Friday, March 24, 2006

on the road again...

Mama tigre gets here mañana! We've rented a car and are planning a fantastic roadtrip through the backroads of chile. Heading south in search of hot springs, the wine valley, a volcano or two and some quality time together. I promise to make up for my recently picture-less postings. until next week...

Monday, March 20, 2006

You in 72 clicks.

This last week I stumbled upon a Human Metrics test that I took while I was procrastinating at work… you know, the Meyers-Briggs Jungian Psychology type that is supposed to tell you what you should be doing with your life based on your personality. I thought it sounded really nice to click a YES or NO box on a website and have the computer spit out an analysis that would point me in the right direction in this crazy world. If it were only so easy! Anyways, I’ve since become obsessed with this, and I’ve made some good friends take it and have been amazed at what comes back. I've since also met people who have had to take similiar tests as parts of job interviews and applications to management programs. (if you ever want a job at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, you will thank me)

So… I know that many of you read my blog as a distraction while you should be working/computing/producing or learninghowtocurethehumanracefrominfectiousdiseases (that’s you Emily Wroe! And get back to work!! I feel a sickness coming on) Lets see what you guys get, though. I’ve attached my profile below, which is creepily accurate, even in the bad ways – I’ll admit! I’d love to hear what you all get back.Here's the link, when you get your results, go to the "Keirsey temprement sorter" and get your profile.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp


In anticipation,
your favorite “Champion Idealist”

The Champion Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in accomplishing their aims, and informative and extraverted when relating with others. For Champions, nothing occurs which does not have some deep ethical significance, and this, coupled with their uncanny sense of the motivations of others, gives them a talent for seeing life as an exciting drama, pregnant with possibilities for both good and evil. This type is found in only about 3 percent of the general population, but they have great influence because of their extraordinary impact on others. Champions are inclined to go everywhere and look into everything that has to do with the advance of good and the retreat of evil in the world. They can't bear to miss out on what is going on around them; they must experience, first hand, all the significant social events that affect our lives. And then they are eager to relate the stories they've uncovered, hoping to disclose the "truth" of people and issues, and to advocate causes. This strong drive to unveil current events can make them tireless in conversing with others, like fountains that bubble and splash, spilling over their own words to get it all out.

Champions consider intense emotional experiences as being vital to a full life, although they can never quite shake the feeling that a part of themselves is split off, uninvolved in the experience. Thus, while they strive for emotional congruency, they often see themselves in some danger of losing touch with their real feelings, which Champions possess in a wide range and variety. In the same vein, Champions strive toward a kind of spontaneous personal authenticity, and this intention always to "be themselves" is usually communicated nonverbally to others, who find it quite attractive. All too often, however, Champions fall short in their efforts to be authentic, and they tend to heap coals of fire on themselves, berating themselves for the slightest self-conscious role-playing.

ENFPs are both "idea"-people and "people"-people, who see everyone and everything as part of an often bizarre cosmic whole. They want to both help (at least, their own definition of "help") and be liked and admired by other people, on both an individual and a humanitarian level. They are interested in new ideas on principle, but ultimately discard most of them for one reason or another. ENFPs often have strong, if unconventional, convictions on various issues related to their Cosmic View. They usually try to use their social skills and contacts to persuade people gently of the rightness of these views; this sometimes results in their neglecting their nearest and dearest while flitting around trying to save the world.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

A Very Big Day.

Well my friends. It’s been quite a day here in Santiago. I got my first haircut in Chile. This is a big deal for two reasons, which you will immediately recognize if you’ve been with me on this blog since the beginning (10 points for you!).

Reason Number 1: They love mullets here.
Reason Number 2: They love mullets here.

Since January I’ve known I needed to suck it up and find a place to cut my hair… in the US I was quite religious, going to Kat at A Cut Above on Cache St. every 6 weeks like clockwork, I even went as far to keep track of my haircuts on a calendar. It was one of the only predictable things in my life. So you can understand the state of anxiety I’ve been in. For the last three months I’ve been asking around, keeping mental notes of friends with nice haircuts and today I finally got up the guts to walk into a place called “Hair” – un lugar muy cool y muy de moda – and put myself at the mercy of small silver scissors.

It’s quite a process, the haircutting thing… here it comes with a scalp massage and a 15-minute shampoo, which was nice… I tried my best to relax even though I was rehearsing in my head the vocabulary words that would help me avoid the fate of the affectionately named “mono”. By the time I sat down in the swivel chair I was ready for battle, though slightly thrown off by the hairdresser’s nice smile and friendly hand on my shoulder.

She must have seen the fear in my eyes.

She asked how I wanted my haircut as she combed through my wet tangles, holding up the long layers that sweet, dependable Kat left as a guide. I made it VERY clear I’d like just the ends taken off, just a trim please, and ALL THE SAME LENGTH. I got a nice smile into the mirror as she said ‘But you see, you have different lengths right now, short up here, long back here’. Um… Short? Long? And immediately I knew where this was going. Halfway though I kind of gave up, she was cutting furiously, reaching for special shearing scissors, lifting and layering, clipping and snipping. Twice I tried to mediate, getting that same nice smile, a nod into the mirror and some version of “Si, mi amor” (Yes, my love) or “No te preocupes” (Don’t Worry).

Yeah.

I walked out 20 minutes later with only a mini-mono… It’s really kind of barely a suggestion at a femme-mullet, and things could have been much worse. Thank god I practiced my special vocab words.

I kept trying to check it out as I walked around in the afternoon, doing most of my errands in the upscale, mirrored high-rise district of Los Condes. It was hard to look inconspicuous checking the new do though. I also ended up in a Hooters (no joke) at one point accompanying a friend I ran into on the street who was trying to find a sports game on ESPN2. And the Hooters girls didn’t even blink an eye at my new hairdo. In the end, I figure it’s more of a social experiment than anything else… maybe it will make me blend in a little bit more. Viva Chile. Viva el Mono.

Monday, March 13, 2006

¡Hola Argentina!

I went to Argentina to renew my visa this weekend, a 7-hour bus ride over the Andes skirting the base of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemishpere. The trip there we did during the day and I didn’t even notice the last 3 hours pass because I was wide-eyed and plastered to the window watching the incredible scenery. We arrived in Mendoza in time for a shower at our backpackers hostel before hitting the streets to get a taste of the other side of the border. It was wonderful to be in Argentina again, a country of the most beautiful people and the most lively and passionate Spanish I have ever heard. I wish I could include some sound-bites because it’s just impossible to explain. It brought back so many memories from my time in Buenos Aires 5 years ago (oh my god, its been that long!). Y saludos a Tomas especialmente, aunque tengo que confesar que no encontré ese "Fernet" por ningún lado! En serio, ¿lo has inventado?

It was a fantastically random time. Over the weekend, I found myself sitting in an outdoor puppet theater with a Dixie cup of cheap wine watching a poetry slam turned interpretive tutu dance complete with Zorro masks; Dining (scarfing) with the elderly population of Mendoza at an all you can eat barbeque house/casino serenaded by a lounge singer; and in the middle of a spontaneous dance party, at which point an Argentine girl there asked me ¿Dónde aprendiste bailar en Español? Literally: Where did you learn how to dance in Spanish? That was no typo… I thought it was such a beautiful way to really express so many of the small subtleties of a culture that come out through the language. And kind of flattered she thought I knew how to “dance in Spanish”.

Because of the exchange rate (bad for argentina, good for visitors) I felt like I was actually on vacation and my very strict budget was able to go much further. After stuffing myself with dulce de leche, Havana alfajores, steak, wine, cafe con leche, sweet medialunas and the best icecream in the world I rolled myself onto a midnight bus and we made our way back to Santiago under a nearly full moon. I arrived to a couple changes – first, the clocks… Autumn is on its way here, and second, a newly inaugurated president. Or, I should say... Presidenta!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

some everyday

its kind of strange having this blog ... sometimes ill be in the middle of doing something and i'll catch myself writing about it in my head. Like when you hear a really good joke or something funny happens that day when your walking to the bus and you want to remember so you can tell your roomate/boyfriend/dog when you get home. I have no boyfriend here and i think the dog i live with doesnt have much patience for my long stories, so they end up here. But i realize you and i dont get to share much of the everyday. And while living here has been a series of high highs and low lows, a couple epiphanies, one near death experience (sorry mom i didnt have the heart to tell you), and some good trips, a lot of it is day to day. I ride my bike around and watch The OC in spanish subtitles and look for good nectarines at the market. So i thought i might share some photos from the 20 square blocks that my city life revolves around.

This is my blue house, and Tapka the dog that sighs and walks away when i try to share. Its okay... she just got spayed - my one small victory recently - and banged around the patio in one of those big plastic cones for a couple days. That was at least a few afternoons of free entertainment.

The NESsT crew at a Wednesday afternoon picnic at the park next to the office. Every wednesday one person brings lunch for everyone to share... awww.

Me and el Maximiliano in my favorite bar Clandestino. This place is awesome, you knock on an unmarked door in a dark alley and the bar itself is like a series of linked caves with benches built into the wall and tables and upolstered ottomans scattered around with a tiny dancefloor where they play great hip hop and bad 80s music. And cheap liters of Heinekin. Max is a photographer and trying to teach me to take better pictures, apparently this photo is missing the "onda" of Clandestino but I still like it.

Guard with sword at La Moneda, the Presidential Palace in the Centro. My friend Scott from college was in the city this week and i ran around with him and did the tourist thing, which i hadnt really done. We also saw a chilean guy walking on the street with a Dartmouth Hockey shirt. Scott stopped him and asked what was up with the shirt. The poor guy almost broke down in tears, it turns out his girlfriend is at medical school there and she left the day before. He lost all words and just made crying motions down his cheeks. Them dartmouth girls...

Sunset over Santiago. Taken from the top of Cerro San Cristobal, my wilderness sanctuary. You can see the Andes in the distance and I'm sitting here typing away near the bottom of the hill.