Posted by Lisa on August 29th, 2005 — Posted in Activities
Since Steve worked a ton over the past week up on the mountain, one of the benefits is he got to take today off. So like a good wife I got up early this morning and bought these…
Not as good as Crescent donuts or Krispy Kreme’s, but we’re in Chile, who can complain. At least I found donuts! YUM
After pigging out on donuts, I decided we needed to work them off, so Steve and I went on a hike. Plus it was a beautiful day out as well- mid 70s, sunny a little breezy. It was Steve’s first time hiking up the mountain and he did very well. Below is a picture of the view of our car from half way up the mountain, it’s the tiny dot.
Once we ate our delicious lunch of salad, Steve and I went off to get more flowers for our garden. It’s an addiction I think. I love going and looking at the flowers, and it’s cheap. Now since we’re in the middle of winter, I can’t even imagine how the flowers will look during the different seasons.
I know you were all thinking, salad for lunch, that’s too healthy, but tonight we are going to order pizza, drink wine/beer and watch movies. Life can’t get any better than that!
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Posted by Lisa on August 27th, 2005 — Posted in Activities
Steve has been up at the mountain this week for his science run. The 2 pictures below are from his last run, one is of the observatory, and one is of the mirror in the telescope. I thought you might enjoy seeing where he is. I’ve been keeping my self busy while he’s been gone. On Tuesday and Thursday was african dance, on Wednesday and Friday i hiked (other pictures were taken from the hike, it was finally sunny). On thursday night I had girls night at my house. I made awesome fudge courtesy of a surprise unopened fluff container I found hidden away n one of the boxes, and I made these banana oatmeal raisin cookies that I thought were horrible, but some people liked. We hung out and drank, ordered pizza, did our toes, and watched movies. There was seven of us, we had a great time. On Friday night I went to my first ever bunco night. It was at a chileans house, which by the way was gorgeous. It was a lot of fun to meet some other chileans. I went with my friends Joanna and Rikki. It was a semi IESA event, so there were other americans and brits there as well. Steve comes home on Sunday, hooray!!
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Posted by Lisa on August 21st, 2005 — Posted in Activities
Today while Steve was working, I had a day at the beach. I went with my friends Jenny her husband Anthony and their 2 year old Xavier. Unfortunately my camera died, so I only have 2 pictures to share. On Sunday’s at 11:30, it’s the weekly ultimate frisbee match. It’s open to anyone who wants to play and they meet and hang out on the beach. For those that don’t want to play (me), we walk, or run, or skate along the beach and play in the sand and water. After the game was over, we went to Coquimbo, Anthony went to the fish market, and Jenny, I and Xavier went to the open air market. They sell anything from produce, to clothes, to hand crafted treasures. I bought some new flowers for my garden. Can’t wait until Tuesday, to see how they look. It was a beautiful day here in La Serena. It was sunny and in the 70’s. On Friday, my friend Joanna went to the fish market and bought a freshly caught fish. They cut it and cleaned it for her. It’s a corvina which I think is a chilaean sea bass. I can’t wait until I am able to go the fish market, order the fish, cook it and eat it, without getting sick :). Isn’t she pretty!
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Posted by Lisa on August 19th, 2005 — Posted in Activities
Yesterday, I had a very fun day. In the morning, I went to my very first african dance class. It ended up being a lot of fun and hard work. It looks much easier than it is. And not being blessed with a very pliable body, it kind of felt like I was throwing my body around. In the end though, I didn’t do too poorly. The owner of the dance studio even asked me if I had taken dance lessons before because I did well, haha. I think he wanted my money, but I’m going to pretend that I did awesome. I think I may even go again. Then in the afternoon, my friend Joanna and I went grocery shopping, then out on the town. We went to La Tabla for onces- which is Chilean tea time, but instead of tea, you get to have any drink. I had an emapanada de queso, and a pisquerina (basically, a yummy pisco sour like drink, without too much sour). Joanna had a pina colada, and camarones (shrimp in a white wine and butter sauce). La Tabla, is situated right on the beach, so we were able to relax and watch the waves and the seagulls. Unfortunately, it was gray and overcast, but it’s always nice to relax on the beach. After that we went to the casino, and played some slots. After some trouble, we were able to trade 4,000 pesos in for 40 100 peso coins ( which is a little less than $8). We weren’t big winners, we actually lost it all, but we did have fun trying. It was a fun spur of the moment plan. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera around with me, so no pictures today. And then my big news is… that our land shipment is coming today at 11:30. I can’t wait to get our stuff, and watch some TV. One of the other things I really miss is my microwave, I can’t wait. Because we didn’t know what time they were coming today, I skipped my morning hike, so hopefully I can motivate myself to do some type of exercise today. Once our stuff gets set up, i’ll take some pics of he new house. I did tell you that we moved to our new house Casa 22, right?
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Posted by Lisa on August 11th, 2005 — Posted in Activities
Today, my friend Joanna and I went walking into town. It still always shocks me the differences in Chilean culture and American culture. There was an outdoor art exhibit in the middle of town, in the shopping district. The artist featured photographs taken of the human body, all naked, but beautiful and posed (I do have to admit, I was a little taken aback at some of the pics). Some of the bodies were painted, and some were pictures of people expressing different emotions. The subjects were of all ages, all races, and all sizes. It was an amazing thing to see, especially when you look around and see kids and teachers on school trips to see the art. You would never see this back home. We also went to La Recova, which is a market that sells all kinds of things- beautiful hand crafted items, jewelry, all kinds of papaya produce and so on. Of course I bought some things, but one of my favorites is a mask. I had gotten Steve a mask from Aruba when I went with Cara and Karin, so I’ve decided to start collecting them. I also bought a bracelet, and a surprise for Steve- a miniature lapis penguin, very cute! One of my other favorite purchases for a little under 2 dollars, are these wooden flowers. It’s a beautiful bright bouquet, all handmade. The man makes them on the street next to this beautiful square full of purple flowers (see picture). I can’t wait to get a vase and put them on the table. They’ll last forever!
Click here to see all the pictures, including some of the artwork (WARNING: Contains tasteful artful nudity).
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Posted by Lisa on August 8th, 2005 — Posted in Activities
I’ve started hiking 3 times a week with some of the girls from the recinto. We go at the ungodly hour of 7:45 am. We hike up Cerro Grande. The total time of the hike is bout an hour and a half. Last week, on our way down the mountain, we found 2 baby goats that had gotten abandoned by their mom, they still had part of their umbilical cords attached. Goat herders bring their herds over the mountain from the Elqui Valley. So of course, we climbed up and got them, and brought them down the mountain. I really wanted to keep one as a pet, but I knew Steve would not be too happy about it. We ended up bring them to one of the local farmers who raise goats. Today, I brought my camera to get some pics, but of course the weather didn’t cooperate, it was foggy and misty, which is normal for winter. In the pic, you can’t see the top of Cerro Grande due to the fog. I’ll get better pics when the weather cooperates. Thankfully, the fog usually burns off by afternoon, and it’s usually in the 60s-70s. Aahh what a life…
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