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...