Luz, the journey...

Summary

2006-07-15T22:17:00.000-05:00

MARCH

A view from my appartment. Safe and quiet. Nothing better than having a beer in the terrace in summer, or look at the mountains plenty of snow in winter.

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Learning how to make sushi at Erika´s. It was her b-day. My first time making sushi was not bad at all!...I am good at rolling them :) Pic 1: Josh (Colombia), Reinhard (Austria), David (Chile) and me. Pic 2: Me, Ruben (Chile), Erika (Japan), Paola (Chile), David (Chile).

APRIL
Visit to Valdivia. A really beautiful city. Wellknown for "torreones", the raining, chocolates, and Kunstman beer. Pic 2: Luchin, me, Ruben, Osvaldo, and Carlitos (all chileans, except me :p)

"La Chascona"
Thats the name of one of the Pablo Neruda´s houses.
The name "la chascona" refers to his lover and last wife
for whom he built this house next to San Cristobal hill.
The house was built to look like a boat because
Neruda always loved the sea and things related to it.

MAY

Gaudhy in Santiago de Chile...thanks for coming "gordita"!!!...I had a really good time...like the old times!...I owe you a visit in Sao Paulo.

Rancagua.
Dont ask me more! :S.

JUNE

El Colorado Ski Resort

Coming soon: Luz snowboarding :p

Feijoadha made by Luciana, my brazilian friend. Everything was awesome, except for the match Brazil vs. France...Brazil "Hexacampeón" 2010. Pic 1: Oliver (Chile), me and Ruben (Chile).
Pic 2: Jimena (Chile), Oliver (Chile), me, Luciana (Brazil), and Fernanda (Argentina).

Updating

2006-07-14T10:48:00.000-05:00

Yeah!...I know...long time without posting!...sorry my dear fans!...hahaha!...just kidding...well, what can I say?...I was not dead, I was just having too much of a good time, without any time for posting...AIEEEEEEEHHHHHH!!!!

Many things had happened since the last time I posted. To sum up:

I moved from Bellavista to Las Condes in March. So, Ive been living with an australian guy for the last 4 months (of whom my girl friends are fans of...hehehe...), sharing a two bedroom appartment in a very centric place of the city. But Nico, my flatmate, is going back to Australia soon, so I am moving again...where?...still not sure...we´ll see. In my opinion, Santiago is plenty of places to rent, in comparison to Lima at least. Renting and sharing an appt is a common practice within students and young people working in the city, which brings me to my point of view that most of the people rents a place to live instead of buying it in Santiago...thats my perception so far.

Chairing an AIESEC Conference...what a experience!!!!...I loooooooved it!....I chaired conferences and small events in my country before, but never abroad, never for people from a different culture...one more time I have to say that you never stop learning in AIESEC.

I was invited to be the Chair of the Leadership Seminar held in Valdivia. I hesitated a little at the very beggining...it had been quite a time since my last chairing and I was out of shape...but there are some things you never forget: the things you really learned. And I guess the AIESEC spirit is still alive in me, cuz the idea of being a Chair excited me a lot, specially cuz the conference was mainly for "newies"...and new members in AIESEC deserves all the attention and motivation possible..they are today what the organization is gonna be tomorrow.

I am very demanding with myself in everything I do, I always think I could have made it better...but if I could show at least a little side of the AIESEC universe and get people interested in it, if I taught the AIESEC values by example, if I got people had fun, and if I could motivate at least one single member to start an AIESEC journey, then my personal goal was accomplished.

Thank you guys for the opportunity to get to know you, and for sharing your culture with me! :)

I got my temporary residence visa and got my chilean ID as well...but please, do not missunderstand (as some people already did, calling me "anti patriotic")...I did not change my nationality...(would never do)...but every foreigner MUST get a chilean ID number when is staying in the country for a certain period of time...and I believe it is nice from the country to give you the facilities to have a legal stay...besides, I dont think a document changes who you really are and where you come from...

Together with my ID came the chance to get my "Bibliometro" card. "Bibliometro" is a service provided by the government that allows you to borrow books from small libraries situated in certain subway stations. You can borrow 3 books at once, and have 15 days to bring it back and another 15 days of extension if you didnt finish reading it. I brough only 2 books from Lima, and I thought it was gonna be enough for my stay in this city (cuz they were big books). But I didnt consider that traveling in subway everyday would increase my time available for reading. 20 minutes from home to work and another 20 from work to home, give almost one free hour to read everyday (you cant just stare by the window in the subway, unless you like staring at walls in darkness) . You may be thinking "why is Luz telling us she is reading in the subway?"..."who cares about that?"..."whats the big deal?". Well, for me it IS a big deal because I could never read in a bus as I always got dizzy, which means that long traveling distances were always a waste of time for me. But I have something useful and entertaining thing to do with my time now, and I can catch up with all the books I always wanted to read, but didnt do for a lack of time.

The winter has come!..no more green around...no more BBQs outdoor...no more swinming pool after work...no more sunlight till past 20:00...but Santiago is still alive due to the ones who dont mind how cold the night is, or how much it is raining...theres always something to do if you really want to...I have to say that winter usually brings me down, but Ive been fighting against that...I come from a city with no raining, and no colder than 15 C°...but if I am living here, the least I can do is deal with it!..dont you think?...and I am making it!...

June is already gone, and the FIFA World Cup is over. I first cheered for Brazil (which I have done every single championship since I can remember)...went to brazilians parties, tried brazilian food...thanks for the Feijoadha Lu!...your the best!...it was soooooooo good ( I had three dishes :p)...but to be honest, Brazil dissappointed me this year...where was the "jogo bonito"?...so lame. Then I cheered for Portugal ( and I have the feeling that most of the latin americans did the same after Argentina and Brazil where kicked out) because I am in love with Cristiano Ronaldo...I am gonna marry him but he doesnt know yet!!! :p...sorry Gina...hes mine!...hahaha...Although, none of my favorite teams became the champion, I had a lot of fun...

There are many other things to tell but it would take me a day to type it. So, I think I better post the pictures with some comments.

I just wanna say that the last six months of my life here in Chile have being great!...I didnt like this city very much at the very beggining, or I better say I didnt find it very different from my city. Consequently, I didnt believe it was too exciting living here. But after six months I like this city very much...and fortunately, there are still 4 more months ahead to enjoy.

Back to Fencing!

2006-03-22T16:49:00.000-05:00

After two months waiting, I finally started training fencing again in Santiago de Chile.

For the ones who doesnt know, I did fencing for around 4 years when I was a teenager. Once I graduated from high school I prioritized my university studies and didnt train anymore. I always wanted to be back, but my other extracurricular activities didnt leave to much space for that in my agenda. Then I was back at the Club Lawn Tennis in Lima, Peru. But again, my travel plans brought me here and I had to quit. Now, Im finally back again to the only one sport I ever being good at. Please, dont ask me to play voleyball, football, basketball, or anything else...I am all about fencing!...I am not looking to become a fencing champion now, but I think fencing is a good way to relax, work out, keep in shape, make friends, and contribute to that hometown rutine feeling I am looking for.

Miscelaneus

2006-03-22T16:07:00.000-05:00

I havent had the chance to travel around the country lately. But it doesnt mean Ive being not having fun. Lets take a look of what have been up in my life in the last two months and a half...

San Antonio/ Santo Domingo/ Llo Lleo

Lily, Claire, Jimena, Juani and me joined Ruben in a Tour Marquard to the beach!. Again, looking for some suntan, I was not lucky at all. I still dont get it why the sun is never shining when I go to the beach. Anyway, after a visit to the exclusive neighborhood of Santo Domingo next to the beach, we went back to San Antonio, the second important harbord in Chile. What I enjoyed the most was getting to know how people from the town use to spend a sunday in the afternoon, to try Congrio (another typical fish you will always find in the menu) and see how this fish, together with jaiba, and a seadog look like in real life....just in case, the seadog was not in the menu!

Johanna´s B-day!

My friend and ex roommate Johanna celebrated her b-day on March,21th. We went to a french restaurant (La Boheme) near our house (La Comboyana) in Bellavista, and had some typical french food. No, Johanna is not french, she is german, as well as most of the guys in the picture: Peter and Felix (current habitants of La Camboyana) and Andrea. And Mario, my other ex roommate, hes from Chile. Im not living in La Comboyana anymore, but I had good memories from there and from the frienships I made. I miss you guys!!!

Swinming Pool at Erika´s

If there is a great host: thats Erika!...always so sweet!...she invited me and the girl gang to her swinming pool. I met Choko, her Shiba dog!...we had a very good time sharing stories and looking at pictures from past AIESEC parties!. I met Erika four years ago in an AIESEC International Congress IC in Calgary, Canada. She was representing AIESE in Chile and me representing AIESEC in Peru.

Samba Night!

If you cant go to the Carnival, let the carnival come to you!!!...looking for a place to celebrate the Brazilian Carnival, we went to this place: Esquina Do Samba. Hey, if your not from Brazil and you ever thought you know how to dance samba, you better see those brazilian girls dancing...damn it!!!!...how do they make it?????

Bowling Night!!!

Due to the AIESEC Regional Conference, Lily was going to Colombia for the next three weeks. So we went bowling in order to spend some time together before she left. I had a great time, but to be honest: bowling is definitely not for me...I suck!!!!...which doesnt mean I wouldnt try it again!

Santiago City Tour

Lily, Ruben, Claire and I went on a city tour aound Santiago downtown. We started from the main square, visiting the cathedral. We continued with a yummy lunch in the central market, where we ate some typical food: pastel de jaiba, reineta with salsa margarita (thats what I had), and fried merzula...and of course, the very wellknown "pebre" with bread. We ended the day by visiting La Moneda and its museum.

U2 Concert!!!

2006-03-15T14:47:00.000-05:00

I shouldnt be writing more about this!. The title says it itself. U2 concert!!!...what can you imaging of being part of such experience?...I tell you what it meant to me: a dream came true!

Nothing can be more spectacular than watching Bono and his band in front of 75,000 people, singing their most famous songs: Sunday bloody sunday, Beautiful Day, New Years Day, Where the Streets has No Name, Elevation, Vertigo, Without or Without You, One, I still havent found what Im looking for, among others.

But what made it even more special was the passion Bono put to bring not only his songs, but a very simple message of a very simple life code that could make a significant change in this world: COEXIST ...learn how to tolerate the differences, we are all equal and we all have the same rights no matter the race, the age, the social class you come from, we are ONE world and it would take the rich, the poor, the young, and the old, to make it a better place to live.

Doesnt it sound very AIESECer?...I bet Bono is an Alumni...hahaha!...I wanna be like him when I grow up :p...haha!

Animal experience

2006-03-15T14:20:00.000-05:00

I love dogs!...I love animals!...everybody knows that. And not having my dog close to me makes me homesick sometimes. But what can I do instead of hugging my dog?...go to the Zoo!.

The Buin Zoo is an educational zoo, a family enterprise that started rescuing hurt animals from the surroundings. Nowadays, its a place for protection, research, education and entertaintment. The zoo has special night shows every saturday of february, where people can enjoy the animals that are usually sleeping during the day. And enjoy some capoeira and other artistics shows, as well.

I recomend you to take a night tour during a warm night of february if your in Santiago someday. Of course, dont go after 21:00 at night, without a car, with just a train ticket, little money, 1 chilean and two more foreigners like you, who doenst know how to come back home if you accidentaly miss the train..unless you wanna run in circles for 15 minutes in the zoo in the middle of darkness, cross a bridge and catch the train 15 seconds before it was gone. :P

For more information about Buin Zoo, visit www.buinzoo.cl

Trip to Papudo

2006-03-15T14:01:00.000-05:00

Looking for some sun and nice beaches, make me go 3 hours to the south. Together with Paula, my friend from Germany, and her friends from CEPAL, went to Papudo, a small town next to the beach. We didnt find too much sun but we did get fun by having some typical food, clubbing and driving to the north back to Santiago. Some interesting stops where Zapallar and Mantencillo, a couple of very exclusive neighborhoods next to the blue ocean. Some people said it looked pretty alike to LA. I cant really say that as I have never being in LA before, but why dont you take a look on my pictures and tell me if they were right?...

Making @ South Cone friends

2006-02-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

Coming to the AIESEC Congress of the South Cone in Concepcion gave me the chance to meet great people and make some new friends from Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile itself. Once back in Santiago, we celebrated Lily´s b-day and had an "asado", a synonimun for bbq. We had a good time in Parque Arauco in Las Condes, pretty much alike to Jockey Plaza in Peru.

Elections in Chile: Bachelet vs. Pineda

2006-02-05T12:44:00.000-05:00

Voting in Chile is not mandatory. When you get the age of 18 you have the option to whether register or not to vote. Once your registered, it is mandatory to vote. You can register anytime you want during your life after 18 years olds. People cant drink or party the night before elections, and I can say most of the people respect that. These pictures were taken in Concepcion, in a voting place, where the board members kindly let us take some pictures, and tell us a little bit about elections in Chile. No papers, flyers, posters, or any kind of publicity material are found in the streets after elections!!!. Who won the elections?. Bachelet did. The first woman president in the history of Chile, Ex Ministry of Health and Defense from Lagos Government, a professional, poliglot and a democrat...and who are we gonna elect for President in Peru?. Its up you!

Trip to Lota,Concepcion

2006-02-05T12:04:00.000-05:00

6 hours away from Santiago, driving to the South, a very nice and peaceful city called Concepcion. 45 minutes further is Lota, a town that used to be very rich in the last century due to the coal mine, which was under the sea level, and its callled "El Chiflon del Diablo". The mine closed and Lota is now considered one of the poorest towns in Chile; however people have houses, electric light, and water which make them pretty different from the poorest in Peru. Its pretty sunny during the day, but cold at night, and it could rain anytime.

Getting around in Santiago

2006-02-05T10:36:00.000-05:00

If somebody ask me to describe Santiago de Chile, I would say its pretty much alike to Lima, same polluted, but more organized, secure, cleaner, but unfortunately, more expensive. No "combis". The bus, called "la micro" its a very old and noisy machine, but its being replaced by more modern european style buses. I cant say Im a big fan of "micros", but I am of the subway...subways are cool!. Public telephones are not dependable, you gotta get a cell phone in Santiago if you dont wanna miss the party or wait for hours in the meeting point. Is it hot in Santiago?...damn yes!...but theres also a cold wind early in the morning and at night sometimes. Streets are not made for wheels in Santiago, unless you dont mind getting stuck in holes and stumbling all the time. Pedestrians have the preference when crossing the streets, but you better dont trust the driver to wait for you unless your crossing with a big crowd of people. My biggest respect to the police. No corruption, no bribes, polite, always of service, 100% trustful, so far.
The worst: noise, holes in the streets, public telephone and prices.
The best: subway, police, big green areas, security.

Welcome to my blog!

2006-02-05T09:03:00.000-05:00

Todos los que me conocen saben que no escribo ni llamo mucho. Este blog es un intento sincero por mantenerme comunicada con todos ustedes a quienes aprecio y extraño, y con quien quiero compartir parte de mis experiencias de intercambio.

Como ya todos ustedes saben, después de 5 años al servicio de AIESEC, después de ver venir y partir a muchos extranjeros, decidí que era el momento de vivir esa experiencia personalmente. Me tomó exactamente 6 meses conseguir mi pasantía. Fue un proceso díficil, apliqué a más de una y a muchos sitios diferentes, sitios lejos y no tan lejos, al final el destino me trajo no muy lejos de mi querido pais como SAP Deployment Intern para DHL Express Ltda. en Santiago de Chile. Algunos se preguntarán por qué no me fui más lejos. Yo les digo que nunca tuve un país específico en mente, que mi decisión se basó en un mero análisis costo-oportunidad y en factores clave para mi como un job description interesante, relacionado a mi experiencia laboral previa, en una empresa multicultural, y en un país seguro. Todo eso lo tengo aqui!.

Para los que aun no lo saben...ya SOY EGRESADA!. Graduarme de Ciencias Económicas me tomó algo más de la cuenta, pero no me arrepiento de cada decisión que tomé que a lo mejor retrasaron mis estudios, porque no de haber hecho todo lo que hice, hoy no estaría aqui.

Pues bien, no me queda nada más que decirles que espero que les guste mis historias, las cuales por obvias razones estarán narradas en inglés! :), y que me dejen algún comentario de vez en cuando para sentirlos cerca!.

Con cariño,

Luz