Catch up

I realize I havent written in quite a while so im just going to ramble here to fill in the gaps. My fishing incident in October was followed by Halloween, which wasn´t celebrated up to my expectations- no one dressed up! However, by chance this under-celebrated religous holiday landed October 31st and we didnt have school. Taking advantage of every possible chance to make the trip, my family and I drove to Santiago for the three day weekend. Making the 7 hour trip for the 5th time now, I had gotten used to their routine- drive exactly one hour to Copec gas station in Chillian, continue to Tambo for lunch with the grandparents (which is always delicous), and then arrive very late at their apartment in the city. It was nice to get the the chance to go out with my host siblings Daniela and Ricardo, who I dont know very well since they live in Santiago. On saturday, I went to an indie film festival with one of Dani´s good friends Luis- all of her friends, including her boy friend, work for La Ofis- coool. In the plaza of El Cine Arte, we were entertained by circus preformers and other strange acts- I thought of my sister molly... We went to support a director of one of the shorts, who had recently returned from the states and was very eager to talk to me. He told that when he left Chile he had his doubts about the States and felt a little antiamerican, but told me that he an absolutely great time and was very enthusiastic. His short was worth seeing, however the others were beyond strange... Saturday night we went to visit some other relatives, one of which is a student at the Military School in Santiago- It was neat to talk to him and hear what he does. He told me he had a few friends from the states also studying with him at the university. Apprently, West Point and other military institutions from other countries do exchanges as well. I thought that was particualary interesting.


Back in Los Angeles and the Deutsche Schule I got the change to go to El Parque Nacional del Laguna de Laja- which is about an hours drive toward the mountains. There, we ran around on Los Senderos de Chile and I enjoyed every second of it. To end the day a few friends and I took the leap in to La Laguna de Laja, which was absolutely freezing seeing as the snow and ice is still melting for the peaks. That friday we had a guys night at a friends house named Tomi. They ordered two giante buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken and asked me if I had felt at home...they even let me keep the the souveiner bucket (im bringing it home with me). Every year the music department hosts a music event called Unplugged and, by popular request, I preformed some classic bluegrass accompanied by the harmonica. It was a different sound for them, but everyone seemed to like it.

Since I have lots of free time, I joined a gym near my house. Its a pretty intense place and reminds me of that gym from Dodge Ball. I get the feeling that " here at Globo Gym were better than you, and we know it". Nonetheless I´ve enjoyed working out there and they have nice facilities.

Last Saturday I went with my parents to the 4th Annual Jazz Festival held in Los Angeles. Three bands played: a trio of all basses, which was awesome, a standard jazz band, and then a well known Chilean Blues Band. Not quite sure which one I liked best.

Next week might be "La Guerra de Agua"...