Sorry, dont have any photos for this entry. I will put up some in a few days, i just wanted to get this post in because it has been a while.
So what have i been doing the past three weekends while most of the states has been hit with ice, snow, or just plane old cold...laying out on the beach. Yup, literally we have all been chilling at the beaches northwest of santiago every weekend since december began.
the first weekend, we went with two Holy Cross volunteers, Natalie and Michelle, to a beach house they arranged in El Quisco.It was actually the beach house that the holy cross priests own down here, and it was awesome. literally right on the beach. they spared no expenses. we got a van and ten of us piled in and made our way there. The weekend was filled with paddle ball, 30 seconds of swimming in arctic water, wine, games, lying on the beach, wine, food, celebrating molly's birthday, little bit of training for the marathon, wine, and campfire on the beach.
the second weekend was the marathon weekend. we went to Maitencillo and Vina de Mar. Now for the past two months i have been dreading the idea of running a half marathon. i was in decent enough shape to do it, at least i thought so, but the week before the marathon, my left leg was bothering me. it was a strange pain (my dr. jon halbach can confirm that i was worried about it) so i took the week off from running. however on Friday, i couldnt resist joining in a game of capture the flag with all the students preparing for misiones (i can explain misiones later). my leg actually felt fine while i was running around, and i was dominating that game, until...my right ankle gave out. not only could i no longer dominate, my chances of running the half marathon were shot (although, honestly i couldnt care that much less). so for the weekend, we stayed at Molly's family's house in Maitencillo, got to drive for the first time in 5 months dropping the runners off at their starting points, and then i cheered them on. i was a bit jealous at first watching the good runners finish, then i saw the looks on the slow runners faces and i was glad i skipped out. Brian posted a half marathon time of something like 1 hour 40 something minutes and molly ran the full marathon in about 3 and a half hours. they did awesome.
This most recent weekend, we went with Matias, my trainer, to his friends beach house in Matanzas. The town can hardly even be called that as there were so few people that lived there. we drove matias's car literally right on to the beach, pulled off his two-man ocean kayak and spent the day at the beach. nearly all of us went out in teh ocean (covered in gear to keep us warm in the water) with the kayak. and pretty much all of had some major wipe-outs with the waves; they were huge-some of the biggest i have seen. we also had a 3 on 3 volleyball game - the chilenos vs the americans. we won the first game, felt really confident.........then lost the next three. was rather devastating. Matias's friends house was more like a cabin. there was electricity, but no running water, a hole in teh ground for a bathroom, a small kitchen and enough room for 7 beds. the place was great though, and perfect for all of us. we brought a bunch of food with us including a 5 liter bottle of wine. yup, 5 liters, and we had not trouble finishing it. however, i dont recommend it if you want to avoid drama...
Ok, Mom, dont worry about this next part...Last Monday at about 7:00 in the morning, i was awoken by a temblor (a small earthquake). It registered like a 4.6 on the ricter (sp?) scale and was about 60 miles from santiago. I definitely felt it (i think being high in my attack helped that). wasnt really much of anything just rattled the house a little bit but absolutely nothin close to damaged. was the first in my life, kind of exciting, then i went right back to sleep.
If anyone is thinking about going to visit brazil, be prepared to hand over $140 and have to apply for a travelers visa. they kind of like sticking it to us americans because apparently we do the same to them. so i can thank the US government for me having to cough up that money.
It is christmas season down here, although it hardly feels like it. every day it is at least 80 degrees, sometimes flirting with 90. the city and houses are not nearly as decorated as they are in the states, and their are no real christmas trees. it is rather difficult getting the in christmas mood. My plan is to spend christmas eve with my family down here at their grandparents house. all the kids apparently put on a show at midnight and they are trying to rope me into participating cause they are short actors. I think i might get stuck playing a tree...Christmas day all us gringos are going to spend together exchanging gifts, eating cookies, making a nice dinner and watching christmas movies.
finally, as i write this i am packing my stuff to move out of my family's house and into the apartment with the molly, brian, katy, and lauren for the next year. I am definitely ready to make the change. I loved my time with my family and they treated my great. I felt like a college student in their house who could come and go as i pleased, get fed a ton of food, and have no responsibility. i was telling my host parents that this was the first time i have really lived with a family for such an extended period of time since i went off to college. however, i am looking forward to the change, the added independence, not living in an attic and crawling through a 2 x 2 hole, not having kids looking for my attention, and not worrying about losing wash amongst the other 6 people living here.
