A catch up of the last few weeks

I am procrastinating from completing the last 2 pages of my final exam which is a 6 page paper on Latin American Cinema (Films "Whisky" and "Obreras Saliendo de la Fábrica).  I am nearly done, but as we all know, those last few pages gives us the idea that we have plenty of time.... I have until Wednesday around noon when I am on my way to the Airport to fly to Perú... Within the next 2 days I must finish packing my bags, clean my room and bathroom, move to my cousin's home, and say goodbye to my exchange friends...

Over the past few weeks my friends and I have been celebrating friends' birthdays with lovely picnics on San Joaquin's campus.  The weather (with great luck!) was always gorgeous during these get togethers so many of us would just sit and enjoy the sun after eating and just talk about our travel plans after our exams are finished.

 

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas (Yes... I know it is June).  It was hosted by some friends from Finland and England who are obviously as used to cold weather Christmases as I am... and in Santiago, Chile, which has opposite seasons to Europe and the USA, they celebrated the real Christmas during summertime in December.  So, we celebrated a real Christmas this past Friday evening in their apartment building. Everyone brought delicious plates to represent their home countries, there were loads of bottles of wine, beer, Gluhwein, Eggnogg....One friend made a Mojito con Aji "Lacromojito" which is a spiced up Mojito with chili peppers.  He and I seemed to be the only ones who actually could handle the spiciness and the taste.

         

Saturday was Karaoke night with a large group of friends. We went to Mistica a karaoke bar in Bellavista.  It was a lovely night of singing and saying more goodbyes.  As we were leaving and paying for the group's drinks, the bar tried to charge us for an extra bottle of vodka which no one had ordered.  I, being self-nicknamed Abuelita Kate "Grandmother Kate" had not drank anything as I was already tired and knew someone had to make sure everything went smoothly, watched in awe as my friend who is Californian by birth but Guatamalan by blood argue with the bartender, the doormen (they refused to let us leave) for a good 15 minutes. When we finally were allowed to walk outside, we just decided to continue walking, as we had truly done nothing wrong. The doormen and bartender were persistent and found the nearest policeman to assess the situation.  After another 20 minutes of arguing back and forth, and a Policeman merely standing there, these 2 random Chileans decided to interrupt and "argue our side"... so we took this opportunity to walk away. I made eye contact with the police officer who literally shrugged at me and made no move to stop us.  So, as eventful as it was, we all ended up free and safely arrive to our respective homes just fine.  

My mother mentioned that there have been a few people asking about the riots, marches, protests which have been going on here in Chile.  There is currently a strike for education which is in hope to lower the costs and allow education to be accessible to all in Chile

Another protest which has had multiple marches and a few riots is in protest of allowing a Hydroelectric company from Europe to build a dam in Patagonia.  Here is a BBC new report in English regarding this situation...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13343040

 

And to end today's session, here are a few pictures of the scenic skies of Santiago after there has been rain.  This city is located in between mountains, which -like LA- keeps all the smog inside the city, making it hard to see the majestic mountains most of the time...

        

Besos desde Chile!! And soon, from Perú!