Santiago de Chile

After spending a relaxing day in Miami with my uncle, I hopped a plane to Santiago and arrived early in the morning on Wednesday. I quickly realized that my Spanish skills are nowhere near up to par. Chileans speak very fast and use a lot of slang, so it was almost as if I had never had 5 years of Spanish under my belt. I am staying with a girl named Barbara and her adorable son Carlitos in Santiago. This week her family is visiting so I got to meet her brothers Pablo and Rodrigo and her Mom. Incidentally, they're all from Arica, where I will be studying in a few days...small world!

The first day I was here, I arrived super early, so I had to drop my bags off with the doorman and figure out how to use public transport to town until Barbara returned from work. I had a very difficult conversation with the cleaning lady and the doorman, who thought my efforts to speak Spanish were hilarious. Surprisingly, although I only understood about 3% of what they said, they were a lot of help and I was able to make my way into town using Jaime (doorman)'s transport card, and with Jessica (cleaning lady)'s help to the bus stop.


ESCANDALO NUMERO 1: As I wandered around trying to figure out where the metro went, I came across a cafe...somehow it did not occur to me that the only customers were MALES in business suits and all the windows were darkened, I just needed a place to sit and figure out where I was without looking like a tourist (FAIL). So the waitress comes up and asks me what I wanted to drink...assuming I should order something as I was taking a table, I ordered a cappuccino and kept reading through my travel guide. As I just happened to be reading through the description of "cafes con piernas," or "coffee with legs," I realized I was sitting in the Chilean equivalent of a Hooters. It then occurred to me why the waitresses were somewhat scantily clad and I was the only female in the joint. All of a sudden, I felt pretty awkward and was noticing some weird looks from other customers...so I paid my bill and peaced out ASAP laughing at myself for showing my cultural ignorance so quickly.

ESCANDALO NUMERO 2: Another innocent endeavor...trying to find my way to San Cristobal Hill, upon which a giant statue of a saint stands and there is a cable car between two hills where you can see all of Santiago. I can NOT read a map. I was never a girl scout and I literally could get lost in a paper bag...and so I traveled solo, great idea?? So, I find myself in a big park, Parque something or other...right next to Rio Mapocho. I quickly found that the only thing to see in the park, aside from sleeping dogs and statues are couples making out EVERYWHERE, rain or shine, mostly young couples, but I caught a couple of 60+ showing the world that "they still got it." Most of the young couples are rebellious teens that refer to themselves as "Pokemones," which indicates that they make out with a lot of people...I mean, the PDA all day and everywhere is whatever, but the fact that they call themselves "Pokemones" is h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s to me. The only thing that would make me happier is if they all had special powers like "super tongue strength" and "tantalizing saliva," and they would all have names like "Smoochmander" and "Tonguetwistagon." POKEMOTTO: "Pokemones-mones-mones-mones! GOTTA KISS'em ALL!"

Check out what's goin' on behind 'ol Abe the Great Emancipator!

So, I'm in the Plaza de Armas, probably taking a picture and looking at a map, keeping a low profile right?...and although I tried to get a tan before I left, so I wouldn't stick out too much, a whole group of school girls spotted me immediately, tested my Spanish, and rejoiced when they found out I spoke English so that they could interview me for their English project. Standing in the midst of a group of girls recording me on their cell phones, I answered questions like... "What-is-you-name?" "Why you like Chile?" "Do you like Chilean people?" I should have said something really shocking for their English teacher to find since they couldn't understand me, but that wouldn't be very nice and its too early to get kicked out of the country.

Last night (Friday) I had my first taste of Pisco, Chilean brandy, in the form of a "Pisco sour," which is Pisco with lemon juice. Its rather awesome if I might add, go Chile.

This is all of us at the bar: Left to right: Barbara, Me, Maria, Pablo, Carlitos!!

"A todos, a vosotros"

To everyone, to you.

That's the title of a poem by Pablo Neruda, a communist writer and great poet from the lovely country I will be spending this semester in, Chile!

The majority of my time will be spent in Arica, a small city in the northernmost part of Chile and also the Atacama desert--the driest desert on earth! You might be thinking, desert=dry and totally lame, but fyi, the Atacama is home to some sweet mountains and volcanoes, but most importantly...VICUNAS (see top of page), adorable llama-like animals that better live in my backyard, or I'm asking for a refund.

With my program, I'll also be making a few excursions to southern Chile and Peru to study some of the native cultures. In the last month of the program, I'll be conducting an independent study research project in either Arica, or another city, yet to be determined!

I just watched The Motorcycle Diaries (must watch) so I'm full of idealistic fantasy and more anxious than ever to get into South America. Tuesday I fly (standby...should be interesting) to Santiago, where I will spend a week with a nice lady named Barbara and her son Carlitos exploring the capital city, which is conveniently perched next to/in? the Andes.

(Ignore the next section Mom and Dad):
Those are really all of my plans to date. If you don't know me, you should know, my planning skills are still maturing and often include a little improv, but hark!, I am equipped with some good readings for possible layovers and long bus rides. These include The Essential Neruda, Life of Pi, Siddhartha, and of course, the Chilean public health standards, which definitely deserve a slow clap.

So, if you are reading for scandals in Chile as my bold title alludes, I'll try to keep it interesting; otherwise, enjoy my sporadic, choppy, very grammatically incorrect life documentation.