Aventurera Marta

viviendo la vida rica

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Visited the theme park in Santiago called Fantasilandia. It was terrifying and lots of fun! Reminded me a lot of Lagoon actually. Our favorite ride is this one called Tacada where they play hit songs and try and knock the life out of you. Also one of our favorite songs playing!! 

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Mechoneo

There is a really strong tradition surrounding freshman in universities in Chile. It has been very interesting to experience first hand! Depending on your major and university, you will be subjected to a certain type of hazing. The worst universities are Universidad de Chile, Universidad de Santiago de Chile and Universidad Católica. Your upperclassmen will take you out of class, destroy your clothes, soak you in foul substances, make you wear fish heads around your neck, cut your hair, and take away all your stuff. Next, you are forced to go out in the streets and ask for money. When you have reached the fee, your belongings will be returned.  The money is then used to throw a big welcome party for the freshman. Kissing pig heads and swimming in pools of rotting garbage is also supposed to be part of the tradition. Older people in Santiago say to avoid all the streets near the universities during their starting month of March to avoid the stench. It’s true! The streets are full of these poor souls soaked in all kinds of foulness and, man oh man, do they smell. I was surprised to see lots of other students and all kinds of people giving them money! I also felt very bad for them, as they were in a seriously sad and repulsive state, and gave out coins when I could. However, it seems like it is done in good fun and no one is seriously distressed. Nonetheless, there is growing controversy about the practice and other majors and universities are turning to other types of welcomes for freshman.

The word mechón, used as freshman is Chile, actually means lock of hair and is used because often chunks of hair are cut. Mechoneo refers to the practice of hazing the freshman.

Pretty common to see “Mechón” written on the students faces or bodies like this girl.

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Chilean Slang

Learning Spanish in Chile has been a unique experience. Chilean Spanish is very different as Chileans use lots of slang. When I tell Chileans that I am living in chile to study Spanish, many times people laugh and ask, “Why in the world would you come to Chile to learn Spanish?? We Chileans speak terrible Spanish!” Most everyone is quick to admit their poor grammar and usage of words no one other Spanish speaker would understand. Here is a list of some of my favorite slang I've learned here in Chile!!

Carrete/ carretear = a party/ to party. Don't say fiesta. You'll get made fun of. Pololo/ polola/ poloear = boyfriend/ girlfriend/ to date. The word novio/ novia used in other Spanish speaking countries means fiancée here. Huevón/ huevona  = dude/ asshole. Also spelled weón/ weona. This is one of the most important words and lots of other slang words have this sound or are similar to this word. Used very frequently between friends and family, but can also be used at an insult to those you don't know.  Bacán = awesome, cool. Used very informally. ¿Cachai? = ¿Do you understand? Used at the end of sentences similar to “ya know?” Po = Chileans add this word to many sentences and especially after saying yes similar to yes of course!--”Sí po!”  Sometimes has a sassy or dismissive tone.¿Como estai? = The informal way to ask someone how they are doing. Flaite = white trash, ratchet, ghetto. Can be used as a noun or adjective.  Cuico = rich person, snob. Taxi = fake blonde. Taxis in Chile have yellow roofs and black bodies--similar to fake blondes. Andar a lo gringo = to not wear underwear. Everyone calls white people gringos here in a non-offensive way. Not sure where this one came from...  Fome = boring, lame. Sunday or domingo is called fomingo. Luca = similar to “bucks”, means 1,000 pesos or about $1.50. Paco = policeman. Everyone uses this term but apparently you can be arrested if a policeman hears you say it so it is avoided when the Pacos are near. Caña = hangover. Mijito/ mijita = my dear. Chileans use lots of terms of endearment. People you meet call you niño/ niña (kid). My other favorite term of endearment used by many older women is reina, which means queen. Buena/ mala onda = good/ bad vibes, attitude, mood. Used to describe people or even events. Tocar el violin = to be the third wheel. La raja = awesome, great. Actually refers to one’s buttcrack. Tiki taca = something that is perfect, just right. Piola = chill, relaxed, or hangout. Al tiro = immediately. Harto = many. Wea = thing. Guagua = baby. This word and many others have a quechua origin. Guata = stomach. Taco = traffic jam. Not delicious Mexican food. Choclo = corn. Porotos = beans. Palta = avocado. These food words are also all quechua. Super + __ = used just like in english to emphasize an adjective. This food is superrico!

I’m always learning other new slang here in Chile. It’s a fun experience and Chileans love it when you use their words!

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Parque Cordillera Yerba Loca

Hola chiquillos! Just spent the most amazing weekend in Yerba Loca. There are so many close places to hike/camp/backpack/climb/mas near Santiago it blows me away. This park is in the Andes just a short city bus and taxi/hitchhike ride away. It was fantastically beautiful! The first night we hiked in a bit until we found a beautiful campsite near the river and decided to call it our home for the next two nights. We made dinner, braved the rain a bit, and enjoyed some beautiful sunset clouds. We also got to see some stars as the clouds cleared and we had a warm night. 

The next day we set out for the about 20 mile round-trip hike to the glacier La Paloma. It was a beautiful hike along the river and through the canyon. We also encountered a few groups of horses grazing in the canyon. 

(Photo Credit for this shot: Heather Moldofsky)

We reached this beautiful waterfall and then the clouds started to blow in. 

After climbing up on top of the waterfall and hoping to continue to the glacier, we were assaulted by fog, rain, and eventually as we climbed higher--snow! It was strikingly beautiful even though we were disappointed we couldn't see the glacier because of the weather.

We finished our journey back through the rain and spent a pretty rainy night in the canyon. The rain made the canyon beautiful and we were all happy to wake up to clear skies.

Weekends like this make me so grateful to be living in Santiago! There are so many diverse places like this to enjoy so close by the city, I could never get bored exploring here. Viva Chile!  

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Tonight my dance class was taught by the owner of Bailes Valero. He is 82 years old and always dancing his heart out. His parents founded the studio in 1918 and he's been dancing since he was 4.

"The dance is life."

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La vida rica

So I have officially been in Chile for one month!! What a whirlwind it has been. I have fallen in love with Santiago and Chile. The noisy streets, the street art, the friendly street dogs, the completos on every corner, the graffiti, the busy metro, the abundant parks and green spaces. I will update this blog more about my travels and experiences, but here is a little intro about living with my family in Chile.

Living with a Chilean family is awesome. I have three Chilean siblings, Ricky 28, Belen 24, and Pia 17. I also have a Chilean bulldog named Gary. He is alternately vicious or depressed. In most Chilean families, kids live with their family until about 30. My Chilean mama is the sweetest. Her name is Carmen and during the days she cares for her niece’s baby (or guagua, the Chilean term for baby). She is an amazing cook and wants to help me learn to cook Chilean style. My papá's name is Ricardo and he sells olive oil and loves to tell me all about Chile. Another girl from our program, Abby, lives with us too. My mamá’s sisters also host students from our program and live nearby. We do many activities with the family and I have lots of Chilean cousins. It is always a full house! Whenever someone drop something in the house my mamá or papá yells “¡Visitas!” as a joke because it sounds like they have visitors coming.  

Chilean families are very close. We eat “once” together in the evenings. “Once”, which means eleven, is said to be a tradition inherited from the British and consists of tea or coffee and pancito, but is eaten in the evening usually around 7 or 8. As chilean’s largest meal is lunch, this is usually a small meal. My family usually eats pancito with some of the following: palta (avocado), mayonnaise, white cheese, mantequilla, or pate. Of course three of Chileans favorite things to eat: bread, avocado, and mayonnaise! Because it is summer here there are an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables to eat. Ferias are outdoor markets similar to farmer’s markets and are plentiful in Santiago. My family goes every week to stock up on fruit, vegetables, eggs, and more. One of my favorite fruits here are the white peaches. Fruit is usually eaten as a dessert here after a meal and watermelon in always served in huge chunks and eaten with a fork and knife. Another of my favorite things to eat in Chile is manjar. Manjar is similar to dulce de leche and is fantastic! They sell fried churros in the street and fill them with manjar. They are spectacular.

My host mom is an amazing cook. She cooks us typical Chilean food that is delicious. Chilean food is never spicy. Some typical Chilean dishes include humitas, a corn mush served in cornhusks, and pastel de choclo, seasoned meat covered in ground corn with a crispy top. There is tons of street food here also. Completos are the most popular—hot dogs topped with tomatoes, palta, mayonnaise, and sometimes sauerkraut. A lot of the completos are in a giant bun two hot dogs long and are less than one dollar. Chilean families make these frequently at home as well. Empanadas are the other common street food and varieties include cheese and ham, tomatoes, or beef and onions.

My family loves to watch soccer. Well, my brother and dad love to watch soccer. Their team is el U, or the Universidad de Chile. Everyone has a team here and is very loyal. My sisters and mom fight with the boys about watching their favorite Chilean telenovela instead of soccer, “Pituca sin lucas”, which means a rich person without “lucas”. “Lucas” is the Chilean equivalent of bucks and is 1000 Chilean pesos, a little less than two US dollars. In the evenings we either watch one of these or visit with the family or other visitas.

One of my favorite Chilean words is rico. Everything in Chile is rico. ¡Que rica la cena! ¡Que rico el tiempo! ¡Que rico tu fin de semana! (How rich the dinner!, how rich the weather!, how rich your weekend was!). Chileans speak very emphatically and everyone uses this word. But it is fitting, because how truly rich the life in Chile is ☺.

Gary our chilean bull dog

Mama teaching me to cook

Me with a giant completo

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Daily Life—Work as a Research Assistant

This post is about a daily aspect of my life in Salt Lake City.  I had a hard time choosing what to write about—there are so many things I love about my life in Salt Lake! I love exploring and biking in the mountains, I love attending the University of Utah, I love my neighborhood in the avenues, and I have too many favorite places in the city.  Finally though, I decided to write about my job.  Sounds boring, but it is one of my favorite (most of the time) parts of my life in Salt Lake City.  I work in a vestibular and neural research lab in the Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building on the University of Utah campus.  One of the first things I love about working here is the location.  It is close to all my classes and easy to run to when I have a few hours between classes.  The building was built in 2012 and is gorgeous!!

  This is the view from my desk.

  I also love what I get to do.  Dr. Richard Rabbitt, who is not only a genius but also an amazing mentor, runs the lab.  There is also one other undergrad, another doctor, and a Ph.D. student that work in the lab. I have worked here for two years now and have had the amazing opportunity to work on my own projects as an undergrad.  The first is a modeling of VEMPs testing (a special kind of testing not well understood that tests vestibular organ function) in the rat inner ear bony labyrinth.  The second deals with investigating the unique structure of the dolphin inner ear bony labyrinth and why it evolved in such a specific way.  Being part of the science community in academia is a great experience and has made me decide that I want to run my own research lab some day.  This fall I submitted an abstract to the Association of Research in Otolaryngology and was invited to present my research in a poster at the 2015 Midwinter meeting. (Realizing I wouldn’t be able to travel to Baltimore for the meeting because of my plans to study abroad was very difficult for me.)   It is been great to experience the feeling that I am contributing to science!!

Me in our toadfish labcoat with our very special mechanical model of the cochlea in the background!

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Look what came in the mail today!! My official acceptance letter, visa instructions, luggage tags, a t-shirt, and lots of other information.  I am beyond stoked. This is all feeling real now!

I've spent all morning calling people, getting my fingerprints taken, and trying to get everything in order to get my visa.  Everything is time sensitive and I hope it all gets done on time!  There's a lot to do. I've also been applying for scholarships like crazy--writing essays and getting recommendations and the like.  Cross your fingers for me!

See you soon Santiago ;)

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Fall Break in Cataract Canyon

This past week was fall break and I got to spend it rafting in Cataract Canyon!  It was such an awesome week and a great break from the craziness of this semester.  The trip was a cooperative adventure put on by the Outdoor Adventure program at the University of Utah.  I have been on a few Outdoor Adventure trips before and they are always such a great time.  Great people, great food, awesome price, spectacular locations, and just fun.

We headed down around Moab on Saturday morning early (which sucked because I had been up all night finishing homework, but totally worth it), rigged up the boats, and headed off!  I love the feeling of pushing off at the put-in on river trips, you know that a great adventure is ahead and you leave all your worries behind.  We set off riding along the flat water on the barge (we tied all seven rafts together and motored along).  The next few days we spent motoring on the flat water, which was very relaxing.  We read, talked, just hung out and enjoyed the amazing landscape surrounding us.  I brought a book of Pablo Neruda poems (a famous Chilean writer whose house I will be visiting in Chile) and the book the Motorcycle Diaries (Che Guevera’s journal from traveling around South America) to get excited for Chile next semester!  

Camp-sites can be pretty damn amazing on the river.  We had some great ones on this trip.  One of my favorites had all this driftwood and we made this cool spirit house (see the picture!).  Another one had a great ultimate Frisbee court.  We all slept under the stars almost every night and it was spectacular.  I love getting away from light pollution and getting to appreciate the night sky.

We then had a few days of whitewater rapids.  This was awesome and terrifying.  The first day I got to ride in the stern-frame raft which is powered by six people paddling and a guide in the back who steers.  One oarsman only powered the other rafts we had so the stern-frame raft was more interactive and you felt much closer in the rapids!  On the second day of white water we had a few mishaps.  One of our crew came as a guest of his son’s and he fell right in one of the biggest rapids and got pretty banged up riding it down.  One of the leaders of the trip had actually spent a summer professionally guiding trips down the river and he was caught unaware and flipped his raft in the middle of a rapid! I helped to heroically rescue one of the girls who fell out.  It was pretty epic watching the raft get flipped over (one of the guys had banged his face as it flipped and his nose was bleeding like crazy as all pulled it over).  They managed it the first try, which was amazing considering how much gear it had strapped on it!  And only a pair of sunglasses was lost. 

We got to do two fun hikes in the canyon too. The first one was called the loop which was a place in the river where the river looped around and we hiked over the ridge to the other side of the river.  It was cool to hike so high and be able to see the river on each side of you.  The views were breathtaking.  The second hike we did was called the Dollhouse which was high up above the river and had lots of large rock formations.  The view of the Canyonlands from up here was truly stunning and we spent the day climbing up the rocks and exploring.

Another highlight of the trip was the food.  One night we made a Thanksgiving feast and had turkey and mashed potatoes and the like.  Another night we made curry chicken. We had great breakfasts with bacon and cinnamon pancakes and breakfast burritos.  One of my favorite parts was helping cook the food and, oh my, everything tastes better when camping out.  We also sat around the fire every night and made s’mores and talked and enjoyed the warmth.

At the end of the trip we finished the 96 miles early and most of the group headed to Goblin Valley to spend the day hiking.  We went up Bells Canyon and down Little Wild Horse Canyon.  The scenery was beautiful and through impressive slot canyons.  I was grateful to spend as much time as possible away from home and all the stresses of school and work. Such an awesome adventure!!

I would like to give a big thanks to Ellie Swanson who took all the pictures here!

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Bienvenida

¡Hola amigos! 

Welcome to my new blog where I will be documenting all my travels, fun experiences, and everything and anything else! This is something I have wanted to start for a long time and I am excited to start blogging.  The main reason I created this blog though is because I will be studying abroad next semester in Santiago, Chile!!  I am beyond excited about this opportunity and want to create a blog where I can document my whole experience and new life in Chile for my friends and family and myself.  I am hoping to try and write some portions in Spanish (though I will translate for everyone) to practice writing the language before and while I am there—just a heads-up!

This week was majorly exciting because I got my final acceptance into the program.  The program I have chosen is a USAC program for Intensive Spanish Language and Latin American Studies.  There are so many exciting things to do and get ready I can’t believe it! 

¡Hasta luego!