Orientación…

My first meal in Chile: a sandwich called the Barros Luco.
It's named after a former president who just
loved his meat and cheese sandwiches. He and I have
that in common.

Well, 2 days of Orientation have passed without a hitch. The official name of this program that I’m doing is English Opens Doors (which will henceforth be referred to as EOD) and is put on by the Government of Chile, who is partnered with Cultural Embrace in Austin. The people running EOD are a fun group of Chileans, American ex-pats, and a delightfully random Kiwi from New Zealand. So far Orientation has consisted of several workshops on classroom management and lesson planning (which for a novice like myself will prove to be invaluable).

What wasn’t so fun was today’s presentation on health safety; although super informative, it had to address the nasty little subjects of earthquakes and tsunamis. For those of you who know me well, you know that I have a teensy bit of anxiety when it comes to storms/natural disasters… and when I say teensy, I mean a lot. As a kid, I was the paranoid freak wearing a football helmet while hiding in the hall closet with a handheld radio and a flashlight whenever there was a tornado watch. Turns out I never really got over it (I blame my mother for forcing me to go with her when she was trying her hand as an amateur storm-chaser). Anyways, needless to say that during today’s presentation I was a bit on edge. We were told that there are often earthquake tremors in the north, especially in Iquique – in fact, they had one 2 weeks ago (I think it was a 5.6). They tried to tell us that this was a good thing because it means that the earth is releasing its built up stress regularly instead of being quiet for years and going absolutely nuts like it did in southern Chile in February. Stay tuned for the blog that comes after I experience my first tremor: I have a feeling that I will have a hard time seeing it as a good thing then. They also said that there are several tsunami drills in Iquique over the course of the year without warning so that people will always be on their toes. The blog that I write the day after I’m woken up at 3 a.m. and told to run for the hills should be a delightful read as well.

The view from Melissa's window of her new apartment.
Yeah, those are the Andes.

After Orientation I’ve been able to hang out with the girls that I’m rooming with as well as Melissa, my new friend from Mexico. Luckily, she was able to find an apartment that has an AMAZING view of Santiago (I’m talking postcard worthy). In our free time we’ve mostly been walking around the city while trying new places for meals and sightseeing – I feel like the blisters I’ve gotten from the countless miles that I’ve walked in my new shoes are necessary evils because I’ve seen a lot of Santiago and have eaten really amazing food so far. These Chileans love their meat; Texans can rest assured that they will feel right at home here (not to mention that their national flag is pretty darn close to the Texan flag).

Some of my new friends: Melissa (left) from Mexico and
Amanda (right) from Houston

Since I got here about 2 days before everyone else and have had some time to learn the streets of Santiago, I’ve been elected the unofficial city navigator among my little group of friends. I find this hilarious because I’m never the person who volunteers to carry the map and find out where to go; I’m a very content follower and leave the ‘taking charge’ role to my friends like Emily Quant :-). Even so, I’ve not gotten too terribly lost yet and I’m pretty darn proud of myself. I just can’t get over the fact that people keep asking me how to get places and I actually know… it’s the darndest thing. Also, while going through the streets of Santiago, one can’t help but notice the huge number of stray dogs wandering all over the place. Although this fact makes me pretty sad since it forces me to imagine my Buddy as a jaded little street-wiener, I am comforted by the fact that some dog-loving Chileans have taken it upon themselves to equip about 90% of the street dogs with their own little doggie sweaters so that they can stay warm – these are probably some of the most chic homeless pooches in the world.

Hostel living hasn’t been too bad so far; it’s no Holiday Inn, but it has free internet and hot water so I’m moderately comfortable. There are only 3 girls living with me in this little room and they are all super nice. Even so, living in such close quarters has some drawbacks. Since I know that I’m not someone who can sleep through loud snoring, I came prepared with earplugs. However, there is some snoring so thunderous that even earplugs can’t block it out, and because of this I’m about to take a much-needed siesta. Until next time, here’s your philosophical question of the day:

If God sneezed, what would you say to him?

-Caroline
Advisor Abroad in Chile

¡Estoy aquí!

After a 3 hour flight from Dallas to Atlanta, a 3 hour layover, and a 10 hour flight to Santiago, I finally got here yesterday! And it’s cold. Really cold. Right now it’s about 46˚ and tonight it’s supposed to get down to 28˚. And it’s raining. I have about 4 blankets on my bed right now because the hostel doesn’t have central heating and my bed is right by the window. Considering all the complaining I did about the Texas heat, you would think I would be happy. Turns out that being super cold isn’t all rainbows and hugs either.

I had a really interesting cab ride from the airport. The cab driver picked up on my gringa-tastic Spanish and the fact that it was my first time in Santiago and decided that he could make some money off of me. $80,000 Chilean Pesos seemed a little high to me anyways, but thanks to the tiny calculator in my wallet, I found out that it was about $160 USD for a 20 minute cab ride. That guy really thought that I was an idiot. He even called his boss/fellow con-artist while he was driving so that I would really see that $80,000 was a good rate. I told him I wasn’t paying him any more than $20,000 and that even that was too generous. He told me that he would at least need $30,000 so he wouldn’t get in trouble with his office. Since I just wanted to get the heck out of that cab, I gave it to him. Caroline’s first lesson in Chile: don’t trust the taxi drivers.

After I got here yesterday, I was lucky enough to get a temporary roommate who turned out to be awesome: Melissa from Mexico. She’s in Santiago as part of a study abroad program with her university in Mexico. She and I did some exploring of Santiago yesterday while looking for an apartment for her to rent. It makes me feel so much better that Melissa, a native Spanish speaker, is having a super hard time understanding what these crazy Chileans are saying. Having her around is like having Spanish training wheels; it’s been great exploring Santiago with her. We even tested out the metro, which turned out to be one of the cleanest that I’ve ever been on (it puts Chicago’s to shame). Unfortunately the hostel is full for tonight so she just had to move to another one across town.

Ok, well I’m about to hop in my 2 ft x 2 ft shower before I go explore the city for some lunch. I’m excited about orientation starting soon! But more than anything, I can’t wait to get up north to my new home in (hopefully) Iquique. I’m sure I’ll post another update before the week is over! Here’s the philosophical question of the day:

Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?

-Caroline
Advisor Abroad in Chile

Tarapacá...

Today marks the 2 week countdown until I leave for Chile. Good grief. Every time I start to think about what I should pack, a storm cloud of information overload threatens and my brain goes into self-preservation mode (which typically results in a nap). Rather than focusing on silly things like packing, I’ve chosen to be productive in ways that don’t require me to think too much. For example, I will inevitably need several new playlists on my iPod, and choosing new music is not a task that should be taken lightly. Also, I decided to get my International Driver’s Permit just in case I need to rent a car. After my Russia fiasco, I’ve decided that it’s best to have as many transportation options as possible while traveling.

A View of Iquique... I really want to be placed there!!!

I just got an email from the Chilean Ministry of Education saying that my regional placement in Chile is in the Tarapacá Region. Since I was thinking that it was going to be in the Atacama region, I’ve not bothered to learn about any of the other regions. I just did some frantic Googling and learned a little bit about the region thanks to the always useful Wikipedia. It’s located in the “Big North” of Chile and is divided into 2 provinces. Since I don’t know exactly which town I’ll be in until I go to orientation in Santiago, I can only guess where I’ll end up. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I end up in the town of Iquique. It’s the capital of the region and seems to be pretty awesome. It’s located right on the water and seems to be metropolitan and very well developed. I don’t mind small cities, but I’d much prefer to be in a bigger one; mostly because it would be more likely to have a movie theatre, which is always nice if I’m feeling homesick.

My book on Chilean Spanish... really entertaining

I’ve gotten very lazy with my Spanish practice and I just know that I will regret it once I get off the plane in Santiago. I bought a book of Chilean Spanish called “Chilenismos”. As far as I can tell, Chilean Spanish is going to eat me alive. Although the book is full of super entertaining Chilean slang (especially the section labeled “The Profane and Sexual”… I’m not proud of the amount of giggling I did), the introduction of the book didn’t serve to boost my Spanish confidence. It says that Chilean Spanish is so difficult to understand that most native speakers have trouble understanding it. It even says that oftentimes Chilean movies have standard Spanish subtitles when they are released into other Spanish-speaking countries. Although the Spanish Department at Baylor was more than wonderful, I don’t think it has prepared me for what I’m about to encounter…

So, the next time you will get an update from me will probably be when I get to Santiago since I'm about to go into a panicked preperation mode for Chile while attempting to re-learn high school math for the GRE. Rest assured that these entries will be much more frequent and entertaining once I have interesting things to talk about during my adventures in South America. So, until next time, here’s the philosophical question of the day:

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

-Caroline
Advisor Abroad in Chile