this and that: from animals to music

Hey everyone,

I had a pretty good weekend. News on the cat: it's back from the vet, and has spent the weekend here, along with the dog - chaos everytime they're near each other. We're waiting to get in touch with one of Shana's friends that may take the cat, but Adriana and Alain have fallen in love with it. It is cute, but I don't enjoy animal fights much.

Saturday, I walked down to Plaza Nunoa and pretty much sat in the park all day writing in my journal and reading a bit - it was so nice out, and there's a fountain one side of the street in the plaza. It was fun to watch families, etc. that were out enjoying the day, too. Ate at Las Lanzas, a cafe with a patio out on the sidewalk - a nice enough ambience, and great food - i had some fish (reineta, i think - lemon sole?) and Chilean salad, which is tomatoes with shredded onion, and some bread of course.

Saturday evening, Paulina came and picked me up to go to the party. We dropped her car off at her apartment, and her friend Cesar came and we rode with him. We stopped at a supermarket to get some kind of alcohol and coke to take to the party, and as we were walking out, i passed by a dog that was chained up and barking, and it jumped up and bit me - absolute craziness! It looked like he was foaming at the mouth to me, but we decided that he probably wasn't rabid because his owner was able to handle him/her. But, it didn't break the skin, so I didn't go to the doctor or anything - just left a bruise that hurts like any other bruise.

Anyway - so we went to the party, which was on the roof of an apartment building in Las Condes, a nice part of town, or at least the part of Las Condes that we were in. The Australian consul has a suite in the 12th floor of the building, so they were using his space for the party - he was there as well. I forget his name - Shana actually thinks she's met him - he's Dave, if it's the same person. An Australian couple was hosting the party - Paulina knows them through a friend that she worked with that's from Australia, I believe. There was a variety of people there - from Australia, U.S., Holland, Chile, etc. I was kind of lost the whole time, as to who everyone was, where they were from, what all the relationships were between them, etc. Paulina didn't know hardly any of the people there - mainly the hosts, Cesar who drove us (they grew up together in Arica), another Chilean friend, and one or two acquaintances. This was very different for her, because she usually hangs out with Spanish-speaking Chileans all the time.

Just about everyone that came brought different types of alcohol, so there was a big plastic tub full of bottles. At the beginning, it was pretty calm - it "started" at 5pm, we got there at 6:30pm, and by the time we left at 11:30, it was a more hopping place. At first, everyone was kind of sitting in a big circle, eating cheese and crackers. As it got dark, the music came on, and most everyone was on their feet in smaller circles. It was a cookout - they had a big grill on which they cooked various types of meat and some veggie kabobs - sausage, beef, little chicken drummies, etc. At the moment, I don't remember the names of any them - the first thing was some sausage in a piece of bread, that's a more Chilean thing, I think; there was also some Brazilian flour stuff that you dip pieces of beef in - it was okay - i'm not sure why they like the flour on it, but it was fine. And, there were also some various salads out as well. At one point, the hosts went around taking shots with different groups of people - it wasn't too strong, i don't think - pisco sour and some kind of sweet wine. I didn't feel any kind of buzz, but my head started to feel a little woozy afterward - and stayed that way, so i don't think it was from the little bit of alcohol - i think the height got too me or something. I also started worrying about whether i had rabies or not, so that played a little part.

It was an interesting night - I was certainly the youngest one there - the average age probably 30, I would say. And, I was usually in the Spanish-speaking area, because I was near Paulina, so I didn't catch a whole lot of what was being said in any part of the party - I would occasionally pick up on various "interesting" things being said in other areas. Probably the majority were speaking in English. The people that I talked to were very nice and wished me lots of luck with my time in Chile, etc. A girl/woman named Nara said there were a couple of girls from Valparaiso that she works with, so she would have to exchange contact info. through Paulina - who knows. I seem to continually find support and contacts in all sorts of places - through people at home and at Hendrix, and through people I meet here as well.

We left a bit early, because Paulina's head was dizzy, and went to the apartment to watch tv awhile, and talk with her roommate and friend. I'm trying to remember some of the little things that make me laugh along the way - there was a show called "Rojo" which seems kind of similar to American Idol - it's about dancing, not singing, though. Anyway - one of the moves that one of the girls used was exactly like the Veasey crawl - cracked me up.

Another note about music - I've been a bit surprised at just how much music on the radio, etc., is from the U.S. - probably about half and half Latin American and U.S. American.

Today, Paulina and I went to a mall in Las Condes - a good time. We both ended up with a few things. Ate at Bravissimo again for salad, and had ice cream later at the mall at Nestle Savory - 2 scoops - pistachio and something called Flocos, I think - both very good. I hope the cold is not terrible for you all in the northern hemisphere. Laura mentioned to me that she and the others in Russia went out in shorts to buy ice cream in Siberia - I don't know what that's about, but they're crazy.