new pad.

roosters do not say "cock-a-doodle-doo" in chile. i don't know who invented that well enunciated phrase to come out of the rooster's beak for children's books, but i doubt he or she was ever awakened by one. at four in the morning the sound a rooster makes is that it is being stepped on. by something heavy. heavy enough to expel out all air in a harsh an raucous cacophony that sounds nothing, i repeat, nothing like "cock-a-doodle-doo." i think i'm going to put my free ear plugs from delta airlines to work, as this will be a daily occurrence for me now. the tradeoff being fresh eggs every morning. this i can live with :) they live in the backyard, their pens almost completely shrouded in greenery, as well as those of their neighbors, the guinea pigs (to whom i apparently shouldn't get too attached). my new house is pretty much amazing. inside and out it looks almost like it was lifted directly out of some decorating magazine from the seventies. pictures will be posted soon. even the appliances in the kitchen are from that time period. the peruvian couple i am living with is super sweet - they have really welcomed me in as part of the family, including letting them know when i'll be home, and calling if i'll be late, so they won't worry. they only have one child, a three year old boy, who is rather jealous of the attention i'm getting, but i think we'll get along fine. the house belongs to the father's 93 year old aunt (hence the decor) and they have a maid that keeps everything on its doily. 

for those of you who don't know - chile is a bit at odds with all of it's neighbors, who are jealous/have had many physical and or political disputes regarding territorial lines and rights. therefore living with a peruvian family will be a bit of a sticking point for some things. the chilean attitude towards peruvians is much like many american's attitudes towards mexicans - that they are "small, dark and ugly" as one student told me the other day. obviously this is a stereotype, and certainly not true in the case of the family i am staying with. i can already feel a bit of the tension though - when i was telling him what classes i was taking, when i got to "chilean culture" the father said "well you won't learn too much there" with a wry grin. later when i was talking to him about biology, he asked me why i had come to chile to study and that peru was actually much more ecologically diverse and better for field study "it is poorer though" he added.