chile chile chile

Hi!

Hangin' out in Valpo, yo.

So, I'm aware that I haven't been updating this regularly. It's not that I've been forgetting; it's just that I haven't had a whole lot to write about. Not that my week has been boring in the least, but I have been settling into a routine which, although really enjoyable, doesn't give the best substance for blogging. I have already been here for a little over two weeks. It's so weird to think about. On one hand, it feels like it has just flown by, but on the other I feel as if I've been here forever (or just a really, really long time). The concept of time is just so strange. It always seems distorted when you start a new stage of something.

Lori being studious

This week has been mainly dedicated to classes. The first week here I focused a little too much on having fun and too little on schoolwork, so this week I decided to be a stickler and get stuff done. I spent a few evenings at Starbucks reading House of Spirits in English (yes, I know this is a super Gringa thing to do) with some others from my group. A couple of us went to Entre Masas two times and enjoyed their delicious (and super cheap) empanadas. I remembered it from my last trip and was able to find it & share it with everyone after a short detour in the opposite direction. :) I also paid Bravissimo a few visits at two of their different locations. I am still obsessed with the chocolate/frambuesa combination, but I LOVE how they have a third flavor free with their current promo. Gives me a chance to try other flavors without missing out on my favorite combo! I am so bad when it comes to ice cream, especially here! I never used to like ice cream much before I visited David two years ago.

This week I joined a gym that is literally right next door! I've gone to three aerobics classes: Baile, Powerfly, and Danza Arabe. Powerfly was definitely the coolest. It's really hard to explain, but basically there are these rope/cords that hang from the ceiling that have different levels you can place a bar on and then you do a bunch of different exercises from them and swing around. That was probably the least basic explanation I have ever given of something and terribly confusing also. Ah well. I can take a picture sometime. This week I also went to see Hermanos (Brothers) with Lori and her cousin Lesley. I have been wanting to see it since it came out, so I was super excited to get the chance AND with spanish subtitles. It was so amusing to me to read the subtitles and learn new words. Plus I really enjoyed the movie and the McDonalds I snuck in.

Pondering what to get at McDonalds

This weekend has been really chill but incredibly fun. On Friday evening after classes, Shannon, Brenna, and I went to a photography seminar at UAI. I didn't know what it was going to be like, but it sounded right up my alley. The class was long but really relaxed and enjoyable. It basically focused around the basic point-and-shoot camera and taking advantage of all the features they have. I definitely didn't expect that! We were set loose on the UAI campus for about an hour to take pictures. The prof wanted us to take pictures of objects from unexpected angles, which was really fun. I'm curious what next week's class is going to be like! After the class, we went to Cafe Journal for dinner. Kind of random, I know. I had empanadas and french fries, super greasy and super delicious. We headed over to Gannon's house afterward. It was hilarious; he invited just a few people over originally and the "small gathering" grew to a full blown party of 20! Almost all of our group was in attendance. It was super chill. Afterward a group of us went to McDonalds (another Gringo thing to do...ah well) and gorged on french fries, mcflurries, chicken nuggets etc etc.

Yesterday Ellen and I spent a good three and a half hours making a trip to the mall and back. Transportation here is super frustrating at times, but I'm learning to deal with it and trying to be more patient. Whenever possible, I like to take the metro. It's super easy and cheap. The mall adventure was pretty exciting- I got Bravissimo and got to check out Zara! Amazing! I was in there for probably fourty-five minutes checking everything out and trying stuff on. I'm definitely going to be paying it another visit in the near future. Oh, and another amusing thing was Ellen trying to pay with Argentinian money in Chilean stores. :) She kept asking people if they would accept 10 mil pesos, since sometimes they don't have change, and everyone kept saying no. Finally, she asked at Blockbuster video, and the man said yes, but it would have to be in Chilean money. Hahahaha. A bunch of people came to my house later that evening to watch A Little Princess, which we ended up downloading online after renting Titanic. Ha. It was super charming, as it always has been. :) Gladys & Cesar are so kind to let me have that many people over - I really think I lucked out with a host family. They are the greatest!

Simoné, Lori, and me at the 10K!

This morning was amazingly fun! The family got up early to compete in a 10K bike race celebrating Chile's bicentenario. The Bicentenario is a HUGE deal here. It sounds like the whole month of September is basically going to be a gigantic celebration! I love that. Anyway, it was probably a 20 minute ride just to get to the start, and Lori and I were already aching from uncomfortable bike seats. After we registered and started biking though, it wasn't bad. The ride went more quickly than I thought, and it was wonderful to see so many beautiful sights while in transit. After we finished (38:14, we definitely took our sweet time), we had lots of free bananas, oranges, and powerade. All GRATIS (mine and Lori's favorite word)!!! Lori and I got our photo taken for the Mercurio (the local paper in Viña). I'll be checking the paper early tomorrow. Hopefully it's in there - that would be the ultimate souvenir! :)

La ganadora, GLADY!

After a while, they started doing a drawing of numbers for prizes. I figured none of us would win anything since the place was just packed with people. They called the third number and Simoné read off Glady's number realizing it was the same! She had won!! We were all super ecstatic and laughing. Glady ran on stage and was presented with a giant play check. She won a trip to Santiago next weekend (including lodging) to participate in the bike race there next weekend. It's perfect for her - she is a biking fanatic and has told us how much she loves the "aire libre." She was so cute up there and we were all on a high as we left. We enjoyed another delicious lunch today, and later I plan on going to Starbucks again (ahaha) to read more House of Spirits and do other homework.

I am really looking forward to the week ahead. I've been making lists of things I want to do while I am here, and I am going to try and do plenty of them over the course of this week. I want to take advantage of the time I have here, because before I know it it will be December and I will be heading home! However, I don't want to be TOO busy. I need to be sure I still have enough time to relax and enjoy - that is a huge part of the Chilean culture and experience! I'm working on listening and speaking Spanish a lot more as well. I bought a little notebook in Valpo that I've been putting tons of random vocab words in. Everyone in this family thinks I'm crazy, but it's great. Lunch is always an ideal time to speak Spanish - Lori and I get really excited every time Gladys tells us "Bien dicho." :)

Paz!
Esperanza

P.S. Looking back on this I've noticed how much I've used the word super. They use it a ton here, and Lori has been commenting on how we've also incorporated it into our English vocabulary. Super amusing. ;)

As we go on

Hello again!

The past few days have been really busy and very exhausting but extremely fun. I think I'm still recovering from the lack of sleep while traveling. I am exhausted a lot of the time, and it is hard to make time to sleep because there is always so much going on I'd rather do! The weather here is super sporadic and changes really quickly. It might be super cold when I leave for school but be really hot on the way home. The walk up the hill to class doesn't help - I layer up trying to avoid getting cold and have to slowly remove layers as I go along! Other days (like yesterday), it will start out relatively warm in the morning and get colder as the day goes on. I never know how to dress! I'm excited for spring to come along, because I'm guessing (hoping?) the weather will be a little more predictable then.

I've gone to a few really interesting events the past couple days. Wednesday was an incredibly fun day! I went shopping after class (finally got to Bravissimo) and then to salsa dancing lessons at the university. Wednesday night we went to Cafe Journal again and unsuccessfully searched for a discoteca for a couple of hours. On Thursday night, a bunch of us went to a marionette show in Valpo. I had absolutely no idea what to expect, but it was really cool. It was in very authentically chilean pub- we were the only gringos there. The show was really different than anything I have seen and very much a dark sort of humor. The puppets talked to me a few times, which was sort of entertaining and confusing at the same time, because I didn't completely understand what they were saying.

Yesterday afternoon I went on a tour by car (paseo) with Kelsey and our chilean buddy Bruno. We went all throughout Valpo and Viña. The tour lasted about three and a half hours. It was cool to see all of the sights from a native's perspective - we saw a LOT of different things. It was SO cold though. Afterward, I went to a play at Simoné's university with her and Lauren. It was really cool. I didn't entirely understand it, but I think it was about some birds that were trying to find God...only to learn that God is in all of them? Something along those lines. The costumes were really creative and the acting was great. Afterward we went to a little cafe in Valpo with Simoné and her friends and later to Luna's apartment for a bit. It was really cool to see how college kids hang out here, but it was a struggle for me to keep up with them. Lately I've been realizing how little Spanish I actually know. I'm going to have to force myself to keep trying because it's so easy to have a mental block and give up.

Today we went to a barbeque at a local lake with a bunch of UAI students. It was really fun - there wasn't a whole lot of food but there was music and dancing! We went to Bravissimo after (again yummm) and now I'm going to attempt some homework. I have very little motivation for school work - it seems pointless to try to learn out of a book when I can just go out and experience it! But then again, I don't want to trash my GPA, so homework it is.

Hasta luego!

xoxo

4 days in!

Holaaaaaaa!

So my goal in writing this is to not make it simply a list of things I've done and more-so a collection of thoughts and stories, but this post is most likely going to be like a list because I'm really tired and want to get it all down before I forget what I did!

Friday evening I went out with my host dad & sister to get a cell phone at the mall. It took over an hour! At first I thought I needed a chip for an old phone I had, when I actually needed a completely new phone because the other wouldn't work any more. We went to like five places in the mall looking, and we ended up buying it from the first place we went to. Simoné was presenting me with lots of different options - it was really hard to take in all the different prices and services each company offered. I'm already bad at making decisions in English, so you can imagine what it would be like for me in Spanish. Right after we got back to the apartment I looked for my phone but couldn't find it. César went to go look for it in the car, and we called it, only to find it in the lining of my purse along with tons of other lost objects. It was really funny, because I'm pretty much known back home for losing my phone all the time. It's no different here in Chile apparently!

After going to the mall, me and my host sister went to a fiesta that some students at UAI were hosting. On the way, Lori and I stopped at Cafe Journal to check it out. We took a colectivo to the general area and walked to the party - we were surprised we were able to find it! I would have never been able to if it weren't for her. The party was SO cool. It was at a really swanky apartment- i am surprised that it belonged to a university student! The view from the balcony was gorgeous. It overlooked the ocean, and there was even a jacuzzi! It was really fun to be out with (almost) the whole group. There was a good mix of Chileans and Americans (de Oklahoma y Minnesota :)), and Lori and I met a really nice guy that goes to UAI. When Lori and I returned to the apartment, César and Gladys were up in bed waiting for Simoné to return. It was really cute and reminded me of my parents at home. :)

The next morning my family and I left the apartment around 12. Glady had told me that we were going to take a tour, but I thought it was just going to be around Viña. We all got in their Suzuki and headed out- we drove for about an hour and a half before finally stopping. They had planned an afternoon tour of playas (the beaches). We went to several places: Maintecillo, Laguna de Zapallar, Horcón, Ventanas, Quintero, y Ritoque. Each place we went was more beautiful than the last. Horcón was a really neat place. It's a small fishing village "una caleta de pescadores" with a bunch of ex-hippies living there. An old man selling jewlery asked us if we wanted to smoke grass with him. Haha. No. In Quintero we went to a restaurant that their family owns and operates. Me and Lori got to meet all of the family, including Baby Lukas that we had heard about. So adorable!! The servings were HUGE. I was so exhausted from the combination of food and lack of sleep the night before.

Ritoque was by far my favorite stop - it was SO gorgeous and felt magical. There is a cliff we climbed to overlook the ocean. The waves there were so calm and peaceful, unlike the other beaches we had visited. During the car ride there, we listened to traditional music that seemed to fit the atmosphere quite nicely (my favorite song lyrics were "lo bueno se queda, lo malo se va"). On the way back, we listened to Radio Disney in Spanish - it's Glady's favorite because, in her words, "Soy joven de corazón (young at heart)." It was fun hearing all the English songs in Spanish. My favorite: Si yo fuera un chico (Beyonce's If I Were a Boy). :) Lots of the music popular here is in English too.

After the day trip, I went to Mara's house with Todd, Ellen, and Shannon. We hung out with Mara's host sister and her friends in the basement. They taught us a ton of Spanish words and Chilean slang. It was really good practice for speaking. We left sort of early because the next day we had class. I had four classes on Monday, because I wanted to see which ones seemed the best for me before I picked which to take. Originally I was planning on taking Political Science, History, 316 (prereq), and sem, but now I'm going to take Advanced Grammar, Literature, 316, and sem. I think this will be much better for me, and I have Thursdays off! In 316 we got to design t-shirts about ourselves and in Literature we got to draw for twenty minutes. Pretty sure I'm going to love these classes!

I took a colectivo home with Todd and Mara, because we are all in Chorillos. I told the driver I needed to stop at Hospital and not at Colegio Aleman like Todd and Mara, because it's a good 20 minute walk from my house. He must not have heard me, because we passed the Hospital and he kept going! I started yelling "Aquí, aquí, aquí" until he finally heard me. However, he thought aquí meant in a neighborhood we were passing, that goes up a long winding hill. He drove the whole way up the hill before stopping, so I had to make the long descent back down to get to my apartment. It was super funny. The driver was trying to help but only made the trip longer. It was a good chance to see more of the city though, because I was on the top of a really big hill.

Yesterday after lunch I got a metro card! I went with Glady y Lauren, and we had to wait for nearly an hour to get it. But now that I have it, it's fantastic! So much easier than the micro and a TON cheaper, which is always good. Yesterday evening I went out with my sisters (Simoné y Luna), two cousins of ours, Lauren, and Gannon. We went to a little cafe called "La flor de Chile" first. We stayed for a good two hours, first outside then in. Afterward we went to Cafe Journal (the American hangout, I've heard) and met up with some other people from our group. It was really, really fun. We got back home a little after one (really early here in Chile, but it was a Monday!). Today I had 2 classes, with a really long break between them. After class I returned to my apartment.

When I arrived, Gladys and Lauren were standing at the door holding something behind their backs. Suddenly they pull out leather belts and start pretend whipping me! I was super confused about what was going on, haha. They had been waiting for me to come home for nearly two hours, because when I told Gladys I'd be home at two (son las dos), she heard that I'd be back at twelve (son las doce). They were scared when I didn't return, and had called me a good ten times on my celular, which I turned off because I was in class. César had gone out to look for me on the metro, because they thought I had missed my station and gone too far. In the morning Gladys had told me that cell phones don't work in the metro - she thought this was why I wasn't answering! I felt really bad about the whole situation & was super embarrassed, but Gladys said the only thing that matters is that I'm safe. We joked about it the rest of the day and knowing this family, probably will for the rest of the trip. We laugh constantly here - it's a very happy home!

Tomorrow I have three classes again, but I don't know what I will do after. I think some of us might go shopping! I really want to join the local gimnasio, but it's pretty expensive. I would love to try aerobics classes in Spanish!

Adios,
Liiiiiiiiiz (how Gladys pronounces my name, the i in Spanish sounds like an e in English in case you didn't know!)

Mis padres chilenos, César y Gladys

Laguna de Zapallar

La familia sin Lori y Luna :)

Ritoque

and this is how it began.

This has been quite the adventure so far! It was pretty stressful up until today, but things are beginning to relax a lot. We had a few mishaps on the way here. 1) Gannon's luggage getting taken in Minneapolis before entering the plane and being put in Atlanta baggage claim. His bag had both his travel documents (passport, visa info, etc) and boarding pass inside. He had to go get it from Atlanta baggage claim and go through security once again, barely making it in time for boarding. So much for a relaxing layover...not to mention really pathetic customer service. Pretty frustrating. I figured the flight to Santiago wouldn't be too terrible. Bad assumption. 2) I took 2 benadryl to help me sleep on the flight, only to find that my seat was broken and wouldn't recline! I tried a million different ways to sit, but none of them really work when your seat won't move. I sat upright and drowsy for the nine hour flight.

When we got to the airport, we struggled with finding the right place to go...we ended up waiting in the line for Chileans only for a good 20 minutes until a Chilean woman was kind enough to politely ask us if we were Chilean and direct us to the right line. A bunch of people from our group showed up then. It was good to see familiar faces. I got to have my first empanada soon after- pino! It was cold but delicious.

After the group was all together, we left on the bus for Viña. It was a nice bus ride, but we were all freaking out as we approached the museum we would meet our host families at. I saw my host mom, Gladys, pretty much right away. She had on a cute little name tag with my name on it. There were some dancers from Easter Island performing that we watched. My host mom is so adorable and nice! We waited awhile for my host dad, César, to drive us home because he was at an English class. We stopped at the grocery store and picked up some goodies (I found out I'm the first host student they've had that likes Coca-cola?), then headed home. On the way home, I found out there is another exchange student living with them. When we got home, I met Simoné, my 18 year old host sister, and Lauren (or Lauri as they say), the other student. We enjoyed some Coca-cola on the balcony then headed in for dinner. It was delicious food. After dinner I retreated to my room for quite some time for a much needed shower and nap combo.

Afterward, I hung out with Simoné, Lauren, her friend, and her cousin and watched Glee in Spanish. Lauren & her friends told me about the mini excursions they are going on w/their program and welcomed me to join them for any of them. They sound great - zip lining, paint ball (?!), and more. They told me I should come with them to Macchu Piccu too during their break too, but who knows. They have a lot more breaks than we do, which I am jealous of! I am looking forward to Fiestas Patrias in the end of September - it's their 200th birthday!

Today the group met for desayuno (breakfast) at the university, which was really fun. Gladys brought me there on the micro. Everyone was swapping stories in Spanish, which was cool to see. Afterward we got a tour of the campus. It was a lot bigger than I thought. It had a lot of different layers to it. I doubt I'll be able to find my way around right away. Afterward, we had a presentation on Chilean buddies and the many activities we are being offered (camping, ski trips, surfing, etc). It was really exciting, although I didn't understand a lot of what was being said. Afterward I called my host mom for a ride. Simoné ended up coming, and Mara and I rode back with her on the subway. We walked Mara home, which took a surprisingly long time (we're both in Chorillos), but it was a really great opportunity to talk in Spanish. Simoné is so great! She is 18 and in her first year at a different university. On the 20ish minute walk back, we talked a ton. She taught me a lot about the city and surrounding areas, and we talked about how we're both interested in Psychology. She is really interested in dance therapy, which I think is incredibly interesting. It was really great talking to her!

When we got back we had lunch w/the rest of the family including Luna, the older sister who is 25. They all talk so quickly that it can be difficult to understand. Whenever I'm with just one of them it is easy, but when you get them together they speed up a ton! They are really patient though and have taught me a ton already. It already feels sort of instinctual to speak Spanish here, which is crazy considering it's only been a day. I feel like I've known this family for way longer than a day! The mom listens to Radio Disney all day - it's hilarious and so cute. She said it's because her "corazón es joven" :) Today I heard Beyonce's If I were a boy in Spanish - "Si yo fuera un chico" :) Simoné says it's in both Spanish and English here. Pretty much all I hear during meals is Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, and Justin Beiber. It's pretty entertaining.

Tonight I think my group is going out together but I'm not completely sure. I feel pretty out of the loop, because I still don't have a chip for my cell phone, as we haven't gone to the mall yet. Hopefully sometime today or tomorrow?

Chau!

xoxo, Esperanza

tomorrow, tomorrow

i leave tomorrow. what.

next time i update i will be living in chile!!


kind of hard to comprehend?

p.s. shout out to ANABEL, as promised. :)

& so it begins.

why hello!

here begins my study abroad blog. last time i had a blog i was 15 & hooked on xanga. hopefully this one will be a bit more exciting? i leave for viña del mar, chile in a short six days. SIX! pretty crazy considering it seems like the countdown was just at 130 some days. i am definitely anxious to go, in more than one way. i'm both anxious nervous and anxious excited, which seems pretty standard. my pre-departure to-do list is insanely long, and i have no idea how i will manage to get everything done. i struggle majorly with packing and even more with packing light. buuut i'm sure everything will work itself out as it always does. one week from today and it will be our first friday night in chile! wow! be sure to become a follower of mine & check back regularly for thrilling updates, as there will surely be many. ;)

xoxo.