update
here's my latest e-mail home for all of you not on the list:
saludos otra vez de chile!! i’ve been here for a little over a week, now, and am getting nicely settled into my new chilean lifestyle. i live with an amazing family (i’m not sure i could have gotten a better one, to be honest) that’s a dad (raúl), a mom (marisol), and a brother (cristián). there’s a sister (carolina), too, but she’s married and lives about a half hour away with her husband and their daughter (amparo), who’s 3. the family is incredibly sweet and warm… they joke around a lot and i join in with them (though usually what i’m saying to make them laugh is dumb stories about myself that could be slightly embarrassing…oh well :D). cristián’s a student in one of the universities here in valpo and i think is studying some mix of engineering, mechanics, physics, and econ or something like that. it’s really different for me living with a “brother.” boys are so weird ☺ cristián’s also kinda lazy, so i like teasing him about that a lot. haha. both parents work all day, so my mom leaves me a lunch to bring to casa SIT (SIT headquarters where i have spanish class every morning). the family reconvenes all together at around 8ish to have “tecito,” tea and a smallish meal. we sit around the table for a good bit of time talking, discussing our days, watching a little bit of news and discussing that, etc. it’s a nice way to wind down the day. my family’s pretty left-leaning, so we have some really interesting political conversations, too. the house is really cute and really sweetly decorated. there’s fresh calla lilies on the table, cut from the back yard ☺ they have a german shepard who’s 5 months old and is a lot of fun, though he has to stay outside. there’s another dog, too, but i haven’t seen much of her b/c she doesn’t get along with the pup. there’s 3 cats that live outside, too, who love bothering the puppy, as well.
i live up on top of one of the cerros here in valpo (it’s a steep steep hill) and i have an amazing view from my house. i can see down over the city to the ocean and across the bay to the beaches and behind them, the andes! seriously, i can see the snow on top of the mountains on a clear day. it’s absolutely incredible. i take a public bus to school every morning with the 3 boys from my program that live close. it’s about a 45 minute trip, including walking to and from the bus stops, and waiting for the bus, and it costs me a little less than a dollar. i heat up my lunch at casa SIT and eat there with other kids who also bring their lunch (sometimes we even walk down and eat at the beach!!). in the afternoon, i have seminars (monday, tuesday, thursday) at the university about chilean history/politics/economy/social classes. wednesday, i have community service (i’ll be working in a shantytown nearby, but doing what i’m not sure yet).
weekends we generally have free. i went out with my family and another host family this friday to celebrate their gringa’s birthday. (they call all of us americans gringos… but not as something derogatory, just because). we went to a bar/club with a live salsa band from cuba and danced and danced and danced. it was a lot of fun and they told me that for a gringa, i’ve got rhythm ☺. thank you dance classes in cádiz this summer! saturday i went to a local produce market with a friend from my group and we bought fresh veggies for her to cook for her fam (she wanted to make a southern meal for them b/c she’s from atlanta, but the closest she could find to collards was some kind of greens for which we could not find a translation.. haha). next weekend starts the fiestas patrias here (national holidays-independence day, etc), so we have a 5 day break from school. i’m looking into going to mendoza, argentina with some girls in the program for 3 days and coming back here to celebrate with my fam for 2. the tradition is to have an asado, which is kinda like a barbeque with A LOT of meat. i’m psyched. there’s also a big kite tradition here in September, so i’m excited for that, too.
september 11 is a big deal here b/c it was the day of the coup that put pinochet in power, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of riots/protests/etc go on. the current president is a socialist (from the same party that got kicked out during the coup), so there’s just a really fascinating political atmosphere in the country. she’s also the first woman president they’ve had.
saturday, i experienced my first “temblor,” kind of a mini-earthquake. it was super weird to feel the house start shaking all of a sudden.
so, all in all, i’m having a great time here. everything’s going well, my group’s great, my family’s perfect, but i’m thinking about you all a lot. a bunch of you have been in my dreams, including one about androgyny forgetting about me (don’t do that!!) thanks for writing back, those of you that did. it made me smile big to hear from you. those who are abroad, keep having a great time and keep checking in and letting me know about your worldly experiences. those of you at home/school, let me know about your lives, too!
saludos otra vez de chile!! i’ve been here for a little over a week, now, and am getting nicely settled into my new chilean lifestyle. i live with an amazing family (i’m not sure i could have gotten a better one, to be honest) that’s a dad (raúl), a mom (marisol), and a brother (cristián). there’s a sister (carolina), too, but she’s married and lives about a half hour away with her husband and their daughter (amparo), who’s 3. the family is incredibly sweet and warm… they joke around a lot and i join in with them (though usually what i’m saying to make them laugh is dumb stories about myself that could be slightly embarrassing…oh well :D). cristián’s a student in one of the universities here in valpo and i think is studying some mix of engineering, mechanics, physics, and econ or something like that. it’s really different for me living with a “brother.” boys are so weird ☺ cristián’s also kinda lazy, so i like teasing him about that a lot. haha. both parents work all day, so my mom leaves me a lunch to bring to casa SIT (SIT headquarters where i have spanish class every morning). the family reconvenes all together at around 8ish to have “tecito,” tea and a smallish meal. we sit around the table for a good bit of time talking, discussing our days, watching a little bit of news and discussing that, etc. it’s a nice way to wind down the day. my family’s pretty left-leaning, so we have some really interesting political conversations, too. the house is really cute and really sweetly decorated. there’s fresh calla lilies on the table, cut from the back yard ☺ they have a german shepard who’s 5 months old and is a lot of fun, though he has to stay outside. there’s another dog, too, but i haven’t seen much of her b/c she doesn’t get along with the pup. there’s 3 cats that live outside, too, who love bothering the puppy, as well.
i live up on top of one of the cerros here in valpo (it’s a steep steep hill) and i have an amazing view from my house. i can see down over the city to the ocean and across the bay to the beaches and behind them, the andes! seriously, i can see the snow on top of the mountains on a clear day. it’s absolutely incredible. i take a public bus to school every morning with the 3 boys from my program that live close. it’s about a 45 minute trip, including walking to and from the bus stops, and waiting for the bus, and it costs me a little less than a dollar. i heat up my lunch at casa SIT and eat there with other kids who also bring their lunch (sometimes we even walk down and eat at the beach!!). in the afternoon, i have seminars (monday, tuesday, thursday) at the university about chilean history/politics/economy/social classes. wednesday, i have community service (i’ll be working in a shantytown nearby, but doing what i’m not sure yet).
weekends we generally have free. i went out with my family and another host family this friday to celebrate their gringa’s birthday. (they call all of us americans gringos… but not as something derogatory, just because). we went to a bar/club with a live salsa band from cuba and danced and danced and danced. it was a lot of fun and they told me that for a gringa, i’ve got rhythm ☺. thank you dance classes in cádiz this summer! saturday i went to a local produce market with a friend from my group and we bought fresh veggies for her to cook for her fam (she wanted to make a southern meal for them b/c she’s from atlanta, but the closest she could find to collards was some kind of greens for which we could not find a translation.. haha). next weekend starts the fiestas patrias here (national holidays-independence day, etc), so we have a 5 day break from school. i’m looking into going to mendoza, argentina with some girls in the program for 3 days and coming back here to celebrate with my fam for 2. the tradition is to have an asado, which is kinda like a barbeque with A LOT of meat. i’m psyched. there’s also a big kite tradition here in September, so i’m excited for that, too.
september 11 is a big deal here b/c it was the day of the coup that put pinochet in power, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of riots/protests/etc go on. the current president is a socialist (from the same party that got kicked out during the coup), so there’s just a really fascinating political atmosphere in the country. she’s also the first woman president they’ve had.
saturday, i experienced my first “temblor,” kind of a mini-earthquake. it was super weird to feel the house start shaking all of a sudden.
so, all in all, i’m having a great time here. everything’s going well, my group’s great, my family’s perfect, but i’m thinking about you all a lot. a bunch of you have been in my dreams, including one about androgyny forgetting about me (don’t do that!!) thanks for writing back, those of you that did. it made me smile big to hear from you. those who are abroad, keep having a great time and keep checking in and letting me know about your worldly experiences. those of you at home/school, let me know about your lives, too!