Motes and Mercados and Museos...Oh My!

How different Santiago is (transportation-wise) than my good ol' South Dakota! I find myself walking and walking and walking....and then usually walking a little more. However, I've found that here, the walking goes by so fast with tons of little stands and shops and interesting people to keep you occupied along the way. And if you've got a good friend by your side, time sure flies! Aside from walking, I've found the subway and bus systems very helpful. Once I finally got up the nerve to try the subway, I was pleasantly surprised by how much less tired I was once arriving to school! (and much less sweaty for that matter...)

-huge Christmas tree in central Santiago-

Things have gone well since my last post. Christmas came and went like a flash! To be blunt, I don't really feel as though I had Christmas this year. No family and no snow... If your Christmas traditions are anything like mine, all of you Mid-Westerners, you can do the math on that one. But nonetheless, I enjoyed seeing how they celebrate here in Santiago, Chile, and was happy to see that the core rituals are very similar. I went to the house of my host family's grandma on Christmas Eve and we had a big dinner and then opened presents. My Spanish was really put to the test this night due to the "family effect"...you know, when families all get together and everybody talks at warp speed?? Yeah, happens here, too! :) Christmas day, for me, was spent sleeping, Skyping with family, and watching movies...can't go wrong there!

In other news, I'm happy to anounce that I passed my first exam and have, therefore, moved onto the next level at school! While I am impressed with myself and thrilled to have passed, I also am biting my nails at the thought of the next level of my Spanish ability...However, so far class this week has gone well!

One memorable day last week was spent outside of school with my new friend Leila. She's a friend from school and she met up with me in her neighborhood of Las Condes where we went shopping at the local mall there. After our shopping fix was satisfied, we headed through metros and bus stations to El Cerro de Santa Lucia. I know I posted about this last time, as I did visit it the first day of school...but being that Leila hadn't been there and I forget my camera when I went the first time, we decided to visit.

-at El Cerro de Santa Luica again-

We took lots of pictures and took our time slowly winding up to the top of the stony mini-mountain. This time, I also had the opportunity and time to stop and try a popular drink called Mote con Huesillos. It's a very popular Chilean concoction and although I still cannot fully describe what it is (looks interesting..), from what I gather, it has these little barley pieces that are corn-like (mote) with cooked, dried peaches (huesillos). These things are served to you in a cup of syrupy fruit juice (like what peaches come with in the can). If you're ever in Chile, you'll have to try it for yourself!

-mote con huesillos-

After the climbing, we were by far ready for some down-time. Leila invited me to one of her distant relatives' house in the neighborhood of La Reina. Boy oh boy, we found the "rich" neighborhood! The property where her cousin lives was so beautiful, with a fancy intercom-equipped gate, and long driveway, and a gorgeous home. I felt super priviledged that night to be able to mingle with their guests, many of whom were bi- and trilingual! Two of the children there knew FOUR languages!! Whoosh! Talk about a bright future. It was really neat to see. The guests at the house were all so encouraging with our speaking Spanish and overall, I was able to enjoy wonderful food with stimulating people...just what I needed after a long, challenging week!

Other days, outside of school, have been spent with my new friends walking around the city. Often, we'll choose a place of Santiago we want to visit, then either walk there or take the metro there, find some place to eat lunch, and then explore until evening comes. It's a really great "ritual" we have set up and I very much enjoy walking, talking, and visiting different parts of Santiago.

-some of our school group in front of El Mercado Central-

-Leila and I enjoying lunch in El Mercado Central-

On top of just exploring in our little group, there are usually activities after school we can sign up for. Since our trip to El Cerro de Santa Lucia, we've visited El Mercado Central, which is in the center of Santiago and they have different restaurants that are famous for their fish and mariscos. We also visited the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. It was really cool to see the very different artifacts and hear about the history.

-Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino-

Thank you to everybody that has been checking on and thinking of me! I'm blessed. Also, I've got a fun weekend full of traveling coming up...so make sure to check back soon! I hope everybody has a safe and fun New Year weekend! Chao pescao! :)


Love,
Andrea

Que?? No Entiendo...Repeta, Por Favor...

The above title pretty much sums up how I've been feeling for the 4 days that I've been in Chile..."What? I don't understand...repeat, please..." :) But, as I've also said a million and one times thus far, "Esta bien"..."It's okay."

-flying into Miami-

-the nifty gadgets on my international flight-

I FINALLY arrived in Chile after more than 24 hours of flying (and waiting). And when I did finally arrive in Chile, the adventures were already lining up for me. After making it to the other side of the riDICulously long line for customs, I found myself delighted to see BOTH of my suitcases waiting for me. I thought to myself, "Wonderful! Things are going off without a hitch!"

Then, I began looking for my transfer from the program with whom I am studying (Escuelas y Centros de Espanol en Latin America...ECELA), but to no avail. However, every flight of my trip had been delayed and I arrived more than 2 hours later than I had told the school...so I wasn't very surprised to find myself without a ride to my host family's house. So there I was, a complete "gringa" (an American, more or less) alone in the Santiago airport with very little Spanish practice. Long story short, after some "kind" gentleman found me a taxi, the police got involved (yes...the police...) and asked how much this man was charging me for the taxi. When the police stopped me, I honestly didn't know yet since the taxi man and I were still walking to his car. After a lot of heated Spanish and a call to my host family, I realized that this taxi was "illegal" and was going to rip me off. Whoosh! Gracias a Dios por la policia de Santiago!! Thank God for the Santiago police. After this, the police that spotted the taxi man and I helped me find a transfer, for a good price, to my host family's house. What a start to my trip, huh?!

After my little run-in with the illegal taxi man and after arriving to my house, meeting the family, and settling in, I was more than overwhelmed. My host mom, Nancy, was so kind and took me walking to show me where I needed to go for school the next morning and showed me around the area where they live. They live in Providencia, a nice neighborhood with tons of malls, little tiendas, restaurants, and a Starbucks across the street! :) The apartment is very small, especially my room, but it's definitely plenty of space and I enjoy the location. Sometimes the noise is very hard to get used to (one night a bomb went off nearby...Nancy said it happens a lot and it's just teenagers protesting and the "bombs" are just for the noise...but still!)

I went to bed pretty early Sunday night (my first night) because I had a placement exam early Monday morning to see what level Spanish class I needed to be put in.

-the front of my school-

After 30 minutes of walking like a tourist to my school, I arrived completely sweaty and frantic at being 1 minute late. NOTE: Latin Americans are. not. punctual (especially Brazilians...) So after fretting the entire walk there, I realized all was well. Once done with my exam, I was placed in "Intermediate 1A". And although all of the materials that I have learned so far are the things I already learned in the United States, I always feel totally lost and insufficient. School is super challenging and my "profesora", although very nice and helpful, is very strict and makes me say everything correctly. There are 4 students in my class...1 Spanish-speaker from Canada, 2 Brazilians, and me. Obviously out of the above listed students, I am the most inept at speaking Spanish, so usually class is a little intense for me :/ But "esta bien"!

Aside from school, which takes up 4 hours of each day, I have been trying to participate in every activity possible to get as much out of the experience as I can. The school offers activities after classes a lot of the days, which is nice. The first day, we were taken on a tour of a place in the heart of Santiago called El Cerro de Santa Lucia. It was a beautiful place! We had to climb and climb up tons of hills and stairs, but each level we went up had another great view of Santiago...a perfect first experience. And yesterday, the school showed the movie "El Ofanato"...a horror-type Spanish movie that all of the Chileans fawn over. It was pretty good, but again, my Spanish is lacking which always contributes to not getting everything during stories and such. Yesterday (Tuesday), a few friends and I went out exploring in the neighborhood of Bellavista. It has a lot of trendy little restaurants and places to buy neat gifts and such. The neighborhood is really beautiful and it was fun roaming around there!

-me on Patio Bellavista-

Because my host family (Nancy, the mom, and her two sons Sebastian and Claudio) are always either working or out, school has been an awesome outlet for me to meet people. Already I have become friends with 2 Brazilians who took me under their wings, Gustavo and Jefferson. Gustavo knows Spanish, Portuguese, and English...so helfpul!! They are both very patient with me and my choppy attempts to tell stories and contribute to conversations. I've also met tons of other people from all over...one guy from Paris, a few from the U.S., a lot of Brazilians, and a lot of Germans. Everybody is so willing to meet everybody else, so we have a good time mingling on our breaks and during activities.

Overall, my 4 days here so far have been wild. I'm always tired, mentally and phsycially, but I would have to definitely say the 4 days have been positive! This is only the beginning of my trip and I'm very excited to see what the rest of it has in store for me!

So, with all of that said, MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I hope all of you in the Midwest are enjoying your blizzard. This will be my first Christmas without snow! I sure picked my timing right, eh? :)

Love and miss you all...I'll be sure to update again soon!

Chao!

Chile Is Here! ...well, kinda

So, my excursions began yesterday at 8am when the time came for me to drive to Minneapolis/Andover to stay with my friend Katie. The drive was pretty quick and painless (maybe too quick...I got a speeding ticket...shoot). After arriving in Minneapolis and dropping off my wonderful travel buddy Fernando at the airport for his flight, I headed to Andover where Katie lives. We had a great time catching up, and before I knew it, it was time to get ready for bed in preparation of my 3:30am wake-up.

If any of you know me, I am not a morning person, so getting up was a little rough. And to be completely honest, excitement didn't change things because I wasn't excited. The flight part has been the one thing I've been nervous about the entire pre-trip time and I today already, I have been given plenty of reason to have been nervous (notice that I am blogging when I'm supposed to be flying...)

So now here I sit at Gate C12, where my plane should have already loaded and taken off by now, but we are still waiting to board. Ish. Any other time I would not have really minded a delay, but considering I have to make 2 other flights after this one, the delay only presents unwanted frustration and anxiety.

However, I know that things will work out! I will make it to Santiago eventually, with or without my baggage, ha! But if any of you out there have a private jet, fly it my way, would ya?

In closing, here is a picture of my good friend Katie and I when she dropped me off at the airport this morning. Katie, if you're reading this, THANK YOU for waking up soooo early and supporting me. It really meant a lot :)


Thanks for reading, and hopefully my next blog is from Chile!! Saludos amigos.


-Andrea