So this past weekend we (Fredrik and I) went sailing with a fab crew and one of my favorite badass couples : Andrew and Gurly (Yes, I really do like you guys that much).
Our sailing adventure started off on Friday evening and continued until Sunday evening.
Here are some of the BEST moments with photos of course.
1. It was cold. Andrew wore a furry hat.
2. We did have beer. 3. Fredrik. Love the look.
4. We made crayfish party hats.
5. They did the ‘lets intertwine arms and drink beer thing”
6. We ate crayfish. It was good.
7. Mattias made the best hat. I wish I had his skills.
8. We sailed back to Stockholm.
9. We were ‘kinda’ close to a big ship.
10. Alright, not that close. But it was exciting.
11. Hi Autumn!
As you can see- it was fun, adventurous, and really cold. No more sailing for this year- but I can say that I’m excited about next year. Yes- even with 4 layers of clothing.
……Here’s a new (new as in new to me) band I’ve gotten a bit obsessed with.
The last weeks in Chile were absolutely amazing. Partly because I had two great friends from GWU visiting me, and partly because I got to re-visit all the places I’d done my first phase of research at.
So here is a bit of a recap of what we did:
Santiago: Ildi and Adrienne land at 6 am- I had one of my last meeting with my supervisor before starting Phase 2 of research (more on that in a bit)… then I go wake them up and we go on our drinking tour of Santiago. We had some awesome Chilean sushi for lunch (and beer), then headed to get some famous ice cream right by my apartment, then off to Bellavista for wine, met up with my ‘family’ for some more wine and empanadas, and then well lets just say our drinking tour ended at 4 am with us losing our key to the apartment and having to spend the night at a friends (Thanks Henrik!), and none of us felt that fantastic(well– I felt alright) the next day when we had to make our way to Valpo. However, we made it and after a couple hours of sleep and Chorrillenas we were ‘Fit for Fight’ for the upcoming New Years!
New Years 2011- Valpo/ Viña: Can we say — Synchronized Fireworks. Yup they exist. From Valpo down to Concón we viewed fireworks on the roof-top of the apartment we (Me, Ildi, Adri, Henrik, Thea and Martin) rented with lots of other friends and neighbours. It was amazing and a lot of champagne was consumed… We stayed in Viña for a couple more days, spending time in Reñaca on the beach, going to the dunes, eating mariscos, and playing kings (in the middle of a bar).
El Quisco/Algarrobo/ Isla Negra– I obviously had to take my friends to the places to where I’ve spent most of my time outside of Santiago. We hung out on the beach in Algarrobo, met up with Karen in El Quisco for some lemonade, made it to Isla Negra and Pablo Neruda’s house (pretty but not worth the 3 luka for the tour), and I also had time to interview 4 different presidents for phase 2 of my research, while Ildi and Adri spent some time on the beach. Good work girls.
Cajon de Maipo– Hiking in mid-day in 30 (celsius)+ degree weather is not my favourite activity, however, making it up to the top was well worth it. Fernando – our guide , and now good friend, let us stay at his family’s house and we had a BBQ at about midnight after our hike. Mmm good!
In the mix of all this fun, I also had to complete my research. aka Phase Dos. Which meant interviewing the 8 presidents of all the Sindicatos that I’ve been to previously. And well, yes, my spanish has improved, but having in-depth conversations about views, strategies, etc., in Spanish was going to be nearly impossible ( I mean it would be difficult in English and Swedish as well…), but luckily my friend, Paulina, helped me with everything. We made it back to El Quisco, Las Cruces, Algarrobo, Maitencillo, Quintay, Montemar, and Los Molles! The interviews were very interesting and a good way to get a different perspective of how these organizations work.
After finishing my research, I spent the last couple of days in Santiago getting together all my stuff, a wine tour at Concha y Toro with friends, having a final meeting with Stefan, and lastly a lovely birthday party for Thea/ goodbye party for me. Sangria and friends- wonderful combo.
There are also a few things I’m going to miss a lot when back in Europe:
1. Palta. It’s number 1 because there is probably nothing more delicious than avocado on toast (this combination is completely competing with ice cream right now…)
2. Men saying (under their breath) “Que Bonita” or ” Que Hermosa” etc…. It was a nice little ego boost everytime I walked anywhere…( and no- there was no obnoxious whistling actually…. well at least not until I dyed my hair back to blonde… )
3. Guys with long hair. (Not the ‘I haven’t showered or shaven in weeks’ look, more like ‘ I can pull this off and somewhat look like Johnny Depp’ look. Swedish guys need to get on that).
4. Awesome hippie imspired fashion. Colours everywhere. Wearing black all winter is not happening this year.
5. All the AMAZING people I met along the way. You are all missed.
6. The ocean and everything that comes along with it.
7. Good cheap wine.
8. CHILE
Now I’m back in Sweden, where it is cold, and dark. Fortunately I have a ton of stuff to do, such as moving back to Stockholm- SÖDER (wooohooooo!!!!) , starting my data analysis, and in about 10 hours going to visit my sister in Vietnam. So although I do miss Chile, being back home is not that bad either.
I’ve also decided to keep up with the blog, but from now on it may be about more things than just research related, but don’t ya worry- I’ll update ya’ll on that as well.
So this past week I spent one of the best American holidays, Thanksgiving, on St. Croix- an island part of the U.S. Virgin Islands… probably the closest I’ll get to the States in a while. We spent Thanksgiving on a boat going to Buck Island and then snorkeling. It was pretty fantastic- and they had rum punch. Even better.
The next days were filled with some history- going to a Danish Fort in Christianstad, a sugar plantation called the Whim, and then going to JUMP Off- the islands excuse to party and have people walk on stilts for entertainment- Moko Jumbies.
However, the real reason for going to St.Croix was for Björn’s wedding. It was fab, a bit confusing in the beginning with the photographer being late, Ingrid (Elke’s mother from Germany) talking, and us kids (Ida, Me, Rick and Heidi) just laughing. All in all— it went well. Then we all went to Jump Off- where Elke danced around like a little princess and my Dad chased/limped (right— he broke his foot a couple months ago and is missing a tooth- He looks like a pirate) around in his Steeler crocs after her for an hour before he gave up and sat down.
It was reallly nice to see everyone and I also got bit of a break from the research thing. BUT now back to work- I have 3 locations I’m visiting this week- starting tomorrow with Las Cruces (again), Algarrobo, and Reñaca, and then next week Maitencillo and Quintay. Good thing is that I like what I’m doing.
Yay! My questionnaire is translated! This means next week I’m off to the field. Starting on Tuesday I’ll be going with Stefan to two different Caletas where I will be introduced and start administering my survey. Its a bit of a test run in the beginning to see if it works out well or if I have to tweak different portions. Cross your fingers.
Besides that I’ve met new friends, gone out (yes until like 5 am again), made a tour of St. Lucia, and other things. This weekend I’m off to Viña del Mar and possibly Valparaíso or ‘Valpo’. It will be nice to visit another part of Chile- and with other people and perspectives. And possibly some Halloween festivities….
After being here for 2 weeks I’ve learned the following:
1. Lunch is earliest at 13 or probably more like 14 – aka eat a big breakfast
2. Dinner is at 20 or 21 aka- lunch is important
3. Cachai?!?!- ‘Get it’, or ‘got it’- also used about 20000 times in every sentence. I’m also learning more slang which is quite helpful if you want to try to ‘blend’ in.
4.You can still smoke inside- so my eyes hate me after being out.
5. Good wine- is very very very cheap. Amazing.
Anyways….after a minor tremor in Santiago the week continued to get better. I’ve regularly been attending yoga classes and I’ve also started to go to some Spanish lessons…woohooo! Which are very helpful! But after a week of work the weekend turned out to be much needed. On Friday I ended up meeting some friends from the Ecological Department at the University for some snacks, and drinks. Saturday I spent the day laying out in the sun reading and going for a walk through Santiago. And Sunday I went with my friends, Francisca and Celia, to a park called El Manzano for a nice hike/walk outside of the city…. enjoy the pics!
3. Fredrik. Love the look.
For Real / Not Pretend 