Momentitos de Viernes

Friday night we had our last big gringo get together. It was a lot of fun because ALL 30 some of us showed up and we basically took over the bar. Not that anyone cared. Notice the staring Chileans in the backgrounds of the photos. "Gringas with blond hair and white skin? Hot. Let's stare. All night." Yeah it gets awkward. But anyway, here are some moments from Friday:

DeEtta, Alicia and Natalie

DeEtta, Laura and I

My first Sex on the Beach. Quite tasty.

Besties! Also the only sober people. We gotta stick together.

Ha Pablo and Raul always make things entertaining

Alicia, Kelsey and Danit

Karaoke!

It's only at these times when you realize how much

better chileans are at karaoke than drunken americans...

Diciembre! Por Fin!

A look out my window on Dec 1

It's December finally!! I feel like I've been waiting for this day forever! I can't believe it's here. December means that I get to go home, that I get to see my friends and family, that Christmas is coming aaand that school is over. The weather was nice and gloomy today which I enjoyed. It felt a little bit more like winter with the gloomy weather. I listened to Christmas music all day (thank you Pandora). Only 12 days until I leave! Happy December!

Thanksgiving in Chile!

Our attempt at Thanksgiving on Sunday turned out perfectly. Laura and I went over to Kelsey and Alicia's house and ended up getting a preeetty good Thanksgiving meal. Kelsey did all of the cooking (with help from Alicia) and we ended up with mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, deviled eggs, fresh bread, gravy, and an amazing apple pie. It made us all feel better about missing Thanksgiving and it was a lot of fun, even if we were all uncomfortably full after.

Los Puertos

Our last excursion was amazing! Definitely the best one so far. We went to Frutillar, Chile which is a little German town. We went to a little German museum which was basically a little preservation of an old german family owned land. There was an old house and barn and graveyard and the gardens were gorgeous and looked a maze.

From there we went to Puerto Varas. Eating was our first order of business and we definitely ate. It was something like a feast. The restaurant we went to was amazing. We basically got to try every kind of pasta the restaurant had. They brought a plate of pasta for every 3 or 4 of us. Everytime we finished one they brought us another with a different kind of pasta. All of it was amazing. Along with that we got garlic bread and jugo natural, which is blended fruit juice, my favorite drink here. Needless to say we were all so full by the time we got done we couldn't even move.

After that we got free time. We walked around the town, Bought souveniers and enjoyed the view (everywhere we went there was an amazing view of two volcanos). A few of us went to a cafe and got coffee and kuchen (german for cake). It was really good. Then that night we went back to the same restaurant and had the best salmon I have ever had in my life. It was amazing.

The next day we got up and went to this little park that was right by a river. It had waterfalls, the bluest water I've ever seen, and an amazing view of the volcanos. It was the most beautiful place I have ever been to.

After that we had another amazing lunch before heading out to our last destination, Puerto Montt. There is an artisanal market there and we got to walk around and buy more souveniers. From there we headed home. It was definitely one of the best experiences in Chile.

Thanksgiving

Wellll it turns out Thanksgiving hasn't been as depressing as I thought it would be. The day went so fast that I kept forgetting I was supposed to be with my family enjoying some delicious food. I think it helped that I'm almost at the 2 week mark and I'm SO excited! Anyway in honor of Thanksgiving-as lame as it was-here's my top ten thankful list:

I'm thankful for...
1) Family. Can't wait to see them again
2) Boyfriend. And ditto.
3) Baby kai kai
4) The opportunity to travel abroad
5) The opportunity to go home
6) Coffee
7) The U.S.--Best. Country. Ever.
8) Food. Specifically in the U.S.
9) Sunshine
10) Home

Violeta en Chile

Violet visited me in Valdivia and it was a great weekend. It was like getting a little piece of home before going home. Unfortunately it was pouring rain the majority of the weekend but we still managed to do most of the touristy things while relaxing the rest of the time. We saw the sea lions, went out, got soaked in the pouring rain, made tacos (best part!) and went to the beach. I'm soo glad she got to come see me and see what my study abroad adventure is like (a lot less exciting than hers, for sure). Here are some moments captured via camera:

The happiness project

I found this blog called the Happiness Project (love that name)and I'm pretty sure the post was for me specifically. I've been having issues getting motivation to exercise even while I'm doing it ever since I had that weekend of intense soreness. Even though I do it I'm a bit more out of shape than before and I don't feel good about it. Anyway I thought I would share this because it helped me.

12 Tips for Getting Regular Exercise -- and the Benefits for Happiness and Fitness.
1. Always exercise on Monday. This sets the psychological pattern for the week. Along the same lines…

2. If at all possible, exercise first thing in the morning. As the day wears on, you’ll find more excuses to skip exercising. Get it checked off your list, first thing. It's also a very nice way to start the day; even if nothing else goes right, you've accomplished that.

3. Never skip exercising for two days in a row. You can skip a day, but the next day, you must exercise, no matter how inconvenient. (Lately, I haven't been following this rule, and it has really affected my routine for the worse. I'm going to re-double my commitment to it.)

4. Give yourself credit for the smallest effort. My father always said that all he had to do was put on his running shoes and close the door behind him. Many times, by promising myself I could quit ten minutes after I’d started, I got myself to start – and then found that I didn’t want to quit, after all.

5. Think about context. I thought I disliked weight-training, but in fact, I disliked the guys who hung out in the weight-training area. Are you distressed about the grubby showers in your gym? Do you try to run in the mornings, but recoil from going out in the cold? Examine the factors that might be discouraging you from exercising.

6. Exercise several times a week. If your idea of exercise is to join games of pick-up basketball, you should be playing practically every day. Twice a month isn’t enough.

7. If you don’t have time both to exercise and take a shower, find a way to exercise that doesn’t require you to shower afterward. Each week, I have a very challenging weight-training session, but the format I follow doesn’t make me sweat. (Some of you are saying, “It can’t be challenging if you don’t sweat!” Oh yes, believe me, it is.)

8. Look for affordable ways to make exercising more pleasant or satisfying. Could you upgrade to a nicer or more convenient gym? Buy yourself a new iPod? Work with a trainer? Get a pedometer to keep track of your walking distances? Exercise is a high life priority, so this a worthwhile place to spend some money if that helps.

9. Think of exercise as part of your essential preparation for times you want to be in especially fine form -- whether in performance (to be sharp for an important presentation) or appearance (to look good for a wedding) or mood (to deal with a stressful situation). In college, my roommates and I always made sure to exercise the day of a big party. Studies show that exercise does help.

10. Remember one of my favorite Secrets of Adulthood, courtesy of Voltaire: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Don’t decide it’s only worth exercising if you can run five miles or if you can bike for an hour. I have a friend who scorns exercise unless she’s training for a marathon -- so she never exercises. Even going for a ten-minute walk is worthwhile. Do what you can.

11. Suit up. Even if you're not sure you're going to exercise, go ahead and put on your exercise clothes. Pack your bag. Put the dog's leash by the door. Get prepared. If you're ready to go, you might find it easier just to go ahead and exercise. Sometimes, a very trivial thing -- like not knowing where your shoes are -- gets in the way.

12. Don’t kid yourself. Paying for a gym membership doesn’t mean you go to the gym. Having been in shape in high school or college doesn’t mean you’re in shape now. Saying that you don’t have time to exercise doesn’t make it true.