I jumped off the Andes Mountains

Hola Todos!

I was thinking about it the other day, and I can't believe how long it's been since I've made an entry on here! I can officially say that my schoolwork is kicking my butt and I have been traveling 4 out of the last 5 weekends. Luckily I don't have class today and finally have time to breathe! I have SO much to write about- I have had three of the most amazing trips in the past three weeks.

On the weekend of April 2 I went with my program on a trip down south to a place called Pucón. It was an 11 hour bus ride, but it was overnight so a little easier to sleep. Since Chile is such a long country, the climate from north to south is incredibly different. Pucón actually reminded me a lot of Oregon (and made me a little homesick!) except for that it had a bit of a tropical feel, but still cold, raining, and with some evergreen trees. Since the program arranged everything, we stayed in these beautiful cabanas with huge TVs, a kitchen, and great beds.

On the Friday morning that we arrived in Pucón, we took a bus all around to see some of the things the town has to offer. We hiked up and saw three beautiful waterfalls, and our last stop on the tour was thermal baths! They were tucked deep in the middle of the forest and I didn't know this before, but the reason they are so hot (or hot at all for that matter) is because they are warmed by the volcanic activity beneath them. Most of them were bearable, but there was one that the guide told us they could boil eggs on! Incredible.

(In the thermal baths)

The second day we were in Pucón we could choose which activities we wanted to do. In the morning I chose to go white water rafting (the "alto" version, which means huge rapids!). It ended up being SO fun! Our guide's name was Leo and he was intense but so much fun. My favorite memory was when we were about to go off a class 4-5 rapid, and we were paddling as hard as we could, and my friend Beth and I started screaming the song from Mulan when they are going in to war (Let's get down to business!). After we got out they had pisco sours waiting for us. What more could you ask for?

(In our wetsuits after rafting- it was freezing!)

Later the same day I also chose to go ziplining through the forest. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but the feeling of flying above the trees and over rivers is irreplaceable. For some reason the guides there kept calling me "Laura numero uno". I'm not sure why, but I'm thinking there's maybe a song with that name? Who knows! Or maybe I'm just the best :)

(Ziplining over the river)

As you can imagine, those two activities in one day was a lot, so I decided to call it a night after the ziplining. The next day I chose to go on a tour of volcanic caves. Chile in general is packed full of volcanoes, and one of its largest and most active is actually right in Pucón and called Villarica. Even though it was early in the morning and I got a little motion sick when we took a small van offroading up a mountain, it was pretty awesome to walk on volcanic rock and see these caves made by the lava. I will say, though, that after 3 months of being here during the summer, I was a little taken aback by the rain there! We were literally soaked the entire weekend, especially in the caves.

(At the end of the caves. Notice how soaked my jeans are!)

Unfortunately after the caves, we had to leave Pucón. I left there tired, wet, and I lost my voice! Imagine trying to speak spanish without a voice. So ugly!

The next weekend is when Tommy came! Vivi and I drove early on Friday morning and picked him up from the airport. That first day him and I swam in the pool with Teresa, had a fabulous Chilean lunch, and walked around the main center of the city. It was fun to be able to show him around and have someone see what I have been experiencing for the past 3 months. It is hard to keep straight what we did each day of that weekend, but we ate lunch with Vivi and Sergio, had great food every night, drove out to an artisan market, and went out with my friends to some discotecs at night. So fun! On that Monday I took him to my favorite neighborhood called Bellavista and we hiked up a little mountain right near there. It was a little hot a tiring, but so beautiful once we got to the top! On our way back we stopped and had a beer and a typical Chilean cheap meal called an Italiano. It is just a hot dog with mayo, tomatoes, and avacado on it. So so good!
(Vivi and Tommy at the airport)

(Hiking up the cerro!)

(Overlooking Santiago)

On Tuesday and Wednesday I had class all day. On Tuesday Tommy came to campus with me, and even came to a class! On Wednesday he stayed home and hung out with Sergio (which was a little awkward at times considering Sergio speaks no English and Tommy speaks no Spanish!) until I got home later in the day. That night we went to dinner at Sergio's cousin's apartment. It was absolutely delicious complete with appetizers, wine, and desert.

Early Thursday morning Tommy and I left for Mendoza, Argentina, which is a small town near the border known for it's hiking and wines. When we were about to board the bus in Santiago, the driver asked for Tommy's passport and a small yellow reciept that everyone gets when they enter Chile. Apparently Tommy had taken that out of his passport, which I desperately tried to explain the bus driver in Spanish. He was extremely nice, and said something to the extent of, "Okay, you can get on and you SHOULD be able to cross the border when we get there." Feeling risky, we went ahead and got on the bus. At the border itself, a very scary and official asked Tommy for his piece of paper, and I (with my biggest and prettiest smile) told him that we had left it in Santiago. He stared at me for a minute and then reluctantly stamped Tommy's passport. Victory! For the entire weekend Tommy and I told people that he was in Argentina illegally. Not true but still fun to say :)(Smack dab in the middle of the Andes Mountains on the bus ride there)

The first night we were in Mendoza, we went out for a delicious meal. Since Argentina is famous for its beef, we decided it would be appropriate to get some steaks. We ended up having a huge steak dinner with bread and a bottle of wine for a little over 30 dollars! The next day in Mendoza we decided to do a wine tour since neither of us had ever been on one and we knew nothing about wine. The tour we did was fabulous. They took us to three wineries and showed us how they made all the wine, and each one had a tasting. At the end of the three tours, we had this AMAZING lunch. I am not kidding you, it was the biggest feast I have ever seen of Argentinian food. Not to mention that it came with unlimited wine. Let's just say we were stumbling back to our hostel at the end of the day :)

(Tasting some wine!)

The next day in Mendoza (Saturday) Tommy and I decided to do something extreme and go Paragliding! We got picked up by this small car and we drove out to this dirt road at the bottom of a HUGE mountain (I wish I could post more pictures on here- I have so many of this mountain!). From there, we were picked up by a monsterous army-looking vehicle and drove for 45 minutes straight up a mountain! I thought it was going to be us and a bunch of other tourists, but in the end it was us and all of these Argentinian farmers who paraglide in their spare time. Haha talk about authentic! Once at the top we put on all the gear and were strapped in with guides. What happened next I literally cannot explain. No joke, we just ran off a cliff. It was incredible. The view that I had from the air was spectacular. I couldn't believe it was real! We were in the air for about 40 minutes, and then we effortlessly floated down to the ground. I thought I would be more scared but to be honest it was just so surreal that I didn't have time to be scared. Tommy and I talk even now and we can't believe we actually did it. Pretty amazing!(The truck that we rode up to the top)

(About to jump off!)

The next day, we checked out of our hostel around 10am and then had an entire day to kill in the city until our bus left at 11. We spent the day wandering around to different shops and reading in the park. The city of Mendoza is made up of five plazas, all of which are so pretty, so we spent lots of time there just hanging out. Once we finally made it to the bus, we crossed the Andes once again and made it back into Santiago around 5am. Unfortunately Tommy had to leave later that same day :( Taking him to the aiport was so sad but as I keep saying, we are already halfway done!

This past weekend I took yet another trip all the way almost to Antarctica. I promise I will write about it soon! I have a huge Psychology test on Wednesday that I really need to start studying for. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this warm weather that I keep hearing about! I will write soon!

Ciao,

Laura

Reality check: I'm actually here to go to school

Hola Todos!

How is everyone? Again I have been falling behind on my entries- I have been hit very hard by the amount of school work I've had! It's hard to say whether or not my classes are actually difficult or not because of the simple fact that they are completely in Spanish. In my literature class, we have class readings, readings for the discussion on Fridays, and a 300 page book to finish for presentation in ten days. I figured out that on average I read about 8 pages an hour in spanish, if I'm lucky. You can do the math! In my art history class, I've slowly figured out that we are in the "erotic" unit. It took me a while to understand why we were only looking at phallic pictures and I kept hearing the words "pubic region". Who knew that there was so much nudity in art history! And my psychology class in another story. It is actually really really awesome- since it is Community Psychology we are actually going out into the community in Santiago to help find resources and solutions for a youth center. In the end, I know this will be very valuable. However, trying to organize this in another language is impossible! My day today consisted of wandering around a "poblacion" (which is the insane latin american neighborhoods that you see in movies with tin roofs, etc) with a group that I was put into with all chilean students. I can definitely say that today was the first time I was EXTREMELY outside of my comfort zone. But like I said, in the long run I think the experience will be worth it and hopefully my group with be patient with me.

Last weekend was one of the best I've had in Chile! Me and a group of my close friends here traveled about two hours to very popular beach town called Viña del Mar for the weekend. We stayed in a hostel which wasn't the nicest (the showers had half curtains and there was no soap or mirrors) but the beds were comfortable and, more importantly, it was cheap! On Saturday we stayed around Viña and walked to the beach. Unfortunatly it was wayyyyy to cold to go in the water, much less wear a swim suit. A couple blocks from our hostel was a restaurant/bar/discotec called Cafe Journal (weird to say in Spanish.. haha) where we literally spent at least a third of our time. In two days we ate there twice, had drinks there, and danced there at night.(The beach in Viña)

About 15 minutes away from Viña there is another popular town called Valparaíso, which is where we spent the day on Sunday. Let me tell you, it is one of the cutest, most beautiful places I have ever been. I fell in love with it immediately. It is full of hills and churches with colorful houses lining all the hills. We probably walked 10 miles all around the city, which included walking through one of Pablo Neruda's houses (a very very famous Chilean poet). We also found our way to a place like none I have ever been. It used to be a huge jail, but was burned down many times during the dictatorship here in Chile. Now it has been converted into an art space with graffitti where you can walk around. We ended up getting a personal tour from a man that works there, who actually used to be an inmate! He told us how he dug a tunnel and escaped by digging while pretending to have conjugal visits. He also offered to take us into the isolation rooms where they used to put the really bad criminals, and even torture them. It was very cool but also moving to see a place where so many people suffered. I won't lie, though, there was a moment when he was leading our group of americans down into the pitch dark isolation chamber when I felt like I was in a horror movie. I'm alive and well though! (Valparaiso)






(the former inmate who showed us around- notice the outfit that he wears for effect!)

One more funny thing that happened in Vina- when we ate lunch on Saturday at Cafe Journal we all ended up having TONS of leftovers (mainly fetucinne) but our hostel had no microwave so we weren't sure what to do with it. We ended up boxing it all up and carrying it with us on our long walk around the city. As we would see stray dogs, we judged them based on how pitiful/hungry they looked, and if they passed the test then they got to eat our gourmet meal of pasta with shrimp. You should have seen the looks we were getting from the chileans! I have never felt like more a good samaratin, though, so it was worth it.

(Lucky winner number one. I couldn't resist when he started sniffing the bag!)

Everything is going amazing here with my chilean family! Vivi just started classes to get her MBA so she is always busy with that and with work, so Sergio and I spend lots of time here together at home. I even made Kraft macaroni and cheese for them the other night! I don't think I have ever been more homesick than I was when I took my first bite. They are both so great and they honestly treat me like their own daughter. What more could I ask for?

This weekend I am getting ready to travel down south in the middle of Chile to a place called Pucon. The trip is actually through my program so everything is all paid for and ready to go, which is so nice. It is supposed to be really cold and rainy though, which you would think I woudl be used to being an Oregonian but I have gotten so spoiled here with the 85 degree weather every day! After class all day tomorrow I leave on a 10 hour bus ride to get there, and since I just finished my last American book I am stuck reading my spanish homework the whole time. Ah! Well let's just hope this time that I'm not by the bathroom :)

Lastly, I am getting EXTREMELY excited because Tommy is coming here a week from Friday! I can't believe how fast the time has passed. I am already planning everything we're going to do, including a trip to Argentina! Hopefully the nice weather will stick around for ten more days so we can do lots of outdoor things like hiking and maybe go to a vineyard around here. I think Vivi and Sergio are just as excited, if not more excited, than I am for him to come.

This is all for now! I still have some packing to do. I am going to try and start updating this more. I have found that I am one of those people who doesn't want to sit down and do this or make a phone call unless I have a good chunk of time. What I need to do, though, is start doing shorter entries more often I think. Anyway, I'm really starting to miss everyone back home! as they say here, besitos!

Laura

My new name is Shakira

Hola Todos!

First of all, I am so sorry that I have been such a bad blogger and haven't updated this in so long! This has been a crazy past two weeks trying to start school here. Before I came I had heard that the education system works a lot differently, and they're weren't lying! I didn't even get a list of classes offered at the Universidad de Chile until three days before they started. Crazy! And now I am in the process of attending classes that I THINK I may want to take, and next week I have to actually go and register for sure. What no one told us, though, was that half of the classes we have all been going to are full! As of now, though, I have four classes including a Literature class about Chilean narratives, a Psychology class (community psychology), a class about Indiginous America, and then a Chilean culture class. They are all extremely hard just because of the fact that they're in Spanish, but so far I have great professors who will hopefully be patient with me!

Anyway, I just realized that I haven't even updated about my trip up north to La Serena! It ended up being relaxing and really fun. The bus ride wasn't bad (even though on the way back I was about 3cm away from the bathroom...) and we stayed in the cutest, coolest hostel! It had a room with a TV and a computer, and a bar up on the roof with music and couches. I had never stayed in a hostel before, but for $12 a night it was perfect. We ended up meeting people from all over the world- on the Saturday we were there we went out to an area called Barrio Ingles with a girl from Switzerland and her brother, a guy from Germany, and a really nice guy named Ben from London. The only mistake of that night was that we got convinced to enter a discotec, which ended up being an UNDERAGE club with half-naked 17 year old boys dancing on stage with their shirts off! Let's just say we got out of there pretty fast. Even though the beach was a little chilly, it was the perfect trip right before classes started!
(on the beach with Ben)

(Our hostel, Aji Verde)

Last Saturday was also a really tiring but fun day. My program, CIEE, set up me and the other people from the program in groups with "cultural embassadors", which are just students from the university who volunteer to kind of be our mentors while we're here and show us around, etc. On Saturday, my cultural embassador Carlos took me and my group up a huge hill/mountain in Santiago called Cerro San Cristóbal. After a long and hot hike to the top (for some reason my group elected to hike instead of take a trolley) we took a gondola from one side to the other. It was beautiful! And at the very top there is a huge statue of the Virgin Mary that overlooks the entire city- and there were rows and rows of benches, so I'm pretty sure they have mass up there. Unbelievable!(At the top of the Cerro!)

(The statue of the Virgen at the top)

Lately, to ease the stress of school of course, I have been going out a lot on the weekends. Last weekend my friends came with me to where my host dad works to wactch his show! It was a blast, and even my guy friends who went had a great time. This past Thursday night, we all went to this cool discotec called El Tunel where every night they have different music. When we were there is happened to be a kind of electronic/american music night, and I knew it was going to be a fun night when I heard a techno remix of an old Madonna song! The title of this entry actually pertains to something that happened at this place. I was dancing with a chilean who was actually very nice, when he stopeed and told me that I danced like Shakira! Even though this is SO FAR from the truth, it was definitely one of the all-time best compliments I've ever gotten. Although I successfully spilled a full, expensive drink everwhere before even taking a sip, it ended up being a great night. And last night (Friday) my friends and I decided to integrate a bit more into the Chilean culture by going to a warehouse-type bar deep in the middle of the city called Las Tejas. There is a drink here in Chile called a Terrimoto, which quite appropriately translates to "earthquake". In this drink there is beer, a special wine called "fermento", and this weird piña ice cream that you mix in, among a couple other things I think. I don't know what it is about this combination, but literally after ONE (even for the guys), you are absolutely drunk! We all found this out the hard way! Anyway, this bar is famous for it's terrimotos, so we went out and had a couple. After that, we made our way to a techno/electronic discotec called Piso 33. Even though it was tiring and sweaty to dance to techno for three hours, it was so much fun! We'll see if I make it out again tonight for the third night in a row... ah!

(After having our first terrimotos!)

I recently had a quite a humbling experience regarding my spanish. I was waiting for my friends in the metro station, when a middle-aged chilean man approached me and asked me "Que hora es?" which means "what time is it?" For some reason, all I heard was "hora", which I thought was "hola", so I looked right at him and smiled and just said "Hola!". He did not smile back, and said "NO, que HORA es?" Eventully I told him, and we started talking. I told him I was going to school here, when he just stopped, and with all sincerity he said (in spanish), "But all the classes there are in spanish... how will you do that?", sounding genuinely concerned. I was like, um excuse me but I speak spanish!

In other exciting news, Tommy just bought his ticket to come visit me! He will be here from the 10th-21st of April. I am already planning everything I want show him, and I think Vivi and Sergio are as excited as I am. Since there are very good deals on airline tickets around South America right now, we are thinking about taking a little trip to Buenos Aires when he's here. We'll see!

Well I have to go to a museum today for a class, so I best get going! Hope everything is going well in the US... I miss everyone so so much!

Ciao,

Laura

Hey, blonde girl!

Hola Todos! (Which, by the way Auntie Kim, means "hello everyone"!)

I have officially survived my week of crazy class schedules and late nights! Yesterday I just finished the CIEE class called Contemporary Chile and am enjoying my first day of a five day vacation- my one and only vacation during the entire semester! Three of my girl friends and I are heading up north to a nice beach town called La Serena tomorrow. It is a 6.5 hour bus ride, but the buses here are actually very luxurious so I'm not too worried about it. Apparently La Serena has restaraunts, discotecs, museums, and even a pisco-tasting tour. Should be fun!

Today is actually Vivi's birthday, so last night when I got home from class we had a little fiesta. There were some of their close friends here out on the patio drinking wine and eating hamburgers of all things! Plus, the cherry on top was that I think we listened to "I Will Survive" more than ten times, with Sergio and his friends singing along. Very entertaning! Tonight we are going to a very nice restaruant with Vivi's parents and younger brother. Should be really fun, not to mention very good Chilean ceviche (ground up seafood with great spices- so good!)

(Vivi about to blow out her candles!)

Now that I have summarized what is going on here, I've decided to dedicate this post to my favorite peculiar things about Santiago. I'll start with all of the ways, so far, that Chilean men say to get my attention here.

1) The most common one is your typical two-tone whistle, you know the one I'm talking about? There was some cartoon that used to use it all the time...

2) The second that I have encountered is many of us gringas walk by, the say one of two things with a surprise expression- either "WOW", or "OH MY GOSH". You would think they were looking at Pamela Anderson or something.

3) Third is a new one I came across just yesterday. I was walking to the bus stop, and through a fence (I didn't even see the guy) was literally just a loud kiss noise. You know, the kind you might use to call a dog?

4) Also yesterday, I was walking down the street with 3 of my friends, I heard the most direct one so far. Someone just said, "I want to f*** you." I have no words.

5) Lastly, I was on the street recently when a man comes up to me and says "Hola rubia", with translates to "hello blonde girl". Um, hi? (hence the title of this post)

I think I am going to continue with some random truths about my trip so far.

1. I have a huge crush on the Chilean police, the Carabineros. They are very miliaristic, never smile, and wear these olive green uniforms, but for some resaon I just find them sexy!(The Carabineros)

2. I have developed very bad luck here (mala suerte) in regards to clumsiness- NO JOKE I have spilled some sort of beverage on myself or a table every single meal I have sat down at. I am basically known for it here, to the point where other people have started pouring my drinks.(After spilling my beer for the second time)

3. I have found that I have a love for graffiti. Everywhere I go I am constantly taking pictures, not of my friends, but of all the beautiful graffiti here! Somehow, even in the nicest neighborhoods, it doesn't look trashy. I love it.

(Close to my house in La Reina)

4. I learned the hard way that you should not pick random spanish food off a menu just for the thrill of it. My friends and decided to do this when we ordered a "completo" and an "italiano". These actually turned out to be hot dogs STACKED with avacados, tomatos, and mayo (they put mayo on everything here). They tasted good but we all felt sooo sick the next day!

5. The two most common english words that I hear here are "boobies" and "Obama".

6. People who try to make money on the streets have NO shame. Yesterday I saw a team of two men- one was playing the accordian while another put a large balloon over his entire head and blew it up with his nose while flailing his body around. Hey, it beats sitting on the side of an offramp with a cardboard sign.

7. The only type of crime that is common here is theft. You literally have to walk with your bag wrapped from shoulder to shoulder (no backpacks or one-shoulder purses) gripped tightly with both arms. Apparently they just sprint by you and grab in on the way. Scary!

Well, this is all I have to say for now! I hope everything is going well back in the good old USA. I can't believe I've already been here for two weeks! Missing everyone.

Ciao!

Laura

Shopping and gay men

Hola todos!

I officially had a reality check today- it was my first day of class through my program, CIEE! After heading to register my visa, I had some lectures and then took a tour of the important buildings in central Santiago. The main one that is actually very famous here in Chile is called La Moneda. This is where all of the presidents come and work, and also where the president Salvador Allende committed suicide. It is surrounded by tons of Chilean flags and beautiful courtyards, as well as statues of all the important presidents. Although it was tiring to try and understand my teacher explaining the political history in Spanish, it was great to see some history for the first time. After my school FINALLY ended a little after 6pm, Vivi met me and she showed me how to ride the metro together back to my house. It actually is much easier than I expected, and I am planning to do it on my own tomorrow.

(La Moneda)

Now that I have the boring stuff, I want to talk about my weekend! On Saturday night I went to see one of Sergio's shows. It was at a club called Bunker, which is apparently one of the biggest and most popular gay clubs in Chile, if not South America. The show didn't even start until 2:30am, so Vivi and I took a nap from about 9-11:30, which was good because I was actually awake! I have never been anywhere like this in my life. There were probably around 1,500 men packed into this discotec, complete with LOUD techo music and strobe lights. When we got there I got to go back and see Sergio's dressing room and meet all of his fellow perfomers, all of which are flamboyant and extremely welcoming! Eventually Vivi and I headed up to the balcony to watch the show. It was SO incredibly entertaining, and I couldn't BELIEVE how great these men looked in their outfits! Sexier than many girls I've seen. Funny thing that I haven't mentioned yet- EVERYONE in Chile smokes. Everywhere. So imagine more than 1,000 people smoking inside this one club. About 45 mins into the show, I started to feel very numb and lightheaded, to a point that I was sure I was going to faint. Vivi immediately sat me down and was like "we need to go!". After explaining to her that NO ONE in my life smokes and that I'ver never once inhaled it, we determined that I was just feeling the effect of hundreds of cigarrettes wofting up to the balcony. So embarrassing though! Let's hope I get used to the smoke, because this place was so so fun!

(Sergio and I before his show! Notice the white haze... the SMOKE!)

Vivi also took me shopping yesterday at a HUGE mall here in Santiago. We didn't end up finding any shorts, but I did get some more sandals and some shorts to sleep in, as well as a safer bag that goes across my shoulders instead of just on one shoulder (those apparently can get stolen very easily here in the area where I go to school). It was a very fun and relaxing trip, and I always enjoy shopping! Let's just hope it cools off here a little bit soon- it is still been about 85 or 90. Luckily it's very dry heat so you don't feel too sweaty, but I am ready to be able to wear jeans comfortably!(The mall- I can't remember the name for the life of me!)

Alright, well I need to get some sleep tonight so I can survive another long day of class tomorrow! Hope all is going well in the U.S. Miss everyone!

Ciao!

Laura

My home away from home

Hola!

I am now getting settled in my host family's beautiful home. It in an area of Santiago called "La Reina" (the queen), which is apparently known for it's quiet feel, trees, and for being a slightly more liberal area. All of this is true! It is about 20 minutes away from downtown Santiago and even though I am still in a big city all I can see outside of my window is trees and mountains. It is absolutely gorgeous.

(There are six homes in our private driveway- this is standing on their porch)

(And this is the front de mi casa!)

My host family is eccentric and different, but so similar to me in so many ways! My host madre's name is Viviana, but we all call her Vivi. She is about 40 and so caring and thoughtful and nice. She has taken great care of me so far, and this weekend she is going to take me to buy some shorts so I don't die of heat stroke every day in my jeans! We have already had lots of bonding time going to el supermercado (grocery store) and eating late-night snacks :) (Last night I made her peanut butter and jelly for the first time- a success!) Vivi lived in the US when she was young, so she actually speaks English, but we mostly speak spanish. Vivi's family owns and runs a vineyard about 3 hours south of Santiago, which she has already told me that we will definitely visit. I am pretty excited for that!

My host padre's name is Sergio. He is so loud and outgoing- I have never met anyone like him in my life! Unlike Vivi, he only speaks spanish which is actually a GREAT combination because I speak spanish with him always, but if I don't understand Vivi can help. Sergio and I found out right off the bat that we had something in common- he LOVES Sex and the City! He even has all the seasons in Spanish, so we are definitely planning on watching those. He also loves Marilyn Monroe and has pictures of her everywhere. He even collects sunglasses- you should see how many he has! And he offered to let me borrow any of them anytime. Can you believe that? BeforeI met him, CIEE told me he was an actor. So when I got to the house, he showed me where he keeps all of his clothes and I soon realized... he dresses up as a drag queen! He kept trying to explain this to me in Spanish, but finally he just blurted out DRAG QUEEEN. On Fridays and Saturdays he goes all around Santiago performing. Vivi and I are going to one of his shows tonight! I am SO SO excited. Even though it doesn't start until 2 am! I figured, my boyfriend is 4000 miles away, so I might as well spend Valentine's day at a drag show right? :)

(Sergio and Vivi by the pool!)

The house where Vivi and Sergio live is absolutely perfect. It has three floors, and I have my own bedroom and bathroom. It also has a POOL! I have already been swimming a few times. The sun here is so so strong though and even though I had sunscreen all over my whole body, I still almost burned when I was out there for literally 15 minutes! Apparently it is because the ozone layer here is thinner because of the pollution. Whatever the reason is, hopefully it will give me a good tan! Their two dogs are also super cute- they have a yellow lab name Teresa y a mix named Coismo. Teresa is so fun and cute, and LOVES to swim in the pool! She is in there so much that they have to put sunscreen on her nose. Every morning when I wake, all the windows and doors are open, a warm breeze is blowing inside, and there is quiet spanish music playing. It is unreal!(Teresa and Coismo)

On a side note- something interesting and shocking (to me at first) about Chile- there are stray dogs EVERYWHERE. They literally just live on the street and kind of follow you around. It is so weird! Just something you never ever see in the US, especially on the streets of a nice, downtown of a big city. Weirdddd and really sad!

Anyway, I miss everyone so much but I have the most amazing situation here. Couldn't be a more perfect match! Hope all is well in los estados unidos (USA).

Ciao!

Laura


P.S. If there is a picture of a weird dog at the very top of this, it was supposed to insert below where I was talking about the strays!

La Lengua de Vaca

Hola todos!

There is already so much to talk about and I have only been here for three days! Let me start from the beginning.

On Tuesday night I flew overnight from Atlanta straight to Santiago- luckily I met a guy at the airport in Atlanta who is in my program and happened to be sitting right next to me! We spent much of the flight playing games on the touch-screen TVs on the seats in front of us. We finally arrived in Santiago around 9am and had to rough spanish customs officers in uniforms! I was actually quite proud of my first real Spanish conversation with the officer- I told him where I was going to school and what I was studying and I'm pretty sure he understood me! It was funny, though, because it was soooo obvious that we were lost foreigners in the airport just WANDERING around everywhere! We all finally made it (there were 6 of us on the flight) out of customs and met up right away with Brigita, who is one of the CIEE coordinators. After waiting around for about another two hours, everyone else finally arrived and we were off to Santiago!


For some reason, the reserach I had done about what the weather was going to be like here wasn't very correct! I was thinking mid 70s, maybe 80s. The first day I was here it was over 90! It is so so so nice, and there is always a breeze, but I didn't even bring ONE pair of shorts so let's just say I've been a little sweaty :) (especially when I was hauling around my 100lbs of baggage!)

For our first two nights, all 48 of us stayed in an apartment-like hotel with four people to a room. They were small but so nice with two bathrooms and a little kitchen, not to mention wireless internet! Everyone on the program is extremely cool. And my roommates were from USC, Georgetown, and Bucknell, and they were all awesome. The CIEE staff took us to a bunch of great, cute chilean restaurants for every meal and at night we decided to go check out the night life. There is a street right by our hotel called "Suecia" and is known for having many restaurantes, pubs, and discotecs (clubs). The only thing that is really hard about walking down that street, especially as a "gringa" (American) is that people who work at the restaurant or bar stand outside and try and convince you to come in! Definitely wasn't used to that, plus it is really hard to politely say "oh, no thank you" in Spanish- I ususally just stayed with a simple NO haha. But it has been fun to walk around and drink a traditional and very cheap drink here called Pisco Sauers. You can get one anywhere and they are delicious!(My friend Lil and I after being mauled by 50 chileans trying to get us to come to their place)

I have also had my fair share of language mess-ups, as well as misunderstandings. The first one came when a bellman was in the elevator with me, alone, helping me take my bags upstairs. Keep in mind, at this point I had been in Chile for a total of 2 hours. After asking me if I knew how to dance the reggaton (rap type dancing?), he told me his name and proceeded to lean in and half kiss my cheek. Needless to say I didn't know at the time that this is a very common tradition here.

Also, we ate at a buffet today. I was in line, and the server behind the counter pointed to two different kinds of meat and asked which one I wanted. I just happened to point to the one on the left. As I am walking to a table, a guy in my program yells- "Oh man! Why did you get la lengua?!" It took a minute to register, but I soon realized that lengua means "tounge". Sitting on my plate was an entire cow tounge, complete with some tastebuds that were left over. It may not have been as bad if it was in little pieces, but it was literally in the shape of a huge tounge. Apparently tougne is a very common chilean dish... (see below... ugh)

I just moved in with my host family today, but that is completely another story! I will write another blog soon allllll about mi familia chilena, with pictures and everything.

Miss everyone!

Ciao,
Laura (pronounced Low-ra en Chile, according to my advisor haha)