:)

Well not much is new here with me.. my school is still on strike and now the students have taken over another building.. except this one is more important and it has all of my classes in it so I don't think that I have classes for the rest of the week. It was my sister's 22 birthday party on Friday so we had a bunch of people over for the party.. good food and good alcohol and good cake and then we all socialized and later went to the club Scratch to go dancing.. it was a lot of fun then I came home with my brother. On Saturday I went to Santiago with Hannah and Laura because Laura was going back to Canada since her tourist visa expired so we took her to the airport and had a last lunch and then dropped her off and came back to Vina the same night. I then went and hung out with Delphine and her french friends in her apartment and we drank wine and sang! Then yesterday it was mother's day and i went to go buy my host mom some flowers and then we had a very big and very good lunch and then I just hung around the house doing odd stuff and talking to my actual Mom! Then today I went to the mall to go buy the finishing touches for Tati's birthday present and now I am doing homework :S FUN! Haha so that is all that is new with me.. I will attach pictures of Friday night! Chao chao!

More pics of Mendoza for you Mom!

Main street

Trolly

Random building in the country where we went bike riding and wine dining

Beautiful house... typical chilean

Ally and I in the plaza en Mendoza... just chillin

Back from MEndOzA!

A picture of the main street "San Martin"

A picture of the taxi's... the cars look very European but they scared me too...

Me and my best friends here in Chile!

Outside one of the vineyards we visited by bike!

The sun set in the Andes Mountains!

Hola Chicos y Chicas!

I have returned from Mendoza and my vacation was amazing!!! I love Argentina! On Wednesday night we were scheduled to go but the bus company called Hannah an hour before we were supposed to leave and they said that the pass was closed and that we would have to leave in the morning at 8:30 am. Because I wasn't leaving anymore my family and I went out for dinner and told me that they would drive me to the bus station in the morning which was nice of them. Then, later, my friends and I decided to go to Cafe Journal to have some drinks and eat some sushi. It was a lot of fun! So the morning came and my mama chilena woke me up with breakfast in bed at 7 and I finished getting ready and packed to go to the bus terminal. So I finished everything at about 7:55 in the morning and went out into the kitchen and said "OK, lista (ready)" and she responded with a "OK, saludos, chau chau!" And I was like WHAT?! YOUR NOT DRIVING ME? Which was freaking ridiculous because on Thursday it was a national holiday where EVERYTHING shuts down for the day because its a national workers day where all the workers have the day off in order to rest. Therefore there are no collectivos and no taxi's and no buses running!!!! AND there was no possible way I was going to make it to the bus station in under half an hour... its at least a 45 min walk. So I was freaking out and started running to the bus station not even knowing exactly where it was. I finally made it to the bus station at 8:25 which was a miracle since my bus left at 8:30. By the time I got there I couldn't breathe since I was running the whole time with all my luggage... but my bus literally left at 8:27 and I made it just in time... but I started to bitch about the situation as soon as I got on the bus!! It was supposed to be a 6 hr bus ride but once we got into the Andes mountains there was an accident and our bus sat in the same spot for 5 hours waiting for the accident to clear. It was so unbelievable... and our bus driver wouldn't even let us off the bus in fear that he would "lose the passengers" when there was no where to go and the bus wasn't moving!!!! Then we finally got to customs and since it was so backed up during the day it took another 3 hours to get through customs... where we had to sign out of Chile and sign into Argentina. Then it was another 3 hours to Mendoza. So by the time we got there it was 12:30 and it took another 45 minutes to find our hostel. Once we did we cracked open 4 bottles of local wine and played card games until 4 in the morning! The next day the 7 of us walked around Mendoza and saw the sights and what it had to offer for shopping. It is true, Argentina is much cheaper than Chile but I didn't end up buying much. I spent a lot of money on te con leche (tea and milk) at tonnes of local cafes. That's all the girls did... we went to cafes and bought tea and coffee and just sat there and talked and watched people. A lot of the people in Argentina are of European decent so we did not look out of place! That night we went out for dinner at a local restaurant where we ordered meat because Argentina is world redound for their meat... it was so thick that we couldn't even cut it with a knife! It was excellant. After that we went back to the hostel where we played so many games of asshole and turned it into a drinking game and 8 of us polished off 12 liters of beer. Needless to say me and Allison got wasted trying to keep up with the boys... and at 3 in the morning there we were in the bathroom.. with me holding her hair while she was kissing the toilet! I then went back downstairs by myself for some reason and ended up making friends with a guy named Juan Jose who worked there. He was 21 and I talked to him until 5:30 in the morning... all in Spanish! I can now have conversations!! So exciting. Then my friend Jaime woke me up at 8:30 because he rented bikes for us to do a bike and wine tour where you rent bikes and bike ride to various wineries in the country... because Mendoza is the heart of wine country. We did this and it was awesome! We went to different vineyards and to a chocolate factory where they were giving shots of absinthe! I am pretty sure that is illegal in all of North America. Oh Argentina. That day was also Hannah's birthday so we went out for dinner again and hung out and then decorated the hostel and had cake. The other 3 girls went to bed early that night but I stayed up with the boys and played more games of asshole. By that time I was exhausted but they convinced me to go out to a pub with them for only ONE drink. I eventually was persuaded by "Ashley... we are in Argentina and its our last night... you just want to waste that by sleeping?!" so how could I not go out. We went to an English pub that was dedicated to The Beatles and I had a rum and coke and we just hung out till 5 in the morning. Pubs and clubs there don't close until 10 in the morning but we were all so tired. I slept for only 3 hours and then was up again because we had to sign out of the hostel at 10 and catch our bus to go home at 12:30. At 11 we walked to the bus station and had breakfast and a tea then went on the bus where it took 9 hours for us to go home. But at least Chilean customs is a lot more organized and that only took an hour to go through. I returned home last night at 10:30 and my family was really happy to see me which was nice! I'll attach some pictures of the trip! Talk soon!

Love Ashley.

Wow

This is me when I was at my worst with my migraine... unable to move

Today in the Gimbert building where I was refused entry. Look at the tables and chairs!

Police vehicle/army thing with the police and shields because people are throwing things at the officers!

The police spraying the students that are protesting with water

The students protesting down the street... hundreds!!

Hello!

So a lot has happened since I last updated! My school is STILL on strike (called a paro in spanish) we are on our 3rd week and its serious. It's not like an ordinary strike.. and the students are striking not the employees or professors... which is stupid because the students pay to go to school! But apparently they feel like their demands are not being met. And the big thing is that the micro (bus) drivers are wanting to take away the student pass which means that everyone will have to pay $450 pesos each way to school... and right now with the student pass you only have to pay $150 which is like $0.30 to us. But many students don't have that kind of money so that is the main reason. Therefore... their is a lot of violence right now... today for example I was walking in Casa Central (a building) and all of these students came running into the main area and sprayed tear gas everywhere and so I got it in my eyes and it was horrible and it lingered for hours. And then they always spray water out of water canons... and they chant and protest and there is violence everywhere... they throw things at the micros and break the glass which is scary if you are on the micro! And they have weapons and its just a bad scene... so I have to be very careful where I go and my professors always tell me to be especially careful cause I'm an "extranjero". Today I was supposed to have an exam for my Recursos Humanos II class but I went to the building and the students took over the building in what is called a "toma" and they barricaded it not letting the professors or any employees into the building. They barricaded it with tables and chairs... I will post pictures. I went and told them I had to get into the building because I had a test and they simply told me that I was not able to enter and that I needed to turn around and leave... in that case I just said "ok chau" haha. But everyday there are protests and huge tanks and police with shields all over the place because the students have been throwing things and taunting the police and I have seen a couple of students get arrested and beaten with a baton by the police... it sounds worse than what it really was but at the still time I was like holy shit! Other than that not much else is new... I have been studying for a brutal exam that I was suppose to have today... and screwing around a lot because of the class situation, I feel like I am not even in school! I went out this weekend with some Chilean friends it was really fun! We went to some pubs and then I went out for tea and a couple of dinners. Nothing too exciting. But I am going to Mendoza, Argentina tomorrow!!! I'm pretty excited. I will post some new pictures... FINALLY! Enjoy!!

Love Ashley.

YES!

Hola Chicos!!

I AM BACK IN BUSINESS!!! So sorry about not posting for the last few weeks... I have been struck by something fierce while in Chile! So in summary, this is what has been going on in my life during the past few weeks:
The migraine. After my beach party 3 weeks ago I was struck with a severe migraine that lasted for a week... which included me not being able to eat, or get out of bed. I was restricted to my bed for days and I didn't leave my apartment for about 5-6 days. It was HORRIBLE. Plus I had a fever. Finally the following Saturday I woke up without a headache and was so happy. Sunday came along and mysteriously I opened my mouth and I saw white pus in the back of my throat. So I was freaking out because I have never seen that before!!!! I decided to go to the doctor on the Monday. By Monday morning my throat was so much worse... there was MORE pus and my tonsils had swelled. I randomly stumbled upon a Canadian doctor (THANK GOD!) that way I could tell him everything in english. He prescribed that I get 3 shots of penicillin to kill the infection. That was fun trying to get a nurse to do the injections... I ended up going to the University of my Chilean sister and the nurse there did it. I couldn't go to school all week last week because of my throat and plus I was horsing around trying to get these injections done. By Thursday my throat had gotten significantly worse when it should have gotten significantly better because of the shots. I went BACK to the Canadian doctor on the Friday and explained my situation and he couldn't believe it. He then said I had to go to a surgeon to get incisions in my tonsils. I went to the surgeon but after waiting for 2 hours I asked if they were going to call my name and they said "no". So I left. We then went to a doctor in Valparaiso but he was not in his office and his secretary had no idea where he was. GREAT! THEN... my Chilean Dad took me to a hospital... called Hospital Aleman... where I THEN had to endure 4 bags of penicillin through an IV for a few hours to try and fight the infection and clean out my system of the bacteria. This past weekend I was also instructed to stay in bed... which I did.. but I also put up a fight because I felt FINE minus my throat... but anyways I stayed in bed and then on Monday morning my throat was significantly better! I am happy to report that the pus is gone and the swelling has decreased almost 100%. I am on pretty strong antibiotics right now... for approximately another week.. Yesterday I had to go to the hospital again for the doctor to look at it and he said it is much better and prescribed me more antibiotics for this week. I have to return to the hospital next Monday for him to look at it one more time to make sure that its all gone and it wont come back!! Today was the first time that I have been to classes in 3 weeks! So it was really good to be back... um not much else new though! No new pics, unfortunately! Until next time ;)

Hola

So sorry i haven't updated all week... i've been so sick and only recently able to get out of bed. I've been in bed since Sunday night and haven't left my apartment in a week. But thankfully I feel a lot better now and I'm going for a medical exam tomorrow to make sure that I just have what the doctor thinks I have. I have had a severe migraine all week, dehydrated, throat infection, and all my muscles are soar. Its the oddest thing!! But anyways there are no pictures because I haven't left the house haha.. but until next time when something interesting in my life happens.

Hace Calor!!

Hello!
Well I had a pretty eventful weekend... on Friday night me and my sister and a couple of her friends bought some pisco and just stayed at home and drank and chilled till 5 in the morning.. then I just chilled in bed pretty much all day until Saturday night when I went to my friend Jen's house who is from U of L too and she lives here in Valpo.. and we predrank at her house with our chilean cop friends and some other randoms.. and we predrank there until about 3 in the morning then went to the club Goose which is in Vina.. and it was a lot of fun!! I met some interesting people and the clubs here are so different but I love them. Then Patricio drove me home at 5 because I was so tired and had such a headache. Then yesterday I finally awoke at 3 in the afternoon and went to go meet allison and jen and cristian and lorena and patricio for chorillana.. which is fries, hot dog, egg, cheese, onion, and beef. IT SOUNDS SO DISGUSTING BUT IS SOOOOOO GOOD!! Then we went bowling at the mall!! Then we went to the beach for awhile and chilled there with some wine and food and we made sandcastles and a mummy? THEN we went to buy more wine and went back to Jen's house to order a pizza and drink more and then we went home at 1:30 am. THEN today I woke up with such a horrible headache and I had a fever... that I stayed in bed all day cuz I wasn't able to get up and walk around. I think its the weather or the air quality here but its beating me up pretty bad. Then tonight I had to do hw for spanish class that was ridiculously hard..... blah. But that was my weekend! I'll post pictures of last night as well. Until next time!!