Voy a pasarlo chancho, ¿Cachái?

and so it begins.

in less than a week i embark on my 7 month adventure into the unknown depths of the other america. i thought i would pop my first-ever-blog-cherry (<-- i should be ashamed that i just wrote that) by answering the typical question: why do i want to go to Chile? this brings me back to a facebook status i posted last year when going through the decision process: Spain or Chile?! out of all the comments, only one person said Chile. and that person was me. but that's the beauty of it.

my thought process was as follows:

1. mining accidents - i was quite intrigued after seeing so many Chilean miner costumes during Halloween 2010

it isn't halloween if it isn't sexy.

2. earthquakes - we don't get enough of those in California

3. volcanic eruptions - way better than any light show i'll ever get in isla vista

Puyehue Volcano, S. Chile
June 2011

4. chillin with the alpacas 

Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival 2011

5. "going to school" - participating in student protests and avoiding deportation 

6. palta - eating it (avocado) all day long

7. a chance to get myself into some life-threatening situation worthy of my favorite animal planet reality show "i shouldn't be alive" - but only if i actually get on tv, i need to make up for the embarrassment caused from my previous television debut

licking my elbow, New York 2011

8. i am addicted to second hand smoke - bring on the nicotine
9.  i've always dreamed of going to a private catholic school

10. dichos - Chilean slang is obviously the most useful thing to learn in California, since we border Mexico

number ten brings me to explain the title of this post/my blog!

"pasarlo chancho" literally translates to "pass it on pig" or "to pass pig". clearly, this has no meaning whatsoever to the average Spanish speaker. in Chile they somehow find this to convey that you are having an awesome time.

"cachái" is a word that many Chileans use at the end of every sentence, sort of how Americans United Statsians (not trying to get dirty looks from the South Americans) tend to overuse the words "like" or "yeah". "cachái" is a term of mutual understanding translating to "you know what i mean?". say this to any non-Chilean and they most likely will not have any idea what you are talking about. oh the irony.

on that note.

i'm going to be having a great time, ya feel me?