Host Family Madness!

Sooooo after our wonderful day spent at the cool hill Cerro San Cristobal finally came the first day of the program. Mel and I checked out of our hostel and sat in the lobby waiting for the cab to arrive to take us to Campus Oriente (one of the campuses of my university) to meet the other Californian Exchange Students and eventually meet our host families…dun dun dun! I really can’t quite understand why I got so nervous because I’ve met host families in the past in Spain, but I was definitely starting to get anxious sitting in the lobby of our hostel. Finally the taxi arrived and we were off on our way to a neighborhood called Ñuñoa to go to the main campus of my university.

When we arrived we set all our bags down and a girl from the program directed us to a little courtyard to where a bunch of other students were hanging out. We all chit chatted a little, but I think most were jetlagged and nervous about meeting their families.

When the time finally came to come to the front it was one of the weirdest experiences ever. It literally was like getting adopted. We all stood around an archway with Chileans on the other side waiting to hear our names called to go and give a kiss to our new mamas. Strangely enough mine recognized me a bit early and called me over to receive me with a big kiss on the cheek. Sadly I never caught her name and I still don’t know right now after living here for a week because I was too embarrassed to ask after letting so much time go by. I think its something like Hilda, but I can’t be sure. She’s really sweet and reminds me more of a caring Grandma than a hip mom. After grabbing all my bags we walked outside to find her son Matias who is around my age and studies Law at some university close to our apartment. He’s one of few tall Chileans, but unfortunately not my type. (here in Chile there is a weird trend with hair. Most boys wear mullets or have a single dreadlock or rat-tail hanging in the back of there head). Matias has the single long dreadlock and explained that he was really into heavy metal, but later admitted to being a fan of reggaeton. I was really confused… He greeted me in English which was really irritating because the whole point of the darn homestay is to practice Spanish. Politely I told him in Spanish that we shouldn’t be speaking English. Thankfully he has finally shut his trap realizing that my Spanish is better than his English, yet he still insists on throwing in an accented English word which I never can understand because I’m expecting Spanish and the accent is so strong. My host dad is the real character. I’m 90% sure his name is Ricardo and he is just awesome. Here comes the funny story:

So finally after unpacking all of my luggage and eating a delicious lunch with icecream (which was served and made by our maid/housekeeper (nuestra nana) which I really don’t understand why we have her because the apartment is so small and they only have one kid which is my age if not older) I checked in on a few things on the internet and then finally dinner time arrived. We ate the most delicious meal of steak and potatoes ever on the balcony (from which I can see the Virgin Mary from the hill from the post below). During which time my papa practically force fed me steak which must mean I was really full because me likes me some steak! After looking over maps of Santiago and talking about public transportation for what seemed like an eternity mi papa began to talk about how gluttonous his family was. At one point he explained how late at night sometimes he and Matias meet up at the refrigerator and if I come out of my room at night I might be able to meet them there to scarf on whatever was inside the fridge. Upon hearing this I resisted a giggle, and looked at Matias who was mid sip of his drink and gave his dad the dirtiest look I’d ever seen. Now this for me was HYSTERICAL! I giggled a little and therefore ensued there little fight mostly with Matias asking when he has ever met up with his dad for a late night snack at the refrigerator. Finally in the end my host dad in the most defeated way admitted that he was the one and only culprit of waking up for some late night snacking. Upon admitting this Matias said something like “what’s so hard about saying its you that’s the pig? Why do you have to bring me into it?” hahah! At that moment I really had to suppress my laugh which I did with surprising success, but the next day when telling the story to Mel “se me salieron lágrimas” (tears came out) from laughing so hard! My host family isn’t really like a second family to me, unlike some students I have absolutely no intentions of staying with them for more than the required amount, but they’re great people who live in a nice place and they make me laugh at the dinner table. What more could I ask for?

Just this past weekend (my first weekend here) us study abroaders went on our first cultural activity/excursion, whatever you’d like to call it, to a town called Curacavi. It was seriously ridiculous how secluded we were. We drove up into the mountains for a good amount of time and I never saw anything really besides a dairy farm and trees/rocks. At Curacavi we were overloaded with information about our universities, registering for classes, and what not. What we were also overloaded with was Pisco Sour which is pretty delicious and deadly and much of the weekend was spent entonada, time to time arriba de la pelota, and on some occasions bien curada, but of course never volada (if you want those translations you’ll have to do some work).

As of late I have been attending language classes. I got put in the advanced class which was a nice stroke to the old ego, but I do feel constant pressure in class. There are about two native speakers (chicanos) in the class and a few other people who have spent massive amounts of time in foreign countries. I hope to learn as much as possible because I need a lot of help to prepare me for real university classes in Chile, but I sometimes can’t help but desire to be in a lower class where I can chill a little more. “Ni modo” (oh

well) my teacher Daisy is really great and it seems like these three weeks are going to load me with new knowledge and most importantly Chilean slang! For example: “Pucha la cuestión!” (damn that’s terrible)

For now its just school and hopefully a few carretes (fiestas)!

Que les vaya bien! And may your Pisco never turn sour…unless that’s the way you take it ;) Chausito!

Magical hills and such

Holi! (silly Chileans way to say hola)

So I’m extremely behind because finding time to sit down and write has been literally impossible. As you all probably expect I am having a wonderful time here and have no intentions of wanting to come back ever! Ok. So maybe I’ll come back some day, but I must admit I don’t know the meaning of homesickness.

A bit of bad news: my paypal account has somehow gotten hacked and close to $300 has been stolen. Why did this happen when I’m in Chile? I don’t really know, but the email addresses it was sent to do seem to be in Spanish. I’ve already filed a claim with Paypal, but my Bank of America account is negative at the moment and literally to this moment I haven’t been able to reach my mom who I THINK is in the Dominican Republic for a second time. I seriously have like 20,000 pesos in my pocket and a negative bank account that’s probably getting charged a $25 fee every day. If any of you see my Mom or mom if you’re reading this HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. Back to the good stuff. Day two at our hostel was the most pleasant days I could have ever imagined. We woke up and got lunch at a little café near our hostel and ordered the daily special of lasagna, salad, juice, and coffee. A little language slip up occurred when the waiter explained he only had one slice left of the meat lasagna that Mel and I both ordered. All I remember is he said something about “porción” and I didn’t really catch the rest because he was speaking SO FAST. I looked at Mel to see her confused face as well so I gave him my best deer in headlights look and waited for him to explain. Problem was this silly waiter decided to repeat over and over the same exact phrase at more or less the same speed. If he simply would have said “Sólo tengo una de la lasaña de carne.” I think we would have both understood, but he never tried to change his sentence. Not wanting to let this menso (dumbdumb) defeat us I decided to say something just so he wouldn’t think I was a complete idiot. Finally I said something like “Oh!! You’re going to bring me a portion to try?” Of course I was wrong and I saw his face fighting a smile, but I think once he realized I truly did speak Spanish he decided to change around his sentence which I immediately understood and ordered the vegetable lasagna.
After our delicious lunch we decided to head to head to a touristy spot in the neighborhood called Bellas Artes to go up on a hill called Cerro San Cristobal. Both of us understood that the hill had magnificent views of the city and the Virgin Mary, but had we no idea that it was actually Disneyland for lack of a better word! When we asked where to buy the tickets to something called a “funicular” (a little trolley thing that pulls us up the hill) the man actually said that we could buy them in the castle! We also learned that the hill had a zoo on it which pronto we’d like to check out. Besides the zoo and tons of little shops at the top, the hill also has two huge pools which would be awesome to visit sometime to make a little picnic. After riding up in the funicular we climbed some steps in the blazing summer heat and took some of the most incredible city shots ever. Yes, Santiago is that big and developed! We also made it all the way to the Virgin Mary and took some pictures of her, but later decided it was about time for ice cream so we went down to the shop area and bought some “helados.” It was a truly lovely way to spend the day.

Later it was time to get prepared for our home stays which of course meant buying blow dryers and flat irons! I’ve used them and I think I like them better than my ones at home! The man at the counter was a little too helpful and explained every detail of our hardware and even took them out of the box to test drive! Nonetheless I do owe him many thanks for activating my phone. Yipee! The day ended with some empanadas from the local grocery store and a drink called “Mote con huesillo” which is like some juice with a peach in the middle and dried wheat at the bottom. Everyone was buying them at the top of the hill that I was talking about, but Mel and I found it rather disgusting and something to never be purchased again. This day was really so pleasant and a great way to relax before meeting the other study abroad kidlets and *gasp* our host families!

Brittany has arrived!

Hello everyone!

Finally I’ve found a moment to write about my flights and very first day arriving to the hostel in Chile!

So the flight schedule was truly brutal. I flew from San Francisco to Miami, Miami to Bogota, Colombia, and finally from Bogota to Santiago. Oh yeah and I had an 8 HOUR LAYOVER in Miami! I’m not going to lie. It was dreadful. Mel and I had originally planned on going outside of the airport to a little area called Little Havana, but once we had arrived we were so tired and decided it would be a big struggle and maybe not even worth the cab fare/hassle of going to calle 8. So we stayed in the airport during the entire layover. There was a lot of walking, some eating, a lot of talking, and some movie watching. All in all I was a bit surprised how quickly the time passed. We both had a little mini panic attack when we were finally on line to check in to our flight to Colombia because we were basically the only Americans and Spanish was surrounding us. Things were starting to get real. The flight from Miami to Bogota was probably one of the most pleasant I’ve ever had. Each seat had its own TV and plenty of leg room. At one point the flight attendant came by and asked if I wanted ice in my juice to which I gave him my deer in headlights look. He was speaking too fast and I was caught off guard. Thankfully the young girl seated next to me already knew that I spoke Spanish (I told her she could steal the blanket from the seat behind her when she realized she didn’t have one) so she clearly and slowly pronounced “Hie-lo” (ice) which I of course understood and said “no gracias.” I’m glad I was able to understand in the end and I’ll let it slide that I didn’t understand the flight attendant because lets face it I was a walking zombie , but what bothered me is what I did after. Instead of turning to the girl and thanking her for helping me and saying how hard it is to understand people when they speak quickly I simply gave a courtesy smile and kept my lips shut tight. I made absolutely no effort to use the Spanish I’ve worked so hard to learn. From that moment on I made a little promise to myself that I won’t beat myself up for not understanding, but I certainly won’t let myself remain quiet for fear of making a mistake, shyness, or whatever reason. Of course I’ve never been and probably will never be much of an attention whore, its just not who I am, but if I have something to say I will say it!

When we finally arrived to Santiago our energy was through the roof. Mel had forgotten some documents that we thought were important, but they let her through saying “don’t worry” the entire time. We didn’t have to pay a $100 fee we were told we’d have to pay upon entry. Also, our luggage was practically the first to come out which we promptly put on the free carts we were offered. Later, after a harmless run through customs we walked right up on the taxi stand we were hoping to find. I remember looking at Mel and saying, “I already love this country!” Things got a bit sour after the taxi driver dropped us off at the hostel around 7 AM. Check in wasn’t until 2 PM so we simply had to wait in the lobby area. We immediately decided to take a quick walk around the neighborhood (Bellas Artes) taking pictures and taking in an empty city being watched by the few men on the street (especially Mel. Tall, blonde, blue eyes. Need I say more?) and then we were followed by a random pack of dogs which we were very happy to ditch when the effects of not sleeping for days had kicked in. We returned to the hostel to literally dip in and out of consciousness on the couch with a blanket until 2 PM. Never in my life had I wanted to shower or brush my teeth more. There must have been a layer of grime and dirt on every inch of my body. After my miraculous shower we took about a two hour power nap and decided to go get something to eat. First we stopped by a phone company tower called Entel PCs and I bought a new phone for $20 that came with $20 worth of credit making it practically free! Unfortunately even though I clearly asked the woman if she herself would activate my credit my phone didn’t work immediately. Somehow she hadn’t activated it. Later we went for dinner and after a delicious meal at La Patagonia we decided we deserved just one beer. Boy were we wrong when we thought we’d be having a simple night! I had read up about the food & beverages of Chile and knew that Escudo was one of the popular beers. Like the silly gringas that we are we awkwardly wandered into a pub called El Diablito (the little devil) and ordered two Escudos. The beer went quickly, but we had no intentions to stay out late or do any sort of carretear (partying), but our curiosity got the best of us so we asked about one of the country’s national drinks, Pisco. The problem was that we were supposed to order a Pisco Sour which to my knowledge is not necessarily a mean cocktail, but something for the ladies to drink. Again, being the silly gringas that we are we ordered Piscola (Pisco with Coca Cola). Basically Pisco is like a flavored liquor, which is fine of course, but in one shot! The bartender literally poured us a cup each of at least 3 shots of Pisco and room to put just the tiniest sip of Coca Cola. Needless to say we quickly realized which direction our night was going. We had a lot of fun and didn’t get too out of hand. Really we were just two gringa friends laughing and probably speaking really loud English. When we finally went to return to the hostel we ran into a group of some silly Chileans and swapped slang. Although we were muriéndonos de sueño (dying of tiredness) we had a wonderful first day and introduction to the country that I now call my home, Chile!

I'm leaving on a jet plane! Don't know when I'll be back again!

The day has finally come! Today, January 16th 2010, is the day that I make my grand journey to Chile! I won’t quite say goodbye to US soil today because I’m taking a redeye to Miami, but nevertheless excited doesn’t even cut it when trying to describe my emotions. I have been preparing for this trip for an entire year! The other day I told my mom how I can’t really stray from thinking about studying abroad in Santiago for more than five minutes at a time. My life literally has revolved around preparing for this year abroad for months. I’m more than ready to make Chile my new home because it already is such a major part of my life. I literally cannot wait for the moment when my plane finally lands and I step outside the airport to hop into a taxi to take me to my hostel downtown. Yes, I’m leaving the 16th and getting there the 18th. Today is going to be the never-ending day from hell, but I’m prepared. I have a computer full of movies, my iPod, my fuzzy little footy socks, and my neck pillow (that I swear cured me of my I-don’t-sleep-anywhere-but-my-bed-phobia). Also I’m traveling with my friend Mel that I had in two of my Spanish classes last quarter, so I sure we’ll be feeding off each other’s excitement! We’re thinking during our ridiculous 8 hour layover in Miami that we’ll check out the city and maybe even go to Little Havana. Calle 8!

In other amazing news. I GOT MY VISA!!! I literally did everything that I spent months doing trying to get my visa in LA in about one week up here. P.S. my fingerprints finally did come in from the FBI over a month later than expected. Fortunately the San Francisco consulate didn’t have as strict requirements and last week I was able to run around the entire North State like a mad woman. I literally drove all the way to Davis to get a piece of paper for my doctor to fill out. The girl there at first wasn't going to give it to me and I legitimately considered ripping them out of her hands and running. I no joke even looked at my escape route. It was pretty much the biggest hassle ever trying to get that darn thing, but I have it and I’m so relieved!
So to keep in touch with me the easiest way is by email.
withlovebrittany@msn.com
But don’t forget about facebook and if you really want to talk to me like on the phone or even with a webcam download a program called Skype. It’s absolutely free and all you need is an internet connection and a microphone.
My Skype name is brittynic. Add me!
Last but not least, not that I really expect it, but if you’d like to send me a letter or package I’ve been told its best to send it to the UC study center instead of my host family’s address (which I don’t even know right now).
Programa Universidad de California
PUC-CHILE Campus Oriente Ave.
Jaime Guzmán 3300
Nuñoa Santiago, Chile

That’s all for now! I’ll miss everyone so much. Stay in contact! Next post will be from Chile!

Los quiero mucho! Chausito! =*