Things I will miss about Chile:
1. Being able to go anywhere I want for less than $1 on the Metro.
2. $290 peso conos.
3. Hearing Spanish on the streets.
4. Chilean Spanish accents.
5. Echaurren 44 lunch restaurant.
6. Very good, very small biology classes with amazing teachers.
7. Kichan >.>
8. Party nights that start at 12 and end at 6.
9. Having a group of people to go to a bar with.
10. Seeing the Andes in the spaces between the skyscrapers.
11. Nuts 4 Nuts.
12. Constitucion.
13. Walking around downtown.
14. Walking around at night or on Sunday afternoon when it's quiet and there's no one on the street.
15. How nice everyone is here.
Things I will not miss about Chile:
1. Lack of heat - indoors, outdoors, and water =(
2. Lack of stable internet.
3. Dirty air and resulting sore throat / headaches.
4. Mayonnaise.
I guess the balance of the two lists shows how I feel about going home. I love Santiago, and Chile in general. I want to go back to every place I've visited while here, and there's more parts of the country that I still want to see. This trip has also made me want to travel more to other countries or parts of the US that I still haven't been. I may have even found some travel companions for some of these adventures, so we'll just have to see what the future brings in that respect. The only sure things I know are that I am taking more Spanish classes over the next few years, and trying to be more adventurous about food and going out even when I'm back at home.
Last night was a really good night. We had a fancy farewell dinner that involved many seafood-related apetizers and empanadas. I had Chilean sea bass with crab sauce as a main dish, and a giant pyramid of solid chocolate for dessert. We were at the restaurant for about 3 hours, and people were taking pictures literally the entire time. It was a really friendly-feeling evening; as much as people complained about the group as a whole, or certain people, we all really came together in a friendly way to enjoy the last night here. I didn't bring my camera but I should be able to steal a sufficient number of photos from peoples' facebooks to add to my trip album. I will try to get a final batch of pictures up sometime in the next few days, so look for my updated album in a little while.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
4th Week - Museums, Italian restaurant discoveries, failed and successful attempts at going out, Valparaiso, Winery tour
I can't believe I'm just beginning my last week here in Chile. It's actually less than a week since my plane leaves at 9:00 pm on Friday. The next few days are going to be taken up with studying for finals, and then we will have a day or two to enjoy the city and hang out before heading back. Although it has only been 5 weeks, I feel like I have experienced a lot of Santiago and other parts of Chile, and I can only think a few things I kind of wish I could have done but didn't.
Anyway, time to recap the week that just passed. We went to the Museo de Bellas Artes on Wednesday, which was nice but a little disappointing. Honestly, Santiago does not deliver in the museum department. The Pre-Columbian museum was small and uninteresting, the Rapa Nui museum from Tuesday was ok, and the Bellas Artes was small and really kind of strange. Next year is Santiago's bicentennial, so there was a big exhibit in the museum with art depicting the last century of Chile's history. Either Chile has a very depressing and violent history, or the artists in the exhibit were just depressed and violent, but either way I didn't find most of the art very appealing. Actually the best part of the Bellas Artes were the statues in the entry square. The sculptures reminded me of the Rodin exhibit I saw in San Francisco a little while ago. There were also some modern sculptures, including one made of metal which I really liked. Too bad we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum.
Thursday was a hangout day with the major effort being planning and executing dinner for 31 people at a Mexican restaurant. It was actually the same restaurant that I went to with all the drunk people a couple weeks ago. So I was excited for a repeat of good food but not so much for a repeat of escorting people home on the metro. Fortunately when we went over to make the reservations, Cristhian told the owners that we wanted a couple small tables instead of one large group table, and that really made the evening not terrible in the end. That way, the people doing tequila shots and being ridiculous could stay at their tables, and the people enjoying food and conversation could be elsewhere. Anyway, the chicken tacos were even better than the refried bean tacos, so I was a happy camper that night. Thursday was also supposed to be a night for going out, but all of Cristhian's friends were busy, and the travel group's momentum was killed when we went back to the hotel after dinner instead of just staying out. A small group went out to the salsa club around 1 or 2 in the morning, but by that time I was too sleepy and just stayed home.
Friday was another fun day. On Wednesday, we discovered a really good Italian restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. Whoever owns the restaurant had the brilliant idea of having Happy Hour food in addition to half-priced drinks, so I got a giant plate of spaghetti for only 1800 pesos (like $3.50). Anyway, Desiree and Trisha and I liked it so much we went back again on Friday and I got some really good ravioli. The food in general is not that good in Chile, so it was nice to find something affordable that also tasted nice. After dinner we hung around for a while before going out to a bar around 12. The plan was to just have some drinks and come back around1:30 or 2, since we had to get up early to go to Valparaiso the next day. It didn't quite happen that way though, since a couple people decided they wanted to go to a dance club after the bar. It led to the entire group of like 15 people going to a club, and at the first one they wanted to charge us a lot of pesos for entry, so we had to take a taxi across town to a different club where we could get in for free. By the time we actually got there and got in it was 3. Long story short, everyone stayed up way too late so we were all half dead the next morning for our trip. But it was a fun evening nonethless.
The trip to Valparaiso was nice, although I wish I had been running on more than 3 hours of sleep. Our bus actually arrived at Vina del Mar, which is 10 minutes away from Valparaiso. We went down to the ocean and walked around there for a while, then we visited a couple parks and found food. I ate the second largest hamburger I've ever seen, with really good cheese on top. Anyway, I really liked Vina del Mar and would have enjoyed spending more of the day there but we went to Valparaiso around 3. In Valparaiso, we walked to the port where all the exportation happens. We took a little boat ride all around the harbor and saw trade and military ships as well as having a nice view of the city from a slight distance. After the boat ride, we basically just walked around for a while and then had dinner in a little restaurant. The only thing they served (to my knowledge anyway) was this dish called Chorillanas which is french fries with onions, meat, and scrambled eggs on top. This is a really good idea, and I can't believe it is not more popular in the States. Anyway, we ate huge amounts of that food and by that time we needed to go to the bus station and see about return trip tickets. So we walked to the bus station, through downtown where there were a lot of food and trinket stands and street performers. Basically, our whole trip was a lot of walking around and just seeing the city. A lot of people in the group really liked Valparaiso, but I think I like Santiago better. Valparaiso is more artistic and bohemian, but it also seems rougher and more expensive. It's a nice place to be a tourist but I wouldn't want to live or work there. So we got back to Santiago around 11, and I was all set to go to sleep but Cristhian's friend called to see if we wanted to come over and hang out. It sounded fun at the time, and Fernando and Herman were really nice and funny, but after about an hour my brain got too tired to keep up with the Spanish. They probably thought I was an idiot since I mostly just sat there with a confused look on my face, but at least I tried. If I want to have any hope of becoming more fluent I guess I am just going to have to keep trying to talk to people, or at least understand what they're talking about, even if it involves years of looking stupid in the process. Still, the most frustrating thing about being a Gringa here is that most people I've met probably think I am boring or stupid since I can't really talk that much. I feel like it makes a bad first impression, which I really hate. Even so, it was still another enjoyable evening.
So after another 3-hour night's sleep, we had a tour of the Vina Concha y Toro, a winery about an hour from Santiago. It was kind of cool to see the fields of grapes and all the barrels in the aging cellar; somewhat less cool to watch everyone drink their wine while fielding the same questions over and over again about why I didn't have a glass too. Honestly, I knew things would turn out that way, which is why I was sort of dreading the wine tour this whole time, but at least I got to see the place and Matt drank my wine so I could keep the souvenir wine glass =) After we got back from the winery, I went to lunch and had a truly good plate of chicken and rice for only $5, then I took a giant nap until 9:30 at night. I woke up and was social for a couple hours, then went back to sleep. I am still tired today too, so I think I need to catch up even more. It seems like I used to be able to sustain myself on only a few hours of sleep a night, but clearly I can't anymore. Maybe I am just getting old...
So that was last week in a nutshell. There's only a few days here, so I have to make sure I do my last few special things I want to do before leaving. So far the list only includes one more dinner at the Italian restaurant, getting a big ice cream cone at this special cafe downtown, and going for a walk on a particularly pretty and old-fashioned street that Cristhian wants to take me to tomorrow. And I have to study for finals, which are tomorrow and Wednesday. Someone decided it was a good idea to give all the little parts and spores of each type of fungus different names, and someone else decided it was a good idea to test us on this material, so I have my work cut out for me today and tomorrow. It will be worth it though when we are finally done with the class.
Look for an updated photo album sometime tomorrow; I don't think I will have time to upload photos from Valparaiso until I am done studying.
Anyway, time to recap the week that just passed. We went to the Museo de Bellas Artes on Wednesday, which was nice but a little disappointing. Honestly, Santiago does not deliver in the museum department. The Pre-Columbian museum was small and uninteresting, the Rapa Nui museum from Tuesday was ok, and the Bellas Artes was small and really kind of strange. Next year is Santiago's bicentennial, so there was a big exhibit in the museum with art depicting the last century of Chile's history. Either Chile has a very depressing and violent history, or the artists in the exhibit were just depressed and violent, but either way I didn't find most of the art very appealing. Actually the best part of the Bellas Artes were the statues in the entry square. The sculptures reminded me of the Rodin exhibit I saw in San Francisco a little while ago. There were also some modern sculptures, including one made of metal which I really liked. Too bad we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum.
Thursday was a hangout day with the major effort being planning and executing dinner for 31 people at a Mexican restaurant. It was actually the same restaurant that I went to with all the drunk people a couple weeks ago. So I was excited for a repeat of good food but not so much for a repeat of escorting people home on the metro. Fortunately when we went over to make the reservations, Cristhian told the owners that we wanted a couple small tables instead of one large group table, and that really made the evening not terrible in the end. That way, the people doing tequila shots and being ridiculous could stay at their tables, and the people enjoying food and conversation could be elsewhere. Anyway, the chicken tacos were even better than the refried bean tacos, so I was a happy camper that night. Thursday was also supposed to be a night for going out, but all of Cristhian's friends were busy, and the travel group's momentum was killed when we went back to the hotel after dinner instead of just staying out. A small group went out to the salsa club around 1 or 2 in the morning, but by that time I was too sleepy and just stayed home.
Friday was another fun day. On Wednesday, we discovered a really good Italian restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. Whoever owns the restaurant had the brilliant idea of having Happy Hour food in addition to half-priced drinks, so I got a giant plate of spaghetti for only 1800 pesos (like $3.50). Anyway, Desiree and Trisha and I liked it so much we went back again on Friday and I got some really good ravioli. The food in general is not that good in Chile, so it was nice to find something affordable that also tasted nice. After dinner we hung around for a while before going out to a bar around 12. The plan was to just have some drinks and come back around1:30 or 2, since we had to get up early to go to Valparaiso the next day. It didn't quite happen that way though, since a couple people decided they wanted to go to a dance club after the bar. It led to the entire group of like 15 people going to a club, and at the first one they wanted to charge us a lot of pesos for entry, so we had to take a taxi across town to a different club where we could get in for free. By the time we actually got there and got in it was 3. Long story short, everyone stayed up way too late so we were all half dead the next morning for our trip. But it was a fun evening nonethless.
The trip to Valparaiso was nice, although I wish I had been running on more than 3 hours of sleep. Our bus actually arrived at Vina del Mar, which is 10 minutes away from Valparaiso. We went down to the ocean and walked around there for a while, then we visited a couple parks and found food. I ate the second largest hamburger I've ever seen, with really good cheese on top. Anyway, I really liked Vina del Mar and would have enjoyed spending more of the day there but we went to Valparaiso around 3. In Valparaiso, we walked to the port where all the exportation happens. We took a little boat ride all around the harbor and saw trade and military ships as well as having a nice view of the city from a slight distance. After the boat ride, we basically just walked around for a while and then had dinner in a little restaurant. The only thing they served (to my knowledge anyway) was this dish called Chorillanas which is french fries with onions, meat, and scrambled eggs on top. This is a really good idea, and I can't believe it is not more popular in the States. Anyway, we ate huge amounts of that food and by that time we needed to go to the bus station and see about return trip tickets. So we walked to the bus station, through downtown where there were a lot of food and trinket stands and street performers. Basically, our whole trip was a lot of walking around and just seeing the city. A lot of people in the group really liked Valparaiso, but I think I like Santiago better. Valparaiso is more artistic and bohemian, but it also seems rougher and more expensive. It's a nice place to be a tourist but I wouldn't want to live or work there. So we got back to Santiago around 11, and I was all set to go to sleep but Cristhian's friend called to see if we wanted to come over and hang out. It sounded fun at the time, and Fernando and Herman were really nice and funny, but after about an hour my brain got too tired to keep up with the Spanish. They probably thought I was an idiot since I mostly just sat there with a confused look on my face, but at least I tried. If I want to have any hope of becoming more fluent I guess I am just going to have to keep trying to talk to people, or at least understand what they're talking about, even if it involves years of looking stupid in the process. Still, the most frustrating thing about being a Gringa here is that most people I've met probably think I am boring or stupid since I can't really talk that much. I feel like it makes a bad first impression, which I really hate. Even so, it was still another enjoyable evening.
So after another 3-hour night's sleep, we had a tour of the Vina Concha y Toro, a winery about an hour from Santiago. It was kind of cool to see the fields of grapes and all the barrels in the aging cellar; somewhat less cool to watch everyone drink their wine while fielding the same questions over and over again about why I didn't have a glass too. Honestly, I knew things would turn out that way, which is why I was sort of dreading the wine tour this whole time, but at least I got to see the place and Matt drank my wine so I could keep the souvenir wine glass =) After we got back from the winery, I went to lunch and had a truly good plate of chicken and rice for only $5, then I took a giant nap until 9:30 at night. I woke up and was social for a couple hours, then went back to sleep. I am still tired today too, so I think I need to catch up even more. It seems like I used to be able to sustain myself on only a few hours of sleep a night, but clearly I can't anymore. Maybe I am just getting old...
So that was last week in a nutshell. There's only a few days here, so I have to make sure I do my last few special things I want to do before leaving. So far the list only includes one more dinner at the Italian restaurant, getting a big ice cream cone at this special cafe downtown, and going for a walk on a particularly pretty and old-fashioned street that Cristhian wants to take me to tomorrow. And I have to study for finals, which are tomorrow and Wednesday. Someone decided it was a good idea to give all the little parts and spores of each type of fungus different names, and someone else decided it was a good idea to test us on this material, so I have my work cut out for me today and tomorrow. It will be worth it though when we are finally done with the class.
Look for an updated photo album sometime tomorrow; I don't think I will have time to upload photos from Valparaiso until I am done studying.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Pucon
Time to post about my active yet relaxing weekend in Pucon. Pucon is a woodsy tourist town, kind of like Lake Tahoe or Truckee, which is 9-10 hours away from Santiago. It's about 7 hours south of Santiago, and then a couple hours east. It was really really cold (like below freezing at night) but it was sunny and clear all the days we were there except Saturday. We left late Wednesday night and got there on Thursday morning. Thursday was spent getting settled in to our cabins and exploring the town. The cabins were nice, considering they were in the middle of the woods. Each cabin held 8 people in 3 rooms and a couch with a trundle bed, so we split up into small groups of whoever we wanted to live with for a couple days. One of the best things about Pucon was living with a small group, cooking together, trying to start a fire (our only source of heat...), hanging out in our little living room. Since we are living in a hotel in Santiago, we don't get to do the everyday household activities we are used to, and I think a lot of us were missing that.
Anyway, on Thursday, Desiree, Tricia and I went to the market and bought ridiculous amounts of food to cook for everyone that night. While the rest of the group walked all the way into town (our cabins were about a 45 min walk away from the actual town of Pucon) and planned out the activities for the weekend, the three of us came back and cooked spaghetti with meat sauce and vegetables. It worked out because we got to have a restful afternoon after the long and mostly sleepless bus ride the night before, and by the time everyone got back dinner was ready for them.
Since I didn't go with the giant group to sign up for Friday's outdoor activities, they took the liberty of putting me on the list for zip lining. I yelled a lot when they informed me of this, since I hadn't planned on swinging like a monkey 40 feet up in the air. I was kind of scared to go, but once I got up in the tree it wasn't scary at all. At least I wasn't in the 3rd group, who got started so late in the day that it was completely dark by the time they were done. Really though, I am glad people signed me up for that activity, since it was probably the most fun activity I did over the weekend. Another bonus was that the zip lining didn't start till 2:30 so I got to sleep in nice and late. After zip lining we came back and ate some leftover spaghetti and loafed around for a few hours. We eventually realized it was Friday night and we shouldn't waste it loafing about at home, so we took a taxi into town and went to a pub called Cypress. It was a cozy bar with a ski lodge sort of feel to it, with videos of snowboarding on a big screen on one wall and a DJ playing passable music all night. It was only the 4 of us who went - Desiree, Tricia, Cristhian and me - which was nice because we all fit in one taxi and we didn't have to take care of drunk little kids who can't handle their alcohol. That is one interesting thing I've learned on this trip, is that it's possible to have a nice quiet evening in a bar with a couple of friends. I'm not sure it would be the same in the States, but that's a pretty typical weekend-night activity for Chileans.
We didn't stay that late at the bar - only about 2 am, so we got up on Saturday with enough of the morning left to have a nice day in town before it started raining. Cristhian and I walked around Pucon exploring all the little touristy shops, parks, and the lake. It was freezing cold though, so before too long we found somewhere to eat lunch. I tried some Chilean clams called machas and had a pizza with cheese, olives, salami, and artichokes on it. Neither were things I would normally eat but they turned out to be really good. I guess Pucon was a good weekend for trying new things. Anyway, after lunch we went to the supermarket in town and got food and supplies for a barbeque. The barbeque ended up not happening exactly as planned because we couldn't get the stupid fire started outside on the grill. I have to say, I'm not sure how our ancestors survived the caveman days without charcoal and lighter fluid. After an hour we just gave up and cooked the hamburgers in a pan on the stove, and that worked out just fine. That night our whole group went to a natural hot springs up in the mountains. It was absolutely freezing outside of the springs, but inside it was nice and warm and very relaxing. I kind of wanted to go to bed after that but we couldn't waste a Saturday night so we went back to Cypress again. This time, about 20 other people came too, so we kind of took over a small section of the place and there was much drinking and dancing until 5 in the morning. Definitely not as cozy as the previous night, but still fun in its own way.
We slept in on Sunday until around 11:30, then went horseback riding at noon. We went in groups of 7-8 people because there weren't enough horses for everyone at once. Our group rode the horses along a road, then on a trail in the woods, then up a little mountain. We parked the horses by a stream and hiked a little ways into the woods where we came to a big waterfall. Everyone took pictures and then we hiked back up to the horses again and headed back down the mountain. My horse went insane on the way back down and kept bolting for no apparent reason. It seems that it also annoyed the other horses in the group, because one of them walked over to my horse and kicked it in the leg. It jumped around and ran away up the side of the trail and I almost fell off. So although I am still sore from all that nonsense 4 days later, it was still a fun trip and I would probably ride a horse again if I had the opportunity. Before leaving Pucon that night, we went back into town one last time for dinner. I ate the biggest hamburger I've ever seen in my whole life (yes, I ate the whole thing) and then went and waited for the bus to come. Our trip back to Santiago took 10 hours, and we arrived in the middle of subway rush hour about 30 minutes before we were supposed to be at school on Monday. It was a rushed and not very fun morning, but it was worth it because the weekend was so good.
On Monday we didn't do anything since everyone was still recovering from the weekend, but on Tuesday we went to the Polenesian Cultural Museum which is a few blocks from our hotel. It was pretty interesting, with lots of stuff to read about how the Easter Island and other Polenesian islands were settled and how the languages in that area mixed and developed. It was also a good challenge because there were no English translations on any of the exhibits. If only I could converse as well as I could read. I went to dinner last night at a popular soda fountain place that has sandwiches. Their claim to fame is their homemade mayonnaise, so I had to try it even though generally avoid mayonnaise whenever possible. I may have mentioned this before, but in Chile, mayo is not merely a sauce but is in fact a major food group in its own right. 99% of the time, this is most unfortunate, but even I have to admit that last night's mayo was pretty good.
Today we are going to the Museo de Bellas Artes, which judging by the name, is a fine arts museum. Hopefully it's a good one.
One last thing, I uploaded a lot of pictures from Pucon and Buenos Aires to my photo album, so if you want to see make sure to visit the link on the right side of this page. I don't think you can click on it and go there, but if you copy and paste into your browser it will take you there.
Anyway, on Thursday, Desiree, Tricia and I went to the market and bought ridiculous amounts of food to cook for everyone that night. While the rest of the group walked all the way into town (our cabins were about a 45 min walk away from the actual town of Pucon) and planned out the activities for the weekend, the three of us came back and cooked spaghetti with meat sauce and vegetables. It worked out because we got to have a restful afternoon after the long and mostly sleepless bus ride the night before, and by the time everyone got back dinner was ready for them.
Since I didn't go with the giant group to sign up for Friday's outdoor activities, they took the liberty of putting me on the list for zip lining. I yelled a lot when they informed me of this, since I hadn't planned on swinging like a monkey 40 feet up in the air. I was kind of scared to go, but once I got up in the tree it wasn't scary at all. At least I wasn't in the 3rd group, who got started so late in the day that it was completely dark by the time they were done. Really though, I am glad people signed me up for that activity, since it was probably the most fun activity I did over the weekend. Another bonus was that the zip lining didn't start till 2:30 so I got to sleep in nice and late. After zip lining we came back and ate some leftover spaghetti and loafed around for a few hours. We eventually realized it was Friday night and we shouldn't waste it loafing about at home, so we took a taxi into town and went to a pub called Cypress. It was a cozy bar with a ski lodge sort of feel to it, with videos of snowboarding on a big screen on one wall and a DJ playing passable music all night. It was only the 4 of us who went - Desiree, Tricia, Cristhian and me - which was nice because we all fit in one taxi and we didn't have to take care of drunk little kids who can't handle their alcohol. That is one interesting thing I've learned on this trip, is that it's possible to have a nice quiet evening in a bar with a couple of friends. I'm not sure it would be the same in the States, but that's a pretty typical weekend-night activity for Chileans.
We didn't stay that late at the bar - only about 2 am, so we got up on Saturday with enough of the morning left to have a nice day in town before it started raining. Cristhian and I walked around Pucon exploring all the little touristy shops, parks, and the lake. It was freezing cold though, so before too long we found somewhere to eat lunch. I tried some Chilean clams called machas and had a pizza with cheese, olives, salami, and artichokes on it. Neither were things I would normally eat but they turned out to be really good. I guess Pucon was a good weekend for trying new things. Anyway, after lunch we went to the supermarket in town and got food and supplies for a barbeque. The barbeque ended up not happening exactly as planned because we couldn't get the stupid fire started outside on the grill. I have to say, I'm not sure how our ancestors survived the caveman days without charcoal and lighter fluid. After an hour we just gave up and cooked the hamburgers in a pan on the stove, and that worked out just fine. That night our whole group went to a natural hot springs up in the mountains. It was absolutely freezing outside of the springs, but inside it was nice and warm and very relaxing. I kind of wanted to go to bed after that but we couldn't waste a Saturday night so we went back to Cypress again. This time, about 20 other people came too, so we kind of took over a small section of the place and there was much drinking and dancing until 5 in the morning. Definitely not as cozy as the previous night, but still fun in its own way.
We slept in on Sunday until around 11:30, then went horseback riding at noon. We went in groups of 7-8 people because there weren't enough horses for everyone at once. Our group rode the horses along a road, then on a trail in the woods, then up a little mountain. We parked the horses by a stream and hiked a little ways into the woods where we came to a big waterfall. Everyone took pictures and then we hiked back up to the horses again and headed back down the mountain. My horse went insane on the way back down and kept bolting for no apparent reason. It seems that it also annoyed the other horses in the group, because one of them walked over to my horse and kicked it in the leg. It jumped around and ran away up the side of the trail and I almost fell off. So although I am still sore from all that nonsense 4 days later, it was still a fun trip and I would probably ride a horse again if I had the opportunity. Before leaving Pucon that night, we went back into town one last time for dinner. I ate the biggest hamburger I've ever seen in my whole life (yes, I ate the whole thing) and then went and waited for the bus to come. Our trip back to Santiago took 10 hours, and we arrived in the middle of subway rush hour about 30 minutes before we were supposed to be at school on Monday. It was a rushed and not very fun morning, but it was worth it because the weekend was so good.
On Monday we didn't do anything since everyone was still recovering from the weekend, but on Tuesday we went to the Polenesian Cultural Museum which is a few blocks from our hotel. It was pretty interesting, with lots of stuff to read about how the Easter Island and other Polenesian islands were settled and how the languages in that area mixed and developed. It was also a good challenge because there were no English translations on any of the exhibits. If only I could converse as well as I could read. I went to dinner last night at a popular soda fountain place that has sandwiches. Their claim to fame is their homemade mayonnaise, so I had to try it even though generally avoid mayonnaise whenever possible. I may have mentioned this before, but in Chile, mayo is not merely a sauce but is in fact a major food group in its own right. 99% of the time, this is most unfortunate, but even I have to admit that last night's mayo was pretty good.
Today we are going to the Museo de Bellas Artes, which judging by the name, is a fine arts museum. Hopefully it's a good one.
One last thing, I uploaded a lot of pictures from Pucon and Buenos Aires to my photo album, so if you want to see make sure to visit the link on the right side of this page. I don't think you can click on it and go there, but if you copy and paste into your browser it will take you there.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Week 3 (long post)
Week 3 was pretty low-key during the week but we had a busy weekend so I guess it balances out. The program assistants have sort of run out of fun things to do with us, so we had a lot of free afternoons and time to study.
Monday was a trip to the major farmer's market here in Santiago. Apparently this is where the average person buys their fresh vegetables. Javier was telling us that farmers come every morning at like 4 AM to sell their fruits, vegetables, and meats to the vendors in the market so if you buy anything there you know that it came pretty much straight from the field or farm. I bought a gigantic pear which was really good, and a fruit smoothie that was also surprisingly good even though it contained banana.
On Tuesday everyone realized that we had a midterm in a week (it was today), so they went into study mode. I don't think I study as much as a lot of the other people on this trip, so I found myself with a bunch of free time. Since there weren't any activities planned with the program assistant guys, Cristhian and I went to his apartment and watched the final of the Chilean soccer tournament on TV. This was pretty much the equivalent of the Superbowl, and both teams were (I think) from Santiago. The teams were Union Espanola, who beat out U. Catolica at the game we went to see in person the week before; and U. de Chile who was the favorite to win. I was hoping that Espanola would win the final, because then I would know that at least U. Catolica got beaten by the best team in the league...but no such luck. Although, it's probably for the best since U. de Chile fans apparently become quite destructive when they do not win, and they are centered only one Metro stop from our hotel. As it was, the caravan of beeping cars and celebrating fans went on way into the night.
Wednesday afternoon was nice and lazy, but in the evening a group of 10 of us went out to get Mexican food. I do miss my frijoles, so that was some nice eats for me =) Unfortunately it was also happy hour, and some of the people I went with got a little too drunk for a public place (in my opinion). Obviously people are free to do what they want, and it doesn't usually phase me anymore when people drink but I was somewhat worried since we were attracting so much attention on the subway. But in the end we got home safely and without any pickpocketing (a minor miracle), so I can't complain much.
On Thursday we went to the Pre-Columbian art museum here, which is apparently quite famous. I wasn't horribly impressed, but maybe ancient art is just not my cup of tea. I don't know what I was expecting, but the exhibits were mostly just pottery and statues, etc. made out of stone. I will have to make time to hit up the Museo de Bellas Artes to see some less-old fine art. Some people in the group went out to a salsa club on Thursday night, but after the Mexican restaurant the night before, I felt like having a quiet night in.
We were supposed to see a concert on Friday, but for some reason it got cancelled. I was kind of bummed about that, but what can you do...Anyway, another small group ended up going out to eat at a Peruvian restaurant in the Manuel Montt area. This was a restaurant that a bunch of people went to while some of us were sick, so Cristhian wanted to take those who missed out last time. I had some really good lomo saltado, which is apparently a common Peruvian stir-fry dish. The meat was well-cooked and flavorful, which was a satisfying change from the bland Chilean food we generally get for lunch.
We got to sleep in (yay) on Saturday, and then had a barbeque in the public park in the afternoon. The park had a number of picnic areas set up with a covered table and a little grill for each area. We (well, by "we" I mean Javier, Cristhian, Matt, and Dianne) grilled chicken, chorizo, hot dogs, and meat/vegetable kabobs all afternoon. We kicked around a soccer ball while waiting for everything to get done, and made friends with a couple people who were eating at the tables next to us. All in all, it was a peaceful afternoon in a pretty park. There were lots of trees and a little river, and the Andes looked close enough that you could walk there. Clearly that's just an illusion because they are so large, but it made for a pretty sunset. On Saturday night, most people were studying so Cristhian and I went out to a bar where one of his friends from college was having a goodbye party. Apparently she was leaving for Austrailia the next day, so it was quite the big to-do. In the end there were about 14 people hanging out talking and having drinks. I tried to talk to some people, but mostly everyone spoke way too fast for me to follow what was going on. My conversational Spanish really is terrible; I am trying to improve it, and it certainly helps to hang out with a bunch of Chilean people, but I don't think I'll get significantly better by the time this program is over =(
Sunday was the day a lot of us had been waiting for - the ski trip to a resort in the Andes. We had to get up at an ungodly hour since the bus ride to the place took 2 hours. I was all set to learn to ski, or at least go down the hill a few times so I could say that I've been skiing in the Andes. Unfortunately, my knee dislocated on the stupid lift on the way up, so I never even got to go down the hill. I am a little upset about that, but I am not surprised it happened. Anyway, I've been trying to take it easy so I should be able to walk normally in a couple of days. As it was, I hung out with some of the less athlectically-inclined people in the lodge eating food and talking. I sat outside for a little while watching people go down the mountain, and it was fun to be in the snow again after so long in the desert. Overally, it was not a bad day, I was just hoping it would have turned out differently.
So that's Week 3 for you, nothing major but a lot of little fun stuff. This week is going to be 3 days of celebration followed by a long weekend in Pucon. We have a lot to celebrate right now since we just completed our midterm, today is Toan's birthday, and tomorrow is Sean's. Wednesday is the day the new Harry Potter movie comes out, and I know quite a few people (myself included) are going to try and go see it somewhere. I hope it is in English with subtitles, since I can't see that kind of movie lending itself well to a Spanish dub. I guess we'll find out when we get there. This weekend is a long national holiday so we are all heading to Pucon for some outdoor woodsy-nature-y recreation. I'm not sure why Pucon is the destination of choice since it is an 11-hour bus ride away, but I guess it is supposed to be a lot of fun. Maybe I will ride a horse again; I liked doing that at the ranch in Argentina.
Also a quick note - I am going to stop importing these posts to my Facebook, so you can use the "Follow" option on this page if you want to be notified when I've posted a new entry. You can also manually check the page; I will probably post next after the weekend in Pucon.
Monday was a trip to the major farmer's market here in Santiago. Apparently this is where the average person buys their fresh vegetables. Javier was telling us that farmers come every morning at like 4 AM to sell their fruits, vegetables, and meats to the vendors in the market so if you buy anything there you know that it came pretty much straight from the field or farm. I bought a gigantic pear which was really good, and a fruit smoothie that was also surprisingly good even though it contained banana.
On Tuesday everyone realized that we had a midterm in a week (it was today), so they went into study mode. I don't think I study as much as a lot of the other people on this trip, so I found myself with a bunch of free time. Since there weren't any activities planned with the program assistant guys, Cristhian and I went to his apartment and watched the final of the Chilean soccer tournament on TV. This was pretty much the equivalent of the Superbowl, and both teams were (I think) from Santiago. The teams were Union Espanola, who beat out U. Catolica at the game we went to see in person the week before; and U. de Chile who was the favorite to win. I was hoping that Espanola would win the final, because then I would know that at least U. Catolica got beaten by the best team in the league...but no such luck. Although, it's probably for the best since U. de Chile fans apparently become quite destructive when they do not win, and they are centered only one Metro stop from our hotel. As it was, the caravan of beeping cars and celebrating fans went on way into the night.
Wednesday afternoon was nice and lazy, but in the evening a group of 10 of us went out to get Mexican food. I do miss my frijoles, so that was some nice eats for me =) Unfortunately it was also happy hour, and some of the people I went with got a little too drunk for a public place (in my opinion). Obviously people are free to do what they want, and it doesn't usually phase me anymore when people drink but I was somewhat worried since we were attracting so much attention on the subway. But in the end we got home safely and without any pickpocketing (a minor miracle), so I can't complain much.
On Thursday we went to the Pre-Columbian art museum here, which is apparently quite famous. I wasn't horribly impressed, but maybe ancient art is just not my cup of tea. I don't know what I was expecting, but the exhibits were mostly just pottery and statues, etc. made out of stone. I will have to make time to hit up the Museo de Bellas Artes to see some less-old fine art. Some people in the group went out to a salsa club on Thursday night, but after the Mexican restaurant the night before, I felt like having a quiet night in.
We were supposed to see a concert on Friday, but for some reason it got cancelled. I was kind of bummed about that, but what can you do...Anyway, another small group ended up going out to eat at a Peruvian restaurant in the Manuel Montt area. This was a restaurant that a bunch of people went to while some of us were sick, so Cristhian wanted to take those who missed out last time. I had some really good lomo saltado, which is apparently a common Peruvian stir-fry dish. The meat was well-cooked and flavorful, which was a satisfying change from the bland Chilean food we generally get for lunch.
We got to sleep in (yay) on Saturday, and then had a barbeque in the public park in the afternoon. The park had a number of picnic areas set up with a covered table and a little grill for each area. We (well, by "we" I mean Javier, Cristhian, Matt, and Dianne) grilled chicken, chorizo, hot dogs, and meat/vegetable kabobs all afternoon. We kicked around a soccer ball while waiting for everything to get done, and made friends with a couple people who were eating at the tables next to us. All in all, it was a peaceful afternoon in a pretty park. There were lots of trees and a little river, and the Andes looked close enough that you could walk there. Clearly that's just an illusion because they are so large, but it made for a pretty sunset. On Saturday night, most people were studying so Cristhian and I went out to a bar where one of his friends from college was having a goodbye party. Apparently she was leaving for Austrailia the next day, so it was quite the big to-do. In the end there were about 14 people hanging out talking and having drinks. I tried to talk to some people, but mostly everyone spoke way too fast for me to follow what was going on. My conversational Spanish really is terrible; I am trying to improve it, and it certainly helps to hang out with a bunch of Chilean people, but I don't think I'll get significantly better by the time this program is over =(
Sunday was the day a lot of us had been waiting for - the ski trip to a resort in the Andes. We had to get up at an ungodly hour since the bus ride to the place took 2 hours. I was all set to learn to ski, or at least go down the hill a few times so I could say that I've been skiing in the Andes. Unfortunately, my knee dislocated on the stupid lift on the way up, so I never even got to go down the hill. I am a little upset about that, but I am not surprised it happened. Anyway, I've been trying to take it easy so I should be able to walk normally in a couple of days. As it was, I hung out with some of the less athlectically-inclined people in the lodge eating food and talking. I sat outside for a little while watching people go down the mountain, and it was fun to be in the snow again after so long in the desert. Overally, it was not a bad day, I was just hoping it would have turned out differently.
So that's Week 3 for you, nothing major but a lot of little fun stuff. This week is going to be 3 days of celebration followed by a long weekend in Pucon. We have a lot to celebrate right now since we just completed our midterm, today is Toan's birthday, and tomorrow is Sean's. Wednesday is the day the new Harry Potter movie comes out, and I know quite a few people (myself included) are going to try and go see it somewhere. I hope it is in English with subtitles, since I can't see that kind of movie lending itself well to a Spanish dub. I guess we'll find out when we get there. This weekend is a long national holiday so we are all heading to Pucon for some outdoor woodsy-nature-y recreation. I'm not sure why Pucon is the destination of choice since it is an 11-hour bus ride away, but I guess it is supposed to be a lot of fun. Maybe I will ride a horse again; I liked doing that at the ranch in Argentina.
Also a quick note - I am going to stop importing these posts to my Facebook, so you can use the "Follow" option on this page if you want to be notified when I've posted a new entry. You can also manually check the page; I will probably post next after the weekend in Pucon.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Buenos Aires
We just got back to Santiago tonight after a long weekend in Buenos Aires. Even though Buenos Aires has a lot to see and do, I am kind of glad to be back in Santiago. Buenos Aires is the biggest city I've seen in my life. Flying in from the air, it was just lights as far as I could see in all directions. We had a pretty good flight over, though most of Thursday is kind of fuzzy in my memory since I was still pretty sick that day. The one thing I do remember from Thursday night is dinner - Argentinian food beats Chilean food any day. Basically, anything to do with cows is amazing in that country: leather, beef, cheese/milk, it's all really good. I'm pretty sure I ate more beef this weekend than in the entirety of last year.
Friday was when our time really started in B. A. We went on a city tour in the morning where we saw some of the main sites. There's the square with government buildings and monuments and a giant cathedral, which is a lot like the Plaza de Armas here in Santiago. After that we went to La Boca (at least I think it was La Boca), which was a real touristy area with markets and outdoor stands and such where people can sell you things, take your picture, or otherwise convince you to give them your pesos. This is actually the downside to B.A. - everything feels very touristy and gimmicky. There is a lot of culture there but rather than being preserved for the native people, it's preserved commercially for the sake of tourism. There are interesting murals, brightly-colored buildings, tango in the streets - but it all feels fake, which was disappointing to me. I guess that's just the way it goes when you visit a big city as a tourist though.
Anyway, on Friday evening was the tango show, which for us included a lesson, dinner, and a really great show. We got to learn the basic 8 steps of the tango, and then a slight variation. The cool part was, the people who taught us were actual performers in the show we saw later that evening. After the lesson we went down for dinner in a large room with fancy tables all set up. I had my first Argentinian steak for dinner, although I heard the fish was really good too. After dessert was served, the show began. It was a nice mix of tango dancing, singing, gaucho (cowboy) dancing and drum performances, and some pretty decent orchestral numbers. There was a 6-piece tango "orchestra" with a piano, bass, 2 violins, and 2 accordions which provided all the music for the show live. I'm fairly sure the only thing that was pre-recorded was full-scale orchestral accompaniment to the obligatory "Don't Cry for me, Argentina" solo. Anyway, it was a really impressive show.
On Saturday we had a free day but I didn't much feel like fending for myself in the city. So a small group of us decided to go to a ranch for the day. It was kind of a mini-tour package through the same agency that gave us the city tour and carted us around the whole time we were in B. A. Anyway, they picked us up in the morning and we drove about an hour out of the city to a ranch in the countryside. We had the BEST EMPANADAS EVER when we got there, and then we got to ride horses for an hour before lunch. It was my first time on a horse, and it was quite scary at first. I felt like I was going to fall off every time it moved for the first 5-10 minutes. But I got used to it, and I'm rather looking forward to riding again if I go to Pucon at the end of this trip. Anyway, after horses was the BIGGEST LUNCH EVER. All morning long there was meat roasting on a giant outdoor barbecue and that's what we had for lunch. We had a salad and then the whole rest of the meal was 5 different types of meat. First we had chorizo, which I tried and surprisingly did not hate, then some other sausage which I skipped, then the BEST STEAK EVER, then some ribs which I also skipped since I was still eating the steak, and then chicken. I was so full after all that, I couldn't even eat dinner. After the lunch was another little tango show which was not nearly as impressive as the large one in the city the night before, but it was nice and I thought the male singer had a better voice. Following the indoor show was a horse show in the big corral, which was actually kind of boring since it was just really really dusty with like 30 horses running around. By that time it was late afternoon and we headed back to the city in time to go to dinner with the rest of the group.
Saturday night was our last chance to really go out, and since I was feeling too bad to go out on Friday night I figured I'd better go see the night life on Saturday even though I didn't feel comfortable going to an Argentinian club or bar. I just feel safer in Chile, although that really isn't founded on anything other than gut feeling. Fortunately for me though, all the guys wanted to go to the casino which is on a big riverboat in Puerto Madera. Gambling is illegal in the city, but the river is national property, so they have a big old flashy boat set up. Anyway, that actually sounded a lot better than going bar-hopping (what for...) or clubbing, so I crashed the boys' night and spent a few hours playing blackjack. It was a fun way to spend the night, even though my table was kind of lame. I was very sad when I lost my 85 pesos...until I realized that's only about $25. Then I didn't feel so bad. One of the guys did very well though, winning the equivalent of around $100.
Today (Sunday) we checked out of the hotel and then walked to a cafe for churros and chocolate, which is a common brunch/snack thing to do, probably like coffee and biscotti. It was very good, and I wish we had good stuff like that back in the states. Buenos Aires certainly has the whole food thing down, if nothing else. By the time we walked back to the hotel it was time to go to the airport for a flight home that was so bumpy it almost made me feel compelled to start going to church again. I think once I get back to the states I will be staying on the ground for a good long time.
So, that was the trip in a nutshell. I'm going to try to get all my pictures uploaded sometime tomorrow, so keep an eye on the photo album. Maybe I can find a way to put the link to it in the sidebar of the blog instead of buried in one of the posts.
Friday was when our time really started in B. A. We went on a city tour in the morning where we saw some of the main sites. There's the square with government buildings and monuments and a giant cathedral, which is a lot like the Plaza de Armas here in Santiago. After that we went to La Boca (at least I think it was La Boca), which was a real touristy area with markets and outdoor stands and such where people can sell you things, take your picture, or otherwise convince you to give them your pesos. This is actually the downside to B.A. - everything feels very touristy and gimmicky. There is a lot of culture there but rather than being preserved for the native people, it's preserved commercially for the sake of tourism. There are interesting murals, brightly-colored buildings, tango in the streets - but it all feels fake, which was disappointing to me. I guess that's just the way it goes when you visit a big city as a tourist though.
Anyway, on Friday evening was the tango show, which for us included a lesson, dinner, and a really great show. We got to learn the basic 8 steps of the tango, and then a slight variation. The cool part was, the people who taught us were actual performers in the show we saw later that evening. After the lesson we went down for dinner in a large room with fancy tables all set up. I had my first Argentinian steak for dinner, although I heard the fish was really good too. After dessert was served, the show began. It was a nice mix of tango dancing, singing, gaucho (cowboy) dancing and drum performances, and some pretty decent orchestral numbers. There was a 6-piece tango "orchestra" with a piano, bass, 2 violins, and 2 accordions which provided all the music for the show live. I'm fairly sure the only thing that was pre-recorded was full-scale orchestral accompaniment to the obligatory "Don't Cry for me, Argentina" solo. Anyway, it was a really impressive show.
On Saturday we had a free day but I didn't much feel like fending for myself in the city. So a small group of us decided to go to a ranch for the day. It was kind of a mini-tour package through the same agency that gave us the city tour and carted us around the whole time we were in B. A. Anyway, they picked us up in the morning and we drove about an hour out of the city to a ranch in the countryside. We had the BEST EMPANADAS EVER when we got there, and then we got to ride horses for an hour before lunch. It was my first time on a horse, and it was quite scary at first. I felt like I was going to fall off every time it moved for the first 5-10 minutes. But I got used to it, and I'm rather looking forward to riding again if I go to Pucon at the end of this trip. Anyway, after horses was the BIGGEST LUNCH EVER. All morning long there was meat roasting on a giant outdoor barbecue and that's what we had for lunch. We had a salad and then the whole rest of the meal was 5 different types of meat. First we had chorizo, which I tried and surprisingly did not hate, then some other sausage which I skipped, then the BEST STEAK EVER, then some ribs which I also skipped since I was still eating the steak, and then chicken. I was so full after all that, I couldn't even eat dinner. After the lunch was another little tango show which was not nearly as impressive as the large one in the city the night before, but it was nice and I thought the male singer had a better voice. Following the indoor show was a horse show in the big corral, which was actually kind of boring since it was just really really dusty with like 30 horses running around. By that time it was late afternoon and we headed back to the city in time to go to dinner with the rest of the group.
Saturday night was our last chance to really go out, and since I was feeling too bad to go out on Friday night I figured I'd better go see the night life on Saturday even though I didn't feel comfortable going to an Argentinian club or bar. I just feel safer in Chile, although that really isn't founded on anything other than gut feeling. Fortunately for me though, all the guys wanted to go to the casino which is on a big riverboat in Puerto Madera. Gambling is illegal in the city, but the river is national property, so they have a big old flashy boat set up. Anyway, that actually sounded a lot better than going bar-hopping (what for...) or clubbing, so I crashed the boys' night and spent a few hours playing blackjack. It was a fun way to spend the night, even though my table was kind of lame. I was very sad when I lost my 85 pesos...until I realized that's only about $25. Then I didn't feel so bad. One of the guys did very well though, winning the equivalent of around $100.
Today (Sunday) we checked out of the hotel and then walked to a cafe for churros and chocolate, which is a common brunch/snack thing to do, probably like coffee and biscotti. It was very good, and I wish we had good stuff like that back in the states. Buenos Aires certainly has the whole food thing down, if nothing else. By the time we walked back to the hotel it was time to go to the airport for a flight home that was so bumpy it almost made me feel compelled to start going to church again. I think once I get back to the states I will be staying on the ground for a good long time.
So, that was the trip in a nutshell. I'm going to try to get all my pictures uploaded sometime tomorrow, so keep an eye on the photo album. Maybe I can find a way to put the link to it in the sidebar of the blog instead of buried in one of the posts.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
U. Catolica vs. Espanola, Evil Flu, Class
On Monday we went to the Universidad Catolica vs. Union Espanola futbol (soccer) game. It had rained the day before, so the air was clear and the view on the way was beautiful. The soccer game itself was quite an experience for me, since I had never been to one. This was a pretty big game - there's a tournament going on right now among Chilean soccer teams, and this particular game was one of the semifinals. U. de Chile had already won their previous game, getting them a spot in the finals. Catolica and Espanola were competing on Monday to see who will play then in the finals. Actually, before Sunday night I had no idea what was even going on, but then I watched a tiny bit of the U. de Chile vs. Everton game and then read part of the sports section on Monday before we left. There was a lot in the paper that I didn't understand, but it is a fun challenge to try and read it anyway.
I have to confess, when I walked into the stadium, I felt a little like Harry Potter going to that Quidditch world cup in the 4th book/movie. Coming up the stairs next to the field and hearing the cheering and seeing the soccer players right in front of us was pretty memorable. At the ends of the stadium were the crazy fans for each of the 2 teams. In those sections, everyone was wearing team colors and waving flags and flares and the Catolica side even had a giant bass drum or 3. These sections kept singing and cheering literally the entire game. I wish that I had looked up the cheers for U. de Catolica so I could yell along with everyone, but I caught on to some of the little songs by the end. Javier (one of our program assistants) is a big U. de Catolica fan, so we decided to root for that team too. We didn't sit in the crazy fan section, but instead on the long side of the stadium. I think that gave us a better view of the whole field anyway. I'd never really watched professional soccer before, but it is really fun in person. Unfortunately, I never got to yell "Gooooooooooooooooollllllll" like they do on TV because no points were scored in regular play or overtime. Eventually it went to penalties and the first U. de Catolica shooter flat-out missed his shot. Espanola's goalie had 2 good blocks after that, and that was the game. It was really sad for Javier and everyone else...I was sad we didn't win, and I have no real attachment to this team. I can see how the fans get so involved in the game though.
So I had a lot of fun in the morning, but the rest of the day was not so hot, as I started feeling kind of sick. We ended up going to the mall on Sunday afternoon since it was raining and there was nothing else to do, but I think going out in the cold rain even just to take the bus was not a good idea. About 80% of us have some kind of cold or flu right now, which is unfortunate since today (Tuesday) was our first day of class.
The Microbiology class looks like it will be good. I'm not totally sure, but I think I heard some people saying that Dr. Mora is quite a renowned Chilean scientist, so we are lucky to be taking classes with him. After micro bio, we had our first Spanish class. The Spanish classes are optional but I wanted to go and see what it would be like anyway. I'm not sure how much I will go since I have a feeling I already know a lot of what will be presented. The teacher split us into 2 groups based on a writing sample, but there were only 3 of us at the most advanced level so she just lumped us in with the intermediate group. The 2 groups have class on different days, and the intermediate group is only going to have 3 or 4 classes altogether, so I'm wondering if it is even worth it to go. Then again, it's not like I would have anything pressing to do instead for a couple hours a week. I guess we'll see.
We were supposed to go to the Pre-Columbian Art Museum today after school, but then our program director found out that most people had fevers and coughs. She freaked out and cancelled the outing, and had the program assistants and healthy students go around writing down everyone's temperature and other symptoms. Everyone in this group is really nice, and we are good about looking out for each other I think. The healthy people went down to the hotel restaurant and brought back trays of tea for all us sick people. Cristhian (other program assistant) even ended up calling a doctor friend of his to come to the hotel and take a look at some girls who had extremely high fevers. So really, Mom and Dad and concerned relatives, even though I may be posting about flus and epic bus fights at 4 in the morning, we are actually in really good hands here.
Anyway, lab starts tomorrow and I think my fever is back for the night, so that means it's time for Advil and bed. Hopefully I will have more happy things to report once we all are better.
I have to confess, when I walked into the stadium, I felt a little like Harry Potter going to that Quidditch world cup in the 4th book/movie. Coming up the stairs next to the field and hearing the cheering and seeing the soccer players right in front of us was pretty memorable. At the ends of the stadium were the crazy fans for each of the 2 teams. In those sections, everyone was wearing team colors and waving flags and flares and the Catolica side even had a giant bass drum or 3. These sections kept singing and cheering literally the entire game. I wish that I had looked up the cheers for U. de Catolica so I could yell along with everyone, but I caught on to some of the little songs by the end. Javier (one of our program assistants) is a big U. de Catolica fan, so we decided to root for that team too. We didn't sit in the crazy fan section, but instead on the long side of the stadium. I think that gave us a better view of the whole field anyway. I'd never really watched professional soccer before, but it is really fun in person. Unfortunately, I never got to yell "Gooooooooooooooooollllllll" like they do on TV because no points were scored in regular play or overtime. Eventually it went to penalties and the first U. de Catolica shooter flat-out missed his shot. Espanola's goalie had 2 good blocks after that, and that was the game. It was really sad for Javier and everyone else...I was sad we didn't win, and I have no real attachment to this team. I can see how the fans get so involved in the game though.
So I had a lot of fun in the morning, but the rest of the day was not so hot, as I started feeling kind of sick. We ended up going to the mall on Sunday afternoon since it was raining and there was nothing else to do, but I think going out in the cold rain even just to take the bus was not a good idea. About 80% of us have some kind of cold or flu right now, which is unfortunate since today (Tuesday) was our first day of class.
The Microbiology class looks like it will be good. I'm not totally sure, but I think I heard some people saying that Dr. Mora is quite a renowned Chilean scientist, so we are lucky to be taking classes with him. After micro bio, we had our first Spanish class. The Spanish classes are optional but I wanted to go and see what it would be like anyway. I'm not sure how much I will go since I have a feeling I already know a lot of what will be presented. The teacher split us into 2 groups based on a writing sample, but there were only 3 of us at the most advanced level so she just lumped us in with the intermediate group. The 2 groups have class on different days, and the intermediate group is only going to have 3 or 4 classes altogether, so I'm wondering if it is even worth it to go. Then again, it's not like I would have anything pressing to do instead for a couple hours a week. I guess we'll see.
We were supposed to go to the Pre-Columbian Art Museum today after school, but then our program director found out that most people had fevers and coughs. She freaked out and cancelled the outing, and had the program assistants and healthy students go around writing down everyone's temperature and other symptoms. Everyone in this group is really nice, and we are good about looking out for each other I think. The healthy people went down to the hotel restaurant and brought back trays of tea for all us sick people. Cristhian (other program assistant) even ended up calling a doctor friend of his to come to the hotel and take a look at some girls who had extremely high fevers. So really, Mom and Dad and concerned relatives, even though I may be posting about flus and epic bus fights at 4 in the morning, we are actually in really good hands here.
Anyway, lab starts tomorrow and I think my fever is back for the night, so that means it's time for Advil and bed. Hopefully I will have more happy things to report once we all are better.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Zzzz...
Fodor's was right, Chileans party waaay late. We left the bar/club thing at 3:30 and there was still a big line of people waiting to get in. The dance floor was super crowded but no one got hurt or had anything bad happen to them, so that was good. I guess last night was our welcome to the night life of Santiago; we saw some guy get his head kicked through the window of the bus on the way home. He was okay in the end, but he probably shouldn't have been touching the kicker's woman...anyway, in the future we'll most likely be taking cabs home =p We did the bus last night since our program assistants took us all out and they knew where to go, but I don't think it I would be very good at using the bus by myself.
Everyone slept till at least noon today, and we were supposed to go to a soccer game today but it is cancelled due to rain. I don't know what we're doing instead but I am hearing people talk about the shopping mall. At least there is no school tomorrow so we can go to the rescheduled game.
Everyone slept till at least noon today, and we were supposed to go to a soccer game today but it is cancelled due to rain. I don't know what we're doing instead but I am hearing people talk about the shopping mall. At least there is no school tomorrow so we can go to the rescheduled game.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Santiago Tour, UNAB, Isla Negra, and Pomaire
Yesterday we got to know Santiago a bit better, spending the morning learning our way to campus and the afternoon on an organized tour of the city. We started by learning how to use the Metro, which is surprisingly clean and looks pretty safe too. We took the metro to the UNAB (Universidad Andres Bello), which is where we are having our classes this summer. This is a long weekend because it is St. Peter and St. Paul's day on Monday, so we don't actually begin instruction until Tuesday. Still, we got a mini campus tour from our program assistants and ate lunch at our designated cafeteria which is the firestation close by. In the afternoon we got on a bus and toured around Santiago. There are quite a few districts that make up Santiago. I fell asleep during part of the tour (Bus was really warm and we were all very full from lunch), so I'm not 100% on the names of the districts, but I'm reasonably sure they're something close. Anyway, there's Downtown, which is where our hotel is located. This is the place with all the government buildings and large churches. Other areas of the city are Bellavista which is a sort of Bohemian party place, Las Condes which is the more upscale/rich area, Providencia which is very corporate, and San Cristobal Hill which has parks and a giant statue of the Virgin Mary at the top. You can see pretty much the whole city from the top of the hill:
It's hard to see the Andes through the giant cloud of smog that perpetually hangs over the city, but I promise they're there. The tour guide was telling us that Chile is a very polluted country, mainly in Santiago. They're doing what they can to clean up their air and the Mapocho River, but it's still bad. I believe it too, as many of us have headaches and irritated throats from all the smog.
Today we got some fresh air at the beach though, specifically Isla Negra and Pomaire. These regions are in Valparaiso, which is an hour and 45 minutes northeast of Santiago, along the coast. The famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda owned a house in Isla Negra and we got to see it today. Neruda apparently liked the sea and liked collecting things, so his house contains all kinds of collections of shells, glassware, figureheads from boats, and other nautical things. He also collected art from different countries. We weren't allowed to take pictures of anything inside the house, but the collections were very eccentric but beautiful. The architecture was also interesting - he liked the sea so much he tried to make his house kind of like a boat. A lot of the doors and hallways are very narrow and the floors and ceilings look like those on a ship. His bedroom also has huge glass windows on 3 sides so that he could look out at the sea which is right outside his house.
The photo uploader on this blog is being really weird, so to see pictures of all these places, check out my photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/lizkritzer/ChileTrip2009?feat=directlink. I have too many pictures to make captions for each one, but you can probably tell by the file name more or less what it is a picture of.
After we finished looking at Neruda's house and playing on the rocks by the beach, we got back on the bus to go to Pomaire for lunch and shopping. Chileans eat really big lunches (probably why they also don't eat dinner until 10:00 at night), so we had a large meal at Los Naranjos restaurant. I had an empanada with an inordinate amount of meat and onions inside, and it was very filling (this is mostly for Mom, who is probably wondering if I am getting enough to eat down here.) After lunch we got to shop around for souvenirs. There was mostly pottery, knit scarves/hats/gloves, and jewelry for sale.
It's been a big enough day for me already, but one of the girls in our group turned 21 today so we are going out dancing, etc. tonight in a little while. Chileans usually go out very late on Fridays and Saturdays, like around midnight or later and they stay out till 4 or 5 in the morning (so says Fodor's anyway, we'll see if it's true tonight). We don't have anything big to do tomorrow in the morning though, so we can sleep in after what will probably end up being a late night.
It's hard to see the Andes through the giant cloud of smog that perpetually hangs over the city, but I promise they're there. The tour guide was telling us that Chile is a very polluted country, mainly in Santiago. They're doing what they can to clean up their air and the Mapocho River, but it's still bad. I believe it too, as many of us have headaches and irritated throats from all the smog.
Today we got some fresh air at the beach though, specifically Isla Negra and Pomaire. These regions are in Valparaiso, which is an hour and 45 minutes northeast of Santiago, along the coast. The famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda owned a house in Isla Negra and we got to see it today. Neruda apparently liked the sea and liked collecting things, so his house contains all kinds of collections of shells, glassware, figureheads from boats, and other nautical things. He also collected art from different countries. We weren't allowed to take pictures of anything inside the house, but the collections were very eccentric but beautiful. The architecture was also interesting - he liked the sea so much he tried to make his house kind of like a boat. A lot of the doors and hallways are very narrow and the floors and ceilings look like those on a ship. His bedroom also has huge glass windows on 3 sides so that he could look out at the sea which is right outside his house.
The photo uploader on this blog is being really weird, so to see pictures of all these places, check out my photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/lizkritzer/ChileTrip2009?feat=directlink. I have too many pictures to make captions for each one, but you can probably tell by the file name more or less what it is a picture of.
After we finished looking at Neruda's house and playing on the rocks by the beach, we got back on the bus to go to Pomaire for lunch and shopping. Chileans eat really big lunches (probably why they also don't eat dinner until 10:00 at night), so we had a large meal at Los Naranjos restaurant. I had an empanada with an inordinate amount of meat and onions inside, and it was very filling (this is mostly for Mom, who is probably wondering if I am getting enough to eat down here.) After lunch we got to shop around for souvenirs. There was mostly pottery, knit scarves/hats/gloves, and jewelry for sale.
It's been a big enough day for me already, but one of the girls in our group turned 21 today so we are going out dancing, etc. tonight in a little while. Chileans usually go out very late on Fridays and Saturdays, like around midnight or later and they stay out till 4 or 5 in the morning (so says Fodor's anyway, we'll see if it's true tonight). We don't have anything big to do tomorrow in the morning though, so we can sleep in after what will probably end up being a late night.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
I'm here!
After a full day of travel, I'm finally here in Santiago. I left for the airport at 5 in the morning on Wednesday...now at 2pm today I'm still awake =( I am torn between staying up to get my internal clock adjusted or taking a mini-siesta so I am coherent at the welcome dinner tonight.
Thankfully, my flights were uneventful yesterday but the overnight one was too bumpy to sleep.
Pretty much everyone who arrived on my flight was the same way but that didn't keep us from going out to explore the city as soon as we got here. Since we were so sleepy, we figured we had better not go too far from the hotel, but we made it to the Casa de Cambio (money exchange shop) and some unknown cafe for lunch.
A bit of amusing news - I have been dubbed "the Spanish speaker" by the rest of the group. Apparently no one else out of the 30 students in this program speaks anything remotely close to passable Spanish. A few can understand fairly well, but so far I am the only one who's been able to converse with the natives. On the plus side I am making lots of friends because everyone needs me to translate things or tell their shuttle driver where we are going. On the minus side though, I don't actually speak Spanish very well at all. I am sure I will get better though, since it looks as though I will be getting plenty of practice. People speak English here more readily than I thought they would, but not enough to rely on it. So far they actually haven't been speaking English to me anyway, unless someone else in my group talks to them first. I blend in pretty well down here in terms of appearance, so I think a lot of people just assume I am Chilean. Maybe it's because it's winter but there are a lot of light-skinned and dark-haired people here. I figured I would stick out like a sore thumb, but I guess not. Or maybe the Asians in my group just stick out more.
One interesting linguistic thing I've noticed so far is the difference between Chilean Spanish and Mexican Spanish. In general I am able to understand Chilean speakers better, and I think they use more of the terms I actually learned in school instead of strange border slang. However, lunch threw me off a bit because almost none of the meats are called the same thing in Mexican and Chilean Spanish. For example, "chicken" has always been "pollo" to me, but here they call it "ave." Roast beef is usually "carne asada," but today I saw "barros" and "churrasco." It was kind of embarassing because everyone was asking me what the menu items were at lunch and I had never seen most of the words before. Even so, it is fun to be able to practice my Spanish. I am much more comfortable speaking it here than I ever was in Mexico.
That's about it for first impressions of the city. It has been overcast all day, and cold. I find the cold refreshing at the moment but I'll probably be missing the sun within a few days. The hotel we are living at is really nice and the bellboy said that the travelstudy group comes here every year, so I guess they are used to the silly Americans taking over the top floor every summer. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some pictures taken, I just didn't want to be standing around being obviously touristy today since I am so tired and not as alert as I would like to be. The stores and restaurants like tourists a lot, but I don't get that same impression from the people walking around so I don't want to advertise it until I can be more on my guard.
Anyway, I have wireless internet in my hotel room, so I am hoping I'll be able to update pretty frequently with pictures and such.
Thankfully, my flights were uneventful yesterday but the overnight one was too bumpy to sleep.
Pretty much everyone who arrived on my flight was the same way but that didn't keep us from going out to explore the city as soon as we got here. Since we were so sleepy, we figured we had better not go too far from the hotel, but we made it to the Casa de Cambio (money exchange shop) and some unknown cafe for lunch.
A bit of amusing news - I have been dubbed "the Spanish speaker" by the rest of the group. Apparently no one else out of the 30 students in this program speaks anything remotely close to passable Spanish. A few can understand fairly well, but so far I am the only one who's been able to converse with the natives. On the plus side I am making lots of friends because everyone needs me to translate things or tell their shuttle driver where we are going. On the minus side though, I don't actually speak Spanish very well at all. I am sure I will get better though, since it looks as though I will be getting plenty of practice. People speak English here more readily than I thought they would, but not enough to rely on it. So far they actually haven't been speaking English to me anyway, unless someone else in my group talks to them first. I blend in pretty well down here in terms of appearance, so I think a lot of people just assume I am Chilean. Maybe it's because it's winter but there are a lot of light-skinned and dark-haired people here. I figured I would stick out like a sore thumb, but I guess not. Or maybe the Asians in my group just stick out more.
One interesting linguistic thing I've noticed so far is the difference between Chilean Spanish and Mexican Spanish. In general I am able to understand Chilean speakers better, and I think they use more of the terms I actually learned in school instead of strange border slang. However, lunch threw me off a bit because almost none of the meats are called the same thing in Mexican and Chilean Spanish. For example, "chicken" has always been "pollo" to me, but here they call it "ave." Roast beef is usually "carne asada," but today I saw "barros" and "churrasco." It was kind of embarassing because everyone was asking me what the menu items were at lunch and I had never seen most of the words before. Even so, it is fun to be able to practice my Spanish. I am much more comfortable speaking it here than I ever was in Mexico.
That's about it for first impressions of the city. It has been overcast all day, and cold. I find the cold refreshing at the moment but I'll probably be missing the sun within a few days. The hotel we are living at is really nice and the bellboy said that the travelstudy group comes here every year, so I guess they are used to the silly Americans taking over the top floor every summer. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some pictures taken, I just didn't want to be standing around being obviously touristy today since I am so tired and not as alert as I would like to be. The stores and restaurants like tourists a lot, but I don't get that same impression from the people walking around so I don't want to advertise it until I can be more on my guard.
Anyway, I have wireless internet in my hotel room, so I am hoping I'll be able to update pretty frequently with pictures and such.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Launch of Chile Blog
It's official - the Chile trip is on! In the past month I've made travel arrangements, filed paperwork, gotten a passport (finally), and had so many shots I feel like a pincushion. It'll all pay off in about one month when my study abroad program starts.
For those of you who don't know, I'll be taking two Microbiology classes at the Universidad Andres Bello (UNAB) in Santiago, Chile. It is a five-week program with plenty of time built in for sightseeing and field trips including city tours, a ski trip in the Andes, and long weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
It's a little early to start counting down the days, but I wanted to set up this website for friends and family to check if they want to see how my trip is going. I also want to be able to keep in touch with all my internet and real-life friends while I am away. It looks like I will be bringing my laptop and digital camera, so in addition to writing, I plan to take lots of pictures of the city and all our outings. There is a link on the right side of this page which should allow you to be notified of new postings, and there's got to be some way to hook it up to my facebook as well (will work on that next)...or just check in every once in a while to see what's up!
Next big thing: Next Friday is a meet-n'-greet for all the students enrolled in the Chile program. This will be the first time we will get to meet the people we will be living, studying, and traveling with for 5 weeks so hopefully it goes well.
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