defeating the purse snatchers

well, since i've been royally slacking with writing in the blog and i now have something else to avoid doing, this seems like the perfect time to update.

last night i shot my first gig in chile--a blues/rock show at a venue called La Piedra Feliz--The Happy Rock. that name really made me happy. i had no idea what to expect, really, in regard to the show itself or the exact nature of what my assignment would be. in reality: 1. take pictures. check. easy. 2. write a 1000-word review. in spanish. not so easy, considering i have never written an entertainment article, nor have i ever written anything 1000 words long in spanish. i have been toying with ideas in my head all day, but have yet to actually write anything substantial. oh well. here's to procrastination.


[El Cruz, a santiago-based blues-rock band]

the band was good--like i said, i had no idea what to expect--and man, their harmonica player could waaaail. but i could not stop staring at this guy--he had a serious case of bulging crotch. i still haven't decided if i think he stuffed it or not. probably not but... it just didn't make sense. ok. awkward.

there was a minor mixup with my assignment last night… i got there at 8 p.m., was supposed to get there at 10. no big. so i decided to go back to viña for an hour, then to valpo again for the show. i took a collectivo, which is a group taxi that has a set route. this was the first time i’d traveled between the two cities by myself. also the first time i realized for an extended amount of time where i am in the world. chile! something about the combination of a wild driver, tiny successes and the orange lights from the sprawl of houses thrown onto the hills just got me, i guess.

we’ve gone on trips the past 2 weekends, so these next couple days will be a little more chill, just staying in viña and hopefully exploring valparaíso some more. i like to think of myself as being very independent, but so far here i’ve just been sticking with the group, feeling the place out. i’m just afraid of getting mugged and my camera being stolen. i hate to admit it. the language barrier thing is what gets me, i think. like if some crazy dude is running up to me yelling stuff i’m not going to have any idea what he’s saying. now i feel like i’ve got a better handle on the situation though, and i’m more comfortable in the city. plus, my spanish is getting way better.

brett and i just decided that we're going to bolivia her last week here! i'll still have 5 days or so, so who knows where i'll go after that...

p.s. chilean hot dogs are kickass. they come with tomatoes and a ton of guacamole. se llaman 'completos.'

me gustas tu

yeah? yeah. yeah.

it's late. so i will just leave you with some pictures for now.


[me and the pacific ocean]





[the boardwalk of viña with lights of valparaíso in the background.]


[lots of cute little kids live in chile. no kidding! this is one of them.]

failure

so i tried to make a post earlier but the internet at my apartment sucks. it even had pictures!

viviendo en chile

if you're anything like me, and your mind is oftentimes not exactly where it 'should' be (i.e. you're with a bunch of people and instead of contributing to conversation you just watch and listen to those around you), you'll understand this. maybe you will even if that made absolutely no sense.

i feel like i'm in the U.S.

for the most part, viña del mar looks like it could be bellingham, or vancouver or maybe even alabama. riding a bus is like riding a bus anywhere else. shopping at the grocery store is no different than at home. all the stores at the mall have their own credit cards. family dinner is, well, a family dinner complete with questions and jokes and laughing at the antics of a 6-year-old. i can't get enough of the fact that although i'm in a different country, hemisphere, time zone, coast... everything is still the same. granted, people talk faster than new yorkers on crack and they're all speaking spanish. that's even not so terribly hard to deal with a lot of the time. i'm surprised with how much i can understand (when they talk slowly!). speaking is a different story, but that will come in time.

my arrival was messy business, what with paying $150 USD for a taxi ride to viña , arriving to no roommate (and no key), and brett coming to save me. all in all though, not so bad.

tomorrow i begin spanish classes. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. mon.-fri. i should actually probably get to sleep now, so my brain will function in spanish mode en la mañana. eesh.

no pictures yet. they'll come soon enough.