A giant hello to Hannah Webster's giant fan base!!!! I am very honored to have been given the task of "guest blogger" on the ever-exciting, highly humorous, and never disappointing 'traversing through chile' blogspot.

I have been in Chile for one week. My experiences have been full and colorful, meaningful and exciting, new and thought provoking, and....all in a fast, beautiful language that I, unfortunately, do not understand. It's a good thing I speak 'dance'.

The joys of my trip have been contained in many choice moments, a few of which I will recount for you here....

Hannah and I were able to catch each other up on many months of passed time in the morning sunlight on the porch of Hannah's house in Santiago. (She has several families and several houses across the Chilean landscape...none of you who know her are bewildered by such a feat, considering her nature of extreme and sometimes excess friendliness.) We drank tea and ate breakfast and sat and laughed in the sun, our feet up on the table and our eyes blissfully taking in the sights below. We felt like queens, rocking in our patio chairs, laughing, anticipating the coming day's adventures.

The adventures included day trips to surrounding areas...beautiful towns not too far from Santiago. Hannah has already told of these trips, but I must include the lasting impression the town of Valiparisio had on me. This town is full of intense color and perfectly situated houses on hills, and with skillful, thoughtful graffiti placed in unsuspecting places. I am inspired to mimic this town in my art. Oh, the colors!

Don't get me started on the handicrafts.

The prize moment of my trip so far has been the privilege of meeting Hannah's familia de Chile. These people are full of love and life and a desire to share it with anyone who crosses their doorway. Though it would be nice to speak Spanish just to know what is going on around me, I am more motivated to learn this language than ever before, just so I can communicate, learn, and relate to this family.

Last night, however, we were all speaking freely in a language commonly known as 'dance'. Everything was understood. (except for how Mata's hips can move.) I believe this language is similar to other universal languages such as music and smiles. Jorge and Lorna had been out until 8 pm or so. They came back from a long day and were sitting down to eat some dinner when Jorge heard the word 'dance' come from someone's mouth. Within minutes, Jorge had some Cuban music blaring, and the living room rugs had been pulled aside, transforming the room into a dance hall. Lorna gave Hannah and I a Salsa lesson, and we proceeded to have a full-on dance party for nearly an hour before we all ran out of steam and remembered our dinner.

Muy bacan! (cool)

Sincerely, Kristin

The Tinsel Hits South America

Kristin arrived Friday morning and we wasted no time getting this adventure started. Chile had a game that day and so we got right into the heart of it in downtown Santiago. I have never been in a mob scene or seen riot police but Friday I experienced both. The police had shields and were dressed to look like Ninja Turtles, I don't think that is what they were going for, but it was somehow calming. We got a bit lost and they were very helpful, I thank Kristin's beauty for this.

Here is one of many business men dressed ridiculously in support of Chile.
There were huge screens set up in various parts of the city so people could watch Chile. It was absolute madness and Chile lost, but that didn't keep people from honking their horns, blowing those horns, or containing their excitement that Chile advanced due to a tie.

Saturday we went to Pomaire the ceramic handicraft haven town that is about one hour from Santiago. We were dropped off on the side of the highway and had to find our way to the town, this proves Kristin is the best travel partner because she not only thought it was as funny as I did, she enjoyed it too. Kristin and I are a dangerous combination when it comes to handicrafts because we cannot resist them. Somehow we managed to leave the town without buying all their goods, but we definitely stimulated their economy. I would like to take this opportunity to sing Tinsel's praises because it takes a very special to trust me with their travel plans and she has done so wholeheartedly and with a great attitude even though she must be exhausted.

I loved Valparaiso the first time I went there with the Hanley's but the love was solidified experiencing it with Kristin. The whole city is an expression of art and the type of place I imagine Kristin living because it oozes creativity, individuality, and relaxation, just like her. We walked around the hills (which we were informed there are 45 of) and enjoyed the graffiti all around. We got a little bit picture crazy and will share the results of one pisco sour and a camera in our hands now.

The photos are more creative thanks to Kristin.

This photo is for you, Mom, notice the bird?

She was furious, can't you tell?

This dinosaur was ferocious.

Voodoo in the Classroom

Things have been pretty busy here, sorry for my absence dedicated blog readers (Mom and Kelsey) but I have been busy grading my students, watching the World Cup, and defending the USA's honor in it.
Some highlights from the past few days:
My host sister and brother threw a house party. This was my first ever high school party and it did not disappoint (it also included my friends another difference about Chile is that here everyone hangs out with each other regardless of age, it's not even weird). The party wrapped up around 7 a.m. but since I am old and I was in bed at 5 a.m. We threw a father's day party for Jorge the following day and were all a little worse for wear, but did not hesitate to indulge in an asado.
If I start acting more unusual than normal, I have the answer, yesterday my students asked me to close my eyes. I was expecting them to draw on my face, or give me a homemade chocolate (this happens quite frequently usually with some smooth line like, "A beautiful sweet flower for a beautiful sweet flower") but instead I am fairly certain they stole a piece of my hair for voodoo purposes. I can't be sure, but they definitely took some of my hair.
My students and I tried to watch the USA game today in class, but started a fire on accident because the t.v. cord was bad. They didn't act too surprised so I think this happens more often that one would hope.
I ate pigs head, it was really fatty. It included the meat from the face and brain. My stomach promptly punished me for that and went into spasms for the next 8 hours. How do Chileans do it? I want to be proud of them for not wasting any of the pig, but mostly I am nervous that their stomachs are not only strong enough to survive this they actually enjoy it.
Kristin Kientiz is coming down here and I could not be more excited! I am not sure if South America is ready for us, but this has been a dream ten years in the making, I can't believe it is finally coming true. If you don't hear from us, please either assume we are enjoying ourselves way too much or we have been kidnapped. I think that since we have both recently survived natural disasters we are more than cut out for any situation, Chile and Peru may not be though.

This also happened in my class, he was trying to be famous so that Hannah Montana would date him, isn't he clever? You can understand why I thought they were going to draw on my face now (don't question why I agreed to close my eyes please, I have already thought long and hard about it and the answer is, I'm in Chile).

This is me with a few of my fellow teachers during the game on Wednesday. I would like you to note that we are inside and I am wearing my scarf, headband, two coats, long johns, and I was still freezing.

I am trying to keep up with the changing times and have created a youtube account so you can view some of my favorite videos.
This is the Waka Waka performance from Tuesday. The quality isn't incredible, but I am the least technologically savvy person on the internet, so please forgive me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPJ2iFzD-xk

Enjoy!

Chichichi Lelele Vive Chile!

Chile won their World Cup game today! It would be impossible to be here and not know that because horns are honking, people are going wild, and there are tons of blowhorns everywhere you go. They played at 7:30 this morning and the whole city was excited about it. I woke up to take my host sister to school and all the cars were honking their horns, the students were dressed in red, white, and blue (I felt at home) and flags were all over. It was a rude awakening for me because I had made a deal with my students that we could have a party if Chile won, so I had been preparing for the party until 2 in the morning the night before. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled about all the noise, but decided to get into the spirit anyway.
I dressed up as a soccer player for school, carried a soccer ball around with me and tried my feet at dribbling it, but alas, I am no futbolista (soccer player). We spent the day doing the cheer from the title of the post, my students harassed me about being from the United States, and we danced to Waka Waka about 30 times. I would like to defend my choice of class by saying it would have been nearly impossible to have a real class because there was so much energy. It was incredible.
I feel pretty lucky to be able to be here and experience all the excitement.
I have heaps of videos to share, but google no longer uploads videos so I'm not sure how to share them, anyone have any tips?

Here is my host sister (on the left) and her friend. We made those headbands the night before. I am so patriotic!

My Return to Normality (it doesn't actually exist in Chile, but I pretend)

I decided to throw caution into the wind and live my Chilean life by going to visit friends in Temuco this past weekend. The good news is that I realized this illness has not taken away my love of dance nor my ability to have a good time, thank goodness, I was worried about that while I was stuck in my bed. I actually had the thought, "I may never have fun again, I am so bored, maybe I forgot what fun feels like" this was after about 40 puzzles and 80 games of monopoly. In retrospect I think I know why I felt that way. Monopoly really isn't all that fun. Once we all got together we decided to go to a resort town a few hours from Temuco, rent a cabana and live the luxurious life (translated ten people sharing 3 bedrooms, how luxurious).
Villarica is the love child between Red Lodge and Bozeman, it has all the necessities but has somehow managed to keep the small town vibe. It is located right on a huge lake with a stunning view of Volcano Villarica. My friends Honni, Johnny, and I decided to go for a walk late Friday night. It felt like a ghost town, we were the only ones on the road when all of a sudden two men with painted faces like the bank robbers from Point Break hailed us over to them. I was certain we were going to mugged or worse killed, and all I could think was, I only have $1 on me, they'll never believe that, but alas they were just free loving mimes. Johnny decided to have a mime off with them and I cannot remember ever laughing so hard nor being so confused. I love that this is my life in Chile.
I had a great weekend and felt ready for school so I have been going to school and listening to Waka Waka by Shakira no less than 35 times each day. The students had to prepare a 5 minute English presentation for me and as soon as I figure out how to upload those on here you will get to enjoy the hilarity that is Liceo Juanita Fernandez Solar.
I have to go catch a World Cup game, I will be cheering for Uruguay because I think a large part of my heart is still there.

Here is a list of things I have learned about Chileans, it is a work in progress, but a list nevertheless.
1. They love the Simpsons a lot, as in more than I thought anyone could.
2. They need a lesson in central heating.
3. They eat a lot of sugar and salt.
4. They know how to move their hips.
5. It is nearly impossible to have a conversation that is not full of passion. Sometimes this results in yelling during class, which is startling, but entertaining.
6. The circuses feed the street dogs to their animals. This breaks my heart and makes me think I would be the crazy dog lady here.
7. They love their families a lot.
8. They watch really bad telenovelas (soap operas) that I can't get into, but love to pretend I am.
9. Chilenismos are huge here which means they speak a little Spanish and a lot of Chilean.
10. Mi casa es su casa is actually the truth here. I have never felt more at home in a place that is not my home. They are extremely gracious and kind about including me in their lives.
11. They love Chile. They have so much pride for their country it is awesome!

I shall update this list every so often. I hope you are all doing well.