Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Anticucho and Chilean Fame

Well, the past couple days sure have been a whirlwind! This past weekend consisted of me doing the following: sleep, eat, drink tea, sleep more, facebook, read, sleep, eat, etc. etc. Having a cold when school started this week was not something I wanted to do, so I vowed to rest and get better beforehand! While this certainly happened, the combination of me being not being around people and thinking about home led to the first bout of homesickness that I have encountered while here in Chile. It didn't last long thankfully though, because when I stepped foot outside the dungeon that had become my bedroom, my mamá informed me that we were about to have a giant Chilean style asada!!! Here, an asada is very similar to a barbecue or grill-out. We made "anticucho", which in the States would just be called skewers! Our skewers consisted of red meat, sausage, hot dogs (sounds gross, but was weirdly kinda good), carrots, and onions. My papá then went and grilled them all with this special delicious smelling sauce...he explained to me what it was, and I just smiled and nodded per usual when he speaks to me since I really have trouble understanding a word he says! Whoops! The combination of being with people again and being able to cook with my new family really just wiped away my homesickness. If there's one thing I've learned so far, homesickness/loneliness really will stay away as long as you surround yourself with people. I know that shouldn't be that much of a foreign concept, in fact it's quite basic, but in a foreign country it can be easier said than done! Overall, Sunday was a great family bonding day and I made me feel even more blessed to have the wonderful family that I do have here.

In other news, classes started yesterday!!! I had three classes yesterday, and overall they went well! One of the spanish classes was pretty difficult to follow, but the in the others my professors were really understanding and very helpful whenever students made mistakes. I really liked being in school because I feel like I can finally get a small sort of schedule going, which will keep me busier and more entertained! I met a lot of new "intercambios" (exchange students) yesterday, and am hoping to meet more Chileans soon! OH! Very important side note... I was on Chilean television yesterday. Yup, it's true. Soy famosa. Okay, so here's the lowdown on my road to Chilean fame... My host sister, Kiika, and I were picking up my 5 yr old host sister, Esme, and all of the sudden when we walked into the school, we were asked to go to the principal's office.  We then sat down on a small bench in the office, which was very big... there were about 4/5 mothers to our right, and 4 teachers to our left, and the principal and 2 very fancy looking politician women sat in the front.  There were also 4 very fancy politician men who came a little later. Anyway, apparently they were having a big important discussion about sex education/sexual abuse of young kids in Chile, and the importance of educating students on those topics... They were filming this and taking pictures, and it was quite the scene! I could understand most of what was going on, but thought that it was just some parent meeting, but it ended up being a big political conference of some sorts that was on TV! They filmed my host sister and I A LOT during this meeting, and everyone kept calling us some word that my host sister informed me meant "young mom's", so apparently they thought we were the mothers of some of the kids at the school! Overall, quite the interesting day yesterday.  I will be sure to keep you all updated on my newfound fame for the rest of my time in Chile, don't you worry!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Jótes y Resfriadas

I now have a new favorite word in Chile. Jóte. Literally translated through Google Translate (a very reliable source for those of you who rely upon it for essays in spanish class sometimes... not) it means "vulture", but what it really means is "creeper".  I've been learning so much the past couple days, not just funny words, although it's true that that has been happening, but just about the culture in general! While my spanish is still at the level of a child, I feel like I've gone from a 3 year old to a 4 year old! Last night, I was in my room, and I heard something break in the kitchen... so I went in there, and so did my host sister, and it was just a mug that my host mom had dropped. But from there, the three of us had a 45 minute conversation about school, and the US, and the government... and it was just so cool because it really seemed like a conversation I could've been having with my mom at home in English, except for it was in Spanish and I was understanding a lot! Another thing I've learned... Chileans do everything slowly. Very slowly. Walking, buying things, eating, drinking, etc. The only thing they don't do slow is drive and talk. Because when Chileans drive and talk, it is at a speed so high that it is actually a bit frightening. Case in point with the slowness... my oldest sister, Leslie, and I went to buy toilet paper/other stuff at a little tienda the other day... when you want to buy something, you first have to give one clerk your things, and they hand you a ticket.  They then put your things in a basket, put in behind the counter, and you have to go stand in another line.  In this line, you give a new clerk your ticket, and they tell you how much it is. You then go to yet ANOTHER clerk, and pay them. Three clerks, for toilet paper and 2 other things. The same thing happened at the bread store the other day! I'm not sure if all tiendas are like this, they probably aren't, but still! It's ridiculous! Oh well, I guess I need to learn to have the pacienca of a chilena, and wait in lines like the rest of them.

In other news, tengo una resfriada hoy. Translation=I have a cold :( I think it is because everything here is just really cold, and not the kind of cold that we have in Colorado... it's a wet cold, the kind that sinks in your bones and never goes away! It could also have something to do with the fact that I got home at 3:15 en la mañana this morning after a friends birthday... but who knows! Mi mamá has been taking EXTREMELY good care of me. She's the best. She let me take a long nap, and then she brought me lemon tee. Around dinner time, she brought me a big tray of yummy foods and warm milk with sugar (sounds gross, but fue muy delicioso). And then just about an hour ago, she brought me sleepytime tea and throat lazanges, and a big box of kleenex. Both she and mi papá are very concerned about me, but I tried telling them that it's okay, and colds are really common in the US haha. Still, it sure is nice to be taken care of like this. I told mi mamá that she is the best mom in all of Chile! I made sure to not say the world, because there is still una mamá that is the best in the world, and she lives in Steamboat Springs, CO! Shout out to SSSS! Time for me to keep some sleep now though, I don't want mi mamá chilena to have to take care of me tomorrow too!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Vineyards of Santiago

Ahhh! So many new changes since the last blog. If you´re not up for a long one, I suggest you not continue reading! Saturday morning we visited a vineyard, where we got to see many old techniques of how they used to bottle wine, very interesting!  We also got to try three kinds of wine (yes mom and dad, it is legal to drink here!).  The first was a white that was delicious, the second and third were both reds. After the vineyard, we went to somewhere called Patio Bellavista for lunch, it was a big outdoor area with a lot of tiendas and restaurants, and ate lunch at a really good restaurant! As everyone knows from my first blogpost, I was very concerned about having to eat frijoles, but so far I have not even seen or smelled them anywhere! We were actually told that the food here is nothing like in other Latin American countries, and so far that has held true.  Most of what we have eaten is bread (LOTS OF BREAD, hello carbs), beef, chicken, and rice.  People here don´t really incorporate fruits, veggies, or water in their diets, so if you want it you really have to ask for it! Another interesting thing about food here... water is served in bottles at all of the restaurants. They have regular water and gassy water, but if you want regular water you have to ask for "agua sin gas". After lunch on Saturday, we walked to the famous poet Pablo Neruda's second home.  He has 2 others, in Valporaíso and la Isla Negra, which we will get to see later in our program if we wish to! It was one of the most interesting places. He was a big fan of everything having to do with the sea, so his house was really designed to look like a boat! Saturday night, a bunch of people from my program went to a bar/disco near our hotel in Santiago, called Zen, and it was so much fun. A lot of the locals were really interested in talking to us, girls and guys alike, mainly because they just weren´t used to seeing gringos at their local bar.  We all surprised ourselves with our spanish abilities, and we were able to get across what we needed to say in the conversations here! Something that is really annoying about several of the bars/restaurants here is that people are still allowed to smoke inside.  It has taken a lot of getting used to! My pulmones (lungs) have really been suffering whenever I`ve been inside places like that, and my clothes smell very bad. Thankfully laundry day with my familia is on Thursday, so I don´t have to wait much longer to have clean clothes! Speaking of my familia, I met them on Sunday!!! They are such great people. I have a family of 6, and I make 7. Mi mama is named Esmerelda (40), mi papa is named Marcos (48), mi hermana mayor is named Leslie (23, with a 4 yr old son), mi otra hermana is named Fransisca (21, nickname is pronounced like key-ka), mi hermana menor is named Maria Jose (17, nickname is Cote), and the little one is named Esmerelda (5). I haven´t met Leslie or her son yet, but everyone else has been so nice and helpful with me! Mi mama speaks very slowly for me, which I can imagine is very annoying for her, but has been nice for my understanding. I can hardly understand a word mi papa says though! He speaks extremely fast, and with chilean slang and cut-off words. He is incredibly nice, but I have a hard time having a conversation with him. Fransisca knows a couple of words in English, so whenever I am having a hard time understanding, I can usually ask for her help. Mi mama is very helpful, and makes me hot chocolate every morning! Which is MUCH appreciated considering the chilenos don´t have central heating at all. Besides central heating, another thing Chileans don´t have is the ability to flush toilet paper down the toilet! Nope, has to go in the trash can. Really sanitary and lovely. That has been VERY weird getting used to. This week we´ve mostly  just been doing legal stuff with registering our visas/passports in Viña del Mar, and getting to know the city a little better. School starts next week, and I`m excited to have something more to do here! Anyway, long post, I know, but I guess that´s what happens when I slack on the blog posts. Until next time, ciao po!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Sunrise Over The Andes...

Finally in Chile! Ah! Never thought this day would actually come. It feels so surreal to actually be here. After a grueling 10 hour flight from Atlanta to Santiago, I woke up about an hour before we were supposed to land to one of the most AMAZING scenes I could have ever imagined.  I'm telling you, the sunrise over the Andes Mountains is something everyone should see at least once in their life.  I tried taking pictures, and while they look okay, they do zero justice to what this actually looked like.  The mountains here are so different from Colorado.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some Colorado mountains, but these were just so... different! They kind of look like toasted meringue frosting.  Well, I'll let you judge for yourself. See picture below.  


Once we arrived to the Santiago airport, customs was ridiculous... but once through that, the ISA staff immediately found us and were so helpful. From there we have spent the day touring Santiago and getting to know the rest of the group, it's been such a blast! I registered for classes today... Rather than having your schedule set in stone like it is in the US, they allow you to sign up for as many classes as you want to here. From there, you go to all of the classes and decide which professors you like the best! So as of now, I am signed up for 7 classes, will end up taking 4, and more than likely will only have classes Monday through Wednesday. Not too shabby of a deal if you ask me! Anyway, since it's only day 1, I'm sure there will be much more to come, but there is a short update as of now! ¡Adios!






Sunday, July 15, 2012

Frijoles and too many shoes...

T-2 days until I'm flying the friendly skies from Denver to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Santiago. I can't believe it's almost here! I'm making this blog in hopes that it will provide great memories in the future, as well as providing a way to show pictures and tell stories to friends and family while I'm gone.  Thinking about leaving right now, more than anything I'm just excited to get there and finally experience all that Chile has to offer.  Don't get me wrong, I am nervous about some things. Things like having to eat frijoles... not being able to communicate to my host family that I don't like frijoles, a huge staple food in their culture... or making sure that I don't pack too many pairs of shoes...  But I'm most excited to gain the fluency in Spanish that I've always wanted and to push myself outside of limits I never even thought existed before this experience. Follow me as I stumble my way through this crazy trip of a lifetime these next five months; I'll try to keep the posts coming and semi entertaining!