This week was a lot of fun and busy. It’s definitely nice to feel like I’m in a sort of routine. I registered my visa on Monday then there was a scrimmage with the soccer team against the School of the Americas. There were so many girls that we split into 1st half and 2nd half teams, and it is a completely different style of soccer here.
Later Monday night I met up with some of my Australian friends to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, which is not really big in Chile. We just ended up having a leisurely lounge at an outdoor bar/restaurant since the only Irish pub in the area was overcrowded and had a cover of 10.000 which is just over $20.
I was also able to meet up with another AHS Alum who is currently studying in Santiago. Carter has been here since July and is studying at U de Chile which is the other big university institution in Chile.
On Thursday there was a Colo-Colo game vs. Boca Jr.’s and when my friends invited me to come watch with them I didn’t realize they meant at the stadium watching live. It was so much fun and luckily not anywhere near as dangerous as watching soccer in England or Argentina. There were no assigned seats but since I was a little late in meeting them we ended up having to watch the first half standing up on he back of some nice gentlemen’s chairs. In the second half, another girl and I decided that since we were pretty tall by Chilean standards we would watch the game at a closer distance with Javi, our Chilean friend and guide to all things Colo-Colo. WE ended up standing right up by the field and had to answer a couple of friendly questions about where we were from and why we, as girls, were interested in soccer. As we left, a paraplegic boy who we had talked to decided to give me his Colo-Colo flag, and seeing no other alternative I accepted it with a smile.
On Friday the city was shut down for Good Friday and it remained so until about Sunday afternoon. For Easter I ended up going to 2 Aussie friends’ apartment Saturday night, sleeping over then going to an international, interdenominational service in English. We then went back and set up a small fete with friends about 8 in total and ate well, having the Australian Easter tradition of hot cross buns as well as some delicious cooked vegetables, salmon, and cheese sandwiches. Our friend Jules from Australia is quite the chef. The only really weird thing this Easter, besides being away from home was the fact that down here it isn’t spring, but fall. As soon as I found a bush with flowers I had to pluck one off and put it in my hair, just to make up for the fact that it wasn’t springtime.
After a nice, long, lazy Sunday I went to a Starbucks hoping to get a wireless internet connection but the only non-secured one I can access is for a hotel lobby and I don’t feel like buying a room to get wireless. I should’ve checked for wireless reception before I ordered by highly caffeinated beverage.
I decided that on Monday, rather than go to soccer practice, I would work out on my own then go to an 8:00 Bible study for college students that takes place about 2 blocks down and 2 blocks over from where I live. I can go one day without soccer and if it ends up being enjoyable it might become a weekly thing. I just really need to find this play I’m supposed to read before Tuesday so I can spend time on Monday writing about it.
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