Don't cry for me, Argentina

Okay, obviously I had to title this entry as such...sorry for the cliché but it was bound to happen. Yes, after plane and two bus rides, I arrived safe and sound in Viña after 9 active days in Argentina. I started out in Buenos Aires, sharing a Palermo apartment with Emily and her host hermano, André, before switching over to Kyra and Brooke's apartment that was a three-minute walk away on Sunday (that would be the 14^th). Then I took an all-night bus (15 hours, baby!) to on Wednesday to Mendoza where I spent Thursday, Thursday night, and most of Friday before heading to the airport. I was supposed to return to Chile via bus, but then inclement weather inspired them (whoever they are...) to close the border and I had a choice between waiting indefinitely and buying a last-minute plane ticket. Obviously, I chose the latter. It made for a stressful end of the trip but, as my dad pointed out, it was a classic solo travel challenge that can happen and knowing how to handle the situation will undoubtedly serve me in future travel endeavors.

Argentina is a big country and requires way more than 9 days to get to know, but I'm glad I did this trip. I didn't realize how utterly exhausted I would be after the program ended, so I kind of felt like I was wandering around in a daze much of the time, but I'm still happy to have My fascination with Eva Perón was obviously a key reason why I was so excited to hit up Buenos Aires. Emily and I went to the cemetery in Buenos Aires where she and many other famous Argentine figures are buried. Evita had a complicated post-mortem life (Wikipedia's got the lowdown if you're interested, it's a crazy tale) but has been buried with her family in the cemetery since the 70s. I also went to the official Evita museum, founded and run by the Fundación Eva Perón that she originally created, where I learned more about her brief but incredible life and saw some of her clothes and personal belongings. The first room of the museum was a total trip—the walls and floor were all mirrors and the room was totally dark except for a screen playing a clip reel of her life and a single spotlight on a bronze death mask. The clip reel was accompanied by extremely dramatic music, so I was thoroughly weirded out after that first room. The rest of the museum was not scary and totally cool, though, so I definitely recommend it to future Buenos Aires visitors.

L-R: Cemetery en La Recoleta, Evita's family tomb (2 photos), me/another tomb in the cemetery.

Emily, André and I also went to Señor Tango, a flashy (read: touristy) tango show that gave us an excuse to dress up and attempt to feel like true Buenos Aires-ites (they dress so elegantly there—I always felt ridiculously out of place just for not being totally put together and accessorized). The show involved a great deal of glitter, sequins, and double-sided tape, but it was fun and seeing the dancers inspired me to renew my gym membership for this summer!

L-R: With Emily in our apartment building pre-tango show, having a completely unposed and totally real conversation. Me with Sr. Tango, or at least the sign.

After switching apartments, I had the chance to go to El Ateneo, a world-famous bookstore that is housed in a former theater. Suffice to say, it was absolutely beautiful. I embrace my utter nerdiness and admit that a theater filled with books is the dream I never knew I had. We enjoyed delicious desserts in the café (located on the former stage, so fantastic) and then browsed like crazy. I was on the hunt for engrossing books in both languages to keep me occupied on my upcoming bus viaje to Mendoza (and to Viña, as was planned at the time). I achieved this goal (John Grisham's The Firm did the trick—and then some, seeing as I spent my solo night in Mendoza blocking the door and being totally paranoid that my room was bugged, but that's another story) and got to see this fabulous BA sight.

The amazingness of El Ateneo...and then the amazingness of a brownie with dulce de leche ice cream at the cafe in El Ateneo.
Mendoza is all about General San Martín. An impressive monument of him on his horse stands in the center of Plaza San Martín, as well as the official San Martín museum and library. I also passed where he and his wife lived for a few years—otherwise not very notable, except it's where his only child was born on August 24^th (a.k.a. my birthday, a.k.a. worth noting to me so please humor me), 1816.

All hail General San Martin in his own Plaza; fountain in Plaza Independencia.
I went to several museums in my two days in Mendoza, my favorite being the Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno. They had an exhibit of paintings by an up-and-coming "Mendocino" (someone from Mendoza) that I absolutely loved. His name is Mauro Cano and his paintings were wonderful. Check it out:

I spent my first day back in Viña sleeping, almorzar-ing with the familia, and walking around Viña having a cone from one of my two favorite heladerias and stocking up on all the gifts that I've not bought all semester long. It's incredibly hard to believe that I leave for the states on Thursday night...time to go aprovechar (take advantage of) the time I have left!

Aquí estamos

It's June 5, 2008, i.e. the day after we handed in our ISP reports and the day before we take off for Algarrobo to do our ISP presentations this weekend. Last night was the end-of-the-semester dinner with all of the families and then on Monday the semester officially ends with the group flight (even though very few people will actually be on it!). For me, the near future includes a flight to Buenos Aires on the 11^th, getting to know what is known as the "Paris of South America," a bus trip to Mendoza to check out that cool city, and then another bus ride through the Cordillera to return to Viña around the 20^th. Then I have a little more time in my beloved Viña and Valpo before leaving on the 26^th of the US of A! Yikes.

It's really happening—the end of this incredible, life-changing experience in Chile. Words cannot explain my overwhelming mix of emotions and thoughts right now...I've had my moments of pure joy at the realization that I've had an experience that's even better than what I imagined. On Tuesday I finished my ISP and had it printed and bound, per SIT regulations, and went back to the printing place in the evening to pick it up. As soon as I got back home I just sat down on my bed and started sobbing—holding my project in my hands and seeing my name on the title page was incredibly surreal. In our applications to the program we had to discuss our ISP idea/topic and even though mine (and many others') completely changed, it still means that the ISP has been on my mind since I started my application in Professor Mills' English Writing class a year ago. Then we got here and started reading previous students' ISPs in the Casa SIT library. Then we worked on proposals and plans throughout the semester, ultimately culminating in a crazy month of May saturated with interviews, running around Valpo (and the rest of the country since people were everywhere from the tippy-top of Chile to Patagonia in the Sur), freaking out in Danko's office, and ultimately spending many an hora on the computer doing a lit review of previous authors' work and then writing up my own project.

But I digress a little—my real point was that seeing my finished project all pretty and bound (and we're NOT going to discuss the Occidental College à Occidental Collage debacle...let's just say I'm really glad that white-out does indeed exist in Chile) brought up the crazy mass of emotions that I'd been keeping at bay while focusing on my ISP. Now when I light the manual heater in our apartment to take a shower, I get this little pang of sadness because it's one of the last times I'll do it. Cecilia showed me how to do it practically as soon as we walked in the door after they picked me up at the hotel, so I will always associate it with my first couple days adjusting to my life here. Hopping in micros and colectivos is suddenly a slightly-nostalgic, instead of slightly-nauseating, experience. I keep stopping on walks everywhere just because I'm realizing that it's close to the end and I'm not going to walk by Location X a million more times.

It may seem a little silly but I am realizing that people and pets are not the only things we mourn; on the contrary, experiences and places are very much living, breathing entities to which we have to say good-bye in the same way we would a loved one. True, I can come back to Chile someday (by someday, I actually mean ASAP...sigh) but it will never be the same. This is a good thing; obviously it would be bad if my love for this country depended on the program. But it is still overwhelmingly strange to realize that this chapter is closing and no matter how many times I come back to this wonderfully quirky and culturally rich country, the precise feeling of these extraordinary past three+ months will never be the same. It's good, it's hard, it's a challenge for us all in many kinds of contextualized experiences like this one—I went through it with Governor's School, I'm going through it now, and I'll probably go through it next year when I graduate from college (don'tevengetmestartedholycow). Danko likes to talk about the dialectic discourse (he is, after all, my favorite Communist) and it is very true that this experience is one of many that we will have in our lives. Right now it is very difficult to realize that, after a couple years, I probably won't be in super-steady contact with my host family even though right now I'm already planning their Christmas package and photo-packed update letters. It's just the way life is and, honestly, the way it's supposed to be. We deserve to be happy wherever we are in life, geographically and otherwise. For me and many people I know, part of this happiness includes keeping in touch with people and places that we don't get to see all the time, and that's okay. But if there's one thing I've learned this semester (and there's not, it's more like 40879184 things) it's that every experience can only be as good as you make it—sure, external factors can make it worse, but the goodness factor is totally dependent on your willingness to give it your all and try to appreciate each day.

Okay, I actually meant to write about things other than my existential ramblings on the life, so instead I will show via photos. The parental visit was a smashing success; it was super fun to show the Donna and the Neal around my adopted país (country) and they are now BFFs with Cecilia and Hector. Awesome. We discovered that my real dad and Chilean dad like the same kind of music and the same kinds of copetes (drinks—namely, dark beers and Drambuie) and Cecilia was excited that she and my mother both love the color purple—then she knitted her a lavender poncho! All in all, a very successful trip and the source of a lot of my Dawson's Creek-style pensiveness since it is always interesting to view your own life through the eyes and ears of someone visiting it. Especially when those visitors are your parents ; )

We close with some photos...as excited as I am for Argentina and my last little bit of chillin' in Chile, I truly ache at times for Wayne amigas (a.k.a. my heart and soul) and Oxy life (a.k.a. mi corazón e alma because Oxy's in Los Angeles so we say it en español). I have high hopes for this summer and am trying not to freak out about being a senior in college in the fall. Speaking of seniors, I really wish I could be in Los Angeles shortly for the high school graduation of a certain Caroline Alexis Crane, my baby cousin who grew up all too fast. Felicidades, mi prima linda! I am there in spirit and expect ample photo documentation afterwards!

Como siempre, un abrazo a todos...

Photos from top left corner: General cemetery in Santiago when I went to get mis padres; ALL FOUR OF MY FABULOUS PARENTS together in front of the President's vacation pad in Cerro Castillo, which was open for the annual patromonial day; with Cecilia and Hector with the view of the ocean outside the Palacio Presidental; view from the coast with the familia.