Reporting live from my bed that I haven't left since I got home yesterday. Just got back from the 5 days tearing it up in the driest desert in the world and I may never move my body again.
Little bit of background: Instead of doing the $700 Atacama tour with our study abroad program, me and two pals, Spring and Sarah, (more commonly recognized as the Travel Team) did it on our own in hopes of having enough money to eat for our remaining two months in Chile. Here's an account of our time together.
Last Thursday we started our trip off with a bang by staying at the salsateca until 2am and then heading right to the airport to catch our flight. Because that's how you should always start a trip right.
A short flight later we got punted in Calama, Chile, a small mining town in the middle of nowhere where we could take a bus to San Pedro de Atacama. We got lost within literally 62 seconds of being there. LUCKILY, a miracle came in the form of a small female janitor who saw us struggling and gave us just the most detailed directions anyone could ever receive to the bus stop. I have never felt more loved by a small female janitor in my entire life. We had some extra time before our bus so we found a small picada with horse paintings on the walls and Christmas mugs and a wonderful Peruvian woman who single-handedly ran the place. We ordered pan y huevos and about 3 minutes after we ordered it we watched that woman run out of the door without saying a word to return 10 minutes later with bags of fresh bread. Also my café con leche came in the form of a hot cup of milk and a packet of instant coffee. I don't know when that will stop surprising me.
The first thing we did when we got to San Pedro was slack line with a local. Perks of not traveling with 40 bumbling gringos. The second thing we did was show up to the cheapest hostel that exists in San Pedro where we paid $8.50 a night to sleep in sheets that I'm actually positive have never been washed. (We watched Alfredo lysol the sheets in between guests and we loved every second of it.) The wifi worked about 60% of the time and sometimes there was hot water and usually toilet paper. But we paid 5,000 pesos for it. No complaints, folks. Great place.
Everyday for the next 4 days we rented bicicletas to bike our asses to desert beauty instead of paying big money to drive there on a tour and then to have to be on a tour. The first day we rode about 90 minutes to the Laguna Cejar. Still not quite sure why there's a lake in the middle of the driest desert in the world or how it sustains flamingos but you know science and whatever. We swam in the lake and it was v salty. So salty that you can't dunk your head under unless you really wanna hurt yourself and that you can float on your stomach without moving a muscle. We ended up talking to two Chilean gentleman in the lake and then all of a sudden our bikes were in the back of their truck and they were driving us an hour through beautiful desert landscape and paying $90 for us to get into the natural hot springs. GOOD THINGS COME TO POOR PEOPLE WHO TRAVEL. And then we were in the hot spring and Raul started singing Spanish opera and I will never understand how my choices in life brought me to that moment.
The next day we rode to Valle de la Luna. Little did I know that it's called Valley of the Moon BECAUSE THE TERRAIN IS JUST LIKE THE SURFACE OF THE MOON. So cool and also very bizarre. Apparently NASA even uses it to test whatever it is NASA does. On the way back we found ourselves on the side of the road trying to fix Sarah's bike. A guy on a motorcycle passed us and then a minute later came back to ask us if we needed help. He was SO SWEET and fixed her bike and even oiled up her wheels. He was an Argentinian who was motorcycling through Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile and he was absolutely my favorite part of the Atacama.
The next two days were just more "hey let's get on our bikes and find cool lugares in the desert" and we did it and it was great. We sweated a lot. And got really really dirty. And I never took off my adventure hat or my Tevas or my Shark watch. Took multiple photos of my naked butt cheeks in front of beautiful landscapes (as I have been doing in all beautiful landscapes since my trip to the Grand Canyon back in '13). Sometimes I got hangry or got suncreen in my eye but other than that it was a great time.
On our last night (which also happened to be Spring's 22nd cumpleaños) we walked out of the town a bit to stargaze. We had our new slacklining pal with us and now I will never forget that a shooting star is an "estrella fugaz" because I learned it while lying in dirt in the middle of the Atacama desert in Chile with a local. SPANISH IMMERSION IS REAL FOLKS.
The last 10 hours of our trip might be the strangest 10 hours of my entire life. Due to poorly coordinated bus and flight times we had to take a bus from San Pedro back to Calama Tuesday night but our flight wasn't until 8:50 AM the next morning. Since obvi we're too cheap to pay $30 each for a hostel for the night in Calama (it's a weird rich mining town where all the hostels and hotel which is like all 3 of them are weirdly expensive), our plan was to sleep in the airport. We got off the bus at 10pm and across the street there was a weird Chinese restaurant so we decided to go kill a few hours there before we took a taxi to the airport. After a mountain of Mongolian beef and wontons and Coronas, Sarah decided to make a joke like "lol, wouldn't it be funny if the airport is closed at night". And I said "lol wait that's a thing?" and she said "lol, ya" so we asked our waiter and he asked his co-workers and made a phone call and soon THAT JOKE BECAME OUR REALITY. So here we are buzzed in a Chinese family restaurant at 11:30 at night with nowhere to go for the next 7 hours. Seeing as how our trip had gone so far I just kept saying "I'm just waiting for someone to come up to us and offer for us to stay in their home for the night". AND LOL THAT HAPPENED. Our waiter came back and offered for us to stay at the bartender's house. And so we stayed at the restaurant until closing and then the owner drove us two blocks to the bartender's house in his Mercedes SUV. The owner spoke both English and Spanish AND Chinese and yet never said a word to any of us. And why does he own a Mercedes SUV? He might be the most confusing part of our night. We all ended up chatting and watching music videos from the 80's until 4am until we took a 2 hour siesta and at 6am their taxi driver friend came and picked us up to take us to the airport but like he wasn't even driving a taxi so like this was another confusing part. By the time we got to the airport we were all just thankful and confused and happy to be alive and thriving in Calama, Chile.
Now I'm back in Santiago and while I loved my time in the Atacama as a dirty desert rat, I was actually real homesick for my Chilean fam, my Chilean home, and my life and people in Santiago. How does that happen after just two short months of being here. HELP WHAT WILL I DO WHEN I HAVE TO LEAVE FOR LONGER THAN 5 DAYS.
Also one quick special God moment I had this week. On the way home from the airport yesterday, Spring and I were riding the metro and this girl next to us was texting on her phone and crying really really hard. I started praying that somehow Jesus' peace and comfort would come into the situation. Right after I started praying, a sweet, SWEET older woman who was a stranger to the girl reached out her arm and started rubbing the girl's back and stroking her hair. Now, I don't know if that was an answer to prayer or whether or not that even comforted the girl, but I do know that if anything it was God being like hey Jess let me remind you that I'm a God who a lot of the time chooses to bring peace and comfort to people through other people. LESSON LEARNED JESUS. So like if you're trying to find me, I'll be in Santiago, Chile trying to live in a way in which God can work through me.
Ttyl.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
HOW IS IT ALREADY OCT 19 WHY
Hi.
This week I found out that Chile is in South America. I went to La Vega Central (the main fruit/veggie/meats/etc.) market in Santiago and my life was forever changed. It was sketchy and beautiful and there were pig heads and I finally felt like I was in Latin America and I plan on going back at least once a week.
Also I've realized that 90% of the reason I love Chile is because instead of shaking hands to meet someone you kiss their cheek. Which is GREAT for people like me with sweaty hands always.
My pal Spring and I tried to make a peso on the metro by playing and singing 5 Years Time on the ukulele. Didn't go so well.
I got my ass grabbed by this AWFUL man on my way out of the metro last week. I was so shocked/flustered when it happened that all I did was give him a dirty look. All week I've been trying to think about what I should have done but I can't come to a conclusion. WHAT WOULD JESUS DO IF HE GOT HIS ASS GRABBED ON THE METRO? YEAH I DON'T KNOW EITHER.
There's a Christian ministry here for college students called El Oasis. It's the best thing that has ever happened to Chilean Jansen. I would really just like to spend 110% of my time with the people there. Last weekend I went on their retreat in the campo with them. It was just the absolute best. I am obsessed with every human that was there. They are SO FUN and also so very patient with my Spanish. I could actually write 14 blog posts just about that weekend and Oasis and all the fun stuff we do together now and everything ever. AS IF I NEEDED MORE REASONS TO NEVER LEAVE CHILE. I have about 50 more of them now in people form.
I just got back from spending some time with the Younglifers in Rancagua again. It was gr8, as expected. But there was also something gr8 that wasn't expected. This afternoon Gabriel dropped me off at the bus station and LOL ALL THE BUS TICKETS BACK TO SANTIAGO WERE SOLD OUT. AND MY CHILEAN PHONE WAS DEAD. AND I DIDN'T HAVE GABRIEL'S PHONE NUMBER WRITTEN DOWN ANYWHERE. OR HIS ADDRESS. AND I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA BE SLEEPING IN THE BUS STATION. Luckily I can hablar some español and I figured out that there was a bigger bus station across town where I could get a bus back to Santiago. Lol.
TIME HERE IS FLYING AND I'M PANICKING. I'm experiencing this strange thing where I can't wait to be back in San Luis Obispo but I also actually never want to leave Chile. It's like one of those weird things like the Trinity. It doesn't make any sense, it just is.
Sorry for the short post. Love me.
Friday, October 10, 2014
just another week without ranch dressing
WARNING: real crunched for time these days. I would love to go into more detail about everything (specifically about what Jesus is teaching me) but I guess you will all just have to wait until January when you take me out to In-N-Out to hear more of the dirty deets. Until then....
Last week I went to a salsoteca and watched every Chilean in the world move their hips the exact same way. HOW.
Last week I went to a salsoteca and watched every Chilean in the world move their hips the exact same way. HOW.
One day on the metro this scary guy with a mask and a cape came on and I was scared until he started playing beautiful music and cracking jokes and engaging everyone on the metro AND THEN he sat down with a little kid on the floor and played music with him and it was the most beautiful thing and all I could think was THIS IS CHURCH.
I bought a missionary skirt and a bilingual Bible this week so I think that means I have to be a missionary now, right?
Young Life Slo County is killing it in my absence. I received a photo of a 21-year-old man in a pink furry vest intended for a 14-month-old infant. Wes Zimmerman--bringing kids to the feet of Jesus the best way he knows how.
Yesterday I discovered Calle Bandera. A street lined with thirty-five thrift shops. THIRTY-FIVE. And the wonderful thing is that NO ONE here likes the stuff that I like. I was so overwhelmed by it all that I ended up not buying a single thing. WHAT DO YOU BUY WHEN YOU LIKE EVERYTHING.
On Saturday I hiked around with four DELIGHTFUL humans (2 of whom I met that day) in the mountains of Santiago. There were rickety bridges and hippie communes and waterfalls and everything important ever. Here's a quick bio of my four new friends: 1. A pastor of a progressive church in the suburbs of Santiago. 2. An angel who is married to that pastor. 3. A Chilean who got kicked out of his church for asking too many questions (lol) and started making church happen in homes in his community instead. 4. A gringa who's married to that previously mentioned Chilean question asker who lived in Tacna, Peru for a year (aka the only town in Peru I was afraid to be in) and now is basically a self-supported missionary who's main objective in life is to open her home and life to anyone and everyone. All day I could think was HOW DID I GET HERE. WHY AM I HIKING ON PRIVATE LAND WHERE PEOPLES HORSES ARE JUST TIED UP TO TREES TALKING THEOLOGY IN SPANISH WITH A THIRTY SOMETHING YEAR OLD CHILEAN MAN.
On Sunday I attended the church of Banda Conmoción for the second time. I actually don't think a purer manifestation of God exists. Twenty incredibly talented SOULS are lined up on that stage playing music and dancing around together. How creative r u God for having music be something humans are naturally inclined to make and enjoy. Some people believe in God because sunsets. I believe in God BECAUSE BANDA CONMOCION.
And yesterday I just had one of my favorite days here ever. Mostly for reasons that no one would find exciting but me. Just really obsessed with all the humans here.
Disclaimer: This blog mostly talks about the highlights. And the stuff I'm most excited to share. And my proudest moments. But guess what. There are days when I sit in my living room for 5 hours and do homework. And there are moments when the food isn't omg to die for. And there are moments when I'm sweaty and cranky on the metro. And there are moments when I really miss my people at home. Or really worry about my people at home. So LET IT BE KNOWN that I'm not in some euphoric fantasy land where everything is "the best experience of my life" all the time. So if you're reading this abroad, or if you plan on going abroad, just know we have the freedom to be humans while we do so. We have the opportunity to engage the hard parts of life in a foreign country. And that is what makes study abroad the experience of a lifetime.
So ya, sometimes it's hard being here. But I've been trying not to weep for the past 36 hours because I just feel so right where I'm supposed to be. And I'm so thankful to be here that I could throw up.
Also, some of the Chileans have been reading my blog with the help of google translate. Sweet Cecilia even worked on translating it during her English lesson. I CAN'T TELL IF I'M HONORED OR HORRIFIED.
Peace + blessings from the southern hemisphere. Bye everyone.
I bought a missionary skirt and a bilingual Bible this week so I think that means I have to be a missionary now, right?
Young Life Slo County is killing it in my absence. I received a photo of a 21-year-old man in a pink furry vest intended for a 14-month-old infant. Wes Zimmerman--bringing kids to the feet of Jesus the best way he knows how.
Yesterday I discovered Calle Bandera. A street lined with thirty-five thrift shops. THIRTY-FIVE. And the wonderful thing is that NO ONE here likes the stuff that I like. I was so overwhelmed by it all that I ended up not buying a single thing. WHAT DO YOU BUY WHEN YOU LIKE EVERYTHING.
On Saturday I hiked around with four DELIGHTFUL humans (2 of whom I met that day) in the mountains of Santiago. There were rickety bridges and hippie communes and waterfalls and everything important ever. Here's a quick bio of my four new friends: 1. A pastor of a progressive church in the suburbs of Santiago. 2. An angel who is married to that pastor. 3. A Chilean who got kicked out of his church for asking too many questions (lol) and started making church happen in homes in his community instead. 4. A gringa who's married to that previously mentioned Chilean question asker who lived in Tacna, Peru for a year (aka the only town in Peru I was afraid to be in) and now is basically a self-supported missionary who's main objective in life is to open her home and life to anyone and everyone. All day I could think was HOW DID I GET HERE. WHY AM I HIKING ON PRIVATE LAND WHERE PEOPLES HORSES ARE JUST TIED UP TO TREES TALKING THEOLOGY IN SPANISH WITH A THIRTY SOMETHING YEAR OLD CHILEAN MAN.
On Sunday I attended the church of Banda Conmoción for the second time. I actually don't think a purer manifestation of God exists. Twenty incredibly talented SOULS are lined up on that stage playing music and dancing around together. How creative r u God for having music be something humans are naturally inclined to make and enjoy. Some people believe in God because sunsets. I believe in God BECAUSE BANDA CONMOCION.
And yesterday I just had one of my favorite days here ever. Mostly for reasons that no one would find exciting but me. Just really obsessed with all the humans here.
Disclaimer: This blog mostly talks about the highlights. And the stuff I'm most excited to share. And my proudest moments. But guess what. There are days when I sit in my living room for 5 hours and do homework. And there are moments when the food isn't omg to die for. And there are moments when I'm sweaty and cranky on the metro. And there are moments when I really miss my people at home. Or really worry about my people at home. So LET IT BE KNOWN that I'm not in some euphoric fantasy land where everything is "the best experience of my life" all the time. So if you're reading this abroad, or if you plan on going abroad, just know we have the freedom to be humans while we do so. We have the opportunity to engage the hard parts of life in a foreign country. And that is what makes study abroad the experience of a lifetime.
So ya, sometimes it's hard being here. But I've been trying not to weep for the past 36 hours because I just feel so right where I'm supposed to be. And I'm so thankful to be here that I could throw up.
Also, some of the Chileans have been reading my blog with the help of google translate. Sweet Cecilia even worked on translating it during her English lesson. I CAN'T TELL IF I'M HONORED OR HORRIFIED.
Peace + blessings from the southern hemisphere. Bye everyone.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
#girlgoneYLd in Chile
Hi everyone. This is just a shameless post about Young Life and nothing more.
There's probably gonna be a lot of Young Life jargon so I'm really sorry if you're a little lost. Plz feel free to forward all questions/comments/concerns about Jesus, Young Life, or about what my bowel movements have been looking like lately to jessicarosejansen@gmail.com. I'm serious. THX 4 UNDERSTANDING.
This weekend I visited the Young Life folks in a town called Rancagua, an hour south of Santiago. I showed up in Rancagua on Friday afternoon only having ever talked to the area director (Gabriel) via Facebook. He came to the bus station and picked me up and took me out to lunch with his wife and kid. THEY REFUSED TO LET ME PAY FOR MYSELF because they claim that they invited me out which ISNT EVEN TRUE because I LITERALLY INVITED MYSELF to come visit. Then we picked up some club supplies, grabbed another leader and went to the first club (Wyldlife). It wasn't a typical club because they were celebrating two birthdays so it was just hanging out with a short club talk and EMPANADAS OF COURSE. Next we went to the Young Life club but showed up late so I was only there for the end of the game and the talk (about the Prodigal Son, my favorite). As we approached the clubhouse Gabriel proceeded to tell me, "Oh ya, Jess. This is the most dangerous street in Rancagua. It's the poorest and has the most drugs. One time we were having a leader meeting here and we heard gunshots and there was someone dead on the corner." AND THIS IS THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE YOUNG LIFE HAS THEIR CLUB. Classic. After club we fit 7 adult humans and 1 toddler human into Gabriel's small Kia car and drove to Telepizza. The pizza had corn on it so that's new. Finally at midnight I got punted at one of the Wyldlife leader's house. I felt like a 10-year-old getting dropped off for a sleepover. And turns out that the sleepover was in HEAVEN. I literally slept in a house full of angels. Cecilia and her husband both work. And they are both Wyldlife leaders. And they currently have two Cuban immigrants living in their house because they had nowhere else to go so they opened up their home. And they kicked their daughter of her room so I could stay there and their daughter was happy to do so. And she offered me all the fruit and water in the world and told me to treat their home like my own. And then she friended me on Facebook and posted on my wall wishing me sweet dreams AGAIN after I'd already gone to bed. JESUS IS ALIVE IN RANCAGUA, CHILE YA'LL.
Gabriel and his family came over the next morning and desayunared with me and we all talked more about Young Life and life and Jesus and cultural differences and everything under the Chilean sun. Some v interesting stuff worth sharing:
- Young Life in Chile accidentally got started because there was a guy in Rancagua that loved Jesus and was hanging out with the troubled youth in town. Then that guy went to Nicaragua and found out about Young Life there and realized OOPS THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING LOL. So then he came back and officially started YL in Rancagua. A few years later Gabriel and his family took over. And here we are today.
- We talked about how Young Life molds itself to individual cultures. Gabriel told me a story about how social gatherings are illegal in communist Vietnam unless a birthday is being celebrated. So they just celebrate a birthday at Young Life club every week in Vietnam. Another thing I love is that Young Life is rarely run by foreigners. The majority of the time the Area Directors/leaders are from the country they're working in. Which in my opinion is SO IMPORTANT. Let's cut that white savior nonsense out whenever we can!
- WORK CREW EXISTS HERE. Gabriel takes his kids to work crew at Young Life camps in Peru. Enough said.
- I asked Gabriel why he thinks kids are drawn to Jesus even within the heavily religious and heavily hypocritical church culture in Chile. And he said that kids tell him that they love the Jesus that they learn about and see in Young Life because the leaders actually live out what they preach. Which is NOT what these kids are used to here. God's love is made real to them through their leaders. And that's really effing cool. Gosh I hope that I too can live out what I preach every day. I'm actually positive that that will never stop being my prayer or my struggle for the rest of my life.
- Because Gabriel is currently the face of Young Life in Chile, he goes to all the regional meetings and trainings. Which means he knows all the Young Life country directors and various area directors and leaders in Latin America. Which means he hears ALL THE STORIES. So he just told me story after story. An Area Director in Guatemala literally living in a dump, clubs in Dominican Republic run in the street with no lights or sound or building, an Area Director and his wife in Honduras having to flee the country to El Salvador because his wife accidentally witnessed a murder, of Young Life in Ecuador having to have a separate team just to focus on meeting the physical needs of kids, and of a gringo Area Director in Venezuela being expelled from the communist country by Hugo Chávez himself simply for being a gringo and doing what he was doing. Every time I finally don't feel 100% ignorant about the world I hear stories like this and remember that I know nothing.
What Gabriel and his leaders do here is hard work. And I am absolutely ten thousand percent encouraged by them. Just a bunch of ordinary people trying to follow Jesus by going out into the mess that is life and living it with kids. And somehow Jesus' love becomes visible through that.
Young Life. Stripping away everything that isn't Jesus and his Gospel since 1941.
Also Gabriel told me I have the invite to come back whenever I want because "en Young Life somos familia". I might just quit school in Santiago and go live in Rancagua. Bye losers.
Also I just remembered I have a $20 Olive Garden gift card so if anyone's tryna go with me in January hmu.
Also *shout-out* to God because all week I'd been praying that somehow my Spanish would miraculously be better so I could actually communicate with the Young Life folk. WELL GUESS WHO DIDN'T HAVE ANY TROUBLE COMMUNICATING. Somehow between this time last Sunday and now my brain started working. Coincidence or Jesus? WE'LL NEVER KNOW.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
who's an independent country
Every year on September 18th Chile celebrates their independence from Spain. The actual holiday is only Sept. 18, but don't worry Chileans cancel their lives for an entire week to celebrate. So let me just quickly explain why Chile is the best at celebrating independence ever.
They kept the gringos in school (it was canceled for everyone else) until the 17th so the festivities didn't really get started until the 18th, or "Dieciocho" for us. Unfortunately I spent Dieciocho watching Grey's Anatomy with swollen eyes and a lot of mucus in my bed all day.
BUT FRI-SUN WERE GREAT.
On Friday we went to a family birthday bbq. It was super divertido because my family is related to another family in the program who have my gal pal (her name's Eva) so it was great being with a big group of Chileans but also having another gringa for moral support and someone to stare with. My abuela taught me the traditional cueca dance and it made me love her 10,000 times more than I already do. Also Eva's homestay dad (my abuela's cousin's husband) is the best thing to ever happen to anything. For the entire 7 hours of the party he never sat down and I never saw him eat and drink because he just walked around offering people things and LITERALLY PUTTING FORKFULS OF POTATOES IN PEOPLE'S MOUTHS. I would literally finish my drink, set it down, and within <1 second he would be at my side offering me a re-fill. I said no to the wine he offered and he poured me one anyway. I had to turn down a third meat-kabob on three separate offers before he gave up and started offering me choripan instead. And then he caught on that I thought it was funny that a) he never stopped asking me if I wanted something and b) that he added "ito" to everything i.e. pancito, augita, papita, carnecito, terremocito so then he just did it all even more. Bless that sweet old man and his elbow patch sweater. The whole night was just really special because our families (even our extended families) really do everything they possibly can to make us feel included and I am so so thankful for that. It is so special.
On Saturday some gringos and I went to a fonda right by my apartment. Fondas are just big parties that are kinda like fairs that are set up all over Chile for the weekend. Basically they're all just about traditional Chilean food, traditional Chilean drinks, and traditional Chilean dancing. AND IT'S THE BEST. I waited 90 minutes in line to hurt my body with chorrillana (french fries, satueed onions, sausage, beef, and a fried egg). And then we sat on the grass and accidentally watched a band called Inti-Illimani perform. It was just like 5 old dudes playing CLASSIC Chilean music. They did a lot of harmonizing and the instruments they played made the most pleasing sound in the world. It was like a Latin ukulele. And I wanted to weep. I just find it so special that some humans are naturally inclined to play an instrument and then a few humans that have that inclination can get together and and make music that can then have a deeply powerful effect on other humans. One day I'm gonna have to write a blog post titled "Things I Have a Deep Reverence For" so I can expand on this point.
Then I came home and hung with my mom and her friends/family/Eva and I UNDERSTOOD MOST OF THE CONVERSATION/JOKE CONTENT. Something's happening to my brain. Then at midnight (yes they leave at midnight to go out) we left to go see a 20 person band perform. They're called Banda Conmoción and they changed my life forever. 20 people. In one band. I'm talking tubas, trumpets, trombones, symbols, big drums, maracas, EVERYTHING. Plus a dancing devil man. I will never, ever, ever be able to explain how cool it was. Even watching videos of them don't do them any justice. THEY ALL HAD SO MUCH DAMN CHARISMA AND WERE SO MUCH FUN. And they would come into the crowd and do stuff with us. And spray foam on us from the stage. It was the most uniquely entertaining show I have ever seen. And we were the only gringas there. AND IT WAS SO LATIN AMERICAN. I actually feel like I'm wasting my time trying to explain it because it just cannot be explained. So everyone just needs to come to Chile and see them. Glad that's settled. After Banda Conmoción finished it just turned into a Latin dance party (MY FAVORITE THING). *ATTN: only giving the following detail to brag* Word for word verbatim what two guys said to me: "You are not normal United States girl." "Why?" "Because you dance like Latin girl." I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW THANK YOU EVERYONE GOODBYE. Around 3:30 AM we got a taxi ride home and I got to talk to the taxi driver about Jesus. And for some reason I was able to speak Spanish really well in that moment. Just lol at Jesus and life.
4 hours later I woke up to go to church. Met an Australian woman who just moved to Santiago 2 weeks ago because she feels like God wants her to plant a church here. YOUNG SINGLE GALS MOVING ACROSS CONTINENTS BY THEMSELVES TO PLANT CHURCHES. Female empowerment is alive y'all. And to tie in my point about my deep reverence for people making music together, I have another point I'd like to make. This weekend I saw/felt/learned more about God watching Inti-Illimani and Banda Conmoción than I did at church this morning. AND YES THAT IS ABSOLUTELY A THING. So let's stop confining Jesus to Sunday mornings and Christian events. Because that's just not fair to our big big God. OH MY GOSH MY MOM JUST CAME IN AND HANDED ME A PLATE FULL OF FOOD WHY IS THIS CONSISTENTLY HAPPENING WHILE I WRITE THESE POSTS.
The final leg of the Fiestas Patrias was going to my abuela's house for lunch and having the pug sit on my lap again and then going to a "Bienvenido a Chile Tio Lelo" family/friend party which then kinda awkwardly turned into a "Bienvenido a Chile Tio Lelo and Also a Welcome United States Girl That We Don't Know" party. I love Chile because it's a thing to go around to everyone at the party and touch cheeks and make a kissy sound (I am in third grade for describing it that way) even if you have no idea who they are. You may not even introduce yourselves or ever speak again but YA GOTTA DO THE KISSY ANYWAYS. Basically the party was a hoot and I just love everything about this culture. They fed me more empanadas and by the end of the party they were screaming "Ayyyyy Yessi" and cheering on my newly found Latin hips via the microphone. I guess it's not everyday a big tall white idiot that loves to dance and pretends to be Latin crashes their parties. They were all v entertained. I was filmed multiple times. And I left feeling like everyone was my new best friend. WHY ARE CHILEANS SO FRIENDLY AND WELCOMING AND FUN.
Thank u Jesus for everything. Salsa dancing for Your glory. amen.
They kept the gringos in school (it was canceled for everyone else) until the 17th so the festivities didn't really get started until the 18th, or "Dieciocho" for us. Unfortunately I spent Dieciocho watching Grey's Anatomy with swollen eyes and a lot of mucus in my bed all day.
BUT FRI-SUN WERE GREAT.
On Friday we went to a family birthday bbq. It was super divertido because my family is related to another family in the program who have my gal pal (her name's Eva) so it was great being with a big group of Chileans but also having another gringa for moral support and someone to stare with. My abuela taught me the traditional cueca dance and it made me love her 10,000 times more than I already do. Also Eva's homestay dad (my abuela's cousin's husband) is the best thing to ever happen to anything. For the entire 7 hours of the party he never sat down and I never saw him eat and drink because he just walked around offering people things and LITERALLY PUTTING FORKFULS OF POTATOES IN PEOPLE'S MOUTHS. I would literally finish my drink, set it down, and within <1 second he would be at my side offering me a re-fill. I said no to the wine he offered and he poured me one anyway. I had to turn down a third meat-kabob on three separate offers before he gave up and started offering me choripan instead. And then he caught on that I thought it was funny that a) he never stopped asking me if I wanted something and b) that he added "ito" to everything i.e. pancito, augita, papita, carnecito, terremocito so then he just did it all even more. Bless that sweet old man and his elbow patch sweater. The whole night was just really special because our families (even our extended families) really do everything they possibly can to make us feel included and I am so so thankful for that. It is so special.
On Saturday some gringos and I went to a fonda right by my apartment. Fondas are just big parties that are kinda like fairs that are set up all over Chile for the weekend. Basically they're all just about traditional Chilean food, traditional Chilean drinks, and traditional Chilean dancing. AND IT'S THE BEST. I waited 90 minutes in line to hurt my body with chorrillana (french fries, satueed onions, sausage, beef, and a fried egg). And then we sat on the grass and accidentally watched a band called Inti-Illimani perform. It was just like 5 old dudes playing CLASSIC Chilean music. They did a lot of harmonizing and the instruments they played made the most pleasing sound in the world. It was like a Latin ukulele. And I wanted to weep. I just find it so special that some humans are naturally inclined to play an instrument and then a few humans that have that inclination can get together and and make music that can then have a deeply powerful effect on other humans. One day I'm gonna have to write a blog post titled "Things I Have a Deep Reverence For" so I can expand on this point.
Then I came home and hung with my mom and her friends/family/Eva and I UNDERSTOOD MOST OF THE CONVERSATION/JOKE CONTENT. Something's happening to my brain. Then at midnight (yes they leave at midnight to go out) we left to go see a 20 person band perform. They're called Banda Conmoción and they changed my life forever. 20 people. In one band. I'm talking tubas, trumpets, trombones, symbols, big drums, maracas, EVERYTHING. Plus a dancing devil man. I will never, ever, ever be able to explain how cool it was. Even watching videos of them don't do them any justice. THEY ALL HAD SO MUCH DAMN CHARISMA AND WERE SO MUCH FUN. And they would come into the crowd and do stuff with us. And spray foam on us from the stage. It was the most uniquely entertaining show I have ever seen. And we were the only gringas there. AND IT WAS SO LATIN AMERICAN. I actually feel like I'm wasting my time trying to explain it because it just cannot be explained. So everyone just needs to come to Chile and see them. Glad that's settled. After Banda Conmoción finished it just turned into a Latin dance party (MY FAVORITE THING). *ATTN: only giving the following detail to brag* Word for word verbatim what two guys said to me: "You are not normal United States girl." "Why?" "Because you dance like Latin girl." I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW THANK YOU EVERYONE GOODBYE. Around 3:30 AM we got a taxi ride home and I got to talk to the taxi driver about Jesus. And for some reason I was able to speak Spanish really well in that moment. Just lol at Jesus and life.
4 hours later I woke up to go to church. Met an Australian woman who just moved to Santiago 2 weeks ago because she feels like God wants her to plant a church here. YOUNG SINGLE GALS MOVING ACROSS CONTINENTS BY THEMSELVES TO PLANT CHURCHES. Female empowerment is alive y'all. And to tie in my point about my deep reverence for people making music together, I have another point I'd like to make. This weekend I saw/felt/learned more about God watching Inti-Illimani and Banda Conmoción than I did at church this morning. AND YES THAT IS ABSOLUTELY A THING. So let's stop confining Jesus to Sunday mornings and Christian events. Because that's just not fair to our big big God. OH MY GOSH MY MOM JUST CAME IN AND HANDED ME A PLATE FULL OF FOOD WHY IS THIS CONSISTENTLY HAPPENING WHILE I WRITE THESE POSTS.
The final leg of the Fiestas Patrias was going to my abuela's house for lunch and having the pug sit on my lap again and then going to a "Bienvenido a Chile Tio Lelo" family/friend party which then kinda awkwardly turned into a "Bienvenido a Chile Tio Lelo and Also a Welcome United States Girl That We Don't Know" party. I love Chile because it's a thing to go around to everyone at the party and touch cheeks and make a kissy sound (I am in third grade for describing it that way) even if you have no idea who they are. You may not even introduce yourselves or ever speak again but YA GOTTA DO THE KISSY ANYWAYS. Basically the party was a hoot and I just love everything about this culture. They fed me more empanadas and by the end of the party they were screaming "Ayyyyy Yessi" and cheering on my newly found Latin hips via the microphone. I guess it's not everyday a big tall white idiot that loves to dance and pretends to be Latin crashes their parties. They were all v entertained. I was filmed multiple times. And I left feeling like everyone was my new best friend. WHY ARE CHILEANS SO FRIENDLY AND WELCOMING AND FUN.
Thank u Jesus for everything. Salsa dancing for Your glory. amen.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
post 15 hrs. of culture shock
Hi guys. Turns out I can be just as busy in school abroad as I am in school in the states. Luckily I enjoy writing these posts that OH MY GOSH MY MOM JUST CAME IN AND HANDED ME A SNICKERS BAR FOR NO REASON. AND I WONDER WHY MY PANTS ARE GETTING TIGHT. Anyways, v busy, but since I enjoy writing these lame ass blog posts so much I'll be sure to cut out some time to do so.
There's one thing I really just need to go right on ahead and blog my feelings about. I'M NEVER GONNA LEARN SPANISH. I'm literally so frustrated. My fellow students and I just weep together all day because we all thought we knew Spanish decently well and here we just walk around not understanding anyone except our professors and our home stays who both slow down and enunciate for us. Also the more I learn/read the more I don't understand Spanish sentence structure and rules. So ya. Feeling really discouraged. Everyone tells me that one day it's just gonna click and suddenly I'm gonna understand everything and just start speaking like a normal human. PRAYERS THAT THAT DAY HAPPENS SOMETIME IN THE NEXT 55 YEARS OF MY LIFE.
Chileans continue to be freakishly nice:
Money falls out of my friend's pockets and people return it to them. Sweet old men on bus rides give me and my pals chocolate as a "recuerdo", or a memory. I snag free taxi rides because other people happen to be going in the same direction and just pay to have me dropped off on the way. Bus station attendants run to catch buses from leaving when we miss them on accident. I fall asleep in the USAC building and I wake up to a heater directly in front of me set up by the janitor woman. And this morning the taxi man taught me how to say eleventh, twelfth, thirty-first, seventy-fifth etc. in Spanish. Seriously, bless the Chilenos.
Here's a two second recap of my weekend: Took a bus to Viña del Mar/Valparaíso. Went on a boat. Climbed up sand dunes. LOL'ed at creation. Ate a big ass burrito. Drank a DIRTY CHAI LATTE WITH SOY MILK at STARBUCKS with Cadi and Evelyn. Felt like I was back in the Central Coast of California. Accidentally ended up in a fruit and veggie mercado in Valpo alone. Felt like I was in South America (which I am, lol). ATE THE BEST MEAL OF MY ENTIRE LIFE in a local restaurant famous for chorrillana (french fries, sautéed onions, eggs, and MEAT) that no tourists know about. Paid 100 pesos (<$.25) to almost die in an ascensor (basically an outdoor elevator that goes up at a slight slant). Took a bus home Saturday night to be back for #santiagosundays which I LOVE. Every Sunday I go to church and then my mom pickes me up to go to my Abuela's house where we go to a market in the suburbs (again, no tourists, luv it) and then I get fed traditional Chilean food and am forced to speak Spanish. AND I LOVE IT. All in all, gr8 gr8 weekend.
However...
I think I finally experienced that thing called "culture shock" yesterday because EVERYTHING ANNOYED ME. Here's a bullet point list of things that annoyed me:
Also, I have now reached the 3 weeks sin leg shave mark. It's really just a game now. HOW LONG CAN I HOLD OUT.
Also, also, if you wanna read a blog series that's rocking my world please read this. Rob Bell explains the Bible in a way that FINALLY MAKES SENSE. I would especially suggest this blog series to people who aren't fans of Jesus and who really have a distaste for how they've seen Christianity and the Bible presented in the past. The way he talks about Jesus and the world gets me so PUMPED. And Christians, please don't let any preconceived notions about R.B. stop you from reading this. SEE 4 YA SELVES IT'S GR8 STUFF. See link below.
http://robbellcom.tumblr.com/post/66107373947/what-is-the-bible
There's one thing I really just need to go right on ahead and blog my feelings about. I'M NEVER GONNA LEARN SPANISH. I'm literally so frustrated. My fellow students and I just weep together all day because we all thought we knew Spanish decently well and here we just walk around not understanding anyone except our professors and our home stays who both slow down and enunciate for us. Also the more I learn/read the more I don't understand Spanish sentence structure and rules. So ya. Feeling really discouraged. Everyone tells me that one day it's just gonna click and suddenly I'm gonna understand everything and just start speaking like a normal human. PRAYERS THAT THAT DAY HAPPENS SOMETIME IN THE NEXT 55 YEARS OF MY LIFE.
Chileans continue to be freakishly nice:
Money falls out of my friend's pockets and people return it to them. Sweet old men on bus rides give me and my pals chocolate as a "recuerdo", or a memory. I snag free taxi rides because other people happen to be going in the same direction and just pay to have me dropped off on the way. Bus station attendants run to catch buses from leaving when we miss them on accident. I fall asleep in the USAC building and I wake up to a heater directly in front of me set up by the janitor woman. And this morning the taxi man taught me how to say eleventh, twelfth, thirty-first, seventy-fifth etc. in Spanish. Seriously, bless the Chilenos.
Here's a two second recap of my weekend: Took a bus to Viña del Mar/Valparaíso. Went on a boat. Climbed up sand dunes. LOL'ed at creation. Ate a big ass burrito. Drank a DIRTY CHAI LATTE WITH SOY MILK at STARBUCKS with Cadi and Evelyn. Felt like I was back in the Central Coast of California. Accidentally ended up in a fruit and veggie mercado in Valpo alone. Felt like I was in South America (which I am, lol). ATE THE BEST MEAL OF MY ENTIRE LIFE in a local restaurant famous for chorrillana (french fries, sautéed onions, eggs, and MEAT) that no tourists know about. Paid 100 pesos (<$.25) to almost die in an ascensor (basically an outdoor elevator that goes up at a slight slant). Took a bus home Saturday night to be back for #santiagosundays which I LOVE. Every Sunday I go to church and then my mom pickes me up to go to my Abuela's house where we go to a market in the suburbs (again, no tourists, luv it) and then I get fed traditional Chilean food and am forced to speak Spanish. AND I LOVE IT. All in all, gr8 gr8 weekend.
However...
I think I finally experienced that thing called "culture shock" yesterday because EVERYTHING ANNOYED ME. Here's a bullet point list of things that annoyed me:
- I will never, ever blend in here. Getting CONSTANTLY stared at and always feeling like you're walking around NAKED starts to wear ya down quick.
- The fact that it's winter here. I don't wanna wear 3 jackets anymore.
- I have a bad bad cold and searched 3 stores for cough drops only to find out that they're in the CANDY SECTION because people eat Halls as candy here. WHY.
- There's no High Street Deli, Nautical Bean, Firestone, Tahoe Joe's, Trader Joe's, Bagel Shack or In-N-Out here. How dare you, Chile.
- People use public transport at the same time as I do. Talk about UGH.
- They don't speak English here. Like c'mon guys, is it THAT hard.
Also, I have now reached the 3 weeks sin leg shave mark. It's really just a game now. HOW LONG CAN I HOLD OUT.
Also, also, if you wanna read a blog series that's rocking my world please read this. Rob Bell explains the Bible in a way that FINALLY MAKES SENSE. I would especially suggest this blog series to people who aren't fans of Jesus and who really have a distaste for how they've seen Christianity and the Bible presented in the past. The way he talks about Jesus and the world gets me so PUMPED. And Christians, please don't let any preconceived notions about R.B. stop you from reading this. SEE 4 YA SELVES IT'S GR8 STUFF. See link below.
http://robbellcom.tumblr.com/post/66107373947/what-is-the-bible
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
fresh whiffs
Happy Tuesday, everyone! I ate Taco Bell for lunch so I'm still burping up that *~international flavor~* as I write this. A happy Tuesday indeed.
I'm a real student at a real school in Chile now except for not actually a real student because I only take classes with Americans and I mostly just get stared at walking on campus because I'm so obviously not a real student here. All my classes are in Spanish. Which means all my homework is in Spanish. Also I only speak Spanish with my home stay. Also the entire country speaks Spanish. So basically this exhausts my brain and I get in my bed AND DIE for 8 hours every night.
Some highlights you should know about:
Last Tuesday night, my family and I went to my tio's 25th birthday party at my abuelos' house in the suburbs of Santiago. At one point all the lights were turned off and the birthday cake was lit and we were all singing feliz cumpleaños and it was a very special 'how did I end up in a living room with a big Chilean family singing happy birthday to my tio' moment.
I secretly LOVE having to take taxis because it means there's another human TRAPPED in a car that I can force to speak Spanish with me.
Tried an empanada place by my school for the first time. I took one bit of my doble queso empanada and immediately kissed my pre-study abroad body goodbye because I have never enjoyed a mouthful of grease more. I will be back at least 8 times daily.
There's two street dogs that are always at the corner where the said empanada place is. They attack cars and bite the fenders and stuff but they're probably really nice dogs, just misunderstood. They wear little doggy vests to keep them warm. I mostly just wonder who does their laundry.
I COULD NOT HAVE CHOSEN A WORSE COUNTRY TO LEARN SPANISH IN. My professors have openly admitted this to us. Chileans just speak so fast and don't pronounce ANYTHING and have a lot of strange slang. But I'm getting it. I really am. Slowly but surely.
I am absolutely obsessed with all doormen/security guards in this country. And yes, I will make that generalization based off the 3 doormen in my apartment and the 1 security guard at my school that I know. All so wonderful and friendly and love to indulge me by letting me talk to them about literally pointless things just so I can practice speaking. Also 50% of them are named Luis. I think 50% of this country might be named Luis.
Mullets are such a thing here. Still unsure about my feelings regarding this subject.
I HAVE BEEN ASKED ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS FOR DIRECTIONS. Twice. Both times by Spanish speakers asking me in Spanish. Why they would EVER choose to ask me out of all people I will never understand.
On Monday me and two others stood in front of a coffee vending machine debating for 5 minutes whether or not the coffee will come in a cup or if you have to have your own cup ready to catch the coffee that pours out. Sometimes it's just hard being foreign.
I'm never not hungry here. I had 2 lunches and dessert 3 times today. I'M ALWAYS HUNGRY AND I CAN'T STOP.
I learned how to meringue and salsa at dance class today. I even danced with real Chilean men. I felt like a real woman which I really needed because I haven't shaved my legs in over two weeks. In fact I haven't even seen my legs in over two weeks. It's cold and central heating doesn't exist in Chile.
But enough about my overgrown body hairs, IT'S TIME TO CUT ALL THE BS and get to the meat and papas of this blog post. I learned a big LIFE LESSON this week. On Thursday night, I went with my mom's 30 something year old salsa-dancing dread-locked male friend to an exclusive invite-only cocktail party he was working. You know, going to cocktail parties full of established fancy folk with an almost-stranger are not necessarily on my list of favorite things to do but I figured it'd be good practice for my Spanish and like when else will I go to an exclusive cocktail party in another country?
OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS IT WAS AWFUL. If you know me, large social situations and talking to strangers are generally a strongpoint of mine. But WOW NOT THIS NIGHT. I was SO uncomfortable. The only way I could make myself even slightly comfortable was to grab a martini and pretend to be someone I wasn't. I made some bad calls and acted in a way that is not who I am or who I want to be. Long story short, I got home that night feeling awful. But I could not be MORE THANKFUL for that night. And let me tell you why.
I know God let me have that night so he could give me a reminder of why I chose Him in the first place. A reminder of what leaves me feeling empty. A reminder of what it feels like to place myself first and hurt people in the process. BUT MOST OF ALL, a reminder of what it feels like to choose to live outside of what I've found in Jesus. THX 4 THE REMINDERS GOD THEY'RE MUCH APPRECIATED. I learned that while I'm here (or anytime for that matter) I can't compromise who I am or what my passions are or what I care about or what I like to do just because it seems easier at the moment to do so. That is literally no way to live. So, just feeling extra liberated to pursue Jesus while I'm here and not be ashamed to do so. I feel like I got a fresh whiff of Jesus air and I'm ready to go out and run after love and justice like it's nobody's business. Turns out Jesus likes to work through nights of pear martinis and mistakes and I could not love him more for that.
When Jesus says he wants to give us freedom, he means it. AND IMA GO RIGHT ON AHEAD AND SOAK THAT FREEDOM UP.
Also UGH keep thinking of more things I love about Jesus. After all this, I never felt condemned by God. I never felt like he was mad at me. I only felt the presence of a God who loves me just the way I am but loves me too much to let me stay like that.
Ok, I'm done.
Peace and blessings y'all it's 12:45 in the morning here and I'm ready to hit my tasmanian devil sheets. Yes, I do sleep on tasmanian devil sheets that say "some things require great concentration" all over them. Bye.
PS YOU SHOULD SEND ME MAIL.
My address is this:
Jessica Jansen
Programa USAC
Universidad Andrés Bello
Avenida República 470, Piso 1
Santiago, Chile- South America
Postal Code 8370251
Rumor is it takes about 4 weeks for mail to get here. Just a FYI. And also if you send something and I don't thank you profusely for it and write a 12 page love letter showering you in praises back to you, it means I didn't get it.
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