I am pleased to report that my first Friday in Chile was just as crazy as all of my other days here so far. It started with me running late, which is very strange for me as a type A person who always seems to be five minutes early. My host mom lost track of time, and she forgot to wake me up at 8:30 (I need to get an alarm clock), so we were racing about in order to arrive at the cell phone store at 10. Luckily, the store is pretty close to where we live so I was able to get there just on time. Anyway, I got a cell phone which makes me VERY happy, even if it is pay as you go and it is the cheapest, saddest phone ever. I’ve already gotten quite a bit of use out of it, but I need to be careful not to drain all of my money right away even though it is tempting to communicate like when I had unlimited texting. We also all began to exchange phone numbers right away, which I definitely think will come in handy. After acquiring a cell phone we returned to the hotel we had been at for the previous few days in order to learn a bit more about speaking in Spanish with Chileans and with our friends and all of that. Then we had a nice lunch near the hotel, and I got to learn about all the different host families that people have. I’m not going to lie, I am definitely jealous of the guy in the group with the yellow lab puppy (!!!), but I’ll just have to make sure to visit it. My favorite part of the day, however, came in the afternoon when we were introduced to Chilean students from the universities that we are going to be studying at. There were three of them, and after breaking into groups, I got placed with Amaranta. She was supposed to show us how to use the metro system, so she took us to the nearest station and we boarded in the direction of downtown. The metros were freaking packed! I can’t explain to you how full they were. I’m definitely going to need to be careful with my purse, because it would be super easy to steal something out of it in such a tight space. Anyway, when we arrived in Santiago downtown, in an area called Bellas Artes, I was amazed at the beauty, and I realized how much I have to explore still! We walked around a bit, and then eventually headed into a bar that was quite empty to sit down and chat. The bar was “American” themed, but also super weird, with hatchets and stuff like that on the walls. Strange décor but pretty cool still. It was so nice to talk with a real Chilean student about school and life in the city. Amaranta was pretty hilarious, and she explained to us where to “carretear” and what is happening with the protests at the universities (if you don’t know what I am talking about, look it up, it’s huge here). I enjoyed the atmosphere and a cerveza and we explained to her certain things about the US, like country music and square dancing, while she taught us some chilenismos, of which there are many. Finally, we returned to the hotel on an even more packed metro to the hotel around 6 where my host mom picked me up and walked me home. When we got back to her apartment, she realized that we didn’t have any bread so we made my first stop to the Chilean grocery store. I have no clue why grocery stores fascinate me so much, but they do. Looking around at all the different food and seeing all the people was just awesome. Yeah I am a food dork and a people watcher. I can’t help myself sometimes. I want to try EVERYTHING in that store that isn’t from the US. I don’t think my host mom realizes what an eater I am. Haha. Anyway, I tried to teach her what some food items and other things are in English, because she wants to learn English. However, I also explained to her that I would have no idea where to start. Any suggestions?
I happily gazed around at all the activity as my host mom paid for the food (just a few things, ham, cheese, and bread, I don’t have the heart to tell her that I don’t like ham. Yes, dad, I know what you and Peter are thinking right now. Don’t even say it.) However, once we left the store she told me that four different guys had turned to each other and said things like, “Esta Buena, la gringa!” and “Que linda, la gringa!” which embarrassed me a lot. She thought it was hilarious that I was oblivious to all of this. Apparently I am going to get a lot of attention for being tall (for their standards), blonde, and pale in this city. Oh well. So after that incident we came back to make dinner and chat. My host mom was super interested in my past relationships and my lack of love life. I sincerely hope she does not try to set me up with anyone, as that could be super awkward. As we watched the news (I am going to be SO well informed about foreign affairs by the time I leave), we discussed the movies and actors she likes. Turns out she is a huge fan of Ashton Kutcher, Hugh Grant, Matthew McConaughey, and wait for it, Charlie Sheen. Ahahahaha. I laughed so hard as she described what kind of boyfriend Matthew McConaughey would be and how Hugh Grant had a sort of “charm” (a word I taught her) about him. Anyway, after dinner I got ready to go out for my first time in Chile! We had decided earlier to go to a club where one of the girls in my group’s host brother was DJing. So I made plans with Hannah, the girl who lives closest to me to take the metro at 11 (early by Chilean standards) to the club, which was in Bellavista, a trendy part of town for University students. My host mom insisted in walking me to the station, which is across the street, and upon arriving we realized that they stop letting people in at 11 and not 11:30, so I yelled goodbye and raced to catch up with Hannah. However, we made it with a little time to spare. We actually went the wrong way on the metro at first (typical me, getting lost), but quickly realized our mistake and set off in the other direction. The metro is SUPER easy to use, and I live on both the red and blue lines. The red line is the most popular as it goes straight through downtown, so I really couldn’t ask for a better location. Anyway, we took that towards Bellavista and then located the club with relative ease. Once we got ushered inside by the bouncer who could tell how confused we were, I immediately noticed how huge the place was. There were a couple bars and lots of room for sitting and talking which is of course what we did at first. All in all, it was a fun night filled with dancing (so so so many people there!), talking to new people (we met Canadians, Peruvians, and of course Chileans), socializing with my friends from CIEE (there were about 10-12 of us there), enjoying the DJ skills of Natalie’s host brother, and overall, improving my Spanish. It was actually pretty cool, because three different Chileans commented on how good my Spanish was. So sweet of them, and I now have hope of not failing my classes! We finally left the club at four am, which is still early for Chileans since apparently their bars never close, and after a short but way too expensive cab ride, I arrived safely at my apartment, said goodbye to Hannah and crashed in my bed.
Unfortunately, I am still sick and if this doesn’t improve, my host mom plans to take me to the doctor on Monday. I’m kind of scared, because I am unfamiliar with their health care system, and while I believe that she would recommend a good doctor, I don’t know how to communicate with him or how to pay for the medical care or anything. So I am praying that I get better before then, or at least start to improve significantly. Anyway, we are headed to the market now, but I plan to have a more relaxing day to try to counter my crazy Friday. Oh, Santiago, I don’t want to take in too much of you too soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment