I have been looking at all the flood coverage on KWWL and CNN. Wow. I can't grasp the magnitude of it all. I suppose no one else can either. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have your home underwater or your business. Your life...washed away. I am glad not that maybe people have died. One is still too many. First there was the tornado, now the flood. Iowa seems to be getting it's butt kicked right now. I pray for all the people who's homes, businesses, workplaces, lives have been affected by the flood. Stuff like this reminds me what it is we are all really doing on this planet. To love and care for one another. No matter what. Tragedy seems to connect us all. It's like a swift kick in the face that hey, you really are human and definitely not invincible. I pray the waters recede soon and people can get back on with their lives in the best way possible.

Viewing all the crap that's been going on around home makes me miss home even more. I miss my family...and my friends....my life! I realize where I am...what I am doing. I know I need to enjoy what I am doing here. And I definitely am. I am definitely making the most of everything. However, it's just human to miss what you love. I can't help it. I can't be a perpetual tower of strength that never flinches or never sheds a tear. I really miss my broha...and my mom and dad and grandma and grandpa....especially my grandpa and dad b/c yesterday was Father's Day. I wish I could have been there for that. I can't keep track of all the festivities that I am missing while I'm away. I have to focus on the positives. I have to focus on the fact that there are so many people that wish they could be doing what I am doing right now. I'm not sure people actually realize what it takes to study abroad. All the way from the planning and then actually getting on a plane and traveling to another country, usually continent. Then having to get by in a completely different country...you have to adapt to social normalities that may be way beyond your comprehension. All of this while you are thousands of miles away from what you know and love. It takes something special. And I am proud to say I have that something.

I miss you and love you all....you're what makes my world go 'round....

CrEaTiVe SpUrT....///...WoRk In PrOgReSs

Anyone who knows me, who really knows me,
knows that I tell it like it is.
They know I think I am pretty funny and
I laugh at my own jokes.  They
know I care deeply for others, and
despite my loud, sometimes obnoxious
exterior, I have a lot of love in me. 
They know how much I love to eat and
thoroughly enjoy sweets, especially
chocolate.  They should know they 
can talk to me; I've got a great ear. 
They should know I really try and
avoid conflict because it makes me
feel uncomfortable, which may seem
odd considering how brash I can be
at times.  They know I am not your
run of the mill girl.  They know how
independent I am.  They know how
open I am.  They know how much I love
to travel.  They know how much I
love to have a good time and throw my
head back and laugh.  They know
how much music is a part of my life, 
as well as writing and being creative.
They know how much I love to run and
be active.  They know how much
I enjoy the company of children.  Each
time I see one laugh or do something 
they’ve never done before, that little
flash of life sparks my own spirit and
ignites my hope in the future.  They know how
I try and look on the positive side
of everything.  They know how much
I love my life.  They know how much
my family means to me, especially
my grandma Norma.   And I hope they
know how much I care about them. 
My life has been brightened and
enlightened by so many and I have no words
to sufficiently thank everyone
for how they have touched my 
life.  

Running in South America: An Experience

I am training to run the half marathon with Andrea again this October. Not only that, I just enjoy running in general. I've always thought of it as my type of mediation. Minus the mmmmmmm. And sitting with your legs all crooked like that. As I alway do with running, I like to find a route and stick to it for the most part. I started running up a main street all the way down to the centro then making a big u and coming back up to my house on another main street. I mainly did this because I thought it would be safer. I didn't exactly feel comfortable running alone in Arica. Although mind you, I would be running so if someone would try and harass me, I could assumebly (I think I just made that word up, my English is becoming worse, but you get what I mean) just run away from them. However this is assuming the assaulter would be unarmed and with out locomotion. Whatever the hypothetical case would be, as I went on more and more daily runs, I realized the harassment would always be existent. I mean harassment in a very non-harming sense. I don't want to sound like I am going through battle each time I run. Doing exercise in public here is a very odd thing, and being a woman, alone, makes it three fold. I do it anyway. I changed my route to a more rural way. For the most part, I get less looks but I have a hard time dodging the body shops. Body shops seem to be the worst for bringing out yelps and hollers from the men folk. If there are say, five men working outside the body shop, when they see you come they will literally stop what they are doing, lean back on the cars, and just watch you run by. Talk about awkward. I thought people honked a lot in this country, especially when they were by me, I've now realized they are honking at me. And if I don't hear a whistle from a man's mouth again in this country, it will be too soon.

39 Daaaayyys...me falta poco tiempo

My brother sent me the picture on the left of our driveway. When I opened the email the first thing I said was, holy s***! I have seen it flood where it's a little questionable if I can get through there with my itty bitty Sunfire, but wow, never like that. I put the other because this is the most recent picture of me. While everyone in northeast Iowa is needing to construct an arc, here I am enjoying my free time during the strike in a very, very dry northern Chile. The picture was taken this past weekend at a Welcome Home party for a friend of friends. You will notice the very classy smoky element to the photo. It seems like everyone here smokes like South America has a tobacco shortage.

I have definitely been making the most of my free time since the strike has been going on. This past weekend was pretty crazy. To give you an idea of just how fun it was, I slept from 4 p.m. yesterday until 11:30 this morning. I'm not that sharp with numbers but I am going to say that's a good, almost 20 hours of some much needed Z's.

I have 39 days left in this country. I have to admit that I did make a countdown. I made it within the first month that I arrived. I can't deny that I am super excited to come home. I really miss everyone a lot more than I ever did in Spain. Sorry Mom and Dad, Spain was just too much fun, I didn't want to come home! It could have something to do with how close I have become with my parents in the past year, and even with my friends. But I know how incredibly blessed I am with the people I have in my life. They make up such an intricate part of my life, I'm missing everyone like caarazy!

The Good Life...

My past two weeks has consisted of doing nothing much at all. Since there's no school I spend most of my days sleeping in, running, spending time with my host family and just doing random things. I am hearing rumors that the strike is going to last longer so I think I definitely need to travel. This city is fun, but an entire month with nothing to do is maybe a little too much of a good thing!

My host sister's "Tata" is here for the weekend. Tata means grandfather but he's not actually her grandfather. He's known the family forever and plays an important role in their life. He brought Catalina a music player and this toy she wanted. She is so spoiled. Last night we were in the centro getting Cata's computer fixed and while we were in the store she went around and was like I want this, and this and this....which ended up being some headphones, games, speakers, webcam and a new mouse. Who needs that at eight...seriously. Did I mention she has her own cell phone too? He's actually a really cool guy, always joking around and very funny. He bought Catalina and I treats, can't help but like a guy who buys me chocolate:)

Today we went to a market called the Agro. It's a huge place and sells everything from fruit to washing machines. While we were in the food section my host mom stopped at this stand that sold herbal remedies for every ache and pain. I was reading the labels on the different herbs about what ailments they were for. Just about every one cured stomach pain and sore throats. All of the baggies were generally some sort of shade of green, gray or brown. Normal colors. One particular bag stuck out. It was pinkish red. I red the label and it said it was rose petals. Ok, I thought they were good for potpourri, I didn't know you could consume then. Ok so rose petals, what on earth could they help with? Gonorrhea. What!? Excuse me, but does that say it helps with gonorrhea. Wow, I mean all the other herb baggies were half way believable but really...rose petals...gonorrhea? Kind of ironic (don't know if that's the right word or not) but don't roses usually lead to things that cause gonorrhea...odd. I knew they were pulling my leg when I saw that one. They have a lot of stuff like that in this country. I am not sure if it's partly because the indigenous cultures still have such a big influence here or what. I do know that my host mom firmly believes you can catch a cold by walking around on cold floors barefoot. If only she knew what occurs at Adams Christmases! Family, you get the joke. But for everyone else, it's tradition in the Jack and Norma Household that on Christmas Day whoever has the urge runs around the house barefoot...in the snow. No one has died yet.

When we got to the car as we were leaving the Agro my host mom couldn't get into the car b/c the car next to us had parked too close. She had me back the car up and then she let me drive! Yes I know, how illegal...but what a rush! The car is your standard SUV automatic. No big deal. However we don't have roundabouts in America. At least not in Northeast Iowa. So that part was interesting. Mom, don't worry nothing happened, no tickets were written, I didn't even have any close calls! You'd be proud!

I am writing out of order today. You can tell where my head is at. So rewind to Friday. On Friday night I had a blind date with one of my host mom's coworkers. And I know, if you do remember I posted awhile back that I had a boyfriend down here. Boy was I wrong. To make a long story short, we weren't on the same page and I know that I don't deserve to just be an option...so for my own sake I broke it off (well if you can call it breaking up if we were never actually together). So anyway! I had a blind date. First one of my life. I was really, really nervous. The guy knows no English. This is going to be interesting. Well he was two hours late from when he said he'd be at my house. Strike one. He was dressed in two unmatching shirts, a fanny pack and white sneakers. I wish I could say that's a strike but I know guys don't always have the best sense of style, and it wasn't that bad. He could have a had a red mohawk and a ring through his nose like a sow. It's what's on the inside that count anyway. Within the first 15 minutes of meeting him he lit up a cigarette. Strike two. I will not date a guy who smokes. Period. We had some drinks at a pretty low key bar. There was good conversation, I was impressed with myself at how I could communicate in my second language. That was the best part about the night. Among the many cigarettes and my eyes burning from the smoke, I had to pinch myself to stay focused on the conversation. I also had to bite my lip at times to keep myself from laughing. Kate, if you are reading this right now I was thinking of you during that. All I could think about was how movie-esque this blind date was and how ridiculous it is. And then I just thought about what you would do if you could be watching me right now and I thought about your laugh and I had a hard time not busting out laughing in his face. He kept telling me how beautiful I was and how my host mom didn't inform him how beautiful was. It's nice to get compliments, but he was laying it on a little thick. His semi-inappropriate comments for a first date that followed gave me the feeling that we definitely weren't on the same page. If you get my drift. However, I kept my composure and avoided some awkward topics. He took me home and I said I'd call him on Saturday to let him know what my plans were, however that could have been a white lie. Yes, ok it definitely was. I don't want to make it sound like this was the date from hell b/c it wasn't by any means. He paid for everything, so that was nice. Haha. No but seriously, he was a nice guy, very personable but there just wasn't anything there. Not even a flicker.

So needless to say I am still on the search for Prince Charming. I think my dad will do as my Prince Charming for now:)

The maid told me today that I could only make one egg. I was making three. Who only makes one egg...I mean, really. I pay too much money to live here to only be able to make only one egg. I'm an active girl, I need my protein! So I bought my own eggs. Ha, take that.

Things are still relatively uneventful. I am not sure if the strike is over or not, I haven't heard anything. It seems that we will finally be going back to school on Monday. Kind of happy, kind of not about it. I guess we have to go back to school at some point. And don't worry, this strike is not going to affect my schooling as far as how my credits transfer and what I will get credit for. I have been assured of this but my better sense doubts it because of my past track record with South America being sure of something.

Today I really did nothing. I slept in, ate breakfast at like 11, watched a movie and fell back to sleep. Then got up for lunch. After lunch I laid in bed and watched the Disney Channel with my host sister. I finally gathered up enough ambition to walk to the supermarket and buy some stuff (the eggs). The supermarket isn't the huge one so they didn't have peanut butter or the granola that I wanted. I know...what a worry, I am concerned about getting peanut butter and granola. Life's pretty good right now. And if I just bored you to death talking about needing to find granola and peanut butter, I won't be offended if you stop reading.

As type I am waiting to get picked up by one of my host mom's coworkers. I guess they were talking about how I live with her and he said he wanted to take me out. Is this a blind date?? I am not sure. We are meeting other people. I am bracing myself to bombarded by Spanish that's so fast it sounds like a bunch of gobbly-goop (is that a word?). Either way, I am shitting my pants. Pardon my French. Here goes nothin!

I got back from Iquique on Sunday night. All in all it was a very good trip. I went with my friend Roberto and it was nice to just be the two of us. Iquique has a lot of history with the mining of nitrates and then silver used to be mined near the area as well in the 1800's. This lead to a lot of rich architecture. There are wood sidewalks and very beautiful plazas. They call the type of architecture Georgian so if you want to look it up you can. To me it kind of reminded me of what you would think of when you think of the Old West. We didn't really do much sight seeing, I wish we would have because there's quite a bit to see. However, we more enjoyed the night life if you get my drift. It's only 4 hours away, so it's not like I can't go back.

We still aren't in school. I guess they had a meeting yesterday to see how long the strike was going to go but I haven't heard anything. The latest I heard was June 15th and as early as this week. I am thinking we'll probably go back on Monday. I have also heard that the police are going to start coming into the campus and removing the students who are blocking the entrances. You can't get in unless you show your student ID at the gates. I wouldn't really mind going back to school. I would love to travel but the funds are definitely getting low. Plus, I've got to go to school sometime so I would like to just get on with it. There has also been talk about the school year going longer than planned because of the strike but I was told yesterday that that would only happen if the strike went longer than a month. Right now we're on two weeks, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I would really hate to get screwed out of credits that I paid for. Although this not doing much of anything is pretty neato too. Kind of boring at times, but I know that this upcoming year is going to be a killer so I am trying to soak this up as much as possible. I am taking 15 credit hours plus I am doing my Level II which is basically a month long intensive lab where I am in the classroom every day for half of the day and I have to do all these lessons and write up this big report at the end. Plus I have two jobs, possibly three. I start to freak out just writing about it! And it's my senior year! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ok....breath....you'll be alright and you've got to grow up sometime.

I still feel that my thirst for seeing the world hasn't been quenched and I plan on doing my student teaching abroad. Nita is relieved that I will at least be doing an entire school year in Iowa this time which is something I haven't done since I was a freshman. Where's the next destination you ask? I am thinking Spain or England. Europe at least. South America is ok but I haven't fell in love in with like I did Europe. What's more is that there are some aspects of Latin culture I just can't wrap my head around. One big one is the fact that pretty much anyone will try and rip you off if they can. I have had a Chilean friend go up to a vendor and ask how much an item was, then I went and asked and it was almost double what she told my Chilean friend. I don't know if they think it's because I'm American so I must have a lot of money or something, I don't know. I have talked to some Chileans about it and they said it's pretty much with anyone, even if they are Latino too. My small town Iowa manners come out and me and that just really pisses (pardon my French) me off that people would do that to people. Ripping people off and stealing are two things I can't get used to here. Stealing here isn't anything, no one thinks twice about it.

I really wish I could be home today. Philip, the German foreign exchange student we had when I was a freshman, and his family are at our house right now. I haven't seen him in almost 7 years.

But I'm in Chile....I've got to enjoy where I am....I only have 51 days left...