I suppose I should start by welcoming you all to my Chilean adventure. It has been a whirlwind thus far, so much so that I’m not even sure where to begin. I suppose I should start at the airport where I said goodbye to the last of everyone who is familiar to me. After an hour and a half delay, my flight finally departed for Atlanta. The flight was relatively smooth, and I sat next to a couple from Mississippi and across from a woman with a baby who was from Georgia. They were all very excited to hear about my trip to Chile when they saw me reading the guidebook. I explained my travels as they smiled and nodded. Once we finally arrived in Atlanta the plane taxied around for a half hour which was frustrating as we were an hour late already, but I had plenty of time to kill during my four hour layover, so I merely chatted with the Mississippi couple about their son in the Air Force and other small things. Once we finally got off the plane, a gentleman from Alabama showed me where to catch the tram to get to the International terminal. He walked very fast but was incredibly helpful. After this trip, I can say I genuinely believe in Southern hospitality. From there I ate dinner in the airport food court and then read a magazine until it was time to board the airplane. I guess the gentleman seated next to me wanted to sit alone, because upon seeing me he vanished into the back of the plane, never to be seen again for the rest of the flight. This was perfectly okay with me as I got both seats to myself. I still slept quite tumultuously, but I suppose it was better than it would have been if he were there since I had more room to spread out. Plus, he smelled so strongly of cologne that it made me rather nauseous. The flight sped by as I slept on and off for the next eight hours. It was like taking eight continuous naps more than anything else. By the time we arrived in the Santiago airport, I felt tired and relatively dirty, but I had to focus on navigating customs and inspection, both of which were pretty easy. They didn’t ask me many questions at all, though that was probably a good thing since they talk super fast. I also paid my $140 tourism fee since I don’t yet have a student visa. Chile is very strict about this kind of thing, so I am going to need to get it as soon as possible. From there I got my luggage, and was greeted by two of the program directors, Natalia and Claudia. They directed me towards where the rest of the group was seated.
In total, there are about 30 of us in the program. Most of us departed together to the hotel. On the bus I tried to learn everyone’s names, but it was rather difficult. I am getting better but still struggling a little. Honestly, I love making new friends and meeting new people but 30 at once was rather overwhelming. I feel like I do better in a small group setting, but maybe that is just me. But anyway we made it to our hotel, Hotel Stanford, in the “comuna” as they call it of Providencia. Providencia is very close to the city center in contrast to places like the airport. Once there we walked around a bit to get coffee and exchange money. Then we had a nice lunch in a cute little café nearby. It was during lunch and walking around that I started to meet more and more people. I’ve been trying to showcase the more talkative side of my personality, but it is sometimes a challenge because in new social situations I have a tendency to take a step back and “feel out the situation” as my mom would say rather than jump right in and make conversation. I think I seem rather quiet and reserved in comparison to some people in the group, but I hope that in time they get to see just how crazy I really am.
Anyway, after lunch we free time where I showered and took a nice nap. It was then that I started to feel rather sick. My throat had been hurting since the plane ride, but by this point it had worsened. Still I took an advil and figured it was just something from the plane. We then had a presentation from the director—completely in Spanish, and then departed for dinner in the trendy Bellavista neighborhood that lies between Santiago Central and Providencia.
Dinner was a struggle for me because I was so freaking tired from my lack of stable sleep the night before, and the Chileans like to take their time and eat multiple courses so while I enjoyed the three course meal, I was very glad to be able to return to the hotel and go to sleep when it was over. My throat also had begun to hurt even worse, and I thought sleep might help me to feel better. Upon returning to the hotel, a group of people decided to go out, and although it sounded super fun, and I was amazingly tempted, I decided to pass for the sake of my health. However, after a good night’s sleep I still didn’t feel better. In fact, I felt worse. I sort of dragged through today’s activities, trying to maintain a certain amount of energy, but in reality my throat hurt so badly that it was hard to focus on anything else. Advil is the only thing that seems to help, but even that only masks the pain. I really hope it goes away soon. Anyway, during today’s activities we finally received the much anticipated information about our host families. Some people have families of 5 with adults and children of all ages, some have a mother/ daughter pair, some have two adults and a few older siblings. I, however, like a few others in my group live with just one other person. At first, I didn’t know much about her other than the fact that she lived in Providencia (there are only three of us with host families in Providencia), and that she made me a very pretty letter. However, by the time I met her I don’t think I made a very good first impression as I felt incredibly sick and feverish. Maria Elena, that’s her name, is incredibly kind though. We took a taxi to her apartment, and she immediately took my temperature and ushered me to bed in my new room which is rather empty but feels more like home already. She reminds me of a combination of my mom and my Grandma Cookie and my Grandma Thor. I’m not sure why this is, but she just does. She has aspects of all of their personalities. Anyway, after I awoke from my nap I felt better, but still shaky but then she gave me the biggest hug and I felt so much better. I feel like it is easy to feel isolated in this new place, but with her, I feel like I have an instant friend. It is nice to have someone to take care of you when you are anxious and sick. Anyway, she insisted I eat some honey and then she had prepared a delicious dinner, so we sat down to eat and talk. Squash soup, a salad with lemon juice (not dressing oddly enough, I may need to expose her to ranch), and some beef and steamed veggies along with a glass of wine certainly made me full and more at home. I learned that she has a son who left Chile at age 19 to study in the US. He is now married to an American and living in San Francisco where he works on films. He is 31 years old. She is 62-years old, works for an insurance company, is a non-practicing catholic, enjoys the Rolling Stones and watching the news, and plans to visit her son in America at the beginning of next year. She also told me that she thinks my Spanish is quite good which made me very happy. I was afraid that we wouldn’t be able to understand each other but things have been quite smooth. We communicate well, and I am already beginning to think in Spanish. Crazy, right? In any event, after dinner she gave me time to unpack my things and showed me how to use the calefont—the gas heater used to heat the water for showering and such and how to use the internet. However, she couldn’t remember the password to the wifi, so we are going to have to ask her nephew about that one since he set it up. I also got a little time to admire the beautiful view from my bedroom window. I'll have to post pictures since it isn't indescribably beautiful. I can see the entire city scape plus the snow covered mountains. Anyway, she loved the blanket, loon, and book I brought her, and she admired the blanket while I explained what the Red Gym, the Memorial Union, Bascom Hall, and Camp Randall are. She also LOVES my boots that I brought and was astonished at how cheap they were. Who knew I was so thrifty? After all of this excitement, we chatted a bit more and then she watched the news before bed. Quite loudly, might I add. She may give Grandpa Thor a run for his money. Finally at around midnight, I went to sleep in my full sweatsuit, wool socks, and my mittens only to wake up sweating. Go figure. I suppose six blankets will do that for you.
Anyway, Chile is totally a blur to me thus far. As of yet, I’m not really sure how to feel. I can already tell my Spanish is improving every second (siento menos como una gringa y mas como una chilena), but I still feel rather uncomfortable with everything. I need to gain my footing in such a different place with a person whose rules and customs I am still unfamiliar with. I am not sure how to interact with a person so different than myself, yet I hope that we will get along well. Perhaps it’s the optimist in me, but I have a good feeling about Chile. However, I am definitely going to need more time to adjust to everything because it feels like it is passing by so fast. Luckily, time is something I have plenty of.
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