Hi all!
I know I'm really terrible at this, so I'm gonna give you guys a wrap up of what I've been up to. I've really fallen into a rhythm here, and it's extremely interesting to say the least. What I mean by that is that I never thought I would feel almost completely normal here in Santiago. My days are fairly uniform with a couple exceptions, but it's just like a daily routine in the States, only with an entirely different culture and an entirely different language.
I really like my classes and I think I'm doing well in them. We just had our first midterms, and I feel fairly confident, although they have not been graded yet. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if I get a few extra points just for being a gringo.
But speaking of being a gringo, I never knew how white I truly was. Many of the kids in the program have far darker features and pass fairly easily as Chileans themselves. I, on the other hand, have no chance of faking it. I really do get stares everywhere I go, which has been a bit of a paradox. On the one hand, it's fairly uncomfortable as you can imagine. But on the other, people are so fascinated and willing to talk to you that it is very easy to meet people. It also comes with a few other perks (if you will). For example, this weekend we were in a very traditional Chilean bar in Valparaiso where we danced the Chilean folkloric dance, "La Cueca", as part of their independence week celebrations called the "Fiestas Patrias". More to come on that later. However, we spent most of the night just watching, but at the end we all started to join in. As soon as I stepped on the dance floor, everyone just started clapping. Even though a couple other gringos I was with had already been dancing, it took me stepping out on the floor for people to start clapping, just by the nature of being very blonde and having blue eyes. However, we ended up spending the next hour and a half dancing with a bunch of old ladies (and kids as well), and it was certainly one of the funner nights of my time here. The whole restaurant was waving and yelling goodbye when we took our leave.
Yet another interesting part of this week was the fact that it was the "fiestas patrias", in which Chile celebrates its independence from Spain, much like our 4th of July. Yet, instead of taking one day to celebrate, Chile takes a week. Basically the entire country shuts down as people head to the beach or the countryside to celebrate the fiestas. Wednesday, the 18th, was the actual independence day, and I walked through an absolutely empty Santiago, a city normally brimming with 6 and a half million people. We passed the night at a huge festival at the national soccer stadium, which was great.
The next day, however, a couple of friends and I headed to Valparaiso, the second largest city in Chile and the bohemian capital of Latin America. The city is filled with beautiful homes and amazing graffiti, standing as an homage to some of the greatest artists and writers to have ever passed through Chile. It was home to the greatest Latin American poet of all time and Chilean national hero, Pablo Neruda, whose house we went and visited. It is an absolutely fantastic city. We spent our days wandering the hills of the city, seeing all it had to offer. The first day we met a young guy who we ended up talking to for about twenty minutes. After that, he told us that he used to be a tour guide, and he proceeded to spend the next six hours with us showing us all over the place. That night we went to another festival in Valpo, which was also great.
The next few days we just spent wandering the city and hills, which you can do for hours and hours and never be bored. It really is a beautiful place. We played some soccer with some local young'uns and ate empanadas like there was no tomorrow.
The final night we were there we met up with the director of our program here in Chile, who is originally from Valpo. He really showed us another side of the city, we had never seen before, taking us to all sorts of great views and showing us where he grew up. After that, he took us to the oldest bar in town and another very authentic Chilean restaurant. However, it was also him who showed us the authentic Chilean bar in which we danced the night away.
Today, we didn't do too awful much, but we did travel up the coast a bit to some sand dunes called "Las Dunas de ConCon". We rented some sandboards (snowboards on sand) and did that for hours which was really, really fun. And after that, we travelled home!
It was a very wonderful experience and all the while the entire country was filled with patriotism, culture and pride. Truly a sight to behold.
I do have to go to bed now, and once again I will do my best to write more frequently!
I love you all! Ciao Ciao!
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Hey everybody!
Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, I've been pretty busy! But that also means I have plenty to talk about now!
Since my last post, I have been travelling quite a bit. Last weekend five friends and I headed down to a little town called Pucon. It's about 10 hours south of Santiago by bus, and it's a little mountain town that is a fairly common vacation spot around here. It's a beautiful town though, with quite a bit to offer. In fact, it looks very much like Steamboat, very quaint and quiet, with tons of spirit. The people there were just so much more relaxed and friendly, we never wanted to leave. Here they have a phrase, "onda", which refers to the vibe or feeling of a particular place or setting. Compared to Santiago, the onda of Pucon was so much more liberated and tranquil.
The first night we were there we had a BBQ with a class of students who were having a seminar on avalanche safety at our hostel. It was fantastic! Every social gathering here surrounds food, and for that reason, the food is amazing. They just cook huge slabs of meat, cut it up, and pass the plate around while everyone eats the little bits and pieces until everyone is incredibly full. It's incredible and the meat here is to die for.
The second day we went to these waterfalls that were fairly close by, and hiked all around the falls, which was fairly incredible. They can be seen here!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tessoconnor/9552187073/
After that we took the bus further down the road to some hot springs which were incredibly beautiful and very relaxing. We returned to our hostel, had a wonderful dinner and went to sleep in our cozy cabin for six.
The next day we went to a national park called Huerqueque, where we hiked about ten miles or so. We climbed up and some lakes and waterfalls which were immaculate, but why tell you when I can show you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhKvNhBRoyA&feature=youtu.be
This is a wonderful little video my very talented friend Tess made to document the journey.
Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, I've been pretty busy! But that also means I have plenty to talk about now!
Since my last post, I have been travelling quite a bit. Last weekend five friends and I headed down to a little town called Pucon. It's about 10 hours south of Santiago by bus, and it's a little mountain town that is a fairly common vacation spot around here. It's a beautiful town though, with quite a bit to offer. In fact, it looks very much like Steamboat, very quaint and quiet, with tons of spirit. The people there were just so much more relaxed and friendly, we never wanted to leave. Here they have a phrase, "onda", which refers to the vibe or feeling of a particular place or setting. Compared to Santiago, the onda of Pucon was so much more liberated and tranquil.
The first night we were there we had a BBQ with a class of students who were having a seminar on avalanche safety at our hostel. It was fantastic! Every social gathering here surrounds food, and for that reason, the food is amazing. They just cook huge slabs of meat, cut it up, and pass the plate around while everyone eats the little bits and pieces until everyone is incredibly full. It's incredible and the meat here is to die for.
The second day we went to these waterfalls that were fairly close by, and hiked all around the falls, which was fairly incredible. They can be seen here!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tessoconnor/9552187073/
After that we took the bus further down the road to some hot springs which were incredibly beautiful and very relaxing. We returned to our hostel, had a wonderful dinner and went to sleep in our cozy cabin for six.
The next day we went to a national park called Huerqueque, where we hiked about ten miles or so. We climbed up and some lakes and waterfalls which were immaculate, but why tell you when I can show you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhKvNhBRoyA&feature=youtu.be
This is a wonderful little video my very talented friend Tess made to document the journey.
Monday, July 29, 2013
So not too much to report. Recently we've spent our days/nights wandering the streets of Santiago just seeing what the city has to offer, and it's quite a bit! There are street performers and live music everywhere. There are always tons of people out and about, so much so that I can't wait to see how many are going to be around in the Summer. Most people here can't stand anything below 40 degrees, and I find it pretty funny to see. It's been pretty cloudy and ugly though, but they tell me Spring is just around the corner.
This weekend, and apparently this happens every weekend, Ines's whole family came over on Saturday and Sunday and just spent the whole day eating, drinking, and talking. Honestly it felt very much like our family and I'm very happy to have experienced it/excited to continue to do so. We still haven't registered for classes, even though many of them start this week, which is slightly nerve-wracking, but we're moving on Chilean time I suppose! Everything moves much slower here, and everything takes forever to get done. They always say "A la chilena", which just means "that's the Chilean way", but all I've seen it to mean is "we're gonna be late". Tomorrow we have orientation at La Catolica, so I'm very happy to see what that has to offer. We have already had orientations at our two other universities and I liked them quite a bit. I'm itching to get classes started and find a routine, because it all still feels like one big vacation. Other than that, I'm just gonna keep living this wonderful, wistful life, and you should all be very jealous.
I'll have more posts up soon! Ciao!
This weekend, and apparently this happens every weekend, Ines's whole family came over on Saturday and Sunday and just spent the whole day eating, drinking, and talking. Honestly it felt very much like our family and I'm very happy to have experienced it/excited to continue to do so. We still haven't registered for classes, even though many of them start this week, which is slightly nerve-wracking, but we're moving on Chilean time I suppose! Everything moves much slower here, and everything takes forever to get done. They always say "A la chilena", which just means "that's the Chilean way", but all I've seen it to mean is "we're gonna be late". Tomorrow we have orientation at La Catolica, so I'm very happy to see what that has to offer. We have already had orientations at our two other universities and I liked them quite a bit. I'm itching to get classes started and find a routine, because it all still feels like one big vacation. Other than that, I'm just gonna keep living this wonderful, wistful life, and you should all be very jealous.
I'll have more posts up soon! Ciao!
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
My First Two Days in Santiago
Hola a todos!
So I've just moved into my homestay! I live with one older woman alone, but she has grandchildren that come over very frequently. Her mother, who is 94, and her two sisters also live in the apartment complex. So far she has been very accommodating and sweet. I think she misses her children very much, so she has students to replace them!
The last two days have been two of the longest, yet two of the best, days of my life. We arrived in Santiago at 4 in the morning to 25 degree weather, in a city that lacks any sort of central heating. I had one fellow student on all of my flights named Josh, who is a huge soccer fan and a fast friend! We made it through customs with no problem! We then proceeded to spend the next seven hours sitting in the airport freezing our butts off. After that, all 35 of us met up and proceeded to a hotel in downtown Santiago, which was very quaint. However, it was too quaint to comfortably host and feed 35 people at one time, so it was a bit hectic. We rested for a little and then took off for the Catolica campus, where we had a brief orientation lecture. Then we dined at the Gatopardo, an old political club turned restaurant which was muy delicioso!
After dinner, a few of us kids went out to have a few drinks/explore the area, and it was great! I got to know quite a few kids in the program in the process, but after drinks is when it got a little interesting. (Don't worry about the next part, we were in a very safe area!) Josh and I were the last to leave and were relatively unsure of where we were going. But as my father has taught, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. We were only a few blocks from the hotel, but it took us an hour to get home as we couldn't find it! I probably talked to fifteen people on the street asking for directions (and having some great conversations along the way!), but not a single person had any idea where the hotel was. Eventually we went into another hotel and asked for directions, only to find that we had been very close the whole time. After that, I stayed in the lobby talking to the two reception workers and one other student for almost an hour and a half, about just about everything imaginable. So you'll be happy to know that I am practicing my Spanish day and night! I can already feel myself getting better. Chileans speak a very bad Spanish and it's very hard to understand. But on the bright side, if you can understand Chileans, you can understand anybody!
This morning we had breakfast at the hotel and began our orientation lectures at the Catolica campus. They taught us how to use the metro and the buses, as well as all about Chilean culture. Tomorrow it is going to be much more of that, with language classes to boot. After lunch, we went to buy our cell phones (just little, cheap pay-as-you-go phones). My group went right through the city center to find them, but we had to go to six different stores in order to find enough for everyone, so that took like three hours. But I suppose, once again, it's about the journey, not the destination. When we got back to the hotel, it was time for our families to pick us up!
I live in a very quaint two bedroom apartment. I have absolutely everything I could want, and she is a very good cook! We are provided three meals a day, which is going to be quite the lifestyle change for me. Well, we have an early day tomorrow so I'm off to bed! I miss you all very much and am still extremely sad to have missed the reunion!
Buenas noches! Besos y Abrazos! (Hugs and Kisses)
Hola a todos!
So I've just moved into my homestay! I live with one older woman alone, but she has grandchildren that come over very frequently. Her mother, who is 94, and her two sisters also live in the apartment complex. So far she has been very accommodating and sweet. I think she misses her children very much, so she has students to replace them!
The last two days have been two of the longest, yet two of the best, days of my life. We arrived in Santiago at 4 in the morning to 25 degree weather, in a city that lacks any sort of central heating. I had one fellow student on all of my flights named Josh, who is a huge soccer fan and a fast friend! We made it through customs with no problem! We then proceeded to spend the next seven hours sitting in the airport freezing our butts off. After that, all 35 of us met up and proceeded to a hotel in downtown Santiago, which was very quaint. However, it was too quaint to comfortably host and feed 35 people at one time, so it was a bit hectic. We rested for a little and then took off for the Catolica campus, where we had a brief orientation lecture. Then we dined at the Gatopardo, an old political club turned restaurant which was muy delicioso!
After dinner, a few of us kids went out to have a few drinks/explore the area, and it was great! I got to know quite a few kids in the program in the process, but after drinks is when it got a little interesting. (Don't worry about the next part, we were in a very safe area!) Josh and I were the last to leave and were relatively unsure of where we were going. But as my father has taught, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. We were only a few blocks from the hotel, but it took us an hour to get home as we couldn't find it! I probably talked to fifteen people on the street asking for directions (and having some great conversations along the way!), but not a single person had any idea where the hotel was. Eventually we went into another hotel and asked for directions, only to find that we had been very close the whole time. After that, I stayed in the lobby talking to the two reception workers and one other student for almost an hour and a half, about just about everything imaginable. So you'll be happy to know that I am practicing my Spanish day and night! I can already feel myself getting better. Chileans speak a very bad Spanish and it's very hard to understand. But on the bright side, if you can understand Chileans, you can understand anybody!
This morning we had breakfast at the hotel and began our orientation lectures at the Catolica campus. They taught us how to use the metro and the buses, as well as all about Chilean culture. Tomorrow it is going to be much more of that, with language classes to boot. After lunch, we went to buy our cell phones (just little, cheap pay-as-you-go phones). My group went right through the city center to find them, but we had to go to six different stores in order to find enough for everyone, so that took like three hours. But I suppose, once again, it's about the journey, not the destination. When we got back to the hotel, it was time for our families to pick us up!
I live in a very quaint two bedroom apartment. I have absolutely everything I could want, and she is a very good cook! We are provided three meals a day, which is going to be quite the lifestyle change for me. Well, we have an early day tomorrow so I'm off to bed! I miss you all very much and am still extremely sad to have missed the reunion!
Buenas noches! Besos y Abrazos! (Hugs and Kisses)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)