menoh.", since they don't care much for pronouncing their S's around here. As you can imagine, you have to listen very closely for plurals and other important uses of the letter S.
Apparently the computer lab is closing now, so that's good. I'll have to write more later.

More pictures

David and Maquelle walking the line, enjoying the sunshine.
Being attacked by a fake shark.
Peeps be ridin' horses all over the place around here.
That's Homero, con Spider Pig y cerveza.
Gringos a-gringoing at the gringo bar. Cafe Journal.
View of Castillo Wulff from a week or so ago.
Maquelle in the sunlight. Cute!



Classes are good, family is good, grammar is hard. Took the bus home last night at 3:30 am and it was packed full of party kids headed home. Definitely different than home, where buses don't even run close to that late. Not a lot to report today, so for now hopefully you are entertained by more photos.

Father's Day

I celebrated Father's Day today by hanging out with a surrogate father. Kind of odd, but hey. When in Rome, you go to the playa and wander around buying artisanal crafts. Lovely day, very warm and pleasant. You could tell the water was frigid, but man was it tempting to test it.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Valpo, the lovely

Pretty nice photos, if I do say so myself. It helps to have a gorgeous subject.
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Pablo Neruda is my homeboy.

I actually think I would have a shirt made that says that. Or perhaps "Pablo Neruda is my patron saint". The patron saint of what, I don't know. Philandery? This is La Sebastiana, Neruda's party house. Pretty magnificent view, huh? I love the porthole window.

Pictures #2

Mi mamá.
Castillo Wulff from the bus.
The McDonald's.