back home?

Darc, my Mom and I left this afternoon. I'm headed back home to chicago. I think I'm ready though, home's there now. I just need to figure things out, like finding an internship, etc etc. It'll all work out, so I'm told. It's nice to have some people behind you, like my aunt. She thinks I should take the foreign service exam an become a foreign service worker. I'm not sure I'm up for it, but it'd give me something to work towards, to study for. I'll have to study a ton, and I need to keep up my grades this semester. 

Home for Xmas.

A few reflections, highlights, and updates...

• Mom's van got towed on wednesday because of the snowstorm. She sees it as being a little expensive parking, it's $100 to have it parked at Bruender's Auto Body til Sunday!
• Trista got in touch with Mary Beth, the head animal investigator of the Humane Society.  Tris will possibly fulfill a dream of working for them as an animal investigator.. we'll all cross our fingers for her that it works out! 
• Darc is looking at grad schools, but before she goes to grad school, she'll be in detroit for at least three months with Covenant House.
• Sheila's gave everyone pedicures. Mom hired her to give them to us as xmas presents. Thanks Mom and Sheila!
• LOTR marathon.. each family member is given a LOTR character equivalent. Results aren't scientific, and are debatable. 
• Gerald showed up unexpectedly Christmas eve eve morning. We didn't think he'd come because of the weather, but he came bursting through the door and we were overjoyed! 
• Nique came over, bringing christmas cheer to everyone if anyone was lacking. She's really into webkins, and was on the virtual pet website ALL day. Today Mom gave her two new white terriers (webkin terriers) for Xmas. That reminds me, I miss Charlie and Toby!! 
• Dad gave all of us socks from Vermont. He's got to go out each time and comes back with his arms full of socks and unloads them into our laps and a fifty dollar bill he tosses on top of the pile. It isn't unexpected or out of character for him to do it this way, in fact it's exactly the way I'd expect him to give me a gift. I love the socks too, they're quality and made in the USA. Thanks Dad!
• Aunt Carolyn reads letters from Grandpa Burl to Grandma during WWII. He wrote them while in California, where he was an airplane mechanic. The letters all began with language like My darling Harriet.. He wrote that he didn't think the war was good for people in love, and spoke of the monotony and how he wished the months would sprout wings. It was in the days of spelling bees, and baseball games, and corn whisky. Also, the days of Mussolini and Hitler, my grandpa cited a song playing on the radio, of a dialogue between two fascist dictators. 
• ... I never met Grandpa,  only saw pictures, and he was always dreamy but I didn't realize how dreamy he actually was until hearing the letters he wrote to grandma. I'm glad she didn't burn all of the letters after he died, maybe she forgot about them or kept them on purpose, either way I'm glad these last few were saved. Words written down and saved are priceless. They capture more than a sentiment, but a time, a place, a culture, a society. I think I'll start writing more letters, and saving more of the ones I receive. 

 

maybe this will help..

So, I've been feeling this urge to write more, and not because I feel like other people should read it, but mostly for myself, to stay more connected. We'll see how it goes.
It's been raining a whole lot lately. And it's getting cold. I complain, but secretly I like it, the seasons changing because with it I feel like I too can change, if I want to. If I want to. Like I mentioned before, I want to be more connected. Yesterday I did yoga, I'll be getting a yoga mat soon, so I can do it at home. And I've been going for more runs outside, stopping at the river, at a dead end, and then at water's elementary where there's a garden. These things are helping..

hoy estaba nublado.

i woke up to my alarm at 8:00 this morning realizing i hadn't brushed my teeth the night before. took a pill for the old allergies and puffed twice on my albuterol. hit the snooze.. 

around 10:30, despite my body's urgings to remain under the covers, i untangled my bare legs from the sheets, 1,000 threads and counting. without adjusting my camoflage shorts i managed to step one bare foot onto the cold tile floor. 

today, it was cloudy. cristian says spring is just coming and doesn't know if she wants to be hot or cold. la primavera. spring. no snow here to melt uncovering new life.  the changes here seem more nuanced than back home. 

spring and i understand each other i think. our palettes thirst for the novelty and color of a new season, but can't seem to tear ourselves apart from the long nights of winter which have become so comfortable. we anticipate change, at times we even insist it, but once it arrives, we realize the change is too much. thus we retreat and so we remain, squinting through the fog to another season. 

 

three weeks in action

here's the url, i hope it works!

http://www.new.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=513502386050

of la luna, fiestas patrias, and ignorance.

it's been a little while since i've written, so let's recap.. 

Sunday through Wednesday night of last week was spent in San Pedro (of the Atacama), a small town in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile, inhabited largely by european foreigners. despite this fact, much tradition remains. on wednesday everyone gathered in the town for the parade and festivities held in honor of the national holiday. 

time spent in san pedro was pretty sweet. days spent traveling in a rusty toyota 4x4 in the mountains and nights spent gathered around a "fogata", or bonfire, which is central to every restaurant in san pedro. 

valle de la luna (valley of the moon). i was literally on the moon, i'm pretty sure of it.  pure salt floors, one foot into the just hardened snow-like ground, it was as if i was the first person to set foot on the moon. the only difference: i need a chilean flag. :) also, the stars. oh the stars.. my friend fabiola described it this way--i have shrunk x1,000,000 and am standing underneath a collander tipped upside down. the holes through which water flows, or in this case which let light come through, are the stars. :)

arriving "home" to antofagasta, i had no idea of the events that were to come in the four days that would follow.  to sum it up, two of those days were virtually spent gathered around the dinner table eating empanadas (a moon-shaped bread filled with lots of meat, also raisins and olives) and huesillos (dried peaches accompanied by bits of barley soaked in a bittersweet juice), drinking (wine, piscacola), conversing (most of which i didn't understand). between 2  and 11 pm on one day, i got up from the table twice, both of which to go to the bathroom. thankfully, the weekend was also full of nights spent dancing to burn off the empanadas. 

ignorant. a stereotype of americans. unfortunately, i seem to fit that stereotype. my glancing at npr's news in brief when i get a chance to connect on the worldwide web is not sufficient. on saturday the topic of conversation came up of the U.S. with its need for a vast government intervention to re stabilize the economy, i was shamefully unaware. how can i be expected to know what's going on in other countries when i can't keep track of my own. i hereby commit myself to a higher standard of self education. i will be informed..  

photos :)

hello! 

here are a few photos. just click on the blue question mark. :)