I can't believe that in 2 days I will have been in Chile for a month already! Time sure does fly! School is already in full swing, and it's a little annoying that all my friends at home are winding down their school year and mine is just beginning, but then I remember when they were all doing homework and studying for exams I was laying on the couch watching movies. So it's my turn now. As my title implies though, I hate school, because it is frustrating and annoying and I would rather be climbing volcanoes all day than writing spanish papers. My least favorite class (written expression) requires that we read a short story and write a paper about it every single week, and correct the one we had written from the week before every week, so it is going to be a lot of work. But, I came here to learn spanish and that is what I am doing!
Life here is always interesting, yesterday Lena and I were enjoying a nice day in the town plaza and we ran into one of our teachers, who proceeded to talk to us for around 20 minutes. He basically called us out for being losers and not doing anything on a Saturday, but in our defense, ALL of the highschoolers were hanging out in the plaza, so at least we had some company...
Food still is intriguing .. yesterday we decided to try out Telepizza, which we were assuming was like pizza hut or something.. but, alas, we were wrong. It was basically a giant whole wheat english muffin that wasn't toasted with ketchupy pizza sauce and then regular pizza toppings. After that to satisfy our need for something American, we got some ice cream and then hung out around town. About 10 minutes after our ice cream, we both had the most intense stomach cramps of our entire lives and we went back home ASAP. Whether it was the awful telepizza or the ice cream that gave us Montezuma's Revenge we will never know, but I for one am staying away from both for a while. Woof!
My lunch today was also something new, for our appetizer we each had a whole artichoke on a plate. Like usual I had no idea how I was supposed to eat the food on my plate, so I watched others squirt from the mayonnaise pouch a glob of mayo into a little bowl in front of each place mat and then mix it with lemon juice. I did the same. Then, they started peeling off the artichoke leaves one by one and dipping the bottom of them into the mayo mix and scraped the fleshy part of the artichoke off with their teeth. So, I did the same. Surprisingly it was delicious. It tasted like the spinach and artichoke dip my mom makes, and I got over the fact that I was eating straight up mayo (which I despise).
I also got to meet my other 'sister' today, Maria Teresa, and her son Martín, who is 8 months old and adorable. My family is good, school is good, pretty much everything in my life except the occasional stomach issue is awesome right now! See you all in only 4 months now :)
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
hi
This thought just came across my mind, so I decided to share it. I love the anything goes rule in Chile. Today, me and Lena were walking around downtown, and a man was on the street singing. But he didnt have just a guitar or something, he had his own speaker, with attached microphone and CD with instrumental music he was singing along to. Pretty much doing some karaoke in the street. And we went back about 4 hours later and he was still there, belting out some tunes in spanish on the streets of Valdivia. He wasnt particularly good at singing, but he wasnt too bad either. Just hoping to make some extra cash on a Friday afternoon. Awesome.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Pucón!
I had the most eventful weekend I have had thus far in Chile, and have many adventures to talk about this post!
This weekend, we decided would be a perfect weekend for a mini trip. We dont have classes on Thursdays or Fridays, and it was the first week of class, we didnt have major homework, so we got our Chile books open and decided to go to Pucón, which is a touristy summer town about 1 1/2 hours away from Valdivia. We reserved a room in a hostel, which if you dont know is almost like a dorm room mixed with a hotel, it costed us 15 dollars each to stay there for the night, and we were put in a room with bunk beds that 4 other people were also staying in. They had a community kitchen and living room, and a very helpful owner named Tanja, who organized our adventures in Pucón. We left Valdivia around 10 on Friday morning, and arrived in Pucón at about 12. After we checked into the hostel, Tanja asked us what we were planning to do while we were there. Originally, we had decided that we wanted to go ziplining, white water rafting, and take a trip to the thermal springs. However, when we got there, Tanja inticed us with a once in a life time opportunity- to climb an active volcano. Me and Jake were all for it, but Lena (or Granny Gertrude, as we started calling her this weekend) was a bit skeptical. We finally convinced her that climbing a volcano would be totally not dangerous and completely fun and not too hard and got her to sign up for it. Volcano climbing took place the next day, but on Friday we signed up to go white water rafting. It was all of our first times going, so we didnt really know what to expect. A van picked us up from the hostel and we got to the river with the group. Three chilenas, three frenchies, the three gringos, and a man from the Netherlands and his wife, who was also American. We split into two groups, the english speaking group (which we decided to go to) and the spanish. After getting our wetsuits, life jackets and helmets, and after a brieft training session, we were on the river. We hit about 10 rapids in all, one mini waterfall, and actually had to get out of our rafts at one point and walk until the rapid was over, because we werent experienced enough to go on it. But, in order to get back into our boats, we had to jump down a little cliff, which was probably about 30 feet high. It was awesome! I think that someone had to push Granny down, but we all made it down alive, and all decided that white water rafting was completely worth is and an awesome time.
We went back to the hostel after that and showered, then grabbed some quick dinner and went to bed pretty much right away. We had to leave for the volcano at 7 the next morning, so we wanted to get some sleep. The next morning, which seemed like night because the stars are still out in Chile until around 730 AM, we got in a van and headed for the volcano. We each got a backback with a helmet, ice axe, wind proof pants and jacket, gloves, crampons, boots, and a mini sled (for sliding down the volcano afterwords-yes that really happened) and got to the bottom of the volcano. We had the option of taking a ski lift up about 1000 meters or climbing, and me and Lena agreed the ski lift was for us, while Jake roughed it with some other group members and climbed the whole way up. Today, our group consisted of the three gringos, two groups of Isrealis, an Austrailian and another Frenchie, and by the end of the trip we were all pretty friendly with eachother. Once we got off the ski lift, it was time to start climbing. The first part was the hardest, the ground was soft dirt mixed with rocks, and we climbed for about an hour and finally got a break to drink some water and eat a little bit of food. The group that didnt take the ski lift caught up to us, and Jake said he was about to die, but after a brief rest we kept going. About 2 hours consisted of dirt, and then we got to the snow. The snow was a bit easier to climb and we learned how to use our ice axe to catch ourselves in case we started falling down the mountain. The wind also started to pick up once we got to the snow, we put on our jackets and gloves because it was getting cold. About every 45 minutes of climbing or so we would take a break, and after 6 1/2 hours we were finally at the summit! The view was incredible!! We went on the most gorgeous day, there wasnt a cloud in the sky and it was about 70 degrees, perfect conditions. We were able to see 2 more volcanoes in the distance, 4 lakes and were surrounded by mountains. The volcano was a bit too smoky on our day, but when the conditions are right, you can actually look into the middle of the volcano and see boiling lava. I tried, but got gassed out by the sulfiric fumes and had to step back. We stayed at the summit for probably 30 minutes, and then it was time to go back down. Going down was much easier than going up, thanks to our mini sleds. Once we got to an area where it was all snow, we actually got to sled down the volcano, which was really fun. There were some points where we got to go pretty fast, and everyone had a good time. We ended up leaving the volcano around 330, so we had spent about 8 hours straight climbing, and needless to say I felt like I got hit by a bus the next day. We left that night, after another quick dinner, and then it was back to reality, with homework and school on our minds.
Another interesting thing on Sunday was my lunch, which was a traditional Chilean-German dish called Crudos. I didnt know this before, but the dictionary definition of crudo is raw, uncooked, unripe, or indigestable. I looked at the food on the table and wasnt 100% sure if it was what it looked like..but I decided to try it anyway and be a good sport, and my Crudos meal ended up being raw beef, spread on a piece of white bread, then you add lemon juice, salt and pepper, and a creamy sauce which apparently is yogurt and mayo mixed together. It honestly didnt taste too bad... but I much prefer my Grandmas Sunday steaks (cooked!) to the Chilean crudos... but hey, at least I didnt barf!
Between the rafting, volcano climbing, and raw meat eating, I had an awesome weekend in South America!
This weekend, we decided would be a perfect weekend for a mini trip. We dont have classes on Thursdays or Fridays, and it was the first week of class, we didnt have major homework, so we got our Chile books open and decided to go to Pucón, which is a touristy summer town about 1 1/2 hours away from Valdivia. We reserved a room in a hostel, which if you dont know is almost like a dorm room mixed with a hotel, it costed us 15 dollars each to stay there for the night, and we were put in a room with bunk beds that 4 other people were also staying in. They had a community kitchen and living room, and a very helpful owner named Tanja, who organized our adventures in Pucón. We left Valdivia around 10 on Friday morning, and arrived in Pucón at about 12. After we checked into the hostel, Tanja asked us what we were planning to do while we were there. Originally, we had decided that we wanted to go ziplining, white water rafting, and take a trip to the thermal springs. However, when we got there, Tanja inticed us with a once in a life time opportunity- to climb an active volcano. Me and Jake were all for it, but Lena (or Granny Gertrude, as we started calling her this weekend) was a bit skeptical. We finally convinced her that climbing a volcano would be totally not dangerous and completely fun and not too hard and got her to sign up for it. Volcano climbing took place the next day, but on Friday we signed up to go white water rafting. It was all of our first times going, so we didnt really know what to expect. A van picked us up from the hostel and we got to the river with the group. Three chilenas, three frenchies, the three gringos, and a man from the Netherlands and his wife, who was also American. We split into two groups, the english speaking group (which we decided to go to) and the spanish. After getting our wetsuits, life jackets and helmets, and after a brieft training session, we were on the river. We hit about 10 rapids in all, one mini waterfall, and actually had to get out of our rafts at one point and walk until the rapid was over, because we werent experienced enough to go on it. But, in order to get back into our boats, we had to jump down a little cliff, which was probably about 30 feet high. It was awesome! I think that someone had to push Granny down, but we all made it down alive, and all decided that white water rafting was completely worth is and an awesome time.
We went back to the hostel after that and showered, then grabbed some quick dinner and went to bed pretty much right away. We had to leave for the volcano at 7 the next morning, so we wanted to get some sleep. The next morning, which seemed like night because the stars are still out in Chile until around 730 AM, we got in a van and headed for the volcano. We each got a backback with a helmet, ice axe, wind proof pants and jacket, gloves, crampons, boots, and a mini sled (for sliding down the volcano afterwords-yes that really happened) and got to the bottom of the volcano. We had the option of taking a ski lift up about 1000 meters or climbing, and me and Lena agreed the ski lift was for us, while Jake roughed it with some other group members and climbed the whole way up. Today, our group consisted of the three gringos, two groups of Isrealis, an Austrailian and another Frenchie, and by the end of the trip we were all pretty friendly with eachother. Once we got off the ski lift, it was time to start climbing. The first part was the hardest, the ground was soft dirt mixed with rocks, and we climbed for about an hour and finally got a break to drink some water and eat a little bit of food. The group that didnt take the ski lift caught up to us, and Jake said he was about to die, but after a brief rest we kept going. About 2 hours consisted of dirt, and then we got to the snow. The snow was a bit easier to climb and we learned how to use our ice axe to catch ourselves in case we started falling down the mountain. The wind also started to pick up once we got to the snow, we put on our jackets and gloves because it was getting cold. About every 45 minutes of climbing or so we would take a break, and after 6 1/2 hours we were finally at the summit! The view was incredible!! We went on the most gorgeous day, there wasnt a cloud in the sky and it was about 70 degrees, perfect conditions. We were able to see 2 more volcanoes in the distance, 4 lakes and were surrounded by mountains. The volcano was a bit too smoky on our day, but when the conditions are right, you can actually look into the middle of the volcano and see boiling lava. I tried, but got gassed out by the sulfiric fumes and had to step back. We stayed at the summit for probably 30 minutes, and then it was time to go back down. Going down was much easier than going up, thanks to our mini sleds. Once we got to an area where it was all snow, we actually got to sled down the volcano, which was really fun. There were some points where we got to go pretty fast, and everyone had a good time. We ended up leaving the volcano around 330, so we had spent about 8 hours straight climbing, and needless to say I felt like I got hit by a bus the next day. We left that night, after another quick dinner, and then it was back to reality, with homework and school on our minds.
Another interesting thing on Sunday was my lunch, which was a traditional Chilean-German dish called Crudos. I didnt know this before, but the dictionary definition of crudo is raw, uncooked, unripe, or indigestable. I looked at the food on the table and wasnt 100% sure if it was what it looked like..but I decided to try it anyway and be a good sport, and my Crudos meal ended up being raw beef, spread on a piece of white bread, then you add lemon juice, salt and pepper, and a creamy sauce which apparently is yogurt and mayo mixed together. It honestly didnt taste too bad... but I much prefer my Grandmas Sunday steaks (cooked!) to the Chilean crudos... but hey, at least I didnt barf!
Between the rafting, volcano climbing, and raw meat eating, I had an awesome weekend in South America!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Life
Hi all! It's taken me a while to update once again, but still, I have no internet at my house. My host sister keeps telling me that someone is going to fix it, however each day comes and I am still left without a connection to the outside world other than my lovely PC. But, it is a new week, and I am hopeful that something will happen now, mostly because I was messing with the internet while my host family was away visiting relatives and am pretty sure I broke ALL the internet in the house, including the PC.
I start my classes tomorrow at UaCH and am starting to get a little nervous about it. We literally just 'scheduled' them (if you can even call it that) on Friday, and they begin on Monday. As of now, I am signed up to take 2 grammar/writing courses and a journalism class, which I think is going to be a challenge. One of the class requirements is to make a mock interview/mini movie (in Spanish, of course) and present it to the class! It will probably be very difficult and I may have a slight panic attack, but I think I can do it. Luckily my gringo classmates will be with me in all of my classes, so I at least will be able to have them to help out. We are actually supposed to take a history class, but for some reason the teacher wouldn't allow us into it. So we are on the hunt for another class...
Life in Chile is good. We have spent the last week exploring the town and getting to know our area, and I'm pretty confident in saying that I now know my way around Valdivia, and have a pretty good idea of the Chilean lifestyle. It is very, very different than at home. The whole shopping experience here is so weird. Based on the stores that we have gone to, I will say as of right now, that Chileans have the most insufficient form of checking out I have ever seen! Lol. For example, we went to a store to buy school supplies downtown, I thought there was two counters to go to, so I walked up, put down my things and the guy behind the counter rang them up, gave me a receipt, and then gave my things to the other girl at the cash register next to him. Then, I had to give HER my receipt that the other guy just gave me, and then SHE rang it through her register and I paid her. It was very confusing. At the pharmacy, you have to take a number like you are at the deli in order to have someone check you out. And if you miss it then they just skip over you and you have to just mosey your way up and make them ring you up (as you can imagine may or may not have happened to us...). And the grocery store line moves slower than molasses. But, I have also learned here that time is not an issue in Chile. When you go to a restaurant, expect to be there for a while, because the service is not fast. It's not bad service, the waiters/waitresses are friendly and nice and helpful, but time is not accounted for down here. It's just the way of life I guess. Which for me, actually, is awesome because anyone who knows me knows that I have no regard for time, or being on time, or waking up on time, ect. Thinking about that now, it's hard to believe I have been here for almost 2 weeks!
This upcoming week should be interesting, I'm sure I will have lots to talk about. We are planning on visiting the Kunstmann Brewery at some point this week and maybe planning a trip somewhere this weekend!
P.S. The earthquake didn't affect us in Valdivia at all, there was a little damage in northern Chile and Easter Island, but I was safe and sound down here :)
I start my classes tomorrow at UaCH and am starting to get a little nervous about it. We literally just 'scheduled' them (if you can even call it that) on Friday, and they begin on Monday. As of now, I am signed up to take 2 grammar/writing courses and a journalism class, which I think is going to be a challenge. One of the class requirements is to make a mock interview/mini movie (in Spanish, of course) and present it to the class! It will probably be very difficult and I may have a slight panic attack, but I think I can do it. Luckily my gringo classmates will be with me in all of my classes, so I at least will be able to have them to help out. We are actually supposed to take a history class, but for some reason the teacher wouldn't allow us into it. So we are on the hunt for another class...
Life in Chile is good. We have spent the last week exploring the town and getting to know our area, and I'm pretty confident in saying that I now know my way around Valdivia, and have a pretty good idea of the Chilean lifestyle. It is very, very different than at home. The whole shopping experience here is so weird. Based on the stores that we have gone to, I will say as of right now, that Chileans have the most insufficient form of checking out I have ever seen! Lol. For example, we went to a store to buy school supplies downtown, I thought there was two counters to go to, so I walked up, put down my things and the guy behind the counter rang them up, gave me a receipt, and then gave my things to the other girl at the cash register next to him. Then, I had to give HER my receipt that the other guy just gave me, and then SHE rang it through her register and I paid her. It was very confusing. At the pharmacy, you have to take a number like you are at the deli in order to have someone check you out. And if you miss it then they just skip over you and you have to just mosey your way up and make them ring you up (as you can imagine may or may not have happened to us...). And the grocery store line moves slower than molasses. But, I have also learned here that time is not an issue in Chile. When you go to a restaurant, expect to be there for a while, because the service is not fast. It's not bad service, the waiters/waitresses are friendly and nice and helpful, but time is not accounted for down here. It's just the way of life I guess. Which for me, actually, is awesome because anyone who knows me knows that I have no regard for time, or being on time, or waking up on time, ect. Thinking about that now, it's hard to believe I have been here for almost 2 weeks!
This upcoming week should be interesting, I'm sure I will have lots to talk about. We are planning on visiting the Kunstmann Brewery at some point this week and maybe planning a trip somewhere this weekend!
P.S. The earthquake didn't affect us in Valdivia at all, there was a little damage in northern Chile and Easter Island, but I was safe and sound down here :)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Chile :)
I am finally here!! Sorry it took me so long to update, but I have not only been super busy with everything going on, but my internet on my laptop doesnt work right now, so I am using the computer at my homestay that is about 15 years old! I have only been in Chile for 3 days now, but already so much has happened to me! I have a whole new Chilean family, a new house, a kitten, sister, and basically life. But, since it has been 4 days since I have been in the States, I will start my story from when I left, and trust me, a there is a LOT to tell.
My trip started at GR International Airport, where I was a mix of excitement, nerves, happy, sad, and pretty much every other emotion there is. As I was leaving to go through security and looked back at my parents and Stephen walking away, I started to cry. I think at that moment I finally realized that I wasnt going to see the people that I love for a whole 5 months, and the reality set in that I was actually leaving. So, I stood in the security line with all my stuff, and the cranky biatch who searched me whips out my expensive maple syrup that I was giving my host family for a gift (its from Blandford Nature Center) and my huge container of Ponds face moisturizer and tells me I cant have them with me, but I could take them back to the American Airlines counter where they can go in the back and find my checked bags and shove them in there if I want. So, naturally I say yes, and I go back to where I started to put a fricken syrup and lotion in my bags. Then, the woman there says to me, -I put your syrup in between a pair of jeans, but since its glass it might break and spill all over your clothes, and American Airlines isnt responsible for damages.- So with that wonderful thought in my head she then says to me,- and your suitcase is pretty much about to burst at the seams, and if it breaks mid flight and all of your stuff goes everywhere American Airlines isnt responsible.- So now Im walking back to security where I have to be re-searched, worrying about having sticky clothes or no clothes at all by the time I actually get into Chile.
The flight from GR to Dallas was awesome, I had a nice window seat and could pretty much see scenery the whole time I was in the air. My 12 hour flight to Santiago was a different story. I didnt have a seat assigned by my travel agent, so my classmates Lena and Jake got assigned together, and when I got to the boarding gate they assigned me a seat alone. And by alone, I mean in the middle of two strangers against a wall so that my seat didnt recline and I had the most uncomfortable sleep of my life resting my head on my tray. I wasnt really that upset, I mean I was on a plane to Chile how unhappy can you possibly be, but then there was a child who was coughing the entire plane ride, so that even if by some means I could sleep on my tray, I didnt, because of the cough monster a few rows ahead of me. But finally, after 17 hours of traveling, our plane landed safe and sound at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. I still wasnt done traveling though, because in order to get to Valdivia from Santiago, you have to take a bus ride, which takes about 10 hours. And the busses from Santiago to Valdivia only run either first thing in the morning or at night, otherwise you get to the bus terminal at a weird hour. So we used our broken Spanish and managed to buy tickets that left Santiago at 930 PM. We bought them at 11 AM. So we had all day to spend hanging around Santiago, and had no idea where we were, didnt know anyone, and hadnt really spoken Spanish since December. We were basically thrown into the belly of the beast. In Santiago we went to the mall, walked around the markets, and tried to talk to people but it didnt really work out. We went to a fast food place called Doggis, where they serve completos, which are Chilean hot dogs. In Chile though, a hot dog comes with avocado, tomatoes, mayo and sometimes other toppings. They are VERY popular and weird. We all stood back for a little while before actually ordering, thinking of what to say, and I had a script already written out in my head of exactly what I was going to say, so I couldnt mess it up and wouldnt look like an idiot. Well, I did end up looking like an idiot, the girl at the register had no idea what I was talking about, and I ended up ordering a completo, fries, empanadas, soda, and chocolate ice cream. Before I got my massive amounts of food she asked for my name, so they could call it out when my order was ready. I told her Kaylea, she stared at me, started laughing, then shooed me away. But eventually, we made it out of Santiago and onto our bus, which took us to our new home of Valdivia, Chile :)
We got to the bus station in Valdivia, and our contact at UaCH, (Universidad Austral de Chile), Amalia, came to pick us up and take us to our host families. Our bus ended up getting into town 2 hours earlier than expected, so we surprised our families when we showed up at their doors at 8AM instead of 10. I was the first to be dropped off, and we pulled onto my street and stopped in front of a cute little house with trees everywhere I got the first look at my new home for the next 5 months. I was very nervous looking at that house. What was I going to say, were they going to be weird, would they like me, was my room nice, did it smell, you know, normal things to wonder going to a house where you have absolutely no idea what to expect. I walked up to the door looking a little rough, didnt smell the best, and had a bad case of jet lag, but when my host dad opened the door I instantly felt better. He introduced himself, Roberto, and led me to my new room, which was freshly cleaned with a twin bed, tv, desk, and comfy chair, all for me. I saw my host mom hiding in the corner and said hello, well hola, (she was embarassed that she was still in her PJs, lol), and put all my stuff in my room. My host parents are an older couple, probably about 60, with two daughters Maria and Cristina. Cristina still lives at home, but Maria is married and has a baby. Roberto and Antonieta made me feel welcome from the first second I walked in their home, they showed me where the shower was and gave me towels, and when I got out they had breakfast sitting on the table waiting for me. My first authentic Chilean meal was little round circular bread, served with butter, jam, cheese and ham, coffee and tea, and fruit. I was a little nervous to have to talk to my new parents, but they spoke slowly and if I didnt understand what they were talking about, told me in a different way until I understood. I was then introduced to their housekeeper, Marisol, which apparently is normal here to have. She cooks and cleans everyday except the weekends and is almost like a part of their family. I still havent gotten used to having my meals served to me or having a clean room every day, but I am NOT complaining about it :)
The actual city of Valdivia is a beautiful little resort town resting at the point of two rivers and is very popular with tourists in the summer. We had a Chilena named Margarita show us around the campus of UaCH and Valdivia, and it was awesome. Today, Lena and I went walking around downtown and went window shopping and wandering. We ended up in the town square, which is always busy, and noticed two people screaming at the top of their lungs and hitting each other. We looked over wondering if this was normal, and saw a crowd of people surrounding them watching too, so we knew something was up. It turns out the people screaming were part of some sort of street performance, and we went over to watch. By the time we walked over there was a pretty decent crowd, probably 100 people, and literally the second Lena and I walk up, the performer looks at me and says, -¿Ayyyy de donde eres? Which means -Where are you from? And I tell him Estados Unidos (USA), and then he starts spitting out Spanish 100 miles per hour and the whole crowd starts laughing. Clearly he said something funny about my gringa-ish ways, and then asks Lena if she was a Chilena!! So obviously, I am very easy to pick out of a crowd here, but at least I am with someone who looks like a local. After a few minutes listening to him we left, and now are on our way to our first bar in Valdivia. Dont worry Mom, Antonieta told me to make sure to tell her if I am going to be gone so she doesnt worry about me :)
Sorry this was so long, but a lot has happened to me in 4 days! Nos Vemos!
My trip started at GR International Airport, where I was a mix of excitement, nerves, happy, sad, and pretty much every other emotion there is. As I was leaving to go through security and looked back at my parents and Stephen walking away, I started to cry. I think at that moment I finally realized that I wasnt going to see the people that I love for a whole 5 months, and the reality set in that I was actually leaving. So, I stood in the security line with all my stuff, and the cranky biatch who searched me whips out my expensive maple syrup that I was giving my host family for a gift (its from Blandford Nature Center) and my huge container of Ponds face moisturizer and tells me I cant have them with me, but I could take them back to the American Airlines counter where they can go in the back and find my checked bags and shove them in there if I want. So, naturally I say yes, and I go back to where I started to put a fricken syrup and lotion in my bags. Then, the woman there says to me, -I put your syrup in between a pair of jeans, but since its glass it might break and spill all over your clothes, and American Airlines isnt responsible for damages.- So with that wonderful thought in my head she then says to me,- and your suitcase is pretty much about to burst at the seams, and if it breaks mid flight and all of your stuff goes everywhere American Airlines isnt responsible.- So now Im walking back to security where I have to be re-searched, worrying about having sticky clothes or no clothes at all by the time I actually get into Chile.
The flight from GR to Dallas was awesome, I had a nice window seat and could pretty much see scenery the whole time I was in the air. My 12 hour flight to Santiago was a different story. I didnt have a seat assigned by my travel agent, so my classmates Lena and Jake got assigned together, and when I got to the boarding gate they assigned me a seat alone. And by alone, I mean in the middle of two strangers against a wall so that my seat didnt recline and I had the most uncomfortable sleep of my life resting my head on my tray. I wasnt really that upset, I mean I was on a plane to Chile how unhappy can you possibly be, but then there was a child who was coughing the entire plane ride, so that even if by some means I could sleep on my tray, I didnt, because of the cough monster a few rows ahead of me. But finally, after 17 hours of traveling, our plane landed safe and sound at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. I still wasnt done traveling though, because in order to get to Valdivia from Santiago, you have to take a bus ride, which takes about 10 hours. And the busses from Santiago to Valdivia only run either first thing in the morning or at night, otherwise you get to the bus terminal at a weird hour. So we used our broken Spanish and managed to buy tickets that left Santiago at 930 PM. We bought them at 11 AM. So we had all day to spend hanging around Santiago, and had no idea where we were, didnt know anyone, and hadnt really spoken Spanish since December. We were basically thrown into the belly of the beast. In Santiago we went to the mall, walked around the markets, and tried to talk to people but it didnt really work out. We went to a fast food place called Doggis, where they serve completos, which are Chilean hot dogs. In Chile though, a hot dog comes with avocado, tomatoes, mayo and sometimes other toppings. They are VERY popular and weird. We all stood back for a little while before actually ordering, thinking of what to say, and I had a script already written out in my head of exactly what I was going to say, so I couldnt mess it up and wouldnt look like an idiot. Well, I did end up looking like an idiot, the girl at the register had no idea what I was talking about, and I ended up ordering a completo, fries, empanadas, soda, and chocolate ice cream. Before I got my massive amounts of food she asked for my name, so they could call it out when my order was ready. I told her Kaylea, she stared at me, started laughing, then shooed me away. But eventually, we made it out of Santiago and onto our bus, which took us to our new home of Valdivia, Chile :)
We got to the bus station in Valdivia, and our contact at UaCH, (Universidad Austral de Chile), Amalia, came to pick us up and take us to our host families. Our bus ended up getting into town 2 hours earlier than expected, so we surprised our families when we showed up at their doors at 8AM instead of 10. I was the first to be dropped off, and we pulled onto my street and stopped in front of a cute little house with trees everywhere I got the first look at my new home for the next 5 months. I was very nervous looking at that house. What was I going to say, were they going to be weird, would they like me, was my room nice, did it smell, you know, normal things to wonder going to a house where you have absolutely no idea what to expect. I walked up to the door looking a little rough, didnt smell the best, and had a bad case of jet lag, but when my host dad opened the door I instantly felt better. He introduced himself, Roberto, and led me to my new room, which was freshly cleaned with a twin bed, tv, desk, and comfy chair, all for me. I saw my host mom hiding in the corner and said hello, well hola, (she was embarassed that she was still in her PJs, lol), and put all my stuff in my room. My host parents are an older couple, probably about 60, with two daughters Maria and Cristina. Cristina still lives at home, but Maria is married and has a baby. Roberto and Antonieta made me feel welcome from the first second I walked in their home, they showed me where the shower was and gave me towels, and when I got out they had breakfast sitting on the table waiting for me. My first authentic Chilean meal was little round circular bread, served with butter, jam, cheese and ham, coffee and tea, and fruit. I was a little nervous to have to talk to my new parents, but they spoke slowly and if I didnt understand what they were talking about, told me in a different way until I understood. I was then introduced to their housekeeper, Marisol, which apparently is normal here to have. She cooks and cleans everyday except the weekends and is almost like a part of their family. I still havent gotten used to having my meals served to me or having a clean room every day, but I am NOT complaining about it :)
The actual city of Valdivia is a beautiful little resort town resting at the point of two rivers and is very popular with tourists in the summer. We had a Chilena named Margarita show us around the campus of UaCH and Valdivia, and it was awesome. Today, Lena and I went walking around downtown and went window shopping and wandering. We ended up in the town square, which is always busy, and noticed two people screaming at the top of their lungs and hitting each other. We looked over wondering if this was normal, and saw a crowd of people surrounding them watching too, so we knew something was up. It turns out the people screaming were part of some sort of street performance, and we went over to watch. By the time we walked over there was a pretty decent crowd, probably 100 people, and literally the second Lena and I walk up, the performer looks at me and says, -¿Ayyyy de donde eres? Which means -Where are you from? And I tell him Estados Unidos (USA), and then he starts spitting out Spanish 100 miles per hour and the whole crowd starts laughing. Clearly he said something funny about my gringa-ish ways, and then asks Lena if she was a Chilena!! So obviously, I am very easy to pick out of a crowd here, but at least I am with someone who looks like a local. After a few minutes listening to him we left, and now are on our way to our first bar in Valdivia. Dont worry Mom, Antonieta told me to make sure to tell her if I am going to be gone so she doesnt worry about me :)
Sorry this was so long, but a lot has happened to me in 4 days! Nos Vemos!
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