It's chilly en Chile while eating chili.

Dear wonderful readers. It's been a great journey to and from Chile and I am officially back in the States (as of last week Thursday). It's been an interesting time this past week in terms of gettin used to my family, its habits, English, and a boat load of other things, but today's blog will give you a hint into the reverse culture shock that I've been experiencing (and make me miss Chile).

Maturing?
  So, if you know me, you might say I'm a pretty mature person and couldn't possibly think of any more ways for me to mature. But ladies and gents. It's true: Ife is still maturing! In Chile, I only lived with 3 other people and they are all adults so the place was quite clean all the time, however, when I got back to my house...there was a pile of dishes, my room had been invaded my all the members in the family and the whole place seemed to be choking me. That's when I realized a change had occurred. I wanted to clean so badly and put the house back into order. It was the part of me that had changed while I was there and gotten used to cleaniness, neatness and the sorts. But it wasn't just that, it was the fact that I wanted to do it. I don't really like chores, but this hadn't bothered me much. In the mornings, if I see dishes in the sink, I stack them and clear out the dishwasher. If I see schnibbles of paper on the floor, I don't walk over them; I pick them up and whatever else in the vacinity that seems out of place. Ife.Has.Arrived.

Onces?
   If you read previous blogs, I've mentioned onces a few times. It's the tea time in Chile that comes after lunch. Instead of dinner, they have a light meal consisting of bread, tea, palta, ham, queso, and other finger foods. Having come back to the states, I wanted to each onces. For me, it was more than just the food and how cute it was to eat at 7pm little crackers and tea, it was the whole family eating together and waiting for one another (at least in my host family) to sit down to eat. My family in the States doesn't do that so I guess Onces was something I've missed a lot and would like to have here, but we've tried eating together...doesn't work since we all have so different of schedules.

Español?
  Uds. no entienden como quiero hablarlo casi cada día. Por eso, decidí avisar a mi amigo, quien vive acá en E.E.U.U. pero hablar español bastante bien, que vamos a hablarlo todo el tiempo! Era mi idea pero él quiso hablar tambien para que no lo pierda. Voy a tomar 2 clases de español el próximo semestre en mi universidad por lo tanto no voy a preocuparme demasiado. Sin embargo, quiero seguir conversando con mis amigos/amigas y todos que hablan esp. Mi familia no entiende nada de esp y, además, habla yoruba (idioma de Nigeria), lo que no hablo bien. no importa...tengo tiempo porque tengo ganas de hablarlo medio bien. jaja

Well, the list continues with going in to kiss everyone, but realizing it's not a thing here. jaja. It's so funny because I wasn't in the ambiente de dar besos todo el tiempo pero ahora I think I hug isn't complete without un beso. And bread is just NOT the same. I can't eat bread here anymore..it's like I'd be committing a crime to each sliced bread instead of pan batido..don't get be started on alfajores. I brought some to the states and my family hasn't touched them...besides the fact that these chocolately goodness snacks are delicious, alfajores are like....essential to the Chilean well being (not really, but I was on a roll).

Aight..I'm done. As I continue my culture shock experiences, I'll inform you of anything rather disturbing that goes on. Much love, snow and besossss for each and everyone of you.

I've missed you all and am glad to be back on this side north of the equator.

Love, peace and elbow grease...
    Ife 'Quipayan' S.

Notes from my subconscious

Dear friends,

As of Wednesday night, I was officially stressed.
It's not even that I feel rushed, it's that my subconscious that tells me that I'm stressed.

I've had rather strange dreams these past nights.
Some of them seem to be relevant to my present life, but other are just really weird.

For example, I finally finished taking down my braids of 3 months and decided I should fix it or at least make it look decent. I found a industry sized comb that would handle the jungle of my hair and after washing it, putting lots of conditioner, it started drying and I knew it was time to tackle it head on. I found lots of knots during this process which meant lots of hair falling out (blah). I deeply despise seeing my hair fall out. I don't know why but I just can't stand to see it.

"Arg".

"Qué te pasó" asked my Chilean sister Pauli.

"Todo mi pelo está cayendo!" I said in a frustrated, half laughing voice.

Later that night, I had a dream that more hair was falling out. My mom, aunty, sister and I were seated in our small sized bathroom at home on stools and discussing my hair.

Ladies and gents, you know I'm stressed. Pssh. Hope it passes quick 'cause my subconscious is really catching on about my true fears.