Complices Concert

I realize this is my first blog post in awhile. It has been difficult to keep up with writing a blog post on a regular basis when school consumes you. But, I finally decided that I would take the time and blog about something important. YES. I went to a concert. Now before you ask why I would waste my time going to a concert, or say you can do that anytime you are in the U.S., you must realize that this wasn't just any ole concert. This concert was one of the best concerts I have ever attended in my short life that I have lived. This weekend, I went to the Complices Concert in Santiago that featured three of my all time favorite Spanish-speaking artists. This weekend, I got to see Reik, Jesse y Joy, and Pablo Alborán perform. This concert was absolutely incredible. First of all, each group put on an incredible show, with dancing and audience interaction, to light shows and confetti. Second of all, the show will be one of the most memorable concerts with the magic that these groups created. I was so impressed with their voices. Each group sounded just like they do on their albums, which with the technology of this day and age, it is difficult to find.

The greatest part for me was being able to relive the parts of my high school experience I actually enjoyed. I knew since the 9th grade that I wanted to do something with the Spanish language, so every Spanish class that I have taken ever since has been an incredible experience. However, the most memorable classes from high school were the ones with Señora Stacy. She not only inspired me to pursue my interest in Spanish, but she introduced me to Spanish musicians. She introduced me to the music of Reik and Jesse y Joy, which has stuck with me to this day. I remember the very first song that I heard by Reik being "Que Vida la Mia" and the words were coming so quickly that our entire class would just mumble the words until it got to the part that we knew. The first song that I heard by Jesse y Joy was "Espacio Sideral" and it is still one of my favorite songs now. If you were to have told me that I would be watching both of them in the same concert back then, I would have laughed at the idea. Being able to see them not only perform, but in another country? That's insane! Fortunately for me, that insanity has become a reality. Pablo Alborán, I came across his music a little less than a year ago and fell deeply in love with his voice. His Arabic influences and his Spanish accent (Spain Spanish) made his music so interesting to hear, and his voice is just like caramel. Being able to watch these three groups perform live is definitely something that I will keep with me for the rest of my life and I am so glad that I experienced it.

 In this photo, Michaela and I are waiting for the concert to start. Needless to say, we are very excited for what is about to happen.

Tanto, Pablo Alborán

Chocolate Jesse y Joy

Enjoy Life

Well October has begun to fly by! I cannot believe it is already the 16th. It's taken me quite some time to write again because this little lady has been a busy bee! Although I am basically on a 6 month vacation, I still, unfortunately, have schoolwork that must be done. It just happens that the professors here are identical to the professors at home and like to pile on work all at the same time. I sometimes think that our professors get together to scheme of when they all want their students to suffer most and just pile on loads of work that never lets us see the light of day. But that, of course, is not what I am blogging about today. I decided to take the time to talk about self management.
As an adult, you are given a lot of responsibility. With responsibility, there is a lot of other things that are tagged on. The majority of the time, the "other things" are stressful tasks that are just part of the process of reaching the goal at the end. We learn with school how to manage our time, and with vacation we learn how to not let our extra time be taken for granted. In a situation like study abroad is where things get a little complicated. Not only do you have to know how to wisely manage your time for school (getting to class on time, giving yourself enough time to finish your homework, scheduling enough time so you can be well rested, etc), but you also have to learn that no matter how lucky you are to be in a foreign place, you are only there for a short period of time and cannot let yourself waste your precious time. I have learned that the hardest part for me is to let myself have and enjoy the precious moments. For those of you that know me, I am fairly studious and like to make sure I get things done in a timely manner. However, a lot of times I like to over think things and give myself too much time so I can perfect my creations. Unfortunately, spending that extra time on school work takes away from the enjoyment of life. In my time that I have spent here in Chile, I have realized how much time I spend on my studies (which is excellent), but I don't spend enough time on myself (which isn't so excellent). Thankfully, I have opened up way more here than I do at home and have come out of my shell so I can enjoy life. I have learned that I can take risks and not have to always think about the consequences. Now everything should be done in moderation, but we all need to learn to enjoy life and enjoy ourselves because other wise we are just wasting away our lives worrying about something that doesn't really matter. We are worrying about something that didn't matter in our past, and won't matter when we are dead. Thanks to Chile, I have learned to enjoy the life I have been given because it's a pretty great one. Not only is it great, but it's my own that I get to choose who I share it with. And to me, that makes life special, and worth enjoying.

Los Perros Vagos

Esta foto es de un señal de pare que está en C° Alegre que representa los perros vagos. Antes de parar de matar los animales callejeros, no había leyes contra la muerte de estos animales. Pero este señal de pare ha ayudado con el establecimiento de leyes de los animales que viven en la calle.  Los animales están en la calle porque mucha gente no sabe cuidar un animal y las acciones que son necesarios para vivir con una mascota, y cuando ya no quiere su mascota se la pierde en la calle. Es triste que haya muchos perros vagos en la calle. No hay sólo uno u dos perros. Hay mucho más de 300 en las calles. Pero los ciudadanos dan de comer los animales. Aunque hay muchos, los animales son "nuestros animals" porque nos protegen contra al mal.

Como este perro, mucho de los están saludables. Son amables y diferentes. Pero es peligroso que viven el la calle. Mayormente, los animales comen de la basura y despues están enfermas. No sé cómo ni cuándo, pero necesitamos corregir esto en una manera civil sin matar. 

Fiestas Patrias

This blog post is going to be a little messy, so bear with me. This past week was the fiestas patrias week of Chile. Rather than just one day, they have an entire week to celebrate their country. As most people decided to travel the country, I decided to stay here and live life like the Chileans. The entire week here in region 5 there were parties after parties of all different kinds, and I experienced the good life.

A lot of the fiestas are ramadas, which are carnival-like parties. At these ramadas, there are rows of booths for food and games, and even a row for dancing. The food served at these is some of the best foods to experience. I went to two different locations for the ramadas. One night, we went to Sporting (in Viña) and another night we went to Playa Ancha (city of Valpo). The atmosphere at these sort of events are incredible. There are so many people, and so little room to even walk sideways, but it is so much fun.

The most important day of the week was the 18th. On the 18th, my host family and I went to the botanical gardens and had a barbecue with my host cousins and family friends. At the botanical gardens, my host sister Rosio and I went for a walk to the lagoon and back. On the way from the gardens back to where we were cooking out, Rosio dropped her cardigan and we had to go back and look for it. Fortunately, nobody had messed with it and we found it almost right away! I met some lovely people and had some delicious food. We got home at about 8pm, and then at about 9pm I went out to Sporting with my friends Michaela, Monika, Natalie, Niall, and Otisa.

The following day, I went with my family to Placilla, which is about an hour away from our house in Valpo. In Placilla we had a barbecue with some family friends where there was karaoke and loads of delicious homemade traditional food. I got to sing in Spanish for a bunch of people I didn't know, and I got to add a bunch of Spanish music to my repertoire. That night, I went to Playa Ancha and met some really nice Chilean students that as soon as they figured that I wasn't Chilean helped me out so much.

My diet for the week was not the best, but it kept me alive. My diet consisted of Empanadas, Chorripanes, Alcohol, and dancing. The empanadas here are very interesting. At the festivities, it is very difficult for you to find an empanada not made of pino (in the pino empanadas there is ground beef, hard boiled egg, black olives, onions, and raisins). A chorripan is basically like a bratwurst on a bun, just a different kind of sausage, and it is absolutely delicious. The two kinds of alcohol that went into my belly, besides beer, were chicha and terremotos. Chicha is a fermented apple or grape drink without distillation. Terremotos are generally made out of white wine, pineapple ice cream, and some times with granadina, fernet, or another bitter liquor.

Unfortunately, the week has come to an end and I have to go back to school. I had such a great week and am so glad that I got to experience Chile's independence celebrations.

Two monthaversary?!

Wow! I cannot believe that I have already been here for 2 months! It is crazy to think that I left everything I knew 2 months ago to open my mind to different things. This has been one heck of a ride, and I am so glad that I am here. There have been a few bumps in the road, such as robberies and getting sick, but every moment cannot be the best moment of my life. I have learned so much about myself and about life that everything else just doesn't matter as much. And to me, that still makes being here worth it. This week not only is a celebration of my two months, but a celebration of Chile. Chile has been celebrating their fiestas patrias all week with asados and festivals and just huge celebrations. The novelty of being in a new place with a new adventure has not quite worn off yet. At times, things do get a little difficult to deal with, but I am still so incredibly glad to be here. Thank you for following me on this journey, and I cannot wait to continue this wonderful roller coaster!

Feeling Chilean

Living in a country other than your home country takes awhile to get adjusted to. But even then, getting adjusted to a new place comes in stages. From my experience, getting adjusted to the country itself took about two weeks. I had to get adjusted to the climate difference, being in a new place, the culture, the language, as well as just looking different. 

The climate was difficult to deal with for the fact that pretty much the first week of being in Chile, I was shivering non stop. I am fairly certain I gained washboard abs in a matter of days without even trying. After acclimating to the climate, I had to gain my sense of direction. For me, this was difficult because I am awful with reading a map. But once I am shown where something is in a city, I can navigate my way back and forth with ease. With thanks to my dear friend Israel, figuring out the general layout of the city was a breeze. Unfortunately, I also had to figure out the public transportation. I learned how to navigate my way to and from school on two different buses, I can navigate the metro with ease, but the colectivos I don't think I will ever understand [Colectivos are a type of taxi that is cheaper, but also shared between other people]. 

The easiest thing to transition into would have to be the culture. Having prior knowledge about Chilean culture before arriving, it was much easier to slide into the ways of the Chilean people. Drinking a lot of tea, eating one's weight in bread and palta, and eating lunch in the late afternoon were just some of the things that came naturally to me when I got here. The hardest transition for me, however, has been the language barrier. The problem hasn't been that I don't speak Spanish. The problem is that I am not an encyclopedia for Spanish slang. The Chileans speak rapidly and the accent, in some cases, is almost impossible to understand. Now that I have been here for almost two months, my ears have started adjusted to their language mannerisms. Not only do I understand them, I often find myself using them in a natural way. For example, my host family had a family party at the house this evening and we were discussing all sorts of topics, when I accidentally said one of the most commonly used Chilean slangs, "sí po." I can feel that my speaking is improving, not only with my host family, but with anyone that I come in contact with that wants to speak. 

The more time I spend here, the more I feel like I belong. Rather than feeling like an alien or an outsider, I am beginning to feel more like a Chilean. With this transition from outsider to family gives a sense of belonging, and I think it will give me an even better experience than I have already been having. 

September 11th

For this post, it is going to be a little messy because I am going to be posting both in English and Spanish. If you would like to read in English, start reading here:

September 11, a bad day in the U.S. As we remember what happened in 2001, we come together as a country to comfort those with loved ones missing. Any of us that were old enough to understand what was going on at the time, can remember everything about this tragic day in the U.S. As we cried over our fellow citizens, we were glued to the television with our families by our side watching the start to a war on terror. 2001, I was in the third grade and remember it like it was yesterday. You can ask just about anyone that was alive and well aware and they can tell you vividly what had happened to them during that day. Each year, I take time to think of what I remember happening so I don't forget.  And it has been the same thing for 12 years. (http://www.911memorial.org/)

However, this year, I have learned of a different September 11. In Chile, there was also a September 11 that was a very traumatizing day. September 11, 1973 is the day of the Chilean coup d'etat. This is the day that Pinochet and his army took over the government of Chile and killed Salvador Allende. The day that thousands of people disappeared because they disagreed with Pinochet's government. (http://www.museodelamemoria.cl/)

This is a day that we shall remember what happened to our country and to our people, but it is a day that we also commemorate the pivotal point in our countries and how we changed as people. We know now what needs to be done different so we don't have the same trauma happen twice. We cannot make the past better, but we can benefit our future with our knowledge from our past and from the pasts of our people.

For more information on what happened on September 11 in each country, click the appropriate link above

Si quiere leer en español, empieza aqui:

El 11 de septiembre es un mal día en los EE UU. Mientras nosotros recordamos que pasó en 2001, estamos juntos como país para consolar aquellos con desaparecidos. Cualquier persona que tiene una edad suficiente para comprender que pasó, puede recordar cosas de esta tragedia. Mientras llorábamos, estuvimos en frente de la televisión y mirábamos las noticias del golpe de terror con nuestras familias al lado. En 2001, estaba en el 3° año de la escuela primaria y puedo recordarlo puedo recordarlo como si pasó ayer. Se puede preguntar a cualquier persona que vivía durante el terror y puede decir que pasaba vividamente durante este día. Cada año, paso tiempo para pensar de qué recuerdo. Y es el mismo recuerdo en 12 años. (http://www.911memorial.org)

Pero, este año, he aprendido sobre este día en una manera diferente. En Chile, había un incidente que fue traumático. El 11 de septiembre de 1973 es el día del coup de Chile. Este es cuando el dictador Pinochet y sus armadas forzaron su control sobre el gobierno y mataron Salvador Allende. Este día miles de personas desaparecieron porque no estaban de acuerdo del gobierno de Pinochet. (http://www.museodelamemoria.cl/)

Este es un día que todo el mundo recordará que ha pasado en nuestros paises y ha pasado a nuestra gente. Pero, tambien, es un día que conmemoramos la punta crucial de estos paises y cómo hemos cambiado como país. Ahora, sabemos que es necesario para proteger nuestra gente. No podemos corregir el pasado, pero podemos cambiar el futuro con el conocimiento de nuestro pasado y también del pasado de nuestra gente.

Por más información sobre el 11 de septiembre en cada país, haz click el enlace conveniente

My first time in the Pacific!

Yesterday, September 8, 2013, was one of our first beautiful days here in Chile. The weather was up in the 70s, the sun beating down warming up our bodies. So rather than just wasting the day studying, we decided to go to the beach! Michaela, Dillon, Shivani, Ruby and I all headed down to one of the beaches in Viña del Mar. Ruby and I showed up first and got our area situated in the sand. The sand was soft, and it was just a perfect day. To wait for the others, we decided to sunbathe. After about 30 minutes, Michaela shows up, not in her bathing suit, so she went home to change. We were still sunbathing, enjoying the wonderful weather when Shivani shows up not too long after Michaela leaves. After a little while, Michaela shows up in her bathing suit. Once she arrives to where we are, the four of us decide to strip down to our suits and head for the water! We get up to the water's edge and feel the water, and we all jump back. Who knew the water would be that cold? We decide to brave up and dive head first into the water. After a little while of being in the water, I have to head out to get rid of the brain freeze the water gave me. I walk up to where our stuff is to warm up a little bit and check our phones for Dillon. As I am checking, I notice a missed call, and decide to see where he is at. A few minutes later, we meet up and head back to our spot so he can join us in the water. The water, although was cold, was so beautiful! The sun was shining as bright as can be, and I was with some of the best friends I will ever have. We are playing in the water and our bodies are going numb, but it is worth it for a little fun. After awhile, we head back up to our stuff to warm up and hang out some more. We have chips and drinks, and we are just relaxing in the sand under the sun. As the sun is starting to get closer to sunset, we all decided to call it a wrap and head home for the day. This day will be the first of many, but will definitely be the fondest of memories of the beach.

School schedule

I have been here for about a month and a half now, and I feel like it would be a good idea to tell you about my class schedule. The class schedule is nothing like it would be in the U.S. because classes change meeting times, meeting places, etc. Most of my classes have stuck with a consistent schedule, but my schedule is still a little bit bizarre.

Monday: I don't start classes for the day until 3:40pm, where I start my day with Contemporary Hispano-American Literature. At 5:20pm, my Literature class ends and I go to my next class which is Communication and Culture of Chile. That class ends right around 7pm, where I then wait for the bus and go home.

Tuesday: My day starts at 10:05am for class, where I will start my day off with Chilean Poetry of the 20th Century. At 11:45am, I switch classes to Modern History of Chile. After history ends, I have a break long enough for me to go home and eat lunch with my host family and hang out and do some homework before I have to be back at the University at 5:20pm for my Communication and Culture class. Once Communication and Culture ends, I get to go home for the night.

Wednesday: My least favorite day for classes would have to be Wednesday because the day is just so long. I have class starting at 8:15am with my Contemporary Hispano-American Literature. I am not certain as to why the class meets at a different time on Wednesday from Monday, but it does and there are no other options for it. After that class, I have a bit of a break until my next class. On Wednesdays, I usually stick around the school and get all of my errands done for the day. At 3:40pm, I go to my next class for the day, which is Chile's Insertion to the Global Economy. After that class, at 5:20pm I have my Communication and Culture class once more for the week. At 7pm, I wait for the bus and head back to the house.

Thursday: Thursday is my Friday because I finish early with classes for the week. My day starts at 10:05am for class, where I head to my Chilean Poetry class once more. At 11:45am I go to my History class and finish for the day by 1:15pm where I usually go home for lunch and then hang out with my friends in the early evening and into the night.

My classes all seem very interesting, and I am glad I am taking them. My Contemporary Hispano-American Literature class is probably my favorite. The class has so much life and our professor seems truly passionate about the subject because he gets us to interact with the literature, and challenges our minds with in class questions. For this class, we have to read a book and we have about two weeks to finish it. The books are about 70 pages, so it isn't long, but the language itself is so rigorous because of the vocabulary used makes us use a higher caliber of thinking. My Communication and Culture class is very interesting because it makes us be involved and talk in class, but we also get to learn about the vivid culture we are living in. We get to do projects and read aloud, which really helps with the speaking aspect of the language. My least favorite so far would have to be my poetry class because, even though it has such potential with the object of being able to teach about Pablo Neruda or being able to dive into the words of Gabriela Mistral and Huidobro, we haven't. We have only learned the historical aspect of the poetry during the 20th century. My Chile Insertion to the Global Economy class is pretty interesting. The professor is very old, and knows his subject, but he lectures the entire time for an hour and a half. The Chilean History class is very interesting, and it allows us to interact with the history of Chile, as well as our class mates, because we do a lot of group work in class.

My classes are not too difficult as of right now, but that is subject to change in the near future. 

Four... strikes and you're out?

If there was one thing that I would love to understand, it would have to be the amount of striking in Chile. For those of you that don't know, within the past month that I have been in this country, there have been at least four different groups of people protesting. Four! That is more in one month than I have seen in my entire life in the United States. The protests come in different forms: first is the manifestation that seems to be the most peaceful type. The people protesting go out and dance and sing in public, and express the frustration towards the government in order to get what they want. The second type would be the riots, which thankfully none have happened here in Valpo since I have been here. 

Before I had even arrived to Chile, I knew that this country was very passionate about having a voice in their government. However, I had not realized the extent of the passion. The most known group of people on strike would be the students. Their kind of striking is just not going to classes and some manifestations, which I haven't seen, in an attempt to voice their opinion on free and equal education, and understandable reason to want change. The students had began striking before I had arrived in Chile, so I was not too worried about them so much. The next group of strikers that were noticed were the people striking Ripley, a large department store that is here in Chile. I am not even really sure why they were striking, but the way they were striking was the most bizarre thing to experience. There wasn't any picketing. They were singing and dancing, trying to have a good time while voicing their opinion. I was thoroughly confused because I guess I had never seen anything like it before. It was definitely an interesting sight to see. The next group of people to start picketing were the postal service workers. They have been picketing since about the second week of me being in the country. Now, the postal service has been the most vocal group that I have seen. They stopped going to work, closed the shops, and went out to the streets and started to picket. They have been on strike for almost a month, but went off strike late this week. But once one group stops picketing, the next group decides start picketing. So, the next group that is now picketing is Chile's Registro Civil. This is where everyone goes to get their Chilean IDs, which is important for international students because we need them in order to leave the country. My luck with the picket timing is just horrid because I have been waiting for a package for over a month now, and the day the Registro Civil started striking I tried to go to their office. 

It has been frustrating trying to get things done, but it is understandable that these people want to have a voice in their government (If you do not know the history of Chile, search about the dictatorship of Pinochet starting with September 11, 1973). Since the postal service has stopped picketing, hopefully I will get my package soon, and as far as the Registro Civil, hopefully they will stop picketing soon so I can start planning to go to Argentina in December. 

To order a pizza or not to order a pizza?

Ordering a pizza in the U.S. and the UK is a simple task. But I would have to say that ordering a pizza in Chile is one of the most complicated things ever. 

Last night, Ruby, Otisa and I had a girl's night at Ruby's place because Ruby had never seen Pitch Perfect. It started off with us meeting Otisa at the metro station and us grabbing some wine and snacks at the grocery store, and then heading back to Ruby's so we could order a pizza. We decided to go with a local pizza place that serves "American" style pizza. We wrote up what we were going to say to the pizza guy, and continued with trying to call. We searched for numbers and tried different numbers, but nothing would work. So we went and asked for some help from Ruby's house mates and we finally got it to work! Success. So we called the local pizza company, and I was the one that decided to brave up and order our pizza. They answered, and I nervously started my script. As soon as I started speaking, the guy knew I was not a native speaker. As the conversation went on, I was getting more nervous and my Spanish was only getting worse at this point. The guy on the other end was speaking quite rapidly, as Chileans do, but he was being so patient with me. We were going back and forth for a good while until finally he quite clearly said to me, "ehh Do you speak English?" He said that clear enough through the phone that even Otisa and Ruby heard, and the three of us began laughing quite boisterously. The guy on the other end heard us laughing and began laughing with us, seeming a little bit confused at the time. After calming down a bit, I finally said yes. He confirmed our order in English, and we had the order correct! We ordered our pizza successfully, even though we had a difficult time throughout the process. The guy was so patient with me, allowing me to struggle through my Spanish, and helped me successfully order our pizza. My goal by the end of these five months is to order a pizza without somebody asking me if I speak English half way through our conversation. Needless to say, although slightly embarrassing, it was one of the funniest moments I have encountered on this trip. 

Santiago Day Three

After a wonderful day and night spent in Santiago, we decided to sleep in a little bit more because we were not in a great rush on our last day in Santiago. We were back down to seven because Eric went back home the night before, so the seven of us wandered the streets of Santiago to head to Villa Grimaldi. We started off on the metro, and then took a bus to get to Villa Grimaldi, which is a park that was used as a torture camp during the dictatorship of Pinochet. We showed up, and took a look around of the park, which has nothing more than memorials and post markings about its past. The park is done up to be more people friendly, which helped lighten the mood when reading about the torture camp. That didn't take more than an hour for us to walk around and explore, so we decided to take a bus back towards the center of Santiago. Once we got back to the center, we decided to grab a bite to eat at this food shack that had delicious, authentic Chilean food. It was so cheap and so filling!

After our nice lunch, we headed to a bakery near by to get some cheesecake and empanadas, and headed to Cerro Santa Lucia. At Santa Lucia, we got to see traditional Chilean dancing, and the dancers even went into the crowds and danced with the audience. While watching them dance, some of the performers came and grabbed a few of us from my group to dance with. After we were finished dancing, we headed to the top of the Cerro to see the view of the city. At the top, it was so breathtaking! You could see almost the whole city, on a clear day, the whole city. It was about 5:30, so we decided to head to Cerro San Cristobal to watch the sunset. Little did we know that it was going to take us a little longer to get there, and we missed the sunset from the top of Cerro San Cristobal. However, we did get to see a llama dressed up with a blanket and a hat. After that, we decided to grab a drink before we headed back to the hostel for the night. Otisa and I had pisco sours, and Ruby had a piscola. Once we finished our drinks, we went to the metro where Parker split off from us to head back to Valpo, and we headed back to the hostel. While heading back to the hostel, this is where the night took a turn. We got robbed right outside our hostel, but everything turned out way better than anyone would ever expect. We were shaken up and full of adrenaline, and tried to make the best out of the rest of our night before we headed home the next morning.

The trip overall was a wonderful experience, and I couldn't have picked a lovelier group to travel with. Although there were a couple bumps in the road, we made the best of every moment and had an absolute blast.

Santiago Day Two

Friday morning, August 16, my friends and I grudgingly woke up from the restless night's sleep to get ready for our day. After getting ready, we decided to go see what there cafés there were along the streets of Barrio Brasil. Right across from our grubby little hostel was a delicious little bakery. Since we were all quite ravenous, we decided to make that our choice. So we walk across the street and stumble into the bakery where the smells of different breads and pasteries begin to flood our noses. After a bit of looking around the glass displays, we finally decide what we want. I ordered a "Berlin Grande con crema", which is like this huge spherical pastery filled to the rim of cream and dusted with powdered sugar. Sounds expensive right? Wrong. The pastry was very inexpensive, and absolutely rich in flavor.

After breakfast, we decided to go about our day and head do La Chascona. La Chascona is the beautiful Santiago house of Pablo Neruda, one of three houses Neruda has in Chile (the other two are in Valpo and Isla Negra). We took a tour of the house and got to see things that were in the house originally when he lived there. After the tour of the house, we left and met Michaela so we could explore more of the city. It was right around lunch time, so the eight of us (Michaela, Otisa, Ruby, Eric, Allison, Dillon, Parker) walked to Patio Bellavista. Patio Bellavista is a very gringo area of Santiago. It is this large patio shopping area with some of the most beautiful things one can buy. We stuck around there for awhile, window shopping and getting souvenir ideas, and then we went to our next stop. The next place we went to was the "Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos" The museum is about the history of Chile during the dictatorship of Pinochet, talking about the desaparecidos and the labor camps. It has four levels to the museum of different facts and exhibits. The museum was so interesting and sobering, it was so worthwhile.

We left the museum, and decided to head to the open air market that we were at yesterday to eat some more delicious, traditional Chilean/Peruvian food. We sat there for a little while, and decided to head back to our hostel and enjoy our time together.

(this is the pastry that I had, Berlin Grande con crema)

Santiago Day One

Besides last night's post, I haven't really blogged in a week or so. But that is because there hasn't really been anything worth talking about. In all fairness though, the week before last I was fighting a cold and this past week I was busy with trying to do all of my homework. The funny thing about Americans is that everything we do is always "the best" or "the worst" and there is never really anything in between. But there is so much gray area that really is interesting for being so bland. Which is why, even in the midst of a foreign country, my friends and I decided to take advantage of our long weekend. 

Santiago for a weekend trip was definitely a great trip. I went with a group of friends that I've made here, and going with them was the best idea ever. Our last day of classes for the week was Wednesday, so we all packed up and headed out to Santiago Thursday morning. 

The morning started of very stressful. Since Thursday was a holiday, pretty much everything was closed. I walked down to the ascensor at 7:30 to find out that it was closed. So I began to get a little nervous as I find another way to get down to the metro station to meet Ruby. I walk up to walk down, and down to walk up, but finally I get to the metro station. Yet again, the metro station is closed. Out of all days I that I need it to be opened, today was that day. The metro was closed until 9, but we needed to be in Viña before 9 to get on the bus for Santiago. So at this point, we are a little peeved, but we decided to take a bus. We get on the bus and everything is going alright. The bus stops at one of the last places before heading to Viña when we see one of the people of our group, Eric, and notice he isn't getting on the bus. We begin to yell at him, "Eric, Eric! Get on the bus!" phew. That was close! The bus gets moving, and all systems are go. As time is moving rapidly, our bus driver decides that today would be a good day to not drive crazy. We are checking our watches to see that we have about 15 minutes left until we have to be on the bus, but we aren't that close to the bus station yet. We finally decide to get out and walk the rest of the way. Well, jog the rest of the way. We turn the corner, and we see the bus stop! It's just shy of 9 o'clock, but we made it. We grab our tickets and meet the rest of the group (Dillon, Parker, Otisa, and Allison) outside at the terminal to get on the bus. Loaded up and ready to go, we buckle up in our seats on our double-decker Tur Bus and wait to head out. The clock struck 9, and it is finally time! The seven of us are so excited to get to Santiago that we are too enthused to even try to sleep on the two hour journey inland. 

Seeing the poorer parts of the country, to beautiful landscapes, to the snowcapped Andes, we finally arrive to Santiago. Once at the  bus station, we get off and grab our gear and head to the metro station so we can check into our hostel. The metro of Santiago is just like any other normal metro system around the world, so we find it easy to maneuver to the area closest to our hostel. It's about 11:30 when we arrive to the hostel, knowing that the staff is expecting us at 12. We get to what we hope is the door. At this point we aren't too confident because of the lack of identification that this is even a hostel. We ring the doorbell for 723 Avenida Brasil, which is the address for the hostel, but there is no answer. We wait a few minutes, and ring it again. There is still no answer. We pull up the information for the hostel to make a call, and try calling. We tried calling from four different phones, and there was no answer. After almost 30 minutes have gone by, we decided to ring the doorbell one more time. Finally! Someone answered the door...but it wasn't the hostel staff? These random people staying the hostel answered the door for us and had to go wake up the staff so that we could check in. By the time we get in the door, it's noon. The hostel staff was still asleep at noon! Already quite annoyed at the lack of professionalism, the staff finally saunters down to the desk and tells us that we have to pay up front. What? Now, that is a little unheard of. We all begin to shuffle around our pockets to pull out our money and pay her. After that is all settled, we set our bags down and head out to see the city. 

We began heading towards the Main Cathedral of Santiago, but first we stopped by an open air market for some traditional Chilean/Peruvian food. We socialized and ate different things, and had Inca Kola. Afterwards, we went to the Mercado Central where we walked through to see what they had, taking pictures of every interesting thing we see. Shortly after the market, we walk to la Plaza de Armas and visit the Cathedral of Santiago there. When we showed up, it was right around the time for mass to begin. Fortunately for my friends that stayed to partake in the ceremony, the arch bishop was in town to lead it. After mass, we got ice cream, and watched as some people danced the night away. It was getting to be dinner time, so we decided to head back to the hostel for the night. We went to go find a place to grab dinner, but nothing seemed to be open because of the holiday. Instead, we decided to order a pizza. I never realized how difficult it is to order a pizza until I came here. After going through 3 or 4 different pizza establishments, we finally got a hold of Pizza Hut and ordered 2 delicious cheese pizzas. When we finished, we just enjoyed each other's company until we were too tired to fight it.

Even though the day had started off on the wrong foot, the end made every little struggle worth it. 

I Got Robbed

Cuidado! Don't try this at home, folks. This weekend, from Thursday to Sunday, I spent my time in Santiago. Now, the entire weekend was absolutely amazing... except for one tiny little moment. Unfortunately I tremble as I write this, but that tiny little moment is the reason for my title: I was robbed. Before everyone begins to freak out, let me tell my story of how it happened:

My group of friends and I had just gotten back from a day of exploring Santiago, and were ready to get in our pajamas and relax. We were about to enter our atrocious hostel when Otisa and Michaela notice a man checking me out. This man happened to be an middle-aged man, probably in his mid forties to early fifties. We didn't really think anything of it, because being blatantly checked out in public is the norm here in Chile. However, there was one thing that man wanted- my U.S. cellphone. As the man began to walk by us, he decided to take the opportunity of us not paying attention and take off with my phone. As he began to take my phone, I realized what was happening and began to panic. As the phone was slipping out my pocket, I began to cry out, "My phone!" and started chasing after him down the street. I started to run and run, but my little legs couldn't catch up. Little did I know, I wasn't the only one running. My entire group had begun sprinting after this dirty thief, trying to catch up to him before he got away. I began screaming at him and the innocent bystanders at the top of my lungs, "Stop him, stop him!" but my yelling had worked in a different way. As he started to pull away from me, Dillon caught up to him and got in front of him so he had no way to escape. I showed up shortly after, and did what nobody should ever do in this sort of situation. I ran right up to my thief, screaming and spitting with anger; the fury is foaming out of me. When I arrived in front of him, my brain took over, knowing exactly what to say and how to say it. At this point, Dillon, hissing with anger, had taken a step back, not sure what the man took. This man was mine to handle, but Dillon was close by if anything were to happen. I scream at him, with so many profanities that I will not dare to mention, "Give me back my phone! Give it to me." The man, so shocked, spits back, "What? What do you want? Where is it, huh? Where is it?" At this point, I am too enraged to deal his asinine remarks and just spit back, "My phone. It's in your hand." I spit out more profanities to him, and he hesitantly puts his hand out towards me. I rip my phone out of his hand, and Dillon pulls me away. I spit at him more profanities, this time they are harder to choke out, as Dillon and I walk back to the rest of the group. We first catch up to Ruby, who was screaming at the man at the top of her lungs, and we continue to walk back to the group. We continue walking, and my body begins to tremble as the shock of what just happened is finally catching up to me. By the time we get back to the rest of the group, which now consisted of Michaela, Otisa, Allison and two bystanders of this scene we had created, I was sobbing. I felt violated. In order to take my phone from me, the man had to be close enough to touch me.

When we made it back to the hostel, we all were just in shock of what just happened. We tried to make sense of it, but I still am struggling to wrap my brain around what happened not so long ago. Six gringos sprinting down Avenida Brasil in the dark after a middle-aged man for justice? No wonder that man was so willing to give me back what he had taken. He must have been freaked out. We are a lucky group of kids to not only get back what was taken, but to walk away safely from an opportunist that left the situation probably as scared as we were.  Even though we were proactive, chasing after a thief is not something anybody should ever do. Nobody got physically hurt, but any situation like that is a traumatic experience for all involved. I have a brave group of friends and I am so thankful to have them. Unfortunately, my post doesn't give the story justice. But there is no explanation that is vivid enough to fully capture what the 6 of us went through last night. It is so surreal that this happened just 24 hours prior. And it is unfortunate that we had to experience it, but we have learned that even careful isn't careful enough. From here on, we just need to be more aware of our surroundings, and know that nobody is safe from this sort of problem. We all think that it won't happen to us. But we're so wrong. This experience won't hinder us, but provide us with a better understanding of the culture we have interrupted and help us have a safe, but still wonderful, time.

Assumptions

Assumptions are a dangerous thing to play around with. Whether it ends up being true or not, making assumptions is like playing with fire. I had no idea how prominent they were until I came to Chile. People look at me funny because of my blonde hair and fair skin, and assume that I am just another dumb American. The frustrating thing about this assumption is that everyone that approaches me, or that I talk to that is from Chile, just assumes I don't know Spanish. The sad thing about it is, it has happened to me on multiple occasions. I don't mind people mustering up the courage to say hello to me in English. What I get frustrated with is when I go to a restaurant or the supermarket, the staff talks to me in English.

The first instance I really noticed it was when I was with a group of friends out for a night on the town and a young lady, that worked for a restaurant near by, approached us. At first, she talked to Eric and he said he didn't speak a lot of Spanish. When I heard this, I butted in to help. As soon as I spoke to her in Spanish, she switched to English, trying to explain everything to me like I didn't understand her the first time. I guess it was bad on my part to think that a vertical head nod was the universal sign for 'yes.' After she tried to speak to me in English, I looked at Ruby, who came up and decided to talk to this woman. Ruby quickly responded in Spanish, and the girl looked at her with big eyes saying, "Hablas español?" and Ruby responded with, "Si. todo de este grupo hablan español." The woman looked back at me, surprised how offended I looked that she didn't let me try to speak Spanish.

The second instance that I really noticed was when Ruby and I were in the supermarket buying some things for her new apartment. I went up to a young lady behind a counter with a huge smile and said "Hola. Tienes espejos grandes?" This girl looked at me and then looked at her coworker, and said "You can speak English to her." Which I then explained to them that no, I do in fact speak Spanish.

It isn't that they are trying to make me mad, they are just trying to make things "easier" for me. It is just getting to the point, though, where I want to pretend that I don't speak English, but something less common in Chile, like Swedish or Norwegian. I am here to better my understanding on the Spanish language. I am not here to be mothered by every living human being.

The moral to this story: Don't assume someone doesn't speak your language. Just give them a chance to try.

Friends

Making friends from all over the world has probably been one of my most favorite things about this trip. I have met people as close as Kennesaw, Georgia and North Carolina, to people from Norway. Making new friends in a situation like this is almost refreshing because nothing but the present matter. It takes a certain kind of person to take on an experience like this, and that is what has brought us all together. Even though I have only been here for two weeks, I have already made friendships that will last a life time. It's a swell group of people that we have here in Chile. We are all so weird and fun that we get along so easily without any effort.

Since friends are so important to me, I want to tell you a bit about some of the friends that are/have been posted about in my blog:

Ruby: I met Ruby because we have a couple of classes together. I met her on Monday night in my Chilean Communications class because we sat right next to one another. Ruby is a Scottish girl with an English accent who dresses classy, and has a rocking personality. From the moment we began talking, we instantly clicked as friends. And now, we do almost everything together. Just this weekend, I went to a party with her, helped her move, and have laughed so hard that my sides hurt. She's a wise gal; wise beyond our age and has been great fun.

Otisa: I met Otisa last weekend when I went to Viña for the first time with a bunch of people I already knew. Once we arrived to Viña, we went to a restaurant, where I ended up sitting right next to her. We talked about a lot of interesting things, and entertained the waiter to the point of where he was laughing at us. Otisa is from the good ole' state of Kentucky and is one of the funniest people I have met. The three of us, Ruby, Otis and I, are a dangerous trio. We all get along so well and already know each other so well because we are all so much alike. Otisa will tell you like it is, ain't no shame. She is wise and courageous like Aslan from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," and I cannot wait to see what these next few months brings this powerful trio of ours.

Kira, Shivani, and Michaela: The three of these girls are so intelligent and quirky that it works. We have a lot of fun exploring the city together. I met these girls the first day of orientation because they were in group 13 with me. These girls are go-getters, and will definitely be very successful here. They are so funny and so fun to be with.

And then there are the guys: Marco, Jamie, Niall are three of the most interesting people you will meet. Marco is from Norway, and is just the sweetest, most gentlemanly guy you will ever meet. He is such a genuinely good guy, which is a unique feature to have in today's society. Jamie is from Scotland and is just so interesting and weird like the rest of us. Niall is from Ireland and is just this stand up guy. He has a great sense of humor, and is just this silly ball of human. I haven't hung out with them too much, but from what I have encountered, we will become great friends.

I am so relieved to have such a close community already and it is only week number two. I did leave out a lot of people that are in this extranjero community, but these are the few that I hang out with quite frequently. I cannot wait to get to know them more than I already have, and am so excited to see what next is for us in this great big adventure of studying abroad.

Week Two

Wow, it is so hard to think that I have already been in Chile for two weeks! I have already done so much, but I still have so much more to see. This week, being our first full week of classes, has been so hectic. But every single minute of this crazy week has been worth the experience.

Monday, being my first day of class, was interesting because both classes were cancelled. I had to wake up early and go to the university to confirm my schedule, but I didn't have any classes until 3:40pm. So after confirming my schedule, I went back home. I received an email saying my 3:40 class was cancelled. Sweet, so I still had some time until my second class, which started at 5:20pm. 4:30pm rolls around, and I decided to head to Casa Central a little early. I show up to class and sit next to this girl I had never met before, and we began talking until class started. We are waiting anxiously for class to begin, when suddenly, Jorge walks in and explains to us that our class has been cancelled for the day. So, about ten minutes into class time, we all head home.

Tuesday was definitely an interesting day. I woke up and headed to school by bus, hopped on the wrong bus. I got to explore the city with my friends, eat lunch with my family, and spent the evening in the city with my friends Ruby and Otisa.

Wednesday was such a long day. Classes began at 8:00am, and ended at 7:00pm. I ate lunch at school, and went home and basically went right to bed.

Thursday was so much fun! I only had one class in the morning, and then my weekend began. I spent the rest of the day at home relaxing and organizing my information for school, and in the evening, I got to enjoy Valpo's vivid night life with my dear friends that I have made here.

Friday was spent exploring Viña de Mar in the afternoon and helping Ruby and Jamie move into their new place in the evening, followed by a delicious dinner at el Pimenton.

The week has come to a wonderful close. It is exciting and sad to know that I have 18 weeks left to explore and I know that this is the greatest experience of my life.

Location, Location, Location

Knowing where you are, or how to get where you need to go, is very important. If you don't know directly, you can always look at a map. And if you don't have a map? Well, there is always the option of talking to strangers and asking for directions...I guess.

I am not really the person that knows directions very well, which often times can cause problems. Today, I was heading to Casa Central to begin my classes for the day. I left the house a little before 9:30am to wait for the bus so I could get to school a little bit earlier. The bus that I ride, or the 'micro' as they call it here, goes in front of my house. They pass by it, drop off some more people, turn around, and then come back. Every single day that I have been here, I have ridden bus number "607." As I was standing there this morning, I watched bus number "607" pass by me to turn around. So, I started to get ready for the bus to come back. I hear the bus coming, so I stick out my hand so the driver will know to stop for me. He stops, and then I get on. I pay the driver $300 (CLP) and head to my seat. No big deal, right? Wrong. What I hadn't noticed about the bus was that it had actually read "612" instead of my bus, "607." I didn't figure out I was on the wrong bus until I realized we were going a different way than usual. I keep cool and stay calm so I can figure out a plan. So I am thinking and thinking, and the bus keeps heading down the road. We finally come to the bottom of the hill. By this time, it is now 9:45. I have class in fifteen minutes. So I need to think of something quick. I don't really recognize where I am, but I notice that we are not heading anywhere close to the direction of Casa Central. So I get off the bus at the next stop, and pull out my map. I look at the street signs to see where I am: "Avenida Francia" intersecting with "Avenida Colon." So I find where I am on the map and start walking as fast as I can to the school. If people weren't looking at me like a stranger before, they definitely were now. This little gringa, basically jogging down the road with a backpack on that is the size of her body? Weird. At this point, I am not paying attention to the people around me, I am just trying to figure out my way through this unfamiliar part of town. Alas! I finally come to an area that I recognize! I just happen to be about four blocks away from where I need to be. I check the time and I see that it is 9:50. I start to walk just a little bit faster when I get to the home stretch, and I am a hop, skip, and a jump away from the front door. But seriously, I was about that close. I make it into the building and into my classroom with just two minutes to spare. Father Time was not in any rush this morning, which I greatly appreciate.

The moral of this story is: If you don't have a keen sense of direction, always carry a map!

Cute Anecdote is Cute

This post is really just an anecdote based on something that happened today.

This morning, after figuring out my schedule for school, Kira, Michaela, Shivani, and I decided to explore a little more of the Valparaíso that we had not yet seen. As we were walking around, admiring graffiti while trying to figure out where we were with our handy dandy map, a small group of high school students were walking towards us. As they were getting closer, they knew automatically that we were not Chilean natives based on the facts that we looked different, we were speaking English, and we were staring at a map quite quizzically. As the students walked closer, one of the guys had mustered up the courage to stop for a second and speak to us in English. As the guy got closer, he stopped and looked at me dead on and stuttered out the word, "Hi." As the friendly human being that I am, I gave him a big smile with lit up eyes, and responded with a "Hey." As he and his friends began to walk towards wherever they were headed, his friends mocked him for getting the American salutation "incorrect" by saying, "Ohhh it isn't 'hi,' it's 'hey,' stupid!" As they said it, the group, including the courageous boy, began to laugh, but looked back at us for some sort of acknowledgement. In return, we reassured the kid that both salutations are fine. As we began to walk away, the group laughed and told us goodbye in English, yet again, as if talking to American tourists was some sort of comedic pass time. As we continued to walk away, the four of us kind of talked about it and laughed it off. No matter what it meant to those kids, it was adorable to see someone attempt to converse with us 'gringas' in our own language.

Week One

Well folks, I did it! I have made it through week one. This post is really mostly a review of what has happened already, and a big thank you to all of the people that are supporting me through this journey.  Existing doesn't sound too hard since I have been doing it for twenty years. However, existing in a new environment is difficult. It wasn't too hard, but it has definitely been an adjustment. Going to a place that is foreign to me is fun, but having the courage to leave everything I love behind has definitely been a challenge for me. I will continuously be challenged every day for the next few months and there will be times when I will struggle tremendously. It has definitely been a lot more difficult than I have seemed to publicly express, but thanks to all of you wonderful people, I have the courage to continue what I do from day to day.

The week started out really awkward because I wasn't sure how to react to not being in my own home and in my comfort zone. But after the first day or two, it was a lot easier. It got much easier especially after talking to both my host family and my real family. Both families have helped me tremendously so far. Going to a new place, no matter where you go, there is a lot of adjusting to new traditions. As a small town girl, one of the things I had to really get used to is riding public transportation. Before this week, I had never ridden a public bus, besides a school bus of course, by myself. It was a new experience trying to get used to people being uncomfortably close, and knowing where the buses actually stop. Believe me, figuring out the bus system in a foreign country is harder than it sounds. Although it isn't the most ideal way of transportation, I would rather take public transportation than walk or try to drive a car on these busy streets. Before this week, I had also never ridden in a taxi. Thanks to my friends Kira, Shivanni, and Michaela, I now know that a taxi is a better choice to take with friends than it is to take alone. Through public transportation, I have also figured out that I would rather take the bus every day 3 times a day than a taxi because taking a taxi is still more expensive than the bus.

Another thing that I have had to get used to while here in Chile is that 60°F does not always feel like 60°F in Georgia weather. I figured that out the hard way when I arrived in Valpo, and shivered for two days straight because I was not prepared for winter. Along with it being winter here, I also didn't know that not every house has central heating and the only way to cure your winter shivers is more blankets and layers of clothing. As strange as it sounds to me, not having a central heating system is actually a thing in more than one country around the world.

Something I don't think that I will ever get used to is how openly open people are here with their Public Display of Affection. I cannot even count how many times that I have just been riding the bus or walking around town and see people displaying their love for one another in front of me. I mean, we have PDA in the U.S., but it is nothing like it is here.

Having blonde hair and fair skin in a country where blonde is very rare is very difficult. I stand out everywhere I go, and that is very unusual for me. Everywhere I walk or ride, I get the most intense stares. It will definitely take some time to get used to.

Although there has been a lot of acclimating, I have also learned that no matter what time of day it is, Valpo is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people. My family is just fantastic. They have helped me out this week more than they probably know. It's safe to say that I think my seventeen-year-old host sister is more mature than I am, for more than one reason, but mainly because when it comes to figuring out directions on a map, I am a child. My family has explained to me where to go and drawn me maps so I don't get lost when I am walking around the city by myself. Another beautiful person is my dear Chilean friend, Israel. I got to see Valpo through his eyes, and thanks to him, I can recognize where I am. Well, not completely recognize where I am, just on Cerro Alegre.

There is still so much more to see, and only five months to see it all. This experience has already taught me that I have a lot of growing up to do as a twenty-year-old, and with this blog, you all will get to watch me grow.

Orientation

It all started on the 23 of July, where we, as in all of the incoming international students, first came together at Isabel Brown Caces (IBC) on Avenida Brasil at 9:00am. When my host father and I first arrived to IBC, everything was confusing, and I did not recognize any of the exchange students. After standing there with a dazed look on my face for many minutes, I finally caught on that I was supposed to stand in line and check in for orientation. I stood in line for a couple of minutes and got my name tag, then went to another room to get some information from my group leader, or as they call them at PUCV- monitors, Felipe Pino. We got a package of information telling us about our school ID information, and an agenda. After that, orientation had begun...

Day one of orientation went about like this: After we met our monitor, we got in our groups and talked while we waited for everyone to get to IBC. In my group there are eight people, four girls and four guys: Shivanni-a girl from UT, Michaela- a girl from Loyola in New Orleans, Kyra from Alaska, Jake from Colorado, Travis from North Carolina, Stephan from Connecticut, Jonathan from Kennesaw, and me. After everyone had arrived, all 200+ international students went into the auditorium and had a welcome session. There are people from 28 different countries studying at PUCV this semester, anywhere from China, to right near by Chile in Colombia. After the welcome session, we went to a big room where we sat with our groups and filled out some contact information. After that, we talked a little, and went up to the cafeteria and had a little snack break. After we got to ingest some delicious snacks and drinks, we went back to the big room and took the written portion of our placement exam. The exam was pretty intimidating after a summer of not really practicing any of my Spanish. We were given the whole hour between noon and 1:00pm, and I used most of the time given to me. When I was finished, I walked out pretty confident. We were given from 1:00pm until 3:00pm to go back to our host homes to grab some lunch, and I definitely took advantage of that break. Once I finished the exam, I waited for my sister, Rosio, to take me to get a Chilean phone at the Ripley mall here in Valpo. It's a nice mall, and it's different from the malls in the U.S.. In the mall, we successfully purchased me a Chilean cellphone that is very basic. It ended up only costing about 20 USD (The current exchange rate between USD to Chilean pesos (CLP) is 1USD=500CLP). After that, Rosio and I took the bus home to have a delicious lunch that my host mom made. At around 2:30pm, my host mom and I took the bus to PUCV's main building, Casa Central, which took nearly no time at all. From 3 until about 5:30, we took a tour of Casa Central, and had to attend a bunch of information sessions. Once it was 5:30, we were finished. My host mom came back to Casa Central to pick me up, and went home.

Day two of orientation went like this: I rode the bus by myself to Casa Central, like the mature adult that I am, at 10:00am. Once I got there, and talked to my monitor, I went with a group of students to the police station in order to register my student visa with the city of Valpo. On the way to the station, which was just two blocks away from the university, I was whistled at twice, and the French girl to my right was grabbed at. Once we arrived at the police station, we had to wait in line. So, we waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, I got to in there, and the policeman was very nice, and quoted the walking dead to me. It was an interesting experience to say the least. After I was finished registering my visa, I briskly walked back to the Casa Central so nobody would try to get my attention. Once I returned to Casa Central, my group was free until 3:00pm. At 3:00pm, when we returned, we had to take the oral portion of our placement exam. The oral portion was really just to see if we could communicate. The oral portion was an individual interview with an interviewer. My interviewer, Marcos Avilez, is the head of the whole International Relations portion of the university. He asked questions about where we were staying in Valpo and what our family is like, as well as questions about our home country/region. He also asked questions about why we were learning Spanish, and he seemed very impressed with both my Spanish and career choice. After our interview, we went to the "Salon de Honor" in order to get an idea of which classes we want to take, so that we can register for them on Friday.

After I studied the multiple lists and discussed my options with a few other international students, I have a general idea of what I want to take, and I will be able to narrow the list down to register for my classes. Once Friday comes and goes, classes will begin on Monday, July 29th, which means orientation will have been a success!

(Above is a picture of my name tag, the 13 represents my group number at orientation)

Finally in Chile!

After so much time of waiting, the anticipation is finally over. I am finally in Chile! The plane was nothing really to talk about, other than the fact that it was long. Once I landed in the airport in Santiago, the whole situation became confusing. My last step off the plane was my last time speaking mostly English. I had to run all about the place to try to figure out what I needed to do. After getting through customs and immigration, I had to wait for the rest of the international students in my program that were attending PUCV. We were at the airport until 2pm. We traveled from Santiago to Valparaíso, which only took about an hour. The people in my program are nice, and are from all over the world/U.S. The scenery here is absolutely lovely, but the temperature is very cold. I am the only exchange student living directly in Valparaíso. The other students I have met, are living in Viña del Mar. My host family is so nice and my host mom has made some delicious food.

Getting a Visa

If you are a world traveler, you know that not every trip you take contains getting a visa. If you are in a country for 30 days or less, a visa application is not necessary. However, most countries require one if you plan on staying for longer than that. In order for me to continuously live in Chile for 5 months, I have to get a visa, but it has not been the easiest process to go through. Seriously though, it has been one of the most stressful situations I have been in. I have been trying to apply for a visa since I found out I was going to study abroad, so since about April. It started off with research of how I go about applying. The next step was the preparation. I had to get an FBI background check, go get a health checkup, and I had to jump through a bunch of other hoops. Once that was all finished, I sent off the application through express mail with a feeling of relief. That relief came to a halt the next day when the Consulate of Chile called me telling me some of my documents were insufficient. I had to get the university in Valparaiso send me my official acceptance letter via email and redo the money order that they poorly explained so I could overnight the updated documents to the Consulate. I felt a little bit relieved as I sent the updated documents off, but I was still uneasy.

The consulate received my documents, and began making a decision on my application. This process, for students in my region, takes about 2 weeks. I waited and waited for about 2 weeks to let them make a decision and get in touch with me, but I had not received any sort of notion that they had made a decision on my application. So I emailed them and had to get them to send my documents from Miami to the “honorary consulate” in Atlanta. I was finally approved for a visa, and am all set to go. However, it took the main office of the consulate such a long time to get my documents from Miami to Atlanta, and that was with overnight shipping! The whole situation was an utter mess. But now here I am, five days before my trip, finally ready to go to Chile.

My advice for anyone that needs to get a visa: keep on top of the consulate and pester them until they get things done.

Introduction

Hola y bienvenidos a mi blog. This blog will share with you my experiences during study abroad. Each post will be a vivid account of what I will be seeing with my own two eyes. I apologize in advance because this blog will be bilingual. It won't be for every post, but as the semester goes on, there will be more Spanish. I will be posting videos, pictures, and different anecdotes to record my experiences while in Chile. If you enjoy this blog, please follow me and share with your friends!

First of all, I would like to share a little bit about myself by answering a few basic questions: Who? What? Why? and How?

Who: Who am I? My name is Katie Johnson, and I am currently an academic junior at the newly consolidated University of North Georgia. I hope to one day work with translation, or teach English in other countries. But before I start the occupational world, I might look into joining the Peace Corps. I am 20 years old and was born and raised in Jupiter, Florida, and currently reside in a small town called Dahlonega. Now the rest of that story as to how I got here isn't very relevant as to why I am here posting on this blog.

What: What am I doing, and what is my purpose? I am doing a study abroad trip through the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) at my university to Pontificía Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV) in Valparaiso, Chile. I was chosen by the people of ISEP, whomever those wonderful people are, to go to PUCV. Basically, what I did pick a few schools that I was interested in attending, and wrote them down on a piece of paper, and the people of ISEP thought PUCV was my best fit.

Why: Why am I here, and why am I doing this? First of all, I am here going through this process by the grace of God. I would not be where I am today without my faith in him. My reason for study abroad is very logical. I am studying to get a degree in Modern Languages with an emphasis in Spanish/French. But rather than going to Spain like most people do, I felt like being different and going to Chile. I hope to one day make a difference by breaking that language barrier by a little bit, and why not start off with learning a little bit about the culture? Culture is not something you can actively learn in a classroom; you must experience it by use of your senses. Therefore, I must embrace the new that's coming, and let those experiences mold me into a better person not only for my future occupation, but to better our future generations.

How: How am I feeling? To be completely honest, I am extremely nervous about this whole experience and how this is going to pan out. It's a big deal for a 20 year old female to have to put on her big girl panties and travel about the world without her mommy and daddy holding her hand along the way. This trip is the real deal. I am also really excited for this experience. It's something that not everyone gets to do, and I feel so humbled that I get this opportunity to grow my world views through personal experiences, not just lectures or stories in a book. A chance like this does not show up very often, so I am taking it head on with no regrets.

I will be updating my blog with different posts hopefully daily. If not daily, it will be as much as possible. After all, I will be continuing my education and will need to make time for studying. The main posts won't be until I actually leave in July, but I will be posting about my experiences throughout this entire process. So come along with me for this adventure!