Living as a Trotamundos

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and that tonight brings you a wonderful New Year! This Christmas was a tough one for me, I missed my family. Every year there are thousands upon thousands of people who don't get to spend Christmas with their families. And let me tell you...as one of them now....It really stinks. But I was also one of the lucky few and I had an adoptive family that took me in and made me part of their traditions. It is in moments like this when I am reminded that family goes far beyond a blood line. It's a secret I've always known but one that we can all use a reminder of. My host family took me from decorating the house to Christmas day, to New Years, and really everyday since I have arrived. Christmas in Chile is WAY different than back home. Big Diffy Number 1: IT'S SUMMER! That's right it's summer over here on the southern hemisphere which means no white Christmas. Now I haven't had a lot of white Christmases back home ...

To give you a little bit of background information, I have been known to have an old soul. Like go to bed at 9 pm and wake up early, spend my time with my nose in a book and drinking tea kind of old soul. I love my old soul, I've had a good life, with nothing to complain about. Throughout my life there is one thing I have noticed though that seems a little strange. Little old ladies quickly become my friends. It is almost as if they are drawn to me or that I am drawn to them, I'm not sure which. From Arizona, to Colorado, and now to Chile I have become friends with little old ladies without ever meaning to. I'm telling you they find me. I took a bus to a little port town a couple days ago and when I got off the bus so did two little old ladies. They quickly asked me if I was traveling alone or if I was going to be meeting up with a friend. Once I let them know that I was traveling alone, they asked me if I wanted to walk with them along the beach. I said yes, after all ...

I'm sorry it's been a few weeks, life got hectic and there was just a lot going on with little time. So per my mom's request I'm going to do my best to get back on track for my few avid readers. As of yesterday 12/8, I am done with university! All of classes done, finished! Don't ask me what grades I got because I really don't know....I think I passed though. The end of the semester was just as confusing as the start... I didn't really know when my classes ended. I had no finals. And the dates and times of classes would change at the professors whim. I have always known that having English as my primary language it is a privilege but I didn't realize how much until I studied at university in Chile. Academic papers that I would be given to read would be written in English, software programs that I would use operated in English, figures on power points would be detailed in English. It really is a blessing, and I hope to always remember it as such...

This last weekend I went to Pichilemu, the unofficial surf capital of Chile and if you were to ask them the world. It's about five to six hours north of Concepción and their is no direct bus to Pichilemu so if you plan to travel there you´ll have to transfer eventually. Two buses, half day of travel that is all it should take. No big deal right? Well two buses quickly turned into FIVE when my friend and I decided to spend our weekend on the waves. That´s right FIVE BUSES! FIVE! The only place to start this story is at the very beginning and let the story unroll like all of the bus tires rollin' down the road. It started on Friday, we were at the bus station ready to take our first of  "two" buses. We loaded on our bus and were headed to Talca, at which we planned to take our next bus to Pichilemu. It was only about a 3 and a half hour bus ride to Talca and we arrived at about 6:30 pm. *Now it is very important that you understand that there is no way to look at ...

During my K-12 education at some point I learned about Pompeii and wondered why in the world anyone would chose to live at the base of an active volcano. In my young mind I had connected the dots that a volcanic eruption tends to end in destruction. And then.....I went to Pucón! Pucón is the start to the south of Chile and it is a city that people flock to year round. And if you haven't guessed yet Pucón is at the base of a volcano with a little bit of distance. And it is an active volcano at that. It just sputters and spits every now and again but still active none the less. So why live at the base of a volcano? Because volcanos create the most beautiful pieces of nature surrounding them! The shear beauty makes the possible destruction worth it. Sorry in advance because I was not able to catch a picture of the volcano that could ever do it justice and with just my luck it's peaks were obscured by clouds. I myself only caught a quick glimpse of the volcano when the clouds ...

The other weekend I had the opportunity to go to Laja with a friend. Laja is a rural community about two hours south of Concepción. It is a small community that was established between el río Laja and el río Biobío. Laja has a natural beauty unlike any other and I got to see it first hand from my friend Lesly who grew up walking the hillsides and playing in the rivers. Her family welcomed me in and loved me like I was their own. After a quick snack with the family Lesly took me to the jewel of Laja. We walked up a hillside that is just behind her house and once we got to the top my breath was taken away. If you look closely you will notice that those are not clouds in the background but the Andes Mountains standing proud with their snowcapped peaks. I was taken about by the view that was displayed in front of us as el rio Laja spilled out in front of us and all I could see for miles on end was rolling hillsides covered in dark green trees only to be met at the base of the Andes. I...

That's right the beach! Well in this case it wasn't actually a beach but a fishing port. I had the pleasure of spending the day with my host mom in Talcahuano. Talcahuano is a beautiful little fishing town that is known for it's population of sea lions. The sea lions gather in the port at the base of boats waiting for the fishermen to through them the scraps. It seems like these sea lions are living the life, free food and easy hunting, I don't think there is anything better. I spent the afternoon with my host mom as the wind played with our hair and we watched the boats. it was a relaxing and much needed weekend. My host mom told me the history of Talcahuano, it is just a fishing town so it is mainly filled with lower middleclass families that work as fishermen or in a factory. In 2010 an earthquake struck the BioBio region of Chile and severely damaged Talcahuano. As we drove through the city we could still see the ruins of old buildings that had collapsed durin...

I have just about reached month three of my study abroad adventure and for my very few avid readers or those just stopping by I want to be honest with you. I want to be honest with how I am doing, with how I have been feeling. Studying abroad is one of the loneliest things I have ever done and there have been a few days when it has taken it's toll on me. I have spent my whole life in one community and I've never left it for more than at most 3 months at a time. My time away was short, there was always an end that quickly came into view. But now I am away, and the end is still a long ways off. I left my community, my family, and my friends. I left all of the people that are my support system and yes they still support me, but they aren't here. I don't have my friends here where I can just go and eat lunch with them, I don't have some one that I can just call up to hang out. And yes I understand that I just have to go out and make friends and I'm doing that, I...

For the past couple of weeks I have rarely had time to leave the university campus. My life has been school, school and more school. I just took my first exam in my Calidad del Agua (water quality) course, and lets just say I tried my best. This course in particular is very chemistry heavy, advanced organic chemistry. In other words pure torture. At the very least just about every other student was struggling right along with me. In a study session I had with the local students they were telling me about how it's their least favorite course to take. But at the end of the day I tried, I studied hard, and I did my best. The exam took two and a half hours to answer four questions, but I did my best. And at the very least now it is what it is. I can't change my grade now and my stress is gone. But a recommendation to all of you out there, if you consider taking Calidad del Agua in Chile you may want to think twice about it. On a little bit of a more fun note in the city there a...

Let me start by reminding you all that I am from Arizona. Landlocked, closest ocean is eight hours away, Arizona. And then to top it off I am not really a fan of sea food, I never have been I think it's a textural thing but anyways...here we go. So yesterday my host mom was in a rush and asked if I could help her out by cooking for her. I told her yes and not to worry about it. As she was running out the door she then told me quickly to cook it (there was a bag of 'it' in the sink) in a pot with a little bit of garlic, salt, and celery in a pot and then to make sure it was covered with water. I told her that I got it handled and it wasn't a problem. I thought I was just going to be boiling some chicken or something. It was not chicken. I cut up some celery and garlic, sautéed it real quickly and then went over to the bag so I could put, again what I thought was chicken in the pot. I opened up the bag and there were CRABS. There were five living and moving crabs! At ...

I grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona. There is a population of about 70,000 people nestled in a mountain town at 7,000 feet. You can drive across Flagstaff in 20 minutes and the bus will go almost anywhere you need to go. I grew up with the forest at my convenience, the mountains as my playground. And now I'm in Concepción, Chile with a population of a little over one million. Adapting to big city living hasn't been the easiest for me at all, but one thing that is AMAZING about Chile is that not to far away you can always find a beautiful view. I went to Las Termas de Chillan not to long ago and was able to find a little bit of relaxation and home. In the snow and the mountains surrounded by trees I felt my heart sigh with relief and comfort. In Chillan there are natural hot springs captured into pools for the public to enjoy but I was mesmerized by the views. Chillan is about two hours away from Concepción and it was a much needed get away. I can constantly hear the sounds ...

July 31st, the day school started in Chile...or that is kind of started. School here in Chile is of a whole different breed than what I, or I imagine anyone outside the boarders of Chile is used to. If the university systems in the United States and Chile were dog breeds, the U.S. would be a golden retriever puppy (Full of energy and in the teething process) and Chile would be a confused box turtle that didn't know which way to go. And yes I realize that a box turtle is not a dog, but from my experience the Chilean university system moves at about the pace of one. And that's not to say that I don't like the university system here, it's just different and something that I had to adapt too. I am only taking four classes while I am studying in Chile, I'm taking it easy and hey give me a break all of classes are taught in Spanish which terrified me. I have been in school for a month now and of my four classes I had one that started in the first week of school (I th...

I had the paperwork completed, my visa in hand, the plane ticket bought! I was already and set to go! I had my fears of course but I figured that I would set those aside and just pack them into the bottom of my suitcase. All that was left was to say my goodbyes and let everyone know who didn't already know I was leaving that they wouldn't be seeing me for a year. Even my fortune cookie had told me that I was all ready and set to leave! Typically in these conversations I would be asked what I would miss the most. Now being a kid raised in Arizona I would promptly respond "Mexican food." Most of the time I would then get a dumbfounded response of "They don't have Mexican food there!?" I would then stare at them for a moment, think how I could be polite and say "Well it is a different country..." In all reality yes Chile and Mexico both speak Spanish but they are still 4,600 miles away. The east coast in the states has yet to experience In-N-...