Some changes in plans, looks like we don't travel this week, but there is a reason ;) We probably go to Santiago over the weekend :D

Just a little thing to remember good old times :)

Welcome from the great country of Chile,

another week has gone by. All in all I sadly have to admit nothing very interesting happened. Most of the time I was busy working on the finance case studies, which I finally finished. Thank you Anni and also Jurriaan for printing ;) Then there was the beach time with relaxing and a couple of times walking around the city. And of course not to forget all the great chats with you guys, being at Annis Birthday cake eating event was really almost like being back in DEG and all the interesting, sometimes wierd, but really great and fun talks with?, yeah, you, Ugur, who gave me Motivation to go on working :D , you already saved my day again today with your great guest book entry ;)   (--> I already told him I will write something ;) )

So now to what's new. Stefan and me finally came up with a place we both want to travel to, the only bad thing is we tried to book it, but, wierd system here, you can't book the bus online, if you don't have a tax number... Anyhow, doesn't matter we will go tomorrow into the city and try our luck with booking it directly, I can just hope that the people will understand what we want from them :D Oh, yeah you might want to know where we actually want to go to now ;) It's a city called Pucón in the lake area of Chile, which is about 900km from Vina and will take us 12 1/2 hours in a night bus. I will search a picture and put it in here ;)

Then last night we had a game night with the family here, primarly to learn more spanish and spend some time with them. It was fun, we drank a lot of peach wine and played a game which seemed at the beginning a bit like romée, but it wasn't and I forgot the name, something what sounded close to karaoke, but it was fun.

Okay I will go on with studying spanish now, after I have to improve fast, so I will be ready to talk, when Sergio calls to practise :D

Miss you all

weekend again!!!

Hi friends and family,

it's me all over again :D

It is weekend and we are in Chile now for almost 2 weeks. I am still working on my finance case studies...just takes up too much time.

First of all I want to add something to my last post, I actually found the best beach spot now and therefore also the best idea about jobs on the beach :D At the one place they put up those high tables, really nice and clean and they are offering massages and just a few meters away from there are those nice relaxing things up on the beach, which kind of look like beds, just to be there and enjoy the day... The best day to go to this part of the beach is saturday afternoon, then all the companies which bring out new products are giving out samples ;)

Last night then we did something for our education and went to a classical concert we got invited to. It was actually pretty good. I loved the arena where it was located at and it was really impressive with all those instruments playing together, muy lindo.

Today then in the morning or lets say more around noon after we had breakfast around 10.30, Claudia came and asked if we want to join going to the Derby ( the day before, at the beach, we already got tickets for free entrance ;) ) so we thought why not, finance can wait lets go. I needed some distraction anyways after I couldn't await the big game ( SUPER BOWL ) to start.

Then like so often already Yolanda, Claudia, Isi, Stefan and me climbed all in the car and drove to another part of the City. The ride is always already pretty exciting, one little girl in a car seat and 4 people in a little car going up and down the hills of Vina, but actually yesterday on the way home from the concert we had a car next to us with 4 or 5 kids on the backseat, that was already almost scary, don't even want to think about what could happen, if they need to go a bit harder on the break once... Back to the story so, we went to the Derby, a bit annoying was, we were supposed to pay for parking also we just parked along the street... a bit wierd. Anyways we were there and first of all Claudia went to buy some tickets or she set money on one or two horses, then we went over to the place where you can see the horses race. Isi just loved watching all the caballos and Stefan had a good time playing something like catch with her :) Then the race started and it was really interesting and the people all got up from there seats and it was big excitement in the air and a minute later it was all like before, just a few more happy faces and some sad people. All in all it was really great being there and see something live you usually only know from TV.

When we were back home we had lunch, today Salad, like always, then Steak with Rice and French Fries and afterwards fruits --> really healthy and so good tasting, we always have a ton of fruits and veggies in the house.

Later on the big game finally started and I have to say it was really really really a big game, I literally almost died a couple of times of excitement. I have to say since my time in the US I became a fan of American Football and through Larry I got to know the Steelers, since then I try to at least follow some of the games, which is difficult with the time difference, but the Super Bowl is still a big event and especially this year with the Steelers being in it again, like in my first Super Bowl ever in 2006 where they won against Seattle, just that it was a lot more exciting this year, especially towards the end where it looked like the Cardinals would win and I wanted to throw something at the TV, but I knew the Steelers would try something in the last 3 or so minutes and then in the last minute got a Touch Down  --  YEAH --  27:23, what a game... Thanks Maren and Stefan and also Anni to share this event with me.

That was all about my great weekend, hope you all had as great of a time as me

Lots of love from here :)

Hola out of the sun,

it's me again :D

It's actually not much to say, after we had a couple of slow, relaxing days with a lot of studying spanish and doing finance for my part ...

Inbetween we were always in the city again, checking out new place, yesterday for example we went to a southamerica market, which was really nice, so many colours and great things :)

For today I thought I write a bit about little differences and things which I saw or heard.

People here don't enjoy walking that much, maybe it's because of all the hills and the ups and downs everywhere, when we say oh, yeah, we walk to the city and back, everybody always thinks we are crazy. They always tell us to take public transportation which is mostly consisting of collectivos, little busses, which come all few minutes, they usually drive pretty fast and in order to get on one you need to wave for it, a second later you are already going. Then there are taxis, not that cheap, but everywhere. Last but not least the Metro, it's nice, seems pretty new and if you here very loud classical music, you can be sure to be close to a station ...

Then something I learnd from Stefan, maybe it's not new to you, but for me it was, always when we are on the way home he says see over there, we live close to the flat building and at the beginning I looked over and didn't know what he meant. When I think flat building, I always  imagine a small house with just one floor and a flat roof, but now I learnd buildings which are tall and have no balkonies, with walls going straight down, are flat buildings cause nothing is sticking out and walls can be flat too, that was really new to me, but ok...

What is normal for South America and other countries, and I knew about, but I still had to get used to, is, that every building, house, office or what ever, has a high fence around it and gates which are always locked. Lot of house in the better areas even have a home security system, everywhere you need at least 2 or 3 keys to come in or pass a security guard.

What I also thought is interesting on every other traffic light are people on the street when the cars stop and show fire shows and so on to earn money. On the beach they also have different ideas, sand figures, paintings, cart racing for kids, candy and jewlery stands and so on.

When they clean the beach they have like wooden sticks with baskets on them which they slide over the sand to collect all the trash, looks really like a lot of work. Everyday all the trees and grass around the streets is getting watered and for examples some of our neighbors cut grass and water around 11.30pm.

The most annoying thing sometimes I think are the dogs, there are really a lot of dogs out on the streets, some people just let there dogs run over the day and some other dogs are just living on the street, so you should sometimes check where you want to sit and eat outside. I think 85% of the people here own a dog.

A few other good things are you almost never see anybody smoking, if yes, then usually only tourists and the internet here is pretty fast or lets say normal, I heard Chile is the country with the best internet connection in South America and busses to travel around are really nice with aircondition and not even that expensive. I am still thinking about flying over to Buenas Aires so, if we should go, after the girls we met in the hostel needed over 7 hours at the border to enter into Chile, but maybe that will get better as soon as summer is over.

Ok i think that's all from me for now, I need to go eat lunch, but I might add some stuff later ;)

Talk to all of you guys soon, lots of hugs

Hola :)

How you can see at the moment I still have a lot of time to write, which will probably change soon.

It's now about 10.30 pm and we will eat dinner soon, we actually just arrived back home a few minutes ago, but that's another story I will come back to later :D

Yesterday after our first night here we woke up after a good night of sleep, at least for my part, because Stefan got a bit sick. We had a great breakfast with cereal, bread, fruits and everything you could need, fruits are actually important for every meal here. About 2 hours later we joined in going to the fruits and veggi market, which was really really big and it was not easy remembering all the names of the things, they are usually pretty different from the german ones... But it was fun Isi the little granddaughter from our hostmom was with us, she is 2 and really quick already and it wasn't that easy even for us 4 people to keep an eye on her in the crowd of people. I can only say zick-zack....

Later in the afternoon we decided we could go and check out Valparaiso the neighbor town. Everybody told us to take the collectivo, a little bus driving around, but we decided it can't be that far, let's walk. I think it was a good decision, it's was so nice walking along the beach, the only bad part of walking is always the last few blocks on the way back to the house, it always goes up, up up the hills.

All over the rest of the day I am usually trying to improve my spanish skills, hope it works soon.

Today was the first day I could see that I get used to the life here, I slept longer than all the last nights up to now in Chile. The only bad thing about this is, if you get up late the bathroom is busy andyou would think girls take long, but wrong, guys take the longest, because the girls are fast after they know other people want to use the shower as well...

We had a late breakfast around 10.30 and after it is sunday and we heard the only thing which will be open is the mall, we decided to go there :) Again everybody said take the collectivo, but I said why bother lets walk, it's totally the other direction from the day before and along the beach again. I just think that's the best thing to get to know your ways around. It was a let's say about half an hour walk, muy lindo, and then we were at the mall and guess what was the first thing I found there??? Of course Dunkin Donuts, yeah, HAPPY :) Stefan said ok, let's get a drink, here is money go and get it... that's kind of his favorite saying, if you want something tell me I give you money, I have to say so, he somehow has my money not only his. So, like I said Dunkin Donuts, I finally had some money in my hands and went there, with my none existing spanish, Stefan was already sitting down, so I tried to explain the Lady what I wanted, she understund me, but I didn't understand her... typically... but I got lucky, there was a nice student next to me, who spoke english, she translated for me,and I got my dunkin donuts, yeah :) 

The mall all over is really nice, at least that's what I think, Stefan said on the way home, this is one walk he wouldn't do again so soon.... When we arrived home lunch was already waiting for us, today we had rice and potatoes with chicken, some kind of meet and some little sea somethings in there, almost like mussels, but I don't know... Oh I forgot to mention, before every lunch we have different kinds of salad and afterwards a lot of fruits ;)

In the next few hours I just relaxed a bit with watching movies, because it was too hot to do anything. Then in the evening we wanted to go to some kind of big classical concert event, but unfortunatly, they couldn't get enough tickets anymore, so we decided to just walk a bit around, but then Yolanda said we should wait 5 minutes and she got Isi and we went out by car and she showed us the whole area and told stories about it for about 3 hours it was really great, now we also know where the big party places are, the best beaches, the greatest shopping and where the riches people of the area live and go out :P

While I am finishing writing I actually already had dinner now, was like selfmade burgers, pretty good and after Stefan left early today I got to talk a bit, was not easy, but I did it, yeah. In games I have never been good at charade, but now it really comes in handy.

Ok that's it again, at least for tonight, by now it's already after midnight and I feel like watching a movie.

Buenas noches meine Lieben :)

Hey you guys,

I feel like suddenly everything goes so fast, 2 weeks ago I was still at home, last week still at DEG-Town, 2 days ago very new to Chile and in a hostel and today I am already living at a very nice place with great people. My spanish skills are still down to almost zero, but I am working on it. Momentarly Stefan is talking and I am giving him all the words he doesn't know and I can't put together to good sentences...

Yesterday we went to check out the beaches which seem to be nice, there are always a lot of people if it is warm or not. I just love all the palm trees around :) In the afternoon we were chilling at the hostel and working on stuff we left behind when we turned our backs to Germany. Later on we went in the City to get some food and adapters so we can use all our technical stuff. It was kind of hard walking after there were a lot of people out and Stefan always intends to go up front so I can't see anything :D He always says I am too slow walking, but why hurry I have time to enjoy.

This morning then we had our last great breakfast at the hostel. It was delicious as always. Every morning we got waffels with strawberries on top, pancakes, bread, a ton of fruits, yogurt and a lot more. Then we were always sitting there for at least an out talking with the 2 brazilian and the 2 danish, mostly about economics, I think I finally understood everything, what I couldn't get in the lectures ;)

We packed and then it was already time to say good-bye, I can just say if anybody of you ever visits Vina, I mean if we are not here anymore to stay with, go and stay in Gisela and Carlos Hostel, they are so nice people. Our new "mom" picked us up and a few minutes later we arrived at our new home and moved in. I let Stefan pick which room he liked better. So he has a bit smaller room than me but with balcony, really nice and I have the bigger one with a desk and just one window. We really like being here. Around 2 or 2.30 pm we got lunch, first salad with tuna and corn, the pasta with chicken and for dessert fruits. After an hour of relaxing we went out to see how far away the next City Valpo is. It was a nice walk you could say along the beach, just not in the sand, that would have taken too long. 

In the evening there is no real dinner here, but tea time, they call it 5 o'clock tea, but it's more around 9 or 9.30 pm. It was nice we got to meet some more family members and had a good time.  Stefan told everybody I could cook and bake, so I guess we have to make "Apfelstrudel" soon. Everybody in Chile seems to know about german "Kuchen" and "Strudel". Will be fun so and a good opportunity to learn more words. 

Tomorrow morning we will join going to the fruit and veggi market and tomorrow night to some kind of music event, I have no idea... will tell you guys afterwards how it was ;)

Ok I will go to watch a movie or something now, hope you all are doing alright, keep me updated

Ciao

Our trip and the first day :)

Hola chicas y chicos,

after a very, very long journey we finally arrived in Chile :)
Our trip started monday morning at the trainstation, hard time to say good-bye to everybody, thanks for coming with us so, part of you will always be with us over here :)
We had our first complications on the way to Frankfurt, we already thought we would be missing our flight, because we where almost half an our late in Nuernberg, after a car was under fire in Neumarkt and the trains had to wait before they could enter the trainstation there, but then we actually found a train from there which brought us faster to Frankfurt then expected.
The check in was interesting as well, was the first time that they wanted to weigh my hand lugguage and we were only supposed to take 5 kilos on board and of course were over the limit :D , but then we got it.
While waiting for the flight Mazen showed up at the airport to say good-bye. Thanks Mazen that was really nice of you :)
Finally on board then the flight was pretty good, great movies and a lot of games on those nice little touchsceens everybody got at their seats. Arrived in Sao Paulo the chaos started again, everything was in portugese, but actually I still think that it easier to understand then spanish, at least up to now. After another 4 hours of flight time we happily arrived in Santiago with great weather. This airport is really so annoying, so many people running around, seeing in you the turist and offering horrendous prices for taxis to bring us to Viña, but ok, after half an hour and Stefan speaking his first spanish in South America, we found a bus to bring us to Santiago, from there on we took another one to Viña and this actually for only around 8 euros a two hour drive, we should have this at home...
In Viña we got our first experience with taxi drivers, was not to bad ;) and then we arrived at the hostel. It is really nice, like when you come home to nice people, they are having rooms for guests at their house and the woman who runs it together with her husband even speaks german, yeah :)
In the evening we already started discovering the City, which is typical south american, like you would imagine it and really nice. We went to bed early after we were tired from the long journey, 32 hours is really almost too much.
This morning we started with a great big breakfast, with pancakes and fruits and everything you could wish for. Around lunch we went out to find the university, which turned out being a big search and a great getting to know our ways around the city. We/that means Stefan asked a ton of people who didn´t know, till we finally met this guy, which reminded a lot to Danny de Vito, just running through the City, he told us and then we went a bit wrong again and there he was again :D At the end we really found the place and it turned out looking great, and the people in there are really nice too. They even called one lady for us, where we can live, she is always taking in students. Her place is not even 5 minutes from university and she only speaks spanish, so great for us to learn. We will also have internet there. We are paying a bit more money then we would living in an apartment, but she will be cooking for us and doing our laundry, she even said she will iron... I haven´t ironed my clothes in years... and when we need to go places she will also be driving us. She said if we live with her we will be like her son and daughter :)
When we left her place we walked back into the city and had lunch at a nice little place, the waiter was even speaking german and had a german menu for us. I got the biggest burger I have ever seen, Stefan had to eat half of it :D but at least we don´t need dinner anymore.
Yeah that´s it from my side till today, I will go relax a bit now and maybe learning some spanish and I totally have to put on more sun screen I already got a bit red, it´s not too hot here at the moment but really nice, with intensive sun.
Let´s talk soon you guys, I miss you a lot
Lot´s of love from the sunny Chile !!!