**Home Sweet Home**

After numerous problems with my flight, a 7 hour lay-over in Argentina, a 10 hour flight to D.C., waiting for over an hour in customs, loosing my luggage, and having the worst sore throat ever, I am finally home. The airlines manually inspect ever piece of baggae and you can't take an liquid or gel articles with you on the plane. My deoderant & nail polish got confiscated.... bummer

I think this flight was the longest trip of my life.... I left Vina del Mar at 6 a.m. and didn't arrive in Weirton until 2 p.m. the next day.... all because of that damn 7 hour layover in Argentina.


But... I'm home and my adventure is over. This past month was the best month of my life..... only those of you who know me extremly well know how much this has helped me with so many different aspects of my life.

**Iquique will always have a special place in my heart**

*Chucha*

Yeah.... normally I would be really pumped to be coming home tomorrow. I have my wine, my pisco, my souviners, everything. Then I go to LAN Chile today to ask about what I can take on the plane since terrorists are ruining everyone's life. Yup. I can take with me on the plane these 3 things: my passport, my flight ticket, and some money. How fun and fabolous is that? So let's see, I arrive at the Santiago airport around 11:00 tomorrow. My flight's at 2... 3 hours to Argentina....4 hour lay-over in Argentina...10 hours to D.C. .... hour and a half in the airport....then another hour to Cleveland

Yup... I'm going out tonight and staying out as late as my body can handle because I'm going to have nothing else to do except sleep ALL DAY LONG.

*muah* When I am reunited with my cell phone in Cleveland, I will call everyone! And Daddy, I'll call you from a pay phone in D.C. I guess.... they still have those right? ;)

Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, & Reuñca

I'm staying in a bangin' apartment with one of the coolest families I've met here. They have a daughter whose 21, a son whose 19, and another daughter whose 14. And their grandmother is the sweetest person ever (definately reminds me of my grandma...miss you grammie!) But anyways....

Yesterday Tannia and I went to Valparaiso and basically lost ourselves in the city. We rode "ascensores" which are like the incline in Pittsburgh. Valparaiso is a city built into the hills, so there are 15 ascensores to lift you threw the city. They were built between 1883 and 1916 and look really rickety, but are actually really safe. I rode Ascensor Concepcion & another smaller ascensor that I don't remember the name.

~Ascensor Concepcion was the first ascensor to be built in 1883 & was orginially powered by steam. The entrance is kind of hidden inside the Turri cock tower.

We went to The Paseo 21 de Mayo & the Museo Naval. The view... wow. I love this city. Every house is so colorful & everywhere you walk the view is just as beautiful as the last place you where.

We left there & went to La Sebastiana which one of the houses of Pablo Neruda. No wonder his poetry was so gorgeous...his house is absolutely amazing. Every room is set up with huge windows with an absolutely gorgeous view. He was intriged by the sea & had a passion for ships so the stairwells in this house have portholes for windows & are kind of narrow like those you would find on a ship. Every wall & room is bright and colorful to represent the color & brillance of Valparaiso. And he collected all kinds of neat stuff that are on display in his house. Honestly, if you go to Valparaiso and don't go to La Sebastiana you're out of your mind.

Later in the afternoon I met up with my host brother from Iquique (Carlos) and we went driving around in Rueñca and the other little beaches on the other side of Viña del Mar. (Picture Viña del Mar and to the left is Valparaiso and to the right is Rueñca. All like a 10 minute drive from each other. And standing on the beach in Viña you can see both cities)

*Pictures*

I'm not sure how many of you are computer savy so I just want to let you all know that I have posted pictures of Santiago & Valpariaso. I have so many pictures now so they are on multiple pages. ;) Only 2 more days......

Weather

Okay. Forgot to tell ya'll about the weather. In Iquique it was "winter," people were wearing gloves, scarfs, and winter jackets. Did I mention that it was about 70 degrees? I was walking around in t-shirts looking at these people like they were nuts. I think one day it was actually cold enough to wear a jacket. But gloves and a toboggan COME ON NOW. LOL It was comical. At night, it got chilly. At night when I went walking around with Fernando I would wear a long-sleeve shirt, jeans, and my jacket. I didn't spend much time on the beach since it was only 70 or so. I got some sun when I went to Huayca (the desert), and it was hot there. I really don't want to know how hot it gets in the summer if these people thought 70 was cold.

In Santiago, it was like 50 degrees. Rainy & cloudy. But the snow-capped mountains were beautiful. Unfortunatly, I didn't get to go skiing so I can't do a comparision for ya :(

Here, in Viña del Mar it´s probably 50 or 60 degrees. Today I wore a turtle neck and no jacket, but at night you need the jacket. It´s no freezing, just chilly.

Yup. That´s the weather. Oh yeah, and in Iquique everyday is the same. Sunny. Maybe cloudy for a little bit because it´s winter, but it NEVER EVER rains there. The Atacama Desert is the driest desert in the world. Here, in Viña del Mar and Santiago it rains. It rained today :( my first day of rain in a month.... But it only rained for about 30 minutes.

p.s. Viña del Mar & Valpariaso are the most beautiful cities that I have ever seen.

Chao Chao mis amigos

Santiago

In Iquique, I lived with a doctor who has a sister in Santiago. Pola invited me to spend a few days with her family in Santiago, and Jose has a friend in Viña del Mar that has also invited me to stay with him for my last three days. Very exciting for me because I have this opportunity to know three more cities. In a few hours I am leaving Santiago to go to Viña del Mar, but yesterday I explored Santiago. Another adventure for me because I was all alone in a city that I do not know AT ALL. Pola and Arturo had to work all day yesterday, so it was either explore alone or sit in an apartment all day by myself. Pola gave me some direction on where I should go and how to get there and off I went. I took a metro (subway) to Palacio de la Moneda, which used to be a residential palace for the presidents of Chile but is now the official seat of government. Underneath is a small museum with some interesting culture displays.

After I was done wondering around the square, I hopped back on the metro to the Museo Nacional Bellas Artes... me encanta este museo. I loved the exhibit of photos from Abelardo Morell. After a few hours of admiring the paintings and photography and sculptors of Chileans artists, I walked around in the park next to the museum and wandered up and down the streets. For about 4 hours I basically lost myself in the city.... it was so relaxing. Did I mention I don´t want to come home?

Then last night this family had a party for Cote for her 27th birthday. So I met some family and friends and chilled for a little with them before I went out with a friend that I met in Iquique. We went to a local pub for a drink, and had a Long Island Ice Tea... but it was different. Had 2 different liquors in it and WOW, so much better. You´d be surprised at how much sweeter the drink is here and with Sprite instead of Coke. And when they serve drinks here the give you this glass filled with liqour, a bottle of Sprite or Coke, and an empty glass with ice cubes. So you mix your drink yourself. Basically, I had 3 Long Islands for $4.00.... quite fabolous.

Dia del Niño

Okay, so here in Chile they have a holiday called ¨Dia del Niño.¨ It´s like Father´s Day and Mother´s Day only for the kids. It was this past Sunday (August 6th) and I went with Jose Fuente's family, Jonathon & Karina and their family, and one other family to a huge park in Huayca. Here we had a cook out and the kids ran around and played all day.

For me, this was my final cookout with two of my families. The final time to play with Hanson, Matthew, and Nicolas... the last time to chat with Loranne & Karina.... it was a really special day for me because I was able to spend the entire day with my families before I left for Santiago. And I know I'm coming back as soon as possible, so I shouldn't get sad about saying good-bye. But it's so hard to say good-bye to people that you love so much.

**FINALLY**

Okay, I'm not sure if any of you care, but I am currently a little excited. Today (my first day in Santiago) I went to the mall to have some coffee with my new "mom" and her sister at the mall. Then they had to leave to go do something and I just walked around the mall for a few hours. AND I FINALLY FOUND RANCH DRESSING. It's called something completely different, and it's not quite as good buuuuttt at least it's something b/c I was dying for some fries & ranch. :)

Okay.... so about Santiago. It's big. The snow-capped mountains are so beautiful. It's not too cold, turtle neck & jacket. It's raining right now. Yup, basically I'm back in West Virginia except in a bigger city with bigger mountains....

Tomorrow when I know more about the city I'll fill you all in. I just thought you would rest a lot better knowing that I have finally found some ranch dressing.

~Chau Iquique~

Saying good-bye is so hard..... saying good-bye to the boy, to the families, to my friends.... I am so thankful for this opportunity, it has truly been the best few weeks of my life. I can't wait to come back to Iquique with Patti in March.... I can't even find the words to write other than that good-bye is so hard.

In an hour I'm off to Santiago for 2 days, maybe going skiing at Colorado on Thursday, then Friday and Saturday it's Viña del Mar and Valparaiso.... my last few adventures and my final good-byes to my friends who go to college in Santiago & Viña....

This time next week I won´t be Staci Malibu anymore.... this time next week I´ll be home and it´s back to my life, my responsibilities, and my obligations.....

Un poco triste...

Wow.... this month has really flown by. Especially the last week or so. Tonight I didn't feel like going dancing or to the pub or bar because my body needs a break. And, I'm just not really in the mood. Tomorrow I'm going to have a cookout with Jose's family and another family that I'm close with... and I think it will be the last time that I see them & today I ate dinner with the Fuentes family.... I leave Tuesday afternoon for Santiago, Viña del Mar, & Valparaiso so it's hitting me that I'm not going to get these moments back.

For any of you that know me really well know that the past year or so of my life has been rather fast-passed and stressfull. Work...school....ski team.... relationship.... This has been the perfect relaxer for me. I've been able to unwind and really have fun. No responsibilities no obligations. And I've come to appreciate every single moment because life is too short. I had one month here and I can honestly say that I did everything I possibly could. I went surfing, parachuting, to parties with a lot of different people.... I was homesick one day/night and only was bored for 2 afternoons. As I reflect on my time here, I can't recollect much time spent sleeping. Everyday I did something different. I'm really proud of myself for actually "livin' it up" as much as I possibly could....

At least Patti & I are coming back here for Spring Break.... that makes things a little easier for me to say good-bye to my friends and new families here....

~Staci Malibu~

Okay okay.... maybe I should talk about the culture here a little bit. Any of you that knows me very all, knows that I am a very time & detail oriented person. I always like to know what time I need to be places and what time events start & whose going to be there and what we are going to do. Not that I'm ever on time or it really matters, I just like to know. Yeah... here it's impossible to know any of this stuff. Which makes it rather difficult sometime. Especially when someone is like do you want to go out tonight. Sure, what time? Whenever..... that doesn't make things very easy for me. Or they'll say 11 and won't show up until almost 12.

They eat mayo on EVERYTHING.... which now I do too. It's actually kind of good on a hot dog w/ some ketchup & avocado. Or rice... or corn.... yeah I know sounds gross but it's good

The girls are all pretty and laid back. The guys are cute & love to dance.

Parties don't start until at least 11:30... you don't go to the bar until 1... it stays open until at least 5 or 6 a.m. Drink specials start at 11:30 and end at 2. By one, get one for "happy hour" most of the time.... Pretty nice for those people that don't like to go out early. Adults go out and go dancing until 5 a.m. ANNNDDD they go out during the week sometimes, and stay out late even if they have to work in the morning.

Lunch is the most important meal. Families typically eat together and eat a big lunch. It's normally to take 2 hours off of work for lunch.

THERE ARE DOGS EVERYWHERE. Like homeless dogs... it's actually really sad because noone takes care of them so they are kind of ugly....

PDA is normal. It's normal to see people cuddling and kissing on the beach or in the parks. You greet y our friends with a kiss on the cheek, and you typically greet everyone when you enter a party. (which to me is kind of annoying because i don't know everyone and it's so time consuming)

Empanadas are amazing :)

Most families have at least one nanny to care for the kids and cook. Sometimes two. And other families don't have any.

Every house has high walls or gates over doors and windows because robberies are common. All the houses are extremly bright and colorful. The insides are gorgeous, most everyone has a pool in their yard. Grass is not common because it never rains. There is grass, but it's expensive because it has to be watered ALOT.

They listen to a lot of techno in the club, which i can't stand. Salsa is soooo fun to dance to, but I need practice. And of course my favorite is reggeaton & hip hop. It's really common to hear old American songs from the 80s and 90s. But their the classics so it's fun for me. I can flash back to different eras. I love it when they play American songs because I can sing along. Not very many girls wear heels here.... which sucks for me because i LOVE my heels. It's just so hard to walk here because of the sand and dirt and uneven sidewalks and distances. It's easier to dance in tennis shoes anyway.... hmmm what else.....

Noone knows what the hell a "coach" bag is.... 9 west & Guess are really popular. Sketchers for tennis shoes too, but the sketchers here are actually cute. The tennis shoes here as a whole are really cute. The clothes are more or less cute, some I like others I don't.

EVERYONE watches the Simpsons (it's in Spanish) and everytime I introduce myself the first thing they say is "ooo Staci Malibu" yup... I'm a Barbie here. LOL I'm pretty much the only girl with "blonde" short hair and honey colored eyes. So, I'm normally the center of attention because I'm different. Which is cool sometimes, but sometimes I just want to be normal you know?

I hate being called "la gringa" or a "gringo." I hate it when people try to talk to me super fast and when I don't understand they automatically assume that I can't speak Spanish when the truth is they just don't talk properly. And they ALWAYS want to practice their English. Honestly, if I wanted I probably could never have to speak Spanish. Chileans speak really poor Spanish for the most part, a lot of slang, and they slur their words together. But, when I talk to people who are paciente and can speak properly if they try or if they are from Peru or Colombia or another country I can understand. It's fun for me to talk with people from other countries because I don't feel so bad about my inability to understand everything because they tell me how hard it was for them at first too and Spanish is their native language. :) And they always tell me how good my Spanish is which makes me feel good because sometimes I get so frustrated.

hmmmm that's all I can think of for now.... and I have to get ready to go out dancing... it is my last Friday in Iquique gotta live it up while I can ;)

chau

Parapente

So.... I just realized that I haven't written anything about when I jumped off a mountain. I'm sure you've all looked at the pictures though....

My first weekend here my Spanish wasn't so great. I understood the majority of what people said, if I listened really closely.... but normally I didn't listen very closely. Which made my life rather exciting. So when Jose asked me if Saturday I wanted to parapente, sure. No problem. Then.... Saturday morning rolls around and I figure out what parapente is. We drive up to the top of the mountain here in Iquique, me, Connie, her dad, and another guy (the other guy has this huge brightly colored bag thingy).... I'm looking around at the top of this mountain like "wow, this is really pretty up here" and I'm taking pictures. Then I turn around and this guy is putting on a helmet and hands me one. Okay.... what did I get myself into? Connie decides she doesn't want to do it because she's scared of heights (loser) and it's just me and this instructor. But for some reason I'm not really nervous. I get all strapped into this contraption (a giant parachute) and watch another guy take off. He just walked to the edge of the mountain and was in the air. Pretty simple. I'm thinking to myself, "okay if I watch one more person I'll be fine, I won't be nervous or anything" but nope. My instructor (who is strapped in behind me) tells me to start walking and because I am a midget I didn't even have to jump off the mountain. The wind just lifted us right off the ground. I think he jumped though because he was like a foot taller than me.

It was so relaxing. We just floated around with the birds for like a half hour or more until we landed on the beach. So beautiful.... so relaxing.... and I was not nervous or scared at all. Definately an adventure I recommend & would love to do again....

Another adventure...

Okay, so yesterday I went to a friend's for lunch, then with Jose to change my flight so that I can go to Santiago, Viña del Mar, and Valparaiso for a few days, then the mall. While I was at the mall (of course buying new clothes because I´m bored with mine), I called a friend. He says, sure come to my house don´t walk around alone. Problem, I can´t understand how to tell the cab driver how to get to his house. Which is different than the last time I was there b-c he moved. So, I get in the cab, he tells the driver how to get there. 10 minutes later, I´m standing on the street in a place I don´t recoginze and my freaking phone won´t work. Yeah.... you know how in Morgantown around 9 or 10 on a Thursday or Friday it´s nearly impossible to get a call out. You know that weird beeping and then the disconnection that we get? Yeah, that happened. EXCEPT the difference here is that my phone here isn´t a plan. It´s like prepaid minutes or something, I don´t know and I don´t really understand. And whenever it feels like it, it runs out of minutes and I´m stranded. On the street in front of what might or might not be my friend´s house.... Thank god the cab driver was concerned for my safety and didn´t just drive off. He waited and then offered to take me back to my house. So, as we´re driving along chatting (the driver insisted on practicing his English which was fine with me) BAAAAAMMMMMM we get hit from behind. Yup, I was in a traffic accident yesterday. Minor, I mean I think the cab got messed up a little bit, but I was perfectly fine. So, we continued on our merry way back to ¨my¨house. As soon as I walked through the door Christian called wondering where the hell I was.... it would happen like that. He couldn´t have called when I was standing outside his door.

I hate my cell phone here, it is worthless. I´m sorry, but it is pointless to have prepaid minutes because when you have an emergency and you´re out of minutes, your screwed. I will always and forever have a ¨plan¨ even if it is more expensive!!

posting

YEAHHHH

Thank god Clemens is intelligent, because I'm definately not. Now you guys can post comments without signing up for an account.

SWEETNESS. I like reading your guy's comments, it makes me smile & remember how amazing my friends are.

MISS YOU ALL

My Cellphone

Hey, I'm going to take a minute to talk about my cellphone. Yesterday I had like 5 phone calls, but I answered none of them. I just want to let everyone know that for me to use my USA phone, it's like $1.50 a minute. And when you call me, your name & number doesn't show up. So for all I know, instead of it being a close friend it might be someone that I really don't feel like talking to you know?? Not to mention my dad just might kill me if my cell bill is outrageous from answering all these phone calls. Buuuuttt.... I do have a cell phone here, a Chilean cell phone. So, if you REALLY want to talk to me great. Leave me a message on here, facebook, AOL, or e-mail me and I'll give you my cell number here. ORRRRR just talk to me on AOL. It's totally up to you. I just don't want you all to think I'm being a brat by not answering my cell. I just enjoy my life too much to see it end when my cell bill comes in the mall for the past month. ;)

Fotolog

Okay, so today I hung out with a new friend (Maria Jose) and she told me about Fotolog. It's like a blog for pictures. I can upload pictures and you all can leave messages really easy. I am under the impression that to leave a message for me on here it's a pain in the ass because you have to create an account, but on Fotolog you don't have to. It's like posting stuff on facebook for those of you that know what facebook is. The only downfall is that I can only post one picture a day. (and I didn't know how the rotate the picture, so the first one is sideways....i'll figure it out someday) So, I'm going to add a new picture of me every day, write a little bit about the picture and then you guys can leave me some love.

You don't understand how much I appreciate the comments left on my blog, it makes me feel like you guys really do miss me. I write this blog for those few people that enjoy reading it, and for my friends and family that I miss so much.

So check out fotolog if you feel like it and leave me some love so that I know I'm missed....

*MUAH*