and i'm back ...

... unfortunately. going to chile has always been the most bittersweet thing i do. i'm always crazy excited to go and about 2 days before i come back to NY i start getting sad and emotional, crying myself to sleep. i hate the fact that 95% of my family lives there. i have no idea what it's like to grow up with cousins or more than 1 grandparent around, or aunts and uncles. my holidays are always 4 people ... my parents, my grandma, and me.

regarding my cousins, on my mom's side of the family i'm in the middle, with the 4 oldest [myself included] all being about 2 years apart from the next one. but my dad's side, i am the oldest. the oldest of 11. and everytime i've gone, i've had to reintroduce myself to cousins, who up to now, have only had a few vague, scattered memories of me, and have known i exist through pictures. i, on the other hand, have memories of these kids as ... kids. as babies who couldn't even walk, as toddlers, as 2 year olds killing spiders, and 9 year olds finding me amazing. it's so weird looking at them all and being able to tell them a story about them at a young age, especially since my trips to chile took a long hiatus for a bit. fortunately on my dads side, the baby is now 14 and remembers me just fine, but the cycle is starting again with 2 baby cousins on my moms side, ages 2 and 7. it never ends. :(

anywho .. despite the fact that i basically had no internet for 10 days [yes that was rough], i befriended my ipod as my only usable mobile gadget, and took random notes of things i saw/found out about along the way.

chile randoms:

• for independance day, it is a national law that every house/building have a Chilean flag hanging from it in the proper way. if hanging from a pole, the pole must be white. if hanging from lets say a window, you can hang it vertically or horizontally, and the blue square has to be positioned on the upper left.
• birth control pills are over the counter and you can buy as many boxes as you want.
• chileans seem to have a better understanding of internet security than we do. not once was i able to find a non-passworded wifi signal ... not once!
• although i had a great time, i could not get used to the fact that homes do not have radiators throughout. coming indoors from 40 degree weather sucks. having to use the bathroom with it being ice cold, sucks!
• mayonnaise is their bff.
• the internet cafe around me was 300 pesos for one hour. [currently, $1 is approximately 541 pesos ... you figure it out]
• the metro system is dope. you miss a train, no biggie. literally as the last car on your missed train disappears from view, the next train comes.
• their bip card [metrocard] uses blink technology everywhere. no swiping needed, just walk up to the turnstyle, touch your wallet to the yellow circle and go through [same for buses and bus stops]
• if you don't smoke, never fear. you can get all the smoke you don't personally inhale by just going out one night. chileans smoke too much and it's allowed everywhere.
• the bus/metro is 400 pesos per ride.
• if in chile and a chilean tells you they're coming around 3 and it's 2:45 and you're just getting ready, no need to stress. they're not getting there til at least 4 anyway [HUGE pet peeve of mine ... huge]

i am now sleepy so that's it for now. toodles!