I came home from vacation to a small package from Tanya with a card and a frame with a picture of us. At the same time I saw a facebook album of a party at the Russian house. I felt a pang of homesickness. It was momentary and I think being tired from all the travel was a part of it. Now as I try to plan future travels and flip through the months on the calendar I see that there is so little time left. It has been half already and I'm not ready to leave. Getting back to Santiago at that "midway point" made a lot of us reflect a bit I think. I realized how very unintegrated I feel here. Not that I feel out of place but it's as if we have carved out our own place within Santiago and live comfortably in it but not so much in the actual community. I don't really have any Chilean friends and I have very few interactions with any of the students in my classes. It makes complete sense: the Chileans have known each other since childhood, take all of their classes together because of the carrera system at the universities (very rigid, unlike a major, so almost all of your classes are in your field) and live at home. We are friends with each other because we have personalities in English and it's nice to be able to express that. So individually I think a Chilean and a gringo would be interested in getting to know each other but with two groups neither is willing to approach the other and risk being an unwelcome intruder. It's not all so grim. Sometimes we hang out with friends' host siblings, some people have friends through a program called Tandem (language exchange basically), sometimes we meet randos at bars but still for the most part we are with each other. On that note I have become pretty good friends with a bunch of people in the group, which is nice, and I look forward to knowing 20 more people back in Boston.
For my only real class, Social History of Chile, our first paper was due this past Friday so ever since break it had been hanging over me. Like most of the Chilean students, I had barely done any of the reading for the class. The professor is a bit crazy and most of the lecture is a tangent so we haven't learned too much in class. The readings he assigned are also somewhat random tidbits of history. So for us, having no background in Chilean history, this paper was quite a challenge. The question: What were the principal sociopolitical and/or economic tensions in the 19th century (and how did they contribute to Chile as it is today - which he let us omit from our essays since we really don't know how Chile is today). My background knowledge came mostly from Wikipedia - Tufts would be ashamed - and I pulled random bits from the readings just to fulfill the minimum number of sources requirement. In the end, after countless hours of procrastination and eating most things in my house, I wrote a 4.5 page history paper in Spanish and my host mom even said it was good. I often regret staying in this class because it is disorganized and really painful to sit through 3 hour lectures (so sometimes I just play solitaire on my ipod) but then I remind myself that I've had bad classes and crazy professors at Tufts too and I've survived. Why did I think it was a good idea to take a class in Spanish on a topic that I would be intimidated to study back home?
Volunteering for English Opens Doors is in full swing. I have been placed in a very good public junior and high school so most of the students have remarkable English. So far I have usually been asked to sit with groups of about 5 girls in the library and just talk to them. They have all been very interested to learn about me and the United States. I guess there are many observations I have made and more that I could say but it isn't coming to me right now. I also haven't started keeping the internship journal that I'm supposed to, so me not having much to say right now is a bad sign. Must get on that.
My host mom left for almost a week to visit family in the south where they are from. I like having her around but I also enjoyed having even more independence that I usually do. I liked that she stocked the fridge with a month's supply of my favorite foods. Not having to watch those stupid fake judge shows on daytime TV during lunch was also nice.
Kate Carpenito, who is studying abroad in Buenos Aires this semester, came to Chile for a weekend with a friend and we got to hang out. It was really nice to see her and interesting to be a tour guide instead of a tourist. Unfortunately the weather was pretty crummy and on weekends the city is generally pretty dead but we had dinner on Saturday night and went to a party at my friend's house and on Sunday we walked around the city, saw some of the main sites and had teatime at my house. It accidentally came up that she is living in a house off campus with space in it so we got really excited about the prospects of living together. Then it turned out that the second free room was just given to some boy and Alli was actually about the take the third room. We would really love to live with the three of us girls because we all know each other and would bake and get along but I don't think it's going to happen. That just opened up a whole new issue because now I like the idea of having a kitchen and am looking at subletting a room instead of living in a dorm but don't like the idea of moving into a house with a group of close friends who I don't know. Currently sans decisions.
On Tuesday for dance class (actually had nothing to do with dance) I went with Alli to La Vega, El Mercado Central and Plaza de Armas. La Vega was an amazing, enormous market with endless piles of delicious looking fruits and vegetables, a meat market with some graphic displays, random stands like styrofoam cups and scattered tiny restaurants with cheap home cooked food. We got fresh squeezed juice and just wandered around for a while. I'm a big fan of open air markets. El Mercado is much classier and smaller and mostly a seafood market and nice restaurants.
Today was a success with planning travel. This next weekend is a long weekend so I am going to Mendoza, Argentina (across the Andes basically) with Alli and Becca. Then on the 21st I am going to Buenos Aires with Emily. There is still more planning to be done but it will be good because we are going to meet up with friends who are abroad there and try to go to Uruguay for a day. I wish I could go everywhere in South America and fill up my little Google map with markers. Now I think the only trip left is to the south of Chile at the end of the semester. I think that I will not be extending my ticket back because I think that trip will fit in the two weeks we have of "finals" (but really free time) and I think most people aren't planning to change their tickets.
I wore flip flops for the first time today. People have allergies. Everything is green. Spring is here and that's fantastic.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Epic South America Trip
Wed 9/9 - after two hours of sleep, because I finally decided to look up some tips on places to see on our trip, we took a flight to Lima. We saw most things to see in Lima in one day. Plaza de Armas, La Catedral (where Francisco Pizarro is buried), guard changing ceremony at the gov building, Museo de San Francisco y Catacombas (more religious artwork, a pretty cool library with old scribes, lots of skulls and bones in the basement which I didn't fully understand the explanation for). The first day pretty much fulfilled our interest in churches and religious artwork. During Spanish colonization Lima was very rich so the old architecture is impressive but now the country is not very well off economically and the capital reflects that. It seems like a layer of gray covers most things and outside of area with regal looking churches and government buildings there is not much to see. Then we went to an ancient adobe pyramid, called Huayamarca, which now looks very out of place in the middle of a rich suburban neighborhood of Lima. In the small museum there they have a mummy with preserved eyes! We walked to the coast, which isn't a beach, and then went to the Miraflores neighborhood, which has a lot of the restaurants and bars and is safe to be in at night. By this point everyone was exhausted and we got dinner, had some ice cream in a park and decided to head back to the airport. Our flight to Cusco was at 5:30 in the morning so we had a long wait ahead. Check-in didn't open until 4 so we all took turns napping on the floor and on food court tables in the airport. Generally on the trip I got really good at falling asleep instantly, in any circumstances, for any length of time. Random: Starbucks manages to create the same atmosphere inside no matter where in the world it is.
Thurs 9/10 - in Cusco we went straight to the hostel, downed some coca tea to prevent altitude sickness (Cusco is really high up so the smaller amount of oxygen in the air can actually make people sick) and slept until 4:30 PM. As planned, we just rested and adjusted to the altitude. The part of Cusco surrounding Plaza de Armas is pretty but the most tourist oriented place I have ever seen. As we learned when we came back to Cusco, just a few blocks away the scene changes drastically. The water was not safe for us in Peru; our orientation professor told us he once brushed his teeth with beer in Peru when he didn't have bottled water. This also meant that fresh fruits and vegetables and cheap local restaurants were not safe - although I'm sure we were overly careful. This sometimes got frustrating with all 6 of us trying to agree on a restaurant that was both cheap enough and inspired trust. This also meant that a lot of our meals were PB & J sandwiches, which was actually really cute and made us feel like a family, and snacks, so by the end I was thoroughly sick of cookies, crackers, and cereal bars, and probably a few pounds heavier. The whole trip we were all classic nerdy tourists with pouches under our clothes with all our money and documents - uh-oh I think we're getting old and starting to do embarrassing parent things.
Fri 9/11 - got a bit lost on the way to take a taxi to Ollantaytambo, a town between Cusco and Aguas Calientes, the closest town to Machu Picchu. The train ride was beautiful with huge green covered mountains rising up all around you and a river running alongside the train. Aguas Calientes is a tiny place filled with the tourists stopping over before going to Machu Picchu. Went for some souvenir shopping but quickly got disenchanted by how every stand had the same exact things. In Peru you have to barter for absolutely everything and they always try to rip you off. For example at dinner that night a mysterious tax appeared on our bill so one of us went next door to ask at another restaurant if such a thing exists and they told us it is 10%, but on our original bill they had charged us an arbitrary amount more than that. We were at the same hostel as all the other travelling groups from Tufts in Peru. The 20 of us divided into 5 groups for break, 4 went to Peru and 1 to Argentina.
Sat 9/12 - we woke up at 3:30 to get in line for the bus to Machu Picchu because there is a limit of 400 people per day that are let up to Waynapicchu, the famous peak, and we wanted to make it. At 5:30 we got on the second bus and managed to get the tickets (our numbers were in the 300s because some people hike up instead of taking the bus and get there even earlier). For a couple of hours we walked around on our own, took pictures and watched the sunrise over the mountain peaks. No pictures capture the feeling of being there. It is an absolutely breathtaking place, both the stone constructions of the Inca city (the only one the Spanish didn't find, and so didn't destroy, because it is so high up), and the natural scenery surrounding it. I didn't know much about it before being there so I think it was better that way because I didn't have any expectations from a picture in my mind. At 8 we had a guided tour, which helped explain some of what we were seeing but still left a lot of blanks in my mind that I mean to look up (things on my mental list of things to look up never really get checked off). I like that whenever given the option we always chose Spanish-speaking guides. At 10 Steven, Dan and I started our climb up Waynapicchu, which took a bit under an hour and was probably the most physically challenging thing I have ever done. It was almost purely stairs, steep narrow stairs on the side of a mountain with nothing really stopping you from falling off. The view, but even more so the feeling, at the top were incredible. We rested and had our PB&Js before heading down, which was even harder than coming up. I basically crawled half the way, facing the mountain (like on a ladder), and by the end my knees were shaking. I'm really glad I went up and amazed by all the fit older people I saw there. We all got sunburned and spent the evening napping, eating, drinking a lot of water and recuperating. I had a bit of a headache so I passed on going to the hot springs and stayed in the hostel with Emily, who twisted her ankle that day.
Sun 9/13 - took the train back to Cusco and everyone continued recuperating. Tried to do a bit of sightseeing and then more souvenir shopping, which I learned I am not a big fan of.
Mon 9/14 - we had planned to go to more Inca ruins near Cusco but people decided not to because that would mean being out in the sun all day. Instead we saw other parts of Cusco, had a leisurely lunch and then killed time in our hostel watching something on the National Geographic channel until it was time to go to the bus terminal. I think I got equally as tired on a day like this, where we didn't do much of anything, as I did on action packed days. Our bus seats were amazing, big and leather, reclined pretty far back and had footrests so it was almost like a bed. The ride from Cusco to Arequipa was 10 hours overnight.
Tues 9/15 - the hostel in Arequipa kind of messed up our reservations and instead of giving the 6 of us a single room they split us up and I was alone but it was only for one night. When planning to come here I think that what attracted us were the volcanoes and hikes up them and a spot to watch condors but when we actually got there and looked up details it turned out that both of these were far out of the city and we didn't have the time to go. So just having a guidebook and no concrete plans doesn't always work out but we took a city tour. It was really random and involved a lot of animals (ex bullfighting bull, alpacas, llamas, vicuñas, horses, guinea pigs, etc.), a few lookout points, the city founder's house, a horseback ride, a farm, a wool factory store, and a church. I guess it was good way to see a bunch of different parts of the city, which is actually the second biggest in Peru. Of course we saw Plaza de Armas, can't miss it. I hit my head on the van door frame at least 3 times so I was a bit unhappy and consoled myself with delicious street ice cream, called queso helado, disregarding potential health risks. In the evening we went to a museum to see a Juanita, a famous frozen mummy of an Incan girl who was sacrificed on top of a mountain. (Peruvian food I tried: aji de gallina, lomo saltado, sopa de quinoa, recoto relleno)
Wed 9/16 - I started off the day poorly, by oversleeping. We took a morning bus to Tacna, the border city in Peru, which was about 5 hours and the movies they played passed the time quickly for me. Took a taxi across the border to Arica, Chile and it was almost like coming home; suddenly there were so many familiar stores and foods around us. Everything was decorated with flags because the 18th is their Indep. Day and a really big deal here. We saw the beach, a church designed by the same man who did the Eiffel Tower, the set up street fairs for the celebrations and ran into one of the Tufts groups while walking around the city. I can't judge with so little information but the atmosphere on the Chile side of the border seemed a lot more lively, with locals out on the streets, in cafes, and at the artisan markets. It was funny how quickly I got used to Peruvian money and had to think about what Chilean prices really meant. Our second night bus was from Arica to San Pedro de Atacama, and except for a checkpoint at 4:30 where they made us get out, I slept wonderfully and am generally a big fan of these cheap overnight buses.
Thurs 9/17 - San Pedro de Atacama is in the dessert and popular with tourists because a lot of nature attractions are a day trip away. We signed up for the 3 most recommended tours right away and it felt good to have a set plan of what to do. Our first tour was to craters and mountains made almost entirely of salt, Valle de la Luna, Valle de la Muerte, sand dunes (which are tons of fun to run down barefoot) and a mountain to watch the sunset. The night sky in the desert was amazing and I wish I knew constellations because this would be my first time seeing these (different because it's the southern hemisphere).
Fri 9/18 - another day of waking up at 3:30, this time for a tour to the Geysers del Tatio. After a two hour ride on the bumpiest road ever, which we all slept through peacefully, we got there. The reason to go so early is that while it is really cold (-8 C. when we got there) the contrast in air and water temperature allows you can see the steam coming up from the geysers. After watching them shoot up water from underneath the earth we went for a swim in hot springs - my first time. The last stop was to see some 700 year old cacti. For a classic Chilean lunch on the 18th we had some of the best empanadas and pastel de choclo I have tried yet. After resting we went out for dinner and then went to the fonda, or carnival area. Since San Pedro is a small town and we went around 10, which is really early by Chilean standards to go out, it was not the huge party we were hoping to find. Mostly older people were there and we didn't stay for long but I enjoyed watching Chileans have a good time eating anticuchos, (bbq skewers), drinking chicha (fermented drink) and dancing. From what I heard the 18th in Santiago is much more fun, and at least a 3 day celebration, but I think it was worth it to extend our trip and see the north of Chile instead.
Sat 9/19 - all day trip which included salt flats and flamingos at Chaxa Lagoon, amazing blue lakes surrounded by snow streaked mountains at Laguna Miscanti and Laguna Miñique, a couple of desert towns, and an oasis.
Sun 9/20 - we got a flight from Calama, about an hour away from San Pedro, back to Santiago, which saved us about a 24 hour bus ride. Only in Chile can you get an empanada and beer as your flight meal. I got home and instead of a welcome party was locked out because my mom was away and my sister locks the door when she is alone on the one lock I don't have the key to. It was a bit of a fiasco to get in because my mom's cell was off, my sister was asleep at 4 PM and my brother was 10 hours south of Santiago, but it didn't take too long.
Overall an amazing trip even though I came back feeling like I needed a vacation. It helped me see that planning a trip is not so intimidating but also that you can't forget the details.
Thurs 9/10 - in Cusco we went straight to the hostel, downed some coca tea to prevent altitude sickness (Cusco is really high up so the smaller amount of oxygen in the air can actually make people sick) and slept until 4:30 PM. As planned, we just rested and adjusted to the altitude. The part of Cusco surrounding Plaza de Armas is pretty but the most tourist oriented place I have ever seen. As we learned when we came back to Cusco, just a few blocks away the scene changes drastically. The water was not safe for us in Peru; our orientation professor told us he once brushed his teeth with beer in Peru when he didn't have bottled water. This also meant that fresh fruits and vegetables and cheap local restaurants were not safe - although I'm sure we were overly careful. This sometimes got frustrating with all 6 of us trying to agree on a restaurant that was both cheap enough and inspired trust. This also meant that a lot of our meals were PB & J sandwiches, which was actually really cute and made us feel like a family, and snacks, so by the end I was thoroughly sick of cookies, crackers, and cereal bars, and probably a few pounds heavier. The whole trip we were all classic nerdy tourists with pouches under our clothes with all our money and documents - uh-oh I think we're getting old and starting to do embarrassing parent things.
Fri 9/11 - got a bit lost on the way to take a taxi to Ollantaytambo, a town between Cusco and Aguas Calientes, the closest town to Machu Picchu. The train ride was beautiful with huge green covered mountains rising up all around you and a river running alongside the train. Aguas Calientes is a tiny place filled with the tourists stopping over before going to Machu Picchu. Went for some souvenir shopping but quickly got disenchanted by how every stand had the same exact things. In Peru you have to barter for absolutely everything and they always try to rip you off. For example at dinner that night a mysterious tax appeared on our bill so one of us went next door to ask at another restaurant if such a thing exists and they told us it is 10%, but on our original bill they had charged us an arbitrary amount more than that. We were at the same hostel as all the other travelling groups from Tufts in Peru. The 20 of us divided into 5 groups for break, 4 went to Peru and 1 to Argentina.
Sat 9/12 - we woke up at 3:30 to get in line for the bus to Machu Picchu because there is a limit of 400 people per day that are let up to Waynapicchu, the famous peak, and we wanted to make it. At 5:30 we got on the second bus and managed to get the tickets (our numbers were in the 300s because some people hike up instead of taking the bus and get there even earlier). For a couple of hours we walked around on our own, took pictures and watched the sunrise over the mountain peaks. No pictures capture the feeling of being there. It is an absolutely breathtaking place, both the stone constructions of the Inca city (the only one the Spanish didn't find, and so didn't destroy, because it is so high up), and the natural scenery surrounding it. I didn't know much about it before being there so I think it was better that way because I didn't have any expectations from a picture in my mind. At 8 we had a guided tour, which helped explain some of what we were seeing but still left a lot of blanks in my mind that I mean to look up (things on my mental list of things to look up never really get checked off). I like that whenever given the option we always chose Spanish-speaking guides. At 10 Steven, Dan and I started our climb up Waynapicchu, which took a bit under an hour and was probably the most physically challenging thing I have ever done. It was almost purely stairs, steep narrow stairs on the side of a mountain with nothing really stopping you from falling off. The view, but even more so the feeling, at the top were incredible. We rested and had our PB&Js before heading down, which was even harder than coming up. I basically crawled half the way, facing the mountain (like on a ladder), and by the end my knees were shaking. I'm really glad I went up and amazed by all the fit older people I saw there. We all got sunburned and spent the evening napping, eating, drinking a lot of water and recuperating. I had a bit of a headache so I passed on going to the hot springs and stayed in the hostel with Emily, who twisted her ankle that day.
Sun 9/13 - took the train back to Cusco and everyone continued recuperating. Tried to do a bit of sightseeing and then more souvenir shopping, which I learned I am not a big fan of.
Mon 9/14 - we had planned to go to more Inca ruins near Cusco but people decided not to because that would mean being out in the sun all day. Instead we saw other parts of Cusco, had a leisurely lunch and then killed time in our hostel watching something on the National Geographic channel until it was time to go to the bus terminal. I think I got equally as tired on a day like this, where we didn't do much of anything, as I did on action packed days. Our bus seats were amazing, big and leather, reclined pretty far back and had footrests so it was almost like a bed. The ride from Cusco to Arequipa was 10 hours overnight.
Tues 9/15 - the hostel in Arequipa kind of messed up our reservations and instead of giving the 6 of us a single room they split us up and I was alone but it was only for one night. When planning to come here I think that what attracted us were the volcanoes and hikes up them and a spot to watch condors but when we actually got there and looked up details it turned out that both of these were far out of the city and we didn't have the time to go. So just having a guidebook and no concrete plans doesn't always work out but we took a city tour. It was really random and involved a lot of animals (ex bullfighting bull, alpacas, llamas, vicuñas, horses, guinea pigs, etc.), a few lookout points, the city founder's house, a horseback ride, a farm, a wool factory store, and a church. I guess it was good way to see a bunch of different parts of the city, which is actually the second biggest in Peru. Of course we saw Plaza de Armas, can't miss it. I hit my head on the van door frame at least 3 times so I was a bit unhappy and consoled myself with delicious street ice cream, called queso helado, disregarding potential health risks. In the evening we went to a museum to see a Juanita, a famous frozen mummy of an Incan girl who was sacrificed on top of a mountain. (Peruvian food I tried: aji de gallina, lomo saltado, sopa de quinoa, recoto relleno)
Wed 9/16 - I started off the day poorly, by oversleeping. We took a morning bus to Tacna, the border city in Peru, which was about 5 hours and the movies they played passed the time quickly for me. Took a taxi across the border to Arica, Chile and it was almost like coming home; suddenly there were so many familiar stores and foods around us. Everything was decorated with flags because the 18th is their Indep. Day and a really big deal here. We saw the beach, a church designed by the same man who did the Eiffel Tower, the set up street fairs for the celebrations and ran into one of the Tufts groups while walking around the city. I can't judge with so little information but the atmosphere on the Chile side of the border seemed a lot more lively, with locals out on the streets, in cafes, and at the artisan markets. It was funny how quickly I got used to Peruvian money and had to think about what Chilean prices really meant. Our second night bus was from Arica to San Pedro de Atacama, and except for a checkpoint at 4:30 where they made us get out, I slept wonderfully and am generally a big fan of these cheap overnight buses.
Thurs 9/17 - San Pedro de Atacama is in the dessert and popular with tourists because a lot of nature attractions are a day trip away. We signed up for the 3 most recommended tours right away and it felt good to have a set plan of what to do. Our first tour was to craters and mountains made almost entirely of salt, Valle de la Luna, Valle de la Muerte, sand dunes (which are tons of fun to run down barefoot) and a mountain to watch the sunset. The night sky in the desert was amazing and I wish I knew constellations because this would be my first time seeing these (different because it's the southern hemisphere).
Fri 9/18 - another day of waking up at 3:30, this time for a tour to the Geysers del Tatio. After a two hour ride on the bumpiest road ever, which we all slept through peacefully, we got there. The reason to go so early is that while it is really cold (-8 C. when we got there) the contrast in air and water temperature allows you can see the steam coming up from the geysers. After watching them shoot up water from underneath the earth we went for a swim in hot springs - my first time. The last stop was to see some 700 year old cacti. For a classic Chilean lunch on the 18th we had some of the best empanadas and pastel de choclo I have tried yet. After resting we went out for dinner and then went to the fonda, or carnival area. Since San Pedro is a small town and we went around 10, which is really early by Chilean standards to go out, it was not the huge party we were hoping to find. Mostly older people were there and we didn't stay for long but I enjoyed watching Chileans have a good time eating anticuchos, (bbq skewers), drinking chicha (fermented drink) and dancing. From what I heard the 18th in Santiago is much more fun, and at least a 3 day celebration, but I think it was worth it to extend our trip and see the north of Chile instead.
Sat 9/19 - all day trip which included salt flats and flamingos at Chaxa Lagoon, amazing blue lakes surrounded by snow streaked mountains at Laguna Miscanti and Laguna Miñique, a couple of desert towns, and an oasis.
Sun 9/20 - we got a flight from Calama, about an hour away from San Pedro, back to Santiago, which saved us about a 24 hour bus ride. Only in Chile can you get an empanada and beer as your flight meal. I got home and instead of a welcome party was locked out because my mom was away and my sister locks the door when she is alone on the one lock I don't have the key to. It was a bit of a fiasco to get in because my mom's cell was off, my sister was asleep at 4 PM and my brother was 10 hours south of Santiago, but it didn't take too long.
Overall an amazing trip even though I came back feeling like I needed a vacation. It helped me see that planning a trip is not so intimidating but also that you can't forget the details.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Valparaíso and Volunteering
Titles for these are not always easy. Like this one, do I think I'm being witty with an alliteration?
I didn't expect to have any difficulties with an American credit card but I have had a few. A major bus company doesn't take them so I had to go buy a ticket at the office and pay in cash. A funnier story was when we reserved plane tickets online but had to call to pay by phone. They seemed to accept my card but then called me back in half an hour to say it didn't work because it is foreign so I had to come in. The next day I went in and again they said it worked. When I got home they called me and said they had swiped my card through the "peso machine" instead of the "dollar machine" and so I would have to come back again. Before going in I decided to check my online statement and saw that my credit limit was showing that the transaction had gone through and I didn't have enough left to charge it again. I called them and had my first ever phone conversation in Spanish with a customer service rep. At one point we were both just talking at one another because she thought I didn't understand. She went to find out what to do and called me back to say that everything was fine and I didn't need to come in again. Plus one for me for getting my point across in Spanish and being right.
Semi-traditions: Wednesday night happy hour after Spanish class and Thursday night Comilones dinner. Last week we followed up happy hour with some classic Chilean churrasco sandwiches at Fuente Suiza and on Thursday went to Rishtedar for some really great Indian food - bindis included!
More last minute indecision about classes. Social History of Chile has not been the most interesting or organized class and after so many people dropped one of their classes I was really tempted to do the same. It doesn't actually fulfill anything I need but I decided to stay in it and chose pass/fail so that I don't feel like a slacker, maybe learn something, but don't stress out about it ruining my GPA. Now I have to write an actual paper for it...what??
Last Friday we had a group museum trip that only 8 people went on but I decided to go because I had no other plans and didn't know when I would make it out there on my own. Museo de Arte Colonial San Francisco, which is in a Franciscan monastery, had a lot of religious themed, European influence sort of art which is not my thing. Museo de Bellas Artes I really enjoyed because it had a mix of different kinds of art, like photographs taken by public school children of their neighborhoods and a great sculpture exhibit. Museo de Arte Visual had modern works and I liked it too. Overall a good short overview for a non-art museum person like me.
Saturday we had a group trip to Valparaíso, a port city about an hour and a half away from Santiago, and the second largest city in Chile. I loved it. The city is full of hills, called cerros, has 15 elevators to take people up to the peaks, all of the houses are colorful and mismatched, and the streets are windy, steep and sometimes just staircases. It really felt like I was in a foreign country, unlike in Santiago which can sometimes feel like just any metropolitan city. We had a very clear tour guide with us all day; some interesting things he told us were that unlike in most places here the poor, cemeteries and jails are on the tops of the hills and have the best views of the Pacific and that all firemen in Valpo are volunteers. Six of us planned to spend the night in a hostel after the group left. We ate chorillana (fries, fried onions, eggs, pieces of steak and probably half a cup of oil, so basically the ultimate heart attack food) in the place that claims to have invented it, power-napped, pregamed in the hostel and went out to a huge club called Huevo. Really fun night followed by acrobatics at the nicest hostel I've stayed in, which had some random bars and ropes hanging down from the ceiling. On Sunday we took a bus to Reñaca, past Viña del Mar, to these huge sand dunes where we spent hours climbing and having photoshoots while being followed by stray dogs, which we're used to by now. On the way back I got the only accessible thing from my backpack stolen: my makeup. That was just silly.
English Opens Doors: went in one day to meet with the teachers who were all nice and speak English really well, unlike stories that I've heard from friends who are volunteering in different schools. On Wednesday I went for my first day of volunteering and went on a trip to a theater competition with a group of 8th grade girls who were all thrilled to have me around. They surrounded me, asked me all kinds of American pop culture questions, sang "Pokerface," asked me to be their facebook friend, and argued over who would sit next to me. One even asked me what I think about Obama. All this in English because I am there to give them more practice, and am not allowed to speak Spanish.I think my "cool" image would shatter if they heard my broken Spanish haha.
I didn't expect to have any difficulties with an American credit card but I have had a few. A major bus company doesn't take them so I had to go buy a ticket at the office and pay in cash. A funnier story was when we reserved plane tickets online but had to call to pay by phone. They seemed to accept my card but then called me back in half an hour to say it didn't work because it is foreign so I had to come in. The next day I went in and again they said it worked. When I got home they called me and said they had swiped my card through the "peso machine" instead of the "dollar machine" and so I would have to come back again. Before going in I decided to check my online statement and saw that my credit limit was showing that the transaction had gone through and I didn't have enough left to charge it again. I called them and had my first ever phone conversation in Spanish with a customer service rep. At one point we were both just talking at one another because she thought I didn't understand. She went to find out what to do and called me back to say that everything was fine and I didn't need to come in again. Plus one for me for getting my point across in Spanish and being right.
Semi-traditions: Wednesday night happy hour after Spanish class and Thursday night Comilones dinner. Last week we followed up happy hour with some classic Chilean churrasco sandwiches at Fuente Suiza and on Thursday went to Rishtedar for some really great Indian food - bindis included!
More last minute indecision about classes. Social History of Chile has not been the most interesting or organized class and after so many people dropped one of their classes I was really tempted to do the same. It doesn't actually fulfill anything I need but I decided to stay in it and chose pass/fail so that I don't feel like a slacker, maybe learn something, but don't stress out about it ruining my GPA. Now I have to write an actual paper for it...what??
Last Friday we had a group museum trip that only 8 people went on but I decided to go because I had no other plans and didn't know when I would make it out there on my own. Museo de Arte Colonial San Francisco, which is in a Franciscan monastery, had a lot of religious themed, European influence sort of art which is not my thing. Museo de Bellas Artes I really enjoyed because it had a mix of different kinds of art, like photographs taken by public school children of their neighborhoods and a great sculpture exhibit. Museo de Arte Visual had modern works and I liked it too. Overall a good short overview for a non-art museum person like me.
Saturday we had a group trip to Valparaíso, a port city about an hour and a half away from Santiago, and the second largest city in Chile. I loved it. The city is full of hills, called cerros, has 15 elevators to take people up to the peaks, all of the houses are colorful and mismatched, and the streets are windy, steep and sometimes just staircases. It really felt like I was in a foreign country, unlike in Santiago which can sometimes feel like just any metropolitan city. We had a very clear tour guide with us all day; some interesting things he told us were that unlike in most places here the poor, cemeteries and jails are on the tops of the hills and have the best views of the Pacific and that all firemen in Valpo are volunteers. Six of us planned to spend the night in a hostel after the group left. We ate chorillana (fries, fried onions, eggs, pieces of steak and probably half a cup of oil, so basically the ultimate heart attack food) in the place that claims to have invented it, power-napped, pregamed in the hostel and went out to a huge club called Huevo. Really fun night followed by acrobatics at the nicest hostel I've stayed in, which had some random bars and ropes hanging down from the ceiling. On Sunday we took a bus to Reñaca, past Viña del Mar, to these huge sand dunes where we spent hours climbing and having photoshoots while being followed by stray dogs, which we're used to by now. On the way back I got the only accessible thing from my backpack stolen: my makeup. That was just silly.
English Opens Doors: went in one day to meet with the teachers who were all nice and speak English really well, unlike stories that I've heard from friends who are volunteering in different schools. On Wednesday I went for my first day of volunteering and went on a trip to a theater competition with a group of 8th grade girls who were all thrilled to have me around. They surrounded me, asked me all kinds of American pop culture questions, sang "Pokerface," asked me to be their facebook friend, and argued over who would sit next to me. One even asked me what I think about Obama. All this in English because I am there to give them more practice, and am not allowed to speak Spanish.I think my "cool" image would shatter if they heard my broken Spanish haha.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Skiing, Eating and Drinking Wine
Random fact: there is a "river" running through the city and it is quite strange. It has been cemented in, like a canal, but the canal is much too big for it - made that way for when it rains so it doesn't flood. So basically it looks, and smells, like a large open gutter running through the city.
I spend a lot of time in bed here because it has the electric blanket. Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm sick because that is the only time I ever spend this much time in bed in the US.
I've had some better interaction with the family. They are nice and they always were so I can't blame them for not having a more exciting lifestyle and therefore not involving me in it. On Wednesday I went food shopping with my mom again and we stocked up on lots of fruits, vegetables, and cereal, which is basically all I need. Got some conversation about the health care system in on the way because some relatives that came over on the weekend drove up from their city about 10 hours south of Santiago to see a specialist. My mom said that for good medical treatment everyone has to come to Santiago. She told me that her dental work gets sent to a lab in the US! One day we tried to help Andrea (sister) pick which pair of boots to keep - a silly detail but something I would do with my (real) mom so it was cute. Also I told my mom more about our Peru travel plans and asked her for advice because she has been up there. I'm still her go-to with all computer issues (like when her screen inexplicably flipped sideways or a shortcut stopped working), which is cute. So yeah, no legitimate family complaints.
Another canceled class that the Chileans all got an email about but we obviously didn't. On a more organized note my internship is more or less settled. I will be working with the English Opens Doors program starting this week as a teacher's assistant in an all-girls high school.
Club de Comilones (aka club for people who like to eat a lot) was started after we all spent too long reading restaurant reviews on the Revolver website. We are unofficially planning to go out for dinner every Thursday and try out a new place. This week was Vietnamese, my first time ever. Not the most amazing food ever but it was a nice change and cute place.
Skiing in the Andes: On Friday we went skiing to Farrellones - another free trip organized by our program. We all rented gear at this huge ski complex right in Santiago that morning and crammed into two vans for the hour and a half trip up. We were warned repeatedly that the drive up was very windy and indeed there were 40 (labelled) switchbacks. For more than half the group it was their first time but some got pretty good quickly. Since most of us didn't bring ski clothing a bunch of people bought amazing neon 80s full body ski suits at used stores for around $5. The resort was tiny with probably 5 trails total and none were very challenging. They were all also short which was the biggest shortcoming for me, because in terms of difficulty there was a trail that was fine for me. Also no chair lifts, just t-bars, which is basically a bar pushing you under your butt as your skis stay on the ground. My first time on those and I probably got as much of a workout on the lift as while skiing. The views were amazing and by the end of the day my legs were quite sore so it was a good trip. The ride back included some great discussion topics from vomit, to puppies, to racist Disney movies, to society's responsibility in raising children not to hate, to cow tipping, to cat vomit, to themed weddings. We might try to organize our own trip to one of the better ski resorts but if not then I'm already satisfied.
Went to my first ever Karaoke bar, which included a performance of a Bon Jovi song by Maca y las gringas (Becca's older host sister and us).
This Saturday Emily had a "bring your own wine and favorite drunk snack" night at her apartment which was really fun. Her host brother and his friend also hung out with us and I think it is really nice when host siblings want to hang out, especially with a mob of gringo friends.
(This seems like a choppier entry because I'm lazy and copy-pasted parts of my journal. This multiple blog for multiple audiences thing is hard to keep up with.)
I spend a lot of time in bed here because it has the electric blanket. Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm sick because that is the only time I ever spend this much time in bed in the US.
I've had some better interaction with the family. They are nice and they always were so I can't blame them for not having a more exciting lifestyle and therefore not involving me in it. On Wednesday I went food shopping with my mom again and we stocked up on lots of fruits, vegetables, and cereal, which is basically all I need. Got some conversation about the health care system in on the way because some relatives that came over on the weekend drove up from their city about 10 hours south of Santiago to see a specialist. My mom said that for good medical treatment everyone has to come to Santiago. She told me that her dental work gets sent to a lab in the US! One day we tried to help Andrea (sister) pick which pair of boots to keep - a silly detail but something I would do with my (real) mom so it was cute. Also I told my mom more about our Peru travel plans and asked her for advice because she has been up there. I'm still her go-to with all computer issues (like when her screen inexplicably flipped sideways or a shortcut stopped working), which is cute. So yeah, no legitimate family complaints.
Another canceled class that the Chileans all got an email about but we obviously didn't. On a more organized note my internship is more or less settled. I will be working with the English Opens Doors program starting this week as a teacher's assistant in an all-girls high school.
Club de Comilones (aka club for people who like to eat a lot) was started after we all spent too long reading restaurant reviews on the Revolver website. We are unofficially planning to go out for dinner every Thursday and try out a new place. This week was Vietnamese, my first time ever. Not the most amazing food ever but it was a nice change and cute place.
Skiing in the Andes: On Friday we went skiing to Farrellones - another free trip organized by our program. We all rented gear at this huge ski complex right in Santiago that morning and crammed into two vans for the hour and a half trip up. We were warned repeatedly that the drive up was very windy and indeed there were 40 (labelled) switchbacks. For more than half the group it was their first time but some got pretty good quickly. Since most of us didn't bring ski clothing a bunch of people bought amazing neon 80s full body ski suits at used stores for around $5. The resort was tiny with probably 5 trails total and none were very challenging. They were all also short which was the biggest shortcoming for me, because in terms of difficulty there was a trail that was fine for me. Also no chair lifts, just t-bars, which is basically a bar pushing you under your butt as your skis stay on the ground. My first time on those and I probably got as much of a workout on the lift as while skiing. The views were amazing and by the end of the day my legs were quite sore so it was a good trip. The ride back included some great discussion topics from vomit, to puppies, to racist Disney movies, to society's responsibility in raising children not to hate, to cow tipping, to cat vomit, to themed weddings. We might try to organize our own trip to one of the better ski resorts but if not then I'm already satisfied.
Went to my first ever Karaoke bar, which included a performance of a Bon Jovi song by Maca y las gringas (Becca's older host sister and us).
This Saturday Emily had a "bring your own wine and favorite drunk snack" night at her apartment which was really fun. Her host brother and his friend also hung out with us and I think it is really nice when host siblings want to hang out, especially with a mob of gringo friends.
(This seems like a choppier entry because I'm lazy and copy-pasted parts of my journal. This multiple blog for multiple audiences thing is hard to keep up with.)
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sucked in by Online Reading
For those of you not here with me, this article, about the 10 things you wish you knew about Chile, describes some pretty true things about Santiago. For those of you who are here, doesn't this make you feel like you're not a complete foreigner anymore, like we've really been here for a while and all these things are familiar and obvious? How else can you eat a hotdog and what is a metro if not the ideal location for a make-out session?
I spent a couple of hours on the Revista Revolver website - a local English language magazine that I believe some people from our group are going to be writing for - and found some cool things. There are too many restaurants on my list now and my stomach is grumbling after reading all those reviews. Also I should really try couch surfing one day. Is it a bad idea to use that website to find Chilean friends? I mean these people are putting themselves out there to meet foreigners and be hospitable so how bad could it be?
Last night I got equally sucked in by another online activity: trying to find popular Spanish music. Unfortunately my internet was not cooperating and I didn't get too far. Maybe those Chilean friends I'm hoping to make can help me out :)
I spent a couple of hours on the Revista Revolver website - a local English language magazine that I believe some people from our group are going to be writing for - and found some cool things. There are too many restaurants on my list now and my stomach is grumbling after reading all those reviews. Also I should really try couch surfing one day. Is it a bad idea to use that website to find Chilean friends? I mean these people are putting themselves out there to meet foreigners and be hospitable so how bad could it be?
Last night I got equally sucked in by another online activity: trying to find popular Spanish music. Unfortunately my internet was not cooperating and I didn't get too far. Maybe those Chilean friends I'm hoping to make can help me out :)
Friday, August 14, 2009
Closer to Finding a Groove
After some stressful days of finalizing classes and running around the city handing a useless piece of paper, called a pase, from one office to another, classes have finally started. It seems like all the room and schedule changes have finally settled down too. I am taking the mandatory Spanish class just for us (which we all agree is too easy and kind of a waste of time right now), a folkloric dance class and Social History of Chile. I only have one class a day and never have to set an alarm - just wake up, take my sweet time getting ready, and even get an exercise video in there when I have the motivation. Most people are also doing an internship for class credit and mine hasn't started yet. Most likely I will be volunteering in public schools helping teach English with a program called English Opens Doors. I considered working with an organization promoting bicycle use but after going there once I think I'd rather have that as an on-the-side, if-I-have-time sort of commitment.
Spring break (in Sept. here) plans magically fell into my lap when a group of 5 Tufts people invited me to join them in Peru. We are flying one way, spending a day in Lima, the capital, then going to Cusco from where we will go to Machu Picchu. We plan to bus back, stopping along the way in northern Chile to visit some more sights. I think the bus ride back is around 30 hours, or something ridiculous like that, if you go straight, so it will be interesting. The group is really nice, and since buying tickets we have hung out a lot and had some good laughs, so I'm happy to be going with them.
City buses are an experience because the map is a web of different colored lines and confusing to decipher, many streets are one way so I don't recognize where I am going one way and pass my stop habitually, there are constantly people singing for money or selling candy, some bus stops are not marked and you just have to know it's there, and I'm always alert trying to not get lost. I'm decent at getting around though and generally love public transportation systems - this one I would say is pretty good, with really frequent service. The metro stops running before 11 and although buses run all night they don't recommend we take them, so at night we do taxis which are relatively cheap when split among a few people.
Yesterday at one of the campuses there was a student riot with burning tires, etc. and cops came and sprayed water and tear gas on the crowds. I wasn't there to witness it but just thought it was an interesting story to share. Not to worry, I'm perfectly safe. Oh and my friend got a necklace yanked off her neck at a bus stop the other day. But again, perfectly safe :)
My Chilean grandma has been visiting for about a week. Very sweet lady and does grandma things like cooking yummy food and knitting. Otherwise in terms of family my feelings from the last post remain the same in that I wish they were more involving. The only time I really see them is at lunch if I'm home and even then we don't talk very much. Otherwise I'm in my room doing my own thing or out, and sometimes I don't even know who is home. They haven't made much effort in giving me advice on things to do around the city. I don't think this is an example of a traditional Chilean family, which is big and close and gets together on weekends, although I don't know how common that is anymore. I wonder what they think of me and what their past host students have been like (she has been doing this for about 7 years). No serious complaints though and I'm pretty much used to this setup.
Last Saturday went on a group trip to Pomaire, an artisan village famous for their pottery. In between a delicious breakfast with tons of manjar (dulce de leche) and a huge lunch of empanadas and cazuela (chicken soup with lots of stuff in it) we were taken to a couple of workshops where we got to see the whole process from hard rocks to soft clay to pottery wheel to perfect finished products. The professionals made it look so easy, but when we all got a turn at the pottery wheel it was anything but easy. I failed twice and on the third time with his hands basically doing everything I made something pretty ugly and the sides of my hands were bleeding a little from being scraped by the pottery wheel. At another workshop we made little clay animals and I took the frog home with me :)
Since last time I have found a bar with potent sangria, decided that I have to buy Febreeze if I don't want to reek of smoke for the next half a year, learned that there are a lot of couples out at clubs and the guys actually ask you to dance instead of creeping up on you like they do in the US, gone bowling, walked home across half the city for lack of better things to do and stumbled upon a Russian restaurant called Olivye (how the heck is that in Santiago?!), learned to appreciate Happy Hour prices, and struggled to find the balance for Skyping my parents. (I think I'm big on making lists for such overview updates, how do you feel about that?)
Tonight the plan is to go to "La Piojera," a very local, dingy, cheap and loud bar famous for their terremotos (literally earthquake), a drink with pisco, wine and ice cream. Next week skiing in the Andes. Hopefully more interesting things in between because surprisngly just being in a foreign country doesn't mean your days will be filled with excitement, especially when you don't feel pressed for time. Also hopefully more interaction with Chileans, which hasn't been that easy to find.
Spring break (in Sept. here) plans magically fell into my lap when a group of 5 Tufts people invited me to join them in Peru. We are flying one way, spending a day in Lima, the capital, then going to Cusco from where we will go to Machu Picchu. We plan to bus back, stopping along the way in northern Chile to visit some more sights. I think the bus ride back is around 30 hours, or something ridiculous like that, if you go straight, so it will be interesting. The group is really nice, and since buying tickets we have hung out a lot and had some good laughs, so I'm happy to be going with them.
City buses are an experience because the map is a web of different colored lines and confusing to decipher, many streets are one way so I don't recognize where I am going one way and pass my stop habitually, there are constantly people singing for money or selling candy, some bus stops are not marked and you just have to know it's there, and I'm always alert trying to not get lost. I'm decent at getting around though and generally love public transportation systems - this one I would say is pretty good, with really frequent service. The metro stops running before 11 and although buses run all night they don't recommend we take them, so at night we do taxis which are relatively cheap when split among a few people.
Yesterday at one of the campuses there was a student riot with burning tires, etc. and cops came and sprayed water and tear gas on the crowds. I wasn't there to witness it but just thought it was an interesting story to share. Not to worry, I'm perfectly safe. Oh and my friend got a necklace yanked off her neck at a bus stop the other day. But again, perfectly safe :)
My Chilean grandma has been visiting for about a week. Very sweet lady and does grandma things like cooking yummy food and knitting. Otherwise in terms of family my feelings from the last post remain the same in that I wish they were more involving. The only time I really see them is at lunch if I'm home and even then we don't talk very much. Otherwise I'm in my room doing my own thing or out, and sometimes I don't even know who is home. They haven't made much effort in giving me advice on things to do around the city. I don't think this is an example of a traditional Chilean family, which is big and close and gets together on weekends, although I don't know how common that is anymore. I wonder what they think of me and what their past host students have been like (she has been doing this for about 7 years). No serious complaints though and I'm pretty much used to this setup.
Last Saturday went on a group trip to Pomaire, an artisan village famous for their pottery. In between a delicious breakfast with tons of manjar (dulce de leche) and a huge lunch of empanadas and cazuela (chicken soup with lots of stuff in it) we were taken to a couple of workshops where we got to see the whole process from hard rocks to soft clay to pottery wheel to perfect finished products. The professionals made it look so easy, but when we all got a turn at the pottery wheel it was anything but easy. I failed twice and on the third time with his hands basically doing everything I made something pretty ugly and the sides of my hands were bleeding a little from being scraped by the pottery wheel. At another workshop we made little clay animals and I took the frog home with me :)
Since last time I have found a bar with potent sangria, decided that I have to buy Febreeze if I don't want to reek of smoke for the next half a year, learned that there are a lot of couples out at clubs and the guys actually ask you to dance instead of creeping up on you like they do in the US, gone bowling, walked home across half the city for lack of better things to do and stumbled upon a Russian restaurant called Olivye (how the heck is that in Santiago?!), learned to appreciate Happy Hour prices, and struggled to find the balance for Skyping my parents. (I think I'm big on making lists for such overview updates, how do you feel about that?)
Tonight the plan is to go to "La Piojera," a very local, dingy, cheap and loud bar famous for their terremotos (literally earthquake), a drink with pisco, wine and ice cream. Next week skiing in the Andes. Hopefully more interesting things in between because surprisngly just being in a foreign country doesn't mean your days will be filled with excitement, especially when you don't feel pressed for time. Also hopefully more interaction with Chileans, which hasn't been that easy to find.
Monday, August 3, 2009
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)