VIVA CHILE

Definitely waking up early tomorrow for the Chile versus Honduras World Cup game.

(And yes, I am more excited about the Chile game than I was about the USA game... deal with it)

CHi CHI CHI LE LE LE VIVA CHILE!

That is all.

Mi querida Chile

No, I'm not in Chile right now. I'm in the US.

OK, now that that's over with....

As of this morning I've heard some type of news from everyone I know in Chile. Including one friend in Concepción (which was one of the harder hit areas).

My friends and family here in the States have all expressed relief that I am not in Chile right now. For me though, Chile is the only place in the world I want to be right now. You don't run away from those you love in times of tragedy and need. And I definitely love Chile. I have an unexplainable strong connection to that country. I know that I cannot be in my second-home at this very moment, but my heart is there supporting the strength of the people and the country.

For anyone in the DC area interested, the Chilean embassy is having a mass in remembrance of the victims of the earthquake this coming Sunday at a church in NoVa. Check out the details here. I have to work Sunday afternoon so I'll be unable to attend, but I hope others will show their support.

There's no place like....????

News flash! News flash! Guatemala is NOT Chile. *SURPRISE!*

OK OK... Obviously I knew that Guatemala isn't Chile before I came here. I understand that Latin America is not one big country. In fact I've had to explain numerous times to other people that I in fact did NOT drink lots of tequila and eat burritos everyday while living in Chile. But after having a successful "living abroad" experience in Santiago, I naively assumed that living in Guatemala would be a snap.

I feel bad constantly complaining about this country so I want to say that everything I'm about to write is totally based on my personal and limited experience living in Guatemala City for four months. So take from this what you will and judge me as a wimpy gringa if you so wish.

Never ever ever in my entire life have I had so many stomach illness than I have had in the past four months. I have had four CRUCIAL (what up DC slang?) cases of food poisoning. And by crucial I mean curl up in the fetal position, feel like I'm going die, and getting to know the porcelain god waaay better than I ever wanted kind of super duper crucial food poisoning. Don't worry, I won't elaborate further. I think you got the point.

I never had these issues in Chile. I got mild food poisoning ONCE from a sandwich with bad mayo. My stomach was a little queasy while adjusting to the tap water, but nothing that painful. I ate street food constantly and never had an issue. Dear Chile, Despite your rather bland and not so interesting food, I love and absolutely miss all of it at this very moment.

I severely miss my independence. Due largely to the safety issues here, I cannot go anywhere alone. And since I don't know a ton of people here, I rely heavily on the man to escort me everywhere. So if the man is working, I am a prisoner of my house. I miss walking around outside!! (and feeling relaxed while doing so). I miss being able to do normal errands, shopping, taking the bus, etc etc ALONE! I want to be able to hail a taxi on the street and not worry if the driver will try to mug me (not try to rip me off - THAT I can handle. I'm talking about gun totting cabbies). I seriously dream about wandering the streets of Santiago by myself.

I feel as though people here walk out the door in the morning and think "I wonder if I'm going to get mugged today?" Whenever I talk to a Guatemalan they are talking about the shooting that happened down the block yesterday, how their friend/aunt/cousin was mugged recently, their past robbing experiences, and warning me not to go ANYWHERE without someone (preferably male and Guatemala ... muscles wouldn't hurt either).

Although nothing (knock on wood) has happened to me, I've heard so much about crime and violence in this country that I am legitimately terrified to walk ONE block by myself. When I started to work at the Academy I was happy to learn that there is a mall one block away. Malls are the safest place to walk around and I thought oh good! I can go window shop if I have a break in classes during the day. Nope. Wrong wrong wrong. One of my co-workers told me a story of being robbed at gunpoint as he walked to the mall to grab some lunch (male, guatemalan... not muscle-y, but not wimpy looking either. So how would a gringa do? I don't even want to know). Needless to say, I've never walked the one block from my work to the mall ... I was sufficiently scared by the story.

Maybe I am a wimp. Maybe I am taking all of these stories too seriously. Who knows? All I know is that I live everyday scared of doing anything and everything. This is not mentally healthy.

I know that going back to the US is an option. And it's one that I'm considering. But oddly enough I find myself day-dreaming about that skinny little country at the end of the world: Chile. I know it's nowhere near perfect... but I've realized that I feel safe there and that is a very big deal, believe you me.

I still have a lot of soul-searching to do before I decide where to plant myself for a good long while (i'm starting to feel the urge to settle down... am I getting old?). But this is just a small glimpse of where my head is at right now.

Round One: Transportation

**Since I've been working like a machine lately, I haven't had a lot of time to write posts. So I've decided to write some short posts about the differences between Guatemala City and Santiago. This is Round One of the Smackdown.**

ahh, public transportation... One of my favorite topics EVER. (that was actually NOT sarcasm, by the way). So let's see how Guate and Stgo measure up...

As you read in previous posts, Guatemala's public transportation system has some serious problems. There is no subway (big bummer) and the buses are interesting to say the least. The alternative to the buses are taxis. Taxis aren't exactly safe either though. Taxi drivers will rob you - whether it's just scamming you into paying more or by threat and force. Walking isn't much of an option either. Ask any Guatemalan and they will tell you that nowhere is safe. So what's your option? Stay at home, locked into your little safe haven and pretend the scary Guatemala doesn't exist? Yeah, you get hungry eventually.

And then there is Santiago with Transantiago. Subway - check. Although overcrowded at times and with it's fair share of pick pockets, the metro system is clean and consistent. The metro stops are even pretty, with artwork and such. Now, I have to admit that I didn't really take the bus all that often in Stgo. But the few times that I did, everything went smoothly (expecially in hindsight now that I've experienced lovely Guate buses). Taxis in Santiago will try to swindle you, especially if you're a foreigner - but I always felt like I could handle those situations. Oh and you can walk (imagine that!). I walked home alone numerous times late at night (gasp!) and all was well.

Ding! Ding! And the winner of the first round is..... SANTIAGO (duh).

Yeah, that's right, Stgo, I gave you an easy one for the first round... don't expect every win to be that easy....

Stay tuned for Round Two.

Dear Chile, Happy Dieciocho!

Fiestas Patrias. Funny to think that one year ago I was in Chile going to fundas, eating obscene amounts of empanadas and drinking delicious Chilean wine (sorry, not a fan of the chicha).

And now I'm in Guatemala, missing Chile like it's my job. In honor of this nostalgia for my 2nd home and for the national holiday being celebrated, I bought a bottle of Concha y Toro Carmenere (on sale today for only 50Q!!*) and I made my own version of pebre using Guatemalan ingredients (which will probably mean the pebre will be super spicy, but I love it!). (OK OK, I also bought a bottle of Pisco. It's Capel. But come on now, it's pisco in Guatemala...wtf, that's awesome!)

Completely unrelated to Chile, we're also making pan-fried chicken wings. Neither of us has ever done this before and most wing recipes online call for some amount of baking. Unfortunately, we don't have an oven (! oh yes, we definitely "live without" in many ways). This should be interesting (at this very moment I can hear the chicken sizzling). Hopefully we don't burn down our kitchen in our attempt to satisfy the craving for US style Happy Hour hot wings.

Pictures to come. And with that, I'm off to make sure the man isn't burning anything!

Viva Chile! Enjoy your chicha/vino/pisco!

* 8Q = 1 USD