¡Hola a todos! Wow, I realize that my general stagnant state throughout the last semester and holiday season came back to bite me pretty hard. On Monday, I walked around and explored Santiago Centro (downtown) and Barrio Bellavista for 6 HOURS, which consequently meant that I grew some major blisters on my feet and had some major lower back pain. I was walking around holding my back like a pregnant woman. But it's good for me, for sure. I have to admit I did not use the metro on Monday because I was still a little bit intimidated by the fact. Oscar's house really is not very close to the city center so I spent most of my day on foot. I saw where my new apartment will be (really cool place right across from this beautiful church) and walked around Plaza de Armas, which is like a big square right downtown that is pretty busy with vendors and the like. On my walk to Barrio Bellavista, I saw my first canchas de tenis (tennis courts) and I got a little excited because I saw they were clay courts, which the majority of them in Chile are. I have never played on clay before so I am pretty excited to start playing, but the problem is is that there are virtually no public courts in the city so I will have to pay to play, but whatever. Barrio Bellavista by day is much different than at night - wayyy quieter. On my way out of the Barrio this younger activist woman came up to me and started going off in Spanish and handed me some poem. I got from her that she was fighting for lowering the cost of university education in the city because a lot of people cannot afford it. And of course, she asked me for a donation, which of course, I did not give her any money because who knows what would happen to it. Just because I am more 'gringo' looking doesn't mean that I have tons of money to throw around. I am (Mom and Dad) trying to be a bit frugal here. On Monday night, I met Ignacio for the first time - we talked in Spanish for a long time, so that was pretty cool. I tend to stay up pretty late here, partly because I have nothing to wake up early for in the mornings and it is very hot so I have a hard time falling asleep (for those of you who know me well, you know this). On Tuesday, I ballsed up and used the Metro to meet Oscar at his office so we could go and buy me a cell phone. Using the Metro is ridiculously easy and I don't know why I was intimidated by it - everything is marked very well. You get a BIP! card and add credit to it, and then all you have to do is wave it in front of a little area and voila! you're in. I feel soooooooooo cool using the Metro, it's really fun, because basically I can go anywhere in the city that I want (or need) to now. I met Oscar at his LAN office (LAN is the national airline of Chile and one of the largest *and best, so I'm told* in Latin America) in Los Condes, a newer and more upscale section of Santiago. I must say, THANK GOD I had his help in getting a celular - seriously, the cell phone store that we went to was fricken nuts. There were people everywhere! It was two floors, and so crowded and that you had to go up to this kiosk and take a number, then this digital screen called off all the numbers and directed you to a certain station. I would have been annoyingly confused if I would have been on my own. We ended up going to a big department store in one of the malls near Oscar's office to get my phone - I got a phone with a chip in it to add minutes, which apparently you can go to any pharmacy or supermarket and do it very easily. For me, prepaid was the best way to go because I didn't want to pay for a plan monthly and not use the minutes, especially because I do not know many people here yet. After the purchase of the cell phone, I took the Metro back to Oscar's apartment. For those of you who know me, I take great pride in my ability to memorize maps and find my way around places without using a map. Believe it or not (lol), I did get lost on my way back this time. I was very confused, so I asked this younger couple what direction Av. Varas was. They were very kind and walked me to where I needed to go, and we talked in Spanish the whole way there. They asked me a lot of questions about myself and my time in Chile so far - it was really great. I finally made it back to Oscar's apartment, took in some sun, and then Ignacio came over to watch his favorite fútbol team play against an Argentinian team. We chatted (in Spanish) and had some beers. Today, I slept until about one o'cock (13:00) and then headed to the language center to ask them some questions about the program. I met one of the coordinators, who happens to be from Milwaukee and loved it so much here that she stayed, and she showed me around the school. She also handed me a flyer of a restaurant called California Cantita, which is run by 3 gringos from California. She said it is a really great place to go to meet other foreigners and get to get your burger (and RANCH DRESSING - LOL) fix. I will probably go there tomorrow night because they are having a benefit for the victims of the Haitian earthquake. Also, she informed me that I should really enjoy my weekend because once the program starts next Wednesday, I won't be doing much else because it is quite intensive :( :( That's okay, it's why I'm here after all! But speaking of earthquakes, upon my arrival, Oscar informed me that tremors and earthquakes are quite common in Santiago - every 3 months or so. I swear today I felt the ground shake left and right for about 10 seconds, but I'm not sure if it was something else, like a big truck underneath me or something. Nevertheless, I may have experienced my first earthquake today! It was actually kind of cool. But, unlike in Haiti, all the buildings are built with that in mind so they are topple-proof. I went up to Cerro Santa Lucía, a big rocky but green hill in the middle of the city. It was really beautiful and I got a great panoramic view of Santiago - I will post some pics soon. After this, and lots of sweat and panting, I once more headed to Santiago Centro to take a look around. I used the Metro that is closest to my new apartment, got some grub, and just hung out a bit. I also met a new Chilean bud, Richard. I asked him where a good place to eat was and he joined me and we hung out for awhile and had a good chat. We're gonna hang tomorrow after he gets off of work, which is cool because I'm starting to meet people now! I'm back now at the apartment and pretty tired, but looking forward to the weekend for sure! Hope this post finds everyone well (and not too cold) :)

SOME RANDOM THINGS...

-The money situation here is very strange but I am getting used to it. 500 pesos = 1 dollar. It seems like I am taking out soooo much money when I take out 100,000 pesos, but it is actually only $200 dollars. Very different but it's pretty fun to learn.

-When I see American things in Chile, the translations make me laugh soo hard. Yesterday I saw a big advertisement for a McChicken on a billboard, but instead of McChicken, it's McPollo. HAHAHAHAHA. Love it! Also, today I watched Rachael Ray cook some food, but her voice was dubbed over by a very Rachael Ray-esque Spanish speaking woman. Fricken hilarious.

-ATTENTION avocado/guacamole lovers!!!!! Palta (avocado) is virtually on/in everything here. Very delicious.

-Every time that I speak in Spanish, whether it be to ask for directions, add credit to my BIP! card, or grab a water (sin gas - without bubbles) from a convenience store, people are always very nice and smile at me because they can obviously tell I am not a native speaker. It makes me feel very welcome here in Chile. I'd like to end this post to let everyone know that this is extremely important for my comfort here. Next time that you encounter someone who is not a native English speaker in the States, do not scoff or laugh, but try and make them feel welcome; smile and ask them questions, help them out if you can. I could not imagine anything worse than being here and trying to speak my broken Spanish and have people laugh at me, make fun of me, or yell at me and tell me to go back where I came from. My experience thus far in Chile has really opened my eyes to this.

More pics to come!

Algunos fotos de mis primeras días

Valparaíso, the city on hills. So awesome.

Valparaíso - city of random corridors and beautiful murals

Oscar, Irene and I enjoying "churrillana" - french fries with meat on top - YUM

Mi nueva amiga chilena, Karla

View of part of Viña del Mar from Con-con. Valparaíso is then in the far distance. Really cool area of Chile.

Con-con, from the restaurant we ate at.

This is what I wake up to every morning. Providencia, from Oscar's apartment. ¡Que bueno!

¡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!