Week 7 in Chile

This week was my last week of work and so the last week of my second chapter in Chile. First chapter was Ecela and second chapter was my internship. Third chapter commences next Monday and it's my study abroad program! Hope you enjoy reading about this week.

Monday, July 15, 2013

-Work all day; finished one powerpoint and started editing another one; I have to give my presentation in Spanish with lots of confidence on Friday, so this week will be about preparing for that and wrapping up my time at work
-Other than that my Monday was very uneventful, I tried to meet up with some people but fell asleep before I was supposed to meet them; I'm clearly not cut out for these late Santiago nights

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

-Day off of work for a religious holiday called Virgen del Carmen, or Our Lady of Mount Carmel in English
-For the day off, I caught up on a lot of sleep and slept in pretty late, but since it was such a beautiful day I couldn't let it go to waste, so Keku and I took a walk around Parque Aruaco; it was super crowded and full of energetic children, parents, and families enjoying a beautiful day off from work and school; there was even a carnival set up in the playground complete with bounce houses and train rides around the park; picnic lunches were abundant as were people biking and jogging and just in general enjoying the lovely day
-After that, we came back home and spent the rest of the afternoon on the lovely porch at the apartment; what a great way to spend an unseasonably warm day off of work; if I had known before Sunday night that I had today off, I would have planned a bike tour around the city or to go trekking or something like that; all things I will be doing during my time here in Santiago, especially as things start to warm up in a few weeks

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

-Work all day, except I spent the majority of the day running around trying to get all the paperwork I need to smoothly finish my job on Friday; so first I had to chat with HR about what exactly I needed to get in order to have a smooth final transition, and then I had to go to a notary down the street to get some stuff notarized for HR so that I could have that final transition, but of course, I forgot my passport, so I had to run home and get it and then go back and wait in line again... It seems like bringing my passport with me will never become second nature. I really need to work on that
-After work, I went grocery shopping at the local supermarket up the street and bought some fresh produce as well as a bunch of fixings to make a nice bolognese pasta sauce, and then I went home and began cooking it; Keku helped me a little bit, but the important thing is that I am learning and hopefully won't starve when I live off campus with my friends starting in January
-Then Keku and I sat outside on the porch and chatted for a while because it was a beautiful night after an unseasonably warm day. I am going to miss living with her and Ximena, but I assume that I will still be able to see them as I will be in Santiago for 5 more months

Thursday, July 18, 2013

-Second to last day of work today; it's crazy how time has flown bye; I've been in Chile now for a little over 7 weeks; today I finished up the majority of my work and planned out what I want to say (in spanish) for the presentation that I will hopefully be giving tomorrow; if I don't give it tomorrow, I will have to find a time next week that works for everyone so that I can present it
-Came home and cooked myself some dinner and then some of Keku's friends came over to visit; One of her friends just so happens to be cousins with my boss! Santiago is such a small world sometimes!

Friday, July 19, 2013

-Last day of work!! Where did the time go? I spent the whole day just finishing up everything I needed to in order to finish my job. I had to fill out some paperwork, return my computer and my badge and everything. Work isn't completely over yet because I still need to present everything and have a final meeting with my boss and some other people, so they told me to email them when I know my schedule for this upcoming week and then we will schedule something.
-Also had a nice lunch with the few people that I've gotten to know over my month at work. We went to TGI Fridays, which I thought was super fun, but they all really wanted to go there. I also finally was able to contribute to a conversation and understand everything that was going on, which is really hard with a group of 5 fast talking Chileans, so I was super happy about that! All in all, I learned a lot from this work experience because it was challenging, interesting, and really helped me feel more comfortable with Spanish. I learned so many business terms in English and in Spanish as well.
-After work, I came home and had some dinner and then I met my friends Valentina, Clare and Lars at La Piojera (super Chilean bar with terremotos) to celebrate my last day of work and just hang out; at the bar, we met some guys from Southern Chile and we talked to them for a while about the country, especially about the south and Patagonia, which is somewhere that I really want to go; after exhausting our fun at La Piojera, we headed to our favorite bar/club for a fun night of dancing, and then we all eventually made it safely back to our respective homes

Saturday, July 20, 2013

-Because I was out late the night before, I didn't really do much except for lie in my bed all day and Skype James and watch Friends; I eventually got my act together and went over to the mall to get a pedicure, which was really nice and relaxing
-After that, I headed over to my friend Kris's apartment where we made dinner (beef lo mein) and just hung out and talked for hours and hours; he's a really cool guy and I'm really glad that we've been able to become pretty good friends; it's been really nice having someone who's always been able to help me out especially when things were really complicated a few weeks ago

Sunday, July 21, 2013

-I slept in really late today again because I was at Kris's house really late the night before, so I seriously needed to catch up on sleep after two late nights; I eventually did get my act together, made some lunch, Skyped James, and then met up with Kris to go to Los Dominicos Artisans Village, which is a beautiful outdoor handicraft village at the end of the red line; they sell so many cool things there such as pottery, jewelry, leather work, clothes, shoes, plates and china, touristy trinkets, wooden stuff, and birds; and all of it is beautifully hand crafted and most of it is made on site; I bought some beautiful earrings made out of lapislazuli which is a Chilean stone that can only be found here and in Afghanistan; it's a beautiful blue color with some white swirls mixed in
-After the artisans market, we were both really hungry and craving some American food so we headed over to Parque Arauco, the big mall by my house that has a lot of American restaurants and stores, and then we decided to go to PF Changs for some good ol' American Chinese food; after dinner we did a little shopping and then Kris came back to see where I live and meet Ximena
-After he left, I started packing up all my things because tonight is my last night with Ximena because tomorrow my study abroad program finally starts!

And that's the end of chapter 2 of my Chilean adventures. Until next time.

Besos,
Lesley