Bittersweet
If I HAVE to say goodbye to one more person that I get close to, I am going to throw my body on the ground and have a good old fashion temper tantrum, screaming, kicking, spitting, yelling until I get what I want.
What I want, for everyone that I love, and is kind, and fun, and has brought joy in my life to live in ONE place. The world is not too small, rather its too damn large. This weekend I had to say goodbye to my one really close Chilean girlfriend that I have known for almost two years, who has been there every week, listening to me ramble on in what started as broken Spanish and ended as where we are at now. It was hard to watch her go, I thought I had made a sure bet with this one, she is Chilean, she can't leave like the million gringos that have come and gone, many of which I have gotten really close to and then they decided to move to some other country. Well my Chilean best friend HAD to also go fall in love with a gringo and off she flew to France tonight to follow her heart.
I am proud of her.
So here we are, bittersweet. My numbers are dwindling down. At one point friends, plans, long talks, busy days were indispensable, now I have to work a bit harder to find friends, especially Spanish speaking ones or a some girl time. I guess its the name of the game, regardless of the fact that I have spent two years of my life in this Country and made a home, my "family" keeps leaving. Not sure why that is. At least for now I still have my other incredible Chilean laying next to me sipping his soy hot chocolate. :)
I don't write enough anymore, so when I sit down to write I realize I have so much to catch myself up on, that this post could be super long. I want to write and process the closing of the girl's home that I volunteered at for two years, I want to write about my solo travel through San Pedro and Bolivia, but there are so many stories there that will definitely be it's own post, and I want to write about starting my own company and following another dream of mine, but for tonight something a bit more lighter. Just a quick recap of a fun long weekend.
Friday's always come with such happiness in Chile, I get done working around 4:30 usually on Friday and depending on the mood, I either set off quickly for a run to get the weekend off right or what is much more likely lately in the winter, I lay down for a nap and get prepped for the night. This past Friday was suppossed to be a combo, got dressed for the run and THEN layed down for the nap, what was suppossed to be 20 minutes quickly turned into 2 1/2 hours. One of the best part of Friday's is having Nico come home from work with a big smile on his face and we cuddle up for the rest of our nap together both happy to be free for two days of work and enjoy life together.
Friday started off slow, went to a friend's going away party/birthday party at a bar down the street, had some piscolas, this is my completely and utterally normal drink in my life now, barely ever get the vodka sodas I lived off of before moving to Chile, now everytime I go out I drink a coca cola (not even light) and a pisco, which is Chile's own liquor, sort of like a rum...I guess.
Saturday morning woke up and headed straight out for a run, attempting to train for another marathon, after finishing the Santiago marathon in April at 4 hours and 6 minutes and feeling great, I want to do another before the end of 2011 breaking the four hour mark AND running barefoot (barefoot shoes, ahem), so need to get out of the nap mood and into the running mood as the weather turns for the better. Came back from the run, and got dressed and headed out on my bike to meet Lily and Stephen for lunch. Lunch was at a new cafe on Lastarria street that just opened called Cafe Wonderful. Lily (also from NY and been in Santiago for a year now) told me they had bagels there so I was quite determined to give this a try. (something that I miss dearly from home, bagels, sigh.) Lastarria street is this really cute cobble stone street near the older part of the city that starts the neighborhood called Bellas Artes, artsy little neighborhood packed with cafes, and restaurants, foreigners, musuems and Cerro Santa Lucia, a great little hill to walk up and see the city or visit the castle, just be careful, there will sure be a number of teenage chileans making out along your path.
Ate at Cafe Wonderful, and it was good, but wonderful....no. Had a sesame bagel that I quite enjoyed but certainly paid for, cost me the equivalent of 4 US dollars, WTF! After lunch, we took a walk through Plaza de Armas, the oldest and most central part of Santiago, waited while Stephen (from Chicago, been in Santiago a year and leaving tomorrow) looked for a money exchange to get rid of some Bolivian pesos he kept from his recent trip. We got a delicious ice cream from the chain Bravisimo (gelato like ice cream, yummm) I had mint Chip, and headed through the Plaza to Mercado Central, La Vega and finally Patronato. A very touristy walk, or better yet, the best sights of Santiago. I wanted to go to the Asian markets in Patronato to get tofu and curry paste (these things are NOT sold in normal grocery stores like the states, so you have to make special trips for them) and Lily and Stephen tagged along for fun. I stumbled upon an old and amazing favorite of mine, the tiny restaurant El Gringo, where they have real and incredible falafel and hummus pitas, bought one to go and eat for dinner, got some asain treats next door and checked out a new bakery across the street. The smells were simply incredible. After this I biked back home leaving my friends to get ready for Stephen's going away party later that night. When I got home I took several bites of my falafel, yum what a treat! and was full of energy so decided to pack three full bags of our recyclables and bike to the recycling center. We are dedicated in our apt to recycling regardless of the fact it is not mandatory nor even widely known in Chile, so having three weeks of bottles and cardboard cluttering the kitchen, we had to get rid of it today. Strapped the bags to my back and set back out for the 25 minute ride to the Vitacura recycling center. Afterwards I biked home the long way up the highest peak in Santiago, Cerro San Cristobal, watching sunset fall on Santiago as I pedaled through the tree lined paths of this great park.
Sunday morning woke up a bit late (and a bit head-achy) and finally gathered energy to get out of bed, made some coffee, tofu scramble and oatmeal as Nico ran to the store to get some missing household items, we had our yummy lazy brunch and then packed our bags to head out for a few days outside of Santiago. After much conversation, we decided to just head to the closest city of Valparaiso, which is a port city about an hour and a half from Santiago, its one of the oldest cities in Chile, completely different than Santiago, full of art, character, steep hills, great views and the ocean as well. We got to Valpo (short Chilean way of saying Valparaiso) around 3pm and caught the last kayaking tour down near the dock. Was totally awesome kayaking around the shore as I got to sea lions and pelicans up close, the sea lions were swimming right next to us! And they are massssive!! Kayaked around for a short bit, enjoyed the sunshine down on the port, had a coffee in a new little cafe overlooking the water and then headed up to Cerro Alegre (one of the MANY hills in Valpo) to get a cute room at a bed and breakfast. After dropped our stuff, went straight to eat, starving we fell upon an incredible Vegetarian restaurant. This time no piscolas for me but rather the other traditional pisco sour. After dinner, we decided to walk around and explore the area. Some shots below at night.
After our dark stroll through the alleyways and art filled steps, we headed back to the B&B with two bottles of wine and sat on the roof deck enjoying the lights of the city. Nico's childhood friend joined us eventually and we finished our wine, our chat and headed out to see what the Valpo party life was really like. Found ourselves later that night in a nightclub where I danced until I was sweating and we were panting up the narrow hill followed by an array street dogs (prob. due to the fries we were eating on the way up) at 3am.
The next day we got up 15 minutes before the breakfast ended and enjoyed some granola and fruit with homemade bread and jam! Great breakfast, although the rooms were not great, the onda and food was incredible at this little place. After two cups of coffee and laughing about the events of the night before, we set off again to see the sights by day.
After the short drive, we stopped again starving around 3pm for a late seafood lunch in the only open restaurant in Laguna Verde. Took a doggy bag to go and stopping at a look out on the way home saw another friend but this time a very skinny female one, gave her most of the left overs and with pouty lips (I hate seeing hungry or suffering dogs) and finally headed back to Santiago. Blasted the music in the car while eating the rest of the left overs to stay awake. Was a great weekend all in all.
What I want, for everyone that I love, and is kind, and fun, and has brought joy in my life to live in ONE place. The world is not too small, rather its too damn large. This weekend I had to say goodbye to my one really close Chilean girlfriend that I have known for almost two years, who has been there every week, listening to me ramble on in what started as broken Spanish and ended as where we are at now. It was hard to watch her go, I thought I had made a sure bet with this one, she is Chilean, she can't leave like the million gringos that have come and gone, many of which I have gotten really close to and then they decided to move to some other country. Well my Chilean best friend HAD to also go fall in love with a gringo and off she flew to France tonight to follow her heart.
I am proud of her.
So here we are, bittersweet. My numbers are dwindling down. At one point friends, plans, long talks, busy days were indispensable, now I have to work a bit harder to find friends, especially Spanish speaking ones or a some girl time. I guess its the name of the game, regardless of the fact that I have spent two years of my life in this Country and made a home, my "family" keeps leaving. Not sure why that is. At least for now I still have my other incredible Chilean laying next to me sipping his soy hot chocolate. :)
I don't write enough anymore, so when I sit down to write I realize I have so much to catch myself up on, that this post could be super long. I want to write and process the closing of the girl's home that I volunteered at for two years, I want to write about my solo travel through San Pedro and Bolivia, but there are so many stories there that will definitely be it's own post, and I want to write about starting my own company and following another dream of mine, but for tonight something a bit more lighter. Just a quick recap of a fun long weekend.
Friday's always come with such happiness in Chile, I get done working around 4:30 usually on Friday and depending on the mood, I either set off quickly for a run to get the weekend off right or what is much more likely lately in the winter, I lay down for a nap and get prepped for the night. This past Friday was suppossed to be a combo, got dressed for the run and THEN layed down for the nap, what was suppossed to be 20 minutes quickly turned into 2 1/2 hours. One of the best part of Friday's is having Nico come home from work with a big smile on his face and we cuddle up for the rest of our nap together both happy to be free for two days of work and enjoy life together.
Friday started off slow, went to a friend's going away party/birthday party at a bar down the street, had some piscolas, this is my completely and utterally normal drink in my life now, barely ever get the vodka sodas I lived off of before moving to Chile, now everytime I go out I drink a coca cola (not even light) and a pisco, which is Chile's own liquor, sort of like a rum...I guess.
Saturday morning woke up and headed straight out for a run, attempting to train for another marathon, after finishing the Santiago marathon in April at 4 hours and 6 minutes and feeling great, I want to do another before the end of 2011 breaking the four hour mark AND running barefoot (barefoot shoes, ahem), so need to get out of the nap mood and into the running mood as the weather turns for the better. Came back from the run, and got dressed and headed out on my bike to meet Lily and Stephen for lunch. Lunch was at a new cafe on Lastarria street that just opened called Cafe Wonderful. Lily (also from NY and been in Santiago for a year now) told me they had bagels there so I was quite determined to give this a try. (something that I miss dearly from home, bagels, sigh.) Lastarria street is this really cute cobble stone street near the older part of the city that starts the neighborhood called Bellas Artes, artsy little neighborhood packed with cafes, and restaurants, foreigners, musuems and Cerro Santa Lucia, a great little hill to walk up and see the city or visit the castle, just be careful, there will sure be a number of teenage chileans making out along your path.
Ate at Cafe Wonderful, and it was good, but wonderful....no. Had a sesame bagel that I quite enjoyed but certainly paid for, cost me the equivalent of 4 US dollars, WTF! After lunch, we took a walk through Plaza de Armas, the oldest and most central part of Santiago, waited while Stephen (from Chicago, been in Santiago a year and leaving tomorrow) looked for a money exchange to get rid of some Bolivian pesos he kept from his recent trip. We got a delicious ice cream from the chain Bravisimo (gelato like ice cream, yummm) I had mint Chip, and headed through the Plaza to Mercado Central, La Vega and finally Patronato. A very touristy walk, or better yet, the best sights of Santiago. I wanted to go to the Asian markets in Patronato to get tofu and curry paste (these things are NOT sold in normal grocery stores like the states, so you have to make special trips for them) and Lily and Stephen tagged along for fun. I stumbled upon an old and amazing favorite of mine, the tiny restaurant El Gringo, where they have real and incredible falafel and hummus pitas, bought one to go and eat for dinner, got some asain treats next door and checked out a new bakery across the street. The smells were simply incredible. After this I biked back home leaving my friends to get ready for Stephen's going away party later that night. When I got home I took several bites of my falafel, yum what a treat! and was full of energy so decided to pack three full bags of our recyclables and bike to the recycling center. We are dedicated in our apt to recycling regardless of the fact it is not mandatory nor even widely known in Chile, so having three weeks of bottles and cardboard cluttering the kitchen, we had to get rid of it today. Strapped the bags to my back and set back out for the 25 minute ride to the Vitacura recycling center. Afterwards I biked home the long way up the highest peak in Santiago, Cerro San Cristobal, watching sunset fall on Santiago as I pedaled through the tree lined paths of this great park.
Sunday morning woke up a bit late (and a bit head-achy) and finally gathered energy to get out of bed, made some coffee, tofu scramble and oatmeal as Nico ran to the store to get some missing household items, we had our yummy lazy brunch and then packed our bags to head out for a few days outside of Santiago. After much conversation, we decided to just head to the closest city of Valparaiso, which is a port city about an hour and a half from Santiago, its one of the oldest cities in Chile, completely different than Santiago, full of art, character, steep hills, great views and the ocean as well. We got to Valpo (short Chilean way of saying Valparaiso) around 3pm and caught the last kayaking tour down near the dock. Was totally awesome kayaking around the shore as I got to sea lions and pelicans up close, the sea lions were swimming right next to us! And they are massssive!! Kayaked around for a short bit, enjoyed the sunshine down on the port, had a coffee in a new little cafe overlooking the water and then headed up to Cerro Alegre (one of the MANY hills in Valpo) to get a cute room at a bed and breakfast. After dropped our stuff, went straight to eat, starving we fell upon an incredible Vegetarian restaurant. This time no piscolas for me but rather the other traditional pisco sour. After dinner, we decided to walk around and explore the area. Some shots below at night.
The next day we got up 15 minutes before the breakfast ended and enjoyed some granola and fruit with homemade bread and jam! Great breakfast, although the rooms were not great, the onda and food was incredible at this little place. After two cups of coffee and laughing about the events of the night before, we set off again to see the sights by day.
Strolled around for the day taking our time, enjoying Chorros (sort of like fried dough) and peeling oranges, taking pictures, not walking too fast on the steep hills. We encountered a friend along the way and whether or not he could read our minds or what was happening, but he followed us the whole day even when we didn't see him for twenty minutes, suddenly he would come bounding round the corner wagging his little tail. After some heartbreaking discussion about we couldn't take him home with us, we settled on giving him dinner and bought some dog food and sat down for dinner while I sipped another coffee.
Finally left Valparaiso and headed in a new direction to see Playa Ancha and Laguna Verde, two really beautiful areas, cliffs looking out to the see.
After the short drive, we stopped again starving around 3pm for a late seafood lunch in the only open restaurant in Laguna Verde. Took a doggy bag to go and stopping at a look out on the way home saw another friend but this time a very skinny female one, gave her most of the left overs and with pouty lips (I hate seeing hungry or suffering dogs) and finally headed back to Santiago. Blasted the music in the car while eating the rest of the left overs to stay awake. Was a great weekend all in all.
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