The End of the Tunnel

Hey everyone! I decided to write just a little blerb before I set off on my biggest adventure here in Chile: Patagonia! I leave in 7 days and I have sooooo much to get done. I've worked pretty hard this last week and today so I'm taking a couple of minutes to write to you guys. Since Pucon I've battled yet again with sickness. This time it was a sinus infection that basically knocked me off my feet! My whole body hurt and my face hurt because I was so congested. My sinuses hurt so bad that I was taking IB's everyday because it was giving me headaches! Needless to say I'm ready to be back in my natural environment where I wont be sick anymore. I feel like I've been sick down here more than I ever have been in my life! But I ventured to the doctor and got antibiotics and am thankfully feeling tons better! This is very important as I'm venturing out to a wilderness where anything can happen especially weather wise!

Besides the sickness portion, my culture class here in Chile took a tour in Valparaiso to look at graffiti. Here in Chile the art is free to look at because it's on the streets! Just one of the reasons I love Valpo. It just makes everything so colorful! Last weekend was a beach and pool weekend. Jeannie, Nicole, Celine, and I brought Camila (our chilean sister) and Martin (Camila's cousin) to the pool at a family apartment to just chill and play a little in the water! It was awesome! The next day we took the kids to Con Con to the beach which is about a 1/2 hour away. It was amazing to just lie, get as hot as you can, and then go play in the waves with the kids. There were tons of surfers too which really made me want to learn how to surf! That will be another adventure later in life! My skin is looking pretty tan now... aren't you jealous Coloradans? Summer is definitely here and the flowers are just beautiful! Walking to class everyday slowly allows me to just enjoy looking around at Chilean life which includes this tree I walk back that has purple blooms! PURPLE BLOOMS! You don't see that in Colorado! It's so beautiful!

This last week I was still getting better but worked really hard on my 7 page paper about the US's influence on the Chilean government in 1970. I learned a lot of things about the US and now I can understand why they told us to not go to Santiago on September 11th which is when Allende was overthrown with the help of the CIA! Anyway I got a lot done because I knew that I wouldn't do it this weekend. Sergio (our chilean brother) is at his half way point in his medicine studies so they had a huge part in a tiny town called Olmu which is about an hour away on the subway. They rented a cabana that had a pool and BBQ and a bunch of rooms! It was a blast just hanging out, talking spanish, and eating good food!

Now this week I'm tying loose ends up which includes all my essays for various classes, an oral presentation, and finally packing to leave for good and for my trip! I have seven days to get everything together! I'm nervous but super excited because the group we've got will provide lots of entertainment for the two weeks of hiking and traveling together! I'm going to get my butt kicked because I haven't done a ton of exercise down here with all my sicknesses but it's going to be a good butt kicking! I'm really looking forward to it! I'll be sure to post about it when I get back to the US safe and sound! I hope you are all getting your stomachs ready for Thanksgiving! My program here knows how important Thanksgiving is to us so they're throwing a Thanksgiving dinner/ end of the program party on Thanksgiving! Then Friday I'm celebrating my 21st birthday down here in Vina with all my closest friends here and then my actual birthday will be somewhere in Tierra del Fuego or Torres del Paine... don't really know where I'll be for it! Either way it'll be a birthday I never forget!

Well that's it for now folks! Thanks so much for reading about my adventures here in Chile and of course there are more stories that I never mentioned! You'll be hearing about Chile and my spanglish for awhile! haha See you all in 2o days!! Que estes bien y nos vemos pronto! Besitos y abrazos! Chao Chao!!