hola chicos,

i know its been forever since I last updated this blog. I guess its cause i´ve been super busy lately. As I write I´m in Puçon, a small town 10hrs bus ride from santiago. I took a vacation from work and so I´ll be here for a few days. Puçon is well know as an adventure paradise. Theres lots to do ranging from river rafting,hot springs, hidro speed, hiking, kayaking, sky diving and much more. Infact, just telling someone you´re going there already implies you must have tons of adrenaline ready to be used.

Yesterday, I was at the hot springs for a few hours geting a soothing meltdown from the steam. It was really amazing. One thing I noticed about puçon is the tourist that actually go there. Ya, there were a few americans and britons, but the people that actually took over the town engaging in al kinds of activities were the israelites. I guess those guys must really love adventure. Anyways, back to "me"..haha. Seeing I didnt do much yesterday , to day I decided to test my guts and went to climb the volcano...yup, crazy as it sounds I did it. I had to be at the tourist place at 6:45 for the bus ride to the volcano (did I mention it was fully active and spewing out larva). so we got there at 8 and started climbing ASAP. After a few hours, I started realising something. Climbing isnt about skills or strength, its about endurance. Being able to keep going. Midway up the mountain, I could tell everyone was exhasted but that didnt deter anyone. There was no stoping, it was all about getting to the top. This realy inspired me to keep going. I also realised that while climbing you cant take stop too many times to catch your breathe, this only makes it harder to build adrenaline. I dont know if that only applies to me but that was what I noticed while climbing. Pushing myself to keep going despite the killing feet made me more willing to keep climbing.

Anyways, we finally got to the top and took pictures. It was amaing seeing the clouds below you and knowing you´re not in a plane. We later started heading down and despite all the scare from the guides, this was actually the fun part. After going down a bit, it was time to release the sliders and slide down. Intially I thought they were crazy, but on seeing the leader slide down till he disappeared into the mist, I took them seriously. It was soo fun but dangerous at the same time

2:10 PM

WOW!! I just experienced my first earthquake and it just happened to be an 8.8 magnitude in Santiago, Chile. Thats worse than the one in Haiti which was a 7. Its like a nightmare that I dont think I'll ever forget.

3am in the morning, I was enjoying a good sleep having my usual sweet dreams and all of a sudden I started hearing noises. I initially thought someone was knocking at my door and didnt want to be disturbed. It was until I felt my bed move that I realised it was more than just a knock on the door. I tried to get up and thats when all hell broke lose. The chair in my room started to move from one end to the other. Everything in my room started to fall, my bed was moving around. I was on the 20th floor of an apartment building that was swaying. I was scared like shit. With the way the building was swaying, I actually thought I was going to die. I had already started picturing the building having one last swing and coming right down. But thank God that didnt happen. Despite my fear, I kept shout "Jesus" cause that was all I could do. I'd never been this frightened in my life. 

This is definitely an experience I will never forget...

7:55 AM

Hola amigos y amigas,

I finally started work last monday as a software developer. I must say, the work is really challenging. The company has several projects they want me to work on. For now, I'm managing their database which has been a pain in the ass because of how it was setup. The company is really cool. There's a cook who gives us really good lunch. We also have a recreation area with table tennis and other stuffs setup for the employees.

Anyways, so thats whats up. Even though I was working everyday all week, I still managed to have some fun and paid a price for it. I went clubing last wednesday and had so much fun dancing. The next day I found myself sleeping in front of the computer and didnt get much work done that day. Now I've learnt my lesson, no more clubing during the week again...well, for now :-)

Yesterday (saturday), I played some soccer which was a great way to lose some of the fat I had started to accumulate.

Ever since I came here, one of my biggest problems aside from language barrier is food. I cant cook so I depend a lot on fast food and junk as well. Now these 2 problems are really screwing me up..lol The other day I ended up buying mushroom pie thinking "champinon" meant shrimps..so I jst threw it away cause I hate mushrooms... or when I bought paprika and dill thinking they were pepper and thyme and ended up cooking a "wonderful" soup with them. Anyways, hopefully my spanish gets better soon.

I'd like to end with a link to a really good singer who happens to be my friend's sis. Check her out here: http://www.moyeenmusic.com/ she has a really good voice.

Anyways, gotta go

Astalavista!!!!!

6:48 AM

Hola amigos,

Its been a while since I last updated the blog. Thats because the last few days have been crazy. I've been going around Santiago with some friends visiting several places like the zoo and also we climbed one of the biggest hills here. 

I was finally able to find an english catholic church here cuz last sunday wasnt funny at all. I went to a spanish one thinking I would at least understand a few things but I was wrong. I was so lost in church, I had no idea what was going on and after a while i slept off (God forgive me). I was pretty annoyed. Well, upon searching the internet i was able to find an english-speaking one in the east. So I guess I'll have to take the metro to get there. 

I've also been hitting the bars almost every night. Honestly, no one knows how to have fun like south americans, they're just really crazy especially at parties. I've been to the clubs a few times and I must say, unlike the american ones, clubs here have way more girls than guys. Though the music played is mostly reggaeton and techno, I still had lots of fun. The energy in the clubs here is sooo crazy; with people jumping and singing along with the songs. My major problem was with the smoking. Here, its allowed to smoke indoors and almost everyone smokes, so a packed club with about 60% of the people smoking made breathing a bit difficult, but that didnt ruin the fun. 

Well, I'm happy I've been able to have lots of fun because next monday I start work..ouch!! so things are gonna start getting serious from next week.

In a few hours, a friend will be taking me out to a salsa place to teach me some salsa. Afterwards I'm going to another friends party (lol.. theres always a party every single night). 

So till then...adios amigos

ciao!!

8:14 AM

Hola,

The weather here has been quite hot over the past few days, but its also very windy so there's no problem. Today, I went to the Korean market with a few friends and it was a really interesting experience. There were so many stores around with people trying to sell you almost everything you can think of, like fish, cheap clothes and other stuffs. There were so many people on the street that we had to keep squeezing through the crowd.

One of the big things that happened today was that I finally got a camera!!!!!!! too bad i didnt get it while in the market so I wasnt able to take any pictures, but I did take some pictures from my room below.








I'll be sure to upload more interesting pictures tomorrow.
Till then, astalavista!!!

5:35 PM

Hola,

So I've been taking spanish lessons at a school here in Santiago. Having no knowledge of the language, I was placed in the beginners level. So far, the language isnt that difficult, but I've been doing a lot of memorizing because theres just tooo many things to learn. Its a really broad language, even though similar to French in a way. The students in the school are other foreigners and tourist like me. They come from around the world, so its really interesting hearing everyone's stories.

I didn't do much yesterday cause I was tired from the heat but today's weather is nice since its not too hot. So I'll be going for a walk to the mall (hopefully i can get a camera to start posting pics) and also I'm meeting some other students at 8 and then we head to the bar. That should be fun..

Anyways, till then..

astalavista!!!

8:41 AM

Hola,

ok, last night I was invited to a barbecue party which was to start at 11pm..yup, thats right. Here time is no hindrance when it comes to barbecue parties. After all, the weather is nice 24/7. So I got to the party at 11 as stated but didn't see many people. Apparently, people here tend to attend events like an hour late just like Nigerians..lol.

So after about an hour or so, there were lots of people and the real party began. It was fun with lots of meat and good spanish/latin music. I must say, the sausages here are really good and tastes a bit different from the ones in Canada. So the party was actually going to be on all night but at around 3am, I started getting sleepy so I greeted everyone and headed out. I didnt mention that here, girls are greeted with a kiss on the cheek while the guys shake hands. I thought that was really cool.

When I left the place, I was afraid that I would have to wait forever for the bus to come, but I was wrong. Even at 3am, the buses were running like every 10mins or so. That was a big plus for santiago :-) . On getting home, I just crashed on my bed.

I woke up at 11am ad treated myself to some noodles I had bought yesterday. I must say that was the most SPICY noodles I'd ever had. My tongue was on fire but I loved it :-).

Anyways, I haven't planned my day yet, but I'll be sure to update the blog.

Till then..adios!!

chile party santiago

8:47 AM

Hola,

Ok, I'm new to this whole blogging thing but we'll see how it goes. Anyways, I just got to Santiago like an hour ago and I'm pretty excited; and its not just the weather which is 27C compared to toronto's -17C :-P

Anyways, the flight was really rough. I had to wait in mexico for 8 hours which was a real pain in the ass. I thought I was going to lose my mind while waiting in the transit room but I was finally released and got on my plane to Santiago.

On arriving, I was soo excited. I didnt think anything was going to ruin my mood until I found out I was the only person still waiting for my luggage..yup..it was lost in transit. So I went to the LAN personnels and reported my lost luggage to them. I do hope they find it. So, I got to the waiting area and met with my pick-up person who gave me a ride to my apartment. As we drove through the city, I noticed how modern the place was. The buses looked better than the ones in toronto and from what I was told, they used a card system for their transit here. So a person gets a card which can be reloaded online; and scans it on getting into the bus or the train (bus fare is about 75c). The streets were clean and the buildings were ok. So far, the place looks really decent.

So I got to my apartment really hungry and all I had was U.S$15 cash. The currency converters were closed and I was afraid to use my cards because I forgot to tell my bank I was leaving the country. So I had to borrow some money from my housemate and went to get some food. That was when I realised how REALLY cheap food is here. I got a 1L orange drink for less than a dollar and a large hamburger for a dollar from the convenient store.. I was impressed.

So far, the city looks like it has lots to offer. I'll be taking the subway with a friend to the mall this evening. That way I can get to explore more..

Till then...Peace!!

7:11 AM