My first blog entry!
¡Bienvenidos a mi blog!
Hi everyone! Thank you for taking an interest in my blog! Allow me to introduce myself if you don’t know me already. My name is Brittany. I’m 20 years old and I’m a student at the University of California Santa Barbara. I’m majoring in Communications and Spanish and I’m starting to consider getting a minor in the Linguistics department specifically in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. This January I will be setting off on my adventure to study abroad in Santiago Chile at The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC, UC, or La Católica)! Saying that I’m excited is a HUGE understatement.
I’ve always known that I was going to study abroad during my Junior year of University, but never did I think that I would go to Santiago, Chile. If you didn’t know, I’ve been to Spain two summers in a row while in High School and I spent last summer at a language school in Costa Rica. I guess you can say I’m a bit of a travel junkie. I never have considered Chile though. Admittedly I knew nothing about the country until recently. I always had the dream of going to Argentina next. I felt that I had really seen Spain and I really wanted to hit South America. I’ve heard the most amazing things about Argentina. Well, truthfully not much, but what I’ve heard is that it’s the Paris of South America and manufacturer of beautiful people. That was definitely enough to sell it for me. Unfortunately the only Spanish speaking countries my university offers for study abroad are Spain, Mexico, and Chile. The possibility exists to seek outside ways to study in Argentina, but I decided that the stress of transferring units and not having the genuine support of my university would be too much for me. After I let go of Argentina I started to focus on Chile.
I stalked past participants’ pages on Facebook looking at every single one of their photo albums and asking questions here and there. I started to like Chile, but it wasn’t love at first click. In an info meeting I was a bit turned off by something one of the past participant’s said, “If you want to go shopping and stay inside go to Spain not Chile.” I hate to say it, but I consider myself an indoor girl. And shopping? Do I really need to talk about my feelings towards shopping? How could I go to a country where amazing shopping centers wouldn’t be my selling point? I’m not one to gasp at the beauty of a tall mountain or enjoy sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag. City lights get my heart pounding. Sitting in a gorgeous plaza people watching with an ice cream is music to my ears. I’m a small town girl with a big city heart! I began thinking that Chile wasn’t the right choice for me, yet I didn’t give up and began researching more and more.
Chile is known as the Land of Fire and ice. It has everything you can imagine. (Desert, mountains, city, beach, and even glaciers and penguins.) Its capital, Santiago, is one of Latin America’s most modern metropolitan areas, with extensive suburban development, dozens of shopping malls, and impressive high-rise architecture. So, maybe it’s not the Paris of South America, but it does have its very own Manhattan, or Sanhattan as the Chileans call it. Through all of my research I have learned that this country is not just a land full of diversity with something for everyone, but a land rich in culture and national pride. Chileans are kind and welcoming people who love their country almost as much as they love their families.
I am so excited to explore this amazing country called Chile and meet as well as make friends with as many Chileans as possible. My Spanish is decent at the moment. I can definitely say everything I want to with a little bit of time and some mistakes. The Chilean accent is very different from anything I’ve heard and they have a whole different form called el voseo which is the informal way of addressing a single person. For anyone that knows a little Spanish it is like a substitute for “tú” Example: (Standard Spanish) tú sabes, tú hablas, tú tienes. (El voseo aka super cool Chilean Spanish) tú sabís, tú tenís, tú hablái. So, as you can see this will be somewhat of an issue for me being that my Spanish has grown into a reflection of Mexican Spanish with an almost nonexistent vocabulary of Slang which is mostly again from Mexico. Thankfully I have a few amazing pen pals that keep me giggling at all the silly expressions and slang of Chile. It should be very interesting to watch my Spanish grow and maybe even my accent change! Which brings me to my next point…
Call me crazy! Better yet, call me loca, but I think I might make a Spanish video blog channel on YouTube! I think I’ll try to put subtitles although I can’t make promises! I have no idea how to make or edit videos. I really want a Mac, but for now I’ll settle for filming with my camera on the count of my webcam sucks. I plan to make the videos relevant with my blog posts so if you don’t understand don’t worry you’ll probably get a more detailed and coherent description here anyways!
So this was a really long first blog post! My next posts should be more to the point….I think! Here is a quick update on my life at the moment and a few ideas for my future:
1. I have a belly dance performance tomorrow at 8pm with the Middle East Ensemble on campus at a sort of music concert with live dancing. I love performing! I’m really going to miss dancing; hopefully I’ll find some classes in Chile. I’ve actually been told that sports teams are really easy to get on and I’m actually considering joining the Swim Team! Wow it’s been a while! This is really thinking far ahead…we’ll see about that.
2. On that note, I’m also thinking of interning in Chile. Apparently any internship would be more than happy to have a bilingual American college student and I can have my pick at any internship. And when I say any I mean ANY. Apparently I don’t even need to meet any qualifications. In the info meeting a girl talked about her friend, probably a history major, working at the zoo feeding the seals! I kid you not. I’m considering teaching English, but I was also tempted to hear that a past participant that was a communication major got to work for the university’s radio station, which would be AWESOME!
3. I have two more final exams next week and then I’m free….
4. To go to the Dominican Republic!! Yes, I’m actually doing a trip with my mom, aunt, and cousins (for my late Uncle Bill RIP) and we’ll be returning about 3 weeks before I leave for Chile.
5. That is if I get my damn Visa! I’m having so many problems with that at the moment. Who’d of thought that the FBI is too busy to clear little old me of any criminal record! Hopefully I’ll be able to get this taken care of soon. I’m trying as hard as possible to not stress, but I’m leaving in about a month!!
6. I leave January 16th and I’m so lucky to have met a really nice and funny girl that is in my program and going to Chile too! Her name is Mel and we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well with the two Spanish literature classes we had this quarter. She sends me links to readings in English and for that la quiero (I love her). So, she’ll be with me departing from San Francisco, during our 8 HOUR LAYOVER in Miami ughhhhh, our short stop in Colombia, and finally arriving in Chile two days before orientation. We’ll be staying at the Andes Hostel in the Bellas Artes sector of Santiago. According to one of the past participants that “barrio” is the gay/homosexual area so we think we should be very safe!
7. The orientation is on the 20th of January. I’ll meet my host family which I’ll be staying with for a whole month while attending mandatory intensive Spanish language courses and cultural excursions.
8. After the first month I’ll be set free to find my own housing and may I say “muahahahahah!” Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. The price I pay for my little, crappy bedroom here in Santa Barbara can afford me a fully furnished, 17th floor, view of the Andes, penthouse…all to myself!!! I’ll get a short break and then school will start! By the way, the seasons are backwards. Summer = winter, winter =summer. So this year I’m kind of skipping winter with the Dominican Republic and leaving for Chile in January and all! I know, I know. I’m a lucky girl and I’m very grateful for everything that will be coming to me this year. (Thanks mom!)
Thank you so much for reading this huge first blog post! Hopefully my next post will update you all on my trip to the Dominican Republic! And hey! Maybe I’ll get to practice my Spanish a little!
¡Nos vemos en el futuro!
Besitos,
La gringa asopa (silly)
-Brittany P.S.I have a mirror image blog of this blog in not-so-perfect Spanish called memoriasdeunagringa. Chequea pa' que veas!
¡Bienvenidos a mi blog!
Hi everyone! Thank you for taking an interest in my blog! Allow me to introduce myself if you don’t know me already. My name is Brittany. I’m 20 years old and I’m a student at the University of California Santa Barbara. I’m majoring in Communications and Spanish and I’m starting to consider getting a minor in the Linguistics department specifically in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. This January I will be setting off on my adventure to study abroad in Santiago Chile at The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC, UC, or La Católica)! Saying that I’m excited is a HUGE understatement.
I’ve always known that I was going to study abroad during my Junior year of University, but never did I think that I would go to Santiago, Chile. If you didn’t know, I’ve been to Spain two summers in a row while in High School and I spent last summer at a language school in Costa Rica. I guess you can say I’m a bit of a travel junkie. I never have considered Chile though. Admittedly I knew nothing about the country until recently. I always had the dream of going to Argentina next. I felt that I had really seen Spain and I really wanted to hit South America. I’ve heard the most amazing things about Argentina. Well, truthfully not much, but what I’ve heard is that it’s the Paris of South America and manufacturer of beautiful people. That was definitely enough to sell it for me. Unfortunately the only Spanish speaking countries my university offers for study abroad are Spain, Mexico, and Chile. The possibility exists to seek outside ways to study in Argentina, but I decided that the stress of transferring units and not having the genuine support of my university would be too much for me. After I let go of Argentina I started to focus on Chile.
I stalked past participants’ pages on Facebook looking at every single one of their photo albums and asking questions here and there. I started to like Chile, but it wasn’t love at first click. In an info meeting I was a bit turned off by something one of the past participant’s said, “If you want to go shopping and stay inside go to Spain not Chile.” I hate to say it, but I consider myself an indoor girl. And shopping? Do I really need to talk about my feelings towards shopping? How could I go to a country where amazing shopping centers wouldn’t be my selling point? I’m not one to gasp at the beauty of a tall mountain or enjoy sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag. City lights get my heart pounding. Sitting in a gorgeous plaza people watching with an ice cream is music to my ears. I’m a small town girl with a big city heart! I began thinking that Chile wasn’t the right choice for me, yet I didn’t give up and began researching more and more.
Chile is known as the Land of Fire and ice. It has everything you can imagine. (Desert, mountains, city, beach, and even glaciers and penguins.) Its capital, Santiago, is one of Latin America’s most modern metropolitan areas, with extensive suburban development, dozens of shopping malls, and impressive high-rise architecture. So, maybe it’s not the Paris of South America, but it does have its very own Manhattan, or Sanhattan as the Chileans call it. Through all of my research I have learned that this country is not just a land full of diversity with something for everyone, but a land rich in culture and national pride. Chileans are kind and welcoming people who love their country almost as much as they love their families.
I am so excited to explore this amazing country called Chile and meet as well as make friends with as many Chileans as possible. My Spanish is decent at the moment. I can definitely say everything I want to with a little bit of time and some mistakes. The Chilean accent is very different from anything I’ve heard and they have a whole different form called el voseo which is the informal way of addressing a single person. For anyone that knows a little Spanish it is like a substitute for “tú” Example: (Standard Spanish) tú sabes, tú hablas, tú tienes. (El voseo aka super cool Chilean Spanish) tú sabís, tú tenís, tú hablái. So, as you can see this will be somewhat of an issue for me being that my Spanish has grown into a reflection of Mexican Spanish with an almost nonexistent vocabulary of Slang which is mostly again from Mexico. Thankfully I have a few amazing pen pals that keep me giggling at all the silly expressions and slang of Chile. It should be very interesting to watch my Spanish grow and maybe even my accent change! Which brings me to my next point…
Call me crazy! Better yet, call me loca, but I think I might make a Spanish video blog channel on YouTube! I think I’ll try to put subtitles although I can’t make promises! I have no idea how to make or edit videos. I really want a Mac, but for now I’ll settle for filming with my camera on the count of my webcam sucks. I plan to make the videos relevant with my blog posts so if you don’t understand don’t worry you’ll probably get a more detailed and coherent description here anyways!
So this was a really long first blog post! My next posts should be more to the point….I think! Here is a quick update on my life at the moment and a few ideas for my future:
1. I have a belly dance performance tomorrow at 8pm with the Middle East Ensemble on campus at a sort of music concert with live dancing. I love performing! I’m really going to miss dancing; hopefully I’ll find some classes in Chile. I’ve actually been told that sports teams are really easy to get on and I’m actually considering joining the Swim Team! Wow it’s been a while! This is really thinking far ahead…we’ll see about that.
2. On that note, I’m also thinking of interning in Chile. Apparently any internship would be more than happy to have a bilingual American college student and I can have my pick at any internship. And when I say any I mean ANY. Apparently I don’t even need to meet any qualifications. In the info meeting a girl talked about her friend, probably a history major, working at the zoo feeding the seals! I kid you not. I’m considering teaching English, but I was also tempted to hear that a past participant that was a communication major got to work for the university’s radio station, which would be AWESOME!
3. I have two more final exams next week and then I’m free….
4. To go to the Dominican Republic!! Yes, I’m actually doing a trip with my mom, aunt, and cousins (for my late Uncle Bill RIP) and we’ll be returning about 3 weeks before I leave for Chile.
5. That is if I get my damn Visa! I’m having so many problems with that at the moment. Who’d of thought that the FBI is too busy to clear little old me of any criminal record! Hopefully I’ll be able to get this taken care of soon. I’m trying as hard as possible to not stress, but I’m leaving in about a month!!
6. I leave January 16th and I’m so lucky to have met a really nice and funny girl that is in my program and going to Chile too! Her name is Mel and we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well with the two Spanish literature classes we had this quarter. She sends me links to readings in English and for that la quiero (I love her). So, she’ll be with me departing from San Francisco, during our 8 HOUR LAYOVER in Miami ughhhhh, our short stop in Colombia, and finally arriving in Chile two days before orientation. We’ll be staying at the Andes Hostel in the Bellas Artes sector of Santiago. According to one of the past participants that “barrio” is the gay/homosexual area so we think we should be very safe!
7. The orientation is on the 20th of January. I’ll meet my host family which I’ll be staying with for a whole month while attending mandatory intensive Spanish language courses and cultural excursions.
8. After the first month I’ll be set free to find my own housing and may I say “muahahahahah!” Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. The price I pay for my little, crappy bedroom here in Santa Barbara can afford me a fully furnished, 17th floor, view of the Andes, penthouse…all to myself!!! I’ll get a short break and then school will start! By the way, the seasons are backwards. Summer = winter, winter =summer. So this year I’m kind of skipping winter with the Dominican Republic and leaving for Chile in January and all! I know, I know. I’m a lucky girl and I’m very grateful for everything that will be coming to me this year. (Thanks mom!)
Thank you so much for reading this huge first blog post! Hopefully my next post will update you all on my trip to the Dominican Republic! And hey! Maybe I’ll get to practice my Spanish a little!
¡Nos vemos en el futuro!
Besitos,
La gringa asopa (silly)
-Brittany P.S.I have a mirror image blog of this blog in not-so-perfect Spanish called memoriasdeunagringa. Chequea pa' que veas!
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