Fiestas Patrias and More

Sorry it's been a while since I last blogged, but I've been really busy.  Last weekend was Fiestas Patrias, which is the Chilean national holiday.  The whole month of September is devoted to celebrating the Republic of Chile, made obvious by the abundant flags, food, and fanfare.

At school, my classmates have been practicing a traditional dance for over a month, which I'm glad I got to be a part of.   Also, Tristan, Jules and I danced La Cueca, the Chilean national dance in front of the whole school.

The celebration at school was followed by a celebration with my HUGE host family.  Evidently I still haven't met them all, but I don't understand how one can be related to this many people.  The best way I can describe the family celebration of Fiestas Patrias is that it is kind of half way between Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.  

 After the celebration ended, I had a very busy week,  On wednesday, the Rotaract club of Talca invited us to their meeting.  I hope to get more involved in their organization.  It seems like they do a lot of great service for the community.

Thursday night I went to my sponsor club's Rotary meeting.  It's very different than Rotary in the US.  There are no women allowed in the club, and we all sit at one huge table.  Laurel and I couldn't help but make Downton Abbey references.  

Saturday I cooked for my host family.  I prepared a huge meal (way too many leftovers) of shrimp and grits, green beans, banana pudding, and of course, sweet tea.  My host parents really liked it and I think they want me to cook more often.

Every day I feel more and more at home here, and I love the independence that comes with it.  I am fully  mostly functional on public transport, and have no problems getting where I need to go.  Of course, that makes it harder to have time at home to work on my college applications.  

This week I am so excited to travel to Easter Island with Rotary, and I plan to post lots of great pictures, so keep your eyes open.  

Nos vemos. 

Max

Earthquake: Safe and Sound

Thank you everyone for your concern, it really shows how much support I have back home.  Yes, there was an earthquake here in Chile last night.  Fortunately, the epicenter was much farther north, but my city is close enough that it was still pretty strong.  At the epicenter it reached 8.3 on the Richter scale, and there were tsunami warnings up and down the coast, but my city suffered minimal damage and was not evacuated.  Overall, we had it pretty good in Talca.  The shaking was a lot stronger in Santiago, and my friends on the coast all had to leave their homes until the water subsided.  Here is my story.

Yesterday I arrived home after school like normal, had a snack, and was mostly just killing time until my host parents got home from work and I would go to my friend's birthday party.  All of a sudden, I heard this sound, like a tap-tap-tap.  My first thought was that it was the dog coming up the wooden stairs, but then the door began to move in its hinges, and I realized that the sound was coming from the side of the desk hitting the wall.

Everything began to shake: the bed, the lamp, the chair.  The dogs barked. The walls creaked.  

When I stood up, the floor moved below me like the deck of a boat gently rocking from side to side.  I had never experienced anything like it, and I hope I never have to again.  In a split second I grabbed my coat (winter, remember?) and phone and carefully went down stairs and out into the driveway, Gari the dog still barking at my heels.

Outside, on the ground level, the shaking was less sway-like and a bit stronger than it felt upstairs.  I was surprised by how long the shaking lasted, 2 or 3 minutes, which is uncommon, even in Chile.

The first aftershock was almost as strong as the first quake, but didn't last as long.  The next were virtually imperceptible.

Both of my parents were at work, so it was I think the solitude that scared me the most.  I was worried that I had done something wrong, or made some mistake in my evacuation procedure.  I tried calling but neither answered.  All of a sudden, after the ground settled down, my phone began blowing up.  My extended Chilean family, and my classmates, were all checking up on me, and each other, verifying the security of their family and friends.  Multiple people offered to come pick me up so I didn't have to be alone, and reassured me that the seemingly impossible movement of Earth was a part of life in Chile.

After the tremors stopped, life moved on.  I went to a birthday party, and we just socialized, danced, and ate like friends do.  Of course everyone shared their earthquake stories (one of my friends was on the toilet when it began to rock back and forth).

At about 1:00 am (party still going strong), a New Zealand radio station found me on facebook and called me to get some first hand comments about the quake.

Reporter: "So what's it like outside now?"
Me: "Ummm there's a 15-hour time difference between us, so its 1:00 am.  Most everyone is asleep"
Reporter: "Oh."

They did not use my comments in the broadcast, but it was fun nonetheless.

Shaken, not stirred,
Max
 

I Got Friends in Low -Latitude- Places

Update since my last post: I am no longer sick, I'm doing just fine.  If you were praying for me, thanks, it worked.  But my friend from France is sick so maybe it will work for him too...


When people ask me what its like to be an exchange student, I tell them the truth.  Sometimes, it's really boring.  I understand a lot, but not enough that I can fully participate in every conversation.  And subjects at school that I haven't extensively studied before, namely physics and chemistry, are almost impossible to follow, so sometimes I end up just reading my book.  I finished all the books I brought with me (I highly recommend Slaughterhouse Five), so my parents are sending me more. Also, I haven't yet earned the same freedom I had back at home, and being in a new city where I can't drive and don't know my way around too well, sometimes I'm stuck at home.
Yes, being an exchange student can be boring, but sometimes, that's the farthest thing from the truth.

Last week, school was pretty uneventful until Friday, so here are just the highlights, or just skip to Friday:

Monday I presented to my English class about my life in the USA, in English, so I'm really not sure how much my classmates understood.
Tuesday I began Spanish class with the other inbounds in Talca (as well as a random French couple? Not sure how they ended up in with us... They're chill though.)  I like it because I get to skip math class to hang out with exchange students.  Sometimes I learn stuff, too.

From left to right: Laurel, Canada; Jelka, Germany; Jeanne, France; Henri, Germany, Tristan, Germany; Yours Truly, USA; and Jules, France 

Wednesday I went to have lunch at my friend Aldo's house.  His family has really gone the extra mile to make sure I'm comfortable here, and I can't convey how truly appreciative I am of that.
Thursday my host mom and I went to drink mote con huasillo.  There are no words to describe the taste, but its made with peaches and corn.

Literal corn and peaches,,, in drink form? Idk.

FRIDAY! SKIP TO HERE. After school, I went to the mall with my exchange friends, and we ate lunch at KFC.  Yes, it was just as bad as it is in the States.  Yes, I enjoyed it anyway because it was the first American food I've eaten.  Walking around downtown, a group of seven blondes attracts a lot of attention, especially considering the fact that among us we speak a combination of four different languages.  Sometimes its nice, though.  We were stopped and joined by an Australian exchange student and exchange alumna along the way.

Minus me and Henri

 Saturday I went to Rancagua for my district exchange student conference.  I saw Americans for the first time (except the mirror, of course) since arriving in Talca, and I got to reconnect with my friend Dani who came to Jacksonville on her exchange last year.  My gator blazer pins were a huge hit, and my blazer is newly covered in all sorts of cool pins from all over the world.  Also, to get to Rancagua we took the bus.  The Chilean intercity bus system is really good, and it is a lot more comfortable than I expected.  However, it's harder to walk down the aisle, especially when its dark.  And there are stairs.  Because its a double-decker.  And you nearly fall.  How can I negotiate a boat that's eighteen inches wide without falling yet I get tripped on a bus the size of my house? So it goes.

I got friends in low latitude places

Talca squad

If you're looking for me look for the Stars and Stripes, then up.

Guess what? Saturday's not over yet.  After coming home from Rancagua, I went to the University of Talca with Jeanne, from France, and her host dad.  We went to the sculpture museum and farm, both owned by the university.  At the farm, I got to pet and take pictures with a REAL LIVE VICUÑA! A vicuña is basically a llama, but smaller, and not domesticated.  Exhibit A of how happy this made me:

Exhibit A 

Exhibit B

After the farm, I went home, took a siesta, then went to a get-together with all the guys from my class at my friend Lorenzo's house.  It was a lot of fun.  We mostly just socialized and listened to music, but also I taught them a couple American dances and they taught me some Chilean ones.  They made me show them the cotton-eyed-Joe over and over, but they all know it now and do it randomly at school.  I spent the night at Aldo's house, and the next morning it was-

Sunday! Aldo's super-nice family took them to the mountains with them.  I wasn't quite sure where or why we were going, but I'm an exchange student, so I always say yes. In a nutshell, we went to one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  I kept kicking myself for not having my camera.  Oh well, I guess its an excuse to go back!  We went fishing, played soccer and basketball, had asado (kind of like Chilean barbecue), and introduced me to his HUGE family.  Some of his cousins go to school with me as well.  When I got home I was so tired and went to bed early.

This is the best picture I got and it still looks amazing.  Some of the mountains are covered in snow.

This week coming up is Fiestas Patrias, the Chilean national holiday.  I will be dancing the Chilean national dance, in costume, in front of the whole school, so stay tuned.  

Chao, 

Max

Settling In

I'm pretty sick, so I won't make this too long.  I don't know if its the foreign germs, spring allergies, bone-dry air, or general stress, but I can certainly say that I have had better days.  Jaqui, my host mom, brought me breakfast in bed this morning.  After talking with the other exchange students, they're all sick, too, so I'm not alone.

Last weekend, I went to the Talca Rangers soccer game with my host brother, Cristian, who's older and moved out of the house, as well as my host cousin Sebastian.  We lost to Temuco, but I still had so much fun.  His wife is also an amazing cook, and it was definitely one of the best meals I've eaten in Chile so far.  

The market where we went to buy the salmon and clams

Ra Ra Rangers!

I still look forward to school every day.  I learn more and more and my spanish gets better and better.  Jules, Tristan, and I are learning to dance La Cueca in gym class to perform in the school's independence day celebration.  Because it is on the 18th, known as Fiestas Patrias, September is basically Chilean Heritage Month,  My school even had a Catholic mass to begin the celebrations.  While I couldn't follow everything, it was a great reminder of how important Catholicism is to the Chilean history and culture.  

That's all for now.  I have to go find -another- box of tissues.  

Max

P.S. I posted a journal entry on the RYE Florida page.  You can read that here.