A Full-Fledged Update! (whew!)

Hello everyone!

This is my attempt at one sweeping post to try and cover what I’ve been up to during my first two weeks in Chile. I’m sure I’ll forget about a million things, but if you’re not totally overwhelmed by this whopper of a post, keep coming back for everything I forgot to write before (hopefully next time in smaller doses!)

Dad and I arrived in Santiago on the 24th, although it seemed like the language transition took place as soon as we stepped on the plane. My Spanish was put to the test when I had to talk to the passport official about visa registration at the international police office, purchase a cell phone and figure out the unique calling card system, talk to a banker about the best way for me to access money in the states from here, not to mention carry on airy conversations with waiters and cab drivers. I’m pretty sure Dad was impressed, although he got to use his trademark phrase, “¿Dónde está la biblioteca?” when we found the National Library of Chile. After a few days at Hotel Fundador and a couple of nice meals, the best one at a seafood restaurant called Aquí está Coco, Dad saw me off and I joined the Middlebury group for a celebratory dinner on the town and a trip to the three-day orientation.

Orientation was a blessing; first of all, because I had an opportunity to meet other students also studying in Chile and get a lot firmer handle on what we’d be facing, and secondly, because we were in the gorgeous town of Los Andes, nestled in the foothills of (you guessed it) the Andes. Between sessions where we learned about the Chilean academic system, government, and culture, we climbed the cerros all around the hotel. On one incredible night, about twenty of us scrambled up with flashlights, then lied down and stared silently at a sky full of stars, breaking the silence only to gasp at the shooting stars that soared by every few minutes. I wrote a paper freshman year on how the Andes are intertwined with Latin American religion, before and after the Spaniards came. I’m beginning to understand why.

After a few days in the Andes, the group was dispersed across the country, and just ten of us headed off to Valparaíso. My goodness, this city is called Chile’s most culturally distinctive city for a reason. The best way I can describe it is as a city of thousands of colorful houses tumbling down steep hills into the Pacific Ocean. It was a real challenge getting the car up some of those hills – many even have “ascensores” or elevators on the outside which you can ride to the top. Museums and theaters pop up everywhere, and there are lots of outdoor fruit, vegetable, antique, and craft markets worth exploring. The city is connected by the “micros” (buses) that run twenty-four hours a day, but are still pretty confusing to me. I’m only beginning to get my bearings in Valparaíso, since my house is in the neighboring Viña del Mar, which is more of a tourist city full of shops and beaches. I’ve already spent plenty of time walking back and forth from the Plaza de Viña to meet other girls in the program, shop, eat out, and explore.

As far as the family I’m living with, they’re simply wonderful. They are an older couple – Juana and Luis – and their two daughters in their 30s – Nancy and Juli. And, my goodness, they’re all such teddy bears. They’ve taken to calling me “Laurita,” although more often it’s “mi amor,” “mi reina” (my queen), “mi hijita” (my little daughter). I’ve spent a good amount of time with them this week, since my classes haven’t started yet, and they’ve been such a help in making me feel comfortable here. Whether it’s having discussions about religion’s influence on politics with Luis or talking about the differences between Chilean and American food with Nancy, I’ve definitely started to feel at home.

The Spanish here, though, is pretty crazy. Chilean Spanish is famed for being extra fast, for dropping consonants everywhere (“para todos” becomes “pa’ to’”) and being full of local slang or “chilenismos.” A boyfriend here is called a “pololo” instead of a novio, to chip in to buy something is “hacer una vaca” (to make a cow), and you say “¿cachai?” if you want to say “get it?” They also sprinkle the word “po” everywhere – it’s short for “pues,” which means “well,” and they tend to stick it at the end of sentences and right after “sí” or “no.” It’s definitely not the type of thing you learn in a Spanish book, but after being completely lost for a few conversations, I’m starting to pick it up, slowly but surely.

Let’s see, what else. Food? So far, I really like it :). The meals here are switched around a little bit. Breakfast is pretty similar – it’s typically tea, bread, yogurt, fruit, ham, and cheese (Juli always brings me a breakfast tray in my room – they’re really spoiling me). Lunch is actually the main meal of the day, and I’ve had a good variety of beef, chicken, salads, corn, rice, and fruit. Nothing has been too foreign, although every once in awhile a dish will be prepared in a very different way. Grilled apple with a sweet sauce, for example, is one of my new favorites. I plan to ask Nancy to teach me how to make a thing or two, so I can cook some Chilean dishes when I come back home. Dinner is less of a meal and more of an evening teatime – they call it “onces” (“elevens”) – and usually there is tea, bread, ham and cheese again, and sometimes cake. It’s a switch, but it’s a tasty one, so it’s okay :)

Did I mention it’s winter here? Yep, a little chilly. (<-- haha, get it!?) Central heating is not really existent here, so I’ve taken to sleeping with a hot water bottle under lots of blankets. I can’t even imagine the heat wave that most of you are going through right now!

I think I’m going to leave it at that for now, since I’m off to meet one of the Chilean students at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso for the school’s language exchange program – we’re going to chat for half an hour in Spanish and half an hour in English to practice our language skills. Thanks for reading all that, and I'll update again soon!