I am that gullible

This has nothing whatsoever to do with Chilean language or culture, but I am going to tell you the story anyway because it's pretty funny. Last evening, Australia Thomas called to let me know that his cousin Gary had just arrived on a surprise visit from Australia. This was exciting news, for surely the cousin of Thomas must be just as funny as he! Thomas lamentably had to go back home to finish preparing for a test the next day, but he told me to go to Ken's house in Viña to meet Gary. I called on the way, and Ken sounded excited enough to explode. Upon arriving, I met this dashing man from Australia, who had an uncanny resemblance to Thomas.... quite the resemblance, so much so it was unnerving. He had a surprisingly different accent and a different way of talking. He ushered me to where everyone else was excitedly talking about their new friend, who was now excitedly asking about how my time in Chile has been. By this point almost two minutes had elapsed. I began to think that he looked exactly the same as Thomas, like a brother... yes, I was looking at my friend who was pretending to be another person and did not realize it. All he did was cut his hair and borrow a jacket and take off his rings and change his accent and I bought it. I was staring at someone I knew the whole time, and Gary does not exist. Believe it, but also know that the entire thing was rather convincing, elaborately concocted about 25 minutes before my arrival and coordinated between about 8 different people. Thomas then attempted to convince me that Gary was real but died in a bus accident, and then called his dad in Australia to talk to me so I would believe it. Turns out the call was to Jono, which in fact is not his dad's name, and Jono was standing in the next room. I did not buy that, or that he has "flash cancer." I will have you know that I once convinced Thomas that I threw javelin, and that one time I impaled someone (at least I think he was convinced...) Jono didn't buy it. This was the third ridicules trick that was successfully played on me. This group of friends shall from now on be know as the liars, mentirosos.

Today Dani and I went on an outing to the Botanical Garden in Viña, a fun 20 minute micro ride from our house. The garden contained plants from all over the world, including a display of plants from Robinson Crusoe Island, which is a territory of Chile. There were some pretty awesome trees which apparently are naturally orange (Thomas probably spray painted them) and lots of neat little pathways, ending at a lake. Or lakebed, as it was empty for some reason. The highlight of this trip though was the fountain near the lake. Actually, it was what was in the fountain; what was probably the biggest frog in South America. It was honestly the size of my hand, both palm and fingers, without it's legs outstretched. It was GIGANTOID! Dani said it was "como un perro," like a dog. We like to use that comparison a lot, for pelicans (which really are larger than many dogs), frogs, giant rats... Anyway, it was insane.

This afternoon I decided to have my first experience with street food, and of course started with sopaipillas. These are kind of flat scones served with a variety of sauces, traditionally chancaca sauce and served on rainy days. When I was visiting Rapa Nui, one of the ladies at the hostel served us sopaipillas on a rainy day, and now I realize that this is customary. I ate mine today with salsa with cilantro. My thought is this: I will have to change my route so I don't walk past the sopaipilla stands and buy all of them at once.

Another favorite activity: the swings in Plaza Recreo. I like to swing on my way back from class when there are no little kids there. However, every time I get a swing a parent always brings a little kid, too young for the big swings and slide, but perfect size for see-saw and the tiny swings. I love when they come; the little kid always stares at me and waves, and the mom talks in slow easy sentences, and the entire event is amazingly adorable to watch.

After my swing I had my lunch/once, which included the following: artichoke with mayo (yesterday too, but with the lemon sauce), spaghetti with fried eggs on top, spaghetti with avocado, and cauliflower with these weird bean things that I can never remember the name of. I need to stop ending sentences with prepositions. Try mixing everything in your next meal together and see what happens.

Today's thought on Chile culture is this: "When the metro moves, you move with it. When it stops, so do you. When it goes, so do you." My Chile language and culture prof said that in class today. He was referencing the change in culture and what your expectations are when you live somewhere else. Of course it is going to be different, and you will be jostled around. If you live the same way you would at home, the culture will move around you, but if you are part of the experience, you will be carried along. Cliche yes, but applicable I think.