Let's not discuss moral issues before 9 AM

You know when you get up in the morning to go to the bathroom with the complete intention of going back to sleep for another hour? Yeah... today that was the plan, until I was intercepted by Cecilia who wanted to know what my plan was for the day (I really hadn't thought that far ahead). We then got into talking about how I don't have school Friday because it's the Dia del Joven Combatiente where violent protests are staged in regions of Santiago by the Revolution Left Movement (when the US embassy tells you not to go to school, it wouldn't be right to disobey). Then we got into talking about how the U.S., despite having a solid democracy, still has so many restrictions on its people (she cited the drinking age). When I brought up the fact that Chile has quite a few restrictions itself, she looked confused. Such as (dare I say it...) abortion? Cecilia looked at me and said, "Oh but that is a moral restriction because it takes lives." I didn't get very many words out after that. After about fifteen minutes of lecture, Cecilia told me she was proud that she could tell my spanish skills were improving. Eh. I then went back into my room, but there was no chance of more sleep.

It's Tuesday, so no class, but my internship should be starting soon (Thursday hopefully?). Last week our program director Paola emailed two other girls in the program and myself to tell us we had an interview with some guy in the engineering department at UDP, our university. We were all confused and doubtful. Turns out that this man is awesome and works in the Energy and Sustainable Development office (part of the engineering school). He wants us to work on different projects about renewable energy in Chile and doing research/writing recommendations about how to "green" UDP (hello Eco-Sense?). I promise it is going to be cooler than I can describe - I have a good feeling about this! He's also very flexible, which is really nice in case I want to go on a trip or maybe even spend some time with my parents when they come in a couple weeks.

Time for about 6 horas of shuteye before another day!

Bus Rapping and Near Tears

Santiago seems to have filled every sort of profession niche possible. Need your windshield cleaned when you're sitting at a stop light? No problem. Want to add money to your cell phone while you're waiting for the metro? Easy. Forgot your Ipod and need some entertainment on the bus? DONE.

Yesterday, my new friend Lauren and I decided to walk to the neighborhood that our school is in (since we didn't acutally have school, we were actually going to a market that's nearby). It was probably a 5 mile walk, but awesome and very liberating. On the way back, I took the bus back alone and was really feeling pumped up from the awesome walk, but had no Ipod to satisfy this music craving. Next thing I know, a man behind me carrying a huge boom box (think Fresh Prince of Belaire) starts beat-boxing to the jam playing on his BB. Then, his lady friend starts breaking out in song and while at first she gave a bad rendition of Alicia Keyes' "Fallin," it wasn't long before they were deep into a Spanish rap session that quenched my thirst for tunes. Imagine you're in that scene in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit when Whoopi first sees the group of students on the pavement basketball court and they're all rapping about each others mamas before Whoopi tells them to get the hell back home (one of Lauryn Hill's finest rap performences). I felt like this bus rap was straight out of that movie. (If you don't understand this reference because you've never seen Sister Act 2, why are we friends? Why are you reading this blog?) Anyways, I wanted to get up dance... but instead, I played the Chilean cool and just sat there straight faced and handed them 500 pesos when they walked through the bus after they finished the performance. So, next time you forget your Ipod on the Bus... no pasa nada!

Then there was today, when I almost cried. It wasn't because I didn't understand something - that happens on an hourly basis. Instead, these tears almost came because I was so happy that I had finally mastered a part of Santiago only to almost have this happy feeling ripped out from under me. Since realizing that there's a student Tarjeta de Bip (ie Smartrip/metrocard) discount, I've been so fed up with paying the normal 400 pesos (this is actually only like 75 cents, but when you ride the metro at least twice a day - which I don't do in DC - it adds up). Anyways, ENOUGH I said to myself. So I went to see a lady in an office who Paola (our program director) told me to see. I was flat out rejected by this lady, who told me I first needed my Chilean ID that won't be coming until March 27. Back to Paola, who then consulted with a fellow office mate and realized that they could help me out and send my info to the government to receive the student discount. Great... Excellent... then they told me it would arrive in a month. A month? We're only here til June. Absolutely not. I had already been thinking about all the extra things I could buy with my extra 300 pesos for every ride (the student fare is 130 pesos)... more agua con gas, more rice cakes, more earrings! A month was an unacceptable amount of time I told myself. Then Paola's office mate (a woman of much knowledge whom I should probably pick apart one of these days and see what else I can get out of her) told me that I could get a temporary discount card. SIGN ME UP, I said.

Next, Paola sent me to a mysterious building with a looong line coming out the door. I waited for about ten minutes surrounded by girls wearing 80s jeans and boys with mullets (or chocopandas, as they're called here), and then I consulted someone who looked like she had authority who told me that I could go straight to an office in the building. There, I talked to a man named Charles who asked me why I only had one appellido (or last name) before entering my info into his computer. He asked me if I was Italian.. I wish. Then, after about 15 minutes of waiting, Charles handed me a printed piece of paper to take to the Metro. I was feeling really good at this point (holy crap, I figured something out without speaking English).

Once I was at the Metro cashier, I handed them the paper and realized I had NO idea what this temporary metro discount was. The girl behind the counter looked just as confused as me and failed (shockingly) to understand my broken spanish. I became very distressed at not being able to communicate with her, since even I had no idea what I was looking for. I could feel that pain that comes near your eyes just before you start to cry. Was I really about to break down in the Metro Station? God I hope not. Just then, the Chielan girl behind me started explaining to me in English what the cashier was trying to say and she told the cashier what I was trying to do (MIRACLE). I walked away with metro tickets (that I have to buy each day) but that only cost 130 pesos! Hooooray! I felt so rich that I went back and got a juice box in the cafeteria before politics class!

I love Chile!

Soy un desastre total.

Today I....

-broke a glass plate all over the kitchen floor, causing Cecilia to sweep and mop
-dropped my mascara in the toilet, causing me to have to put my hand in the toilet
-spilled cooked small pieces of carrots and zucchini all over the same kitchen floor, causing Cecilia to sweep and mop AGAIN

It's only 8:48 pm and the Chilean days are looong so who knows what else I could mess up.

In other news, tonight Chilean time moves back an hour so by tomorrow, we'll be the same time as US Eastern Standard time!

No pasa nada!

This is the most relaxed place I've ever been. In the first couple weeks I was here, I really didn't know what to do with myself... I was so used to having endlessly busy days in DC and here I found myself with so much free time and so much day light. It's like, time just passes and I shouldn't be concerned that I haven't accomplished anything meaningful. Daily trips to Jumbo just to walk around? Four hour naps? Relaxing by the pool on top of my friend's building?

I've since realized that it's not just me... Chileans are just in a constant state of relaxation. Although it originally concerned me a little, I'm now embracing the extra time (more opportunities to walk, listen to Taylor Swift, etc).

Tonight we had a group dinner in Providencia. At a steakhouse. Yum.
After the appetizers and salad were served, the waiter came to remove my salad and placed another, larger, and more intense (avocado, hearts of palm, artichokes) salad in front of me. I did NOT complain. I never say no to vegetables.

Tomorrow is Sarah's (the chica living next door) birthday. Despite several attempts, I have yet to really succeed with the whole idea of Chilean nightlife. I've been maxing out at 3am at the latest, but my plan for tomorrow is to be prepared with some extra hours of sleep because Sarah has rented out a bar/club and I need to bring my A game in terms of staying awake. With that said, goodnight!

PS- I'm not going to pretend like I follow AU sports or anything, but tonight we made it into the NCAA tournament. I think this means that boys will actually start applying to American ... just want to put that out there.

Valpo, Vina, and Very cute children!

Hey alll! It's been far too long and the longer I wait to post, the less manageable it is. Last weekend the group went to Valparaiso & Vina del Mar for some culture and THE BEACH.

Okay, Valpo first... In the span of just a two hour walking tour, all 20 girls on the program fell in love with our guide. I'm blanking on his name, but I think it might have been Daniel, so we'll just stick with that. Valpo is the most wildly planned (or perhaps unplanned) city I've ever seen. The downtown flat section called "El Plan" is alright, but the "cerros" or hills are are experience! Winding "roads", graffiti, and the craziest wild streets dogs I've experienced yet don't even begin to describe the experience. Here is a picture of Daniel perched on the side of a burned "house" in the cerros. He explained that since there aren't a lot of roads for firetrucks, fires are often unstoppable and structures like this are deserted. Valpo also has more than 10 "ascensores" for lazy people (we took two up the hill rather than walking... it was wonderful). Mom- you will either love these ascensores or be terrified of them. I cannot decide.















Since Valparaiso isn't all that fun or safe at night, our group stayed in Vina del Mar, a fun beach town about 15 minutes away. The program paid for our first night at the Best Western and then the second night, we all decided to reject the nearby hostels and splurge for another night at the good old BW. The complimentary breakfast itself was worth the extra money, but the people behind the desk were just so darn friendly too. Speaking of friendly and helpful... the chilean cabineros (or police) deserve a little shout out in this entry! Within about 15 minutes of being on the beach in Vina in a group of about 15 girls, my friend Kristen's purse got swiped!
In America, I might report this incident, but I definitely wouldn't expect any sort of follow up or happy ending. With this in mind, I figured that the Chilean result would be the same or even more bleak. Regardless, I and another friend told a beach security guard who immediately called the police to come to the beach (while this was all happening, a Chilean girls purse also got stolen, and we didn't feel so stupid for being dumb gringas anymore). The police brought Kristen back to the hotel, and by the time that happened, some other cabineros had found the purse (minus a camera , pair of glasses, but still with all her cash/credit cards) and were on the phone with the hotel workers. She had the bag back by the end of the night and we all rejoiced. Hooray for cabineros! Anyways, the beach was otherwise great, and we had some fun nights out on the town (although it was hard to leave the hotel room with the Disney Channel in Spanish- my roommates seriously considered ditching the group dinner for High School Musical, as you can see in this foto).


Lastly, allow me to introduce you to the extended family, who I saw for the second time after getting back from this weekend trip. These are the three kids of Cecilia's oldest son- Cristobal, Ignasia, and Trini (short for Trinidad). Straight out of a pottery barn kids ad, aren't they? On this day, they were all trying to knock pecans out of the pecan tree that is apparently in the back yard... thus the stick.

















Hope everyone is doing well! Classes started this week, but it's been very relaxed since internships are still being planned and we have lots of free time. I'm trying to spend that time walking and getting to know Santiago on foot!

Mmm Galletas!

It was only a matter of time before my sweet tooth kicked in. Last night, Sara and I made cookies to bring to our last day of orientation. After Sara confessed that she never bakes, Mama Cecilia refused to leave the kitchen and pretty much did everything as we stood by reading the recipe. Unfortunately, chocolate chips are hard to come by in Chile, so we used M&Ms. Delish. We brought them into class and they were gone in 5 minutes.




















Today, for our last day of "cultural orientation," a dude from a Chilean hip-hop group called Legua York came in to talk. He was really friendly and talked about the work his band does with Chilean children in the "leguas" or ghettos to combat drug use. They also paint mural and spray paint with the children in the communities (he talked about the legality of that but I zoned out and couldn't figure out what he said).

Tomorrow are interviews with the program directors as the first step in our internship search. I'm also definitely going back to the farmers market- I'm completely out of beets, carrots, melon... all the essentials.

Thursday we head to Valparaiso and then this weekend the beach at Vina del Mar! Enjoy that snow up in DC/NY!

Happy Birthday Dan and Shokitty!

Culture and PRODUCE

Ok, so get ready for a new and improved (and somewhat more intellectual) blog with PICTURES!! Hopefully! Also, I'm going to start writing more if I can, because I'm already forgetting all the cool things I want to say! Also, the end of this post is the best, so if you're short on time, just skip down a little.

In terms of school, we're smack dab in the middle of our two week orientation right now, which consists of FOUR HOUR spanish classes in the morning (sort of excited for that to be over), a 1.5 hour break for lunch, and a two hour Chilean culture class (more like, telling us what we can do during "el carrete" or the Chilean nightlife) in the afternoon. With the commute being about an hour each way to school, it's a long day. I think we're all anxious for classes/internships to start and be in a more diverse routine.

As part of orientation, we've had some time to go check out the touristy sites a little bit (although, tomorrow we're going on a BUS TOUR of Santiago, and I'm really hoping it will be one of those double decker buses that are in every other city!). My small group was assigned to present on a museum right on the Plaza de Armas where a friendly security guard followed (stalked?) us all the way through and answered our questions and told us about all the U.S. hockey teams he loves (LK, if you're reading this, I asked him about the Sharks, and he said they're not his favorite but he has their jersey!). We also went to La Moneda, where President Michelle Bachelet works (it's sort of like the White House, except that she doesn't live there and you can actually stand near it and (gasp...) go inside! We visited a Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera exhibit and then our program leaders gave us free Coca Cola Lite (far superior to Diet Coke)!

We've also visited two of the highest points in the city - Cerro Santa Lucia and Cerro San Cristobal - both with spectacular views and lots of tourists. And check out the SMOG!















Okay, THIS is the part we've all been waiting for. Yesterday was arguably the best day of my life. Cecilia took me to una feria, or a farmers' market. When I asked her whether the produce was all local or not, at first said no. I was a bit dismayed, but then she said, "Well, the farmer's are from outside of Santiago." Clearly, we have different definitions of "local" and I was once again chipper. So, Cecilia and her amiga Anna Maria and I walked about 1/4 mile (sorry, I know the metric system makes a hundred times more sense, but I haven't picked it up yet) to the market, where I found myself in heaven. The pictures speak for themselves, except I should point out that, while Cecilia would probably point her finger at me for being the reason that we bought so much, she was totally on a mission the second we got there. She and Anna Maria were clearly expert produce shoppers and I can only hope to develop these same skills some day. The random man in the picture is a farmer who was really enthused about me being from the U.S. (I couldn't hide it). He gave me a free strawberry! When we got home, I asked Cecilia if I could lay out our purchases on her dining room table, and she laughed at me, her produce-obsessed gringa. What we bought probably cost in total about $10-$15. Apparently that's expensive compared to a year ago, but I could only tune out complaints about the prices. This was paradise. The best news is, it's every Wednesday AND Saturday! Enjoy...