lauren_wappelhorst

Merry Christmas

I am sitting on the couch as my mom is trying to convince me that Hallmark movies are the way to go. I am thoroughly unconvinced of this, because her judge of a good movie is that it makes you cry. Unfortunately, my sister and I have officially been sucked in. Watching fate bring two people together during the Christmas season, could you ask for anything better? Every year the Christmas season has always seemed so stressful. My mom is amazing, but she is always the one who wants everything perfect. First thing up is the Christmas tree with all of her beautiful ornaments. I swear, that tree looks picture perfect every year. It’s like she an unflinching system of where each ornament goes exactly. What’s not fun, is that after the tree, she likes everything else to be perfect as well. The lights outside must be put up around each tree, the decorations around the house, and the menus prepared for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This Christmas was different, because my mom started a new job. She has been working all the time, with very little spare time here at home. The tree was put up, but she didn’t worry about all of the other little things. All of the spare time she had at home, we spent playing cards and drinking hot chocolate. I had amazing family time without the constant nagging of making everything perfect. With all of those annoyances aside, we managed to take turns cleaning, cooking, and shopping throughout the week. This has been by far my favorite Christmas ever. Plus, since it was my sister’s first semester away, it was a nice little reunion. I got a lot of texts from people at school, and I am so excited to be back! My mom and I spent time after dinner talking about me going back to Residence Life. She was a Girl scout leader for a long time, so she loves being creative and coming up with new ideas. We bounced all sorts of ideas around, and now I am very excited to go back. I even went back and watched episodes of dorm-life. I can’t wait to go back as a Resident Assistant; I just hope that I am up for the challenge! Aside from that, I hope that everyone out there is having a safe Christmas. I hope that the food turned out delicious, and I hope you made beautiful memories with your loved ones! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Happy Christmas Eve

I finally slept in! Let me tell you, it was the most glorious morning of my life. I fell asleep reading this amazing book last night, and I woke up to a rainstorm outside. I know it woke me up, but it was so calming listening to rain as I fell back asleep! My family knows I have been running around like crazy, so they let me be this morning. I finally rolled out of bed around noon, and I went straight downstairs to these perfect new running shoes that I got for Christmas. My dad and I hit up Fleet Feet yesterday, and I got new shoes to start training for a marathon next fall. It’s pretty far off, but I have never before imagined myself training for a full marathon. I am def not a runner. In fact, I kind of hate running. However, the feeling I get when I accomplish a running goal is too fantastic to quit. I am excited, because the UIW track team helped come up with a training routine when I did the San Antonio half marathon last year. It’s nice to know that athletics is so willing to help me out, even though I am not a UIW athlete. That is just another perk of going to a smaller school. Everyone is more than willing to help you out, whether they are your teacher or advisor or just an acquaintance through the school! I think I am also going to make an appointment with health services when I get back, because I am going to become a vegetarian. One downfall of new vegetarians is lack of protein in their diet, so I want to make sure I stay healthy. I was planning on waiting until the fifth to go back to school, but I want to make sure I see the lights. The UIW Christmas lights are the highlight of my holiday spirit, and I need to make sure I experience them this year before they start taking them down. That being said, I think I am going to rock campus sometime next week! I am so excited to get back to San Antonio. I love Christmas time with my family, but I have already started packing up things to take back to the dorm. However, I know this semester will be very busy, so I am trying to soak up all the family time I can. Happy Christmas Eve to everyone! I hope you are enjoying this time with your loved ones!

Howdy Texas

My first week back home has just flown by. I arrived last Monday morning, after the best experience ever on Air Canada. I am not a new representative, but I would definitely endorse their airline. The attendants are incredibly helpful, and their planes are state of the art. Each person has a personal touch screen with unlimited movies, TV shows, and music. I don’t if I mentioned this but “I’ve Gotta Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas basically became our anthem in Chile, and I listened to it at least 10 times on the way back home, trying to savor my last moments of travel. True to his word, my dad had milk and cereal waiting in the car for me, which was incredible! I spent the day with my parents and I visited some family friends. The next day I went around with some friends from high school, and then my sister came into town to kidnap me. My sister goes to SFA, and she wanted help moving rooms. That adventure lasted a few days, but I am so glad that I went. I caught up with a friend from high school who is an RA for freshmen. It was so great talking about Residence Life, who I had an interview with last Friday. I officially got offered a job yesterday, and I am thrilled to be part of the team again. I will be working with freshmen girls, which is my absolute favorite group of students to work with. I mean not to be sexist or ageist or anything of that nature, but freshmen girls have it going on. Being a Resident Assistant for freshmen is such an incredible experience. College years provide the biggest transition in your life, and I love watching these girls leave home and become independent and confident in the University. Walking around campus with my sister made me realize just how excited I am to be back on campus. We have an upcoming pep rally after the New Year, and I plan to go all out!! I am for sure one of those nerds who dresses up for school events, so I am trying to find all the red and black that I can. I know it is superficial, but I am so happy with my school colors! Seeing people with Cardinal Spirit, dressed in black, red, and white, is such a cool view. I am going to have to get more eye black, so I can get all hardcore for sports events. Like I said, I am a little over the top when it comes to school spirit. I don’t mind making a fool of myself, though, because all of our sports events are a blast!! After getting back from SFA, my friend came to visit for a few days. We went to the Live Nativity at my Church, where we helped set up for a walk through of Bethlehem and the Christmas story. I hadn’t really felt the Christmas spirit, but that event was just beautiful! I am so excited to be back at Church where I can understand everything, but I am already missing Spanish mass. One of my dad’s closest friends from college is a priest at a bilingual Church in San Antonio, so I plan to volunteer there and keep up my practice. I finally just unpacked my bags from Chile, so now I have to start my organization process. I brought so much stuff home when I moved out of the dorms, and, compared to that, I barely took anything to Chile. This experience has made me realize that I can live with less stuff. I am trying to consolidate what I have, so I won’t have such a huge hassle when it comes to moving back in. I am so excited! I will be living in Hillside II, which has been renamed. I just can’t remember what it is called! I will be working with good friends and have a fantastic room! I am going back January 5^th, so I am trying to spend as much time with my family as possible. Tonight we all played cards, which, of course, my dad and I dominated. I like having all four of us under one roof. As we get older I know we will have less family time, so I really cherish having a few weeks at home. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, which is hard for me to believe, so I am off to wrap presents and help out with baked goods.

Chao Chile

The day is here. It’s so funny, because people always tell you that experiences like this will just fly by. I seriously feel like I have been in Chile forever, and it’s hard for me to imagine what like will be like outside. I have truly adjusted to the culture. This morning I happily paid for a bathroom in a public place, knowing that tomorrow I will have all the free public restrooms that I want. Ok, I know that is a silly example. I have learned to live on Chilean time, not showing up to anything punctual. I love sleeping in, and now I stay up late. I can’t remember the last time I ate dinner before 8pm, which I am going to have to adjust since the cafeteria at UIW isn’t open that late. I have full out become a beach bum, and I will be able to show off my rockin tan just in time for Christmas. I have grown accustomed to getting attention everywhere I go. I am used to people staring and pointing, and I know that becoming the majority again will be a little bit sad. Walking 45 minutes to go to the store is nothing, and I am able to use all sorts of public transportation. However, I have never walked 45 minutes anywhere in San Antonio, and most of my friends have cars. Palta, or avocado, is a staple part of my diet, and I just don’t know what I will do without it. I did call my parents this morning, and I am so excited to see my family. I can’t wait to see everyone that I have been missing so much this semester. I am stoked to go back for the giant pep rally at UIW at the beginning of next semester. I want to see our famous San Antonio lights before they start taking them down. The lights on UIW campus are by far my favorite part of the holiday season in San Antonio. I am excited to be back and involved on campus. Being out of group activities for so long has def taken a toll on me. I miss books, and I can’t wait to spend all my time in the library reading everything that I can get my hands on. Being in a country where they are no libraries and books are extremely expensive has been a bummer. I know that there will be water works at the airport today as I leave my friends, but we are already planning to meet up. I am so excited to have these people in my life. I do miss my UIW family, though, and I am ready to get back on campus as we welcome in the New Year.

Oh My, Starry Eyed Surprise

Yesterday I got back from my last Chilean adventure with my friend. I am going to miss public transportation so much, because we decided last minute to pack backpacks and head out to the bus station. We found a bus for La Serena for about $15, which is great since it is 7 hours away. La Serena boasts a gorgeous beach and is a famous historical town. We used couch surfing and spent the night with a Chilean student. He was so great! He bought us dinner and we had once together and had hours of conversation switching back and forth between English and Spanish. We only got a few hours asleep, because we got up at six am to leave for Elkie Valley. There are several small towns in that area about two hours outside of La Serena that are famous for their vineyards and it boasts the second most famous star observatory in the world. We went around to a few of the small towns, bought the most delicious honey ever, and rocked a lot of art booths. We saw some gorgeous old churches, and then we got a free tour of a distillery where they make famous pisco. It was great. My friend and I were the only two people on the tour, so she spoke slowly for us. It was great getting a tour in Spanish and actually understanding what was going on! We also saw some famous places that Gabriela Mistral worked at. Finally we ended up in Vicuna, where we found the cutest little hostel on the outside of town. We were exhausted from our travels and went to bed around nine pm, after we set an alarm for midnight. Like I said, the skies are extremely clear there, so at midnight we woke up and went outside to check it out. I am telling you, I have never seen so many stars in one place. It was incredible! The sky was just shimmering with stars I had never seen. We picked out some of the constellations that we knew, and then just saw them completely surrounded with other stars. We also saw two shooting stars, which was beautiful. The next morning we got up and found a bus back into town. It was a great adventure. This morning I had breakfast with some friends and their host family. The mom asked me if I was leaving tomorrow, and my immediate reaction was to say “No, I am leaving on Sunday.” That is when it hit me that Sunday is tomorrow. I am leaving Chile tomorrow. Now as I sit here in my bedroom it doesn’t seem real, because my room is a mess with last minute gifts, and I absolutely have not started packing. Oh well, that is what tomorrow is for. Today I need to disfrutar here in Vina!

Tuesday

The reminiscing has begun! First off, my friend and I had the greatest adventure last night. I had planned on doing that all night walk, but the advisor of the UVM program strongly pushed me to reconsider. I figured he knows what he is talking about since he lives here in Vina, so I went over to hang out with my friend instead. We had been invited to an asado, but we didn’t know exactly where it was. Someone text my friend directions, but he accidently left his phone in his room. I didn’t have any minutes on my phone, but we figured we would find a pharmacy in the city we were headed towards. The asado was in Con Con which is about twenty minutes outside of Vina. We hopped on the micro and embarked on our adventure. Only, we grabbed the wrong micro which landed us in Renaca, which is the town right before Con Con. We asked some women for directions on which micro to take and finally found one that we hoped would put us in the right direction. We met a man on the micro who had studied in London and was talking to us in English trying to help us figure out where to go. He pointed us in the right direction, and he helped us find a pharmacy where I could put money on my phone. Finally, we could call and get legit instructions. That was our thought until we realized that the pharmacy was closed. There was a huge outdoor concert going on a few streets over, so we headed over to a store by the concert. They thankfully had a public phone, but we absolutely do not know how to use them here. If you are trying to call a cell phone number then you have to dial special numbers before. Thankfully, there was this amazing lady standing nearby that completely helped us out. She dialed for us and everything! We got a hold of our friend just in time to learn that the asado had been fome and they went back to Vina. Hahaha. It was the best adventure ever! By the time we got back to our friend’s house, it had been a three hour trip! It was great though, because we stayed up really late exchanging our favorite stories from this semester. These people have become family. We have shared such an incredible experience together this semester. I just don’t want it to end. Don’t get me wrong, I am very excited to get home to friends and family, but I am truly trying to live up every moment that I can. Today I walked all over Vina, finally buying gifts that I have been looking at all semester. I went to the beach with my friend Becca, and it was just so relaxing. Now that school is over, it’s just like I am on vacation! Though tonight I am going to sit down and go through all of my school stuff. I am going to condense all of the most important Spanish tips, because there is no way that I could bring EVERYTHING back! Alright, that is what’s up on my final Tuesday here in Chile. I am living it up in the sun while all the UIW students are stressing over finals. Life is GREAT!

Tuesday

The reminiscing has begun! First off, my friend and I had the greatest adventure last night. I had planned on doing that all night walk, but the advisor of the UVM program strongly pushed me to reconsider. I figured he knows what he is talking about since he lives here in Vina, so I went over to hang out with my friend instead. We had been invited to an asado, but we didn’t know exactly where it was. Someone text my friend directions, but he accidently left his phone in his room. I didn’t have any minutes on my phone, but we figured we would find a pharmacy in the city we were headed towards. The asado was in Con Con which is about twenty minutes outside of Vina. We hopped on the micro and embarked on our adventure. Only, we grabbed the wrong micro which landed us in Renaca, which is the town right before Con Con. We asked some women for directions on which micro to take and finally found one that we hoped would put us in the right direction. We met a man on the micro who had studied in London and was talking to us in English trying to help us figure out where to go. He pointed us in the right direction, and he helped us find a pharmacy where I could put money on my phone. Finally, we could call and get legit instructions. That was our thought until we realized that the pharmacy was closed. There was a huge outdoor concert going on a few streets over, so we headed over to a store by the concert. They thankfully had a public phone, but we absolutely do not know how to use them here. If you are trying to call a cell phone number then you have to dial special numbers before. Thankfully, there was this amazing lady standing nearby that completely helped us out. She dialed for us and everything! We got a hold of our friend just in time to learn that the asado had been fome and they went back to Vina. Hahaha. It was the best adventure ever! By the time we got back to our friend’s house, it had been a three hour trip! It was great though, because we stayed up really late exchanging our favorite stories from this semester. These people have become family. We have shared such an incredible experience together this semester. I just don’t want it to end. Don’t get me wrong, I am very excited to get home to friends and family, but I am truly trying to live up every moment that I can. Today I walked all over Vina, finally buying gifts that I have been looking at all semester. I went to the beach with my friend Becca, and it was just so relaxing. Now that school is over, it’s just like I am on vacation! Though tonight I am going to sit down and go through all of my school stuff. I am going to condense all of the most important Spanish tips, because there is no way that I could bring EVERYTHING back! Alright, that is what’s up on my final Tuesday here in Chile. I am living it up in the sun while all the UIW students are stressing over finals. Life is GREAT!

Family Time

Best lunch ever! After spending a week away from my family, I realized how much I am going to miss them when I leave. Today my mom and I had lunch together, and I had such a good time talking to her. She updated me on all of the information for the pilgrimage which is taking place on Monday. She is going to prepare snacks and water for me for the long night of walking. I think I am going to be walking for 15 hours straight. Isn’t that insane? Though, it will be really low key, so that is nice. Today was my first day in my last run of beach days! It was fantastic being back on the Vina beach, instead of freezing in the South! After the beach I picked up some delicious pasta, way too much may I add. Our friend Erin is running the marathon tomorrow, so we had a pasta dinner so that she could carb load. You would think after a straight week of pasta I would never want to eat it again, but tonight with pesto sauce it was delicious! It was so fun sitting in the kitchen reminiscing about our semester here together. Today I had to say my final goodbyes to two of my good friends from the program, and that was weird. It felt like a regular goodbye, but now it’s like, oh, weird. I know the next nine days are going to be full of moments like that, but it’s still a tad surreal. Studying abroad has been one of the most incredible experiences ever, and I don’t know if I am ready for it to come to an end yet. I def need to finish building my tan first!

I Survived the W

I am back alive in Vina. Wow, the experience is just way to incredible. This past week I was down in the VERY south of Chile in Patagonia. There is this huge national park that people from all over the world go to visit. To sum up, we hiked 54 miles in five days. Intense much? I went with my friends Mia, Derek, Brent, and Marcel. We rented a tent, had our huge backpacks full of gear and food, and headed for the park. The first two nights we camped by the most beautiful lake I have ever seen in my entire life. During that day, we did our first day hike to Glacier Grey. I saw my first glacier! We also had our first taste of stream water, and it was the most delicious water I have ever had in my life. I am going to be a water snob from now on. Our hardest day was six hours straight hiking with all of our gear, but it was totally worth it. Everything was so diverse! There were snow capped mountains, green forests, snow, rain, lots of cold, sun, ice bergs, and open fields. I have never seen anything like it in my life. I thought hiking Machu Picchu in Peru was hard on my body, but this was by far the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life! We were laughing at how much we all enjoyed misery. I mean, isn’t it a funny concept that we pay money to put ourselves in such harsh conditions?! Totally worth it though! Everyone should try and rock Patagonia sometime! Definitely a beautiful experience!!!!