"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day. And I believe in miracles."
~ Audrey Hepburn

4.30.2011

Photo Contest: My Selections

Thanks SO MUCH to everybody who helped me choose 
which photos to enter in the UCEAP photo contest!
I'm completely indecisive, so your votes really guided my decision. 
Here are the four I ended up choosing:

1_thompkins_marcella_chile_immersion_spring_2011 1_thompkins_marcella_chile_immersion_spring_2011
3_thompkins_marcella_chile_immersion_spring_2011 3_thompkins_marcella_chile_immersion_spring_2011

Wish me luck!

4.29.2011

Photo Contest

I need your help! I am trying to enter a photo contest that
the University of California Education Abroad Program is holding.
Students are asked to enter two photos in each of the three categories:

1. Tells a story about an experience unique to your host country (interaction with locals, cultural events, festivals, holidays, extracurricular activities/sports)
2. In the field (shows work activities on internships/research/volunteer projects)
3. Host country travel (something really special/unique you saw while traveling in your host country. Bring out your inner National Geographic photographer with your amazing (or just plain lucky!) shots.

Although I have no photos to enter into the second category, 
I am going to enter two photos each into the first and third. 

Can you please vote for 
your first and second choices
for each section (4 total)?

♥ ♥ ♥

CATEGORY 1: SOMETHING UNIQUE TO MY HOST COUNTRY

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Viña Concha y Toro is the largest producer of wines in Latin America. 
Although these grapes were being cultivated to be used in wine, our tour 
guide let us taste them from off the vine. They were so juicy and delicious! 

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Pablo Neruda, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971,
has three homes in Chile. Visiting his eccentric and colorful house 
in Santiago was like stepping into the mind of a true artist.

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Going to the General Cemetery of Santiago was an eye-opening experience. 
While the front of the cemetery was filled with beautiful plants, winding paths,
 and tombs built for kings, the back of the cemetery was in shambles -- 
there were graves crumbling apart, litter and weeds in every corner, 
and an overwhelming feeling of neglect.It really highlighted the class
 differences that still exist in Chile today. 

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Did you know that Chile produces more copper than any other country in the world?
This is a picture of some UC students taking a tour of El Teniente, 
the world's largest underground copper mine. 

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The view of Santiago from the top of Cerro San Cristóbal

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This is the Garden of Roses at the Villa Grimaldi Park for Peace, which used to be one of the 
many torture centers that were constructed during the dicatorship of Agusto Pinochet. 
There was a rose planted to represent every woman who was executed at the center. 
The inscription on the fountain is a quote from a Gabriela Mistral poem which says,
 "Todas ibamos a ser reinas," which translates to "We were all to be queens".

Which photo is your FIRST choice for the culture section?
grapes
dangling eyes
cemetery
mine
cityscape
roses








  
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Which photo is your SECOND choice for the culture section?
grapes
dangling eyes
cemetery
mine
cityscape
roses




  
pollcode.com free polls

CATEGORY THREE: TRAVELING

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This is me standing at the base of the Cordillera del Paine, the legendary 
mountain range at the Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile. 
The entire hike (there and back) took us ten hours. 

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Where we camped one night in the Torres del Paine National Park 
in Patagonia, Chile. I didn't edit this photo -- it came out misty
 because it was SO COLD and rainy the night before.  

IMG_2284

A Guanaco (type of llama) standing on a mountain
 with one of the peaks of the Cordillera del Paine in the background. 
Taken in the Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile. 

Which photo from the NATIONAL PARK is your first choice for the traveling section?
me at the top of the cordillera
tents in the campground
llama on top of the mountain



  
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The following three photos are from Isla Magdalena, an island
in the Magellan Strait which is home to 150,000 penguins. 

IMG_1808
IMG_1806
IMG_1605

Which photo of the PENGUINS is your first choice for the traveling section?
photo #1
photo #2
photo #3


  
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♥ ♥ ♥ 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR VOTING. 
By the way, by entering this contest I will be accomplishing goal
#077: Enter a contest.


4.28.2011

CARE PACKAGE

Firstly,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO
MY SISTER MICHELLE!
♥♥♥

In other news,

awhile back I asked my mom to send me some Mini Eggs (faveee) but
she ended up sending me an entire Easter basket filled with goodies!
I binged on Mini Eggs for about 2 minutes and then I literally had to pack all the
candy into the back of my closet so I didn't eat it all right then and there, haha.


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I feel so loved :)
Oh, you're probably wondering why there are so many Thumpers!
When I was young, my mom used to say I looked like Thumper...
Blame it on the cheeks :/

Thanks Mom :)))))) You made my day! 

Photo 10

4.27.2011

Coochie Coochie Coo?!

While in Cusco, we thought it might be a good idea to 
do productive things (i.e. take a tour, see something historic). 
Despite the fact that we (okay, I) could never remember the name 
(kachacoco? kurichachii? coocooracha?), we were all dying
 to see the Qorikancha. The temple, which was dedicated to the 
Incan sun god, was the most important temple of the Incan empire. 
Although it was destroyed by Spanish conquistadores, scholars say 
that the walls and the floors of the temple were at one time made of pure
 gold and that the huge courtyard was filled with golden statues (all stolen
 by the conquistadores). Despite everything, the site was still absolutely 
beautiful. We ended up lingering around the courtyard for quite some time, 
and then went off to do some damage at a souvenir shop/fair/bazaar.








IMG_3703









Upon our return back to the main plaza, we realized that we had 
come to visit Cusco at an exciting time -- Semana Santa, or Holy Week. 
The plazas were BURSTING with people, as though all of Cusco had 
come out to watch the annual Semana Santa parade. I was really
excited to watch the festivities play out, but they ended up being pretty 
anticlimactic.  Some people carried out a statue of (a very black?!?) Jesus,
people (who were tied to the pillars of a church) threw flowers at him,
and... that was all. I expected more jubilation. #spoiledbydisneyland












Seriously though... Cusco??  SUCH a interesting city.
We were sad to leave it the next day -- but not too sad!
I mean, we were going to see MACHU PICCHU!!!!!