Updates.

So it's been a year since Aneya and I went to live in Santiago, Chile, and six months since we parted ways. Since then we've started our own blogs. Below you can find the links to our respective blogs and check out what we've been up to in the past six months we've been away.

Aneya has gone back to Las Vegas, is attending school, writing, freelancing (sometimes for me!) and, as always, traveling. Aneya writes about life in Sin City on her blog The Chronicles of Aneya.

I moved back to Los Angeles, did some crime reporting/geocoding, then moved back after I got a job as the editor of an English-speaking magazine in Santiago. I just started blogging from here, and will post more on life and my experiences in Santiago, Chile at Chile Part II.

Here's a sample from Aneya's latest post from Chronicles, a reflection of the writing and adventures we had in Chile:

"I spent the first 6 months of the year in Chile, with my friend and fellow writer, Lauren. We blogged daily about our adventures, and by god there were many. We survived earthquakes, aftershocks, post traumatic stress, possible tsunamis, chronic unemployment, illness, theft and, perhaps worst of all- heartbreak. All in the span of 6 months. In a country we'd never stepped foot in, where we knew virtually no one, where everything we did- from getting an apartment to catching a bus- was new to us."

-- Lauren

Lessons Learned in Chile.

1. Don't drink the water -- at least not for the first few months. This is not a reflection of the quality of water; it's just that the bacteria is different. This includes drying vegetables and fruits very well before eating and not having ice in anything.

2. English is important. My uber liberal political science education had me believing that teaching English to people in other countries was a form of cultural imperialism. This is not the case. While working in Constitucion I met someone who was a physics major and because translated books are so bad, all the students in his class were forced to read English textbooks -- whether they spoke English or not. Not knowing English in this way can really limit your career and scholastic choices.

3. Layers. I've learned how to dress for the cold -- what combination of leggings, socks, bufandas, and jackets are necessary to stay warm. This (obviously) was never a problem back in LA, but with the freezing nights here, I have learned how to sort of stay warm and I can survive the cold.

4. People from the U.S. are very apathetic and cynical -- about everything. I've known this, but contrasting Chilean culture with the U.S. has really highlighted how cynical we are. People don't protest because they think it won't do anything. No one cares about the World Cup even though it's our country and that makes me very sad. No US pride.

5. I've learned that I really like a good football match.

6. I can live outside the United States and be very happy and comfortable. I love love love the US for a million reasons, pero I can call another country home and love it too.

7. I've learned about one million new Chilean words and modismos (including that one).

My two favorite:

a medio morir saltando -- I'm somewhere between dying and jumping (under the weather).

De Micheal Jackson! -- I don't really get the story behind this, but it means "yeah, sure".

8. Being an immigrant can be extraordinarily difficult. I've had friends who've told me about their own struggles coming to the U.S. but now I personally know how it feels to be unfamiliar with a place, it's laws and customs, and it's dialect (I came here with Spainish/Mexican Spanish). I have even more respect for people who leave their home to live in a new country. And being a newcomer here is nothing compared to the hardships people face when they come to the U.S.

There are tons of other things I've learned here, especially about myself, my relationships with other people that I couldn't fit into a list. Living here has given me more than I can name or put into words. I've loved living here and I definitively know that it's changed me.

-- Lauren

Things I'll miss.

1-2. This picture is from an empanada cooking night at our apartment in Long Beach months ago, but it combines two things I'll miss: friends and empanadas.

Chileans have been incredibly nice, and even though I have so many wonderful friends in the states, it took time to develop those relationships. Here you meet someone once and they're someone you'll talk to often.

Re empanadas: although this picture shows me making empanadas, I don't exactly know how to make them from scratch on my own. But they're delicious, like little Hot Pockets filled with onions, cheese, spinach or meat.

3. Architecture: This picture totally encompasses Chilean architecture -- centuries old buildings next to all-glass high rises. Buildings like these are all over the Santiago, and it really feels like a city. I love walking down the street and seeing these two types of buildings right next to each other.

4. This is a shot of Parque Forestal (not mine). This park is about three blocks from our house and stretches for miles through Santiago passing monuments, fountains, and a number of kiltros, mounted policemen, and jungle gyms on the way. I run through the park almost every day, and it is a beautiful view, especially after a rain when the Andes are just huge, and white in the background.

5. Now onto food. I love humitas. They're a lot like tamales, pero without the lard or stuffings and with a corn/onion combination and they're softer then tamales. I think it's because the corn here is so sweet, but these are super delicious.

6. This is a bakery chain all around Santiago that sells an incredible amount of fresh pastries, breads just out of the oven, prepackaged salads, and empanadas. You open the door to this place and it smells amazing.

7. Different flavor things. You can find lucuma, cherimoya, membrillo flavored juices, piscos, and snacks in the supermarket.

Other things: I'll miss taking a bus 10 minutes outside the city and seeing someone tilling their field with a horse-drawn plow or fields of vineyards. At first I wasn't keen on it, but I'll miss seasons, having to wear a coat, taking (or forgetting) your umbrella when you leave. I'll miss the amazingly efficient Metro system here.

But it's a toss up. I miss LA summers. There are about 20 people in the United States I can't wait to see, hug, sit down with, give quirky presents to. I miss how easy it was to be vegetarian. I miss my runs by the beach and the little ceramics studio I go to with Brigid on Saturday mornings and all the other places around LA I have memories with my friends and family. The Pantry on Sunday mornings with my parents. The Pike/Alex's/Fern's any night of the week with Andy. The endless list of concerts, museums, art exhibits, book readings that make Los Angeles "LA" and doing those things with friends I miss. I miss working! I can't believe I almost left that out of the things I miss. I miss meaningful employment. Waking up and doing something that is important to you (almost) everyday, or at least that contributes to world in some way.

I didn't anticipate feeling torn at all when I left. Just "Hey! It's been a great six months. Peace!" That's not even close to how I feel. It's been a wonderful six months. My connection here is stronger than I'd imagined it would be. A lot of big moments happened here. I'm as sad to leave as I am happy to go home to LA. No sé.

I'll be seeing you all on Monday!

-- Lauren

Chile Game 2 Celebration Pictures.

Plaza Italia where everyone celebrates. The smoke is from people lighting flares.

Stephen and Theodora avoiding the sometimes excitable police.
Our contribution to the festivities. Confetti was everywhere.
People marching toward Plaza Italia.
Women at the clothes store right outside our apartment showing their Chilean pride.

People were hanging out their cars, out taxis, buses, and on the back of trucks with gigantic flags.
Everyone was showing their Chilean pride.






-- Lauren

Pomaire.

A few weeks ago Daniela told me about the small town of Pomaire about an hour's drive from Santiago. I love ceramics, both throwing things of my own and very skillfully made homemade things from other people: especially practical things. In Pomire I was a potter's heaven.

Rather than throw things, women scrape away clay called greda (clearly terra cotta) -- There wasn't a wheel in sight! I am especially keen on handmade ceramic cookware, this is what my crazy projects are meant to look like before they come out very ugly.

And very few things were glazed (the process which gives me the most troubled in my ceramics life). I never even considered not glazing! But I feel like that only works with terra cotta because of the nice red hue, but I can't work with terra cotta because it doesn't have enough sand for me to work with. But I digress. After my Poaire visit I have so many new ideas for projects when I get back into the studio at home.

I couldn't find anyone to travel the distance just to look at some hand-thrown pots, so I took the bus to the bus which landed me in this super cute small pottery town. People here were incredibly nice, even nicer than Chileans normally are. I had some homemade humitas with tomato (think tamales, but without lard or meat and with onions) and watch Brazil barely win against North Korea (surprising).

I guess I thought my bags weren't heavy enough and I bought way too many of these heavy fragil things. They were just so lovely (and cheap), I couldn't resist.

-- Lauren

Not going to Antofagasta/San Pedro.

A mix up with tickets, miscommunication between myself and a LAN representative on the phone (in English), and $140 of nonrefundable ticket money later it turns out I am not going to Antofagasta or San Pedro.

Although the representative on the phone assured me that yes, I was all set to go up north it turns out I'm not. And they won't refund or credit me the money I lost.

I was prepared to read them the riot act marching into an uptown Santiago office this morning (by which I mean, "Um, excuse me, I think there's been a mistake"), but was just turned away with a representative that wouldn't budge.

On the positive side (if there is a positive side):

1. It gives me time to finish things around the house instead of racing to the airport, coming back, getting ride of things/packing, then racing back to the airport.

2. I can see and say goodbye to some friends I won't being seeing for a while.

3. It's another reason why I have to come back to Chile.

I will say that I am very disappointed. I was ready to see some stars, volcanoes, geysers, flamingos, hippies making pisco, but clearly that is meant for another time.

-- Lauren

Antofagasta/San Pedro de Atacama.

For the last hurrah in Chile I'm headed to the north of Chile alone, but I will say I am quite excited. I have 10 days left here, and six of them will be spent either on a bus, plane, or one of the above pictures.

When we headed down here the place I most wanted to visit was Chiloe. It was said to be magical (literally, magical, like with magical creatures). Unfortunately before that became possible the cold set in, I went on my only job here as a translator, and Chiloe became an impossible trip.

Which is when I focused my attention on the also magical, archeologically rich north.

Some things I'm looking forward to/random facts about the north:

--Rain has never been recorded there -- ever.

--There are mummies that predate the mummies of Egypt by centuries.

--The ocean looks gorgeous (in Antofagasta).

--It is said to be the best place to see stars in the world.

-- There are llamas.

--The towns are believed to be 11,000 years old.

--Precolumbian city ruins are 2 miles outside of town -- walkable.

--There are also volcanoes and geysers.

--Places have strange, mystical names like "Valley of the Moon" and "Plain of Patience"

Wish me luck!

-- Lauren