Thursday 27 August 2015

A video of my time in Patagonia

Well, I've been back in the UK for a week and I think I've finally knocked my sleeping pattern back into something tolerable. That being said, a couple of nights ago I just could not sleep and so went though my photos and videos from the last few days of my trip to Chile. I noticed I took a fair few videos and so thought it best to do something with them, rather than let them gather e-dust in my hard drive. So here's an attempt at a proper video. It's iPhone footage, and this is my 2nd time using iMovie (which I think is very uncooperative- I particularly dont like that it took an hour to 're-finalise' every time i slightly altered the edit, but this isn't a software review)...Hope you like it. Particularly watch out for the laser like sounds created by the ice lake! Plus the mountains! And dogs! Oh just watch the whole thing :)

Here's the video:



Music is by Stumbleine & Asa, which played in the breakfast room of my hotel most mornings. I went down everyday at around 05:45 (I'm not crazy, just wanted to make the most of the time) with my book, so as I nibbled kiwi, slurped tea, read my book, and enjoyed 'huevos' (eggs), Stumbeline provided a soundtrack. It's created music memories for me, as Crazy in Love by Beyonce reminds me of being by the pool in Turkey and Chop Suey by SOAD reminds me of sitting in my friends loft when I was 14/15.

Hope you like the video, I'm pleased to have done something with the footage. Now on to organising the 10 rolls of film I just had developed....!

Hasta luego amigos

Wednesday 12 August 2015

Host family love and a series of fortunate events

When I left Viña de mar, I sobbed silly wet tears.

I didn't come here expecting to settle into a family as I did. I knew I'd get along fine because so long as there's a bed/shower/book to read- I'm fine-- but I had no idea that I would feel so much love for the family whom took me in while I studied at the Universisdad Tecnica Frediderico Santa Maria. I am so grateful to have stayed with Claudia, Fransisca, Jaime and Tomas. Leaving them marked the midpoint to this Chilean adventure of mine, and I was nervous, excited, sad and jittery.

Myself and three others -who had also decided to stay on post-course- made our way to Chile's capital of Santiago, wherein we navigated the Metro to Puente Alto, the southern most tube station of Santiago...think Morden, or West Croydon- but with mountains. From here we had to catch a bus to our hostel. Which seems... So Simple but was so Not Simple. The bus drivers kept telling us that they didn't go where we needed to be, despite the road being entirely turning free and our destination being before their final destinations. This confusion led to....
  • hopping on and off the same bus 3 times
  • with 28kg on my back and front
  • broken spanish conversations with mad little old spanish ladies 
  • little old spanish lady insisting on hailing down a car for us to hitchhike in (...we didnt...we're not that stupid)
  • dead dog on road 
  • walking half a mile down hill to discover we're on the wrong road
  • so walking back up
  • still with 28kg on my front and back
  • i dont know how to use bullet points (i do....)

Eventually we get on a bus that leads us somewhere remotely townlike... where we decide it wisest to get a collectivo* to the hostel. So we bundle into taxi. We drive a few miles. The light is starting to go. Oh... what's that you say? The hostel appears to be closed? There's three bloody padlocks on the gate and the owner isnt answering the phone. Well, bloody brilliant. 

We all felt a bit sick in this moment, we were quite far from home and with no sign of refuge... things felt... dicey. 

Along comes Pedro... ahh... Pedro. The gorgeous uni-browed Chileno. Pedro's cycling up the hill, minding his business when he sees a group of stranded foreigners with a collectivo driver who really wants to be paid and leave. One of the foreigners (me) likes the look of his unibrow and decide he is Going To Help Us. Through Spanglish, we explain our situation and ask if he can help- and OHHH he does. He recommends Cascada de las Animas (roughly- The Waterfall of the Animals) and so we smoosh back into the taxi and head there. 

It's heaven.



Cascada is like an eco-project hostel. The entire site is surrounded by the Andes, and is around an acre in size. There are funky flinstone looking cabins for the posh-os, but we're just students so we plucked for the log cabin, which worked out at £15 each per night B&B. The cabins had a log burning fire, a very good shower, and a lovely big lounge. The cafe/information dome is a geodome with hanging plants, dream catchers and lovely details everywhere. The yoga classes and massages also took place in geodome structures. Yes, our hostel had massages and yoga.

After arriving we took advantage of the great weather and immediately went on a short hike to the hostel's namesake waterfalls, which were beautiful:

A video posted by Fi (@fifinicholls) on


We stayed there for 4 nights and 5 days, and I can't tell you how happy we all were to have found this slice of paradise nestled among the Andes. Big love to Pedro and his gorgeous face, who we'll never see again, but whom totally shaped our experience in the Andes. Funny how life works, isnt it? 

The point is, trips can be stressful, unpredictable- people can be unreliable (must complete Trip Adviser review of hostel number 1)...but without all of our bus miscommunications, without missing the first three collectivos, without joining the wrong queue in the metro station, without being slow due to all the 28kg carrying... we would never have seen Pedro cycling up the hill. We would never have been to the lovely Cascada de las Animas. So thanks, Pedro. Thanks good fortune.

~~~~~~


Today I sailed through fjords, drank whiskey cooled by glacial ice, hiked alongside a lake made of ice, and saw a colony of Imperial Comorants. I'll catch you up. 

For a more immediate way of keeping up- follow me on Instagram and Twitter: @fifinicholls


Hasta luego, amigos xxxxx





*very clever Chilean taxi system where people share rides and consequently pay a fraction of the fare, saving money and the planet- a bit. 

Thursday 6 August 2015

Developing film in Chile - some pictures of the trip


I had a mission the day before I left Valparaiso for the Andes: to get five rolls of film developed. I’ll start with this- ‘photo development’, ‘analog camera’ and ‘roll of film’ are not common Spanish phrases, let alone phrases learnt during a two-week beginners course.

After walking the streets of Viña del mar and Valpo, I finally found one- in the simplest of places, a mall! I pointed at my film, said ‘uno hora?’ (one hour) with no confidence that the shop assistant would understand what I wanted and to my pleasant surprise, she replied with a bored stare and said yes and would I like a disc? I meandered the hour a way by traipsing around the mall and finally the hour was up......Oh my goodness- my expensive little habit (film photography) would be much easier to sustain here in Chile!! In the UK I have 1 roll of film developed roughly every two weeks in a Snappy Snaps in Lewisham, this costs £15 for 36 exposures and a disc of the images (it’s horridly expensive I know, but I don’t smoke so shush), but in Chile.... it was £35 for five lots of 36 exposures plus 5 discs!!  I thought I’d mistranslated the amount and so asked her to write it down.

Anyway, why I’m telling you this is because I am so happy with the images. All of my classmates are so beautiful and the cities we visited were just...ugh...divine to take pictures of .

I’ll be updating my photography blog with the images over the next weeks, but for now, here are a few of my favorites:










P.s I’m in the Andes right now, but that’s a whole other blog post. 

Thursday 30 July 2015

Chile: Well where did that time go, eh?

Two week ago since I left the UK- what!! I can't believe it...I'm borderline cross that this time has gone so quickly.

It seems like only yesterday I was biting my top lip in nervous anticipation of meeting my peer group, flying to Santiago and meeting my host family. Time flies- whoose. Or as I would say now (what with me being perfectly fluent in Spanish...) rrrrapido!

I've been keeping my instagram followers in no short supply of graffiti+stray dogs+sky pictures/timelapses. But for those of you who don't have instagram, here's some of my favourites from this last two weeks:

A video posted by Fi (@fifinicholls) on


A photo posted by Fi (@fifinicholls) on

A video posted by Fi (@fifinicholls) on

A photo posted by Fi (@fifinicholls) on

A video posted by Fi (@fifinicholls) on


I love that timelapse of Santa Maria university! Shout out to Emily for letting my rest my silly little phone against her fancy tripod. Oh! While we're at it, you really should check out Emily's blog (link here)- Emily is a photographer and budding videographer. Here's one of her videos, which stars mainly me. (Not really, but I am in it a bit, playing with dogs of course.)



Next I look to planning and finalising my trip south. I plan to visit Puerto Montt and Torres de Paine national Park, and if there is time- Punta Arenas, which I think is part of Antarctica, or shares the same climate and wildlife of there at least. Of course before I do all that- I'm going to the Andes with new pals- Rebecca, James and Anna. Dios mios!

It's the last day of university tomorrow...I dont know what to expect...but I do know there is a celebratory meal with the whole group tomorrow evening, including our Spanish teachers I believe! Looking forward to that. Anyway, buenos noches mi amigos! Take care

Chao!

Saturday 25 July 2015

Day.... in Chile (i give up with daily blogging)

Oh dear, I've been remiss haven't i?

Well, you missed a few days. I've had a cold, which I think I probably got from a sniffling Argentinian on the Amsterdam- Buenos Aires flight.....

Chile is gorgeous. The people are very kind, and really quite short on average. Learning Spanish is hard, but we're all progressing I think.

I'm going to give you a snapshot of a uni day.

In the mornings, I wake up around 07:00, lie there for 15 minutes, then I shower, dry off and put my (at first loathed) 'CHILE 2015' fleece on and have breakfast with my host mum and dad- Jaime (pronounced 'Hai-mer') and Claudia. Breakfast is usually bread with various spreads. I then get dressed and walk across the street to the bus stop...

Catching a bus in Chile is an unstructured art. In the early morning light you squint as hard as you can at the approaching buses, trying to read one of the twenty million little hanging signs in the windscreen which state varying destinations. You spot the sign you are looking for and so thrust your arm into the air, and hope that it wasnt too late...at this point the bus either stops or doesnt (in which case you squint again). You are now stepping onto the bus... oh!! what's that? the bus is moving despite one of your feet still being on the pavement? Well- welcome to Chile, mi amigo. As you hold onto the bus- shocked that the door is still open and the bus is going at 40mph now- you are presented with a probably grumpy Chilean bus driver with whom you now have to attempt simple Spanish phrases which will enable you to pay him and get a ticket.  Done all that? Go on then, sit down, you've earned it.

The university, Technical University Federico Santa María, is up a million steps- which at first felt pretty awful but after a couple of days weren't so bad. The days are split into two: in the morning we have Grammar + Vocab with Mariana, and in the afternoon we experience Conversation + Culture class with Felipe. Mariana is good natured, sweet tempered and patient, teaching us the bare bones of Spanish as we blink at her with our bleary morning eyes. Felipe is also patient, but a little bit more physical in his approach... tables are slapped, voices are raised, and his Chileno eyebrows rise a little as he listens to us stumble through common Spanish exchanges. Both teachers are kind, competent and are educating us thoroughly in their respective areas- if through very different teaching methods. My only critique of these lessons would be that due to Chile's predominantly (but not always, crucially)  hot climate,  the university does not have any heating facility, and the architecture of the building dictates that the distinction between indoor/outdoor is pretty fluid- I suppose this would be good in summer, when you would want lots of fresh air and ventilation.... However, in July/Aug (winter for southern hemisphere, remember) this means it's ruddy freezing indoors, distractingly so. Again, shout out to the Greenwich fleeces.

At lunch/break time, all twenty-odd of us ascend to the roof top, where we get cups of tea and natter to the backdrop of a spectacular panorama of Valparaíso. It's a nice time of day and I look forward to next week where we have a three and a half hour break for lunch, we're planning to pop into Valpo for lunch.

Anyway, I'm tired now and we're going sandboarding in the morning so.... Buenos noches.





Tuesday 21 July 2015

Day 2 of Chile

Ok, so first I will round off Day 1. On Sunday, my Chilean family had a party to celebrate Tomas's 13th birthday- it was so fun and lovely to have all these aunties, uncles and cousins descend upon the house. I was quickly pulled into the kitchen to sit with the girls of the family- they couldn't believe how 'simpatico' (nice, friendly) I am. Apparently most foreign students are shy and don't talk to the families when they stay, which is a shame. The whole point is to muddle through the language barrier and communicate, through shared jokes, or asking where the loo is.

At the party they fed me and fed me and gave me so much Chilean wine. At one point, one of my adopted Aunties came out with a tray of steaming mugs, I took one and to my surprise it was lovely mulled wine- sweet and orangey. I said we drink this at Navidad (Christmas) in the UK and between us we worked out it must be a cold weather drink, as it is winter here in the southern hemisphere. It's funny how many common food and drinks you can find across the world. Por ejemplo (for example), here in Chile, and in a lot of Spanish speaking countries, empanandas are the go-to lunch/snack. They are pastry parcels filled with cheese, or meat and potato, or whatever... my point is that they are pretty identical to the Cornish or Devonshire Pasty (which isnt far off the Indian Samosa). People are people wherever, and putting things in pastry not only is delicious but also keeps the content fresh, so it makes sense that places across the world would come up with similar snacks. The same for hot wine in winter- it makes sense! 

SO, anyway. Yesterday (Monday 20th July), was our First Day.
The morning consisted of orientation, a quick tour of the glorious university campus and a short conversation in Spanish to identify which classes we should attend. In the afternoon we attended our first conversation and culture class, which was exciting and odd- the tutor told us to learn like babies, through necessity- not through study. I like his approach, but I may study a little--- the verbs in Spanish take some getting used to and aren't the kind of thing you inherently know.

A photo posted by Fi (@fifinicholls) on


A photo posted by Fi (@fifinicholls) on


As you can see, the uni is pretty spectacular- I cant wait to study there daily. In fact, it's 08:03 and I need to get going. I'll catch you up on the first full day of classes later. Chau!

Sunday 19 July 2015

A Chilean Adventure, Day 1

Well, it is Day 1 (Sunday 19th July) of this trip of mine and I'm feeling good. I slept a solid 15 hours last night, going to bed at 5pm and waking this morning to my host-mum, Claudia, boiling a kettle and asking is a would like tea (of course I would).




The journey here was long, I won't lie. The short plane journey to Amsterdam plus 4 hour wait there felt counterproductive as we were flying further away from our final destination, but hey! that's international flights for you. P.s Amsterdam airport is expensive: £6 for mints, a bottle of water and popcorn. The really long part (the fifteen-maybe more) hour flight to Buenos Aires (brief kiss with Argentinian soil) was killer- I barely slept and the nose end of the plane felt very hot to me. I watched rubbish blockbuster-y films and willed the plane go faster. Then a short 1hr45min flight to Santiago Chile, which was a breeze. We arrived in Santiago, and what a relief! Our bags made it with us, despite all the touchdowns, refuels and transfers. Santiago-an air is crisp and fresh, especially after 24+ hours of recycled plane air.  Many, many terribly jokes about Chile being chilly were made as we walked to our transfer bus, and many many more will be made throughout the trip I am sure.



I am currently sat in my bedroom at my host family's home in Vina del Mar. I have a big window and ensuite, which is just ideal for me. It is my Chilean little brother's thirteenth birthday today so family is coming over shortly for lunch. My home has a lovely balcony and is several stories up so I have a wonderful view of the town. There is a funicular at one end of my street and the main road (which all bus routes travel) at the other. I am very happy with my family and home. Later we (the group of Greenwich students in Chile) are meeting at a hotel to check in with our point-of-contact, Roberto at his hotel on the beach.

I best be off now, but please feel free to follow me on Instagram at: https://instagram.com/fifinicholls/, where I'll be posting using the trip's hashtag, #GreenwichInChile

Chau!




Friday 13 March 2015

International Women's Day at the BBC


 



On International Women's Day (08.03.15) I snagged myself, and my gorgeous friend Amy, tickets for BBC Radio 3's Coffee Concert. The music was beautiful, all composed and performed by women. Female composers, I learnt, have been long been atrociously treated by the Classical Music World, largely forgotten, suppressed and underexposed. 

My personal highlight from the concert was a piece by Caroline Shaw called 'Limestone and Felt' for cello and viola. I am one thousand percent ignorant about classical music, limited to my Ludovico Einaudi spotify playlist for studying, but 'Limestone and Felt' was really very different from that. A piece inspire by contrast, as indicated by the name, it was a joy to watch the two musicians make eye contact as the piece became less conventional and increasingly intricate, strange and beautiful. 


Check out this short video that I tweeted on the day: 


It was a lovely concert, though there was a very definite lack of coffee...

I think it's great that BBC 3 took the opportunity that International Women's Day presents to celebrate and showcase female composers, though it is sad that an event such as this is needed... it seems that every other day is dedicated to the work of male composers. I hope that the BBC Radio 3's listeners enjoyed listening to the performance and start insisting upon hearing more women composers' work. 

----

After the event, Amy and I grabbed lunch at the nearest Wagamamas, in Soho. We sat with our green tea (which is free!) for hours, reading lines for Amy's upcoming role in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, and just having a proper chinwag. As we left, we both noticed the most wonderfully lit little nook in the wall of the restaurant. Luckily I had my camera with me and I am so, so pleased to have caught this lighting on film. So lovely. 







Tuesday 10 March 2015

THIRD YEAR (aka. crying in the library)

THIRD YEAR of UNIVERSITY

third YEAR of UNI versity

thir year OF uni

turd yer of universatYYY

fird yah og booniburtitty

The above is a semantic illustration of what has happened to my brain box from September 2014, to the present, March 2015. *

People keep saying I'm on the home straight. So for the moment, I'm going to pretend that all that matters is finishing this degree, whilst ignoring the inconceivable and terrifying cliff edge that I then have to face once I've done all the essays, presentations, portfolios, extended essays and exams. Cue teeth grinding and night terrors. 

Through this degree I have discovered the tactical side of my personality. Each year I've come up with some sort of document which helps my visualise an end point and what I have to do to get there.

I recently went through the notebook that I kept during first year and I came across a really funny version of one of these game plan type things. In this one apparently I was worrying about exams, and hypothesising what would happen if i were to...say....not turn up to any exams?



(I went to all my exams for the record, even earn a first in one of them!)



This year I've upped the tactical board to A3 size:



Here you can see my ambitious intentions to earn a first overall for my degree. 

If you're around my age, 23, then you'll remember the incessant attempts of teachers trying to nail you down as a 'visual learner', or an 'audio learner', or 'kinaesthetic learner' during primary and secondary school. I remember finding it very frustrating being instructed to always "make a mind map" at the beginning of every project. But here I am... making a mind map.

Sometimes I find images helpful, though I think in this case it was more the process of working everything out, and writing it down that made me feel calmer about the whole thing, rather than looking at the image after it was done.

If you are studying and get baffled about how you are doing, and what you need to do in order get an outcome that you are happy with. I recommend making a chart like this. 

The website I use is so simple, and for that reason it's perfect. You have total control over all the inputs and so can come up with lots of hypotheticals. For example I discovered the other day that even if I get a lower grade than I want for my dissertation (which I really should start soon**), I should still come out with a 2:1. 

Here's a link to the grade calculator site I use, I'm sure there are others but I have used this since day one of my degree. 

http://www.benegg.net/grade_calculator.html

Ben Eggleston, I love you and I love typing "ben egg" into my browser bar. 



Seriously, give it a go. It might make you feel less like crying and more like the empowered autonomous babe that you are. 






*It took three attempts to type 2015, rather than 2014.... further illustrating my point that I AM SO DONE

**had to take a crying break 

Sunday 1 March 2015

Oh... you're still here. That's good


This is no time to redirect my energy back into this blog. Anyway here I am. Hello.

It's my third year of university, which is hard...
I've done some interesting things lately. I didn't stop doing interesting things, I just forgot that I had a blog, I think. So, I am here, and if you are there too, you can take a look at some things that I've been up to. How does that sound eh?

Tuesday 24 February 2015

Fashion Scout AW15 “Ones to Watch”

21.02.2015
London Fashion Week 
Fashion Scout AW15 “Ones to Watch” at the Freemason's Hall, Holborn

J Moon

J Moon

design by @_minjukim_ from the collection "Hero's Eyes"


design by @_minjukim_ from the collection "Hero's Eyes"


design by @angelchenstudio collection "Bunny with Short Legs"


design by @angelchenstudio collection "Bunny with Short Legs"


design by @angelchenstudio collection "Bunny with Short Legs"



Angel Chen's collection "Bunny with Short Legs" would have to be my favourite of the Fashion Scout #onestowatchAW15 show. I am a big Wes Anderson fan and instantly became very very excited when I heard the music that accompanied Chen's collection. I'm going to link it so that you too may experience the sheer joy of this music. I think it lends itself really well to any sort of visual presentation, especially a collection of garments which obviously take inspiration from Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, do you agree?



Chen embraced the prominant theme of nature from Moonrise Kingdom and incorporated it into all of her designs for this special collection: some garments extended into real woodland branches, others had lace than dangled in a similar way to that of the willow branches, or lamb's tails. There is a certain uniform essence to most garments, which I imagine is a tribute to the scout uniforms featured in the film. This formality set against the twigs and patchwork resulted in a charming and playful presentation. Really lovely. I had the pleasure of meeting Angel after the show, and she was terribly humble about her amazing collection.



(In my ongoing attempt to not see things from behind the screen of an iphone, I shot these photos on my Olympus Trip 35 with 200 speed film, which was the only camera I had with me. Due to the funky lighting, i.e bright on the catwalk but dark for the audience, the resulting photos give the impression that the models were parading about with their eyelids half shut, like bloody zombies. They weren't. I'm guessing my simple little Trip 35 just needed to hold the shutter open a little bit longer than normal and consequently captures the models as they both blinked and did not blink.)