Just another day... where miracles happen.

I have discovered the secret to heaven. Take some nice fresh hallulla bread. Toast it if you're feeling frisky. Smash up an avocado with a little bit of lemon juice and a lot of salt. Add cheese. Eat every single morning for breakfast (and maybe dinner too). It really is like eating someone's soul, it's so fulfilling. However, the deliciously rich pan/palta/fiedo/papas/crema/helado will definitely start to play 'Ring Around Your Belly' if you're not careful...

It is now just past eleven o'clock and I have been doing homework for the past six hours straight, not counting the other six hours that I was in class today. Whoever said studying abroad is easier than studying at home, I'm sorry but you're wrong. INTENSE.

I love it though. Today I got to write a story about my host mom. She's pretty much one of the strongest and most incredible people I have ever met.

(Here's me and my host mom Lorena, doing what neither of us do very often, cook and clean. I mean, well, we do. But yeah.)

Anyways, since it's already kind of late and I'm already quite tired and have not already finished my homework, I'm just going to give you guys some pretty pictures to look at, with a few words to back them up. Knowing me, this will be a long entry. Oh well.

Above are two of my favorite people doing two of our favorite things! (Quick, someone burst into song!) When we're not doing homework, we're generally sleeping. OK, that's a lie. We do a lot of really fun things too, but sometimes it seems like those are our options. Fun things include: going to observe schools on Monday. I got to meet Chilean high school girls! They seem pretty similar to US girls. It was really interesting to talk to people and see what happens in a Chilean school though. Much of the progress they are attempting is very similar to the changes being made in the US, and in the classrooms very little is different (as far as I can tell just yet). It's in talking to the professors and administrators where you start to see just how incredibly varied the two systems are.

Another fun thing we do... is eat Bravissimo ice cream. Good gracious me, is it delicious! Here is Kira demonstrating just how much we crave it all the time.

The next picture is us on St. Patty's Day. Yes, we have accepted that we are from the US. Therefore, we went to Flannery's and threw down like we were foreigners. It was great. The reason everyone looks awkward in the picture is because they're in the middle of dancing. And Darren is a leprechaun.

On Saturday I went with Greta and her host mom Elena to an anti-war/anti-US protest. It was definitely a new experience. At first I was really nervous and afriad of the people in the protest (our director had forbidden us to go because of the high possibility of anti-US violence... meaning us) but by the end of the protest I was much more afraid of the police. The Communist Youth Party was marching right in front of us, and they all seemed like the Chilean versions of people I hang out with in the States. Not hostile at all! When we reached the embassy though, things suddenly took a high energy peak and we peaced out. Being deported is not something I want to experience. There are two more protests this weekend - one for general social justice and specifically for the constitutional amendment which would reinstate representation of the masses (right now protests are the one and only way to have your voice heard in the government. A 75% majority is needed to change anything - laws, representatives, etc - and with a multi-party system that is incredibly hard) and a second protest to represent the women of the country, especially indigenous. I am planning on attending both of them because, even though I am not Chilean, I know enough about and support both of them to make my presence more than justified.

On a somewhat less serious note, my brother finally cut my hair. We were going to go for a serious Chilena look (chunky, 'chocopanda' which means mullet, and really messy) but decided that I didn't really have enough hair for that. Cristóbal also refused to cut too much of my hair because it is 'tan bonita!' and he didn't want to be responsible for the creation of something atrocious. Thanks bro.

I've only got one more week in Santiago. Then it's off to Valparaíso for a weekend! Then Buenos Aires for three weeks! Then Temuco for a week! Then Santiago for a weekend! Then who knows where for a whole freaking month of doing whatever I want to do! And I get to call it studying! Waaahoooo!

Sleep delirium, pardon.

Really though, it's nuts to think about. My trip is a third of the way done. I feel like I haven't really made any roots here, but at the same time like I could come back here any time and feel right at home. I don't want this to be over yet. There is so much more I want to do! So much more living to do here. Our director told us today that we should get ready for the most intensive weeks of the program. (Wait... we haven't already started those?!) The next few weeks are going to be mad packed with observations, interviews, write-ups, all of the elements of research that we've got to learn. Oh, and lots of Spanish. Which is exciting. At the present moment I feel like I have moved past maybe the most difficult stage and am now at a place where I am simply accumulated more information and fine-tuning what I've got. Grammatically, of course. The vocabulary part is never done.

I've been having lots of dreams in Spanish. (Does it matter that I can't always understand them?)

Moral of today's post: Communists rock.