Dear Readers,

It has been over 2 months since my last post! I have been having a great time. In between that time I made it to Peru (and just bought my tickets to go to Buenos Aires) and have been meeting so many new and interesting people. At the same time I have been solidifying relationships with people that I think will be friends for some time in the future or at least maintain as a colleague for a get-together somewhere down the road. So here's what I have felt about this whole life-changing experience.

Study Abroad Self Reflection

June 27^th 2009 I am sitting in my room here in Recreo and I am avoiding my final papers at all costs. Although, I am not getting to work this post is not a complete waste of time.

At this point I am getting ready to close the chapter of my life here in Chile. With this closing chapter so many conclusions are evolving and so many new thoughts and emotions are running through my mind and spirit all at once.I came here to Chile with simple goals and that was to learn Spanish and get away from all that I have known for the first 20 years of my life. Through this journey I have added many goals; while some have been met others have been nothing more than ideas. Honestly, the two main goals that I came to this foreign land to accomplish have been completed. Obviously my goal to get out of normal rhythm of life in Long Beach has been met. Here I have introduced to my self a new life routine and have experienced things I never would have imaged. For example, I never thought I would go backpacking on a 4-day excursion but I did and now I love backpacking. My second goal to learn Spanish has been met also. Okay, maybe I do not speak perfectly and maybe I do not understand what people say at first, and I do have a gringo accent but I have impressed myself with how I developed the language. Even though my host sister Isabel makes fun of me everyday and tells me that I do not know how to speak Spanish (nor English haha) I know I have learned so much. With learning a language you realize so many other self-truths.

The biggest life lesson I had here was getting to know myself more; finding out what I want to do in my future, my strengths, and my weaknesses. And so I have learned is that confidence goes a very long way. With confidence it gives you the courage to take on new tasks and excel in any subject. I have learned that somewhere along the way my confidence level went down below natural level. With out maintaining a high confidence level I began to accept things that I necessarily did not want to do. For example, at the begging of my stay I did not go out much because I lacked the confidence to learn how to get around on my own. I hid in a comfort zone and did not want to put myself in a vulnerable position. So what I learned is so what, I am going to make a mistake, I may sound funny, and obviously I am not Chilean but going out there and making yourself live life is how you learn. I am not going to let a lack of confidence be an issue no more. In addition to that I have learned some other important things about my self.

Additionally, these quick points are those I need to admit to myself before I can start getting better at them. One is I need to stop procrastinating. I severely procrastinate and that leads to a lower quality outcome. I know I am capable of many things yet I just do not do them to the highest caliber because I wait too long for them to develop into a great work. Being a procrastinator is not a trait I want to have for the rest of my life so at this moment I need to make that change. Second thing I need to work on is selling my self. Everyday if you realize it or not you are being perceived or in other words judged by people. Where ever you go or what ever you do people see the way you walk, speak, and carry yourself as a person. The reason why I feel that I need to work on self-image is because I want to be a leader whether it is in a small community or among a larger scale I want people to see me as someone they can trust. Doing the right thing is half of it but if there is no one there to support you, you are not leading anyone. At least through my actions I want to be a leader by example. All in all most of the time I am not a leader yet working towards that goal now will turn me into the person I want to be tomorrow. So every day I am starting to become a leader, at least by influencing an individual in some type of positive way.

P.S. adding some pics for your viewing pleasure!

Mama Loreto

Just wanted to say that I got so lucky with my chilean family. I almost feel like I am part of the family at times which is what makes everything so comfortable. Today for example Loreto was running a little late making lunch and I had to be in class by 2. She didn't serve me until 1:30 and it takes about 25 minutes to get to school. What makes her so cool is that she offered to drop me off at the bus stop instead of me having to walk all the way down there which takes at least 10 minutes. So after I finished eating Eduardo (on his lunch break) took me down to the bus stop and dropped me off. I ended up making it to class right on time at 2 o'clock (actually thats early for chilean time). 

After class I went to the law library to work on an essay but was not too successful. I ended up wasting my computer battery reading news about the pandemic swine flu. I hopped on a bus overflowing with people after and had to stand most of the way home squeezed up against the door jam and front railing of the dashboard. There was one other gringo in there squished in the back and through the thick masses of standing people we exchanged glances of hilarity. It was worth the effort to fight the people and jerky movements of the bus because I was dropped off two non-inclinated blocks away from my front door. This time I was happy to dodge two neighborhood beasts of dogs that heckled me two days before. 

When I got home I got the usual hugs that turned into quick annoyance from Andrea. I ate chilean dinner this time 3 pieces of bread with some tuna spread and the 4th with jam. Not my favorite dinner but it keeps me alive. As I am sitting here on the computer trying to get my essay done and sidetracked by facebook Loreto before she went to bed let me know that there is some chicken in the oven. Also she told me to use the portable heater if I was cold. Truth is it is cold here, why you may ask? It's because they don't have central heating and I don't know one building that does. So all in all before I go back to writing my essay (which sucks) I thought I would share how I felt at home here with Loreto treating me like a son. Anyways thats it for now. Wish me luck on the essay. 

Buenas Noches :)

Gringo Soccer

Thought I would update the few readers of my blog. Its a great read especially if you are procrastinating a little on school work or work in general :)

So today after waking up at 11:30, eating a chilean breakfast (composed of white bread with jam, tea, and chocolate milk), going to 12:00 mass with the family, eating lunch at Estadio Español (a country club), and playing gringo soccer (regular soccer with all foreigners) I thought now after all of todays events would be a great time to write my blog. 

So to catch you up on some of the things going on here in my Chilean life I think I would have to start with gringo soccer. Lately I have been playing soccer 1 or 2 days a week with all the gringos or foreigners (we have 2 mexicans, 1 columbian, 1 frenchman, 1 german, 1 brazilian, and the rest are from the states). It is great playing with all those guys and not to fool anyone I am no soccer pro but its a great way to get the blood pumpin. There are a few guys that are really good and I know one guy plays for his college team so there is some good talent out there. Our team is not definite yet but sometime in May (we dont know when yet because Chilean calendars usually only work a week in advance/ similar to mine though so I cant complain) we will start playing chilenos from teams comprised of the various colleges here for example law, physical education, etc. I don't know how much I will be an asset to the team or if I'll even play at all because there are alot of talented guys coming out for the team but I am pretty sure I am one of the few that has made every practice. 

So in addition to soccer taking up time in my week I of coarse have school. But no one wants to hear about that. Its good but hard as you can imagine taking a law or poetry class in a language you are not too great at speaking to begin with. But my weeks are also made up of a basketball class that practices Mondays and Fridays. Its a great class and we've been doing a lot of drills on fundamentals so I have been learning alot but sometimes I just want to play! 

I applied to an internship the other day and will probably only be able to do it for a month or a month and a half since I applied so late and I dont know what I will be doing yet but there are many fields I can choose from. There are many that have grabbed my attention including law, business development, public/international relations, tourism, and viticulture. So I'll let you know what I end up doing!

As for everything in between I would have to say life is good. My chilean family is great as usual. Tonight they helped me with poetry homework and I was also smothered with hugs and kisses from Andrea the 6 year old. 

In other more random notes I have continued to download movies off the internet the latest one being Hannah Montana haha (its for the kids though I am not secretly a Hannah Montana fan even though I think she does rock). I went to the club last night and danced the night away but that was after I got some great sushi with some of my gringo buddies: Ashley, Anthony, Jessica, and Kerry. Doing great in stocks but might have to sell some soon to fuel the cash flow (shame because the market is doing well right now). Its crazy how fast the money goes without working! Next week I am making some kind of glass mural that I am going to paint. I'm thinking something very abstract. I like abstract art. Who knows maybe I'll even be the next Joan Miro. The plant on my glass round table of a desk has been growing :) (Note to self I need to buy an indoor plant for my place wherever that may be when I get home). Also, I am definitely getting tired of my clothes. I brought all my nice jeans and cant help but wear them, and I dont have any warm but stylish-looking jackets because it's starting to get cold here, and my shoes are getting beat up. A nice new pair of Toms, Clay, Vans, or Creative Rec would be nice. Im thinking about going to Venezuela after Chile for 2 weeks for a CSULB course (I will get credit for my last capstone requirement) but I will still get back around the same time only 4 days after on the 24th of July. Let's see... I register for classes for Fall semester May 4th and if I get the schedule I set up will only be going to class M/W. So that leaves 5 days for work/internship. Been researching some law schools around the states. I was thinking West coast, East coast, Texas? Who knows I guess I will go with the best I can get into or where I feel most comfortable. I saw a mom breast-feeding her baby with her whole boob exposed in public for like the millionth time today. My 12 yr old Chilean sister was practicing "Love Story" by Taylor Swift on her guitar (she's pretty good too) at the time of this publication. What else. Only a few more random blurbs about my experiences here because Im feeling the close of this piece quite near. Another side note. I have had no luck with the ladies here haha. I don't really care though I am happy. There just hasn't been one that I have clicked with and I dont think it helps that I am super picky. But its fine I have always said "If you wait good things will come". Oh and by the way I have been growing a mustache haha As a joke at first but I've had it for over a month now so who knows when I will get the urge to shave er'. My friend Paige calls it the "Malestache" as in molestor and mustache put together. I was never aware that molestors and mustaches have a correlation but maybe it has something to do with being denied 3 times last night to dance. haha I dont know! I'll let you decide.

Well that's it yall. 

Chao 

yours truly 

Good Friday (Vía Cruces)

Its Always Ticking

So I’ve been in Chile for almost three months now. The time has passed by extremely fast but that’s the nature of time.

 

Time never stops but only proceeds

It’s our marker

An invisible sharpie that never stops being written with

Time is life and life is time

We cannot fight it

But acquiesce to its unstoppable rhythm

The best players of time can juggle it well

Like Ronaldinho on a break-away pass

As for me in order to score my goals I must use that sharpie

And write my way into the future

 

So like I was trying to say time has gone by so fast since I’ve been here and it looks as if July is going to arrive sooner than expected this year. For the amount of time I’ve been here I have learned so much but at the same time I feel I am nowhere near I would like to be in terms of language proficiency. I know by the end of my time here in Chile my abilities will advance tenfold but what I have to keep reminding myself is learning a language takes time. For example it has taken me over twenty years to develop my English proficiency and yet I feel I have so much to ameliorate. With that in mind I have accepted that I am not going to be able learn Spanish (Castellano) to my desired level in less than 7 months time (and as of now less than 4). So in hindsight when I thought 7 months was going to be a long time it turns out that the invisible sharpie of life is writing a little bit faster in this part of the world. All in all what does this mean? ¡Disfrutalo!

Viaje al Sur

All right so I definitely have a lot of catching up to do in regards to my blog. There is some good news though. Even though I have not updated my blog with a new entry since before I left on my trip of southern Chile and Argentina on January 31^st (to be exact), I did write while I was on my trip. Yes I did bust out the pen to paper. Just letting all of my readers know or at least all 3 of them! Yes I will give a shout out to Kevin, Megan, and Emily. Thanks for reading :D I know my entries suck at times but hey, if it wasn’t for my loyal 3 then I would have no reason to put these entries on here. But here is my one entry I sat and wrote in a coffee shop in Puerto Varas, Chile.

Out of all the places I’ve been and the people I have met so far the highlight of my trip has been trekking the “W” in Torres del Paine, Chile (see picture below) and befriending 3 Israeli girls in a hostel, which was predominately inhabited by Israelis. I went to Torres del Paine to hike (hard and long trails) and camp something that I have never done before. Also, I went to Ushuaia, Argentina “the end of the world” and got a great taste of Israeli culture. These two experiences are something I will remember for the rest of my life.

            What I liked most about Torres is I hiked and camped. Something I have never done before. Camping was not my favorite experience but it wasn’t half bad. After carrying around a big-ass backpack stuffed with clothes, food, a sleeping bag, tent, and mattress attached to it for more than 24 km one of the days I felt a great sense of accomplishment. It felt great to trek that far with that much weight on my back because when I got to the campsite and set everything up, sat down and enjoyed a cup of tea everything seemed so worth every drop of sweat, pinch of hunger, and burning and aching in my muscles. As I sat down near the rushing river the cool breeze off the water and the soft pinks, reds, and blues dancing off the glaciers in the nearby mountains brought me to an inner peace. In the moment of listening to the calming and pleasant sounds of the overwhelmingly captivating countryside, I began to bask in a sense of pride. I wanted to remain in that state and place along the river for longer than Mother Nature could allow me. I had to respect the sun’s disappearance into the far horizon and get back to my tent before the night captured any remaining light from the day (a flashlight would have been great at this point)! It was the small luxuries on that camping trip that made me the most happy like being able to lie down at night after a long days hike, a small peace of chocolate melting In my mouth, or the cool water I often collected from the rivers I passed. Overall the experience in Torres del Paine was amazing and being there sparked a great feeling of inner peace, respect for natural beauty, and self-pride (plus I took so many awesome pictures).

            Traveling in South America I was ready to experience the Argentine and Chilean culture but little did I know I was going to experience a taste of Israel. In el Calafate, Argentina my traveling companion Ashley and I befriended three Israeli guys. They first went out to get ice cream with us (even though it’s not kosher to eat dairy right after meat), they taught us some Hebrew, and they even made us a typical Israeli dish, Shakshuka. We did not get to spend much time with them since we were leaving to Ushuaia the next day but they told us to stay in the Nana an Israeli hostel in Ushuaia. So when we got there we found the famous Nana. We sat ringing the doorbell for about 5 long minutes before someone came out, not to greet us but to exit to smoke a cigarette. With a puzzled expression on his face he forced a smile in our direction and walked outside. As Ashley and I turned to one another with a look of uneasiness we lugged our packed backpacks and carry-on items into the Israeli hostel. When we entered a young Israeli must have sensed our confusion so he offered to help. We asked him “Where is the office”? In his best English the young man replied, “Oh, it is in the back. Here I will show you”. So we followed this guy with all of our belongings through the kitchen, into an outdoor covered patio where 20 Israeli people sat in a circle singing songs in Hebrew. I tried not to stare too much but I shot a few glances around the room, careful not to make eye contact with anyone so they wouldn’t sense my uneasiness. As we approached what seemed like a dead-end three people got up in front of us and moved their chairs to open up a door that seemed as if it were part of the wall. We passed through the disguised passageway to the office where we reserved our spot with a nice Argentine lady. We followed her back through the singing Israelis and proceeded upstairs to pick our room. We had three choices but we chose the room with a bathroom attached. There were 5 beds in it so Ashley and I knew that we would have 3 other roommates. What appealed to me was the orderliness of the room and a private bathroom (let my tell you those are hard to come by in a hostel). So we decided on staying in room 7 of the Nana.

Immediately after putting our things down Ashley and I decided to go out to grab a bite after sitting on a 20 hour bus ride. When we returned we met out roommates, three Israeli girls that spoke broken English. At first we were all quiet towards one another and even Ashley and I hardly spoke but we managed to get their three very Israeli-sounding names Inbal, Galit, and Lital. As it turned out Ashley and I became good friends with our Israeli roommates in the 4 days we were there. We had some great adventures together to the Tierra del Fuego national park, Ramos Generales café, and Laguna Esmerelda.

That sums up my trip to the south. The note worthy parts anyway. Happy reading J

Torres del Paine y Perito Moreno

Schools out for Summer (Chilean Summer!)

Today marked the end of my first two courses here at the PUCV. It was a great intensive 3 week program. I met many people from various places throughout the states and New Zealand. So now that I am done with class what am I going to do? Well travel of course! 

But first before I tell you about the trip im about to embark on (in about 1.5 hours) as promised I am going to discuss the strange but common methods of the taxi collectivo and funny thing that happened while I was riding it last night. Well there is this method of transportation here called the taxi collectivo. Yes, its called collectivo because everyone and anyone rides it. The collectiovs are generally small sized cars, black, and have a sign on the roof with the name of their general destinations and routes. Everyday for school (or general transportation) I walk down the hill I live at the top of and flag down a collectivo as soon as one that goes to the University comes my way. On any given day or time the car is full of people. It did not take me long to get used to brushing up and nearly sitting on the lap of a stranger. It does not help that the terrain is hilly which make the streets narrow and windy. As the drivers of the collectivos strategically dodge stray dogs, people, and other cars we the passengers are tossed around the back seat. Being a professional collectivo passenger by now the contact with complete strangers does not bug me whatsoever unless the person happens to be a.) smelly, b.) creepy looking, or c.) acting belligerently. Fortunately the passengers generally uphold a normal appearance and not strange enough to dread touching a fiber of my clothing against theirs. But as for last night I encountered the c-type person for the first time. 

Right after I joined the elderly driver and two other elderly passengers a crazy looking teenage kid stops the driver and asks for a ride. With one glance at this kid you could tell he had some problems. After he proceeded to lie to the driver affirming that he had money to pay for his voyage the driver asked for his faire. Not so surprisingly the juvenile responds in a raspy and substance impaired manner indicating that in fact he has no money at all but once he gets to his desired location he will get money to pay. Instead of trusting the passenger the driver asks the kid to get out immediately. He quickly shot back saying I will pay you when I get to the place I want to go in his best speech. Afer a minute of the collectivo driver yelling at the kid in a mixture of chilean garabatos (bad words) and commands the elderly man sitting to my left in the back seat of the cab decides to put his two-cents in. At this point the kid had no signs of complying so the driver suddenly stopped and me sitting next to this ridiculous character decided to help out the driver and old man in the back by opening the door for the kid. Still, he would not exit the cab so the driver quickly grabbed a baton-like weapon from under his seat and hopped out of the car. As soon as the kid saw he had a weapon he too hopped out of the car and started walking away yelling profanity at the poor old collectivo driver. I thought ahh ok great we will be on our way soon enough, I can get home and go to sleep. To my surprise I see the old  short-statured man run toward the kid as best as his small ancient legs could carry him with weapon in hand. The old man proceeded to strike the kid with what looked like all of his might on the back of the neck of the kid. Fortunately with all the force the old man could muster the blow looked no more painful than a slight tap on the wrist. Luckily the blow was either hard enough or scarey enough for the kid go running down the street. At that point, all I could do was join in the laughter with my fellow travelers. The old man quickly hobbled back to the car and we left. As soon as the action occured silence again returned amongst the passengers as it is the norm for everyone to sit completely silent and rigid during the duration of their travel. Ahh the collectivos they are such a great source of excitement at times. 

So now I will be leaving in less than an hour running on my 20th consecutive hour without sleep. It has been such an eventful and exciting day that I didn't get a chance to nap. And I have to say it has been a great day. And now I'm leaving to southern Chile. First me and my 3 girl friends from class are taking a bus to Santiago airport. From there we are flying to Puntas Arenas. We'll be staying there until the 13 visiting Torre del Paine (a nature reserve), Tierra del Fuego, and Ushuaia (the so-called most southern city in the world). Next we fly to Puerto Montt where we will stay for the remainder of the trip, and visiting sites around those parts. Then on the 23rd we will be taking our flight back to Santiago and back home to Viña del Mar. Wish me luck! 

Chao!

~Robert Carl

Chile, you know the long and skinny country on the world map!

Hola from Chile,

So I've been here for about a week and a half. Hmm where to start. So far I have to say everything has been great. I love my classes, I love the new people I've met so far, and I love my Chilean family. 

My Chilean family is great. They are just like my family at home. Its almost like observing my own family when we were all the same ages. I feel like I am revisiting my childhood in a way because not only is the structure of my chilean family almost the same ( 2 girls 2 guys Isabel 12 Ernesto and David 10 and Andrea 6) but just their family environment is very similar to how mine was. I get most of my family experience here at the dinner table. Even though lunch is the biggest meal of the day and breakfast and dinner are usually just a small snack our conversations during dinner are great. For example tonight the little girl Andrea started crying and throwing a minor fit because her new puppy (golden retriever sooo cute) was with her brother Ernesto and she wanted to sleep with the puppy tonight. That made me think when me Christine, Brandon, and Vanessa were that age, that situation would spark a similar altercation amogst us and I just had to laugh at that. As for the parents and the grandma which has been staying here the past few nights from Santiago they are all very loving and accepting of me. The first day of school my mom Loreto took me to my classes walked me to the classroom and gave me a hug and kiss. Also, everyday she packs me a hearty lunch consisting of some kind of fruit (usually a plum or peach) and two sandwiches on typical chilean pan with butter and cheese or some kind of meet. haha the lunch actually sucks but it gets me through the day and I feel bad asking for something different. I am content with whatever is easiest for her. My chilean dad Eduardo is pretty funny. He definetly is the head of the family but hes not super macho or anything. He's like the oldest kid and Loreto usually refers to him as one of the kids. He's always crackin jokes at the dinner table even if they are not funny but he always gets a laugh out of me (sometimes out of sympathy) just like dear old dad Robert Carl Eckl I himself ;) Anyways the fam is awesome I feel like I'm really cared for here and I try to mingle with them as much as possible but obviously the language barrier is hard at times. But im getting better day by day! 

My classes have been great and also help me out alot learning the language. I love my professors. I started at the intermediate level but found it was way too easy and I was definetly at a higher level thus I moved up to the advanced level and I have to say it has been kickin my ass a little. The main difference is the people in the classes. Everyone in my advanced classes speak spanish at every opportunity. I have to admit I have been pretty bad and have been speaking alot of english with the other kids in the program :X I feel the weekends I can get away with speaking english because the weekend is supposed to be a break from school and thinking right!? ahaha During the week I do practice my spanish and I really hope to get better and somewhat fluent before I leave in July. I can communicate pretty well right now but as for deep conversational spanish it is a lot tougher. Back to the classes. I take 2 classes M-F 11:30-1:15 grammar class with Pedro. That guy is pretty awesome. He is very smart and I think he's only like 27. He is pretty open about everything he tells our class consisting of 4 girls and me (the only guy in both classes. You can imagine how I get attacked at times) how he parties a lot with his friends. He also told us he is not catholic even though he teaches at my Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso and once he was expelled from his catholic highschool for refusing to make the sign of the cross. My next class starts at 2 and ends at 3:45 that is my Chilean culture and conversation class. This class is the tougher of the two for sure. I really like my teacher Jorge also he is another smarty pants and knows a lot about not only chilean culture but American culture as well. This is the class I get attacked in usually when moral provoking topics come up. It is hard to defend my opinions when it comes to feminist ideals especially when 4 other girls can speak a lot better spanish than I do lol.  Anyways, the teacher Jorge can relate to the students very well and he was actually the one who helped me move to the advanced class. So overall the faculty at the school has been extremely helpful and I feel like they actually care which is awesome. Its a lot easier to do when classes are only 5 people large. 

My classes consist of people from all over the states and New Zealand. There are 4 kiwis here and all are super nice. I have also met people from Missississippi, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Cali, ahh all over the place pretty much. All those kids are extemely nice people but some are only here for a month or two while others are staying for a semester or two. I have already made sure to make close friends with those that are staying until July or longer. We plan to travel during the month of Febuary when we dont have classes. Its kinda funny there's the "Viña kids" which I am a part of because I live in Viña del Mar and the "Valpo kids". The "Valpo kids" tend to be the ones that are going to be leaving in a couple months. Anyways I'm getting tired of writing. I wanted to talk about the ride to school and back on the taxi colectivos because it quite a different experience and funny when I think about it but I guess I'll save it for another time. I am finally used to the 5 hour time difference now buuuttt my circadian rhythm is definetly thrown off right now because going to the discoteque "Scratch" (reeeallly fun by the way) until it closes at 5:3o in the morning 2 nights in a row, then sleeping until 4:30 in the afternoon has made me almost nocturnal. Alright buenas noches. Chao!

Thanks to everyone who came to my going away party Firday night. I had a great time and it meant a lot that everyone I invited showed up. 2 more days until I leave!