Off to the Campo (Farm)

Last Thursday night, I went to see Amanda W.'s volleyball game at San Ignacio. Unfortunately, she lost. Afterwards, I met up with Laura, Stephanie, Arturo, and a few of Laura's Chilean friends. First, we went to a pub and I talked to Arturo (a Mexican) and Esteban (a Chilean) about US politics. They absolutely love Barrack Obama. After the pub, we went to a dance club called Blondie. We had a really great time. I danced on the stage and the balcony. I got back to my house a little before 7am. Friday, I met up with Rob, Eli, Hanna, Brittany, Pia and Claudio to go to Claudio's grandparents' farm house for the weekend. It took us two hours to get there. The town was called Patagua. After dinner, we went for a walk around the farm. It was really dark. Eli was really scared, so we all hid around the farm and tried to scare her. I fell in a really deep hole, but luckily didn't get hurt. Later, we went to a friend of Claudio's farm house and talked to a bunch of people. I was the tallest by at least a foot. Pia and I rode bicycles around the neighborhood. The next day, we had pino empanadas for lunch. They were so good. I tried one of Chile's hottest peppers...ummm...yeah...it was incredibly hot. After lunch, I learned to drive a manual tractor...now I just need to learn how to drive a manual car. Later, we went to a wine festival. There we saw the cueca (Chile's national dance), I rode a mechanical bull and learned that many spanish words have double meanings in Chile. At night, we went to a farm disco, which was a little strange, but fun. It was right next to an abandoned rodeo, where I found a lonely, sad horse. I felt bad for him. The next day we had a really big cookout. The grandfather thought I was from Argentina because I couldn't understand him. People from the farm here, speak very differently. Before we left, I went for a walk around the farm with Jacke (Claudio's aunt), Camilla (Claudio's cousin), Hanna and Pia. From Jacke I learned a lot about the farm. After every corn harvest, they burn the whole farm because it enriches the soil. It's very dangerous, but somehow the wind controls the fire. During the winter, they grow lemons and oranges. We left the farm around 6:15pm.

Too Much English

Yesterday, I decided to go to church with Hanna because she always went with me to Catholic churches during our February vacation. I think it was a Non-Demoninational church. When we entered the church, a man handed a book with all the hymns and said, "good morning" in english. It took me by surprise. I asked Hanna why they are talking in english and she told me that it's an english service. For some reason, I felt really uncomfortable. Being here, I'm trying to get as far away as possible from english. Afterwards, Hanna introduced me to some of her friends of the Church and we spoke in english. It was just too much english for me. In the afternoon, I went to an art museum called Bellas Artes. I went with Arturo, Hanna, and Brittany. Arturo is absolutely hilarious. He always is full of energy and always has something to say. After the museum, we got banana and honey ice cream that was absolutely delicious. After dinner, I finished my reading for my Poverty and Development class. This morning I went for a run, and realized that I really like running past smokers because it's like I'm making sure they know that smoking is unhealthy. Sometimes I just want to turn to them and ask them, "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Just Poloin'

Last night, I met up with my group of gringos because during the past week it was three people's birthdays. We just went to a pub and I talked to Arturo for awhile...he's a part of the exchange program, but he's from Mexico. Afterwards everyone went dancing, but I didn't because I was feeling a little under the weather and I had a game the next day.

Today, I had a wopo game at 3pm at el Estadio Nacional. We played the Chilean selection team again, so it was pretty much just a scrimmage. Amanda W. and Liz came to see the game. Afterwards, we went to Bravissimo for ice cream. I had an amazing sundae that had a delicious Sunday in the middle. I'm still feeling a little congested, so I'm not going to do anything tonight. I hope it passes soon.

First Tests

Wednesday was my first test this semester. It was for my modern philosophy class. The test focused on three works written by Rene Descartes. I think I did alright. I studied with my Chilean friend, Natacha, before the test. The teacher came in the class, read off three questions, and then we had an hour and a half to right three essays. I ended up writing a total of three pages. It was a little rough, but not too bad. I think I did better on my state test Thursday. I understood the questions better, and I feel I knew a lot more. The test format was the same. I wrote three and a half pages for this test. After my philosophy test Wednesday, I bought an as from school. Yes, it's spelled right. An as is like a philly cheese steak with avocado, mayo, and tomatoe. It was so good. It's definitely my favorite Chilean fast food. For $1.50, I got an as that was as big as a subway footlong roll and juice...can't get better than that. Wednesday night at water polo practice, we played in the outdoor pool that we usually do, but now it has a huge globe over it...thank God...it was getting cold. Yesterday, I planned a trip to the north of Chile with a friend who also goes to Loyola in Maryland. We are going to Iquique, San Pedro de Atacama, and Antofagasta between May 21st and May 25th. We got an unbelievable deal on the plane tickets. This morning, we went to the bus station and bought our tickets, so we can travel between the cities up north. This afternoon, I got my haircut. I don't know. I think I like talking to the hairdressers here more. In the states, sometimes it's just awkward.

Last Sunday, a sophomore from Loyola in Maryland was killed in a hotel room in Towson. Her parents and little sister came down for the weekend, and it is suspected that her father killed the whole family and then himself. He is suspected to have been involved in illegal scandals with his clients. He was a lawyer in New York. My heart goes out to the family and friends of Stephanie. I just want to say to all my family and friends that I love you and that I really, really miss you. What I've learned from this is to not take anything or ANYONE for granted.

With All the Love I Can Give

Josh

I Love Speaking Spanish!!!

I spent the whole morning in the library studying for my two tests this week. Before class, I met David and Fabian, who are in my Philosophy class. They are both Jesuits, and really nice guys. We had a great conversation, and they invited me to study with them Wednesday. After class, I went with my Chilean friend Natacha to a philosophy presentation. At practice, I met Xander, who is from Holland. He's a really great guy. It's kind of nice to have another gringo on the team. After practice, I took the metro home with Carlos. We had an awesome conversation about school, water polo, and more water polo.

The Burger That They Served on Noah's Ark

Well, hello there. Thursday was nothing special; just another day of class. At night, I went to my friend Esteban's house to play Madden 08 until 3am...he beat me in all 7 games. Friday, I read literally all day until my head hurt. At water polo practice, we worked on ball control and anticipation on defense. Then, we scrimmaged for about an hour. Afterwards, I went to Esteban's to watch the end of the Brewers/Mets game. The Mets won in the bottom of the ninth. Esteban was bragging about how latino ballplayers are really good...which is true. We played one game of Madden, and I actually won. It was like a miracle because he's beat me the last 20some times. I was the Ravens and he was the Vikings. Saturday, I went to Santa Lucia to study for a bit. There was a really cool, young religious group there singing some pretty cool songs. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Corinne's name at Santa Lucia....she wrote her name on one of the rocks there when she studied in Chile during high school. After studying, I went shopping and bought two jerseys and a sweater. One jersey is of the Chilean National soccer team and the other is of la Universidad de Chile...my favorite professional Chilean soccer team. Soooo...the sweater. You might think it's ridiculous, but I absolutely love it....judge for yourself. And yes, it will stretch out. I need to soak it in water. It's made up sheep's wool. At about midnigt, I had second dinner with a few friends at the Break House. I had a really good burger called the Noah Burger. It had lettuce, tomatoe, pickles, chili sauce, and mayo. It was surved in a plastic container that looked like Noah's ark....no, just kidding. Today, I went to 9am mass, and then studied until lunch. At lunch, I called my grandmother a liar...we are close enough that I can do that...because she said that she saw on tv that a boy ate a seed of somesort, then it somehow got into his lung, and then it grew into a plant. Guess what? She was right. We saw pictures of it and the article on line. We also watched a video of Susan Boyle, the lady from British Idol. In the afternoon, I sadly watched la Universidad de Chile lose to Colo Colo...a team that I think of as the Yankees. Not fun, when most of the city cheers for Colo Colo.

Soccer and Jesus

Saturday morning, Brittany told me that the University of Chile...my favorite team...had a game that night and she really wanted to go. We went to the stadium at 10am to get tickets for the game at 6:30pm. We talked to a few fans in line and they told us that the game that night against Santiago Morning...which Brittany and I called Sunday Morning...would be an easy win for the U. Well, we went to the game, but the U didn't play too well. They had some chances, but couldn't capitalize. Every good chance Sunday Morning had, they were able to put it in the back of the net. The U lost 3-1. The one awesome thing about the game was that everytime Sunday morning scored, the U fans would cheer even louder to get the U back in the game. After the game, I went to the Easter Vigil with my family. For Easter, it was just like any other Sunday. My family didn't do anything out of the ordinary. At night, I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar with Rob, Eli, Laura, Hanna, and Pia. I forgot how much I loved this musical. It was absolutely phenomenal. Even though it was in spanish, the music and rhythm were exactly the same as they are in english. The actors were really great, especially Jesus and King Herod.