Little Tid-Bits

I don't have class today and we were supposed to go hiking but our plans were changed (this seems to happen here a lot, this was the third time this week that my plans have been changed. I'm learning to roll with it...). So with my free day I thought I would take the time to share some random but interesting things I have seen and experienced here. 

#1

You know how I said my mom does everything for me? This is my breakfast. EVERYDAY. She sets up my table and chair, pours my cereal, heats up some water for tea, and makes me my breakfast sandwich (which I have begun to crave). EVERYDAY. 

Also, mom, please note how narrow the kitchen is. This place takes "galley kitchens" to a new level. 

#2  (I just couldn't help myself) 

Correct me if I'm wrong but the conspiracy theorists were right, Elvis didn't die, he just had a sex change and moved to Chile. 

#3

I appreciate that The US is incredibly capitalist and can never take a moment to catch their breath but I'm beginning to think we take it a bit too far. Wednesday was a nation holiday to celebrate The Virgin Mary. So we didn't have school. The Virgin Mary? For real?! We would never get away with something like that back home. I think these people just want an excuse to skip work. And I don't have a problem with it. Not a bit. 

#4 

The profs here are super chill. We were discussing Chilean holidays in class yesterday with Soraya (my reading and writing prof) and she says, if you need an extended holiday so you can travel just tell your professor. If enough students are going to be missing the class your prof will move the class and push back all of the assignments that are due. SERIOUSLY??? I wish one of the CCU business profs had overheard that, any one of them would have fainted at the thought of changing their schedule. And for that very reason Soraya won't give us a syllabus. She says that holidays are too frequent, illness spreads like wildfire with exchange students, and she never knows how fast or slow her international students are going to learn. So everything is flexible and just depends on how everyone is feeling about the assignments. I'm in heaven!!

#5

One of the reasons the profs are so chill is because of timing here. Its a big joke that the country runs on Tiempo Chileano (chilean time). I would compare this to Beseda timing. You have to tell everyone in our family to arrive a half hour early or they will show up late. The same thing goes here. Youth group on Fridays starts at 7:00 but things don't really get started until 7:30 to allow for all of the people that will come late. It drives me CRAZY!!! I am by no means on time to anything in the states, but like everything here, they take being late to an extreme. Its perfectly normal to have students walking into class 15 and 30 minutes late. ?????!!! What? I can't even imagine! If I was going to be that late for class I wouldn't even bother showing up. But not here, fashionably late in Chile means arriving early. 

#6 

Also important to note: We aren't supposed to eat in class. I thought I was going to fall out of my chair the first time I heard it! I ALWAYS eat in class. It helps me stay awake and I'm a snacker. I don't eat huge means, I eat a little bit at a time all day long. Not here. Not in class. I am left to starve to death as I take notes and strain my poor little brain. Its a tragedy. (but lets be honest, I still sneak a few bites of food here and there when my profs turn around to write on the board. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to survive lol) 

#7 

I am currently planning 2 trips: One to Mendoza, Argentina, and one to The Atacama Desert in northern Chile. I AM SO EXCITED!!! The Mendoza trip will be with my friend David in the middle of September. I'm hoping we might get another person to go with us but it's not super important. We are going to spend a long weekend there and explore, do a wine tour, and experience all that is Argentina (which means we will be eating BEEF!!!! ...hopefully) This trip is going to be more of a fly by the seat of our pants trip because its so short. I don't have any great expectations for this trip other than having fun. But The Atacama is a different story. David is also going with me on this trip and we are going to be there for about 11 days if transportation works out right. We want to stay in hostels for a couple nights but we really really really want to go camping. Theres a place called Valle de la Luna which has no light pollution so the stars are supposed to be AMAZING. We are going to camp there. No exceptions, its happening. I can't wait!!!

I snagged this off of Google images. The Atacama is going to be beautiful!

#8

I fought a very tough moral battle this afternoon: When is a leg hair considered alive? When it has been on your leg for a month? When that month has been long enough for said leg hairs to learn a foreign language? When you have had enough adventures with that leg hair to have made a strong bond? It was hard for me to finally shave for the first time since I've been here (because my shower is too small to make leg shaving maneuvering

possible) but after staring at the ugly little guys for 10 minutes I was decidedly Pro Choice Leg Shaving. I know I should be ashamed with myself but I just couldn't take it anymore. 

Thats all I've got for now but I will keep you posted on the next round of adventures that come my way.