Graffiti and Halloween

This past weekend was a good one, full of friends and beer, all the things you really need in a weekend. It all started on Friday when I decided I was bored, and that if I spent another Friday in my Cabaña by myself I would go crazy. So I decided to give Victor a call. Victor's the guy who took me out on my birthday, gave me a tour of the city, then took me to a party where I proceeded to drink an unpleasant mixture of beer and pisco, which led directly to one of the more massive hangovers I've had in recent memory. So he's a good guy, and him, his girlfriend Rocio, and myself are becoming friends. So I put to use the wonderful creation that is Skype and gave him a call. That's how I found out that talking on the phone in another language sucks. I can understand someone just fine when we are talking face to face, but over the phone... not so much. Through some trial and error we were able to decide that he and Rocio would come by my office later that afternoon.

So around 5 they showed up at my office and we went downtown to the mall where they both work. On the way they showed me the street where all the good bars are. As it turned out, that night a local band called Graffiti was playing at one of the bars. They decided that we should go, so I agreed, then we went to the mall. They both had to work at 6:30, so we got to hang and talk for a bit. Then they had to work so I went back home. The plan was that I would call Victor around 11 when he got off work so we could make plans. So I went home and hung out, ate some food, took a shower, all that good stuff. Then at 11 I called Victor and we agreed to meet in front of the mall at 11:30. So I went out and caught a colectivo downtown then walked over to the mall and met them.
Then we walked down the street to the bar. It was everything you could want in a bar. Chill atmosphere, smoky, lots of tables, and good old fashion calssic rock coming out of the speakers. I was pretty damn happy. And randomly enough, the asian exchange students I had previously gone on a tour with were there too. That's when they told me that Graffiti is a band of older gentlemen who cover classic rock songs. As soon as they started playing I knew I was going to be happy. The beatles got the most play, but there were also classics like Piano Man, Rolling on the River, and House of the Rising Sun. It was awesome. And the guys were great performers. They got the whole bar in to it. Picture a bar full of Chileans, four asian exchange students, and me, the lone American, all singing the chorus to Hey Jude. Amazing. So much fun. Then, during an intermission, the lead singer came over to our table and to talk with us. As it turned out he didn't just sing songs in English, but also spoke English very well. So we had a nice conversation during which he told me all about how they had started, and why they played at that particular bar. It was pretty cool. So we hung out there until around 3am, listening to good music and talking. Then, Rocio was hungry, so we went and got completos, which are basically big hot dogs with all kinds of crazy stuff on them. After that it was time to head home to get some sleep.

Victor and Rocio

Me

Graffiti

Me and the Lead Singer

Singing and Dancing on a Table, now that's a good time.

Saturday was Halloween. Victor had to work again that night, but he got done at 9:30, so we made plans to go grab some beers. I went downtown and met up with him around 10. While we were walking to a bar we ran into his best friend Claudio, so we changed our plans and went with Claudio to a different bar. I can't remember its name, but it was really chill and relaxed, even more so than the one the night before. The beer was cheap, so we drank a lot of it. It was a lot of fun. They started teaching me Chilean slang, of which there is a lot, and of which I can't repeat here due to its inapprorpiate nature. Chilean Spanish is its own thing all together. They have so much slang, and such wierd pronunciation that I have a hard time keeping up a lot of the time. So hanging out with Victor and others has been great. I'm finally starting to get to the point where I can actually understand what they are saying most of the time. But it's still really hard and takes a lot of concentration on my part.

Despite the large quantity of beer I drank the night before, I woke up Sunday feeling pretty damn good. I had thankfully avoided pisco during the course of the weekend, and so I was feeling well. Sunday afternoon I went and met up with Dayanne and Roxan. I had hung out with them the weekend before and we'd had a good time. So I was pretty happy to get to hang out again. Unfortunatly Marjorie was out of town, so she wasn't with us. We went to the botanical garden on campus and sat in the sun for a couple hours and talked. It was a very nice, rare, sunny day, so we took advantage. I really enjoy talking with them, it's a great way to learn the language and the culture. And we all seem to get along really well. Aslo we went and got pizza. Anyone who knows me know how happy that made me. That was pretty much all I did on Sunday, but it was a good day.

Now, ten things I have come to realize about food since coming here. 1. My new favorite apatizer is half an avacado, filled with diced hard boiled egg where the pit used to be. 2. My new favorite dessert is a sliced up banana in yogurt. 3. Pizza is even better after you haven't had it in three weeks. 4. Empanadas are amazing, no matter what they are filled with. 5. Pisco kills. 6. While you would think it was gross, Cochoyuyo (seaweed/kelp something), is actually really good. 7. Maybe I don't hate fruit and vegetables as much I previously thought. 9. Aji makes everything better. 10. Chilean wine is incredibe.

So that's it for now. Things are continuing to go great, but the time is going way to fast. I only have a little over a month left here, and I'm pretty sad about that. I really hope I can come back someday. Amazing country. Hasta luego.