A few weeks ago my camera was broken and I was desperate to get it fixed in time for our trip down to Pucon to climb the volcano. I mean, why would I climb a stinkin' volcano if I don't have my camera?!? So as soon as my camera broke, I ran down (literally) to the Canon repair store, which is conveniently located just a 20 minute jog from my new apartment. The guy at the front desk told me that unfortunately it takes two weeks just for them to give you appraisal and then another two weeks to actually fix the camera. This information had been previously confirmed to me by a friend who had taken his camera in a few months before. Even though I was sweaty and disgusting since I had jogged there at around high noon, I could tell the guy giving me the information was sort of checking me out so I batted my eyes a few times and asked him if there was any way he could put it in rush, because I was taking a big trip down South and that would just be such a sweet thing for him to do for a poor little gringa. He acquiesced and said he would be it on rush order at no extra cost. And just in case I needed anything else, his name is Jose Araya, and I should feel free to call him if I need ANYTHING AT ALL. I got my camera back within a week.
About 10 years ago, I arrived in Chile as an exchange student for the first time. I went to live with a family of humble beginnings in the neighborhood Puente Alto of Santiago, and attended colegio (high school) every day with my host sister, Natalia Compagnon Soto. She was nice but we didn't have very much in common and I actually ended up getting along better with her friends. When I left Chile we were on good terms though. Her family planned to send her to the U.S. on her summer vacation, just as I had come to Chile on mine. Natalia's aunt and uncle were actually the ones who were going to pay for her flight and everything. She arrived in the U.S. and even though she was supposed to stay for 2 or 3 months, she never unpacked. She refused to speak English at all. And I totally understand that for a few days. Arriving in a foreign country is intimidating and even more so if you don't feel comfortable speaking in a language that you have had very little practice with. But, after the first week she still didn't want to try. I took her to school with me one day. She was supposed to come every day. But she didn't want to. Instead she stayed home and would call my mom every day to have her order a pizza to be delivered. I can't remember how long she lasted, but she didn't stay with us for very long. I'm really not sure why she hated everything so much. But she went back to Chile a few months earlier than she was supposed to and after that I never heard from her again.
Now you're probably wondering about the significance of the above two stories. Really there is no significance, just that I learned interesting things about both these people recently.
The first guy, Jose Araya, is on a new reality show down here called Amor Ciego. It's a dating program, sort of like the Bachelor, except it's one super hot ex-model girl trying to find a date in a group of normal looking men. Not one of them is super-hot. Not even the Canon guy. I hope he wins!
And my old host-sister is now engaged to the President, Michelle Bachelet's son. They're getting married in March and she's having his baby in August. I found out a long time ago that they were dating. It's a funny story, actually. Flipping through channels one night, I happened across the tail end of a program showing Natalia playing paintball and I was like HOLY SHIT I KNOW THAT GIRL!!! I was freaking out, but I only caught the last two seconds of the show so I figured they were doing a story on paintball and she just happened to be a player. Or something like that. Then, like a month later, I was rolling up old newspapers at the beach house to start a fire. They were REALLY old, like from last year. One fell to the floor and I saw her picture again! I was so surprised, so I salvaged the newspaper from the fire and read the story on her only to find out she's dating the son of the most important woman in the whole country.
Pretty random, right?
Monday, January 7, 2008
Small World
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11 comments:
Natalia managed to last only two weeks with us. Granted when she came it was blizzard like conditions during that period and it was high summer in Santiago so I can't blame her for not being intrigued with the circumstances.
But just so your readers don't get the wrong impression, we are not a bad family to stay with and we have sucessfully hosted 2 other exchange students, one who actually stayed with us twice because she loved it so much!!
Holy cow that is hilarious. You should stop a gossip magazine with your connections!
(And your mom's comment is really funny, too!)
Jayna
Mom, I always wondered why Natalia left so early. Now I know, it was the snow. Thanks for clearing that up. Damn Michigan!
Jayna, I know, I roll with the movers and the shakers down here in Chile, what can I say? :P
with all these famosos passing your way maybe big brother is just waiting for you to audition!?
I can´t believe grumpy don´t want to learn english is getting married to the presidents son! maybe she became worldly after her stint in the US...
NOTE: I come from a warm climate and if I had of arrived in a snow filled city I would have loved it! I would have tried to do all those things you always see in American movies, sledding, ice skating, snow men, wrap me up in a balaclava and ski pants and bring on the culture change! xx
Isn't life funny? Those two stories are not random at all!
And you're right...it is a small world.
I remember I was in Italy on the farm my dad grew up on. I heard someone speaking English and basically ran to them screaming "ENGLISH!?". What can I say, I was desperate and suffering because I don't speak the language. A girl answered and we got to talking. Turns out she was from Vancouver as well and that her dad and my dad were friends. But not from Italy, from Vancouver. What are the chances?!
Thanks for sharing your two small world stories.
More on your using your womanly super powers to get your way!
Kyle, in the article you read, what did Natalia Compagnon Soto say about her feelings about the United States?
Also, do you have a picture of her - even from the article? Just scan it or even take a picture of the picture, and slap it up here. You won't regret it.
Will, the article just mentioned that she and her fiance were going to go to Washington D.C. to either do an internship or go to grad school or maybe both. I can't quite remember.
I'll email my mom to see if she has any pictures of me with Natalia from when she was with us, but at that time nobody in my family owned a digital camera so it's not very likely. I googled to try and find a current picture of her but there weren't any available. And the article I read, I used as kindling. Why do you want a picture???
Holy crap. That is wild!
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