Brazil(!!!)

Wait a second....(you're probably thinking right now)....EmmaJane is an exchange student in CHILE right?  What's all this Brazil talk?

Well ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Brazil.  Me-a girl from the USA, departing from Chile, with all my classmates, to Brazil. It sounds too good to be true, but I have pictures to prove that it is!  In Chile, it is custom for each course (people are in the same course with the same people, with whom they share every single class every single year from kindergarden until graduation) to go on a trip together at the end of Junior year.  It is called the Gira de Estudio, and different schools go to different places. Sometimes it's within Chile, sometimes to Argentina, and in my school to Brazil.

We left Chile at 3am on the 15th, to arrive in Camboriu, Brazil, in the morning. We hit the ground running by immediately checking out the pool and the beach.  Our hotel was located right on the beach, with an amazing view of the whole bay. Every 20 meters or so, there are little shacks that sell coconut and churros, which we discovered right away. The coconuts are the most delicious thing in the world, and I decided right away that I would need to drink/eat one a day minimum.  First you drink the milk, then you can ask for them to crack open the coconut so that you can eat the fruit.

The first day in general was a beach and catch up on sleep day. The second day, we got up early and went to some typical tourist shops to buy gifts and swimsuits. Brazil is famous for their swimsuits, so all us girls ended up buying a few. We also went to a little German town where there was artificial snow and beautiful buildings. Then we went to a huge water park a few hours away to spend the rest of the day. The slides were amazing. There was one that was at least half a kilo-metro, and another one that was really wide, so all 18 of us could go down at the same time. We also found a waterfall down a path at the park where we all got the chance to see what it was like to be inside the fall- in the part between the rock and the falling water. It was breathtaking and a bucket list moment. That night, we went to a foam party, which is like a normal party, but with a huge machine that spits out foam so that everyone is soaking wet and covered in soap. We danced until early hours of the morning, then returned back to the hotel to get up early the next morning to go on another adventure. 

The next day we went on a cableway up to the top of a hill, where there were activities and stores. It was really beautiful to ride the cableway up because we could see the entire bay. Once we were at the top, we went down on the other side of the hill by way of zipline! This was my favorite activity. It is the longest zipline in South America, and the view on the way down was breathtaking. Then we went to a beach on that side of the hill for the rest of the day until returning to the hotel to have a free night. Free nights consisted of a lot of swimming and dancing on the beach with all of my classmates. The music in Brazil is really fun to dance to because there are more coordinated dances which once you learn the moves to, you can do weather you are terrible at dancing like me or not. In general, there was an impressive amount of dancing during this trip.

The following day we spent on a pirate ship to tour a close-by island. On the boat, there was music, dancing, and a lot of Chileans. We stopped at one point in a picture perfect bay so that everyone could jump of the boat into the ocean. The water is extremely warm in Brazil, and it was a big boat so it was thrilling to jump off. I loved swimming in the ocean in general because it is so easy to float with all the salt in the water.  In a swimming pool, my legs sink immediately when I try to float on my back, but in the ocean I could float forever. We then continued onto the island, where we spent multiple hours enjoying the water, the view, and the dance classes. 

After a second free night of no sleep and a lot of swimming, we got up and went to an amusement park a few hours away. The park was fairly underwhelming, but we enjoyed ourselves just the same because we were all together. 

After a third free night of no sleep and a lot of swimming, we went to a water park to compete against other schools in a competition which included mud, human Foosball, volleyball, and much more. The most beautiful thing about this day was how much we worked as a team and came together in order to win. After all the activities, there was a talk which started off funny, then transitioned into something which left most of us with tears in our eyes. The speaker reminded us to be grateful for our families back home, to appreciate life, to cherish this time we had together as a class, etc. He said to go up to each classmate, give them a hug, and tell them you love them, because this may be one of the last times that we will be all together like this. (For Saint Clare's folks, this reminded me of moments in New Beginnings or Happening. )  Our tour guide also repeated this topic everyday. He reminded us everyday to be exclusive on this trip, and to cherish this time we have together. Normally, I think of exclusive as a negative thing because it often means leaving people out. But on this trip, it was something beautiful.

That night, we went to a pool party in the rain, and danced the night away. The next day we had a beach day. We explored a little more the town, and soaked up the sun. We also spent hours in the ocean and kept on saying to each other that we didn't want to leave. I don't think I have ever laughed as much in one way as I did this one. It was nice to take a break from doing actives and to simply spend time together on the beautiful beach. 

That night we went to the Cristo-luz to have a fancy dinner. We got dressed up, and took a bus up the hill to where the cristo-luz over looks the whole city. Then we sadly returned to the hotel to pack our bags and catch the 8am flight the next morning.

I enjoyed running during the whole week, and explored both sides of the bay. On one side, I found a pier which reached out a mile into the water, and on the other side, beautiful rocks with crabs crawling between them and waves crashing dramatically. I also liked observing the people on my runs.  A few things that I noticed were that everyone is more friendly, a lot of woman wear skirts while running, more people run, and everyone wears less clothes. Regarding the clothes, it was very notable because more men wore speedos and the typical swimsuit bottoms for women were borderline thongs. Additionally, be it because of the heat or the culture, very few runners were wearing shirts. It may seem bizarre, but I liked this difference. It was a little shocking to see so much of peoples bodies, but I liked what it reflected. Everyone carried themselves confidently and it didn't mater if you were skinny or fat wearing a speedo or walking without a shirt. I think that the shamelessness of one's own body in Brazil took away beach-body-stigmas and self consciousness. I certainly began to think less and less about how I looked throughout the week. It leaves you subconsciously judging and analyzing both yourself and others less, and seeing each person not as ugly or pretty, in shape or out of shape, but as different. It made the differences between bodies less notable, and made stereotypes of what is beautiful fall away because everyone showed their bodies with confidence, not just those who fit what the magazine adds show. 

This was by far the best trip of my life. Not only the location, but getting closer to my classmates and sacrificing a week of sleep in order to spend as much time  together as we could. We all came back to Chile full of love and good memories. I said dramatically to my host mom that we left for Brazil as classmates, and came back as family. 

Fútbol

Soccer. Fútbol. Whatever you want to call it, it is THE sport of the rest of the world, to which Chile is no exception. As someone who has played soccer since I was in kindergarten, this is the perfect place for me. I wouldn’t say the soccer is better or worse, but it is definitely different and more culturally prominent.

Culturally, soccer rules. Everyone watches the national teams games and follows the players and rankings. Classmates get together to watch the games together in the same way people in the USA throw football watching parties.  There is a soccer competition called intercurso between all the courses at the school each year which is going on right now. Each class plays the other classes in a tournament style competition, and as of right now, my course hasn’t lost so we are looking at an opportunity to be champions!

Both from personal experience playing with my school team here, and observation watching my host brothers games, I have noticed that as a sport, both the rules and style of play differ. First of all, we play 7 v 7, rather than 11 v 11, so the play is much faster and more goals are scored overall. The rules are also more relaxed. For example, throw-ins in Ann Arbor must be done with both feet on the ground, and be thrown from behind your head. Here on the other hand, boys and girls alike throw the ball in any which way and it doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Chilean soccer is free spirited in general, and a war. Part of that is because of the smaller field and faster play, and part of that is because the other team will pull your shorts up in a wedgie, curse relentlessly in your ear and claw your arm when the ref isn’t watching. These types of things also happen in Michigan, but less so. I really like this aspect of soccer here because you must play and fight with your whole heart and body.  After each game I may be fuming because the ref gave me a yellow card for no reason, because he gave the other team two red cards for a good reason but they were allowed to keep playing, because the defense on the other team was mocking my couch's words in a high pitched voice, or because one girl wouldn’t stop grabbing my hand, but in the end it just adds to the excitement and emotional investment in the game, which makes it better.

Being here has also made me realize how fortunate we are in Ann Arbor to have equality in sports. It isn’t perfect, but I would say girls are encouraged and given almost as many opportunities to play competitively as boys are.  At least half of my classmates at pioneer spend everyday training either with the school, a club, or both. In comparison, the girls soccer team at my school here has only existed for two years, so the level of play is dramatically lower. It is still a lot of fun, but isn’t competitive.

That said, I am really enjoying playing soccer. My teammates are all very fun and running around on the pitch together is always an enjoyable pastime.  

Viva fútbol y viva Chile!

A day in the life of EmmiInChile

I wake up at 6:30 to the sound of the radio playing reggaetón, which is the most popular type of music in Chile.  Choosing what to wear is no hard task- my school has a uniform. Grey knee high socks, grey skirt, and a collar shirt of the school. It is the best thing ever, I vote that the US should use uniforms in more schools because not having to worry about what to wear everyday, or how your clothes will appear in the eyes of others, is fantastic! We then prepare and eat breakfast all together, the opposite of my normal habit in Ann Arbor of rushing out the door 20 minutes after I wake up and drinking a smoothie for breakfast during first hour.
After enjoying the bread, and yogurt with fruit and cereal, my brother Pedro and I hop down the stairs, ask the doorman to open the gate, and jump on our bikes. I almost die four or five times while we bike the short mile to school. Dodging walkers, trying not to get distracted by the beautiful mountains, and never having enough eyes to look out for the crazy drivers that congest the wide streets. Biking in Santiago feels like a video game, it’s quite a rush, expect that there aren’t unlimited lives. At the stoplight closest to school, I feel a little earthquake everyday as we wait for the light to change, that is- we can feel the subway passing underneath us, reminding me that this city moves from above and below. The guards greet us as we finally arrive at school and park our bikes. I say goodbye to my brother as I climb to the third floor, where my course is. Upon entering the classroom and saying hello to my classmates, I don’t take off my coat- there is no heater and the hallways are all open, so the temperature inside the classroom is the same as outside. I sit at my desk, next to the window where I can look out and see the sun stretching over the mountains into the ever changing clouds. When it rains in Santiago the mountains are painted white in the morning, which slowly recedes as the day wears on and the temperature rises. After a small period of reflection time, where the head teacher of our course talks to us, classes begin. Each day has a distinct schedule because we all take 14 subjects, therefore don’t have every class every day. After a short 90 minutes of class, the bell rings and we all grab our sandwiches to head downstairs to the patio, where we enjoy the first of four breaks that occur throughout the day. Each one lasts 10-15 minutes, and is a nice integration of social time into the academic day. It is also an opportunity to see schoolmates that are not in my course-all of my 14 classes are with the same thirty people. Some boys play soccer while everyone else converses and tries to avoid the flying balls which can come at you from any direction.
This pattern of class than break, repeats three times, the last of which replaces a 40 lunch period with the break. My friends and I always try to leave our last class before lunch early, so that we can beat the crowed to use the microwaves that line the walls of the cafeteria.  With warm tupperwares clasped between our hands, we head to a grass area on the other side of the school, where in the warmth of the sun we eat, talk, laugh, nap, and occasionally do some last minute studying.

Then its back to class for the last two hours of the day. Everyone is fully awake by this time, so the conversation level rises, especially in the boring classes. When the final bell rings, I say goodbye to everyone then see my life flash before my eyes as I almost die four or five more times biking back home. If I don’t have soccer practice or a game, I use the time before my mom and brother get back home to workout. After double checking that I hate my keys, I greet the doorman and then set out on my run. My normal route takes me down four streets to form a box. I run next to the river, lined with gold poppies, on a path in the park-three of four of the streets have long, skinny parks in the middle of the two lanes. I run past people doing exercises on the workout equipment that is stationed every kilometro or so. I avoid eye contact with the adult monkey bars which I should probably stop and do. I run in as straight of a line as possible on the path, knowing that if I run in swigges I will risk being hit by someone biking past. I wish that I had headphones to block out the whistles and calls of “Hello princess!” “Beautiful” etc. I wonder who taught these men that this is acceptable, and how they talk to their mothers and daughters! I enjoy acrobatic shows and cool tricks by people trying to make a little cash by performing for cars that are waiting for the light to turn green. I never get sick of looking at the mountains, or the towering and glistening buildings. When I returned and am showered, the mountains to my right outside our balcony are glowing pink as the sun threatens to disappear to my left. I study until everyone else arrives, then we prepare dinner together, which usually includes empanadas, while discussing our days. Lists of new grammar and vocabulary are written on the whiteboard next to the fridge, growing the more we talk.  My brother jokes around with me by testing my ability to understand his “flaite”(roughly translated to uneducated) spanish- which is slowing transforming from just a bunch of sounds to words which I can guess/distinguish. There is also the occasional chore of hanging the clothes to dry outside or running to the store around the corner to buy apples. When dinner is over it is already past my bedtime-nine is a typical hour to dine. After cleaning up side by side in the narrow apartment kitchen, I go to sleep still not believing that this is all real. Repeat:)

Month Number One

This has been a wonderful but busy month! I arrived in Chile on the 24th of August, went straight to an orientation until the 26th, and was with my family and biking to school at 7:30am in the morning on the 27th. I arrived at school and was quickly told, among other things, that I had a little more than a week to learn the dance that my class was learning in physical education. One week later, I was dancing the traditional dance of Easter island in a feather bra and skirt alongside my new classmates in the gym. I feel very fortunate that I got the chance to learn the dance because a lot of the other exchange students in my district told me that their teachers said that it was too late and they couldn't perform with their peers. It was a lot of fun and is something which I will remember for the rest of my life.
 

I have also gotten to see a lot of new places this month. My second weekend here I went with my host brother to Puente Alto, where the paternal grandparents have a house. We ate empanadas, napped, drank tea, and went to three different stores in search of a special kinda of cake.

The following weekend my host mom, host brother and I went to Melocoton, where they have a second house. It is around one hour away from our apartment in Las Condes, but feels very different because it is a small village among the hills. The air is cleaner, the view of the mountains is closer, and there is no wifi, making it a very relaxing place to be. We enjoyed walking around the town, making cookies, and playing cards.
 

Additionally, this past weekend we went to Quintero, which is around two hours away and located on the beach. The maternal grandparents have owned a house a few meters away from the beach ever since my host mom and her nine siblings were young. Seeing as abuela had ten children, the gathering was very large! I got to meet a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins. We cooked for hours and then all ate together in order to celebrate Chile's independence day, deisiocho. After the meal we went on a family walk on the beach and found a huge starfish eating it's deisicoho meal. It was so incredible to see. We watched for almost and hour as it slowly pulled the small snails towards the center of its body, where it's mouth is. Sadly, as we were leaving a young girl and her grandmother came and removed that starfish, along with a few others, to dry out and use as decorations.


 I also did a lot of running and literally "ran into" some breath taking views! I was running down a street in the village which lead to a path which ran along the rocky and beautiful shore, and that lead to a cave and an even more beautiful view of rocks and waves. I was so grateful that my mom suggested that I bring my running shoes because getting to run along that beautiful view was my favorite part of Quintero, and I wouldn't have found it otherwise! Climbing on the rocks and taking in the waves, the flowers, and the crabs scuttling in small pools of water was one of those moments where I really realized that this is real. i am here. in chile. breathing the salt of the pacific ocean. and I get to be here for a whole year. How lucky is that?!

In general this month, I have really enjoyed spending time with my new family and making friends at the school. My family is very kind, and shares the same sense of humor as me and my hilarious parents at home (love you too mom and dad!), so we laugh a lot! My brother Pedro is also fairly close in age to me, so we bike to school together and know a lot of the same people. They call me Emmita, or Emmi, hense the name of this blog "Emmi In Chile." School has been very wonderful as well. I am playing on the soccer team, and the structure of school here in general is very conducive to making friends because all of my classes are with the same 30 people.
I cannot believe that it's already been a month and I look forward to the following months in this beautiful place.