This blog has been created as a journal of my trip. In no way a professional blog. I'll try and give tips and recommendations if anyone ever wants to travel down to Chile.

And so it begins 🌎

Day 01 - traveling day.

Starting to appreciate this carpet pattern.

Today im making the longest trip to Chile I've ever made. Left the household at 6.50am and won't be arriving to Santiago, Chile until around 2.30pm that's more than 24hrs of traveling.. currently sitting at LAX waiting for my flight. Sitting here though gives me a lot of time to ponder, sleep, people watch, buy muffins and such.

Excited to get in the plane and fly the skies, it's one of my favorite things to see everything from above, it gives you a different perspective.

PS: I will try my very best to post a picture a day during this trip and a little update.. it will all depend on if I have service.

Till tomorrow in Chile 👋🏽

Day 02 - Dec 19 - arrival day.

Today, I've finally arrived to Santiago. My flight was good. I was sitting by these two older women, a mom and her daughter, the mom has to be at least 60 and they were on their way to Valparaiso, Chile to take a cruise that will take them to Antartica and Argentina. I hope that once I get to that age I am still able to travel like that! I was impressed and inspired. Also on the flight I had the best meals I've had in the past couple of weeks, I ate so much which was awesome!

Then I finally arrived after a stop in Lima. Once in Santiago we went straight over to grandmas house.

Here we layed down pretty much all day. I got to see my 2 year old cousin in the afternoon and my Aunt; we all had tea time together and then my sister and I came to my older sisters apartment to stay the night. Here I met Erasmo, which is my sisters hedgehog pet, he's adorbs but spikes up sometimes, which is cool. Now off to bed and try to get a nice sleep schedule on..

PS: on the flight I stole one of the M&M bags that were given out from the grandma sitting by me... prolly one of the highlights of the flight. It's not like she was gonna grab them or eat them..

Day 03 - a new adventure 

Today was very long, just because of the fact that we walked quite a bit. My day began with an acupuncture session. Definitely an experience.. I got it done by a blind man that asked questions about my life and according to that he would decide where to place the needles. I also got shakra stones and other stones distributed throughout my body. By the end I was super relaxed with a clear mind; I would do it again with no doubt. So that got my day started on a pretty relaxing note, it was very nice. The rest of the day we mostly walked and just took in the city, walked by some plazas which are nice inspirations for my Capstone project. I will never get over how many activities happen in a plaza and how much life they create. There were people painting, people dancing, preachers, chess tournaments, people just sitting and relaxing, Santa Clause, and I could go on.

A moment at the plaza. Lets just a moment to appreciate that women's dress 👗🔥

We tried looking for an Architecture book for Chile Architecture but we couldn't find it. I bought one in Mexico City which is very nice and I would point out at buildings and tell people facts about them and I was hopping they would have the same one for Chile, but no luck.

Tomorrow we don't have anything really planned, so we'll see where the day takes us!

Day 04 - just hanging out

Today we had a pretty relaxing day. This will be a quick post. Here's a picture of lunch..

Focus on the dish in the back.. not my super veggie salad, but the food in the ceramic pot. This is one of THE dishes you have to eat when/if you ever come to Chile. It's called Pastel de Choclo and it's pretty much a meat mixture with a corn mixture on top, delicious!

Now here is my best pose by El Rio Mapocho.

One day I will come here with my love and lock a lock of eternity of love onto the rails of the bridge and throw the key into this river of poop.

El Río Mapocho is a river that crosses Santiago from east to west, it has many green areas, shops and plazas around and even a bike path which runs along it, can't miss it if you go to Santiago. Well, hope everyone is having a nice break 🦄 Tomorrow we road trip ALL day to the northern parts to my hometown, shall be fun!!

Day 05 & 06 - road trips and family

On day 05 we made the infamous 12 hr (it ended being more like 15hr) road trip. The trip was from Santiago to Antofagasta and the scenery throughout the day changed from green to the complete Atacama desert. Road tripping is tiring but the experience one gets from actually traveling through different towns and special places is unmatchable. The sense of geography is a greater one than traveling in plane or even a bus. Here are a couple of pictures from the trip, the desert (excuse my iPhone quality / car moving pictures, I tried)

Here there is still some type of vegetation.

Here one can see the actual desert, with not even a bush in sight. This is further up north than the last picture.

Once it hit night time during our trip and the skies had cleared up we began to look at the stars outside, by this time we were about 2hrs from our destination. The stars looked soo clear that we had to stop and admire them. Honestly I have never seen anything like it, the way the stars looked was fake, you would perceive a sense of dimension in the sky. To me they looked as if they were hanging from strings at some sort of star ride, it was insane; the clarity of them, I don't think you can see that in many other places. I will have to bring my friends and just star gaze because honestly it was one of the greatest things I've seen.

We arrived to Antofagasta at around midnight and just went straight to bed at my uncles house. Here we will stay about 5days.

On day 06 we hung out with family and I met my new baby cousin that was born during our road trip! Just a little day old baby, he is beautiful to say the least. Babies are just magical, to think that one day you were that small and naive. He came home today and he's very calm, he is part of the family we are staying with. In Antofagasta I have two Uncles and an Aunt and their families that live here, so there's always someone to see and something to do. I also went to my old apartment were I grew up and hung out with my cousins. Visiting old places always feels like going back in time, and all the old memories began to come back.

Here's a pano of the view from the balcony. The ocean, dirt, city.

Well today is now Christmas Eve day and all of our family that's here is getting together. I've been struggling with no service and limited wifi so I haven't been able to keep up each day with the blog but I'll try my best. Merry Christmas Eve to everyone 🎄

Day 07-08 Dec24 and 25 - family family family.

Day 07 was spent stressing out about my mother and little sister making it to Chile. Long story short, they made it, they made it home for Christmas! We then had a family dinner and opened presents 🤗 time spent with family is the best time!

On day 08 we woke up and went to pick up my mom and sister at the airport, the airport in Antofa is all the way on the other side of town which was kind of nice to drive across town and see more of how it had changed over the years. A lot of Colombians have arrived here and apparently they have taken land and made their own villages which we passed closed by to on our way. Also, we saw gypsies on the beach, they have always been there since I remember when I was little. We then later came home, ate, went to the beach and then had tea time with the whole fam; very relaxing and family oriented time... I'm telling you, family. When you don't see them for years every minute is so much more appreciated.

Sofia at the beach trying to be all zen and what not

Here let me bless you with a picture of my baby cousin because he's the cutest 💜

Tomorrow I believe we are going to the market, which will help with my Capstone project...I'm just trying to feel somewhat productive while not really being productive 🤷🏽‍♀️

Day 09 - errands

Today we went downtown and ran some errands with my parents. Didn't end up going to the market, but did go to the plaza and took a picture on a lion on which I used to get onto when I was little. Then it was nap time and the tea time again with the fam(: Tomorrow is the last day here in Antofa and then we head to La Serena to see part of my moms family, an aunt and a cousin; there we will stay a couple of nights.

PS: with so much tea time and bread I WILL come back a little heavier..just FYI.

Day 10&11 - goodbyes and a new hello

Trips to see family are always the best but at the same time really hard when it comes time to say goodbye. On day 10 we said our first goodbyes of the trip. The worst part is that we don't know when we'll see those family members again, might be next year might be in 3 years or 10. The thing I do know is that every time we all do see each other it's just like old times; we try and make every minute worth it. Family is so important in ones life; not only blood family but also family you have made from being friends with someone, people which you can be yourself with and can trust. I know goodbyes are hard but I know that they will always be there for me, a little far but I can always count on them.

On day 11 we road tripped from Antofagasta to La Serena where we will be with my Aunt and cousin for a couple of nights. On the way we made some stops including la escultura "La Mano del Desierto" by Chilean artist Mario Irarrazabal. He's only made a couple of these in the whole world, I plan on seeing them all! We also stopped by the beach and stopped for some lunch. At around 830pm we arrived to my Aunts. Here since its summer the sun was still out, it doesn't set until around 930-10pm. It's insane, days are so long!

A new hello was made today to my Aunt and cousin which make me very happy 😊 and so a goodbye will soon come. For now, we will enjoy the time together 💜

Day 12 - resting day

This whole trip I've honestly not felt great at all, I've been barely making it each day. Today I slept a lot, walked at the plaza (where I bought some gifts 😊) and later in the afternoon walked by the beach. By the beach we ate some seafood and crab empanadas, a must if any of you are ever down here by the ocean! Tomorrow we travel back to Santiago where we will spend New Years with my dads cousins..it's gonna be a big gathering!

Day 13 and on…

so the blog kind of died. We didn’t even make it to day 14 before I had trouble keeping up with it; but this doesn’t just come with a lame excuse, there is a very good reason and learning experience with it. First, well finish off some key days I had before going home and when the trouble really hit. On day 13 we had a “brunch” and then traveled back to Santiago to finish off our trip.

Here is a humita which we had at brunch. It reminds me of a tamale but without the meat and other goodies; this is just the corn part. Still very very good 😍 one of my faves!

By this time the “I’ve honestly not felt great at all” has been really starting to take its toll; I’m physically feeling worse. The worse part for me at this point is that I was trying to enjoy the trip as much as possible but my body was not at the same level. I had traveled so far, put so much energy on the trip to do what? Lay in relative’s beds and have them bring tea to me? It is very frustrating when you want to do so much but you literally cannot. My feet were swollen, I had fevers, fatigue, joint pain, sleepiness like no other to name a few; I would wake up, have breakfast (in bed), sleep some more, lay there, eat lunch, take a nap, have tea, be awake for a little bit then go back to bed; the dream huh? Some days just walking to the restroom and coming back in bed would exhaust me, picking up things would be a struggle, putting shoes on, taking a simple shower. This was the last week I was in Chile.

About four days before our trip back to the states it got bad, fever to the point where I was little delusional and saying all kinds of nonsense, we had to do something or there was a possibility that my trip back would have had to been posponed. I got drugs. Good ones. Thing is I got to travel back but now it was time for a serious look at my health, see where things got bad to learn from it and take an approach to recovery; this is where this becomes a sort of Lupus awareness mini post. Why not share? Right? Not everyone knows about it, it is hard to recognize it, and it is something that I live with so I can share some insights. At this point the only thing I can do is make the best of it.

Last days, feeling better but not even close to 100% trying to make the best of it with the chicks. Smile smile smile.

The semester before my trip to Chile was where it all started, the flare. A slow flare but one that really shook me. Obviously as I saw the signs coming I told myself that I could make them disappear, you know by taking care of myself, trying to eat more lettuce, take the medication, and sleep a little more; as I have many times before, but this time it wasn’t that simple. I wasn’t rigid enough with my decisions, trying to do too much, I kept pushing and pushing myself without really knowing the limit I was reaching. I am really stubborn when it comes to my health; I like to think I am super women and can do it all (architecture school, work, social, be healthy, be happy), but in all reality, there is always a limit and I reached it. Another factor was my medication, the one I have taken every day for about 10 years now, with my mentality of being super women I stopped taking it every day. You know, skip a little day here and there. I wanted/want to feel like I can live without them; I wanted to feel freed from them, like I could do it on my own, that I was strong enough; but I wasn’t. Honestly maybe that will never be possible, Ill have to accept that at some point, but not yet. I barely finished the semester with energy, all I could think about is the trip I was about to take, I was ready to leave, re charge (so I thought).

The day after I was done with the semester the trip to Chile began. I didn’t get a break, I didn’t give my body time to rest, heal, I literally thought to myself “Ill sleep in the plane (which I did) and Ill recover, I’ll be fine” but my body needed much much more time to recover than a 10 hour flight, but I didn’t listen. As much as I tried to enjoy the trip and put my happy face on it didn’t cut it, I broke and it showed. After getting back to the states it was time for doctor’s appointments, the fun. Where I feel like I go in to teach the doctors new things, it’s kind of fun. Fluid around the heart was found on top of anemia, rash, joint pain, and other symptoms. Full on flare, first one that I have gotten since diagnosed so I was very disappointed on myself. How did I let it get this far? The super women has to be a little smarter and take care of herself first, and that is hard for me because I worry about others too much; I will honestly help someone else first even though I might be in a worse situation and I need the help. Stronger drugs were obviously prescribed, currently taking care of the situation.

Lupus is such a weird thing; it comes, attacks, leaves; it’s like “oh hey, I’m still here by the way, don’t you forget it”. You must constantly work on yourself and your health to keep up with it. Everyone always tells me not to stress (school has that covered), be healthy, sleep well, exercise, have fun and it is a little hard. With this current incident I have learned to take things more of a day by day basis and to listen to my body. If it wants to sleep then Ill give it the sleep it deserves; I must become one with it, live in peace with it and understand it by the way it comes. The thought of the heart came to mind when thinking about the body and how the heart and other organs never stop working (unless you die of course), they are constantly working and pushing themselves for each of our life’s, the least we can do is treat them right. Another thing is the medication, hopefully someday in about 10 years I don’t have to take any, but until then I must take them (learned the hard way) and live this ‘normal’ life. I hope you have learned something new (like about humitas) or in some way have been inspired, I just felt that the blog was going to be missing a big part of it if I didn’t fully write it to an extent to what really happened. Would have been easier to act happy and act like the trip was the best, but is that the reality? No. I know from experience it is easier sometimes to put on a happy face and act as everything is fine, always answer with “I’m good and you? (:” now my answers have changed to “I’m ok, and you?”, in all reality who wants to hear about your issues anyways right? Some tips for life I have learned: listen to your body, make yourself happy/at peace, love (always love), take care. You never know when your life will change (and it can happen so quickly) so enjoy the now a little more than you probably should, dance too much. Also, read, I use to hate to read but now I am kind of into it, and meditate 💜 Vee

PS: Thank you to all my family in Chile for the constant support and love you have given me, made my trip a lot better and to my family here in the states for the support also, I love you.

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A trip to Chile 2016-17