Goodbye, Facebook

Last week I made an announcement that I would be deleting my Facebook page for awhile to have less distractions while I try to focus on studying for the GRE.

I've had Facebook for a LONG time, ever since around October 2004, when Facebook expanded out of the Ivy Leagues and into other small, liberal arts colleges in New England. I remember when the "wall" was this rinky-dinky thing that you could erase every once and awhile. And erase it I did, at the end of freshmen year. I also remember how it was like a popularity contest at first. How many friends do you have? And then the pictures were added. How many pictures are you tagged in? Quite unpleasant, actually, and I blame it on this the reason I was up to almost 500 friends (do I even know that many people?) and recently had to cull a bunch of them (down to just under 300 now).

So anyway, on Friday I "deactivated" my page and Facebook made me feel all guilty about it, showing me pictures of my friends and saying that they would miss me. (One of the pictures was of my brother, who I know misses me already since we live in different hemispheres). Then they asked why I was leaving and for every option you chose, they offer an alternative to leaving. Too distracting? How about you turn off your email alerts? Already done that, Facebook. It's typing you into my browser bar and going to your site that distracts me, thank you very much.

And it has worked! Since Friday I have learned 70 new vocabulary words and the rules of distribution and how to multiply a binomial (FOIL, remember that from 8th grade?). I do forget sometimes, though, and start typing "fa..." into my browser bar.

If you were my friend on Facebook and miss me terribly, you can follow me on Twitter, which is @abbicita. For some reason twitter is way less distracting to me than Facebook, and I rationalize it by telling myself I'm keeping up-to-date with the goings-on in the world that way.

And I'll probably be back to Facebook in a month or so. I do like to keep in touch with my family and friends at home. Maybe this month of abstinence (hello, GRE word) will help me be more abstemious (hello, GRE word) with my use in the future.

How the Tudors Help me Study

I'm slightly obsessed with The Tudors, a Showtime series about King Henry VIII. My parents watch it, and so I watched the third and fourth seasons with them while I was home. Now I'm almost done with the first season.

I'm also studying for the GRE, and to help me remember vocabulary words, here are some example sentences I've come up with.

1. Catherine of Aragon refused to abjure the throne so that King Henry VIII could marry Anne Boelyn.

2. In 16th century England, Catholics considered Lutheranism an aberration.

3. Catherine Howard was unsuccessful in her request for an abeyance of her trial for treason and was soon beheaded.

4. Cardinal Wolsey adulterated his position as cardinal in the Catholic church by having a mistress and two children.

5. Charles, Duke of Suffolk, always tried to serve his master King Henry with alacrity.

6. 16th century doctors believed that bleeding patients allayed the affects of The Sweats.

Can you tell I'm only on the words that start with a?

How many words do you know?

February Blues

February is the month of vacations here in Chile. By law, employees who have worked with a company for a year or more get 3 weeks of vacation (minimum). It's a pretty sweet system, I think. Most people take vacation either in January or February, but I'd say most take in February.

Last year during February, my friend Marcy visited me with her mom and we went to Valparaíso for the day. Then I went to Valdivia to visit N. and went to Pucon for a day to visit my host sisters. Then, I went to Torres del Paine for a six day hike. And to top off an already busy month, there was the earthquake.

In 2009, I worked for the first two weeks of the month and then went to La Serena with F for 10 days.

In 2008, I started my last year of college in February (which included hardcore work on my Honors thesis). However, in January, I spent the entire month here in Santiago conducting research for my thesis (well, among other things like swimming in F.'s pool and going to my host sister's wedding and going horseback riding in Olmué).

My horse looked nice, but was slightly deranged and thought he was a racehorse...

In 2007, I traveled to Peru and Bolivia with eight other girls from my study abroad program for the first two weeks. Then I went to Pucon for my host sister's civil wedding, and then continued south and met my friends Chiloé.

Why is it that I always have fashion emergencies while traveling? But hey, look! I'm at Machu Picchu!

Really happy to be on a boat tour near Castro, Chiloe

So you can probably understand why I'm a bit bummed not to be heading out on some sort of adventure this year. Granted, I consider myself very lucky that I was able to go home for Christmas for two weeks, and that I'll be heading home in August for my sister's wedding. However, as my friends and boss prepare to go to places like Puerto Vallarta and Pucon and Isla de Pascua and Patagonia, I can't help but not look foward to the next two weeks when I'll be working and studying for the GREs.

At least this guy is coming back to keep Charlie and I company.

Bunny-wunny!

And another bonus: my office is air conditioned!

Summer Weather in Santiago: It's gettin' hot in heeere

This entry is in response to a few emails I've received asking about the weather in Santiago. I thought today would be a perfect day to talk about the summer heat.

I know all of you back home are cursing me because it's -3000 degrees below zero with the windchill, but allow me a moment to complain about the 90+ degrees (F) we're experiencing today...

IT'S HOT!

Okay, I'm done.

Being from Vermont I'm not really used to constant heat. There's a saying from my beloved home state that goes, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." And it's true. In the summer, we could have hot, humid days, or rain, or chillier days, or cloudy days or dry days. We have thunderstorms, sometimes with hail, and the occasional snowstorm in May. We could even have all of the above in one day (okay, maybe not snow, but the rest).

Summer in Santiago, however, looks something like this, all the time:



The saving grace of Santiago's summers though, is that the nights cool down (as you can see above). Taking an evening stroll is quite lovely starting around 7:30 or 8:00pm.

The heat is pretty constant from mid-December until mid-March, varying a bit depending on the year. I remember one year that it was hot until the end of May and then it got cold, no fall, just hot summer then winter. This spring (November-December) was a bit strange, a little colder than normal and rainy.

However, if there's one thing you can count on in Santiago, it's a hot, dry, sunny summer.

Another thing I should mention is the strength of the sun. It's stronger down here. I don't know if it's because we're closer to the hold in the ozone layer or what, but use sunscreen. I put it on religiously every day, and I work inside. If you go to the beach, bring an umbrella and reapply often. When I was studying abroad a girl I was with got 2nd degree burns on her body because she refused to put on sunscreen all day (she learned her lesson).

Happy Birthday Bud!

Today is my baby brother's birthday!! That's right, baby brother who is younger than me. Everyone always thinks I'm the youngest of my siblings even though it's the exact opposite, but I'm not complaining. That means I got the good genes, right? ;)

But that's not the subject of today's post. Today the subject is my bro, CP Dudley, Carltoon, Philly-willy, Felipe.

My brother is...hilarious, kind, generous, a great athlete, a role-model, dedicated, helpful and he gives the BEST hugs in the world. Let's go back to the word hilarious. He makes me laugh more than any person in the world. He has such a great sense of humor and a great memory for remembering jokes and funny lines from movies. He can recite entire scenes from movies after seeing them once.

At 3, he already had quite the sense of humor.

When he was little, he was ridiculously cute and had a great personality. He wanted to be Batman and for a time would only wear his Batman pajamas and cape. Later on, he wanted to be the Blue Power Ranger, Billy, and would sign his name as Billy. He also really liked to draw bucket tractors and named his stuff dog Ginger Ale (after his favorite drink).

And, he has grown up into a great guy who I am so proud of. He plays football for his college's team, and he's good. He was made captain as a junior and after the 2010 season was First Team for his division. He started playing as a 5th grader and has stuck with it, despite obstacles along the way, like missing an entire season, concussions, asthma and various injuries. It worries my mother to no end, but I can't imagine him without having football in his life. He wants to be a coach, and I know he'll be great. He's wonderful with kids and commands respect.

My birthday present to him last year

His Christmas present to me this year ("Some bunny in Vermont Loves Me")

Happy Birthday, Bud! I love you.

New Year, New Things

Although 2011 hasn't been off to the best start, I try to maintain a positive attitude whenever possible, so let's explore some new things in my life, shall we?

New Things!

1. New thing number one is actually not a new thing at all, it's an old thing. It's my guitar! My parents gave me a guitar for my 16th birthday, and I started taking lessons that summer. I know all the basic chords and can strum out easy songs. My goal now is to practice a lot and be able to play more complicated strumming patterns and such. Right now my fingers are very sore, because the calluses haven't formed yet.

2. I'm was so excited for new this new thing and I didn't even expect in my wildest dreams that I would get it. It was the perfect Christmas present because it wasn't something I asked for (granted, I asked for two things, one of them being sheets, haha). It wasn't even something I knew I wanted until I had it in my hands. My sister's fiance caught a perfect succession of me opening it on Christmas morning...




In case you couldn't tell from the pictures, it's a Kindle! Book suggestions are welcome. I've already read so far on the Kindle The Room, The Hangman's Daughter, Water For Elephants and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. And played about 50 games of Scrabble.

3. You might have noticed that I mentioned that my sister has a fiance. That's right, my little sister is getting married! I've known about this since September, but somehow didn't get around to blogging about it. This is, of course, worthy of an entire post, and most likely this isn't the last you'll be hearing about it. The new thing for me though is that when I was home my sister asked me to be her maid of honor! I've become slightly obsessed with various wedding websites, but can I just say that I'm SO GLAD I'm not the bride. And so glad that my sister is calm and collected and has a lot of things already taken care of...and the wedding's not until August!

And last but not least, if you've been wondering why I haven't been blogging a lot lately, it's that I've had my hands kind of full...

She's not crying, just squirming a bit

4. Haha, just kidding, the baby isn't mine. My cousin and his wife had a beautiful baby girl right before Christmas and I got to meet her when I was home. She's a cutie and from what I could garner from the short time I was with her, a very well-behaved young lady.

I couldn't resist posting this picture. This is baby H. with her uncle, my cousin M. Apparently, his arms are like magic, and whenever she's crying he can make her stop just by holding her. Isn't that the sweetest?


That's all for now. What's new in your life?

For Nala

I was going to post something upbeat this week. About how I'm excited for some new things coming up. About my hopes for 2011.

But then something the exact opposite happened.

I shouldn't be over dramatic but the course of this week's events really did affect me. But not nearly so much as it has affected my dear friend R.

I debated whether to blog about this because it's so tragic and sad, but I'm considering it as a public service announcement for all people who have cats and live in apartment buildings.

When I first got Charlie I was scared to let him out on the balcony. So many people told me, "Oh don't worry, cats are agile, they won't fall." One or two people were concerned. Luckily, I didn't go with the crowds and put up mesh all along the balcony and various other impediments so that Charlie will be safe. But once spring came, I moved his litter box out there and kept the sliding doors open all the time so he could go out and get fresh air.

However, sometime Wednesday night R.'s cat, Nala, fell off the the balcony of her 12th floor apartment and died instantly.

Nala was a special cat. R. rescued her off the streets near Persa Bio Bio about a year ago. She was so skinny and sick when R. found her. After many vet visits, it was determined that Nala had feline leukemia. R. cared for her and nursed her back to health. She grew into a playful, feisty, healthy cat.

Actually, the reason I got Charlie is indirectly because of Nala. Shortly after Nala was found and rescued, R. thought she might be pregnant. I told her that if Nala ended up having kittens, I would take one. Then, we found out Nala was just getting fat because she was finally getting enough food!

A couple of weeks later, R. called me and said she had found kittens on the street. She convinced me to take one because I had offered to take one of Nala's potential kitties. The rest is history.

So, rest in peace dear Nalita.

And please, readers, send out some positive vibes to R. On top of the death of Nala, she has a lot of other stressful, non-ideal situations to deal with, and she could use some good energy sent her way.

Next week I will be back with a happier topic. Because it always gets better. Always.

PS. In case you're wondering, Charlie's box is back inside and he only has supervised visits to the balcony now.

I'm baaaaaack!

Did you miss me?

Anyway, I'm back in Santiago after two lovely weeks at home with my family. I posted about reverse culture shock last year too, but I'm gonna post about it again this year because it was completely different and unexpected. I kind of thought I was over being surprised at the differences, but apparently there were some things that I forgot about life in the U.S.

1. Central Heating. Okay, so I know that it exists as a norm in the US and I'm so thankful for that considering my first few days in Vermont were downright frigid. However, I forgot how much NOISE it makes. As soon as the thermostat kicks in it's like an engine revving up. I mean, I lived 18 plus some years of my life listening to this noise, but I had completely forgotten about it. At my parents' house it was especially loud and seemed to rattle the registers. When it turned on the first night, I sat up in bed and thought: "Earthquake!"...then realized where I was.

2. Options. There are like 500000 brands of everything and so many varieties! I got very overwhelmed in the cracker aisle in Hannafords. More than just Galletas de Agua and Galletas de Soda. Thank God for that. Also, the variety of cheeses! And no Mantecoso as far as the eye could see. Double Thank God for that.

3. Driving. This isn't really culture shock, I just don't do it here in Chile. My license was a casualty to this unfortunate incident, so I really haven't driven more than quick jaunts since December 2008. However, I decided to bite the bullet and go to the DMV while I was home and can now legally drive in the US. The good news, it's like riding a bike. You don't really forget how to drive. I think mostly because my parents moved to the boonies, a half an hour drive from a major grocery store, it seemed like it took forever to get anywhere. (That being said, they live in a beautiful spot right by a major lake and it was very peaceful and the first night my ears were ringing it was so quiet [besides aforementioned heat turning on]).

4. Getting the check RIGHT when you finish dinner at a restaurant. Although sometimes I think it's a pain to have to flag down the waiter here in Chile, I find plonking the slip on the table two seconds after I've taken my last bite of food to be a bit jarring. Give me a minute to digest, please!

And in true Chile fashion, I was welcomed back to my adopted country with a one hour wait to get through Immigration and had all my bags checked by Customs. Oh joy.