Empanadas Are For Lovers

I have officially been a resident of Valdivia for 2 weeks today! That is nuts....the time is flying by WAY too fast. My experience in Chile thus far has been much better than I expected. Its not that I expected anything bad, I just expected that it would take some time for me to adjust to this new life. A life without Jon,  a different country,  a new job, a new language...new everything. I enjoy breaking out of my comfort zone, but it usually always takes that initial adjustment period for establishing a routine, and being comfortable with the uncomfortable. When I went to Costa Rica, I was miserable for the first 2 weeks. I was unable to see how amazing my experience was, and just wanted to come home. For this trip, I haven't felt that way at all. It is a little weird. It is weird how everything here feels, and has felt, so uncharacteristically normal. It is a very refreshing feeling. As I have said in every other post, I love it here. I love everything about it. I don't like being away from Jon, my family, and friends, but Skype makes that a whole lot easier. It makes it seem like everyone is around the corner. I am also so incredibly thankful that everything worked out the way it did and Jon was able to do his study abroad in Santiago. Although its not down the block, it is a short flight or modest bus ride away. Its a tremendous comfort knowing we can see each other whenever we want.

Besides my obvious happiness with my happiness, the week has been great. Things are much clearer for the project, and its seems as if we will be off the ground running on Day 1 (Sept 24th). You may be wondering why the start date is over a week away. Well, let me tell you about this little celebration known as Fiestas Patrias; Chile's independence day. Tuesday, September 18th is the actual day. But unlike the United States, it seems as if Chile spends 10 days celebrating the immense pride they have for their country. Where I live, there is a big fair ground practically across the street. For the past 2 nights, there have been parties that can be heard until 3am. Apparently, that is just the start of it. The next week here is supposed to be filled with lots of food, drinking, dancing, and fun. Everywhere you go, there are Chilean flags. Both Thursday and Friday, we had a party at work. There was trays of empanadas and chilean sweets. It was glorious. It is making me incredibly excited for the actual day. If the days leading up to it are this great, I can only imagine how Tuesday will be. The exciting thing is that I get to spend it with Jon in Santiago! I can't wait to see him..as always.

Besides relishing in the festivities, I have actually done some work. Believe it or not. Claudia, my research advisor, was here Wednesday through Friday. It was great because we were all able to hash out our plans for the project and lay out who is doing what. This was something that was important for me to have just so that I knew nothing was being lost in translation. Claudia's visit made me feel very comfortable and happy with the weeks to come. She is insistent that I learn and get exposed to as much as I can and want to be exposed to. There are endless opportunities for me to work with different people, projects, and techniques. I am really excited to dive deep into all of the field work opportunities that I will have. Oddly enough, one of the things I am most excited about is doing the necrposies of the rodents we capture. I thought that I would never want to touch another rodent again after doing it for so long, but this is going to be cool. Who wouldn't love to open up a crazy, wild, infectious rat while wearing a biohazard suit? Call me crazy, but I am pumped. And crazy.

I am going to spend my Saturday eating some delicious food that Marianna whips up, and then am going to the mall. Lame, I know. But apparently, I didn't have a brain when I packed for this trip and ended up coming to find that I am severely lacking clothes. When people say that it is cold here, they are telling you the truth. And when you dress for cold weather in Minnesota, you dress knowing that you are exposed to cold for about 10 minutes, and then you sit in a nice heated building in a t-shirt. Here, wrong-o. I might as well take my paper thin shirts I brought and sew myself another blanket.

Until next time, here are a few photos from the week.I am going to watch the gopher game now:) Go GOPHERS!!

Feliciano the desk cat

The sea lions that line my running path:)

Puerto Rican pina coladas made by Christina. Delicious!

Ciao,

Ash

A Great Work Week

As the title of this entry suggests, I was pretty happy with the way my first week in the lab turned out. With the Spanish challenge aside, things went really well. One of my favorite days this week was Wednesday. Wednesday was when we ventured out of Valdivia to go to los campos. Our lepto study needed to enroll 5 farms for the project. These were all locations from a previous study that tested positive for Leptospira bacteria in the water surrounding their homes. The previous study looked cross-sectionally at contamination, and our goal is to look temporally. Therefore, Marcelo and Gunther made a list of the homes that had the most positive samples, and we went from there. The trip took us about an hour or so away to the town of Lanco. The drive out to Lanco made me love it here even more..everything is just so beautiful. Once we got to Lanco, it was the perfect, quiet place I've been to in a long time. The roads to the various farms were tiny dirt roads with next to no traffic. All you see is livestock, modest little houses, rivers, and mountains. Perfect. I was nervous for this part of the week because I knew that I may end up having to talk (pathetic. I know). I was afraid of what the people would think. But then, we arrived at the first house, and I realized how wonderful all of the people were. They all seemed like the type of people that would invite you in for a dinner and a good conversation. At each house we visited, Marcelo gave a run-down of why were there and what we wanted to do. Everyone seemed legitimately willing to help, and concerned about what the previous study found. Every house we visited signed off on our consent forms and were completely willing to be part of our study. 100% success rate. Yay! I am super excited to go back to the farms and start our sampling. We will be taking water samples, as well as animal blood samples, and trapping rodents. Just from that one day, I realize that I am and already do love field work. Lab work is great, but it is nice to get out and interact with the people. Hopefully by the end of the project, I will be able to have a full conversation with all of them and tell them how grateful I am.
To top off the day at the farms, we stopped at this little roadside stand for what I was told would be a "huge sandwich". They weren't kidding.

 This glorious work of art was the weight of a small child. The bread was made in a brick oven, and the meat cooked to perfect tender perfection. It was absolutely, ridiculously delicious. The best part was that it was from a little stand that I never would have known about or stopped at by myself. The little hidden gems of travel spots are what makes traveling so addictive.
The rest of the time at the lab was spent working on our study questionnaire, and looking into other things to do for the project. Friday was by far the most taxing day. It started by me getting to work at 11:30am. From there, Marcelo, Gunther, and I took a nice stroll through the gorgeous botanical gardens on the UACh campus. It is filled with different trees from all over Chile, and runs alongside one of the main rivers here. After that, we went for lunch and beers at Kuntsman! Kuntsman is the brewery/restaurant here that I really wanted to go to. It is a little piece of bavarian Germany, in the middle of Chile. It was awesome, and the bock was even better:) After that, we drove another 5 minutes to the point where the rivers meet the ocean, and it opens up into the Pacific. This was indescribably beautiful. I loved every site, sound, and smell. The best part is that the coast is only 10 minutes from Valdivia. Just a short bus ride, and I can be there whenever I want. Friday just made me fall in love with this place even more, because it has everything that I love. Gorgeous scenery, water, mountains, culture, good food, great beer, and quiet. I wish I could have all of my family and friends here to see why I love it so much.
So, that was my work week. I am so happy with the opportunity that I have been given, and am enjoying every second of it. Today I made a trip to the Mercado Municipal and bought the sweetest alpaca sweater know to man. It is most definitely going to be my new go-to. Other than that, my Saturday night plans consist of Spanish flashcards, teatime with my house family, and red wine with the ladies.
Take care everyone!

Ash

The Most Loborious Labor Day. Ever.

What better day to start a job in a foreign country than labor day. Ironic? Yeah. Today was Day 1 working with the group at Universidad Austral de Chile here in Valdivia. I was excited, but very, very nervous to start. When I think about it, I have been preparing for today for almost a year. A year ago, I talked my professor about opportunities he knew of for me to do my MPH field experience and thesis. All I knew was that I wanted to do some type of field work in infectious disease, and in Latin America. When I volunteered in Costa Rica back in 2006, I absolutly loved it and therefore knew that I could not do my field experience in any other way. I'm not going to lie...there have been parts of me that wished I did a simpler route and stayed in the Twin Cities. I then remind myself that I like to make mountains out of mole hills, so I shouldn't be too surprised with me being here. When I was setup with my research adviser, I was beyond excited to finally have an opprotunity to gain some insight into this field. Claudia has been great through it all. I told her I wanted to apply for a global grant through the U of M and she worked tediously with me to get a proposal together. It paid off, and here I am.
Today was exciting and equally, overwhelming. I first have to say, my hats off to people that come into the United States to work without fully knowing English. I think I have 1000 times more respect for you. It is very difficult to not understand someone, and to not be able to express what you want to say. It is frustrating becuase I don't want anyone to think I am the lazy, dumb American. I doubt they do, but it is such a natural feeling to have. All of the people in the lab are very, very patient and helpful. Marcelo spent a lot of time writing things out, because I told him I understand that better than I understand when he talks. That helped a ton. And then there was Spanish Dictionary.com. Holy man, I love that website. I don't know how many times we used that site to translate today. Of course, I tried my hardest to understand or to come up with the words on my own. Once I got a little more comfortable and a little less shy, I felt better saying straight out, "I have no idea what you are talking about". This whole language barrier is most definitely humbling. It makes me want to work twice as hard, and leave here practically fluent.
Language barrier aside, it was a good day. It was good to finally be here and start ironing out what is going to happen in the project. It was cool to see the lab, and see how things are different compared to home. The one thing that I still unsure of is exactly my place in the lab. From what I understood, it is really up to me. I want to get the most out of the experience for myself, while contributing the most to the project. I think as of now, I will be trying it all out. I'll be writing the questionnaire I've been working on (Epidemiology questionnaire addressing Leptospira transmission risk factors, and risk perception), going out to communities to collect environment samples, trapping and performing the necropsy on the rodents (big.wild.rats.), administering the questionnaire (my Spanish should probably improve before that), and working to detect lepto in the lab. The exciting and challenging thing that I may be doing is a certain technique I have done countless times in the lab in the U.S. It hasn't been done here, and no one is sure if it will even work. If I manage to get that up and running, and working, I will probably be the happiest person on the planet.
So that sums up the first dya, overwhelming and self-defeating. Tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully a day where I know just a little bit more Spanish. I have the week to get aquainted, and then Claudia (my advisor) will be here for a week to get things going. This will be nice for more direction. Then the week after that is Chile's week long holiday celebration where people apparently drink a lot of chicha,  eat empanadas, and not work (a week long makeup for my missed labor day). I'll take that. So, 2 weeks, and then a break. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.
Now, I am going to wrap myself in 5 blankets, and watch the worst American chick flick I can find on Netflix.
Happy labor day everyone! I hope you enjoyed the last day of summer, and have great plans for the upcoming fall.

Lost in Translation,

Ash

Valdivia!

I have finally arrived to my final destination for the next few months...Valdivia! The past 24 hours have been exhausting but filled with lots of new things. Timing worked out wonderfully and Jon was able to meet me to take me to my bus in Santiago. I felt 1000 times better being put on the bus by him as opposed to lugging my copious amounts of belongings through the city, with no one to see me off. Although we only got about an hour with each other, it was exactly what I needed. Man, I love that guy:)
I left Santiago at 8:30pm last night for an 11 hour bus ride to Valdivia. The bus was shockingly great! My seat was in the front row, on the upper deck. It was a pretty cool view, even though it was dark out. The seats were comfortable and could pretty much recline all the way down. The Condor staff was also incredibly nice. They give you a pillow and blanket but instead of coldly handing it to you or charging you $5, they gently fluff the pillow, put it behind your head, and practically tuck you in with your blanket. With this great setup, I thankfully slept for most of my trip. I woke up to an early morning filled with rain. Apparently it rains a LOT in Valdivia and in this general vacinity. When I arrived to the city, I got off the bus hoping that the person I was supposed to be meeting (Marcelo) would be able to pick me out. Never seeing each other before, I thought this may be hard, but then I figured that being a gringa, I stick out like a sore thumb. Well, I was right. He find me easy peasy. Marcelo is a faculty member at the Universidad Austral de Chile where I will be working on my project. He has been incredibly kind and helpful, emailing back and forth with me even though my spanish is terrible. After the bus, he drove me around the city, made sure I had everything I needed, and introdcued me to my new house.
I now am 1 of 3 students living in the nicest, cutest pension. It is conveniently directly across the street from the university. It is quiet, pretty, and the perfec place for me. My room is also really comfortable. I have plenty of space, a desk overlooking the field, a cozy bed, and even a cute little reading chair. My clost here is twice the size of mine at home too! Other than my room, the rest of the house is adorable. It is two stories and is just filled with charm. My new house "mom" is named Mariana and is very sweet. At first, I was freaking out about how fast her and Marcelo speak, but it already has gotten better. I am realizing that I just have to take it slow, ask for help, and listen as much as possible. They even said that I was doing well...I'll take it! The other two people that live here are both students. One from Puerto Rico, and one from the U.S. Having someone else in my same shoes makes me feel a thousand times better. It looks like we will have to help each other a lot.
I really love my living situation here so far. Everyone is nice, and it feels like a little family. Meals are eaten together which allows for a lot of conversation. I LOVE how chileans eat too! Our biggest meal was lunch, which consisted of delicious food made on the wood stove. It made it feel cozier in a weird way. Instead of dinner, we just had what they call "Once" (ohn-say).  It felt very European because it consisted of bread with some meats, cheeses, ham spread, and mashed avocado. To wash it done, was the steaming hot tea. By the time we sat down, half of my body was shivvering because of the temp here. Having no central heat will take some getting used to. The house is heated by a wood stove, which makes it seem more hardcore:) Anyways, the hot tea was perfect. This was a nice meal to end the day because we all just sat and chatted, learned new and random words, and got to know each other. I also brought my house mom wild rice from Minnesota which I think she thought was great.
Overall, a great day. The thing I was freaking out the most about before I left for Chile was my arrival here. I was afraid to be here alone, meet who I would be living with, meet who I would be working with, and try and stay afloat on the language boat. So far, I will chalk this day up as successful. I think I am going to like it here. I actually think I am going to love it here. I guess I will have to revisit this thought on monday when I actually start work, but hopefully it only gets better from here.
Tomorrow is going to be more exploring day. I am sure I will have plenty to talk about:)

See ya dudes.