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"Thanksgiving" just doesn't have the same ring to it in Spanish, does it? I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving doing and eating whatever it is that they like.
Thanksgiving in Chile of course means nothing. It was, however, my last day of classes for the semester. I had two tests to take, and then I went to a TGI Friday's (yes, they have those here) with Christy (in the photo with me) to celebrate. We indulged in their happy hour special and ate buffalo wings. True to Chilean tastes, they were not very spicy at all, despite the waitress assuring us that they were "very spicy". We were skeptical from the beginning, so we weren't shocked or anything.
Despite classes being over, I still have several things to do. I have two semester-long projects to finish up, and a big research paper to write. I also have another test to take. The last thing is due on December 10th, and then I come home on the 14th (arrive in Louisville on the 15th). I can't wait.
In exactly one month's time, I will be boarding a plane to return to the United States. Therefore I feel a sudden urge to be nostalgic. Here is a list of things (in no particular order, mind you) that I will miss about Chile:
- Cheap, decent wine
- Seeing the Andes everywhere I go
- Cheap, plentiful avocados, to which I am now addicted
- My apartment. Never again will I have such a grand view.
- Alfajores (delicious cookies with dulce de leche)
- Sunday afternoon walks when everything is closed and the city is quiet
- Comfortable beds. I have no idea what it is, but every bed I've ever slept in in Chile has been ridiculously comfortable. My bed at Nora's and my bed here at the apartment are like clouds with headboards.
- The excited feeling I still get when I look at a map of the world and see that I'm at the edge and bottom of it
- Only paying $8 for a haircut
News travels fast, doesn't it? I arrived home from class half an hour ago to find three e-mails inquiring whether or not I was okay.
To be honest, I had no idea there was even an earthquake until I checked my e-mail. I felt nothing here in Santiago. Apparently the shaking started when I was on the bus coming home. If I had been at home I probably would have felt it. According to the news, the epicenter was located 1,260km north of Santiago.
Chile is one of the most seismically-active places on Earth. I usually feel small tremors every other week or so. The most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth happened near Valdivia, in the south of Chile, in the 1960s. Luckily the epicenter was miles offshore and thus much damage was avoided.
Thank you, everyone, for your concern!
I'm back from Rio, and I loved it! I don't have any pictures yet because I didn't take my digital camera. I was concerned that it would be stolen, so instead I played it safe and used a disposable camera. I will post pictures as soon as I get them. In the meantime, here are some observations I made about a cidade maravilhosa:
- Brazilians are very friendly and open people, and even more so when they discovered I speak Portuguese. I once read somewhere that Brazilians are some of the happiest people on the planet, and I believe it. People were smiling and laughing everywhere.
- Rio is a very laid-back city. People wear flip-flops a lot, and I never felt under-dressed, even when going out for dinner in jeans and a t-shirt.
- Cariocas (inhabitants of Rio) are beautiful people. They also seem to be very focused on looking good. I saw people jogging, cycling, and rollerblading everywhere. Along the beach there were exercise stations set up. As my travel partner Christy remarked, "I've never seen so many six-packs in one place at the same time."
- Rio is expensive. I suppose you could keep to a budget if you didn't go shopping and didn't have dinner in a restaurant every night, but after 9 months of bland Chilean cuisine and fashion that is stuck in the 1980s, Christy and I indulged ourselves.
