Hey everyone. I just got back from my first basketball game. Since my Chilean sister Macarena came down to Chile from Miami, I have been in full on baskeball/family mode. Nothing too interesting but I'll talk about some things that have been going on in my life.
We had our first basketball game today as a team. They took some pictures I will try to get a hold of them ASAP to let you see what we're working with! The game didn't go so hot. I was able to start with some other good players on the team, and we were full of energy and got up early. At one point late in the 2nd quarter we were up 7 points, a comfortable lead we would have liked to keep going into half time. We started to get a little tired and our coach made some subs. I guess he decided to put all the slowest players on the team in at the same time becuase in those 6 minutes or so we lost a 14 point swing and were down 7 at half time.
We never corrected our ways and since we got down we felt pressured into taking some dumb shots. I only took two shots the second half but I think the team felt rushed and hurried since we were down and things just got out of control. We need to practice a lot more and hopefully we will be able to correct our mistakes and improve in the future.
Well this is pretty much the only thing going on in my life. I play University basketball (I love saying that even though I doubt you'll see me on ESPN anytime soon) I also play on a side league with my coach and another ex-player, so I am playing at least 4 times a week, I go to the gym every other day, I have 4 classes, and I just started my community service! Its a full plate but its tough to write a good story about running suicides in practice or lifting tiny weights at the gym!
The important thing is I am learning the language the best I can. Almost every night I talk with my friend Cecilia...she wants to be an English teacher, but she speaks better English than I do Spanish, so we talk in Spanish so I can get better...she is really understanding and a good teacher. She teaches me basic Spanish phrases and I teach her ghetto hood rap terms in English...ya digg?
Well now I will cover one of my more interesting subjects in cultural difference-Relationships.
Relationships are very different down here. First off, kids don't move out of their parent's houses until they are at LEAST 26. It's not uncommon to find 30 year old "kids" living with their parents. So that makes relationships a little bit different...it is not to say that young adults don't have relationships when they live with their parents though. Now you may be thinking...do they have any privacy in the relationship if they live with their parents?-HA!
They have figured out the ultimate secret to privacy...why use it? Everywhere you look there are people hooking up HARD with their significant others. Eyes closed on the metro, lips smacking, tongue swapping serious stuff. Laying down in the grass at a crowded park going at it...no problem. They must be watching too much MTV!
Another interesting thing is marriage here. Marriage is pretty normal, but the idea of divorce was just recently introduced into Chilean culture. Back in the day (maybe 15-20 years ago) divorce was illegal...you got what you signed up for and promised to God. But in the last 2 decades, divorced was legalized, and the Chileans are still kind of figuring it out.
Eduardo and my Chilean mom broke up a few years ago, he has a new woman (wife? not sure) but he still comes over almost every day and my mom makes him lunch. It is a very awkward relationship. They act like best friends, and like he is part of the family...but he only comes over for some family activities and meals! I have heard that a lot of other families are the same way...the culture is a little different!
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