Week 17 in Chile

Another fun week in Chile! I included some observations at the bottom, but they aren't all that organized. I'll write a better blog post with some more concrete thoughts and observations about Chile and Chilean culture in a few weeks. For now, enjoy my day to day life updates of mi vida chilena!

Monday, September 23, 2013

-Woke up early to go to the extranjeria and international police to get my visa (finally!) and to register it; really long process... like everything in Chile; met really nice Peruvian man in line who helped me along with the process and chatted with me for a while; always practicing my spanish nowadays! I'm getting a lot better which is making me really happy!
-Went home and had a great lunch with Nora and we talked for a while about her husband and family and about my relationship and life in general.. all in spanish! I was so happy about that because I could express myself and my ideas in Spanish. Finally!
-Had my CIEE Derechos Humanos class for the first time in two weeks and the first class after the holiday week, so it was great to see all my friends and hear about all the fun things that they had been doing during Fiestas Patrias; after class I went and grabbed sushi with some friends to catch up some more; Met up later in the night in Plaza Nunoa with some other friends to catch up some more; Kind of felt like coming back from spring break or something in the US and catching up with all those friends

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

-Class all day at San Joaquin; classic Tuesday in Santiago
-Chilling with Cecile and Arlette, my new Chilena friends; relationship talks (common theme of my life); all girls my age feel the same way and are going through similar crap with trying to figure out who they are and where significant others can fit into their lives and who is a good partner and stuff like that; basically girls and boys are the same no matter what country you live in or what language you speak and we are all struggling trying to figure out who we are and how our lives should be, etc.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

-Class all day and then phone shopping at the mall cause my friends phone got stolen last week, but she's super lucky cause she had her iPhone, passport and a lot of money on her and all that was stolen was her crappy Chilean phone; fortunately I haven't had anything stolen from me except for that time I lost my coat and my scarf (knock on wood)
-Later met up at Bar California with some friends; gringo bar and free drinks on Wednesday and then met up with my new friends form Pichilemu at Miercoles Po

Thursday, September 26, 2013

-Class all day and kind of just spent the day relaxing and catching up some work and sleep and other things
-Happy 18th Birthday shout out to my sister Haley!

Friday, September 27, 2013

-Met up with a friend at Costanera Center for a sorely needed mani/pedi and some retail therapy and some sushi; later that night I met up with a Chilean friend to go to out to dinner and to a jazz club; super nice night practicing my Spanish and learning some interesting things about various different barrios of Santiago and what it was like growing up there

Saturday, September 28, 2013

-Met up with some friends to do some homework at Starbucks and then went to my soccer game and we lost :(

Sunday, September 29, 2013

-Working on homework all day; it's midterm season so I have a lot of stuff due soon and I also have another CIEE trip next week, so I need to get a lot of stuff done before the trip
-Nora's friends Tom and Pati came over for lunch and Tom taught me how to make pebre, so I can bring it back to the USA and show my friends and family one of my favorite condiments in Chile

Some observations about Chile per my mother's request:
-Chileans love a lot of weird things like mayonnaise, sushi, cream cheese, avocados (palta), hot dogs, straws, salt on everything, instant coffee, not eating dinner, staying out until 5am, excessive national holidays, thinking things are incredibly spicy when they are super mild, and thinking that the winter here is cold even though its like 40 degrees at the coldest.
-Chile is a very classist country. You can judge someone based on where they live in Santiago and the color of their skin. You'll almost always know whether or not they are a cuico/a (wealthy person) or flaite (gangster person) by these two things. Within the class system here, the politics are very divided. Wealthy people love Pinochet for his economic policies and how he helped the economy while the poorer people don't like him because he and his regime committed most of their crimes against humanity against this group of people.
-People do everything slowly, except for talking. They walk slow; lines are slow; customer service is slow. In the beginning all the slowness and the lateness really bugged me, but now that I am more used to it I appreciate it more. Chileans just have a different way of doing things and they seem to enjoy things more because they are taking it slow, whereas Americans are simply rushing through life most of the time. Although sometimes, I think the slowness here has a negative impact on the country's development, but I only really think that when I am frustrated with slow lines at government offices and such.
-Soccer is a big deal and no one cares about American sports. This is a very obvious observation.
-Those little fake flip flop things at pedicures cost extra and aren't included. Getting your hair washed and then cut costs extra, so if you come to the salon with your hair already wet it's cheaper.

Week 16 in Chile

BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE! Chileans surely know how to throw a holiday! Fiestas Patrias seriously puts the 4th of July to shame.

Monday, September 16, 2013

-Got home from Pucon early in the morning and slept all day because I didn't sleep on the bus; did some laundry and got my life together

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

-Start of Fiestas Patrias, which is Chilean independence week! 3 days off of work where all of the country shuts down to celebrate independence from Spain and Chilean awesomeness in general. Jam packed with Chilean food (empanadas on empanadas) and drinks (terremotos!!) and dancing and fondas (carnivals) and music and everything thats fun and awesome about this country!

-Met up with some friends at Mercado Central (fish market), it was packed and we walked around then headed to Mercado La Vega (produce market), which was also packed with everyone getting ready for the week's upcoming asados; we had lunch at La Vega for a whopping 1500 pesos aka $3; really great lunch and such a fun day seeing all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for Fiestas Patrias; after lunch we headed to Bellavista to look at an Artisans market, but on the way there we stumbled upon on World's Fair type thing and got some Ecuadorian fruit smoothies for dessert, which were amazing; Finally made it to Bellavista and walked around and then we waited for some Chilean friends to come meet us for drinks after they got off work so we could start of Fiestas Patrias right! Super fun day! Later that night, I might up with some more friends to head to a Chilean house party which was a blast and I met a lot of cool people (even another girl named Lesley!) and got to practice my Spanish a lot. All in all, great start to the holidays.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

-Uneventful morning, but met up with friends in the later afternoon to head to a Fonda for Fiestas Patrias! A fonda is like a carnival, with typical Chilean food and drink, games, dancing, music, shows, rides and so much more; they are super fun and there is one in almost every barrio of Santiago and city in the country during the week of Fiestas Patrias to celebrate the week long holiday for Chile's independence from Spain; At the fonda, we met a huaso (Chilean cowboy) who talked to us about horses for a while and then invited us for terremotos in one of the inside tents; we all sat and talked for a while and discussed diverse topics such as the class system that is present in Chile, abortion in Chile, and karma, and we even got to dance the cueca (the Chilean national dance); Another fun night celebrating Fiestas Patrias!

Thursday, September 19 - Sunday September 22, 2013

-7 other girls from my program and I headed to Pichilemu on the coast for the rest of the weekend. It's considered the best surfing city in Chile and the best place to spend Fiestas Patrias according to one of my Chilean friends. This weekend happened to be one of the best weekends of my life and the funnest thus far in Chile. So fun that I can't even think of an adequate way to put it into words. We did nothing and everything all at the same time. The highlight was making lots of new friends and (attempting) to learn how to surf! Below you can see some beautiful pictures of the beach!

Week 15 in Chile

I had another fun yet hectic week in Santiago, but I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in the beautiful Pucon in southern Chile. Truly breathtaking place. Kind of reminded me of a rustic ski town out west and it had a real hippie vibe to it. Enjoy!

Monday, September 9, 2013

-Slept in late because my class was cancelled today and then I spent some time watching TV until Nora took me with her to Barrio Franklin, which is a commercial district south of where I live, so that we could buy a few things and so that I could see a new area of town; very interesting and packed district
-After I met up with some friends at the bus station to buy our bus tickets for Pichilemu in two weeks! Really excited for that trip. After I headed to Bellavista with a friend to catch up and grab a coffee and then I came home for some dinner and homework doing after a relatively lazy day

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

-Class all day at San Joaquin and then I spent some time studying for my test with some friends; there was a protest/demonstration type thing on campus, but I'm not really sure what it was about; all in all it was a low key day, full of class and homework and bracing myself for the coming day's potentially violent protests

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Today was a very important day in the history of the US, as it marked 12 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers and on the Pentagon, but it also marked the 40th anniversary since Augusto Pinochet took over the Chilean government in a military coup (aided by the CIA...). All in all, it was a strange day. Eerily quiet in El Centro where I thought there would be crazy protests, meanwhile in the outlining barrios, buses were lit on fire and there were huge demonstrations against Pinochet and his regime. Even at school there were demonstrations, but I was only at the artsy campus today, so most of the students are more liberal there and thus supported Allende as opposed to the majority of the other wealthy La Catolica students who supported Pinochet. I think it's pretty sad that I didn't learn about what happened in Chile during the coup or that there even was a coup in Chile until I was a sophomore in college. All in all, it was a very interesting but sad day, but I'm glad I was able to witness an important part of Chilean history. I'm looking forward to November's presidential elections here so that I can witness more moments of Chilean history.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

-Got to school early to finish up study guides/studying for test with my friend Marta; then we had our test and then I sat in the library and did work for my second class; had my second class and the teacher thankfully is going to let me rewrite my essay because I did awful on it because I did it wrong... I guess what I was supposed to do got lost in translation, but now I know what to do; went to CIEE to pick up form for my visa, so I can go pick that up from the Extranjeria on Monday or Tuesday

Friday, September 13, 2013 - Sunday, September 15, 2013

This weekend, I travelled south to Pucon with a few friends from the program. We spent the weekend exploring the beautiful rustic town. We went white water rafting and then became friends with all the guides who took us out later that night. I attempted to ski on Villarica Volcano, but the ski resort was closed due to high winds so we hiked up to the resort and got to ski down once. Technically, I still did get to ski on the volcano though. Sunday we went on a lovely hike through Parque Nacional Huerquehue and explored the town before our bus back to Santiago that evening. All in all, it was an awesome trip. Below are some pictures of my time in Pucon.

Week 14 in Chile

Hit the 3 months in Chile mark this past week! It's crazy how fast time has flown by. I hope you enjoy this week's entry!

Monday, September 2, 2013

-Rested all morning and worked on my paper and hung out at home with Nora until I had class at 4:30 at the program office; after class a few of us headed to the Lastarria neighborhood to find a quaint cafe to grab some coffee and tea and do some homework; we ended up staying until closing and enjoying several cups of coffee and each other's company; After I headed home to continue work on my paper and go to sleep

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

-Class all day at San Joaquin per every Tuesday; went to a meeting at lunch about work study type jobs on campus, specifically about being an English tutor a few days a week for Chileans who want to practice and need to take an English placement exam; I'll be getting more information about it in the upcoming weeks, but I'm excited to get involved on campus! After my second class, I headed to a cafe on campus to grab some coffee and study for a test that I have tomorrow; Later I met up with some friends and we headed to another cafe in Lastarria to study again; and then I went home for the night, but on the way home, I saw another protest happening, but this one was a bike protest! Hundreds of people from Greenpeace were biking down the Alameda at 10pm! Crazy! Some were even dressed up as polar bears; as I said before, September is a very politically active month in Chile

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

-I had my first test in Chile this morning; I think it went really well and I knew how to explain what I wanted to say on all of the questions, so proof that my Spanish has improved; after my friends and I finished our test we headed to Plaza Nunoa because I needed to buy a knee brace for my soccer games, then we decided to stay in the area for lunch and went to this great Mexican restaurant in the Plaza called Taxco where I had some great enchiladas that I had definitely been craving; afterwards I came home to learn that my second class of the day was cancelled, giving me ample time to nap! Later I met up with friends at La Piojera and we headed to Miercoles po or "noche de gringos" as my host mom calls it

Thursday, September 5, 2013

-Major protests, didn't go to morning class cause I live in the heart of the protests and the metro was shut down so I had no way to get there; headed to my afternoon class, but the teacher wasn't there so the students that did show up watched a movie with the TA for half of the class and then she let us leave to go home; Had dinner at home and then went out to meet some Tufts friends at a bar in Plaza Nunoa; it was good to see some from familiar faces from back at school

Friday, September 6, 2013

-Slept in late and watched some TV and then some of my friends came over and we all hung out; mostly a very chill day in Santiago; later in the evening, I headed to a friend's boyfriend's house for a BBQ and to watch Chile beat Venezuela, which they did! Super fun night meeting new Chilean friends and hanging out with people from the program

Saturday, September 7, 2013

-Woke up early to meet the program group in Puente Alto for an all day folk dance workshop and BBQ with new Chilean friends; really fun and funny day; during a mid afternoon break we played tug-of-war with the Americans versus the Chileans and other such a combinations; there were USA-USA chants and Chi-chi-chi le-le-le chants from the opposition and all the neighbors came out to watch the gringos take on the Chileans; we won most of the events which was funny and fun and awesome; over all great day! On top of that we learned the cueca and some dances from Rapa Nui and had an awesome BBQ that our program director cooked up for us
-After that, I headed home to get ready for my second soccer game which we won this time!! 5-1!! Afterwards, some of us headed out to get some Indian food for dinner (yay spicy food!) and then we met up with some people from the program and headed to a club for a while, but we were all tired from the game so we called it a night early

Sunday, September 8, 2013

-Finally met Nora's family today which was awesome! She took me over to her son Rodrigo's house for an all day BBQ with the whole family; it was great to meet everyone and see her kids and her grandkid; at first it was a little awkward and overwhelming but I got into the swing of conversations and keeping pace and ended up having an awesome time with her family; Hopefully I will get to see them all again sometime

That's all for now! Check back next week for more updates! Also, the clocks moved forward an hour here, so I am now 1 hour ahead of EST.

Besos,
Lesley

Week 13 in Chile

I have no idea where the time has gone! I have now been in Chile for almost 3 months... like what??

Monday, August 26, 2013

-Uneventful, had class and updated my blog and uploaded pictures from my weekend trip to Facebook

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

-Class all day; meeting with cine professor about the essay that we have due next week; turns out I completely understood a 40 page article (in spanish) about the history and theory of art and cinema, so I was really happy about that
-Had my first soccer practice tonight; some gringas and I are joining an all female soccer league in Santiago so we can get in shape, enjoy the soccer (futbol) culture here, and make Chilean friends; we have practice once or twice a week and weekly games as well

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

-Went on a field trip to the Centro Cultural Palacio de la Moneda, which is an art museum under La Moneda which is the presidential palace; saw this awesome African art exhibit for my Arte Latinoamericana class
-Sushi and walking around Bellas Artes with friends and then we all had class later in the afternoon at the program office
-Went out for empanadas after ward and then to a hookah bar where we met some awesome people from the south and ended up sitting and talking (in Spanish) for like 3 hours until I met up with some other friends later in the evening for some drinks and dancing; I'm always meeting the coolest people in this city!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

-Class all day, but in the afternoon I felt sick so I went home early and rested and drank some tea and had Nora take care of me; spent the rest of the evening hanging out in my room and resting; seems like I had some quick 24 hour bug or something cause I'm feeling better now

Friday, August 30, 2013

-Slept in after not feeling well on Thursday night; had a nice breakfast with Nora and then headed out to the mall to meet a friend to go buy soccer cleats for our first game tomorrow!; we had lunch at the mall as well and then headed to this awesome photo exhibit with another friend; photo exhibit was called the World Press Photo and showcases the best of news photography from the past year (http://www.worldpressphoto.org/); it was super awesome and the photos were truly beautiful and told such diverse stories, ranging from terrifying to uplifting to powerful to adorable; it's a traveling exhibit, so if it comes to your city, I highly recommend going; after the exhibit we met up with other students at the program office to head over to our first Chilean Folkloric Dance lesson! We learned how to cueca, the national dance of Chile (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Cqs4Oa5Uo) and we also learned how to do some Rapa Nui dances as well; we have 2 more classes which I am really excited for! Maybe eventually I'll learn how to move my hips like a Latin woman and not look super awkward while trying to do it! After that I headed home for a bit and then to my friends house for her farewell dinner party as she is heading back to Austria tomorrow after spending the summer here in Santiago

Saturday, August 31, 2103

-Slept in again because I am definitely coming down with a cold (again); there's something going around everyone in the program so it was only a matter of time; I spent the majority of the day working on some homework and writing a paper, but took a nice break to make hamburgers with Nora for our lunch; I made some onions and mushrooms to put on mine which she thought was kind of strange; After lunch, I headed out to my first soccer game of the season! We lost... but it was our first game and a lot of us don't really know each other (read: the gringas don't know the chilenas); we will get better with practice and once we know each other as friends and players; I have high hopes for the team (as long as I don't play that much cause I'm not as good as I remember being when I was 12...); After the game, I headed out to dinner with a few friends for one of our friend's 21st birthdays; we stumbled upon this amazing Peruvian-Thai fusion restaurant in Nunoa called Challwa (look it up! so good) where we had one of the best meals that many of us had had during our entire stay in Santiago; We then headed to a beer hall to meet up with some more friends, but I called it a night pretty early cause I was exhausted

Sunday, September 1, 2013

-Slept in again because of this cold thing I have going on, but also cause I'm a college kid and we're good at sleeping ya know; I also spent most of the day marathoning the second season of 30 Rock (complete!), and I watched a peaceful protest/march happen on my street; the month of September is very politically active here because of independence day and the anniversary of Pinochet's dictatorship; After watching the protest and eating some lunch, Nora and I went to a park called Quinta Normal which is beautiful and has a paddle boating lake in it too! While we were there, some guys were putting on a comic show for all the Chileans in the park and they called me out for being the only blonde person in the park and had me come down to the front and say hi and what I'm doing in Chile and where I'm from and all that jazz; I even through in some Chilean slang and the Chileans were eating it all up; after that Nora and I walked around and we passed the high school where he father and grandfather attended; we then went to the Basillica de Lourdes which was stunningly beautiful and legitimately one of the most beautiful churches I've seen here; there's also an outside area where they conduct mass in the spring and summer; After we headed home and 2 of her neighbors, Tom and his wife Patty, came over for once and stayed to chat for a while; I've been finishing up my blog and working on my paper. WOO STUDY ABROAD LIFESTYLE

Well, that's all for now folks! Hope you enjoy!

Besos,
Lesley