Believe it or not, I try to keep my entries short. I'm too lazy to keep up with this blog everyday, so when I do sit down and decide to take the time to process everything that has happened recently, stuff just starts to spew out. Since this is a blog, I don't feel the need to censor myself in the least. If you are reading this, your time is no more valuable than mine, sorry.
For those of you who don't know, I love food. I like shopping for food, preparing food, cooking food, and of course, eating way to much of it. This entry is just a quick summary of food and things related to it.
Monday:
Kiwi's and Nescafé instant coffee (To give you an idea, Chile RUNS ON Nescafé.)
Fish-stick-like patties, couscous, stewed veggies
Cazuela de vacuno
Tuesday:
Fresh-baked, French-style bread with homemade jelly of the plum and fig varieties and Nescafé
(My host grandmother owns a farm and grows a bunch of produce that my host mom uses to make jams, preserves, and canned fruit. YUM.)
I went to the supermarket, bough some yogurt and raisins for lunch. Nothing spectacular, but delicious. The yogurt I bought came with granola and dried fruit already in it. It was interesting. Not the best, but still good.
My host mother came home from a conference on Tuesday from the south of Chile and brought back fresh salmon for dinner accompanied by boiled potatoes and "salad" (just lettuce).
Tuesday dinner was actually quite interesting. There were 6 of us sitting around the table, my host mom, me, my host cousin, two students from last semester and one of their brothers. My host mom is certified to teach French. My host cousin is French. One of the two students from last semester is from Paris and the other and his brother went to school in France for many years. Picture this... I haven't taken a Spanish class in over a year. I decide to study abroad in Santiago, Chile and do a homestay to make sure I get maximum exposure to the language and culture. The first dinner where there are more than two people sitting and eating is defined by the French conversation between everyone except me. It was weird to say the least. I just didn't expect to be hearing so much French while studying abroad in Chile.
Wednesday:
Corn flakes and Nescafé
Cazuela
White fish from antarctica with rice made with cocoa. The rice was really interesting. I have never seen nor heard of rice made this way, but it has a very pleasant flavor to it. It has just a tinge of sweetness which complements the lemon juice sauce of the fish so nicely.
Thursday:
Cornflakes and Nescafé
Salmon, boiled potatoes, shredded cabbage, and a potato casserole of sorts. It was layers of potato filled with sour cream. It was delicious!
Flank steak and pasta with a white wine and alfredo sauce and shredded cabbage on the side
I'm thinking empanadas tomorrow!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Classes: Day 1 (U. Chile Style)
Classes started this week at the Univeristy of Chile, Santiago. I was mentally preparing for lectures in Spanish, problems with public transportation and directions, and meeting new people. Luckily for me, I only had class one day this week.
Let me explain...
I have heard that Chileans are always late. They just aren't used to sticking to schedules like us (east-coast) Americans. When a Chilean says "Nos vemos a las 9," the actually mean "Saldré de mi casa a las 9 y nos vemos a las 9:30 o cuarto para las 10." That being said, I was also told that this stereotype/cultural difference doesn't apply to things that are schedule, like classes, and business meetings. This week, I found that to be simple false. Thanks, Peter Winn.
Classes officially started Monday, July 27. I should have known that something was up when the Tufts program had an orientation and campus tour planned on Monday morning when we should have been free to go to classes. I ended up spending Monday on the Juan Gomez Millas Campus of U. Chile, confusing the heck out of myself with the locations of each facultad adn so on. I returned home to a meal of cazuela. Allow me to paint you a picture... Cazuela is served in a large bowl. It consists of a whole, peeled potato, a large hunk of squash, and some cut of meat submerged in a delicious chicken broth with pieces of rice and corn swimming around in it. Most Chileans I've seen eat the broth with the rice and corn first with a spoon, and then attack the vegetables and meat with a fork and knife. This is one of the ultimate comfort foods in my book. Since it's winter here and every edifice is freezing inside, it's nice to have your meat and potatoes soaking in hot chiken broth instead of getting cold on a plain, white plate.
In the end, Monday was fine.
Tuesday arrives. We have a meeting with our program director and our advisor from U. Chile. All goes pretty well except for the fact that I was not prepared for this meeting at all. Somewhere along the line, I forgot that I needed to submit a list of potential classes to the director so I was starting from scratch at this meeting. After the meeting, I began a wild goose chase that is Chilean beaurocracy in order to sign-up for a class in the Facultad de Economía y Negocios. Even though it's part of U. Chile, it has it's own registration system and everything. I had to get a pass, go to a building, see a woman who sent me to another building where I saw a different woman who finally was able to get something accomplished. All this effort for a class that I'll probably end up dropping since EVERYONE says econ classes here are tough. (I'll come back to this under "Thursday.")
Wednesday is the first day I don't have anything on my schedule except class. I was pumped to head out because my first class was the econ one that I had to jump through several hoops in order to sign up. I get to the classroom and find out that class was cancelled for the day, but only 15 minutes after class was supposed to have started. Que Chilean. After this class, I spent some time translating my résumé into Spanish in hopes of getting a nice internship this semester. After struggling with that for a while, I met up with Alli, Becca, and Javiera (Becca's host sister) to go shopping for some school supplies for Orfebrería (metal working). Comimos algun pescado de antarctica para la cena con arroz con cocoa.
Thursday, today, was my first real day of classes. I went to the econ class where the TA spoke a mile a minute about things I didn't understand. After the class I was talking to some chileans and they said his speech was terrible before they knew that I had trouble understanding, which made me feel a little bit better, but still, it's going to be a rough semester in this class. I also met an American, Bobby, who is studying here. He's a really nice guy, friendly and such. We comiserated about things and went our separate ways. Maybe he knows some good places to carretear? The class ended ten minutes early. I gathered my notebook and my self-esteem, packed them up and headed for the door. I spent the next hour trying to get to Juan Gomez Millas (the U. Chile campus in Ñuñoa). I didn't get lost, it's just far. I get to the Orfebrería (metal working) class an hour late and talk to the professor. She couldn't have been any nicer. After discussing my class conflict (The econ class ends half an hour after this one begins), she allowed me to sign up for the class and have my own schedule since the econ class wants to be the center of attention these days. My friends Becca and Alli also went to this class. The were there on time and left 45 minutes after class was supposed to have started. No one showed up. When I arrived an hour late, there were 6 Chileans there and the professor was amongst them, professing, or doing whatever it is that art teachers do...(?).
Let me explain...
I have heard that Chileans are always late. They just aren't used to sticking to schedules like us (east-coast) Americans. When a Chilean says "Nos vemos a las 9," the actually mean "Saldré de mi casa a las 9 y nos vemos a las 9:30 o cuarto para las 10." That being said, I was also told that this stereotype/cultural difference doesn't apply to things that are schedule, like classes, and business meetings. This week, I found that to be simple false. Thanks, Peter Winn.
Classes officially started Monday, July 27. I should have known that something was up when the Tufts program had an orientation and campus tour planned on Monday morning when we should have been free to go to classes. I ended up spending Monday on the Juan Gomez Millas Campus of U. Chile, confusing the heck out of myself with the locations of each facultad adn so on. I returned home to a meal of cazuela. Allow me to paint you a picture... Cazuela is served in a large bowl. It consists of a whole, peeled potato, a large hunk of squash, and some cut of meat submerged in a delicious chicken broth with pieces of rice and corn swimming around in it. Most Chileans I've seen eat the broth with the rice and corn first with a spoon, and then attack the vegetables and meat with a fork and knife. This is one of the ultimate comfort foods in my book. Since it's winter here and every edifice is freezing inside, it's nice to have your meat and potatoes soaking in hot chiken broth instead of getting cold on a plain, white plate.
In the end, Monday was fine.
Tuesday arrives. We have a meeting with our program director and our advisor from U. Chile. All goes pretty well except for the fact that I was not prepared for this meeting at all. Somewhere along the line, I forgot that I needed to submit a list of potential classes to the director so I was starting from scratch at this meeting. After the meeting, I began a wild goose chase that is Chilean beaurocracy in order to sign-up for a class in the Facultad de Economía y Negocios. Even though it's part of U. Chile, it has it's own registration system and everything. I had to get a pass, go to a building, see a woman who sent me to another building where I saw a different woman who finally was able to get something accomplished. All this effort for a class that I'll probably end up dropping since EVERYONE says econ classes here are tough. (I'll come back to this under "Thursday.")
Wednesday is the first day I don't have anything on my schedule except class. I was pumped to head out because my first class was the econ one that I had to jump through several hoops in order to sign up. I get to the classroom and find out that class was cancelled for the day, but only 15 minutes after class was supposed to have started. Que Chilean. After this class, I spent some time translating my résumé into Spanish in hopes of getting a nice internship this semester. After struggling with that for a while, I met up with Alli, Becca, and Javiera (Becca's host sister) to go shopping for some school supplies for Orfebrería (metal working). Comimos algun pescado de antarctica para la cena con arroz con cocoa.
Thursday, today, was my first real day of classes. I went to the econ class where the TA spoke a mile a minute about things I didn't understand. After the class I was talking to some chileans and they said his speech was terrible before they knew that I had trouble understanding, which made me feel a little bit better, but still, it's going to be a rough semester in this class. I also met an American, Bobby, who is studying here. He's a really nice guy, friendly and such. We comiserated about things and went our separate ways. Maybe he knows some good places to carretear? The class ended ten minutes early. I gathered my notebook and my self-esteem, packed them up and headed for the door. I spent the next hour trying to get to Juan Gomez Millas (the U. Chile campus in Ñuñoa). I didn't get lost, it's just far. I get to the Orfebrería (metal working) class an hour late and talk to the professor. She couldn't have been any nicer. After discussing my class conflict (The econ class ends half an hour after this one begins), she allowed me to sign up for the class and have my own schedule since the econ class wants to be the center of attention these days. My friends Becca and Alli also went to this class. The were there on time and left 45 minutes after class was supposed to have started. No one showed up. When I arrived an hour late, there were 6 Chileans there and the professor was amongst them, professing, or doing whatever it is that art teachers do...(?).
Monday, July 27, 2009
The True and the Bored
Queridos todos,
No tengo mucho que contar pero voy a contar algo de las últimos dos dias para mis amigos mejores (son las "true" del título de esta entrada quien lean el blog).
La Comida Chilena:
Desde mi llegada a la casa chilena, he comido muchas cosas deliciosas como pescado con yerbas, zapallo italiano en una salsa balsámico, pasta con salsa bolognesa, biffe a lo pobre (un filete de carne abajo de un huevo frito sobre una came de papas fritas), pizza, sopa de zapallo, vegetales guisados con cuscús y pescado frito y cazuela de vacuno (una sopa de choclo, arroz, carne, zapallo, y patatas).
La Fraternidad Chilena:
Llegué a mi casa chilena el sabado pasado, el 25 de julio. Conocí a un hombre quien se llama Dante. El es un mozo de la casa de Magdalena (la dueña de la casa que todavía no he conocido porque está al sur por trabajo). ¡Dante concina muy bien! El cocinó el pescado con yerbas, el zapallo italiano, la pasta bolognesa, el pescado frito con cuscús y vegetales guisados, y la cazuela de vacuno. Dante fue el primer hombre a quien conocí. El segundo fue otro (casi) extranjero quien se llama Pierre. Él tiene 15 años y estudia en la Alianza Fracesa, aca, en Chile. El tercer hombre a quien conocí fue mi hermano aca, se llama Tomás. Él tiene casi un poco más de treinta años, está casado con Fransica y ellos viven cerca de aca (no en casa). El próximo hombre que encontré fue Matías, el otro hermano chileno que tengo aca. Él tiene 29 años y vive en casa. El próximo (el quinto), fue Javier, otro mozo de la casa quien viene en los dias que no viene Dante (casi dos dias de cada semana). El sexto y el septimo hombres a quien conocí son un alumno quien vivía aca el semestre pasado y su hermano. En resumen, he conocido a 7 chicos en esta casa sin conocer a Magda(lena), la dueña de la casa. Además, ella tiene otro hijo, se llama Diego, quien está trabajando en Brasil ahora. No sé si voy a tener la oportunidad de conocer a él, pero espero que sí. Vamos a ver. Con la suerte que tengo ahora, estoy seguro de que vamos a encontrarnos antes de que llegara el fin del semestre.
If anyone cannot understand the spanish, please let me know and I will post the English translation.
No tengo mucho que contar pero voy a contar algo de las últimos dos dias para mis amigos mejores (son las "true" del título de esta entrada quien lean el blog).
La Comida Chilena:
Desde mi llegada a la casa chilena, he comido muchas cosas deliciosas como pescado con yerbas, zapallo italiano en una salsa balsámico, pasta con salsa bolognesa, biffe a lo pobre (un filete de carne abajo de un huevo frito sobre una came de papas fritas), pizza, sopa de zapallo, vegetales guisados con cuscús y pescado frito y cazuela de vacuno (una sopa de choclo, arroz, carne, zapallo, y patatas).
La Fraternidad Chilena:
Llegué a mi casa chilena el sabado pasado, el 25 de julio. Conocí a un hombre quien se llama Dante. El es un mozo de la casa de Magdalena (la dueña de la casa que todavía no he conocido porque está al sur por trabajo). ¡Dante concina muy bien! El cocinó el pescado con yerbas, el zapallo italiano, la pasta bolognesa, el pescado frito con cuscús y vegetales guisados, y la cazuela de vacuno. Dante fue el primer hombre a quien conocí. El segundo fue otro (casi) extranjero quien se llama Pierre. Él tiene 15 años y estudia en la Alianza Fracesa, aca, en Chile. El tercer hombre a quien conocí fue mi hermano aca, se llama Tomás. Él tiene casi un poco más de treinta años, está casado con Fransica y ellos viven cerca de aca (no en casa). El próximo hombre que encontré fue Matías, el otro hermano chileno que tengo aca. Él tiene 29 años y vive en casa. El próximo (el quinto), fue Javier, otro mozo de la casa quien viene en los dias que no viene Dante (casi dos dias de cada semana). El sexto y el septimo hombres a quien conocí son un alumno quien vivía aca el semestre pasado y su hermano. En resumen, he conocido a 7 chicos en esta casa sin conocer a Magda(lena), la dueña de la casa. Además, ella tiene otro hijo, se llama Diego, quien está trabajando en Brasil ahora. No sé si voy a tener la oportunidad de conocer a él, pero espero que sí. Vamos a ver. Con la suerte que tengo ahora, estoy seguro de que vamos a encontrarnos antes de que llegara el fin del semestre.
If anyone cannot understand the spanish, please let me know and I will post the English translation.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Day 1, otra vez
It has been 10 days since I have last blogged. Orientation has been hectic, fun-filled, and exhausting, which has left me too tired to blog. (Basically, I'm a lot lazier than the other 19 people on this trip and my blog has taken a back seat to checking facebook, e-mail, and spending time on iChat. Also, the group has bonded significantly over our mutual frustration with charlas (lectures that usually drone on for an hour and a half) and lack of wireless access in the Hostel, which has distracted me from my duties (of blogging, not that anyone reads this anyway)).
Today is the day the group split up and moved in with respective host families. It was pretty nerve-wracking because we were all gearing up for round two of culture shocks. We were abandoning all the comfort and routine we had created over the last two weeks and had no idea what lay ahead. Short Chilean women filed into the makeshift lobby of Hostel International and eagerly awaited their $300.000 peso prize. (That's the compensation they get per month for agreeing to host us Americanos.) I kid... The host mothers that I met were the nicest people you could imagine meeting. They were so warm, friendly, and excited to open their homes (and lives) to us. I got more cheek-kisses today from women I have never seen before than my own extended family at a Thanksgiving gathering. (Thanksgiving...just that word adds to the intensity of this experience (More on that later, after the film, at 11.).)
My story is a bit of a saga for only having been in the country for two weeks. When I arrived, I had been assigned a family that lived in Vitacura, a high-class neighborhood nestled between the edges of Santiago and the foothills of the Andes. In Santiago, the higher up you live, the weathier you tend to be. Something had gone awry with the room I was supposed to be staying in, so the program director had to find me a new place to live. She transferred me to a family in La Providencia, an upper-middle class neighborhood just west of the center of the metropolis that is Santiago. My chilean friend Tania, whom I lived with in the Spaish House at Tufts last year, recommended that I request to live in La Providencia. So, it was a trade-off. Sacrifice the wealthy Jewish family for a comfortable home located much closer to the other students on the program and to the campuses, AND, it was in the town that Tania had recommended, so all was great. They also had a dog, so that was exciting. About 12 days after getting reassigned to the family in Providencia, I was informed that there was another change. A pipe burst in my bathroom at the second house and the program director had to find me a third place to live. Basically, I have had three host families since I got here two weeks ago and, at this point, hadn't met a single one of them.
Today I moved into a spacious house in El Golf, a tranquil part of Las Condes (un barrio de Santiago). My host mother is away on business till Tuesday and wasn't able to pick me up at the Hostel like all the other kids, so the program director took me to my house. There, I met one of the sons who, I believe, lives in the area with his wife. There is another son who, I believe, is skiing and will be back later this afternoon. They have a 15 year-old cousin from France studying here until November, so he was here to. He arrived this morning, so it's a hectic weekend for the family. They have a friendly dog that they call Herni because she has a hernia. She lives outside, even in this weather.
The house is nice, cold, comfy. It reminds me a lot of a lake house in the U.S. because it has a very steep staircase and many small rooms. My bedroom is rather large and I'm pretty sure I also have my own bathroom. It's palacial in comparison to Tufts dorms, Hostel International, and in some aspects, even my room at home. (I hope I can keep this optimism up for the next 6 months.)
I arrived, unpacked, and sat down to a delicious lunch. My host brother cooked fish and herbs, sauteed zucchini, and served salad and a fresh apple for dessert. It was delicious. I hadn't had hot food that wasn't from a restaurant in two weeks. I am the kind of person who always likes to eat out. Going to restaurants is fun, but after eating like that for two weeks, you just get sick of it. I never thought it could happen, but it did.
Anyway, me and my host cousin, se llama Pierre (remember, he's from France...), had lunch together and chatted about random things (school mostly).
Who knows what the afternoon and evening will bring, but it should be fun. Hopefully I can make blogging a habit, but right now, I'm working on making flossing a habit.
Chau,
Dan
Para los que le gustan los dos idiomas de mis cuentos, regresarán en el próximo. Era importate que yo contara este cuento en ingles porque es un etapa muy interesante de la experiencia y algunas personas que leen este blog tiene que entender todo que digo. Gracias para su paciencia. Abrazos para todos mis amigos.
Today is the day the group split up and moved in with respective host families. It was pretty nerve-wracking because we were all gearing up for round two of culture shocks. We were abandoning all the comfort and routine we had created over the last two weeks and had no idea what lay ahead. Short Chilean women filed into the makeshift lobby of Hostel International and eagerly awaited their $300.000 peso prize. (That's the compensation they get per month for agreeing to host us Americanos.) I kid... The host mothers that I met were the nicest people you could imagine meeting. They were so warm, friendly, and excited to open their homes (and lives) to us. I got more cheek-kisses today from women I have never seen before than my own extended family at a Thanksgiving gathering. (Thanksgiving...just that word adds to the intensity of this experience (More on that later, after the film, at 11.).)
My story is a bit of a saga for only having been in the country for two weeks. When I arrived, I had been assigned a family that lived in Vitacura, a high-class neighborhood nestled between the edges of Santiago and the foothills of the Andes. In Santiago, the higher up you live, the weathier you tend to be. Something had gone awry with the room I was supposed to be staying in, so the program director had to find me a new place to live. She transferred me to a family in La Providencia, an upper-middle class neighborhood just west of the center of the metropolis that is Santiago. My chilean friend Tania, whom I lived with in the Spaish House at Tufts last year, recommended that I request to live in La Providencia. So, it was a trade-off. Sacrifice the wealthy Jewish family for a comfortable home located much closer to the other students on the program and to the campuses, AND, it was in the town that Tania had recommended, so all was great. They also had a dog, so that was exciting. About 12 days after getting reassigned to the family in Providencia, I was informed that there was another change. A pipe burst in my bathroom at the second house and the program director had to find me a third place to live. Basically, I have had three host families since I got here two weeks ago and, at this point, hadn't met a single one of them.
Today I moved into a spacious house in El Golf, a tranquil part of Las Condes (un barrio de Santiago). My host mother is away on business till Tuesday and wasn't able to pick me up at the Hostel like all the other kids, so the program director took me to my house. There, I met one of the sons who, I believe, lives in the area with his wife. There is another son who, I believe, is skiing and will be back later this afternoon. They have a 15 year-old cousin from France studying here until November, so he was here to. He arrived this morning, so it's a hectic weekend for the family. They have a friendly dog that they call Herni because she has a hernia. She lives outside, even in this weather.
The house is nice, cold, comfy. It reminds me a lot of a lake house in the U.S. because it has a very steep staircase and many small rooms. My bedroom is rather large and I'm pretty sure I also have my own bathroom. It's palacial in comparison to Tufts dorms, Hostel International, and in some aspects, even my room at home. (I hope I can keep this optimism up for the next 6 months.)
I arrived, unpacked, and sat down to a delicious lunch. My host brother cooked fish and herbs, sauteed zucchini, and served salad and a fresh apple for dessert. It was delicious. I hadn't had hot food that wasn't from a restaurant in two weeks. I am the kind of person who always likes to eat out. Going to restaurants is fun, but after eating like that for two weeks, you just get sick of it. I never thought it could happen, but it did.
Anyway, me and my host cousin, se llama Pierre (remember, he's from France...), had lunch together and chatted about random things (school mostly).
Who knows what the afternoon and evening will bring, but it should be fun. Hopefully I can make blogging a habit, but right now, I'm working on making flossing a habit.
Chau,
Dan
Para los que le gustan los dos idiomas de mis cuentos, regresarán en el próximo. Era importate que yo contara este cuento en ingles porque es un etapa muy interesante de la experiencia y algunas personas que leen este blog tiene que entender todo que digo. Gracias para su paciencia. Abrazos para todos mis amigos.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Despacio
Day three started out pretty much like all of the rest - a morning run to the park and then a small Chilean breakfast at the Hostel (their equivalent of frosted flakes, vanilla yogurt (a little thinner than the average American variety) and café (two cups)).
The twenty of us boarded a bus and headed to Ñuñoa for a couple of lectures on Chilean society and history, which were punctuated with café and galletas, of course!
After the second lecture, the group walked across the street and sat down to lunch.
Pan y pevere (a Chilean salsa of sorts)
Sopa de pollo
Salmón y ensalada (I traded half for pollo y arroz)
Tutti Frutti (homemade fruit-cup with kiwi, apple, pineapple, and banana)
Pasamos la tarde en La Legua, una población en Santiago que está separada por tres partes; Emergéncia, Nuevo, y Viejo. Parece como una favela de Brasil. Encontramos un grupo de viejas que nos contaba de sus vidas allí. Este lugar es infamoso por las drogas y la violencia que consumirlo. Las viejas nos decía cuentos de violéncia, muerte, y tristeza, pero todas se rieron con nosotros. Además de la tristeza de La Lengua, aprendemos de los actividades contra las drogas y la violencia. Por ejemplo, hay un grupo que incluye jóvenes, adultos, y más quién baila en vez de se hace miembro de pandilla.
It was interesting to learn about and see the vast disparity of wealth in Santiago. There is not much racial discrimination because there is a lack of diversity in general. They have found a way to separate based on economic status, which is something worth mentioning. I'm sure there will be more information on this theme once I get a more complete understanding.
Hasta luego,
Dan
The twenty of us boarded a bus and headed to Ñuñoa for a couple of lectures on Chilean society and history, which were punctuated with café and galletas, of course!
After the second lecture, the group walked across the street and sat down to lunch.
Pan y pevere (a Chilean salsa of sorts)
Sopa de pollo
Salmón y ensalada (I traded half for pollo y arroz)
Tutti Frutti (homemade fruit-cup with kiwi, apple, pineapple, and banana)
Pasamos la tarde en La Legua, una población en Santiago que está separada por tres partes; Emergéncia, Nuevo, y Viejo. Parece como una favela de Brasil. Encontramos un grupo de viejas que nos contaba de sus vidas allí. Este lugar es infamoso por las drogas y la violencia que consumirlo. Las viejas nos decía cuentos de violéncia, muerte, y tristeza, pero todas se rieron con nosotros. Además de la tristeza de La Lengua, aprendemos de los actividades contra las drogas y la violencia. Por ejemplo, hay un grupo que incluye jóvenes, adultos, y más quién baila en vez de se hace miembro de pandilla.
It was interesting to learn about and see the vast disparity of wealth in Santiago. There is not much racial discrimination because there is a lack of diversity in general. They have found a way to separate based on economic status, which is something worth mentioning. I'm sure there will be more information on this theme once I get a more complete understanding.
Hasta luego,
Dan
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Santiago: Day 1
I'm sorry for not posting on my first day here, but as you can imagine, there was a lot going on and not enough time or energy for blogging. (For those reasons, and because the internet was difficult, I am posting today.)
The majority of us were on a flight from Miami to Santiago (MIA to SCL) and we met up with the other two students on our program who flew in from Dallas to Santiago. After a little fiasco involving Honey, the Chilean FDA and a hefty fine, all of us boarded a bus and headed for the hostel (but not before the two guys who were handling our bags awkwardly asked us for tips right after our program administrator told us not to give them anything). Just imagine twenty tired Americans staring at there feet feeling guilty, but giddy because the adventures are about to begin.
Llegamos al Hostel y recibimos nuestros cuartos, compañeros de cuarto, y los llaves. Despues de llevar los equipajes arriba al 4 piso, comimos nuestra primera comida juntos en el Hostel. Teníamos huevos, pan, mantequilla, marmelada, y torta (como bread pudding) y café con leche. No soy afficionado de café pero yo sé, después de tomarla, que este café es delicioso.
After breakfast in the Hostel, the group of 20 went for a walk around the area. We ended up stopping at the supermercado for empanadas for lunch.
Later, we went to the Program Coordinator's office and had a little meeting about safety and the plans for the rest of the orientation.
The 20 of us got on the Metro and went to dinner at Las Vacas Gordas en Santiago. When we got back to the Hostel, no one had much energy and many went to bed pretty early.
The majority of us were on a flight from Miami to Santiago (MIA to SCL) and we met up with the other two students on our program who flew in from Dallas to Santiago. After a little fiasco involving Honey, the Chilean FDA and a hefty fine, all of us boarded a bus and headed for the hostel (but not before the two guys who were handling our bags awkwardly asked us for tips right after our program administrator told us not to give them anything). Just imagine twenty tired Americans staring at there feet feeling guilty, but giddy because the adventures are about to begin.
Llegamos al Hostel y recibimos nuestros cuartos, compañeros de cuarto, y los llaves. Despues de llevar los equipajes arriba al 4 piso, comimos nuestra primera comida juntos en el Hostel. Teníamos huevos, pan, mantequilla, marmelada, y torta (como bread pudding) y café con leche. No soy afficionado de café pero yo sé, después de tomarla, que este café es delicioso.
After breakfast in the Hostel, the group of 20 went for a walk around the area. We ended up stopping at the supermercado for empanadas for lunch.
Later, we went to the Program Coordinator's office and had a little meeting about safety and the plans for the rest of the orientation.
The 20 of us got on the Metro and went to dinner at Las Vacas Gordas en Santiago. When we got back to the Hostel, no one had much energy and many went to bed pretty early.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Pre-pre-departure
I leave in 48 hours. I have a lot left to do, but keep telling myself that it has to get done, so it will. We'll see how that works.
Just a quick note:
I picked up some Chilean pesos for my trip today at the bank. This was the first time my trip felt real. Seeing this currency for the first time wasn't anything too out of the ordinary, especially if you have traveled outside North America before, but this miniscule event triggered the first physiological response that let me know that my travels are real and imminent and that Santiago really needs to duck and cover because this kid is coming.
My home friends are a blast. Thanks for making Summers in Pa. worth it.
Just a quick note:
I picked up some Chilean pesos for my trip today at the bank. This was the first time my trip felt real. Seeing this currency for the first time wasn't anything too out of the ordinary, especially if you have traveled outside North America before, but this miniscule event triggered the first physiological response that let me know that my travels are real and imminent and that Santiago really needs to duck and cover because this kid is coming.
My home friends are a blast. Thanks for making Summers in Pa. worth it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
