Photos and Such!

Ah, life.
School has been sucky. This whole week has been sucky, actually.
Went out with Maureen and Alyssa last night...and that was better.
Talked with my real family. That also cheered me up.
And. At quarter to ten, my host family decided Hey! let's have an asado!
and so we did.
hurrah!
I'm too lazy, and it's far too late for me to put up pics, so I will return to do so later.
But.
I've been uploading my south tour pics onto snapfish...since yahoo's been sucking. Now I just have to figure out how to share this with THE ENTIRE WORLD. We'll see. But snapfish is better since it doesn't take forever and a day to load. Which is always a plus.
I'm tired, and still sick, so I need me some sleep.
i'm sorry this update was so fome.

Kelsey has a stalker! and other exciting things.

What has Kelsey been up to lately? you may ask yourself. Well, I'll tell you.
Not much, really. School is utterly boring. Some ex exchanger who went to NY saw me on the news, and somehow figured out what school I go to, and hunted me down. Kind of stranger.
Yesterday was Jenny's birthday, so we went out to celebrate. Freja and I gave her a Bob Marley drawing she really wanted from a guy in centro. Got ready and went to Freja's house, dropped off my things(since I was sleeping there) and we went to Jenny's house to finish getting ready, have some tea, and eat some cake. We went to a friend of a friend's house, the owner of the disco we were going to, first. It was a good time. He took out his guitar and sang(he has an AMAZING voice) and he had CDs with just the music of famous songs, so it was kind of like karaoke...? Apparenly he's fairly well known here...? He works on the radio now, but used to be a singer on some show or something. He was really nice too. It's things like that I'm going to miss. Every get together is like that. Everyone sings and it's just...fun.
Then we went to the disco. It was cool....we entered through the back since we were with the DJ. He brought us to the VIP area. It was higher up, but not a real lot higher (maybe like, 4 or 5 ft off the ground, but with a fence type thing around it), and was guarded by a security guard, and only us and our friends were allowed up. It was WAY cool. The owner came up and hung out with us, and it was really nice to be able to dance with my friends and NOT be bothered by guys the whole time. We did go to the other area though, we met two guys from Romania, but they were waaay older than us, and really boring. But they spoke really good English. So pretty much the whole night was in the VIP. Maureen's friends from school came, so I got to meet some nice Chileans. And if anyone bothered us(like some guys who somehow got up there and said they knew us....?), we could just ask the guards to make them leave. hehehe.
All in all, it was a good time. And now Jenny is nineteen! Hurrah!
But the question shouldn't be what am I doing, it should be what the eff is going on in Tiverton? Come on now people....what is this about?

Un Partido!

So today I went to a futbol game with Mauricio, Cristian, and Freja. Well, it was an experience...haha
It was Coquimbo(feoooo, the city next to La Serena, I'm in the Rotary Coquimbo club), vs. La Serena(woooo!) But, since the game was in Coquimbo, we sat on the Coquimbo side and cheered for them, because it's actually dangerous to be for the other team. So we were for Coquimbo.
It started off insane....when the team came out there was yellow smoke(Coquimbo's yellow and black, La Serena's red and white), firework type things, it's insane.


The game itself was pretty boring. We were sitting in a relatively calm area, but the lunatic fans were not too far away from us. They cheered the whole time(saying lovely things like "Serena chupalooo" which means suck it, and other lovely words). It was a good time.
Coquimbo ended up losing in the end, but it was really boring....they lost 1-0. The Coquimbo fans were CRAZY. Chanting the whole time, jumping up and down, throwing paper, and at one point there was a fire(the cops just left though). It was INSANE. The cops were every 10 feet or so, and they had other ones that were dressed like SWAT team members. There was even an attack dog!!! And barbed wire separating the fans from the field. The La Serena fans were in a small part, on the other side of the stadium, with lots of cops there to protect them.
What was craziest, was at the end of the game. Everyone was kept in the stadium, so that the La Serena fans could leave, so that the Coquimbo fans wouldn't attack them. We went to the top of our bleacher area and stuck our heads over the side to see what was going on. There was a huuuge group of people there, and the cops with shields and such(but regularly dressed police behind them, hiding), and the people were throwing things at them. Shoes, rocks, anything and everything they could get their hands on. It was insane. But then a woman cop(who was dressed regularly) was hit in the head by a rock. The regular cops were brought out of there, off to the side, and then the SWAT like cops ran after the people, with their shields and bats out. Everyone started running in different directions, and they cornered a group of people and started hitting them. Don't worry though, I took video:


However, you can't see as clearly as Freja and I did what they were doing. It was horrible, and while I can see where they were coming from, it was still unexpected.
All in all....it was crazy. Crazy to see and experience, but I'm glad I did. How could I be here for one year and NOT go to a game,right?
Hopefully Freja and I will be going to a game for La Serena IN La Serena(where apparently it's not as violent), so we don't have to be undercover fans again, jaja

St. Patrick's Day and a Natural Po!

So...life.
Went to Coquimbo via micro(which I love, by the way) with Mauricio to wander around, kill time, and take some fotos. 'Twas lovely. Andddd we got to eat Mexican food! Which was utterly exciting! When we got back to the house though, I heard Mauricio funny, and thought he said we ate pacos....which is cops. jajaja...ohhh ears....
last night. Went out with Maureen, Freja, and Alyssa. 'Twas a good time. Maureen and I(she's IRISH!) rang in St. Patrick's Day at midnight by shaking our tailfeathers. It was a good time. Probably the best ever. And just what I needed. I met like, four German guys, who were really boring. And no matter how hard I told myself to speak English with them, since they don't know Spanish, I still only spoke Spanish. But hurrah for that!
And THE MOST EXCITING THING EVER happened yesterday.
We were driving. Trying to find Alyssa's house. And speaking Spanish(obvio). Actually, first, here's a little background for you. The word "po" in Chile is a nothing word. It has no meaning, but they add it on to the end of sentences. I have never really said this word(seriously anyway. Joking, yes, but not seriously). BUT. Yesterday. I SAID PO NATURALLY! Yes, that's right. Kelsey Edwards had a NATURAL PO! It was quite exciting.

and a video. A slideshow of my CHILEAN SUMMER! hurrah!
The other picture is me, obviously displaying my Irish pride!

Nothing of much interest is happening...taking salsa classes, which I'm really liking, and the teacher said I have good rhythym!
Got some old pictures from Freja though, so here they are:
Eating pizza with the La Serena girls.
Trying on a skirt during my first week
Lina(Freja's host sister in the US), Gabi, my host sister, and me.

Kelsey Is Still Quite Angered

Oh, this weekend.
Friday night I went to a birthday party with Jenny, Freja, and Maureen, which was gooood. I met kids from Jenny's school, who are a lot nicer and willing to talk than the kids at my school. And towards the end, some Scuola kids showed up. The two new girls in Freja's class, who I talked to, and a boy in my class and his younger brother. It was nice. Now atleast SOMEONE realizes that I can actually have a conversation in their language....
The next day I went to a birthday asado for a friend of Mauricio(who I know too!) It was nice...because I love asados, and I realized that all the people around me were kind of(?) my friends too. Granted, they're all older than me, but I've been around them so often, that I really know them. Hurrah!
I was, however, starting to get sick. I noticed the night before(friday night) that I was getting kind of stuffy, and during gym that day it was hard for me to breathe(that gym class was torture, by the way. Freja and I are still sore, and one girl in Freja's class almost passed out). During the asado, I was so tired that I actually went and slept for about an hour and half or two hours or so. I've been using my inhaler and such though....so hopefully I'll just magically heal on my own. Bah! i've never been sick as often as I have in Chile......
My family's in the valle today, but I'm home with Mauricio and abuelo since I don't feel good.
I thinkthinkthink I'm starting salsa lessons today. Freja and I have decided to stop belly dancing because it's too expensive to do both. I can take belly dancing in the US, but not necessarily salsa, so I want to learn that now.
Oh! March 8th was International Women's Day, which was cool. I'd never heard of it before....but my fisica/homeroom teacher came into the classroom in the morning and gave all the girls a chocolate bar. Gotta love that....
Not much else is going on here. Hung out with the New Zealander....he's really nice. Kind of quiet, but I can understand that...I've been in that position before. He's one out of FOUR AFS exchangers in La Serena. FOUR MORE! That brings the total to NINE exchangers in this city. Wow, huh?
anyhoo. gotta run...but here a picture that DID end up working from when Ignacio was reading with me(STILL can't get that last picture....parents, anyway you could contact HP and ask what's up??) It's Ignacio reading a magazine. I was sitting on my bed, reading, and he came in to talk with me. Then, he left and got some magazines, and sat next to me, with his legs crossed like me, and "read"(he actually can't read, but he looked at pictures, and told me what different letters and numbers were). It was one of the cutest things he's ever done!

Kelsey Is Pissed.

Just stopping by to let you all know that I DID have the cutest picture ever of Ignacio and I reading on my bed together, but because my camera has somehow broken, I can't get it off my camera. It just keeps uploading the last picture taken, even when I didn't select to upload that at all. ARGH.
this week has sucked.
I'm off to cry now.
chao.

*EDIT*
because my camera sucks....this is the best I can do.
What the eff? Def. going to see if there's someone at HP I can yell at, because this is bull crap. Camera's should NOT be deleting pictures, or making them smaller. Yeah, can't get bigger than this.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.
is how I feel.
just so you can all get some kind of idea.

Siete meses!

Oh hey look....Kelsey's still alive!
Life here has been.....well, it's just been. Okay, I suppose. And by okay, I mean not really, but I'm dealing.
Went and ate pizza and ice cream with Jenny, Maureen, and Freja today to celebrate our seven months in La Serena. ¿Hurrah?
New boy in school....finally got here. From New Zealand. Horribly shy and slightly uncomfortable looking, but I'm going to do something new and try and be a nice person. I think Thursday we're going to try and hang out with him after school. Poor guy doesn't know anyone...and he ended up in my school.
Nothing of interest is happening. I have self-declared my cartilage piercing to be healed, so I'm going to try and head over to Monkys soon to see if they can help me get the ring out. Second holes angry at me...but it's nothing sea salt won't heal, I think. We'll see.
Still working on my blazer....adding three new things today.
Just how much have I added? you might ask. Well I'll tell you.
Here's a picture of me....I believe two nights before I left:
And here's one of me tonight(hence the uniform underneath) that Maureen took of me....after adding three new things.
hurrah:

Colegio.

So. For those of you who have been paying attention, you'll remember quite clearly that yesterday I started school!
Hurrah!
er, sort of.
It's fairly boring, really. A little inauguration thing(I've never been to so many useless ceremonies, Chileans love them). And then classes. For the first time, I've actually enjoyed my history class! And, well....went to it! I've always liked history, so I was kind of bummed to get here and not follow anything, but now I can understand EVERY WORD my teacher says. Still can't read his writing...(although no body can...), but I'm happy anyway. We were learning about the Cold War, something I've never learned about, and only heard snippets and such about. Well, because I'm the token American here, I got to answer questions like which president was once an actor, which president was president during the Cuban Missile Crisis, who came into ..power? in Cuba in 1959, and why the Cold War is called the Cold War.
All of which I answered correctly, by the way.
hurrah me!
Today.....fairly boring. Slightly kind of fell asleep in math class. But I really think my teacher still thinks my Spanish sucks(it doesn't, I just don't understand him or his crazy math...things.). I still utterly SUCK at Chilean math. I vaguely remember learning what we're doing during freshman year, but he has such a roundabout way of explaining it, filled with crazy symbols I can't really read....and so I'm utterly lost and confused. STILL.
Had gym today. Was weighed and measured(I'm sure you can all imagine how excited Freja and I were....although I'm happy now that it turns out I really AM taller than Freja! jeje). According to the somewhat...erm, screwed up? way of thinking about what weight is "normal" here, I am now overweight. Hurrah. Also. Culture difference. Freja and I were SHOCKED as one by one girls came out of the nurses office, and actually said what they weighed! In the US(and Denmark too, apparently) you wouldn't say that unless asked at knife point.
And sometimes not even then.....
Anyhoo. I was also overjoyed to find out that this year we will be doing a swimming unit. ñalsdkfjñasdfásdfaçdsfas Basically....I need to find some kind of medical excuse or otherwise sneaky way of keeping myself out of the water. Although I did tell the teacher that I'd rather not(aka YOU CAN'T MAKE ME SWIMMMMM!), and she's fairly understanding, so we'll see. But there's NO way I'm going in that pool. nope. Absolutely not. I despise water....and okay....so I'm slightly afraid of it(which is what makes her say that I don't HAVE to go in....). Stupid Rhode Island laws, making four years of gym necessary.
Parents, sign me up for some sort of summer school gym class....I'm not going in that pool, even if I fail.

anyway.
enough of my bratty exhaustion driven rambling. Freja and I are meeting up at Blockbuster to rent some movies and eat away our miseries tonight.
and hopefully she'll also be introduced to my(real) family. Hurrah!