The Oooool' Catch-Up (ketchup) Game

I am woman enough to acknowledge when I've been shirking my responsibilities.  And when it comes to this blog, I've been shirking hardcore.  Rather than beg your forgiveness and provide you with a number of very legitimate, but nonetheless unsatisfying excuses, I'll just tell you what I've been up to (which, if you want to split hairs, might just be a sneaky way of making excuses).

1.  Lollapalooza and Southern Chile.  I made reference to said trip in my last post and consequently left you all hanging on tenterhooks for a month, wondering how it went.  I know that what I did was cruel, that the suspense has been eating away at you... so I'll spill.
     Lollapalooza was a treat.  The best acts I saw were Francisca Valenzuela, Chico Trujillo (both Chilean), Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and, well, KANYE.  The only blight on my good times was that time that, due to some iffy crowd control, I got caught in a stampede trying to see Devendra Banhart and almost got trampled like Simba in the Lion King.  It was wild!  So wild, in fact that I almost lost a Birkenstock in the mayhem.  (But don't worry...I didn't ACTUALLY lose a Birkenstock.  Just almost.)  Near-tramplings and mortal threats to my crunchiness aside, I had a blast!  The music was great, it was a perfect, sunny weekend, and I was wearing a truly exceptional fanny-pack the whole time.  And, as far as I'm concerned, it's pretty much impossible to have a bad time in a good fanny-pack.

    If Lolla was great, Southern Chile was DOWNRIGHT STUPENDOUS.  I spent six days roaming around Chile's lakes region with my friends and Midd peers, Katie and Andrew.  In that time, we were able to see the mystical island of Chiloe (a GORGEOUS island literally shrouded in mist), Lagos Llanquihue and Todos Los Santos (crystal clear waters nestled in between towering volcanoes), and Valdivia (beer and chocolate...what more can I say?) The views were great, the weather was stellar, and my travel companions were top-notch.  It was the trip of a lifetime.  I think I'll leave it at that and let the pictures do the talking, but for a more comprehensive review, please see my friend Katie's blog post.

2.  MY PARENTS CAME TO VISIT!  Tom and Amber (affectionately known as T&A) spent Holy Week with me here in Chile.  I did the whole family-meet-family thing, translated my buns off, and showed my parents all of my favorite haunts in Viña and Valpo.  For their part, they fed me and my friends EXTREMELY well, put me up in luxury hotels, took me on a wine tour, and showered me in love.  They even brought a little hunk o' sconny with them for my host dad (see photo below)!! It was great to see them and show them around this little corner of the world that has come to mean so much to me.  I miss them already.

3.  My Internship.  I've been spending between 10 and 20 hours a week at the urgent care center where I have my internship.  From my time shadowing doctors, I've learned a ton about primary care and, more specifically, about the public healthcare system here in Chile, its strengths and its weaknesses.  When I can, I help out taking vital signs and assist in minor procedures.  Best of all, thanks to my time at the SAPU, I can make fast friends at parties by whipping out a delightfully graphic story about lancing a puss-filled cyst in a man's groin!!!!  ...Any takers? 

4.  School.  Anyone who tells you that study abroad is just a 5-month vacation that you get college credit for...well...isn't me.  I've been going to classes, reading like you wouldn't believe, practicing my written Spanish in my journal, learning to take and develop photos, and studying for tests/quizzes.  On top of all that, I've had to keep Bowdoin happy, taking care of housing and classes for next semester, planning for some on-campus research this summer, and sorting out a few extra projects to spice up my senior year.  

But what all this boils down to is that I've been having the time of my life.  Please excuse the EXTREMELY patchy bloggage and I hope to write again soon!!!  As always, drop me a line if there's a specific topic you want to hear more about. ;)

Attentively Yours,
Kate