chile

2005-03-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

we even went horseback riding in the mountains of argentina at night under the light of the full moon until 3 in the morning!

Mendoza, Argentina

2005-03-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

ken and i decided to go to argentina for the weekend. a short 6 hour trip through the andes, we arrived in mendoza, argentina. it was probably one of the most fun weekends here =) we went horseback riding at night in the mountains of argentina under the moonlight since it was full moon while we were there. it was really fun even though i got the wacked out horse who only wanted to eat everything on the path. by the time we finished at 2:30 in the morning, we had a campfire, ate with the people on the trip, and just hung out. on the way home, our car even ran out of gas so i wasnt until 5 in the morning that we finally made it home. we only had 2 hours to sleep since we had to be up and ready at 8:30 am to go rafting. so much fun =) we went river rafting in argentina for ken's 24th bday and then hidro which is kinda like boogieboarding. it was awesome on those class III rapids!!! made me want to try back at home .. haha. besides that, we ate so much while in mendoza .. huge steaks, drinks, soup, dessert, and more for a total of less than $10 for the both of us. yum. fun weekend for sure.

2005-03-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

me doing hidro with my guide .. me and ken even had our own private guide

2005-03-04T12:34:00.000-08:00

we also did hidro in the river .. kinda like boogieboarding down the river .. it was awesome and so much better than rafting.

2005-03-04T12:31:00.000-08:00

for ken's 24th birthday we decided to go to mendoza, argentina for the weekend .. what a memorable bday =)

2005-03-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

ken and i went river rafting in argentina .. look at our raft!!!

futbol game

2005-03-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

Universidad de Chile vs. Quilmes. 35000 people showed up for the copa liberadores game against argentina. it was so CRAZY. when you think of south america futbol .. its that times ten. the riot police were decked out and ready .. tear gas and all .. they even had to break into the stands to stop a fight that broke out. another fight broke out higher up and i definitely saw a broom stick thrown around. we ended up winning in the 91st minute so the crowd went insane! the guy next to us lit a flare and some guy even picked up my brother swinging him around. the fans shot off fireworks when we scored and a firework even went off incorrectly in the stands. it was weird but understandable that no women go to the games since its pretty dangerous and i saw one guy with a broken arm. however the game was AWESOME. =) i wish we had games like that back at home .. so much enthusiasm .. tons of banners .. flags .. everyone knows all of the team songs and chants.

On TV and Valparaiso

2005-03-02T13:12:00.000-08:00

Vina del mar was pretty awesome. we got amazing seats thanks to the Bings and since we were right infront of all of the media, we got onto national tv multiple times! journalists even took pictures of some of my friends dancing in the aisles and interviewed others. my chilean mom even saw me on tv several times back at home! ken came to visit me for the week and we had an awesome week cramming in as much as we possibly could. we came back out for vina on sunday night and sat in the gallery with all of the "people." i'd have to say it was a lot more fun .. someone even lit a tissuepaper latern which was cool at first until it lit itself on fire and chunks of fire started falling on the crowd. vina was pretty awesome though .. it was basically like going to the grammy's. the next day we went to Valparaiso which is a small port town right next to Vina and walked around the city checking out the ascensors (elevators) used throughout the town and the local plazas. there is even a picture of ken in front of the many colorful houses that fill the hills of Valparaiso.

2005-03-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

the riot police were ready for us .. tear gas and all ..

2005-03-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

the crowd was crazy .. they lit flares in the stands and set fireworks off whenever U of Chile scored.

2005-03-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

Me and Ken at a Copa tournament .. 35000 people showed up for Universidad de Chile .. it was absolutely INSANE!!!

2005-03-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

Ken came to visit me for the week! Here's ken overlooking the cool colorful houses of Valparaiso .. a small city next to Vina del Mar

2005-03-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

dave, me, colleen, regan, and brian at the concert

2005-03-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

Vina del Mar concert .. the largest music concert in Chile .. it was awesome .. kinda like the grammy's for latinamerica

Vina del Mar

2005-02-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

The weeklong Vina del Mar festival started yesterday! Basically everyone in Chile and many other South American countries will be watching this concert for the next week. It's amazing how big this one festival is here with performers from all different countries for the next 5 days. It was fun to watch the opening ceremonies with my family and then stay up late watching as the concert goes until 2 or 3 in the morning. We are heading out to vina tomorrow to watch the friday night concert and ill come back out on sunday night when ken comes to visit. Should be awesome =) as a side note .. i found out that googlear is actually a word. haha how crazy.

the daily news

2005-02-16T10:49:00.000-08:00

so the big story of the day was how one of the candidates for reina de vina was scandalously caught on film. it was the headliner for the day. haha. yes and thats chilean news. vina del mar started today and we're heading to the festival on friday thanks to once again the wonderful bings. what else what else .. a huge outbreak occurred with all of the seafood here and a woman even died so everyone is told to stay away from los mariscos. on top of that .. over half of the kids are sick here and several have been hospitalized with ivs and everything. though tonsilitis is contagious, no one can make the kids stay home so i'm crossing my fingers i wont get sick. agh.

rock and roll

2005-02-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

class was interesting today. we starting a unit on chilean rock and roll which was pretty funny/weird to hear. its cooled off this weekend but the heat is finally starting to come back just in time for Vina this weekend.

2005-02-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

tea time with the family =)

2005-02-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

mc donald's chilean hotdogs .. avocado (palta), chopped tomatoes, and mayonaise. too much mayonaise for me ....

Birthdays

2005-02-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

it's the year of the big 21 so its been pretty fun going out and celebrating everyone's birthday here in chile. yesterday was dave's 21st birthday so we went for ice cream and headed out to Veracura on the outskirts of Santiago where there's pretty good night life with restaurants, bars, and discotecs. i also got to see Las Condes which is another neighborhood where the other students live.. very suburbish .. that is very different from Providencia where i live in the heart of Santiago. it was also my chilean sister's birthday, Cecilia, so the apartment was filled with friends and family. of course there was great food at the party and i got to try some great chilean dishes.

2005-02-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

night out in Veracura for Dave's 21st birthday

2005-02-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

Dave's 21st birthday!!! its fun since everyone is turning 21 here on the trip. =)

2005-02-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

me and my chilean mom and dad, Sandra and Pato, on Pato's bday!

2005-02-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

Cecilia, my chilean sister, birthday party at the apartment. the place was filled with good food and friends, family, and relatives.

happy chinese new year

2005-02-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

happy chinese new year!!! even all the way down in chile, i celebrated the new year today with the other two asians here with me. we went for chinese food at lunchtime and though it's not the same as my grandma's cooking, it was still pretty good. i'm finally done with my crazy week and have finished my 4 papers plus presentation. my chilean dad's birthday is today and tomorrow is my chilean sister's birthday so we're have a small party at the house tomorrow for the two of them.

2005-02-09T12:49:00.000-08:00

Buenos Aires has crazy bustling night life .. everyone floods the streets once it hits past 12 ..

2005-02-09T12:46:00.000-08:00

there were tons of tango dancers all over the city!

2005-02-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

the massive buildings in Buenos Aires

2005-02-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

me in Buenos Aires at the widest street in the world .. 22 lanes!!!

Buenos Aires!!!

2005-02-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

Buenos Aires was absolutely amazing! I've never been to a city like that before but in the words of my friend .. "buenos aires is like toyko on horse steroids." its just huge in every way. It is a beautiful city with monstrous buildings that just tower over everything. I visited the widest street in the world that spans literally 22 lanes!!! its insane. The nightlife is so much better in argentina with crowds of people storming the streets on the weekends. One of the best things of the weekend was getting to watch tango dancers dancing in the streets whereever i went. I visited the famous plaza de mayo that i've been learning about since forever in spanish class and there was even a riot there earlier in the day. i saw the grave of evita and visited numerous small neighborhoods, each very distinct from the others. I had great ice cream in argentina and even caught some of the half time show of the superbowl and the highlights from first quarter. There is just so much more life, atmosphere, and cultures in Buenos Aires than Santiago. It was humid, but a nice change from the dry heat here. It was a great weekend and i highly suggest visiting if you want to visit a city in south america. I wish i had more time to explore Buenos Aires such as the theatre district, but I have a crazy week ahead with a 5 page midterm, 4 page paper, 2 page midterm, 10 min presentation, and revised 4 page paper. blah. I found out Jorge, my Chilean brother, likes to play chess so we battled it out in two games of intese chess after dinner. I’ve been dancing and its great that classes are now a little smaller (10 people) in February since everyone is at the beach for summer.

one month in chile ..

2005-02-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

I found out Jorge, my Chilean brother, likes to play chess so we battled it out in two games of intese chess after dinner. It’s superbowl weekend so I’m sad I’m missing out on the annual superbowl party, but I’m not complaining since I’ll be in Buenos Aires for the weekend! I’ve been dancing and its great that classes are now a little smaller (10 people) in February since everyone is at the beach for summer. ps .. the mcflurry here is SO much better than in the states .. it has carmel and some other yummy stuff in it =)

one month here..

2005-02-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

I just found out Jorge, my chilean brother, likes to play chess so we battled it out for two games of intense chess after dinner. I went to the Museo de Bellas Artes today for the directors seminar and I need to pack since we are leaving for Buenos Aires tomorrow afternoon. I had dance again yesterday and its nice since the february classes are now smaller (10 people). Everyone here seems to be getting sick with tonsilitis or just not feeling good. I'm crossing my fingers i dont get sick while i'm here. its superbowl weekend and i'm sad i'm missing out once again on the annual superbowl party, but i'm not complaining since Buenos Aires is going to be hot =)

staying around Santiago

2005-01-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

I spent this past weekend hanging out around Santiago and at home with my family. I visited the National Museum of Natural History, which is the largest in South America, a a small museum of technology, and Quinta Normal which is one of the largest parks here in Santiago. Local Chilean university students joined us and it was fun just to get to speak with locals that were the same age as us. It rained for the first time since I’ve been here and the weather has surprisingly turned colder. My family and I decided to go eat lunch together at a nearby restaurant called Shopdog which is very similar to HardRock Cafes since they too displayed antique objects. This is the place to get the best hotdogs although the hotdogs here are topped with tons of guacamole, chopped tomatoes, and mayonnaise! It sounds gross but it is surprisingly pretty good after you eat a couple =)

2005-01-31T12:08:00.000-08:00

hanging out at the grandma's apartment for some tea .. here's the whole family .. Sandra, Pato, Esteban, Jorge, Grandma, and Cecilia. yes, that would be guacamole (palta) on everything!

2005-01-31T12:05:00.000-08:00

My Chilean family .. Pato, Sandra, Esteban, and Cecilia

Concepcion

2005-01-31T11:59:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I flew down south to Concepcion with the other 33 students here on the program thanks to the Bings who sponsored our weekend trip. It was nice to escape the busy life here in Santiago and enjoy an afternoon hiking in the hills, trekking up to a waterfall, and visiting several lakes that are home to gorgeous black neck swans. Of course we did the touristy thing visiting the first hydroelectric plant in Chile, the University of Concepcion, and the famous coal mines in the next town called Lota. A huge art faire took place right next to our hotel so we spent the afternoon walking around the stands and watching local artists make their crafts. Some of the guys satisfied their urge to play soccer by finally buying a ball and we started a game at the nearby park. We were lucky to catch an International Jazz festival at night which took place at the city’s largest ampitheatre. For someone who typically isn’t a huge fan of jazz, I really enjoyed the concert since South American jazz is different than American jazz. As for weather, the south is much colder and it was the first time we had to put on pants and zip up our sweaters!

what spanish class teaches me

2005-01-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

18% tax here. wow. luckily its built into most everything. i learned today in spanish class that to ride a horse or drive a carriage (which you do see around santiago on the streets), the same license is required as that of a car. crazy.

2005-01-27T14:15:00.000-08:00

we hiked up to a small waterfall near the city of Lota which is famous for its coal mines

2005-01-27T14:12:00.000-08:00

all the micro buses are mercedez!

2005-01-27T14:10:00.000-08:00

me and regan in Concepcion in the south of chile

dancing in chile

2005-01-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

i have finally found a dance studio here in chile. i took class last week for the first time and it was AWESOME. mariano, the teacher, is great and teaches a great 2 hour jazz class. its a small hole-in-the-wall studio, but classes are pretty small (12 people) and it just feels so great to be back taking classes again. the studio is close to my house .. about 5 blocks .. and mariano is actually a friend of the director here at the stanford center. i also met a chilean girl named joyce who wants to be dancer so will hopefully go to either europe or the US after high school to audition for some companies. she even speaks fluent english because her mom is from england!

friday excursions

2005-01-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

every friday, we take excursions throughout the city with our spanish teachers. last week, we visited Patronato, which is the garment district where you can get anything from luggage to clothing. it is also the most diverse area of santiago filled with immigrants from all different countries. Plaza de Armas was another quick trip we took with the director of our center where the most famous cathedral of Santiago is located.

2005-01-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

in the center of Plaza de Armas in front of the cathedral of Santiago

2005-01-19T12:22:00.000-08:00

me and jenny(my spanish teacher) in the garment district

2005-01-19T12:07:00.000-08:00

beautiful sunset from La Serena. you can even see the main cathedral in the next city over ..

2005-01-19T12:04:00.000-08:00

the only statue to be taken off easter island. this is small one but there are bigger ones still on the island.

2005-01-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

dave, kiyomi, and me on the beach in La Serena

La Serena

2005-01-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

For the first weekend out of Santiago, I traveled with 6 other students to the small city of La Serena in the north of chile. Traveling within chile is very easy so after a 6 hour busride, we arrived on the coast where it was much cooler despite the fact that northern chile is supposed to be hotter since it is located closer to the desert. La Serena is a small city so we were able to see most of the attractions including the center area called Plaza de Armas, the main mercado, some of the 29 cathedrals, and the archeology museum. The highlight was getting to see the only statue that has been taken off easter island! I really want to go to easter island, but it's expensive and there isn't much time. Of course we headed to the beach and spent the day playing soccer on the sand, swimming in the warm water, and watching the beautiful sunset. Since the days are so much longer here, its great to have more time in the day and for example stay out on the beach until 8 pm. La Serena is a much quieter city but it was nice to just get out of the busy and crowded Santiago for a little.

Welcome Bing Dinner

2005-01-12T11:22:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the welcome Bing dinner and at the end of the quarter, there will be one more farewell Bing dinner. For anyone who does not know who the Bing family is, they are large endorsers of Stanford and especially the abroad programs. They understand that college kids don't have a lot of money so they provide two dinners and two weekend trips in the foreign countries that students would probably not be able to afford on their own. Next weekend is the first trip and we are all flying down to Concepcion in the south of chile for the long weekend. Then, later in february we're going to the coast for one of the biggest festivals of the year, Vina del Mar.

The Bing dinner was great and was held at Akarana which was actually a New Zealand restaurant. The food was amazing and the dessert was even better. Before hand, I arrived early so a couple of friends and I went to hang out in the Ritz Carlton which was right next to the restaurant. haha. we didn't stay long cause we didn't feel like getting kicked out but it was fun anyways.

2005-01-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

Bing welcome dinner .. gotta love the bings!

some chile education

2005-01-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

Some interesting things that I’ve learned about Chile:
1. I wondered why the bus drivers drive SO crazily and especially in the evening. Apparently, the bus drivers do not have a fixed pay, but are paid by the number of tickets they sell daily. That explains why they basically race each other to get to the next stop.
2. it is very politically divided here so when literally EVERYONE goes to the beach for vacation during the summer months, they vacation at places where Chileans with the same political view vacation.
3. divorce wasn’t even possible until a few months ago. Before that, basically everyone built in a loophole to the system by intentionally making an error on their marriage certificate so that if they later decided they wanted a divorce, they could annul their marriage claiming the certificate had an error and was not valid.
4. if you are registered to vote, you HAVE to vote or else you are fined. That’s why they have 97% turnout and their polls are even segregated by gender.
5. alcohol sales are prohibited on election day.

2005-01-10T13:48:00.000-08:00

here is one of the electronic music flatbed trucks that paraded around the city during Love Parade

first weekend in santiago

2005-01-10T06:54:00.000-08:00

i've only been here for little over a week, but it feels so much longer. so far, the trip has been great and i'm beginning to learn the city by walking or using the metro and the micros (local buses). my host family is great and my chilean mom is very talkative. i hang out with the kids everyday since they don't have school and talk with friends of the family during evening walks in the nearby park. the apartment is close to downtown so it is located very conveniently and i can walk just about everywhere.

its summer here so the weather is nice if not HOT. i found out the hole in the ozone layer is right above chile, so people here are extra careful about going out in the sun. i started classes last week and i can say that its definitely going to be a challenge getting through classes all in spanish. many students are native speaking, but hopefully i'll be fine and my fluidity will improve by the end of the trip. oh and the spanish spoken here is CRAZY. it is called castellano and its so fast. chileans combine their words and cut off the ends. to make it worse, there are tons of chilenismos (words only used in chile).

since it was the first weekend here in chile, of course i went out with friends to see the nightlife. everything is pushed back here by several hours in comparison with the US. on a typical day, the sun goes down around 9 so families eat dinner around 9 or 10 and the youth go out around 12 only to return about 5 or 6! my mom was wondering why i came home so early when i got back at 3:30 this weekend =) on friday night, i hung out with the other students who are here on the trip with me in a section of the city called sucia lined with restaurantes, bars, and clubs. on friday, we took a trip to cerro de santa lucia where santiago was founded and later became an observatory. on saturday, it was the long expected Love Parade. usually, this festival is hosted in europe, but this year it came to santiago. its a HUGE event of electronic music and 300,000 people were expected to come out. tons of flatbed trucks paraded around downtown while people danced in the streets in between being hosed down by the firefighters!

2005-01-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

we climbed to the top and here is a view of santiago. can you see all of the smog in the background?

2005-01-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

today was the first friday outting with our spanish teachers. this is cerro de santa lucia.

2005-01-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

here's my little 7 year old chilean brother .. isnt he cute? he always comes and hangs out with me in my room =)

first day here in santiago

2005-01-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

hola from santiago! i finally arrived =) i met up with brian and regan, two friends from stanford, in atlanta and then we headed down on a wonderful 9 hour flight to chile where there were actually two other standford students on the same flight. the view from the plane was amazing .. once we got closer to stantiago, the mountains came into view and were beautiful with the snow covered tops. once grounded, we had a little trouble paying the entrance tax, but it was more comical than anything else. next it was off to the hotel and somehow we managed to cram all three of us plus baggage into one really small and tiny cab. its interesting to see how far womens rights are still lagging behind here in south america as we experienced with the cab driver. after a good nap, we headed downtown to walk around for a bit. it appears that everything is closed on sundays, but people are still out and walking around. many kids swim in the fountains while others just walk around the parks which are situated actually between the two sides of the road. we had lunch and it was my first time eating a hotdog topped with guacamole, tomates, and mayonaise. it was pretty good id have to say! its nice to get into warm weather and away from the rain, but its actually pretty hot here. right now its 7:45, but outside it looks like its 4 so it stays light for a long time. the accent is hard for me to understand, but hopefully ill be able to pick it up within the next few weeks. tomorrow its off to the host family in the morning and hopefully ill get to spend the rest of the day with them. oh, and contrary to what i thought, chile is not in the same time zone as east coast. its actually i believe 5 hours ahead of california.

2005-01-01T03:32:00.000-08:00

on my last night my aunt got me my favorite chocolate cake .. how cute =)

leaving for chile

2004-12-31T16:43:00.000-08:00

tomorrow i finally head out for santiago, chile. the long awaited, yet highly anticipated quarter has finally arrived. if anyone needs to reach me, i'll can be reached at the center:
Cheri Mah
Stanford University
Centro de Estudios en America Latina
Av. El Bosque (Sur) 430, Providencia
Santiago, Cod. Postal 6651738, Chile

I'll be getting a cell phone as soon as I get down to South America, so i'll be sure to let everyone know the number as soon as i get it. i will still have the same email so please email me .. i'd love to hear from you.