¡HOLA de CHILE!

I decided to start this blog for a few different reasons: Primero, it will help me remember what I have been doing on my year long vacation ;) Segundo, it is an easy way for everyone to keep updated as to what I am up to. I have been lucky in my life to have traveled extensively and I have been to a lot of cool places, but I would have to say that Chile is absolutely amazing and I have only been here for three days. My trip down here went really well. Sitting at the airport in Toronto was a bit brutal, but I have to say I did feel pretty cool sitting at a gate waiting for a plane heading to Santiago de Chile. One of my reasons for choosing Chile is because they speak Spanish, and I decided from the time I boarded the plane I was a Spanish speaker, which meant that on the plane I asked for 'pollo' instead of chicken, 'vino tinto' instead of red wine, and said 'gracias' instead of thank you. I got a really good vibe from the people on the plane, most of them Chileans (I assume) - many smiled at me because they could probably tell I was from somewhere other than Chile. When I got to Santiago, however, I did get a little anxious because I kept thinking, "holy shit, I'm actually here." My attempt at being a Spanish speaker immediately failed because when I was going through Aduanas (customs), the woman was asking me something and I had NO CLUE what she was saying; she repeated herself a couple times after my confused pleas of "que" y "como" - finally she screamed at me, annoyed, in English, "DO YOU HAVE ANY RAW FRUITS OR VEGETABLES IN YOUR BAGS?" Yeah, that was a nice greeting. But then I told her that I was trying to practice my Spanish and she was cool. But man, I was like, settle down there a bit María. Haha. Oscar, mi primo chileno (Chilean cousin), picked me up from the airport and took me back to his apartment, where I will be staying for the first 12 days or so before I start my training. For those of you who do not know, I have family in Santiago. When my mom was younger (I think it was in '62), my grandparents had an AFS student from Chile se llama Oscar. Our families have kept in touch over the years and Oscar's three sons, Oscar, Javier, y Ignacio, and his wife Irene, are all in Santiago. I have been treated very well and it is an absolutely great situation for me. Oscar lives in a really nice part of the city called Providencia, which is an upper-middle class part of this city of 6-7 million people. The views are absolutely brilliant, although you can't see many of the mountains (los Andes) because of the smog. I did get a small glimpse of them once and they are MASSIVE - it's so crazy because you have this huge city surrounded by very large mountains. It is ridiculously hot here during the day (upper 80s, lower 90s) but it is perfect at night (50s and 60s). I generally don't like the heat but all you Sconnies are probably reading so I won't bitch about it, haha. Irene prepared a really nice lunch for us and then Oscar went back to work, so Irene and I had a nice conversation in Spanish. They have to speak pretty slow to me here right now for me to fully understand but I am getting a lot better already. Everyone that I have talked to thus far has told me that I speak really good Spanish, which I think I do, so I don't think they are not just telling me that to make me feel better. After a lay by the pool and a nice nap, Javier came over and Oscar, Javier, Irene and I went out to a section of the city called Barrio Bellavista, where there are lots of bars, clubs, and restaurants. It is really fricken amazing. We went to three different bars, one of which there was live music, first one with more of a political tone and then another that played more classic Chilean songs that everyone knew and was singing along to. We were out until 4am, which I think is even pretty early for Santiago nightlife. One thing that I've noticed is that for me, it always seems earlier than it is because people do things so late here. Por lo general, people won't go out to dinner until at least 9 or 10 (21:00 or 22:00) here, and don't go out to the bars until at least midnight. It's pretty crazy but it's totally my style. Saturday, we woke up and headed to the Viña del Mar and Valparaíso area, which is about a 1.5 hr. drive from Santiago. This is an area of probably 700 or 800 thousand people on the coast. We stopped in a coastal town called Con-con for lunch at a really cool place with an awesome view of the sea and town. One of my new favorite foods is macha a la parmesana - macha are kind of like clams, baked with parmesan and other cheeses on top. Absolutely delicious. I had corvina (sea bass) which was delicious but huge - I still have some left. After lunch we headed to Viña del Mar, a beautiful city on the coast that boasts a really awesome and hip beach called Reñaca. There were TONS of people there because it is summer here and the kids are not in school, and many people take their holiday around this time. We stayed at an apartment of Irene's sobrina (niece) which was cool. Then, we went to un juego de fútbol, which was a really crazy experience because they are crazy about their fútbol down here. People screaming and yelling and cheering and pounding drums 'DALE DALE DALE DALE DALE DALE ROJOOO' (DALE is pronounced dollay dollay...) was my favorite cheer that was stuck in my head after. We then headed to Valparaíso and went to this really old bar where they play live music. It was absolutely AMAZING and we were out until...ahh yea 6am. Today (Sunday), after sleeping until 3pm, we explored more of Valparaíso which might be the coolest city that I have ever seen in my life. It is like San Francisco on crack. The city is built on hills, so people don't distinguish where they live by neighborhoods but by cerros (hills). Crazy steep streets, beautiful colors and murals, stray dogs everywhere, great smells and sights, people selling paintings and other crafts - absolutely brilliant. There are many elevators (I can't remember the English name for the word) that take you from one place to another because it is so steep. I can't wait to go back and explore more of that place. I'm back in Santiago now, and am looking forward to exploring this city because I really haven't seen much of it yet on foot (only by car). I am going to figure out how to use the metro system and go take a look at the city center, where I will be living in a week and a half. I also want to check out my training center and see how long it is going to take me to get from the city center to Av Los Leones, where I will have my training. I will try to keep this updated as much as possible so check in often! Also, I have many pictures and videos of all this stuff I have been talking about but my camera is dead and I am a bit tired so check back soon for those. This place is absolutely amazing already and if any of you get the chance you should come down and see for yourself - you have a place to stay! Chileans seem like generous, friendly, and warm people, which is great. Hope all is well and I will update soon! Cheeeeeaas

SOME RANDOM NOTES
-Chilean Spanish is way way different. They do not pronunciate their 's' or 'd'. For example, instead of saying '¿como estás?' you say '¿como estai?', 'gracias' is 'gracia', and pescado (fish) is more like 'pecao' (prounouced PAY-COW). It is really crazy but I am getting used to it, and it's fun too!

-They have these funny people who are totally useless but try to help guide you to park your car on the streets. They do this on their own and expect that you tip them, which is funny because they are not imperative for parking. They are also very serious. They also have street performers who do silly things like juggle and roll balls around on their heads at red lights. Very amusing.

-THE MULLET IS IN IN CHILE. Seriously, young dudes around my age all have this mullet like haircut - short in front, longer in back. I might consider that the next time I need a haircut.

Pics and Vids soon!