EAP Retreat: Water Slides and Piscola

This past weekend was amazing, and made me so excited for the next 6 months!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the people in my program.


Friday afternoon, we took a bus to Rancho El Añil in Cajon del Maipo, about an hour outside Santiago. We split up into cabins and headed straight for the pool (with a water slide, YEAH!). That evening, we listened to a talk by our director, Isaac, then had dinner and a birthday party for his 7-year-old son, who ran around and kissed every single girl on the cheek. Starting young! 


Saturday was our longest day of orientation, and we had several talks throughout the day, with plenty of pool time in between. After orientation, we walked down the street to try to find a store to get snacks, but all we found was a group of horses (with babies!), sheep, chickens and some rabbits (one had a mullet that looked way too human-like...not important but I just wanted to share) next to what I think was a restaurant but looked more like a fort made out of scraps of wood. I wish I had pictures of our walk down (it was gorgeous) and the rabbit, but I didn't bring my camera...I was told it would be stolen. Back at the ranch, we bought some pisco (a type of Chilean brandy that they drink all the time) and Chilean beer, and everyone just hung out in our room and outside all night. It was so fun and I loved meeting and spending time with everyone! 


We had all of Sunday free, and most of us decided to go hiking near the ranch after breakfast. The trail up was super steep, but definitely worth the view. 


Last night, back at home, I hung out with my host sister Pamela and a few of her friends. They were all sooo nice, but this whole language barrier thing is still pretty frustrating. I start Spanish class today, so hopefully it'll get easier soon!


Campus Oriente (where my Spanish classes are):

Rancho El Añil:

I Just Want Some Ranch Dressing!!!

Yesterday morning, we had a meeting at Campus Oriente, and were introduced to our program administrators and our Chilean student mentors. I've met a bunch of people in my program now, and I think we have a really good group. Everyone is super friendly and it's fun meeting people from all of the other UC's. Campus Oriente is gorgeous. It was a monastery until the church converted it into a school.

This morning, we had our Spanish oral placement exams. Two of the Spanish teachers gave us a topic, and a group of 4 of us had to have a conversation for 15 minutes while they listened. In the afternoon we left to Cajon del Maipo for our orientation retreat, about an hour outside Santiago. Our "resort" isn't much of a resort except for the fact that it has pools; we're all in cabins and it looks feels like summer camp! We got here around 4, swam for awhile, listened to a talk from our director, and dinner, beef and potatoes AGAIN. I love that meal but really? Every time? On the bright side, we got wine with dinner! Yeahhh, Chile! Free wine! We toasted to not studying in Spain like everyone else. (No offense to anyone who did/is/is going to)

I loooooove Santiago, but there are a few things that could use improvement:
- Water isn't free. It's hot and I'm always thirsty, and I can't afford to buy water all the time.
- Streets are all one-way, and traffic direction changes on certain roads at specific times throughout the day.
- Not too stoked on this food. Tomatoes EVERYWHERE, and no spice.
- Can I PLEASE get a glass of milk from a carton, not a box? And preferably refrigerated?
- No hablo Espanish.
- No screens on doors or windows = bugs.
- No air-conditioning.
- Buses will not stop for you unless you flail your arms like you're drowning.
- Having to constantly protect my stuff against pickpockets.
- How all of the gazillion strays decide to start barking as soon as I try to go to sleep.
- Olive oil and lemon on all salads. Just a hint of Ranch would be nice every once in awhile.
- The Chilean accent. Ay-ay-ay.

Mi Familia Chilena!!!

I'm all moved in with my host family! The whole process of meeting them was super stressful...we were told to meet at Campus Oriente at 12 for an orientation meeting with the other EAP students and all of the host families. Then as soon as we sat down in the church (where our meeting was), they announced that they were going to call our names one by one and send us home with our families. No meeting. And so there I was, still knowing nothing about my program, sitting in the car with my host mom, Santi (la señora) and her neighbors, another older couple who were also taking home an exchange student from my program. 

Mi nueva casa is in the Nuñoa neighborhood of Santiago, in a completely residential area that seems safe and pretty quiet (although Santi's neighbor friend was robbed last week...very comforting). It's 2 stories and very old and run-down by Orange County standards, but it's comfortable. As long as I have Wifi and my own room, I'm happy! I live with Santi, her daughter Pamela, and Pamela's two sons, Matias (4) and Gaspar (15 months). They're both sooo cute. I'm so glad I got a family with kids, it gives me something to do instead of sitting there akwardly trying to think of something to say in Spanish. There's also a guy that lives here, Fernando, and I'm still not really sure who he is...maybe Santi's son. He pretty much just plays computer games all day. Not one person here speaks a word of English, and I'm  exhausted just from trying to speak Spanish all day (emphasis on trying...I wouldn't call my attempt successful) and the frustration of not understanding anything. But I love Pamela!!! She's 23 and really friendly and fun, even though we rarely understand each other. She blasts American music like Rihanna and Bruno Mars, and sings along at the top of her lungs even though she doesn't know any of the words and just says what she thinks it sounds like. I showed her a picture of my family and she yelled "QUE QUAPOOO!!!" when she saw Michael and tells everyone how good-looking he is. She practically fainted when he accepted her Facebook request hahahahaha...Michael, if you're interested in older women, specifically single mothers, DING DING DING!!! I found your girl! 

Bedtimeee, gotta get up in 5 hours to walk to school for our real orientation. 


My amazing dinner at Como Aqua Para Chocolate:

Matias and Gaspar! (Stole these from Pame's Facebook)

Last Day of Freedom

I met some people from my program today who are all staying at my hostel and I'm sooooo excited to spend the next 6 months with them!!! Everyone is so nice and excited to be here, and I feel like we'll all get along really well. Most people I've met so far are from UCSB, but I've met 1 from Cal and 3 from Davis too. We ate dinner in Bellavista at a restaurant designed after the book Like Water for Chocolate and our table was set up to look like a bed, with rose petals and a pillow at the end. Shexy, huh? A little on the pricey side but definitely worth it.

Our program starts tomorrow! We're supposed to meet at Campus Oriente at 12 for our meeting, and then we go home with our homestay families. I feel like peeing my pants just thinking about it...not sure if it's out of fear or excitement but either way, we're all freaking out.

Pictures tomorrow, gotta go to bed!

FIRE!!!

Today started out really slow...I think I stayed in the same spot on the couch until about 3...then I went into Barrio Providencia with Anna and Chuck to try to find this English bookstore, but we couldn't find it so we ate ice-cream instead.

We went to dinner in Barrio Bellavista with this guy Jack from Australia who we met the other day. The plates here are really simple but they give you sooo muchhh foooooood. And the bread comes with salsa instead of butter, which I thought would be weird but is actually brilliant.

An old church caught on fire in Bellavista today, so all the streets around it were closed down and there were police all over the place. EXCITING!!! (I'm only saying that because I don't think anyone was hurt. If they were I take it back.) It was kinda fun watching the firemen put out the flames but a fire in Santiago only means the air is even worse now. Ash is never a good addition to smog. After dinner, we hung out at the Bicentenary Fountain that lights up in all different colors at night. So pretty!

Excited to meet more people from my program tomorrow!

Stop! Drop! ROLLLLL!!!

Bicentenary Fountain:

Just Flow...Flow.

This afternoon, Anna and I walked to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino (Chilean Museum of Precolumbian Art). Everyone says it's the one museum you can't miss in Santiago. It's small, but filled with ancient Latin American artifacts from the Maya and Inca and a lot of other early civilizations. There was a lot of pottery, and a bunch of small stone and clay sculptures, but the bigger statues and stone carvings were really cool to see. And I finally met someone that's in my program here in Santiago! This guy Armin who goes to UCSD met us outside the museum. There are a few other people who are already in the city but it's been practically impossible to coordinate meeting up with them when our only form of communication is Facebook.

We were starving by the time we left the museum but couldn't find food ANYWHERE. The city completely shuts down on Sundays. It felt really weird walking down the street and not seeing anyone outside, even on some of the main streets. We finally found a restaurant that was open, and we all got hot dogs. Hot dogs are served in real restaurants here and they're so different than at home. You can either get completo with onions, mayonnaise, and this hot tomato paste, or italiano with palta, an avocado spread, and usually the combination of toppings is bigger than the actual hot dog and is impossible to eat without getting it everywhere. But as they say in America, if it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face, right?

We had a BBQ tonight! Deeeeeelicious. Some artist who's apparently famous in Chile was there because she did all the interior design for the hostel, and I pretty much love her and want to be her. She's crazy and hilarious and all she says is "Let it flow. Just flow. Feeling." The guys that work at the hostel are all good friends so even though only one person was actually working, they were all here just hanging out tonight and the BBQ somehow turned into a huge jam session with Pato (his name means duck?) on the piano and Rodrigo on the guitar. There's a British guy here who has a radio show and recites stand-up poetry who made up songs to all of their Spanish music, and sang along to all the English ones.

Another great day. Love it here!

Museum:

Lazy Bones Jones

Super lazy day. Just hung out in the hostel all day until around 9:00, when everyone in my dorm at the hostel went out for dinner in Barrio Brasil, the neighborhood we're in. Finally had my first Chilean steak and pisco sour! Sooo good!

After dinner, I went out to a discoteque called in Bellavista with Aldi. It was so different from anything I've been to, even in Argentina. Every song was in Spanish, even though every song I've heard on the radio here has been in English. And everyone there knew every. single word. I had so much fun just watching them all go crazy. It wasn't like the US at all. No one was dancing with each other, everyone was actually just there for the music and dancing in groups or on their own. Even groups of just guys would all dance together and sing every word and seemed like they were having so much more fun than most people at clubs or parties at home.

This is Lucy. She has her own facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001903528540

Cerro San Cristobal

Yesterday, I climbed Cerro San Cristobal with 3 other girls from my hostel. The top of the San Cristobal is the highest point in the city, and has a giant statue of Mary looks out over Santiago and is supposed to protect the city. There's a gondola that takes you up to the peak, but we decided to walk both ways. It took a little over an hour to get to the top, and a pack of about 8 strays followed us all the way up. Note to self: pet a stray and you're its new best friend. One little muddy fluffball didn't leave my side until we got to the statue. The view from the top was amazing, but the smog in the valley is so thick that you have to really look for the Andes, even though they're HUUUGE and right in front of you. I'll have to go back up on a clear day if there ever is one. 

After we got back down, we walked over to Patio Bellavista, where they have a bunch of little cafes and more expensive souvenir stands, and ate the most delicious frozen yogurt I've ever had IN MY LIFE. They start with plain yogurt and then you pick out what fruits you want and they blend the frozen fruit with the yogurt. Carly, if you read this, you would die of happiness, it's so good. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm not sure if I can ever go back to Yogurtland. (Actually, who am I kidding, of course I'll go back. I need my red velvet. But it won't be the same.) Then we ate amazing sandwiches at Le Bistrot, one of the cafes in the patio, then took the metro back and hung out at the hostel for the rest of the day. 

Jordy, the guy who was working at the hostel last night, made melon con vino again and I went out to Bellavista, "The Bohemian District," with Anna (a German girl at my hostel) and 2 French girls who are staying here. We started out at a club, but Anna and I didn't like it very much, just not our scene I guess haha and went to an Irish pub down the street instead. We tried to practice our Spanish with some locals but that didn't last very long. It's hard to keep talking in Spanish when it's so easy to find people who speak English. When we got back, Jordy told us we missed a very heated political debate at the hostel, when one of the girls started bashing America and one of the Americans got mad. Not sure if I'm really grateful or really bummed that I didn't see it. Apparently Jordy was scared haha.

On the way up San Cristobal:

Mary at the top:

Ma friennnd on the right:

Lucyyyyyyyyy!!!

Lucy the guinea pig peed on me last night...rude little nugget.


Today I took a bus to Valparaiso, Chile's main port town, with Leandro, one of the Brazilians at my hostel. A woman at the bus station told us about a bilingual van tour around the city, so we bought tickets. It took a little over an hour to get to the coast, and we passed lots of forests, wineries and shrub-covered hills on the way...it actually looked a lot like parts of California. We found our van at the bus terminal and after about 5 minutes I realized that our guide didn't speak a word of English, but he was old and funny so I decided I didn't care. He also told all of the other people on our tour that I was Brazilian, even though my ticket specifically said I was from the United States, so I just went along with it and said I was Brazilian all day. Why not?


Our first stop was Pablo Neruda's house. We didn't pay to go inside (I'm going to his house in Santiago with my program anyway) but it was cool to see and had an amazing view. Then we drove backwards (????????) down the hill to our restaurant, which was in an old house overlooking the port. I thought I ordered spaghetti with marinara and almost cried/burst out laughing when the waitress brought me pasta COVERED in seafood...shrimp, clams, the works. This is the second day in a row...come on. I decided to not complain and gave all the seafood to Leandro, then tried to eat my pasta without thinking about how all that shrimp touched it. Ughhhhh. Sick. Nasty. Anyway, after lunch we went over to this walkway lined with a bunch of vendor stalls and saw some more views of the bay. Finally we drove toward Viña del Mar, saw the beaches and took pictures at the Reloj de Flores (Flower Clock). Valparaiso was a lot dirtier than Santiago, and the neighborhoods were filled with tiny, brightly colored, falling-apart houses on steep, tiny one-way streets. I liked it though...it actually reminded me of the hills around where my dad grew up in LA (shout-out to Dad!!! haha) but a lot denser and more run-down. And a lot more colorful, but everything's more colorful down here! 


Going to bed soon, gotta get up early to climb San Cristobal tomorrow!


Valparaiso:

Our restaurant!

I WANT TO LIVE HERE! Oh wait...

Last night at my hostel, the guy who was working made everyone melon con vino, which is basically a cantaloupe filled with champagne, ice-cream and something else, I don't remember. Deeeeelicious.

Today I took a free walking tour around the Plaza de Armas with two other guys at my hostel, Aldi and Stefan. On our tour, we met an Australian teacher who ate lunch with us at the Mercardo Central. The food was super cheap and delicious except that the smell of fish was so strong that I felt like I was eating it after awhile. After lunch, I went back to Santa Lucia with Aldi and Stefan, with my camera this time (forgot the first time...so depressing). Then Aldi and I went to the Memory and Human Rights Museum, which was built as a memorial to all of the victims of torture and murder under Pinochet.

For dinner, one of the girls from my hostel and I made a stir-fry at the hostel. Soooooo goooooood. It's her birthday today so we all hung out in our back patio and drank tequila and beer (don't worry Mom, the beer was after) with Lucy, the guinea pig that lives back there. I kept hearing squeaking noises last night and I could not for the life of me figure out what it was until I walked outside today and saw Lucy just chillin' there, squeaking away. Anyway, she's my new BFF.

Just realized today that I'm the youngest person here. This girl from Germany is 23 and celebrated when she found out I was younger than her. I'm now officially "the baby" of the hostel.

Last thought for the day, I LOVE SANTIAGO and every single one of the people I've met so far. I thought I would hate being here by myself but I've met so many amazing people from all over the world who I probably never would've tried to talk to if I had come here with someone I knew. For instance:
the 5 Brazilians (only 2 speak English but they're all great), 4 Australians (2 crazy guys, the teacher from our tour, and my insane dinner partner who I like more every time I talk to her), Aldi, a surfer from Indonesia who is getting his MBA at Harvard (BRENAN!!!!!), Stefan, a German software developer who only wears black socks, Katie and Jake, a couple from Seattle that hiked the Continental Divide and are about to trek through Patagonia, blah blah blah. And I finally met some Chilean students!!! And I love themmm!

And I've met two people (one American and one Canadian) who live here full time and both invited me to dinner sometime soon, which I thought was really nice since I don't really know anyone in the country haha...FRIENDSSSSS!!! hahaha

Plaza de Armas:

Cerro Santa Lucia:

View from the top:

Exploring

So yesterday I decided to explore the city, which may have not been the smartest thing to do by myself but I made it out alive! It was great for the most part but I walked a few blocks into the wrong neighborhood and tried not to freak out while homeless people eyed my purse and every guy that drove by just HAD to whistle. So I turned around and walked the other way toward the main street, La Alameda. There's a walkway/park that goes all the way down the middle, and just a ton of businesses and fast food places. Santiago actually doesn't feel as big as I thought it would. I saw so much on the first day, and walked to all of it. Just along La Alameda are La Moneda (basically the Chilean White House) and all the government buildings, the University of Chile and the Pontifical Catholic University (my school!!!), a few parks, concert halls, and a bunch of other stuff. I went inside my school and it's BEAUTIFUL. I don't think most of my classes will be at that campus but that's where my immersion program will be. Last night I watched That 70s Show with the other people at my hostel and tried to put up pictures but almost started a fire when I plugged in my computer...wrong adapter.

Today I took the Metro for the first time to go buy a new adapter that won't burn any buildings down. Then I saw more of the city with one of the guys in my room at the hostel, and climbed the tower at Cerro Santa Lucia where you can see the entire city and the Andes. Then we went to the Plaza de Armas, one of the main squares in the city, and ate at KFC because apparently they don't have it in Brazil (where he's from) and he loves it haha. Too bad the KFCs here don't serve mashed potatoes, my FAVORITE PART! So disappointing.

My hostel:

My school:

Random pic of the day: CAR CRASH!!!

Made It!

About 16 hours after leaving LAX, I finally made it to Santiago! Everyone I've met so far is so friendly and helpful, and almost everyone speaks at least a little bit of English so that makes me feel a lot better. I took a van from the airport to my hostel and just like in Argentina, I was scared for my life being on the roads because traffic laws basically don't exist but at least I got to see some of Santiago! The hostel is painted in a ton of crazy colors inside and has really cool artwork everywhere. It's kinda weird being here by myself for awhile...don't really know what to do haha but hopefully I'll get to explore a little and figure out where I am in the city. We'll see how that goes because they say it's 83 outside but I'm pretty sure that's a lie. So. Hot. Anyway, time to be brave and go outside. Pictures soon!