La Joya Del Mar Concepcion

... ways, with intentions to meet again.... I expected sunny beach town, and got grey skies, deserted streets and a post holiday blues... this was the last weekend before chilians returned to school after thier summer holidays and the depression and back to school attitude was totally tangible! i arrived at the hostel i was staying at, which was a converted old boat on a rock point, literally no one was there, and ...

We verlaten het merengebied en gaan verder met onze tocht naar het noorden, via de rio Bio Bio naar Concepcion, de tweede grootste stad van Chile waar we een afspraak hebben met Dania, een weerzien voor Constanza 18 jaar later. Een kort bezoek aan de stad, enorm druk. Daarna samen met Dania haar familie een gezellige avond met lekker (en veel) eten - BBQ met heel lekker vlees.

... really hard work, particularly in the old days, when the shifts were long and conditions hard. The mine is called "El Chiflon del Diablo" ´which refers to the wind that ventilates the mine, in some places the temperatture is cold and other it is hot, dependng on whether there is wind or not! Now the mine has closed, unfortunately the town is quite poor due to high unemployment. The town itself is full of character though so it has good prospects for the future.

With just a little trepidation I looked out over the waiting crowd for Ricardo. Would he be very different after 20 years? No. Just the same. My short hair caused a moment of hesitation from the other side of the glass but no more than that. Where do you start after being out of contact with one of the most important people of your university years for so long. Well, 'You look just the same' is probably not original but it was what I said.

... everyday is an adventure for me, as I try to survive in an English-free world... it's just that my daily adventures don't make for very exciting blog entries. But although I haven't been doing as much traveling, I have been exploring the nightlife a little more. Last Friday, I ended up a karaoke bar in some tiny little town on the coast. A group of drunk Chilean guys singing Christina Aguilera in ...

... universities, so it has a fairly youthful vibe. As far as my university goes, I have spent the past week trying to figure out what I am going to be doing for the next couple of months. Because my situation is different than that of a normal exchange student(taking classes for credit), it's still kind of up in the air. Yesterday, Dr. Grandon, who is the head of International Relations and an SIU PhD graduate, took me on a tour of campus and ...

... but sometimes you just have to stop and stare. Photos never get it anyway. As you all know, normally I'm entirely a city girl and don't do nature at all. Luckily Chile has the kind of nature that takes your breath away (cheese!) and it's going to be impossible to not enjoy it. I actually bought a camping pack today, so get ready. Besides beautiful Saturday, nightlife was the best part of the trip. We were complete tourists, spoke English ...

... We went bowling with Patty´s son and uncle and we even made them some South African food. They are agreat crazy family and every one tried their best to make us feel welcome, eventhough the Chilean Spanish and our basic Spanish created some funny and frustrating moments. After 7 months on the road we loved being part of a familiy, if even just for a few days.

Lota, Chile: After a 10 year absence, I finally returned to Lota - where I lived as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1995 - 1997. Chile´s poorest city, it continues to struggle but its people remain open and big-hearted. Attached are some fotos ...

... welcomed into the house and fed and we just talked so much about old times and caught up. We talked about all the things that have happened since I have been here and of course we talked and laughed a lot about times we had together. Yesterday I spent most of the day pretty much chilling out. They have internet here in the house which is a new development since I was here. I just sat in their little store and chatted with them ...