Seriously I know there's been a lot of neglect going on in this blog, but I really have been busy, I promise. First of all, I have my camera and I took a lot of photos but my charger wasn't sent with the camera so I can't upload the photos. But otherwise, it's been an interesting month and a half.
So, I started off the month feeling a bit homesick, but I overcame it. Then, we had September 11, which is obviously a terrible day in the US, but it is here also. Basically, what happened was on September 11, 1973, the American CIA backed a military coup that ended with Chile and Latin America's first democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, dead. He was replaced with Augusto Pinochet, who was a notoriously harsh dictator, and he ruled Chile until 1990. Anyway this year was the 40th anniversary and we got out of school early because it was dangerous to be out later because of things like this.
Fast-forward to the Independence Week. Here, September 18 is Independence Day, but unlike the US, Chileans give themselves the week off. So my family and I went off to my uncle's house in a place called Quillota, which was very fun. My 18th consisted of empanadas, anticuchos, and trying something called terremotos, which is literally a gift from Heaven. On the 18th, the president and military march through Santiago accompanied by fighter jets. No fireworks though. That Friday, my uncle, two cousins, brothers, and a friend of my brothers spent the day along the coast. We visited Valparaiso which is a blast of colors, art, hills, and history. That happens to also be where the Chilean Congress is located. We also visited Viña Del Mar, which is like Heaven on Earth. It's so cool, and it really looks so awesome. The beach is amazing, and we were there for the sunset also which was beautiful.
September 24 was my 2 month anniversary in Chile! Seems like a really long time to be away hahaha.
That weekend, my class and I danced samba for my school's festival, and that was pretty cool. Our dance had a Brazillian theme(Our dance was to a song called Ey Macalena) and we even incorporated elements of Capoeira. My 18 year old brother danced the national dance, cueca, and merengue.
Last week was another kind of hard week because of some things happening at home with friends, and a small throat infection, but I truly had a lot of fun on Saturday. YFU held an event at the office to celebrate the 18th and I got to reunite with some of the other exchangers, including Reid, who is the other American here. That was awesome.
So yeah, that's what's been happening for the past few weeks. Oh, and also I now have an Instagram where I upload quickly taken photos from school when the teacher's not looking :D hahaha. Follow it here www.instagram.com/cashmoneyowen. So I guess I really will update sooner and yeah, See you guys later!
Chao,
Owen
