La Cueca

It seems like my life has been taken over by... la cueca. The cueca is Chile´s national folkloric dance where the couple mimics the courting ritual between and rooster and a hen. And since the fiestas patrias (independence day celebrations) are quickly approaching, it seems like everybody is dusting off their cueca-dancing boots. Andrés´nephew S is in second grade and he´s learning how to dance the cueca in school. I´ve seen a couple of high schoolers who are preparing for a cueca test at their colegio. Andrés started taking cueca lessons in July at the Club de Cuecas y Huasos (Club of Cuecas and Cowboys) in Valparaíso. He just graduated/passed the first level last Saturday and they had a dance and dinner where all the students got to showcase their cueca skills. It was a lot of fun and now I´ve started taking the beginner level classes while Andrés has moved on to intermediate ones!


The cueca is actually one of the first dances I ever had with Andrés. We were learning it in my escuela and Andrés was my partner. I sucked at it. But now I´m somewhat okay because I have that same partner to practice with outside of class! It´s actually more fun than I thought it would be (I didn´t know I would like folkloric dancing so much), the music is growing on me and I feel so good actually knowing the steps. I can´t wait for dieciocho (September 18th, Independence Day) when hopefully I´ll get some opportunities to use my newfound skills.


Here´s a video of Andrés dancing the cueca on his graduation night:

Here´s some photos from the night:

Andrés´ friend Carlos

It went cueca, chicha, cueca. You would dance one cueca, take a drink in a bull´s horn, then dance another cueca.

The outfit of the huaso

Andrés´ friend Flaco/Ranier

The cueca can begin by clapping the rhythm until the singing starts

They all passed!

First Day in Chile

Now that I´ve been here for two weeks, I´ve decided that I should show you some pictures from the first day I arrived. Our plane landed at 6am and going through customs went really smoothly. In fact, everything went really smoothly and fast until one of my suitcases never arrived at baggage claim! I had to wait about a 20 minutes while they waited for the final pieces to come out and while they double checked all the leftovers. Finally LAN took me to their counter and took down my information, saying that they thought it would come in on the next flight which arrived in an hour and they could deliver it to me in Santiago. Well, I didn´t know yet where or if I was going to be in Santi so I decided to go find Andrés (finally I get to see him!) and thought we could wait for the next flight.

So I left baggage claim with my one suitcase and there he was, waiting for me! Of course it was a glorious reunion, hehe, and it was so nice to be back in his arms after 6 months. Honestly, (those of you who have been in a long distance relationship probably know a little of this) after you´ve been apart that long it is REALLY nice to be together again, but the first few minutes are a little awkward. You think to yourself, Do I remember how to hug him? Where do my arms go? What kind of a kiss is he expecting?! Thankfully for us, the awkwardness and nervousness usually only lasts for a little while. I´ve heard for others that it takes them up to day to fully warm up to each other again! It´s just strange when you´re used to only seeing someone through a computer screen for hours everyday and then suddenly there they are- 3D and all!

Anyways, so we had our glorious reunion and then we decided to wait for my luggage. It was kind of a waste of time because it did not show up on the next flight, but it was kind of nice to sit and chat and catch up. Also, since it was 7am, I doubt there would have been much for us to do in Santiago anyways. I´m going to transition into the pictures now, but in case you´re curious, my suitcase showed up the next day and they delivered it to me all the way out in Concón. How nice of LAN, they seriously were very courteous in all of this.

After we left the airport we headed for Cerro San Cristobal (St. Christopher´s Big Hill) which has a huge statue of Mary at the top, we call her Mega Maria. It is our tradition to always go therre first, enjoy the view and pray a little in thanksgiving for being together again. I love this tradition.

Together at last!

A cute note on one of the fences. It says: Do you want to go out with me?

View of Santiago from Cerro San Cristobal

Who´s this handsome fellow?

Mega María

It was a sunny day

After San Cristobal we went to el Centro to see the markets and we ate lunch at one of them. It was so good! Although the waiters were very pushy, they basically fought over us to get us to eat at their restaurant and not the competition´s.

My  lunch- so yummy

Andrés enjoying his food

I´m Back!!!

I´m back in Chile and back with Andrés and back to blogging. I´m also very happy. Moving my stuff back to Minnesota was a little rough, but I immensely enjoyed my time with my family and had lots of fun- pictures will follow soon. The trip to Chile on Friday was long, but went by a lot faster with my new Nook(!) and now I´m with Andrés once again.

Time is already passing really fast and I plan to start blogging regularly again, but for right now just a tiny update. I got here at 6am on Saturday and one of my suitcases was missing but it arrived the next day and was delivered to my house. Andrés and I spent the day in Santiago and were planning on staying overnight to do some more exploring but the hotel didn´t work out... bummer. Sunday and Monday we pretty much spent putting my room together and resting. I went to Mass on Sunday and was glad to see my host mom, however her son is very sick so I´m sure they would appreciate your prayers. Tuesday I was going to start looking for work but I got sick late Monday night and ended up sleeping in instead. So today I started the job search! Oh my, it´s a little nerve wracking but I must have confidence that God will provide. I dropped off my resume at three English institutes- they all said they weren´t hiring right now but will keep my information for if/when something comes up. Tomorrow I go to Valparaíso to do it all over. Come on St. Joseph, provide a job for me! :) As for my Spanish, yesterday I started to speak only in Spanish. I really want to get a good handle on the language and have set a goal to be fluent within 3 months. Andrés and I were also going to go to one of the Education protests today, but by the time I was done handing out my resumes it was over. However, there was a march of what looked like high school aged kids that passed right by his house tonight. We were watching TV and he muted it and said "Listen, it´s a march." I didn´t believe him, I thought it was the TV in the next room. So he got up and showed me that protesters were walking down the street! It´s quite different to see how it works here. As for right now, I´m sitting in my new bed trying to stay warm because it´s much colder here than I thought it would be. Sometimes I can see my breath, it´s that cold in the house!

Once again, thanks for reading and thanks for your support. I´m happy to be back!

They're Almost Here!!!

My parents are on their way! In fact, they should arrive at my apartment in four to five hours. I'm so excited to see them and hug them and also to see my niece, P! She's six-years-old and on her way out to Wyoming for the very first time. I have to say that I'm very thankful for all the sacrifices my family is making for me. They weren't able to leave the house in Minnesota until much later than expected yesterday and they didn't get to their hotel in South Dakota until 8am- that's right, 8AM!!! They basically drove straight through the night. And let me tell you, I did that a few months ago and I thought I was too old to be doing that at only 25 years-old! It seems like P is a trooper though and is doing well with them.

Everything seems to be coming together on my end. The man replacing me arrived at work this Monday and training has been going very well. I've gotten to know his wife and kids a little bit and I have to say it feels like a missed opportunity to get to know a really nice family- I wish they had arrived months sooner! On Sunday the parish had an ice cream social to say goodbye and I also had a BBQ with RCIA members of the past on Tuesday and I've been meeting up with friends whenever I get the chance. Saying goodbye is really hard! Especially since I don't know when I'll see a lot of these people again. I'm going to miss my parish community and Wyoming friends so much. Over the past week or two I've been packing up my apartment, and while it is tedious work it seems to be coming along. I really only have my kitchen and food items left to go through. I've been having to sort things into four piles: things to go in the garage sale, things to go to Chile, things to store in MN and things to bring to MN and give back to the family members they belong to. By the way, if any of you readers are in WY and know me, stop by my yard sale on Saturday!

I probably won't be posting anything for about a week or so because of all of the moving plans. Tomorrow my dad is going to work on car stuff, I'll be finishing things up at work (I can't believe it's my last day!), and I'm not sure what my mom and niece will do. Friday night we have dinner with a wonderful woman here who has been like a grandmother to me and we'll make preparations for the yard sale. Saturday morning/early afternoon will be the yard sale and then we'll go to 5:30pm Mass (my last Mass in the parish, sad) followed by a BBQ with the parish staff so I can say all of my goodbyes to them. Sunday morning we'll load up the truck and make our way to Jackson, WY. We get to spend a night in a nice-looking hotel and then all day Monday we're going to explore Yellowstone! None of us have ever been before. Monday night and Tuesday morning will be spent in Cody, WY and then we'll start driving and make it home to Minnesota (pray all goes well) by Wednesday night. Ufda! To all of you MN peeps, know that I'm looking forward to spending lots of quality time with you before leaving for Chile on the 19th. Only 21 days to Andres and Chile!!!

P.S. To anyone who has supported me in this transition through words, acts of kindness or gifts, I want you to know that I GREATLY APPRECIATE it. I don't think I could have made this big decision and followed through with it without you. I especially want to thank Andres, my family and my fellow parishioners. I love you all.

Busy! Busy! Busy!

I'm realizing that in this time leading up to the move to MN on July 31st and to Chile on August 19th(!), I might not have as much time to blog as I thought I would. Things have been busy! So I thought I'd give you a little update on what's happening in my life.

• I just talked to my mom and she said that my notarized degree finally arrived, and that the Chilean consulate signed off on it! Yippee! It actually took my university about 7 weeks to do their part and the Chilean consulate only a few days to do theirs. Who would have thought?...
• We had Totus Tuus/Vacation Bible School at my parish this past week and after spending five straight days with 4-12 year-olds I am pooped! Those kids wore me out! I came home on Friday night, ate dinner and fell asleep at 7:30pm. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I am officially a vieja (old lady). It was a great week and the kids had fun and learned lots, but I'm def looking forward to catching up on my rest.
• Speaking of work, the man taking over my position should arrive sometime this week! I'm looking forward to meeting him and his family. This also means that I should have a good amount of time to train him in- but not so much time to clean-up my office before he arrives!
• Cars hate me. My car broke down a few weeks ago, it got fixed and I drove it for a couple of weeks and now it broke down AGAIN! The first time it happened, a man from the parish kindly patched up the brake line and instead of me paying him cash we traded labor for labor and I fixed up some stuff around their house. This time, there is probably no repairing it (most likely something is seriously wrong with the tranny). So that same man and his wife let me borrow their car for the weekend so I could get to work at the golf course. I came out of work yesterday and the tire on their car was flat! Cars hate me. And it sucks for something to happen in somebody else's car. A spare was put on and all is fine, but I'm glad that I probably won't need a car for the next two weeks since I can walk to my job at the parish and...
• Today was my last day working at the golf course! I'm officially a one job woman! And in two weeks I'll be a no job woman. :( I look forward to the 3+ weeks of vacation but please pray that I find a job in Chile quickly.
• I visited one of the specialists that I had to see that I mentioned here and it all checked out-  everything is fine! :) The only thing is that it turned out to be a waste of time and money. The other specialist I have to see isn't that big of a deal (just a little painful), I'll be going to the dermatologist this week to have a number of moles removed (I'm a very mole-y person).
• It's starting to get very hard thinking about having to say goodbye to all the people here at the parish and in Wyoming. I'm going to miss them all so much! This has truly become my home and it feels way different leaving here than it did MN to go to college or college to come here. 
• With that said, only 33 days, 6 hours, 46 minutes and 19 seconds until I'm with Andres in Chile!!!

FAQs

I often get asked a lot of the same questions so I figured I would take this opportunity to answer them in a public forum in case any of you faithful readers are curious as well. Let me know in the  comments if you have any other questions you want me to answer.


When do you leave? Will you go directly from Wyoming?
I bought my plane ticket last week (yippee! but ouch on the wallet) and I leave from Minneapolis on August 19th and arrive in Santiago on August 20th!!! I leave Wyoming on the very last day of July and will get about three weeks in MN with my family. It's going to be crazy having that much vacation time! And on my way to Chile I have an 11 hour layover in Miami.... so if anyone there wants to come hang out with me or take me on a little day excursion in the area while I wait, just let me know! :)


Will you be in Chile indefinitely?
Kind of. My plane ticket says I will be in Chile for nine months but I'm hoping that I will be able to extend it for three more months. Then I will come back to the United States (MN) for 4-6 months probably and then I will go back to Chile to live indefinitely. And by indefinitely I mean 3-5 years and then we (BOTH Andres and I) will probably come to live and work in the U.S. until all student loans are paid off.


Are you getting married there?
Probably not. We are planning on getting married, although we are not officially engaged yet, but are hoping and planning for the wedding to be in Minnesota in the winter of 2012/2013. That will be the period when I'll be living in the states for 4-6 months and the hope is that Andres can also come for a good amount of that time and that is when we'll have the wedding. When we return to Chile we also want to have a second wedding/vow renewal/reception with his family and friends. However, sometimes I wonder if I can last that much longer without marrying him! If I weren't Catholic and know I have to wait a certain amount of time for wedding preparation, I think I would try to convince him to elope ;)

Where will you live?

I'm going to be staying with Andres' family. I'm looking forward to getting to know my future in-laws better and also I'm excited for when they will get to know the real me. And what I mean by that is that I feel my second-grade level Spanish doesn't always get my points across and so when my Spanish improves I think they'll be able to understand me and who I am a lot better.


Are you nervous?
Surprisingly, I'm not. But with how frequently I'm asked this question I feel like I should be. Honestly, I'm just so excited to be with the one I love and to be back in Chile. I don't know if I could do it if I was never going to be coming back to the States, but I know that I am so this is just a great opportunity for me to expand my horizons and get a little break from full-time parish ministry. And did I mention that I'll get to be with the one I love? So excited! The only things that I get a little nervous about is when I think about living with Andres' family. I think they're great and we get along really well, but I wonder how it'll be different now that I'll actually be living there and not a guest. I don't want to be treated like a visitor but like a family member, and I want to help out with household things. Some people have also warned me about the Suegra (mother-in-law) and how they are really protective of their sons and how they can seem to be really overbearing to gringas. Honestly, I can't imagine Andres' mother being like that and even if she is you'll never know because while I want to be honest, I also don't plan to write mean or degrading things about people on this blog- especially about my Suegra!


What will you do there?
Good question. I first plan to find a job teaching English at an institute. I don't and won't have one lined up before I get there, but I really hope that I can find one within the first few weeks. Please pray for me! After awhile, like maybe when I'm back in Chile the second time, maybe I can find a job teaching Religion in a Catholic school since that is what my degree is in. There's also a possibility that in the far off future (3 years or so) I might go back to school to get a degree that I can actually use there. We'll see I guess... 


Thanks for reading, don't forget to ask any more questions in the comment box. 
P.S. 43 days, 4 hours, 53 minutes and 45 seconds until I'm in Chile!

It's All Coming Back to Me Now

People probably hear me say this all the time, but it's hard being an adult! I don't know if I'll ever get used to all of these adult responsibilities. Tomorrow I'm getting life insurance. Life insurance! It's for my dad in case I die, because then he would be stuck with paying my student loans since he co-signed on them. I hope I don't die anytime soon. I also went to the doctor today. I thought I was being all responsible going to make sure I was healthy before moving out of the country. Turns out I'm being punished for acting like a responsible adult. Now I have to fit in seeing two specialists in the next few weeks before I lose my insurance. It's nothing life-threatening or too serious, but it is something that needs to be done before I move. Welcome to adulthood, Tammy.


Okay, now that my pity party is over, it's time to move on to the real subject of this post. I've now known Andres for over two years! It was this time two years ago that I was in Chile learning Spanish and getting to know Andres, a few other Chileans and 15 gringos really well. I miss them all so much! And all these good memories keep coming back to me. I keep thinking to myself two years ago today I was... dancing until 4:30am at el Huevo (a five story dance club in Valparaiso)...getting my tattoo... celebrating this person's birthday... or meeting this person for the first time. Today is the feast of St. Maria Goretti, an Italian martyr for purity and an amazing example to all young people. Two years ago today I was visiting el Colegio Santa Maria Goretti, the local parochial school in Concon (and where Andres went to school!). We only had a half day of classes and then we went and visited the school and met the nuns and students. It was very interesting. I enjoyed it, but let's just say that Chilean Catholic school kids act quite a bit different than U.S. Catholic school kids.


Anyhow, if any of you who were in Chile with me the first time are reading this, know that I'm missing you and wishing we could all be together again. Son mis hermanos en Cristo y les extrano y estoy rezando por ustedes. Les quiero mucho!!! Let's go back ;)