Earthquake

Woken up by my first Chilean earthquake this morning. We're all safe. It looks like it was a 6.2 so enough to shake us quite a bit but we're all okay.

It's not possible that I've only been here a week

Wow it seems like so much longer since I got here! Where to start? We finished up orientation at the end of last week. We spent one of the last days doing a tour of the must see spots around town. We went hiking through some caves. Nice picture, huh? You think: "Wow, Eleanor, what a weird place that there's snowy mountains in the desert! What kind of magical place is this that you've traveled to?" Look again. That's all bird poop. Lots of bird poop.










We went and got some great views of the city. That's all ocean to the left and then to the right on the other side of town are desert hills. It's about 3 miles from the beach to the edge of the city (where I live). We have classes at two different campuses of the University. In the mornings we're at the campus right on the beach (straight ahead in the photo) and then in the afternoons we're at the campus closer to the other side of town where we all live.



We went to walk on the beach in a spot where they are creating a reservation for the crazy number of birds that come through on various migratory paths. Unfortunately, this spot where they all stop is super dirty now - you can see tons of trash in the water and lots of rain in the mountains has been washing waste and various things into the ocean so the water is brown and not super safe for swimming (although there are other places in town that are clean).



We got a view of the Aymara hieroglyphs just outside of town. They are more than a thousand years old and were made by piling together rocks. From what I could understand they are dedicated to Pachamama (Madre Tierra) and also serve as markers on a route for the Aymaras, an indigenous community in this area.




Then, a couple days later, on Saturday, I met my host family! They are absolutely wonderful. In the family there is the mom, Fabiola, the dad, Orlando, and the guagua (baby), Matilda. Also, Fabiola's mom, Margarita, is living here to help out with Matilda until she's old enough to go into a nursery. Matilda is six months old and was born on the exact same day as Vivian - the baby I've been nannying for in Boston. We all think this is a very auspicious coincidence.



I'm so happy to have a baby sister and a family that's so wonderful. They've been so patient with my Spanish and so helpful in every way. And the food at home is wonderful - even as I was writing this Fabiola brought up a brownie and a glass of milk for me. I was so anxious about meeting my Chilean family but I really couldn't have asked for anything more. I'm feeling so grateful. 






The only thing the family is missing is a dog but there are tons of those hanging out around town and once in a while they'll walk with you. This one must have walked with me for a mile or so.



 All in all I'm feeling like I'm exactly where I should be. Tomorrow we have our first visit to a local clinic - super exciting. I hope you're all doing just as well!

Tunnels and Food

I'll put up a few pictures too. The first picture is of the most amazing bowl of soup, purchased from the "lunch lady" of Anthony Bourdain fame.Every day she makes one delicious meal, which usually runs out early in the day. Luckily, we made it before the soup was all gone. It was full of squid, shrimp, pork and love.

The second photo is from a weekend trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, outside of Saigon. The 3-story tunnel system was created by the Viet Cong during the war to hide from/attack the South Vietnamese/Americans. They're tiny, pitch black, and full of bats. We crawled through the first and second levels, and 3 of us braved the third level (13 meters deep), emerging sweaty and suffering from "tunnel thigh". Afterwards, we got a chance to speak to a VC fighter, who had lived in the tunnels for ten years. The VC stayed underground for up to 7 days, coming out for a few hours at night to stretch their legs.

The third picture is of our sleeping room in a traditional Vietnamese craft village. Lots of mosquitos. Not a lot of bedding. Okay, that's all.

First Day in Arica

It's been a long day and I don't have much time to write but I thought I'd put up a few pictures (click for larger versions). We're staying at a hotel on the water for a few days for orientation. It's oddly beautiful here - sand dune mountains right up on a rocky coast with huge waves. Bird poop everywhere. 

More to come.

Before Departing

Just a quick photo from before parting ways.