Bienvenido

So I've finally gotten around to creating a blog for those of you who want to know what I'm up to while I'm studying abroad in Santiago, Chile. I will write when I can and please, please keep me updated on what is going on in your lives, from the most insignificant details to the funny stories to the major fumbles.

Background: I'm on a program from Tufts University for a semester in the capital of Chile where we will live with host families, take classes in Spanish at Universidad de Chile, and be taken on periodic trips, but otherwise left to integrate as much as possible into this culture. The group is 20 of us, all from Tufts. I chose this because I wanted to be able to really speak Spanish after taking it since the sixth grade, because I figured South America would be more of a difference from the US than Spain, because I may never come here if not now, and because this is the one country in S.A. where my school has a program.

We got in early in the morning on Saturday, July 10th and things still felt somewhat unreal but there we were and it was cold and people were Spanish. For the two-week orientation we lived in a hostel in the center of the city. I was in a room with 6 girls, bunk beds and not much space but we got used to it and by the end it was a bit scary to leave the dorm-like atmosphere to go our separate ways to host families. Had another experience of lugging suitcases up hostel stairs (first time was in Israel last summer), this time to the 4th floor. The first things we noticed were lots of stray dogs, the snow capped foothills of the Andes seen from mostly anywhere in the city, and the empanadas sold absolutely everywhere.

Orientation was a two-week intensive intro to Chile organized by Peter Winn, a professor at Tufts who started this program. We had activities all day, every day. Lots of lectures (charlas) from a professor of literature, historians, a political scientist, a women's rights activist, economists, a public health expert, a victim of torture under the Pinochet dictatorship, and a priest. It got really hard to stay focused during the charlas because they were in Spanish and really long so we resorted to eating a lot of galletas (cookies), doodling, playing hangman, etc. We also went on a bunch of small trips to Santa Rita Winery, to Aconcagua Valley (to talk to seasonal farm workers), to La Legua (one of the poorest neighborhoods of Santiago), to La Moneda (the presidential palace), to Paine (the town with the highest percentage of "disappeared" during the dictatorship), to Mario Toral's studio (a famous artist), to Villa Grimaldi (a secret torture center under Pinochet), to the National Cemetery, and to a craft fair at Pueblito de los Dominicos. Although it was mostly interesting stuff it was a lot of information to handle with no breaks, so we were all pretty tired of orientation and excited to move on.

My Spanish has definitely been improving. The first night we didn't know anything on the menu and now we order traditional Chilean dishes and get surprised looks from waiters that we didn't pick the burger and fries. Orientation helped with comprehension and now I'm getting more practice speaking with the family. I do a lot of fill-in-the-blanks because at best I understand about half of what is said but when people talk slowly and directly to me I usually get it. This is not a place that you can get by without speaking the language - not too many average people speak English.

Differences: People have a big lunch and a small really late dinner. Students strike all the time and then the semester gets extended. Classes officially started a week ago but only one of my professors showed up, and he was about 45 minutes late because it was lunchtime. Things aren't as organized but it isn't a reason to stress out, you just accept it. Lots of PDA, by people of all ages. A mullet-like haircut is popular with guys our age. Half liter boxes of wine, called Gato, are about $1. Pedestrians do not have the right of way. Lots of Spanish words we know are apparently Mexican Spanish and different here. Everyone says "ciao" for goodbye. They play American music videos in the trains. Walking and eating is looked down upon. Their most popular fast food is a completo, a hot dog with loads of mayo, avocado, tomato and sometimes sauerkraut, which I don't think I can handle trying.

My host family is a mom and a 29 year old sister so it is a pretty quiet place and I have complete independence. Sometimes I wish I had siblings my age or a more involved family because for now I don't know much about the city and I don't know too many people. Also we went from overwhelming activities to loads of free time (while classes are still getting started). I'm sure that later I will appreciate the independence more. My 25 year old host brother doesn't live here and my host dad is away on business a lot. We all live in really nice neighborhoods (mine is called Providencia) pretty close to each other, to the campuses and to the center of the city. Get this, I have my own bathroom, and a maid (called a nana, which is extremely common here) comes in twice a week - so I guess this is nicer than anywhere I've ever lived!

"Nightlife" has ranged from low key bars, to box wine at the hostel, to a reggae club called Jammin' (which probably had half of the weed and people with dreadlocks from Chile), to good old juice and vodka in a living room. Nothing too crazy yet but it has been fun and I hope to join some people at a salsa club in the near future.

I've done a bit of exploring on my mom's bike, gone to a mountain village to attempt a hike, eaten too much ice cream, spent a lot of time looking at Google and bus maps, and gotten used to salads served as isolated piles of vegetables on a plate. This is as good of an update as I'm capable of right now. Hopefully now that this is started, and the daunting task of backtrack blogging is over, I will write regularly.