MY LAST BLOG FROM CHILE

Hola Todas!!! How crazy is it that I am writing my very last blog from Chile!!!

Richard and Vicki’s visit was great. We did so much while they were here. I have tons of funny memories from this past week. I was so happy to have them see first hand what Tias y Tios is and for them to meet the members of the Rotary Club of Playa Ancha. We’ll be working on a matching grant to help the Puertas Negras Consultorio and also some projects with Tias y Tios. I am thrilled that our project is going to continue into the future. I also hope that the incoming scholars will be interested on spending time with the Tias y Tios kids as well.

I must say this experience has been incredible in every way…incredibly fun, interesting, fulfilling, challenging…the list has no end. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity and to have met such incredible people. My Chilean family, the Tias y Tios kids and volunteers, my host Rotary Club, my Chilean roommate, my teachers and of course Jessica Anne Gale (the other Rotarian Scholar) have all made my adventure in Chile an amazing experience. There is no doubt that Chile is a beautiful country, but for me it’s the people I’ve befriended here that make it so special. I really have no regrets and as my departure time creeps up on me I know I am leaving here with new family, new friends and new memories.

Tonight I said goodbye to the Tias y Tios kids. No one likes goodbyes, but I did my best not to cry and to keep a smile on my face. I will see them again, and I am excited to see how this experience will impact them (and me) as time passes. Thursday I head into Santiago for my last night with the Munoz family. Friday I get to meet my new Chilean niece, Matilda. I still can’t believe I was in Chile for Carla’s full pregnancy term. They have been truly like family to Jessica and I. I started my Chilean adventure with them and I plan to finish it that way too.

Before I head to bed, I want to give a shout out to Rotary for everything they’ve done for me. Words cannot describe how grateful I am that they believed in me and stuck by me even the second time around. THANK YOU ROTARY!!!!

Buenas Noches!!!!

Vicki and Richard from the Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks have ARRIVED!!!

Hola Todos!! As you know, I traveled down to Patagonia last week and this week my Rotary Club sponsors Richard Williams and Vicki Arndt arrived for their week long visit. Many of the T.O. Rotarians will be following my blog this week for updates, so I will blog and post pics from Patagonia next week.

Vicki and Richard (now know as Ricardo or Ricky Ricardo) arrived late Monday night. Aside from being smashed by the elevator door and a little rain storm today, Vicki and Richard’s visit is going great thus far. Upon their arrival in Vina around 10:30 p.m. which is the exact time Chileans eat dinner, we did as Chileans do and headed to a dinner spot around the corner. Vicki tried some Chilean wine and Ricardo an Escudo (Chilean beer). He said it was a little sweet, but nonetheless drank all of it.

DAY ONE: Jessica and I picked them up and headed to the new Starbucks to grab coffee before starting our long day. Our first stop was at my university, La Universdad Catolica de Valparaiso, where we met with one of my favorite professors, Fanor Larraine. He speaks great English and has an extensive background in Chilean history, politics and culture. The charla (chat) lasted about an hour and a half and it was a great introduction to Chile for Vicki and Richard.

After that we went for a walk through the local fruit and veggie market. Vicki was the hit of the town. A vendor gave Vicki a cherimoya for free and we even took a photo of with him (see below). Meanwhile, all the other vendors teased him for being so popular with the gringas.

Then we walked over to the National Congress where there was a large protest taking place. Currently, in Chile many of the professors and public health workers are on strike. The presidential election is less than a month away and the workers are trying to demand drastic changes before the current administration leaves. I was actually really glad they could see a protest in action because protests, marches and strikes are a big part of the Chilean culture. It is the method of choice to initiate change. We didn’t stay long…no need to look for trouble, but it was cool to watch for a few minutes.

Then we headed to the port for lunch. We ordered ostiones parmesanos (scallops in a parmesan butter sauce) to share. Vicki and Ricardo ordered conger eel for their main dishes and Jessica and I had the Reineta. It was delicious. Vicki and Ricardo headed back to the hotel for nap time and Jessica and I met up with Gina to buy her new refrigerator.

Around 7:00 p.m. Vicki and Ricardo came over to my apartment for dinner. I cooked my famous casserole. Then we had Once at Lily’s house. It was lovely welcome event. Vicki and Ricardo were introduced to Pisco Sours. Vicki calls them Piso Sours which means either floor sours or piss sours…hilarious. They also had some Chilean pastries and the all too popular in Chile, potato chips. I was very impressed with Playa Ancha’s turnout. Of the 16 members, I think all but two were present. Some members brought their spouses and even the head doctor from the Consultorio (Clinic) stopped by to meet Vicki and Ricardo. Jessica and I did most of the translating which was cause for some funny moments throughout the night. I was very surprised at how many of the members of Playa Ancha tried to speak English. They did an amazing job and the effort was truly sincere.

DAY 2: Although it was rainy and cloudy today we had a fun filled day of Rotary activities. First we went to the Puertas Negras Consultorio (Black Doors) in Playa Ancha. The clinic is the poorest out of the 13 public clinics in Valparaiso. It is located at the top of the hills in Playa Ancha and has the highest rate of drug addiction, crime, prostitution and delinquency in the Valpo area. They are only open until 5:30 p.m. because it is too dangerous to be open past those hours. Puertas Negras is basically the one stop shop for health care. They treat all ages and all sicknesses including dentistry and mental health. They provide primary care, health education and many other services. The treatment is completely free of cost. There needs are great, but the staff does the best they can with what they have. They’re goal is to transform themselves into a more modern clinic so they can increase not only the quality of the treatment they provide but also the number and types of patients they can treat. We walked through the clinic and met with the Director, Ernistina, and the head doctor, Alejandro, to discuss a potential project. The staff is extremely dedicated and it is obvious they don’t work there for the money. As we walked through the waiting area was crawling with mainly babies, children and women. It was quite a sight to see.

After the clinic visit we headed to a local elementary school. My host Rotary Club of Playa Ancha does quite a bit of work with the local schools. At this particular one, they started a gardening program. They teach the children gardening along with the importance of eating healthy and working with the land. The teachers have been on strike for about 3 weeks so the garden looked neglected, but when the strike ends they’ll resume the program.

In the evening we all headed to the Rotary Club meeting of Playa Ancha. It was a great meeting with a delicious pineapple dessert. Eugenio our designated chauffeur for the week took us on a mini tour through Valparaiso on the way home. Vicki took some amazing pictures and we learned a lot about the history of Valparaiso.

Vicki and Ricardo headed out to experiment with the Chilean vino and Jessica and I went to bring stuff up to Gina’s house. Vicki brought some books in Spanish, games, puzzles and toiletries for the kiddies.

As I’m writing this I can feel my eyelids getting heavy, so I think I should head to bed. I will keep you all updated on our adventures.

Buenas Noches!!

Hola Todos!!!

My Chile clock is winding down…and I am jam packing it with activities!!!

Two weekends ago Jessica and I hiked to La Mina in the national park, La Campana. It was by far the most difficult hike I’ve done. It was vertical and rocky the whole time. It took about 4 hours in all. The views were beautiful. Everything was green and there were tons of flowers. We even found flowers that look like little clogs (shoes) and a crazy colored lizard.



I also celebrated my 26th birthday last week. I am so old…j/k. My roommates sang to me and so did all my Tias y Tios kids…all in Spanish of course. I also called my Nana who sang to me as well, but in English. We ate at the Pizza Hut and had Tres Leches cake.

Halloween was next. Chile doesn’t really celebrate Halloween so we did our best to dress up. Jessica and I were birds. We only found masks with feathers and that was the extent of our costume. It’s the effort that counts right! A nice surprise was that my Chilean brother, Nacho, his girlfriend and some of their friends drove to Valpo from Santiago to go out with us. We all went to Bre and Blake’s apartment and then to a discotheque.

School has been really busy. Today Jessica and I turned in a 15 page paper for our Mexican Revolution class, yesterday I turned in an 8 page take home test for Narrativa, last week I turned in a 6 page paper for Globalizacion and the week before that a 9 page paper for Teatro. Thursday I have Teatro presentation and report due. That is just the writing part…we’re reading plays, stories and novels on top of all these “trabajos.” It just doesn’t stop. School definitely keeps me on my toes.

Tias y Tios has been incredible. The Dunes were really fun! The kids could not get enough of it. Even Julio who sometimes has trouble doing our more physical activities was a champ. They had sand in their eyes, mouth, nose, shoes, ears…everywhere. Gina said they were exhausted and filthy when they got home.

We also went up for once to check on the house. As you can see from the pics, it actually looks like a house on the inside. The kitchen is all set up and aside from some painting and lighting, things are good to go.

This Sunday we had a big beach day with them. The sun decided not to come out, but let me tell you, the kids did not care one bit! Romanet swam and boogie boarded for hours. The boys also spent most of the time in the water. We played volleyball, paddle ball and cards. Javiera taught me game called 15 which made it very clear that my math skills are below that of a 4th grader. She got a kick out of my inability to add.

I also have some big news. Jessica’s Rotary Club in Arizona is going to be donating funds for a fridge for the kids. Their fridge broke a few months back and they been running out of the house every time they need to by cold items. We surprised her with the news yesterday. She is ecstatic. Could you imagine a family of 10 living without a fridge??

I’ve also been busy planning for my Rotary Club’s visit in a few weeks. They come the 16th-23rd of November. I met with my host Rotary Club president and past president to start scheduling visits, dinners and activities. It will be a jam packed week but lots of fun!

I leave on Friday for Patagonia. I will be trekking through the national park, Torres del Paine, for 4 nights and 5 days. We are back packing which means we are carrying our food, tent, sleeping bags, everything. This will be my first backpacking experience, and I’m just praying that it doesn't rain. Send dry thoughts my way. I checked the weather today and it was 5 degrees Celsius with showers…yikes!!!

I'll blog when I get back!!! I hope all is well stateside!!

:)

Kelly

Road Trip, Mendoza, etc.

Hola Todos,

It has been a whirlwind the past few weeks. I went on two big trips back to back. One was a road trip with some friends (Bre, Blake and Jessica) up the coast to Bahia Inglesa and Pan de Azucar. We camped on the beach in both places! It was incredible to say the least. I haven’t camped in long time. I had forgotten how much I love it. Mom, you'd be proud of me. I remembered how to put up the tent and roll a sleeping bag nice and tight.The fresh air, interesting people, beautiful scenery…it was definitely a highlight of my Chile experience thus far. Also, I learned how to drive a manual. What better time to learn stick than with a rental car!!! Below are some pics. As you can see it wasn’t as sunny as we had hoped; however, that didn't stop us from going swimming!

My next trip was this past weekend. We went to Mendoza, Argentina. It is a quick 7 hour bus ride, which fit perfectly into our 4 day weekend. (They celebrate Columbus Day here...ironic huh!). While in Mendoza we visited some natural hot springs, toured the wine country on bikes and visited the zoo. On the winery route we also stopped at and olive oil factory. It was by far the best olive oil I've tasted! The zoo was by far my favorite part of the long weekend. It is located in a large park, actually one of the largest parks in South America. Anyways, we went jogging and stumbled upon it. Unfortunately, we did not have a camera to document the madness that is the Mendoza Zologico. I’ve never seen so many animals “getting it on” all at one time in my life. Monkeys, goats, and even bears…yes bears….all up bright and early doing the “deed.” GROSS!!! Jessica and I being the mature Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars that we are could not control ourselves. It was a hilarious and absurd experience. I’m sure all the Argentine families thought we were highly inappropriate.

Tías y Tíos is going great as usual. Our last event at the fire station was great. The boy especially enjoyed this activity. The firefighters gave them a tour and explained how all the equipment worked. They even let the kids slide down the fire pole and try on all the uniforms. In Chile, all the firefighters are volunteers. We talked to the kids about the importance of giving back to their community and that volunteering as a firefighter would be a great future option for them. I think it made a big difference that the firefighters on duty were able to explain their role and the process of becoming a firefighter in Chile.

Our next event is this Sunday. We are taking the kids to go sand surfing at the dunes in Con Con, a town nearby. They have no idea what we have planned, but I am sure they will have a blast. Tomorrow evening, Jessica and I will also be going up to their house for a visit. I’m excited to see if they have re-arranged furniture, etc.

I got some good news last week…my old roomie Julie is coming to CHILE!!! There is also a possibility my home Rotary sponsors from Thousand Oaks will be coming to visit me too. I feel so special!!! Too bad Kevin is too tall or I’d have one of them pack him in their suitcase!!!

I have more pics than the ones posted with this blog, but I am going to post them on facebook as albums.

I hope all is well en los EEUU.

:)

Kelly