Manzanilla Té and other things

Nearly everyday I have a cup or 2 of manzanilla tea (at times, other types). Tea is good. Ana Maria drinks tea all the time, so I've picked up this daily custom of hers. On another note, I think I'm becoming more used to Santiago in general. What does that mean? I mean developing some sort of habit or being accustomed to everything. From taking the metro and/ or bus, to being surrounded by castellano (people don't like to call it español here for some reason), to eating salad with every single dinner (good stuff), to stopping by the panadería to get fresh hot bread on my way back home. It's a good feeling to feel like you're not completely a tourist. Speaking of tourist, when you bust out a camera, you are officially a tourist. Today on the metro, since our group was already being blatantly loud and speaking english, I decided to bust out my camera. While doing so, some penguinos (secondary school kids) started giggling. So I looked over and said, Sabemos que somos gringos. Muy obvio yah. And they giggled their way off the metro. I've become less self-conscious about being a gringa. Good sign I suppose.

A lot has been going on; classes, signing up for stuff, registering for stuff, getting our student transportation card, going out, blah blah. Emotionally its also been a fun little rollercoaster. I've had ridiculous waves of fear and peace. But thank God that He's been teaching me to just chill in Him. "Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday." (Psalm 37:5-6). It's hard a lot of the times to really internalize this promise, but that's here faith comes in. You just have to know. Cause its true and its been evident throughout your life. But yet, we always want another piece of reinforcing evidence to prove that God is really faithful. Stupid us.

Anyways, a quick summary:
-On Friday night some of us went to La Tavarena (located in Plaza Ñuñoa), an Italian restaurant--which was ok--, to celebrate America's Independence Day. Afterwards we went on a fatty long adventure in trying to find "Basic" bar, where many of our fellow EAPers were partying it up in celebration of I-Day. Didn't go in because 1) you had to pay a 4 buck entrance fee which I refused to do because: 2) smoky 3) lots of people packed in the little place 4) lots of craziness and debauchery. So la otra Grace, Ricardo, and I went on another fatty trek looking for a café to rest our weary feet. Failed. So we ended up in the same place we had eaten dinner, which was hecka far considering we took a bus to get to Basic. The air was freezing and super esmogy, so we took a taxi back to my house where we chilled. Ya.

- Saturday I woke up at beautiful 12pm and took my time getting ready. I went to my friend Garret's práctica (internship) to check it out: a hogar (house) for kids/people in general with disabilities. It was really an indescribable experience; both painful in a way, and beautiful in another. 2 of Garret's friends from church came along also. After a debrief of the rules and expectations, and a quick prayer, we went through the gates leading us to the center. The hogar was located in a barrio in La Reina (I think). The neighborhood was a huge contrast to Providencia, where I'm staying at the moment. It seemed a little more like what many would imagine border Mexico to look like. Not exactly, but something like that. There, Camilla, a 12 year old, met us at the door. She immediately grabbed our hands and lead us on a tour of the hogar. I don't know if I could really say much about the place, but it was cute in a way, but so serious in another. The bright colorfully painted walls, the life-sized images of Disney characters, the green garden in the middle, the drawings created by children, severely contrasted the images of kids with stunted limbs, bed-stricken, pallid faces, cries of pain, and crooked huesos. I was overcome by a mingling feeling of sadness, joy, hope, compassion, empathy, and even a bit of horror at how kids here had to live each day with so much of a burden, but yet justifiably, a gift. These kids are beautiful. They express their joy in whatever way the can. Joy, something they can have and express so fully.

I had to leave early because I met up with Vale, a former exchange student that was in my TA at Northwood Highschool. She had a lot of good advice for me since she had experienced living in a foreign place, learning a foreign language. She showed me around the ferira, el cerro Santa Lucia, and Barrio Lastarria where we had "once" (sort of like Chilean tea-time) at a uberly cute café. After that I went to Garret's asado (BBQ) at his house. It was a mix of Chilenos and gringos. Twas a good time of singing, eating, waiting, etc. Met some really cool people.

Sunday, church started at 5pm. Thats right. 5 pm. It was held in a room rented by a bigger church. The church was called Luz al Mundo. With a congregation of about 50 or so people, families, kids, college kids, etc, and a German Spanish-speaking pastor, Luz al Mundo, I must say, is one warm and passionate bunch. I really felt refreshed there. Afterwards we met Marcos (a Jack Black look-alike) and Arturo. We (Grace, me, Andrew, and Christine) went to eat at a "picada"(a good, cheap local restaurant). There we had cheese and shrimp empandas, and churiana (fries topped with chorizo, beef, eggs, and onion), something resembling Roberto's carne asada fries, but not quite there. Good stuff.

Today we had our cultural monitor, Luis, take us out to a "museum". Club Hipico. While all the other groups went to museums, we went to a horse racetrack founded in 1870. This self-guided tour was chill. We pretty much walked around and then sat in the stands observing the smoggy, yet picturesque scene. Afterwards we went to Barrio Republica and chilled at a strangely set-up bar where we (they) had wines, beers, (we had) sodas, juice, and more choriana.


Pictures:

Club Hipico

The stands.

Barrio Republica

Touristy us.