Life at Plaza Italia

I've passed my halfway point here in Chile. It's the four-month stretch now.

The other day, we (my roommate Melissa and I) heard some loud drumming outside the window. We went to check out and saw about thirty people carrying all sorts of drums; djembes, surdos, timbals, ashikos, ect. They settled at Parque Bustammante and drummed samba beats, and with the drum line were capoeira dancers. I regret losing the video footage I took of the drum line and capoeira dancers. It was such a trip to have that kind of cultural experience right outside your window.

I love living at the cultural center of Santiago, Chile. I'm dreading being aburrido when I return to the middle-class suburban life. I will yearn for the cultural diversity of Santiago.

This is a video of Samba Drumming at Brazilian Day in New York. It was similar to this except it was outdoors and there 40-50 drummers and several copoeira dancers.

*phew* What A Summer!

Obviously, the highlight of my summer was Mark, my boyfriend of a year and a half. Doing a long-distance relationship hasn't been the funnest thing in the world, but when you love someone so much, obstacles can be overcome and it's worth every minute of waiting. He came down here for my summer vacation and shared this experience with me. It was his first time out of the country and I'm so happy, glad and honored to share that with him. I'm also glad that he was here with me when the earthquake happened. Now he is back in New Jersey working and I am here finishing up my last four months in Santiago. Here is a highlight of some summer favorites:

This is one of the three giant puppets that a French artist, Jean-Luc Courcoult, brought over to be viewed in Santiago. The giant puppets are operated by several humans and they walked around the streets of Santiago.

This is a video of the Tio walking in front of us.

gotta love their patriotism

Meet the chacarero. This is Mark's favorite of Chile. It's roasted beef, green beans, tomatoes, and spicy red Chilean sauce called ají. I like mine with avocado.

He is a happy man.

We had dinner at Los Vikingos and they let us wear their armors!

Having humitas at Alejandro's place.

Valentine's at Como Agua Para Chocolate. Food there is AMAZING.

Valpo

bowling

taking a break from our bike day with crystals and mojitos

mark biking

 
Mark bought himself an Indio Picaro, Naughty Indian

And then our trip to La Serena and Cajón de Maipo.