the weekend went by way too quickly (domingo, 26 septiembre)

Then I took a colectivo to Víctor, my tattoo artist´s house. It´s weird how sometimes the colectivo drivers are nice, but other times they don´t even talk. The guy yesterday was very friendly and asked a lot of questions about why I was here and what the States are like. It was a mostly sunny day and warm compared to the cloudy days we´ve been having here. When I got to Víctor´s place we walked to the downtown area of town to make copies of the design, and I met a few of his friends, who seemed pretty nice.

Today I got a turtle on the inside of my left arm right above my elbow. By next Saturday I will have a half-sleeve, but I´m getting it done in a few different sessions. It hurt a bit worse than the other tattoos I´ve gotten, but I was really happy with how it turned out. The colors are really bright and I definitely like it. I´m currently working on drawings for the rest of the design, which will include a lotus (to represent spring), a hazel leaf (summer) and a holly leaf (winter), the sun, the moon, and a butterfly, as well a wind design to connect everything and a water/wave design to connect the turtle and lotus.

After getting the tattoo we went back to the store where Ernesto works to hang out for a bit, and then I went home. On the way home, the colectivo broke down, and the driver had to give me my 550 pesos back so I could take another colectivo the rest of the way back home. The colectivo system here is super efficient, and part of me wonders why nowhere in the US has adopted such a system.

When I got home, my host family was eating cake, so I joined them at the table, even though I didn´t eat the cake (it had eggs and milk products in it). After that we were all singing karaoke in the living room until super late. After their aunt, uncle, and their children went to bed, I had a few beers with my host brother and cousin. I didn´t go to bed until pretty late, but then again, I had no reason to wake up early today.

Today I also got to sleep in, which was nice. At about 11 I got up and checked my email, worked on my Spanish assignment, and tried to motivate myself to go running. I love running, but sometimes I get really bored running in Iquique. The beach is pretty much the only good place to go running here, and it isn´t quite big enough for the longer distances I prefer, so I usually have to turn around a few times or run in giant circles, which gets kind of boring. Today was also kind of gray and dull outside, which didn´t motivate me that much. Finally I stopped being lazy and started running. I enjoyed the run I took, and was out for almost two hours. I really need to be more motivated with running, especially since the marathon is in a little over two months from now. I´ve never had much of a problem being motivated to run every day, but even though the beach is nice, I´m tired of only running along the beaches. That is one thing I really miss about Santiago as well as Rock Island. Both places had good places to enjoy a nice long run.

After running I took (another) cold shower and headed downstairs to eat. More of the family was over, and they were cooking food on the grill. I enjoyed grilled zucchini, squash, carrots, red peppers, and onions. However, even after lunch I still felt chilly thanks to the cold shower. My host mom said that a guy will be coming to the house tomorrow to fix it. Hopefully that´ll be the case. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. I drew a lot, which was nice because I haven´t had much time to just sit and draw lately.

I´m not tired, but I should be going to bed soon. Unfortunately tomorrow is Monday and I have to get up early for work.

written by  Sara Florecita on September 26, 2010 from Iquique, Chile
from the travel blog: año de dos inviernos (Chile 2010)
Send a Compliment

comment on this...