So my first full weekend in Santiago seems to have flown by full of all sorts of adventures around this huge, crazy city that I still have seen hardly any of, regardless of days of exploring. I'm starting to get the hang of things such as the transportation system and such which makes everything feel a lot more secure and routine.
As I said before, this weekend was full of exploring Santiago. Saturday I met a big group of EAP kids outside a metro station near Santiago Centro and we walked through Bellavista and up the very hot and very steep path to the top of Cerro San Cristobal, a very large hill in the middle of the city with a statue of the Virgin Mary on the top. The view from the top was pretty incredible! We could see Santiago going on for miles and miles, all the way up the the mountains that surround it. We took a lot of pictures, and also went took a look inside the chapel at the top of the hill as well.
While we were up on the top, we ate lunch at a restaurant with a great view of the city that was able to seat the rather large group we had. It was really funny because for a lot of us yesterday was the about 2 week mark for being away from the US, and when we looked at the menu and saw hamberguesa queso con papas fritas we realized we had hit a point of missing good old burgers and went for it. It was no in-n-out burger, but it was definitely refreshing at the top of the hill.
We then headed down the mountain through the Parque Metropolitano that engulfs the whole hill and is massive and really pretty! The trail down took a while, but was really gorgeous! We found a lot of really neat things throughout the park, including a GIANT public pool that costs about $10 to enter and we will definitely be returning to someday soon! I made a poor shoe decision yesterday morning and now have massive blisters from walking up in my tennis shoes and sore calves from walking down in my flip flops because of the blisters, but it was definitely worth it!
Once we got down the mountain, we all ventured over for some ice cream in Providencia. Chileans LOVE ice cream! They eat it pretty much every afternoon; a practice I am quickly growing to love. I then returned home to shower and eat before venturing out for my first experience with Chilean night-life!
We went to Bellavista last night and really just hung out and had fun talking. We didn't end up going to a discotheque or anything, but it was really fun! I think Mr. Cab Driver may have ripped us off on the way home, but it wasn't too bad if he did and we learned our lesson. I got home around 2AM, meaning basically we didn't really even experience Chilean night-life since it is notorious for STARTING at 2AM. But we still had a blast and sometime we will get the full experience, I have no doubt.
Today (Sunday) I slept in until around 10, ate breakfast, and the ventured with 4 friends to one of the strangest Chilean traditions I have witnessed yet. I don't even fully understand it, so sorry if my explanation fails. Basically, we went to watch this "muñeca gigante" or giant doll walk down the street with her tío, Escafandra. Here's what we didn't know, all of Santiago went too! No joke, I have never, EVER, EVER, been someplace that crowded. And we couldn't really see much of anything since all of the little kids were on their parents shoulders also. BUT, I'm really glad we went and I did get some pictures. It's one of those very foreign traditions and experiences I definitely would have regretted missing!
After fighting, almost literally, our way out of the crowd and back onto the metro, we ventured out to a very nice mall (where I had gone once previously at night with my Mom when she was here) to eat some lunch and shop a bit for our Patagonia trip. We ate at a very cool, nice restaurant called Tanta and I had a delicious sandwich with, you guessed it, palta! Palta=avocado, and my obsession with it has multiplied exponentially as of late. I also found a pack cover for my backpacking backpack and a pair of awesome trekking pants for Patagonia!
Now I'm just chilling at home. I have yet to see my host mom at all today, but I'm sure she'll show up soon! I did my homework, went for a run, was convinced to register to run the Santiago Half Marathon April 11th (which I have yet to actually register for, but am definitely going to), and will soon eat dinner and finish my homework. Our class is from 9-1 this week which means early bed time because of early wake up, but it'll be nice to have the afternoons free to explore (some of said exploring is preplanned this week by our program ie. a museum and a vineyard).
So things are settling in, a routine is coming to exist, I'm starting to feel more comfortable, and I'm REALLY excited for my trip in 2 weeks! Things are going well!
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Photos for you non-facebookers!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30990256&l=cf7f74635e&id=1043790015
Friday, 29 January 2010
So I'm FOR REALSIES going to Patagonia!
As I'm sure you could have figured out by the title of this entry, the most exciting thing that occurred today was some MAJOR progress in regards to our trip to the south in 2 weeks! This morning, myself and 4 friends bought our round trip plane tickets from Santiago to Punta Arenas! We then went to class, and afterwards went to one of our houses to book hostels and pengüinos and plan out where we want to be when! We now have hostel reservations at all the places where they're needed, have emailed about the Isla Magdalena penguin island tour reservations and the El Calafate glacier tours, and are researching a little more about the W trek, busses, and other things. It's so exciting! We officially have plane tickets and hostel reservations! This is our plan:
2/14 Fly to Punta Arenas
2/15 Explore Punta Arenas
2/16 Pengüinos on Isla Magdalena
2/17 Bus to Puerto Natales, explore, but food, rent equipment, etc.
2/18 Bus to Torres del Paine National Park and start the W trek
2/19 W
2/20 W
2/21 W
2/22 Finish the W and bus back to Puerto Natales
2/23 Bus to El Calafate, Argentina (the hostel we booked has already been so helpful!)
2/24 Adventure to the Glacier 80 km outside of town
2/25 Explore more of El Calafate area
2/26 Bus back to Puerto Natales
2/27 Bus back to Punta Arenas
2/28 Fly back to Santiago
So we'll get to see so much down there, yet it won't be incredibly rushed or stressful. Pretty awesome! I'm soooo excited! There are still a lot of details to iron out, but lots of the big things seem to have been taken care of today! It'll be a vacation of a lifetime, and all of the girls that I'm going with (Gina, Lindsey, Ariel, and Kathryn) are so nice, adventurous, and fun-loving it will be great! I can't wait!
Today also consisted of some incredible bread, some stomach adjustments (I think I may still need to avoid the tap water), and talking to my mommy :). Some friends invited me to hike up some mountain in the Andes tomorrow on a 15 mile hike which I seriously considered, but have opted to stay in town and explore the city more by going up Cerro San Cristobal and exploring Santiago. Perhaps I'll do this mountain trek some other time, I do have 6 months! Or hey, maybe I'll trek for 5 days in Patagonia! Yeah, I think I'll do that!
2/14 Fly to Punta Arenas
2/15 Explore Punta Arenas
2/16 Pengüinos on Isla Magdalena
2/17 Bus to Puerto Natales, explore, but food, rent equipment, etc.
2/18 Bus to Torres del Paine National Park and start the W trek
2/19 W
2/20 W
2/21 W
2/22 Finish the W and bus back to Puerto Natales
2/23 Bus to El Calafate, Argentina (the hostel we booked has already been so helpful!)
2/24 Adventure to the Glacier 80 km outside of town
2/25 Explore more of El Calafate area
2/26 Bus back to Puerto Natales
2/27 Bus back to Punta Arenas
2/28 Fly back to Santiago
So we'll get to see so much down there, yet it won't be incredibly rushed or stressful. Pretty awesome! I'm soooo excited! There are still a lot of details to iron out, but lots of the big things seem to have been taken care of today! It'll be a vacation of a lifetime, and all of the girls that I'm going with (Gina, Lindsey, Ariel, and Kathryn) are so nice, adventurous, and fun-loving it will be great! I can't wait!
Today also consisted of some incredible bread, some stomach adjustments (I think I may still need to avoid the tap water), and talking to my mommy :). Some friends invited me to hike up some mountain in the Andes tomorrow on a 15 mile hike which I seriously considered, but have opted to stay in town and explore the city more by going up Cerro San Cristobal and exploring Santiago. Perhaps I'll do this mountain trek some other time, I do have 6 months! Or hey, maybe I'll trek for 5 days in Patagonia! Yeah, I think I'll do that!
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Lo que pasó hoy. . .in a very quick nutshell
So it's 12:40am here and I need to wake up cerca 745 so this will be brief. Today was pretty freaking fantastic.
-Woke up and went for a half hour run with 2 friends who live near me, discovered "Club Providencia" which has a very nice pool and BOWLING! Said run was also accompanied by the comic relief of Gina's homestay dogs that got out when she left and then followed us the entire way
-Went to class
-Walked to a grocery store with a group of friends and purchased bread, avocados, pasta sauce, chocolate bread, and salami
-Took said picnic dinner supplies to Plaza Ñuñoa and had a picnic in the park under a tree on the grass near a fountain
-Followed this $2-4 delicious dinner with ice cream!
-Watched some crazy/awful street musicians do some of the worst tricks possible
-Went to a summer festival of music concert event thing that started out with the Santiago Stompers (a Jazz Band!) and ended with Proyectango which was just a lot of Tango dancing and singing! All of this occured in (janky) bleachers behind a huge, nice building surrounded by trees as the moon was rising behind the snow covered Andes, which you could see incredibly clearly today. Basically, it was an event I would have loved to go to if I were in California. So the fact that it was in such an incredible location with the Andes in the background pretty much kicked some major booty. Minus the fact that the bleachers actually kind of did kill my booty, probably the most uncomfortable bleachers IN THE WORLD.
All in all, an incredible day.
-Woke up and went for a half hour run with 2 friends who live near me, discovered "Club Providencia" which has a very nice pool and BOWLING! Said run was also accompanied by the comic relief of Gina's homestay dogs that got out when she left and then followed us the entire way
-Went to class
-Walked to a grocery store with a group of friends and purchased bread, avocados, pasta sauce, chocolate bread, and salami
-Took said picnic dinner supplies to Plaza Ñuñoa and had a picnic in the park under a tree on the grass near a fountain
-Followed this $2-4 delicious dinner with ice cream!
-Watched some crazy/awful street musicians do some of the worst tricks possible
-Went to a summer festival of music concert event thing that started out with the Santiago Stompers (a Jazz Band!) and ended with Proyectango which was just a lot of Tango dancing and singing! All of this occured in (janky) bleachers behind a huge, nice building surrounded by trees as the moon was rising behind the snow covered Andes, which you could see incredibly clearly today. Basically, it was an event I would have loved to go to if I were in California. So the fact that it was in such an incredible location with the Andes in the background pretty much kicked some major booty. Minus the fact that the bleachers actually kind of did kill my booty, probably the most uncomfortable bleachers IN THE WORLD.
All in all, an incredible day.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Aventuras!
Today was almost a 180 from yesterday, I felt particularly upbeat for some reason or another nearly all day. This morning, I woke up and met two friends at a metro station where we further ventured into the heart of Santiago to los mercados de La Veca and El Patronato. La Veca was really awesome to see, just a HUGE somewhat open air market of fruits and vegetables and squashes and meats. The people were a little. . .I don't even know what the right word would be. Let's just say the men kind of took the regression of Latin American machismo and regressed its progress. I had also been told it was not a good idea to eat any of the food because it may lack sanitation, so this trip was mostly to see the place, which was definitely worth it!
We then walked towards the neighboring market of El Patronato, not exactly sure of where we were going but we did eventually end up there! This is a multi-street market (both on the streets and in established stores) of clothing. There are TONS of clothes including crazy Chilean pants, dresses, tops, toms-look-a-like shoes which I bought for 3000 pesos~$6, and more! I will definitely be returning here!
We then found a cute little greek cafe where we sat down and ate some schawarma (mmmmm) and started to meticulously iron out the details of our break plans! Right now, it sounds like we will be doing only Patagonia and doing it in a fairly significant depth! I'm really excited for it, even though ironing out all the details is a pretty daunting task we seem to have a pretty good handle on it and I think we will likely purchase our plane tickets to Punta Arenas and back this weekend! Trip plans so far include: Punta Arenas, penguin colony (!!!!), Puerto Natales, Torres del Paine (The W Trek), Puerto Natales again, El Calafate and the coinciding glacier (this is Argentinian Patagonia), and Tierra del Fuego, all in about 2 weeks! Pretty much the dream Patagonia vacation, only done so in hostels and camping and busses. :)
The rest of today consisted of class and then an adventure with our group and cultural monitors to dinner in Providencia in a restaurant that was pretty swanky haha. We had a Mexican food platter (OMG I already miss mexican food)! Then we ventured to ice cream and headed back home where I got to skype with Jess, Court, Katie, AND Milo, alll at the same time! A perfect ending to a pretty awesome day in Santiago!
We then walked towards the neighboring market of El Patronato, not exactly sure of where we were going but we did eventually end up there! This is a multi-street market (both on the streets and in established stores) of clothing. There are TONS of clothes including crazy Chilean pants, dresses, tops, toms-look-a-like shoes which I bought for 3000 pesos~$6, and more! I will definitely be returning here!
We then found a cute little greek cafe where we sat down and ate some schawarma (mmmmm) and started to meticulously iron out the details of our break plans! Right now, it sounds like we will be doing only Patagonia and doing it in a fairly significant depth! I'm really excited for it, even though ironing out all the details is a pretty daunting task we seem to have a pretty good handle on it and I think we will likely purchase our plane tickets to Punta Arenas and back this weekend! Trip plans so far include: Punta Arenas, penguin colony (!!!!), Puerto Natales, Torres del Paine (The W Trek), Puerto Natales again, El Calafate and the coinciding glacier (this is Argentinian Patagonia), and Tierra del Fuego, all in about 2 weeks! Pretty much the dream Patagonia vacation, only done so in hostels and camping and busses. :)
The rest of today consisted of class and then an adventure with our group and cultural monitors to dinner in Providencia in a restaurant that was pretty swanky haha. We had a Mexican food platter (OMG I already miss mexican food)! Then we ventured to ice cream and headed back home where I got to skype with Jess, Court, Katie, AND Milo, alll at the same time! A perfect ending to a pretty awesome day in Santiago!
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
I'm going to quickly run out of creative titles. . .
Today was a looong day that started out very so-so, but turned out well. I had to wake up wayyyyy too early when it was still dark to meet my half of the group at a metro station about 45 minutes from my house by 815 to go register our visas and apply for our chilean identification cards before class at 2. After 3.5 hours in line at what I assume to be the Chilean equivalent to the DMV, I got to the front of the line and the woman told me I was missing a copy of something, so I had to walk around the corner, make a copy, and return to her. So I did, but what do you know when I get back she's not there! So I waited for a while, and then asked the other woman working right next to her who turned out to be incredibly unpleasant, like possibly the most unpleasant worker I have ever witnessed. I asked her if the lady I was waiting for was going to return and all she would say was, "Si va a volver. Va a volver. No puedo ayudarte. Necesito ayudar esas personas." in a very rude way. This was also very stupid because she was, at this point, not helping anyone and could have very easily helped me. Dumb. So, that was incredibly frustrating especially since I had been feeling a little homesick already and then had to deal with that frustration. Eventually, the lady I was waiting for returned, processed my papers, I got my fingerprints taken, and we were good to go. Mind you, at this point it is 1:50, and our class that is minimum 40 minutes away starts at 2. Luckily, one of the program directors had told us that today, this process took priority and to just get it done, regardless of whether we were late to class (and boy were we!).
An upside of a 3.5 hour line, is it gives you a chance to talk to people. I've gotten to know a lot of people a lot better today, which has helped a lot with the part of me that was really missing home this morning. Tonight I went over to a friend, Lauren's, house which is about 5 blocks from mine and we had some soda and talked on the balcony for a while. It was really nice to just talk and get to know someone, and it turned out we shared a lot of the same worries and excitements, which kind of put me at ease.
Tomorrow morning I'm meeting Gina and our friends Lindsey and Christine to go into the center of the city of some of the mercados that sell fruit, clothes, etc. It will be fun to adventure into the city, since there's SO much of it I have yet to see! I've gotten to know my little portion of the city fairly well, but there is SO SO SO much more! I think we are also going to the LAN (Latin American Airlines) office tomorrow morning to get more information of plane tickets to Punta Arenas and Buenos Aires! EEK! And then tomorrow night, we have a dinner thing with our groups and our cultural monitors, so it will be a full day of socializing, with a 4 hour class stuck in.
I do need to figure out a better solution for lunch. Most host families seem to be packing their students lunches and mine doesn't, but maybe I'll just ask, or make my own. I'm growing to like my host mom more and more, and keeping the option open of remaining here for at least and extra month, if not for the duration. I'm not going to make a decision on that for another week or so, which is perfect since I will soon have a live in homestay sister when her 19 year old daughter returns from vacation on saturday!
So, today started out a little bit rough but I am ending it with excitement and drive. I just need to put myself out there and socialize, and this'll be great! I miss everyone so much, especially my parents, but it's manageable and I am going to turn that energy into drive to take advantage of all the opportunities I'm presented with and HAVE FUN!
Chao!
An upside of a 3.5 hour line, is it gives you a chance to talk to people. I've gotten to know a lot of people a lot better today, which has helped a lot with the part of me that was really missing home this morning. Tonight I went over to a friend, Lauren's, house which is about 5 blocks from mine and we had some soda and talked on the balcony for a while. It was really nice to just talk and get to know someone, and it turned out we shared a lot of the same worries and excitements, which kind of put me at ease.
Tomorrow morning I'm meeting Gina and our friends Lindsey and Christine to go into the center of the city of some of the mercados that sell fruit, clothes, etc. It will be fun to adventure into the city, since there's SO much of it I have yet to see! I've gotten to know my little portion of the city fairly well, but there is SO SO SO much more! I think we are also going to the LAN (Latin American Airlines) office tomorrow morning to get more information of plane tickets to Punta Arenas and Buenos Aires! EEK! And then tomorrow night, we have a dinner thing with our groups and our cultural monitors, so it will be a full day of socializing, with a 4 hour class stuck in.
I do need to figure out a better solution for lunch. Most host families seem to be packing their students lunches and mine doesn't, but maybe I'll just ask, or make my own. I'm growing to like my host mom more and more, and keeping the option open of remaining here for at least and extra month, if not for the duration. I'm not going to make a decision on that for another week or so, which is perfect since I will soon have a live in homestay sister when her 19 year old daughter returns from vacation on saturday!
So, today started out a little bit rough but I am ending it with excitement and drive. I just need to put myself out there and socialize, and this'll be great! I miss everyone so much, especially my parents, but it's manageable and I am going to turn that energy into drive to take advantage of all the opportunities I'm presented with and HAVE FUN!
Chao!
Monday, 25 January 2010
Hoy!
So I'm starting out a little overly ambitious with this blog, we'll see if I can keep it up! Today was a pretty darn good day! I woke up and ran with my friend from UCSD, Gina, for 25 minutes. As short little run, but enough to make a difference. It never ceases to amaze me how much better I feel when I am running! I ventured to the supermercado close to my homestay and bought a 5 liter water bottle. WOOOHOO! Yeah, I'm actually that excited. No joke. I then ventured en micro (bus) to school for the start of ILP.
I was placed into the intermediate level group of spanish (group 1 of 3), which seems to be all stuff I've already learned but I guess serves me right for not really putting enough effort into the diagnostic test we had to take on our own in November. All in all, I think I'm glad I'm in this group because everyone is around my level and no one is far far better than me, which makes me more comfortable when I speak. It seems like it'll be great, because it forces me to speak spanish only for 4 hours a day, and the 4 hours passes without being painstakingly slow because we talk about very interesting things and my teacher is very nice. For instance, today she told us that she lived in Algeria for 11 years because she fled Pinochet. How interesting is that?! She also talked a lot about politics and characteristics of chilean culture. Super interesting!
I walked home from school afterwards because it was a nice temperature and pretty and a friend who lives near me was walking also. Tonight I have to do homework (blah), but not too much. A lot of people are going to a Discoteca tonight in Plaza Ñuñoa, but I had to opt not too because my group for registering out visa has to meet at 8:15 tomorrow morning at a place around 1 hour from my house. Eek, early! And since chilean nightlife starts cerca 1am and goes basically to dawn, I decided going out would be a bad idea. So, I'll stay in and eat with my host family, do homework, post pictures (to come on facebook of my homestay house!), and research Patagonia travels!
That's all for today, now on to interesting little quirks I'd like to share!
1. Chilean spanish has was they refer to as Chilenismos, some of which are absolutely hilarious! For instance, people use the word huevón like people in the states use the word dude. It literally means big testicles. Yeah, strange I know. But can have the connotation of dude or jerk, depending on context. Also: they say only chao and not adios, carreterear is a verb meaning to party, piscolear is a verb meaning to drink pisco, guagua is baby, and soooo much more. It's pretty funny!
2. There are so many plazas and parks! It makes running very pretty, even when in the middle of a smog filled city. The park I ran in this morning also had pretty much a free gym, with workout machines (made out of playground-ish equipment) along the exercise path.
More to come! Chao!
I was placed into the intermediate level group of spanish (group 1 of 3), which seems to be all stuff I've already learned but I guess serves me right for not really putting enough effort into the diagnostic test we had to take on our own in November. All in all, I think I'm glad I'm in this group because everyone is around my level and no one is far far better than me, which makes me more comfortable when I speak. It seems like it'll be great, because it forces me to speak spanish only for 4 hours a day, and the 4 hours passes without being painstakingly slow because we talk about very interesting things and my teacher is very nice. For instance, today she told us that she lived in Algeria for 11 years because she fled Pinochet. How interesting is that?! She also talked a lot about politics and characteristics of chilean culture. Super interesting!
I walked home from school afterwards because it was a nice temperature and pretty and a friend who lives near me was walking also. Tonight I have to do homework (blah), but not too much. A lot of people are going to a Discoteca tonight in Plaza Ñuñoa, but I had to opt not too because my group for registering out visa has to meet at 8:15 tomorrow morning at a place around 1 hour from my house. Eek, early! And since chilean nightlife starts cerca 1am and goes basically to dawn, I decided going out would be a bad idea. So, I'll stay in and eat with my host family, do homework, post pictures (to come on facebook of my homestay house!), and research Patagonia travels!
That's all for today, now on to interesting little quirks I'd like to share!
1. Chilean spanish has was they refer to as Chilenismos, some of which are absolutely hilarious! For instance, people use the word huevón like people in the states use the word dude. It literally means big testicles. Yeah, strange I know. But can have the connotation of dude or jerk, depending on context. Also: they say only chao and not adios, carreterear is a verb meaning to party, piscolear is a verb meaning to drink pisco, guagua is baby, and soooo much more. It's pretty funny!
2. There are so many plazas and parks! It makes running very pretty, even when in the middle of a smog filled city. The park I ran in this morning also had pretty much a free gym, with workout machines (made out of playground-ish equipment) along the exercise path.
More to come! Chao!
Quirks I forgot and will expan on later. . .
1. There's a nana (maid) at my homestay. She washed my clothes and they suddenly became nicer?
2. It's rude to say Adios, but rather people say Chao.
3. I finally ran this morning!
4. Planning a trip to patagonia is verrrry complicated.
5. I should expand on my trip to the school friday morning. . .
6. More to come!
2. It's rude to say Adios, but rather people say Chao.
3. I finally ran this morning!
4. Planning a trip to patagonia is verrrry complicated.
5. I should expand on my trip to the school friday morning. . .
6. More to come!
Sunday, 24 January 2010
1 week down!
So I've officially been in Chile for a week at this point, my program has started, and soon I will settle into a rhythm. I'm really tired, but so much has happened I feel like I need to get it all down before any more happens!
Wednesday (1/20) was one of the scariest days of my life. You know when you study abroad in a country with a language barrier that it will be difficult, but ayyyyyyy dios mio! So what we did that day was pretty much meet at the Campus Oriente of the PUC and get handed off to our host families for the rest of the day. My host family consists of a Mom who I live with, and two daughters, one of which lives with her fiance and the other is out of town until the 30th. They are all incredibly nice and I am able to communicate fairly well with them, but that didn't stop the freaking out that occurred later that night. It was pretty overwhelming, but I have now settled into the host family and the fact that my home life is now 100% in spanish and am very happy with it. They tend to give me a lot of space, which is also really nice.
So wednesday I acquired a BIP card (for the metro and the bus) from my host mom and then pretty much just hung out and skyped with a few people until my real mom came over for once with my host family and me (tea time esque meal at 9ish pm).
Thursday I ventured on the bus (very smoothly) with a host mom (who is also a director of the EAP program) and a girl from UCSB who live near me. We then had some orientation things, met the Cultural Monitors (Pipe), and then ventured to Providencia to buy cellulares (cell phones). Ultimately, and after much broken spanish conversing, we bought Entel prepaid phones from the big department store here, Paris. So far so good! Thursday night I went out with my host family, my host mom's friend and his daughter, and my mom to a café in the middle of this HUGE and very nice mall. It was fun, and the daughter spoke both english and spanish and expressed interest in showing me around Santiago and hanging out so she can practice her english and I can practice my spanish. I hope it works out!
Then Friday morning we had our oral exams and headed out for our orientation retreat in Curacavi, a small resort in the Coastal Mountains between Santiago and the coast. This weekend we received a lot of information, swam in the pool, hiked, and met a lot of people! Most meals, my tables ended up sitting and talking for more than an hour after we had finished eating. There are some really interesting and fun people to talk to and hang out with in the group!
I had a pretty bad stomach ache this morning that I think came from drinking the water a lot in Curacavi, but it seems to have solved itself more or less.
Tomorrow morning I am going for a run (we'll see how that goes) with one of my friends here, and then we start the 3 week Intensive Language Program. I'm interested to see which level I get placed in (Intermediate, Advanced Intermediate, or Advanced). Let's just say I'm sure it's not that last one. Hopefully my spanish will improve, I'll settle into a routine of going to class for 4 hours a day, and still have time to explore Santiago and plan for a possible Patagonia trip in 3 weeks!
I'm really excited to settle into a groove and see more of the city, and stoked to get to know people better! I need to make sure I am actively taking advantage of opportunities to hang out and make more friends, but I've been pretty good at putting myself out there. I have so much more to say, but for now I think it's bed time.
Buenas Noches!
Wednesday (1/20) was one of the scariest days of my life. You know when you study abroad in a country with a language barrier that it will be difficult, but ayyyyyyy dios mio! So what we did that day was pretty much meet at the Campus Oriente of the PUC and get handed off to our host families for the rest of the day. My host family consists of a Mom who I live with, and two daughters, one of which lives with her fiance and the other is out of town until the 30th. They are all incredibly nice and I am able to communicate fairly well with them, but that didn't stop the freaking out that occurred later that night. It was pretty overwhelming, but I have now settled into the host family and the fact that my home life is now 100% in spanish and am very happy with it. They tend to give me a lot of space, which is also really nice.
So wednesday I acquired a BIP card (for the metro and the bus) from my host mom and then pretty much just hung out and skyped with a few people until my real mom came over for once with my host family and me (tea time esque meal at 9ish pm).
Thursday I ventured on the bus (very smoothly) with a host mom (who is also a director of the EAP program) and a girl from UCSB who live near me. We then had some orientation things, met the Cultural Monitors (Pipe), and then ventured to Providencia to buy cellulares (cell phones). Ultimately, and after much broken spanish conversing, we bought Entel prepaid phones from the big department store here, Paris. So far so good! Thursday night I went out with my host family, my host mom's friend and his daughter, and my mom to a café in the middle of this HUGE and very nice mall. It was fun, and the daughter spoke both english and spanish and expressed interest in showing me around Santiago and hanging out so she can practice her english and I can practice my spanish. I hope it works out!
Then Friday morning we had our oral exams and headed out for our orientation retreat in Curacavi, a small resort in the Coastal Mountains between Santiago and the coast. This weekend we received a lot of information, swam in the pool, hiked, and met a lot of people! Most meals, my tables ended up sitting and talking for more than an hour after we had finished eating. There are some really interesting and fun people to talk to and hang out with in the group!
I had a pretty bad stomach ache this morning that I think came from drinking the water a lot in Curacavi, but it seems to have solved itself more or less.
Tomorrow morning I am going for a run (we'll see how that goes) with one of my friends here, and then we start the 3 week Intensive Language Program. I'm interested to see which level I get placed in (Intermediate, Advanced Intermediate, or Advanced). Let's just say I'm sure it's not that last one. Hopefully my spanish will improve, I'll settle into a routine of going to class for 4 hours a day, and still have time to explore Santiago and plan for a possible Patagonia trip in 3 weeks!
I'm really excited to settle into a groove and see more of the city, and stoked to get to know people better! I need to make sure I am actively taking advantage of opportunities to hang out and make more friends, but I've been pretty good at putting myself out there. I have so much more to say, but for now I think it's bed time.
Buenas Noches!
Blog Attempt take 2!
So I thought I had already made one of these, but apparently it disappeared? No comprendo!
Well I'll try again! I really want to keep a record of my travels and experiences here in Chile, but have never been any good at actually keeping a written journal, so this is my idea. I'm going to start it with the first email I sent to people, and then try to update it weekly-ish!
First off, I want to say that I love and miss you all! You are some of the people that expressed interest in getting updates from me, or have messaged me on facebook since I arrived! Today was the first time I got the (pretty awful) internet at my hotel to work and I received all of your messages and they made me sooooooo happy I can't even express it! Facebook still isn't really working message wise, so I figured I'd just email you all!
The flight went really well, minus the sleep aspect. It's REALLY long and small seat=no bueno para dormir. (Oh that's another thing, I already find myself thinking in two languages, and sometimes they mix and become hardcore Spanglish, i will have to fix this before moving in with my host family tomorrow!)
When my Mom and I arrived on Sunday morning, we went to our hotel, napped a bit, and then headed out to explore Santiago. I was quickly forced to get comfortable speaking spanish, having to ask for Metro tickets and order food and everything! We saw a lot of the city that day actually! Santiago is a HUGE city (6 million people!) which worried me a little at first, but it's actually really neat! There are a lot of different comunas, or communities, that ecah have a distinct feel to them. There are a lot of people, but they all seem very nice! Sunday, we did a walking tour guided via my Lonely Planet Guide that took us to Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral within, the Presidential Plaza, a LOT of Plazas throughout the city (there are tons of Plazas and Parks), Santa Lucia (a big hill in the middle of the city you can walk up that has incredible views), and La Católica (my school!) which was GORGEOUS! Sunday was also the presidential election day which was absolutely INSANE! When they announced the new president, everyone was driving through the streets honking and standing out of their windows waving Chilean flags. They honked until all hours of the night, it was definitely a sight to see!
On Monday we took a 2 hour bus ride to Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, two coastal cities on the Pacific Ocean and at lunch at a little restaurant called Enjoy del Mar (ahaha) where I had my first experience of thinking I order something and receiving something else hahaha. It was still good though! That night, we went to dinner near our hotel and drank Pisco Sours (a traditional Chilean alcoholic mixed drink made with grape brandy). I did notttt like it hahahaha.
Then today, we got out of the city the other direction and went into the Andes! What I think I may have really come to Chile for! We went for a 7 mile hike back into an INCREDIBLE green valley full of wild flowers to a glacial lake. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever hiked in, and I'm so glad I got to do it with my mom!
Tomorrow, my program starts, I leave my mom, and meet everybody else including my host family. I'm really excited for this, but also pretty dang nervous! I hope I make friends really quickly and I hope everything goes smoothly with my host family, including my ability to communicate!
So, that's where I'm at right now! I love and miss you all soooo much! Have sooo much fun at first degree this weekend! And as sooon as I have reliable internet, I want to set up a skype date with each and every one of you!
Much much much love from south of the equator!
Heather
Well I'll try again! I really want to keep a record of my travels and experiences here in Chile, but have never been any good at actually keeping a written journal, so this is my idea. I'm going to start it with the first email I sent to people, and then try to update it weekly-ish!
First off, I want to say that I love and miss you all! You are some of the people that expressed interest in getting updates from me, or have messaged me on facebook since I arrived! Today was the first time I got the (pretty awful) internet at my hotel to work and I received all of your messages and they made me sooooooo happy I can't even express it! Facebook still isn't really working message wise, so I figured I'd just email you all!
The flight went really well, minus the sleep aspect. It's REALLY long and small seat=no bueno para dormir. (Oh that's another thing, I already find myself thinking in two languages, and sometimes they mix and become hardcore Spanglish, i will have to fix this before moving in with my host family tomorrow!)
When my Mom and I arrived on Sunday morning, we went to our hotel, napped a bit, and then headed out to explore Santiago. I was quickly forced to get comfortable speaking spanish, having to ask for Metro tickets and order food and everything! We saw a lot of the city that day actually! Santiago is a HUGE city (6 million people!) which worried me a little at first, but it's actually really neat! There are a lot of different comunas, or communities, that ecah have a distinct feel to them. There are a lot of people, but they all seem very nice! Sunday, we did a walking tour guided via my Lonely Planet Guide that took us to Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral within, the Presidential Plaza, a LOT of Plazas throughout the city (there are tons of Plazas and Parks), Santa Lucia (a big hill in the middle of the city you can walk up that has incredible views), and La Católica (my school!) which was GORGEOUS! Sunday was also the presidential election day which was absolutely INSANE! When they announced the new president, everyone was driving through the streets honking and standing out of their windows waving Chilean flags. They honked until all hours of the night, it was definitely a sight to see!
On Monday we took a 2 hour bus ride to Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, two coastal cities on the Pacific Ocean and at lunch at a little restaurant called Enjoy del Mar (ahaha) where I had my first experience of thinking I order something and receiving something else hahaha. It was still good though! That night, we went to dinner near our hotel and drank Pisco Sours (a traditional Chilean alcoholic mixed drink made with grape brandy). I did notttt like it hahahaha.
Then today, we got out of the city the other direction and went into the Andes! What I think I may have really come to Chile for! We went for a 7 mile hike back into an INCREDIBLE green valley full of wild flowers to a glacial lake. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever hiked in, and I'm so glad I got to do it with my mom!
Tomorrow, my program starts, I leave my mom, and meet everybody else including my host family. I'm really excited for this, but also pretty dang nervous! I hope I make friends really quickly and I hope everything goes smoothly with my host family, including my ability to communicate!
So, that's where I'm at right now! I love and miss you all soooo much! Have sooo much fun at first degree this weekend! And as sooon as I have reliable internet, I want to set up a skype date with each and every one of you!
Much much much love from south of the equator!
Heather
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