Orienting to Chile-Algarrobo Style/Bella Vista

Hola Mis Amigos,

So just when I get into Santiago, our program sends us off to another town! But seriously, I spent a great last couple of days in Algarrobo, a small beach town about an 1 1/2-2 hours outside Santiago. Wednesday morning I had my oral portion of the diagnostic test, which went pretty well.It really helped that it was a group test,because we could bounce ideas off each other if one of us ran out of something to say! It was just like having a casual conversation for 15 minutes,because the instructors just told us to pretend they weren't there. So anyways, we left for Algarrobo a couple hours after, and we were the only group at our Hotel Pacifico! We had a big welcome by our program director, who I'm glad to say is awesome! He described himself as our mentor,cheerleader, tour guide,etc. He genuinely cares about the well being of everyone. We had dinner pretty late the first night and everyone joked how it was the first time they were hungry in Chile,because their host families feed them so much! It's actually true...there's always bread on the table! The next day we had an overwhelming amount of information about everything,but there was two interesting things I got out of it. 1. We can do an internship for class credit at a local organization, school, newspaper, etc. I will definitely seek one out! 2. There is a group on my campus (La Cátolica) that reaches out to foreign students like me and goes on trips. They even do a trip to Mendoza,Argentina complete with horseback riding for a decent price! I will definitely take advantage of that. Later we walked towards the biggest pool in the world,but we couldn't find it! It was a nice walk anyway. After more orientation stuff we tried again and found it! Turns out you had to walk on the beach a bit to get to it. It was pretty cool,but completely empty,because it's only used in the summer. The security guard even let us inside the gate to snap better photos. But really, you can't capture the immensity of a mile long pool in a photo.The next day we had orientation sessions for each separate school(because some are going to U de Chile), lunch,and then we left. I knocked out on the bus,which is good,because we got stuck in traffic(which they call "taco" here by the way). Overall, it was a great time to meet everyone in the program. We have about 45 people in our program, and everyone is just so open and ready to explore/learn. I'm glad we're an adventurous bunch :)

La Gran Piscina. One mile long!

Our hotel for the retreat!

Ok what I did after getting back yesterday just shows that I still never know what to expect in Chile. Instead of unpacking, I spent an hour and half just chatting with my host mom's daughter and friend,translating the lyrics to Adele songs and Sean Kingston's "Fire Burning." It's funny what they hear as the lyrics. For example, my host mom's  friend thought "Somebody call 9-1-1" was "Somebody come now now now." It makes sense! Lyrics go so fast and if English(or in my case Spanish) isn't your first language, you don't always pick up on what is actually being said.You just hear what makes more sense to you. Oh yeah and defining what "shawty" meant was quite an experience in itself. My host mom's daughter lived in the U.S. for a year,so it helped to have her translate a bit too.

Then on a whim, I went with an EAP friend, her host sister, and host sister's friends to a discoteca(a club), in a cool,artsy area called Bella Vista. We didn't even leave until about 1:30.They played a lot of the same stuff in the U.S., with some reggaeton splashed in the mix.It was pretty fun for my first experience of Chilean night life! After we left, we stopped at an outdoor food vendor called Pikachu(yup like the Pokemon character.) and I had my first completo. It's basically like a hot dog,but with a spicy italian sausage slathered with a thick layer of smashed avocado, a ridiculous amount of mayo, and relish-like toppings to choose from. (At one point or another I will dedicate a blog post to the food here!) It was tasty,but really messy. It's not a good food to eat when you are walking around!We all took a cab back and got in finally around 5:00,which apparently is an early night for Chileans. The metros don't open until 6:00 am,so some will not come back till about 7-8!  

So today I decided to spend a relaxing day,since I'm pretty beat and it's really gloomy out.I went for a little run around my neighborhood, to see the shops and restaurants around. As long as I'm keeping busy I don't feel homesick,but there are definitely lonely moments when I think about my family all together. However, I really am enjoying the company of my host family more and more. Which brings me to...

cosa chilena #2: Family is important! We don't have a t.v. downstairs,so when everyone is together we really are together,as in talking and eating together. My host mom is good at giving me space,but I really do enjoy when we can have time during at least one meal a day to enjoy each others company. This may not be a cosa chilena so much as it is an observation of everyday life in my homestay.

Eso es todo para ahora! Hasta luego amigos!

The hotel staff said their goodbyes, with the flag. So nice!