First of all, I would like to give mad props to anyone who has completed a semester abroad speaking spanish or any other language. I can say that this whole semester abroad will most likely be one of the most challenging things that I will do in my life. Not only is it interactive all day everyday, but in spanish!!! My brain is constantly working to translate english to spanish and hopefully as the days go on i will just start thinking in spanish instead of in english.
I met my host mom! She is soo lovely and free spirited! there are 5 children in the family but only 3 of them live in the house. the 2 oldest girls are off and married in Germany and Spain. So that leaves 3 sons left. We got to the school and immediately we were shuttled off the bus to go get our luggage and then when we got that, our host families found us. Mi madre, o Viviana es so energetic and loves life! We skyped with my mom and it was lovely.
opps gotta go. more later!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Santiago, Home to 6 million people!
So here I am in Santiago! 6 million people live here in this city, that is 1/3 of the Chilean population. It is definitely a different feel from Boston, the closest city I know. The streets are always packed with Chilenos and they are always cutting in and out of our group. One thing they really stressed here is the pick pocketing and how well the Chilenos are at it. Luckily it is not a violent country, or not as much as others, so pickpocketing is usually how they get their things, not so much robbery...although it does happen. not to scare any of you people back there in the US, but it is definitely something that everyone has been worried about. We grab on to our purses very tightly and ALWAYS IN FRONT! Hopefully nothing will happen to my camera!
Speaking of cameras, I never seem to have the right one. When we are going to a nice place that is secure, I usually forget to bring my good camera. Another thing that is sad about going to places alone without friends is that most of your pictures usually turn out to be of the scenery and not of me enjoying myself..which I have been!
Santiago is definitely different from where I am going to be living for the semester. This city has smog or "el smog" as they call it. I'm looking forward to getting to the water and having the temperature drop a little bit! It has been 80s most days. Chilly in the morning and then it warms up in the afternoon. For all of you that are wondering... I have yet to burn!! Every morning when i get out of the shower i lather up SPF 50 to make sure that I will not burn!!
It is so hard to put everything that I have done in the few days that I have been here in a blog post... but i will try to point out some of the most exciting things!
Today (saturday...wow. this week went by so quickly!) we started with an orientation meeting. These are really long and last about an hour and a half, although I love my director Lizette, and she is very easy to listen to. After our meeting we went to a vinery. The only traditional winery in that it has stayed in the family and has never left. I tried a white wine and a red wine. I normally am not a fan of wine, so I was excited to see if I would like any of their options. Unfortunately, I still do not LOVE the taste of wine, although I think with time here I will acquire a taste for it. I forget who told me but someone said that if you try something 11 times then you will end up liking it just because your taste buds get used to it. Im hoping this is the case because I would really love to enjoy wine!
After the winery we went to Pablo Neruda's house. For those of you who don't know Pablo is an author of poems mostly and has won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was a communist and was starting to run in the election with Salvador Allende, but eventually dropped out and let Allende continue. The house that we visitied in Santiago today was one of 3. This house was built for his secret mistress. Neruda liked the sea and so his house was sort of like a ship. Very low ceilings and lots of boat features. My favorite part about the house was a painting done by the husband of Freida Kahlo, Diego Rivera. He wanted to paint a picture of Pablo and his mistress. Since this was a secret love affair, Pablo wouldn't allow that. So instead Rivera painted a picture of the mistress with 2 heads. In the hair of one of the heads if you look closely you can see the profile of Pablo Neruda. very tricky no?!
I'm sorry this post was so long, I will try to do it daily although it is tricky with this wireless connection that is not always working properly. Tomorrow i meet my host family which i am very excited and nervous about!! I hope that they are loving and accepting of my spanish abilites, which I hope will improve as my days go on! Right now in Santiago trying to meet new friends, English has been the prominent language. As soon as we head over to Valpo and Viña though, everything is about to change. Español siempre!
Chao for now!
Speaking of cameras, I never seem to have the right one. When we are going to a nice place that is secure, I usually forget to bring my good camera. Another thing that is sad about going to places alone without friends is that most of your pictures usually turn out to be of the scenery and not of me enjoying myself..which I have been!
Santiago is definitely different from where I am going to be living for the semester. This city has smog or "el smog" as they call it. I'm looking forward to getting to the water and having the temperature drop a little bit! It has been 80s most days. Chilly in the morning and then it warms up in the afternoon. For all of you that are wondering... I have yet to burn!! Every morning when i get out of the shower i lather up SPF 50 to make sure that I will not burn!!
It is so hard to put everything that I have done in the few days that I have been here in a blog post... but i will try to point out some of the most exciting things!
Today (saturday...wow. this week went by so quickly!) we started with an orientation meeting. These are really long and last about an hour and a half, although I love my director Lizette, and she is very easy to listen to. After our meeting we went to a vinery. The only traditional winery in that it has stayed in the family and has never left. I tried a white wine and a red wine. I normally am not a fan of wine, so I was excited to see if I would like any of their options. Unfortunately, I still do not LOVE the taste of wine, although I think with time here I will acquire a taste for it. I forget who told me but someone said that if you try something 11 times then you will end up liking it just because your taste buds get used to it. Im hoping this is the case because I would really love to enjoy wine!
After the winery we went to Pablo Neruda's house. For those of you who don't know Pablo is an author of poems mostly and has won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was a communist and was starting to run in the election with Salvador Allende, but eventually dropped out and let Allende continue. The house that we visitied in Santiago today was one of 3. This house was built for his secret mistress. Neruda liked the sea and so his house was sort of like a ship. Very low ceilings and lots of boat features. My favorite part about the house was a painting done by the husband of Freida Kahlo, Diego Rivera. He wanted to paint a picture of Pablo and his mistress. Since this was a secret love affair, Pablo wouldn't allow that. So instead Rivera painted a picture of the mistress with 2 heads. In the hair of one of the heads if you look closely you can see the profile of Pablo Neruda. very tricky no?!
I'm sorry this post was so long, I will try to do it daily although it is tricky with this wireless connection that is not always working properly. Tomorrow i meet my host family which i am very excited and nervous about!! I hope that they are loving and accepting of my spanish abilites, which I hope will improve as my days go on! Right now in Santiago trying to meet new friends, English has been the prominent language. As soon as we head over to Valpo and Viña though, everything is about to change. Español siempre!
Chao for now!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
I made it!
So I made it here alive! It was definitely a long trip! I started out with my first flight from Boston to Dallas, TX which took about 4 hours. I landed in Dallas and barely had any time to make my connecting flight. I hopped on the Tran which brought me around the airport, made it to the bathroom, and then I heard....LAST CALL.
I was starving, and I wanted food! But that wasn't going to happen, so I jumped right in line and got on my next flight. Less than 20 minutes on solid ground. woah! I still feel like I am on a plane. I got to my seat on my second flight. Dallas, TX to Santiago de Chile. 10 hours! I was sitting next to a college aged girl and found out that was part of the IES program in Santiago. She was arriving a couple of days ahead of time and her game plan; take a taxi to her house and hope that her host family would be there! Food, I was dying! I hadn't eaten since 3 and it was getting close to 10pm. The flight attendant rolled the food past me and I caught a wiff. At that point, I wanted to eat anything. Yes even the gross airplane food. The flight was all right, I took some nyquil and was in and out of sleep for the majority of the time. Woke up in time for breakfast, and then we were almost arriving!
I am glad that I got off the plane, went through Immigration and Customs and right there was an ISA sign with lovely Lizette (our program manager). We were one of the last flights to arrive so that meant only a few minutes wait until we were picked up by a nice luxury bus! we were told not to get used to this!
Packed day, we got to our hotel. Changed and brushed our teeth. Oh and I have 3 roommates for our time here in Santiago, Redyn, Holly, and Jacquline. The plan is to be here until Sunday, and then we head to VALPO!
We did so much today, had a brief hola meeting and met our jefa (boss). basically Holly from our group has been here since the beginning of February. It is her job to make sure that we are all up on time. I dont know how well i will be sleeping the first night here, so I think i'll be up on time anyways.
We went to Cerro San Cristobal. The virgin mary on top of a hilltop. Very intense. Just an update. More to come.
I was starving, and I wanted food! But that wasn't going to happen, so I jumped right in line and got on my next flight. Less than 20 minutes on solid ground. woah! I still feel like I am on a plane. I got to my seat on my second flight. Dallas, TX to Santiago de Chile. 10 hours! I was sitting next to a college aged girl and found out that was part of the IES program in Santiago. She was arriving a couple of days ahead of time and her game plan; take a taxi to her house and hope that her host family would be there! Food, I was dying! I hadn't eaten since 3 and it was getting close to 10pm. The flight attendant rolled the food past me and I caught a wiff. At that point, I wanted to eat anything. Yes even the gross airplane food. The flight was all right, I took some nyquil and was in and out of sleep for the majority of the time. Woke up in time for breakfast, and then we were almost arriving!
I am glad that I got off the plane, went through Immigration and Customs and right there was an ISA sign with lovely Lizette (our program manager). We were one of the last flights to arrive so that meant only a few minutes wait until we were picked up by a nice luxury bus! we were told not to get used to this!
Packed day, we got to our hotel. Changed and brushed our teeth. Oh and I have 3 roommates for our time here in Santiago, Redyn, Holly, and Jacquline. The plan is to be here until Sunday, and then we head to VALPO!
We did so much today, had a brief hola meeting and met our jefa (boss). basically Holly from our group has been here since the beginning of February. It is her job to make sure that we are all up on time. I dont know how well i will be sleeping the first night here, so I think i'll be up on time anyways.
We went to Cerro San Cristobal. The virgin mary on top of a hilltop. Very intense. Just an update. More to come.
Monday, February 14, 2011
4 shots later.
Went in to the travel clinic today...ouchies! 4 shots!! The nurse was nice enough to split them up, so now I have 2 in each arm. They aren't that painful yet but I have a feeling as the day goes on it is going to increase. 9 days until I start my journey. Although, I'd say I have already started because all of the preparation that goes into a trip like this....it is never ending! I am looking forward to relaxing with my doggie, celebrating my mom's birthday, and enjoying the snow before I head to warm Chile!
Only thing that I have left to do is pack and say "see ya later"!
Only thing that I have left to do is pack and say "see ya later"!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
SNOW.
The snow has absolutely been crazy this year! They even had snow days in Texas...really?! So...this is what my backyard looked like after the 3 snow storms that happened within a week. I cannot wait to get to Chile and enjoy the nice warm sun!! My parentals will be looking at this while I am on the beach getting burnt :)
Keep in mind that the snow is basically up to the top of the fence....and that fence comes up to about my ribs. I'd say thats at least 4 feet of snow!
Keep in mind that the snow is basically up to the top of the fence....and that fence comes up to about my ribs. I'd say thats at least 4 feet of snow!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Success. I got my visa!
After much frustration and worry, I got my Visa! I thought I was going to have to change flights and a whole bunch of other stuff, but I don't! What a weight lifted off of my shoulders. It happened last saturday 1/29 at the Honorary Consulate of Chile in Brighton, MA. Mom offered to come along, which I was very thankful for. Lots of one way streets and after some wondering, we found it. This did not look like a legit consulate. We walked into the basement of some house in a tight residential area. I was helped by 2, 85 year old men who we thought to be brothers. Paul and Phillip. Things went pretty smoothly. All papers copied and submitted. I was about to walk out the door when my mom asked "Can I get a picture?" Of course she would ask this. So I slunk next to Paul and we stood there awkwardly while my mom pulled out her Iphone and got the camera ready. After viewing, I approved the photo even though it was blurry. I was NOT going to ask for another one. Then we left! Passport stamped and ready for Chile. Here is the picture. So you all get the idea of what it was like ha.
Hola Followers.
Hi! So, I am getting ready to head off to Chile this month. Feb. 23rd to be exact. I wanted to have a blog so I can share pictures and stories with any one who wants to hear them! I chose blogger so that you could comment without needing an account. Hopefully I will be able to update it as much as possible while abroad. I hope you enjoy :)
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