Week One in Chile

I have decided to update my blog weekly, every Sunday. Each blog entry will detail what I did that wek and tell some funny stories of what I am learning and doing here. It will include lots of Spanish and some pictures as well. I hope you enjoy!

Besos,

Lesley

6/5/13

Today I arrived in Chile after a long flight from Cleveland. I flew Cleveland to Miami and then had a 3 hour layover and then flew Miami to Santiago, Chile. In total, travel took about 14 hours. After successfully navigated immigration and customs, I was in Santiago! I was picked up from the airport by a driver who took me to Larry and Amanda's house out in Lo Barnechea. Lo Barnechea is a suburb of Santiago that is higher up in the mountains with beautiful views, especially because it is above the smog.

View from Lo Barnechea

Upon my arrival at Larry and Amanda's house, I was greeted by two of their kids, Cadel (4) and Lucas (2) as well as their two Peruvian "nanas", Lily and Elizabeth. Nanas are like housekeepers and nannies and are very common in Chile. Later in the day, Amanda, my host mom for the time being, returned, and I finally got to meet her after exchanging so many emails. Next we went to pick up her oldest daughter, Abby (5), from the Chilean montessori school in the neighborhood. We went to the grocery store and then back home for some dinner and settling in. 

The three little kis speak great spanish, and are basically fluent in spanish. But since they are so young, I don't think the know yet how lucky they are to be being raised bilingual. The 2 year old seems to know more spanish than he does english.

6/6/13

Today was my first day at my internship in Chile. It was interesting. Chileans great each other with a "beso" (kiss) on the cheek, which was awkward for me. Americans have a very different idea of personal space than people in other countries do. Although some people gave me handshakes, which was a lot more normal for me.  I was introduced around the office and finally got to meet Larry, my host dad for the time being and my boss, as well as Ricardo. I am really excited to start work there!

After meeting a lot of people, I met with Jonathan, the HR guy that I have been talking to about my internship for the past couple months.  He took me to run some errands and get some papers that I need for my internship. He's really cool and speaks really great english, so the entire time we were walking around the  He took me to the Chilean IRS thing to get my RUT card which is like my numer here I guess. I don't get what it does but it's very important. We walked around Providencia, which is the business downtown area of Santiago, which is different from the actual downtown area which is the historic center of the city.  Whereas my internship is located in Los Condes.  Santiago is a lot more modern than I expected it to be. Very integrated public transportation system and lots of tall modern buildings.  Of course, there are still a lot of dingy apartment buildings and stuff that looks straight out of the 70s.  Even so, I was pleasantly surprised to see how developed it is here. Chile is considered to be the most developed country in Latin America.

After that adventure, I  I met with this other woman in HR named Javiara. She had me fill out these forms for my work permit, but she didn't speak any English. So that was difficult but I got it done. She then took me shopping to get a blow dryer at this very nice mall near my work.  She was such a nice person and such a help that day.  After she dropped be back off near work, I had a small mental breakdown because I didn't have anyones number to contact them about how I was getting home and I didn't know how to take the bus. So I called my dad crying in the middle of the sidewalk and was like "I can't speak spanish!!! and I'm lost!!!" #sillyamerican My dad emailed Larry to tell him to call me, and so he did. He picked me up from work and then we went back home for dinner. 

For my internship, I will be doing 2 weeks of language immersion at the Ecela school where Amanda goes. Then 3 weeks on a team that is all in spanish, so I need to be super fluent. Then 1 week on a project proposal team. Then orientation and school start for my CIEE program! Hopefully I can keep working at my internship during school, but who knows.

6/7/13

Today Amanda took me to Providencia to register for classes at the Ecela school where she takes spanish immersion classes. She drove me along the bus route, so that I would know how to get there come Monday morning when my classes start. At the school, they had me take a placement test to see what level I would be placed into.  The guy administering the test said I placed to a high level, so I am happy about that because it means I didn't forgot all of my spanish training from Tufts.  I had a really nice being at the school and was able to meet a lot of my future classmates who are all foreigners around my age.  I met some Americans, an Austrian and a Brazilian girl. I am really excited and really looking forward to making friends!

Later in the day we went to the Entel store to get my phone take care of. Entel is the biggest cell phone provider in Chile. Cell phones are relatively new here and were largely introduced by current president Sebastian Piñera, who I think owns the company. I first tried to buy a sim card for my iPhone, but that didn't work so I had to resort to a pay as you go Chilean phone. It crappy, but it works and that is what matters.

Friday night, I met up with one of my boyfriend's best friends from high school, Kris, who is also in Santiago for the summer. We met up in El Golf area and walked around until we found a bar where we could watch the Chilean soccer game. Soccer, or should I say futbol, is huge in Chile, and so we wanted to watch the game with some Chilenos to get the full experience. It was a fun time! Chile beat Paraguay, so everyone was really happy. I learned the Chile cheer which is "Chi-Chi-Chi Le-Le-Le! Viva Chile!" After the game ended, we wandered back to his place in Ñuñoa, which is a trendy neighborhood in Santiago.  I met one of his roommates, Maura. Kris lives with two Chilean girls who are also sisters. I talked to Maura for a while and she helped me with some spanish grammar issues that I was having and was in general very sweet. She said that I had an impressive vocabulary, but sound like a "gringo" or foreigner when I speak. So I will have to work on that. I decided to crash on their couch instead of going back to Lo Barnechea because it was late and it was far. It wouldn't have been safe for me to take the bus home and a cab would have cost like $50. So I let Amanda know the plan and stayed the night.

6/8/13

In the morning, we woke up and Kris made me a nice breakfast. He was pulling out all the stops to be nice to his friends girlfriend. But whatever, I appreciated his nice breakfast anyway.  After we talked to my boyfriend, James, on Facebook for a bit to catch up with him and since it was really random and funny that Kris and I were hanging out. Kris walked me to the bus stop and I eventually made my way back to Lo Barnechea. I had to take two buses and make a transfer, and then a shuttle to their house, but I did it! I'm like a regular Chilean city girl. I spent the rest of the day hanging out with the kids at home and Skyping my family back in the States. Always good to catch up with them and let them know that I am safe and doing well.

View of Santiago from Kris' apartment

Here is a tidbit of important Chilean slang that I definitely always need to remember. In Chile, the term for boyfriend is "pololo" not "novio" like in most other spanish speaking countries. Always gotta remember that haha. "Tengo pololo" = I have a boyfriend.

6/9/13

Today is just a lazy Sunday. Larry and the kids are out taking Amanda to the airport because she is going to Peru for the week to stay with a family and practice her spanish. The Ecela school set it up for her.  I hope to go to the gym later today and to go run some errands. I need to go get some groceries, recharge my Chilean phone, buy some notebooks and supplies for school tomorrow  and to go to the ATM. Unfortunately, I don't know how to call the shuttle for the neighborhood because it is very difficult to call Chilean numbers because there are lots of different combinations of numbers that have to go before the actual number. So I will just wait until Larry and the kids get back so they can help me.

That's all for now! So until next Sunday, adios!