Suggestion:

I would like to make a suggestion to any an all students who are considering studying at Catolica in the future, please do not take a class with Haydee Pena. Apparently, at one time, she was a great professor; however, she is very disorganized, unclear about her assignments, and overall she puts at least my class on the back burner. I have spent more time frustrated with Literatura Espanola 4 than I have enjoyed it. I've done my best to complete the readings, however, in the grand scheme of her class, so far, they have had no relevance. Even the Chileans are frustrated with her AND showed it today. I'll explain later, its lunch time.

Pena, you are a pain-ya.

Anyways, that is my sentiments right now. But let me talk about my life now.

• Update on the past, I let stress control my life blog: Well the thing about Chile is professors are very, very ambigous about well, pretty much everything AND that ambiguity mixed with a miscommunication with my Missions Trip application for Messiah ( I wasn't sure what date was the correct due date) AND that mixed with ambigious plans to go camping with my host brother (ie: no access to internet to finish the application/keep up with school work) ALL led to a Shaina freak out on Thursday afternoon COMBINED with a massive headache AND one hour to finish everything before camping. So needless to say I was a wreck and decided that breaking off all of my plans and staying upset was the best solution. My host sister talked to me a bit about it and I started to feel better emotionally but nauseaus. It was horrible. But I got through it and then accomplished some things AND learned that the application was not due Friday like I originally freaked out about, it was due today (Monday) so I put that on the back burner for a bit.

• This freak out led to me making a decision to not let stress control my life. I've noticed here that the littlest things make me go crazy. So in short, I want to start slowly and calmly working through things AND spending less time freaking out. (this is ambigious I know, but I'll probably elaborate on it more another day).

• Friday: Hillary, Katrina, and I went to a "parade" in Valpo; though, I'm not sure I'd call it a parade. Now I mean parades in the US are big events usually, with like floats, music, and candy. But here was different. It was like a military procession FOLLOWED by a long pause, during which time we got really bored and uncomfortable with the people around us. Like the motorcycle man that kept talking to me and the old man that touched Hillary and the military men carrying around the loaded machine gun type things. So we left and went to the Feria.

• It was very interesting to note that here none of the big stores are open (ie grocery stores and Jumbo) during Independence Day like they sometimes are in the US. AND the metro runs slower--meaning when it comes you SPRINT to catch it, even if it means you will be charged twice because your card had an error with it the first time.
  

• Most people thought we were from Germany or Holland or Russia because of how we looked and how nice we were. However, most people respected that we wanted to talk in Spanish which was exciting and kind of unusual :)
  

• There were Chilean flags and red, white, and blue everywhere. And really cute kids dressed in traditional cueca type clothing :)

• Since nothing was opened, we ate a great lunch at the Fonda-basically a carnival/state fair type set up. Interesting to note: instead of food stands, there were little restaurants set up. All of the grills smelt super delicious!!!! We chose the best looking one AND ate Choripan (like italian sausage grilled in bread), cheese empanadas, and antichou (shoot I forgot the name again...its basically a meat kabob). It was delicious and our waiter was nice. While we were there we met a retired US marine; it was awesome. He was super excited to have someone to talk to and he shared a lot of cool places in Valpo/Vina that we should check out. He suggested that Ruby Tuesdays was worth going to--good, flavored food and the chance to see US Marines or Navy people.

• The fonda also had games-- for adults and children. Prizes ranged from stuffed animals to bottles of Pisco. Amusing to watch the 'drunk' Chileans play them. There was a knock over the world leaders game, etc. Interesting.

• The fonda had 'rides' too, including one where you could pay $6, get into a plastic ball and float around/hit other people on this water pool.

• At one point, I thought I was in the kite runner because kite competitions are very popular here. They have wars and everything.

• Saturday, I got up early and did my homework! Then ate empanadas/had a great time with friends. I had an Cheese w/ Manjar empanada--don't knock it until you try it. Then went to the Fonda, watched the guys play games, took fun pictures, and had fun! Fun faded with project time with Hillary--love her, hate the project (which got corrupted anyways and we had to redo all of our work...)
  

• On the walk to Katrina's after our project time, a gringa asked us for directions/suggestions for things to do in Vina and Valpo--woohoo we can help people :) it lasted like 30 minutes but it was fun.

• At Katrinas we made delicious pebre-basically, its pico de gallo. :) It took us two hours to cut up all of the garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, lemon, and peppers. Extremely flavorful, fresh, and SPICY. Katrina had to go down the street to buy another Sprite Zero--we killed the other one.

• I went home via micro and made my house smell like garlic.

• All week/all night it was loud outside of my house because the Sporting (place where the fonda was) is right down the road. Made for interesting times.

• Sunday was church! Window shopping with host dad's sister! And asado (BBQ): delicious--its like grilled beef, choripan, kabob heaven AND pico de gallo AND mote con huesillos!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
  

• I then did more reading and hanging out.

That's my life.
Frustrating parts include: today. It rained today. I got wet. Children's Literature was interesting. My literature espanola 4 Professor is frustrating--couldn't find her office OR get the vital outline revisions from her for our stupid take home test. That is just a brief summary because I'm really trying not to reflect on it.

There were other profound things that I wanted to say but I can't remember now. My brain has turned mushy. I have to go to class in about 40 minutes. I'll write again after my tests, etc. on Wednesday.

Until then :)
Chao!

I never really realized just how much I let stress dictate my life and my happiness.

Cueca!

So I went to this pretty cool Folkarts show tonight w/ my chica Isabel :) Fue muy buena y divertida. (It was good and fun!) We got free tickets at the door :) The dances were traditional, pretty, and sometimes hillarious. My dance professor was in it too...

I also ate German food today (well a take on sour pork w/ APPLE SAUCE!) oh yes.

I have an addiction to pan too (BREAD!)

Church was linda as usual. We sang a ton of my favorite songs. You should listen to the service sometime, SUNDAYS @ 12 pm OR apparently YOUTH GROUP FRIDAYS @ 7:30 http://www.unioncristiana.cl/

What else. I'm in a strange mood today and kind of jealous/ annoyed that Catolica doesn't have vacation this week like the rest of the Chilean world.

This is going to be one of my busiest weeks:

• Class 8am tomorrow; 11:30 Tuesday; 10:05 Wednesday; 10:05 Thursday
• Take home "test" Tuesday...Prof as of last week still had no idea what it'd look like.
• Group project meeting tomorrow @ 1:30 (Prof still doesn't know what she wants from the project...)
• Coffee date at Starbucks w/ Jessica MONDAY at 3:45
  
• Jardin Infantil 2:00-4:00ish Tuesday
  
• Empanada party Wednesday @ 1:00
• ConCon/Bowling Thursday!!!!!!!!
• Independence Day Friday
• Not to mention all of the homework and reading I have to do this week... :\

I'd like a break please.

Projects.

So I've spent over 5 hours today working on my Children's Lit project AND I am no where near done. But for the first time in a few weeks, I was actually motivated to push myself to get some work done. I skipped an asado that I was supposed to go to today with Hillary and Katrina because I was on a roll. I sat for hours and hours and hours and avoided the cold outdoor world.

The project would go so much faster if I would let me myself make it into a billingual Anthology like my professor said I could do but I don't know if I can do that. Now, I have to read AND will read even though it is against my will...

Until later.

Chai Tea Latte Heaven.

The title says it all. Seriously, I was like a child begging to go to a candy store today WHEN I found out STARBUCKS OPENED! I was very giddy and still am. I'm not a Starbucks addict but to know my I could savor a Chai Tea Latte...I was in heaven. It was slightly pricey but VALE LA PENA! (worthwhile!)

Today I started my volunteer placement in my colegio. Its a semi-private Catholic school. I got there early of course AND my Spanish pretty much failed me once I got in the door. However, despite the professor forgetting that I was coming, it was worth it. It was really cool to observe three distinct grade levels in one day. In a Spanish setting at that. The kids still refer to the professor as Tia like in the Jardin. But the teachers here demand a lot of respect from their students; they stand and greet the teacher, etc. However, I think there is more freedom in the classrooms. I observed 6th grade, 5th grade, and 2nd grade English. 6th grade was all independent book work (listen to a radio voice; fill in answers) and the kids were slightly interested in talking to me. 5th grade, the kids were like amazed at me and wanted to "talk to me" I think they were shy and preferred to crowd around me and stare. It didn't bother me; it was cool actually to see that they were interested in knowing more about me and the language. They too listened to a radio and filled in responses but the professor went over the answers with them and taught them more.Segunda basica is my favorite. Second grade is just fun. :)

I'm just high on life lately and want to share it with everyone. I think when you let yourself realize what you have and forget to dwell on the not so cheerful moments, life is great. While miscommunication and such is dumb, I'm not going to let it stand in my way of falling in love with what I have here. Life is better that way.

And on top of falling in love with my program and my wonderful friends, I absolutely love the church I go to. I don't know if I can reiterate that enough. It'll probably be the thing I miss most (aside from my friends) about Chile. I learn so much there. I walk away feeling like 'woah, that's important. Or wow that song taught me something.' Maybe its because I have to focus so much on everything but being there changes me. Its less about routine. Its more about faith and worship and love and hope and just so much. I'm so thankful for it because I learn about God there. I want to share it with the world. Today we talked about identity. And it really opened my eyes because I find myself searching for identity in all of the wrong places; I forget who I truly am most of the time.

That's a theme for another night.

But there is one song I want to share before I go...it stands out to me. The group wrote it one night when they were on a camping trip and it really has left an impact on me. It talks about the BEAUTY of the Earth.

El cielo, las estrellas.
La tierra, las montanas.
El trueno y las olas

Muestran tu majesta
Demuestran tu poder.
Grandisimo Senor.

Thanks. Good night.

Shaina's life is made complete at Jumbo.

Its been almost a month since I have updated this blog. Sorry! I've gotten lost in thinking about all that needs to be accomplished for my classes and I have been writing (almost daily) in a paper journal for myself AND talking to everyone, so forgive me I often forget who I have told what to.

What has been going on in Shaina's world you might ask? Well, if you ask me, not a whole lot exciting has been going on BUT that's just me.

Two weeks ago I was sick. I had a fever (not totally uncommon for me, though it was a bit high and lasted two days). My host mom kind of freaked about that. I drank a ton of juice that day and then some strange conoction that my host mom made- well ok it was water, herbs, and lemon, and didn't have a strange taste, it was actually pretty good. My host mom is convinced it was caused by the kiddos in mi Jardin Infantil. I could believe it but I don't know.

Speaking of Jardin Infantil, every Wednesday is an adventure for me. Some moments, I feel like I'm actually helping-others not so sure. The never ending sound of "Tia, Tia, Tia!" coming from every direction sometimes excites me sometimes makes me dread what's going to happen next. However, the kids are teaching me Spanish and stuff about life (I'm still deducting what exactly but I'm getting there). Their little smiles (especially the youngest one Fernando) make me smile. Others irritate me. However, they are kids and they have so much to learn about the world. I love their innocence. I love watching them play in the dirt and dance the cueca. I love Matias who is always in his own world and flies an imaginary plane during patio time. I love how a little toy wheel can become an entertaining game, with so many practical uses. I still will never understand what it is like to grow up without story books or crayons, but they are making do. Though, leaving me on a playground with 24 Spanish screaming preschoolers is probably not the best idea in the world. I'm getting there.


What else in my world? I could write a book about my classes but I'll stick with this short summary.

Classes are going fairly well. Dance is entertaining, grammar is a nice review (also the professor teaches us a lot about Chilean culture and linguistic differences so that's fun), History of America Latina Siglo XX is much better than my other history class (ironically, its basically the same material its just with international students and the head of the history department as the prof), and children's lit is entertaining :) I enjoy the class, though I'm realizing I do not know a lot of vocabulary! It'll help me improve a lot. Its still fun and we are creating a lot of our own work for a book we have to create. I love creativity but its going to be slightly difficult because I have to buy all of the materials that I have at home (that didn't make it here!) And finally, my Literatura Espanola class..its a class with all graduating seniors so its kind of rough because the students are finishing their Lit majors and don't need detailed explanations about the literature from the professor. I'm not a big fan of literature to begin with so having to read 2 novels, 2 plays, and a ton of poetry in 2 weeks or so for a test is kind of overwhelming. However, Hillary, the other ISA students in the class, and I have a great tutor. After Tuesday (first test) I'll let you know how I survived. haha BUT it is now a take home test :)


Not much else is going on. I can't believe that we are almost half way through September. I will probably be starting a volunteer placement in a Colegio soon and continuing my Jardin placement.
Next Friday is Chilean Independence Day and all international students are canceled for the week.
My parents, grandma, and brother are coming in October for a week, I'm going to a Futbol game (Chile vs. Ecuador!), and we are probably going to Mendoza, Argentina.
Then in November Hillary and I are going with a group from our church to see Hillsong in Santiago.
And hopefully sometime towards the end of the semester Hillary and I along with a group are going to Patagonia.

Before I know it, I'll be home.
I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to major in, etc.

I've been in Chile for almost 3 months, actually, it probably has been 3 months. CRAZY. Some weeks fly by OR months even but some days drag on to no end. Though, right now I'm trying to figure out what happened to August and September. Can you believe yesterday was 09/09/09? And tomorrow is September 11th? A month from Saturday my family will be here. In another 3 months I will be getting ready to pack my bags and go home. I no longer have 6 months OR all the time in the world for that matter. Its crazy how fast life goes. Ironically, I am getting ready to listen to a song by Jeremy Camp called "Slow Down Time." I'm not really sure what its about but sometimes I wish that I could slow down time. Especially this past week. I feel like life has just been flying past me and sometimes it leaves me behind. I'm constantly in a rush to get things done and get different places AND I stress without end. I think (I've concluded) that I spend more time stressing about life and what needs to get done than I do actually doing what needs to get done. That is pathetic and sad. I need to work on that somehow.



what in my life is keeping me busy?