Trip to Santiago and Class Adventures

  Valparaíso, Chile
Thursday, August 11, 2005

Hola todos!!
 
Its me again coming to you all the way from Chile, where apparently it is officially beginning 'spring'.  The weather has been spectacular about 6 out of the last 7 days.  Mostly clear skies, temps midday well into the sixties, and of course the glittering ocean and swaying palm trees dont hurt either.  Now that you are all officially jealous, I'll talk about some fun stuff I have been up to!
 
This weekend was great, friday afternoon (yeah I have no friday classes) Elizabeth Garlow and I take a bus to Santiago to visit our friend Becca from Kzoo.  It is so easy to take the buses here and they arent too pricey.  Its about a luca (1.000 pesos or about 2 dollars) for every hour on the bus.  In Santiago we stayed with Becca´s host family, who were really great people.  I had my first experience with 'once' which is like a snack when everyone gets home in the evening, with bread and jam and juice, and cheese.  My family in Viña doesnt eat this traditional meal, but we do have a big dinner.  After this we all shared photos and then went out in santiago to meet up with other kids from the CIEE program there, and saw Jordan, another kzooer studying in Santiago.  After being in Santiago a second time, I was very happy to visit, but I am really crazy about living in the Valpo area on the coast.  The smog in Santiago is really gross, and its a really huge city, and while it certainly doesnt feel like Detroit of anything, besides the language, its really similar to any other big city in the world. 
 
Saturday Becca and I walked around downtown santiago, and visited la Moneda the presidential palace that was bombed during the military takeover in '73. 

La Moneda- Chilean Presidential Palace

We also walked in the national cathedral in the plaza de armas.  Finally we also went to the history of chile museum. 

Fountain in Presidential Palace courtyard

It was interesting, but what left the biggest impression on me was the very last item they had there:  in a little glass box was half of the mangled and melted glasses that Salvador Allende always wore.  Its no wonder Chileans are still very sensitive to anything involving the dictatorship.

National Cathedral

 
 
I came home Saturday evening by ruta Agua Santa which decends down into Valparaiso from the top of a hill, giving awesome views of the bay and the two cities with all their twinkling lights.  It was nice to come back and settle in, and then I finally was able to connect with my family in Michigan.  We talked for a long time and it was great to hear their voices.  Im not really homesick, but I certainly do miss everyone!

Sarah and Diane in Valparaíso

 
 
This week was a real week of classes, minus a couple of weird changes, but I guess you sort of just have to go with the flow here.  I found out that already I am going to have to drop some classes.  I was of course expecting to do this, but its a funny feeling, since I have never done that before.  For those of you who enjoy hearing about me and my mishaps in class read the rest of this paragraph, If you arent interested...skip ahead!   So here goes:  monday I was supposed to have a class in FIL 1 (there are a ton of buildings spread out all over the cities).  I went to what I thought was FIL to look for my class.  I asked some kids if they knew where it was and so I went to that room and sat down.  The class was supposed to be 'el hombre y los juegos' - sort of a fluff class.  I asked another kid in the class if this was the right place, and apprently he felt like being mean to the foreign kid, so he told me yes it was the right place.  I introduced myself, and asked him his name, but he never really said anything more than a mumble.  A couple minutes later, a couple of chileans sat down next to me, but these kids were super cool.  They were interested in talking to me, and where i was from, and telling me that one of them had studied abroad in Trinidad and Tobago, and knew some English.  I thought I was making some awesome friends here!  Then they asked me why i hadnt been in class the last friday.  El hombre y los juegos was supposed to be a once a week easy class so I was confused.  I asked them what class this was supposed to be and they said matter-of-factly: this is Chemistry!   Oh man I was lost, and saddened.  And I felt really stupid.  I asked them if this was FIL 1 and they said.¨. ' thats all the way in SAusalito, at the filosofia building.  Well this dumb gringo slunk out of the room, and instead of going to class, I walked around Valpo looking for a music store ( it was closed).  Hopefully I wont have anymore crazy mishaps with classes!
 
Meteorology also has to be dropped because they decided to change the times on that.  Its ok though because the prof was hard to understand anyway.
 
Tues I played basketball finally with some chileans in the gym.  They were nice, and considering I hadnt touched a basketball in at least a month, I did ok!  Actually I was one of the best.  Ill have to work on my shot a little though.  My 3pointer was a bit off :-)
 
So all in all, it was a good week.  This weekend I am going to Mendoza, Argentina.  It seems like it might be a sort of tourist trap, since it is just across the border...but it was fairly cheap to get there, and it is right by the biggest mountain in the andes (23,000ft)  Hopefully I will have some nice pictures and stories when I return.
 
I hope all of you are having great summers, and those of you getting ready to head back to school, good luck!!!   I miss all of you, and anytime you want to drop me an email, please do!  I love getting mail, and Ill try to respond when I have time :-)
 
Chauuuuu!