La Jac Goes to South America.: LLueve sobre la ciudad...

I guess everyone warned me about these last couple of months. They did say they´d be ugly. They said they´d be cold and gray and I think the word they used was "miserable." They said it wouldn't be worth leaving the house. Well, turns out everyone was wrong. I´m not sure if it's my Pollyanna acting up or what, but I think it´s beautiful. There are ferns and moss and raindrops hanging from bare branches. Lots of drizzly walks home past puffing chimneys, with my trail of favorite stray dogs behind me. Every day I still pass a few rhododendrons and the occasional hydrangea in full bloom, despite the fact that today is the equivalent of Yakima´s December 21th. Not too shabby. And today was actually super sunny for awhile. (Sometimes you don´t realize you miss being blinded by sunlight bouncing off car windshields until it happens.)

I imagine some of you have heard talk of that one volcano, Volcán Puyehue. It's actually pretty close, but so far has just been a cloud in the distance. Rumor has it the ash may reach us soon, but not before it travels the globe. This is pretty funny to me since it's only a few hours away, and it´s reached Australia before us, but I guess it must be "downwind" or something. In other news, there are still lots of strikes and protests. For all sorts of things. I don´t really know what is gained by this, but it does mean that classes get cancelled at the last minute a lot. Also, bomb threats are all the rage this semester. Seriously, guys? I've got a French class I want to go to.

So, I have this one class where everything goes wrong. Just everything. I really like it--it has to do with linguistics and language in general--but for some reason everything just goes wrong. That was the class where I had the misunderstanding about the presentation date, etc. The whole semester it has just been thing after thing. When the professor sees me she literally and audibly sighs. From the way she explains things to me I am 100% certain that she thinks I'm pretty dimwitted. No matter how much effort I put into it, things just don´t work out. This is frustrating to me and a little funny. Then, this morning I went to take a test and turns out it wasn't today. When she saw me she just shook her head in amazement and told me in very carefully articulated Spanish that there was no class. I nodded silently and left. "Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name" ...and that you´re not really dumb.

Speaking of this, I have less than a month left. Which is mind-blowing. And maybe it´s because I´m tired and a little on the grumpy side today, but I think maybe I am actually getting a little bit ready to go back home. I just saw some pictures I´d taken driving through the Ellensburg canyon last year and was surprised to notice that it did a funny thing to my stomach. And I am ready to see my family. Ready to go camping with old friends. So excited to dance, eat Reese´s peanut butter cups, play music, make real cookies all day long... and then try to convert Yakima into Chile.

Because I still hate the idea of leaving this place. And I know I´m going to have fight hard to not be that girl. We all know what girl I'm talking about. The one that won´t shut up about "that one time" when she was in Chile. The girl who casually slips Spanish words into conversations with her English-speaking friends and makes a point to find every Spanish speaker within a 20 mile radius.

And yet, my Spanish. Yikes. I´m so far from where I want it to be. I really have learned a lot. And lots of times I forget I´m listening to another language... when just I´m listening. But then I try to create my own sentences and I remember in a hurry that I can't say quite what I want to. Everyone talks about how "after living there for a month or two, you´ll be fluent"--well, either I have a very different concept of fluency or they are very fast learners. But it took more than an hour to win Zamora, so I'll just keep trucking.

And then there´s the elementary school English class I help with. Still as chaotic as ever. This week at one point I had a broom fight going on, a casual soccer game, a group of kids pelting each other with beads from a necklace that had exploded (I think that's why the brooms came out initially) and two kids dutifully trying to learn the English ABCs. We eventually got all these situations under control and joined the two studious ones. The lesson plan said we were supposed to study "hobbies." The examples in the book were a little outlandish. Really, how many 10 year-olds do you know that have picked up rhythmic gymnastics as a "hobby"? Anyway, hobby discussion and a few rounds of Hangman later and we had made it through the whole hour and a half with no casualties. I tell you what, you've got to think on your feet in there or those cute little lions will getcha.

I still just tag along with my family everywhere they go. Yesterday was Father's Day, which meant family events with both sides. This whole family is just so FUNNY and incredibly warm. Still laughing it up with Vale most nights here on the couch. I also hang out at Luz´s house a lot doing homework and just talking. Which is always good for a laugh because she lives with a mismatched group of 9 Chilean girls all studying at the university, who are all very different but very hilarious. I'm also starting to realize I´m really going to miss not living in the same town as some of my gringo friends, too. Erin and Jahni, in particular. What a strange year this is... I love it.

Well, like always I could keep writing for hours, but I will spare you.