Two weeks...

These last few weeks are going to be a grind, but there are so many things I am looking forward to doing both here in Chile as well as obviously afterward. I have been unfaithful to my blog as of late, and will do my best to stay dedicated for these finals days because their going to be jam-packed. I have my final exams coming the final week of November as well as the first week of December. I also have only three more days of work at Basic Bar (22nd, 23rd, 24th of Nov).

I saw James Bond a week back with my host parents. Chile received an early screening of the film (before the United States, but obviously after the initial release in England), since about 40 minutes of the film is in the Northern deserts of Chile. Funny however, the scenes are supposed to be from Bolivia according the the story of the film and apparently the government of Bolivia and it's citizens were not to pleased about it due to the delicate history between Chile and Bolivia. The area in which the crew filmed used to be Bolivia, as well as their only access to the ocean, but after the War of the Pacific, Chile took this land from them as well as some territory from Peru. Also, according to the film's plot, a dictator is in control in Bolivia making shady environmental deals with the villain, which obviously didn't go over well either.



Last week I also went with my host parents to the 28nd annual international book fair, Feria Internacional del Libro de Santiago. My goal was to find two cheap books, one on Francisco de Miranda after hearing a bit about him in my social history class and a recommendation to research deeper on his life from my host dad, as well as a copy of the Argentine epic poem, Martín Fierro, and I succeeded in doing both. Coincidentally while I was looking for one of the books I came across a book, Las Catilinarias, that was written by one of the Ecuadorian ancestors, Juan Montalvo, a famous political writer. It was a joy to show that to my parents and the man selling the book. The price was a bit high and the book quiet large, so instead I took note of the title and one day will try and pick-up a copy.

I received word from the grandmother that I need to obtain a visa for Brazil, so this was a multi-day process to organize all the materials necessary for applying and eventually receiving one. The cost was $200 dollars, which apparently is a response by the government of Brazil for all the strict requirements and equally steep price that a Brazilian has to pay if one wants a tourist visa for the United States. I should be able to pick it up on the 24th.

I successfully bought two plane tickets for my travels in the coming weeks. The first is one to Mendoza do visit a family friend of mine for the weekend. I had been trying to get in contact with him since the moment I arrived, but there was a series of delays and before I knew it, it was two weeks until I was done with my program so I decided I needed to take advantage of being so close to his home and visit him.

I also bought my ticket to Punta Arenas with my friend Finn from Santa Cruz to spend 13 days in Patagonia, Chile. We will be roughing it up down there while visiting the national park Torres del Paine and Tierra del Fuego. The experience is going to be amazing and I can't wait. It will probably be the closest I get to Antarctica and if I find a way to technically set foot there, I will have been to all seven continents! I am so lucky to have the opportunities to travel and seeing the world gives me a great perspective and keeps me well grounded. I leave on the 6th of December and come back on the 19th, a day before I leave for Buenos Aires to meet up with my family.

So those are my recent and upcoming events that I have planned for the final weeks. Today I setup a meeting with an American economics professor from the Universidad de Chile, who studied at Columbia University and gave a lecture during my Chilean Culture and Politics class. I hope to use this time to ask him all my questions that I have regarding the current state of affairs and the future.

Yesterday the Chilean National futbol team played against Spain, currently #1 in the world, in Spain and lost 3-0. Though the entire team was not participating in the match, it was still rough, especially since the women's under-20 world cup started last night as well with Chile as the host country of the tournament they fell as well to England 2-0. Argentina played its first game with new head coach Diego Maradona and defeated Scotland in an ugly match 1-0. At least Lionel Messi wasn't playing, but they still look like a struggling squad.

That is all. Check out the story above on the current National Public Workers Strike going on Chile. I will try and write a post before I take off for Mendoza next Thursday.