I should gradually begin to post in Spanish to get maximum practice in writing. But then half of los lectores wouldn't be able to read it. Anyways. I feel like I've been here for at least a week, but its only been a week. Yesterday, after resting up a little at the hostel, our group of 4 explored the city. It was incredibly packed as we got closer to the center of the city. We, not knowing where we were going exactly, were literally pushed forward by the fast-paced crowd of men and women dressed in suits, students in their uniforms, Chileans dressed in dark earthy colors. We were trying to get to the bank to exchange money, but after walking a mile or so we were told to go to a casa de cambios (money exchange house) because the bancos didn't so those sorts of things. After finally finding la casa de cambios, we exchanged our money and de repente went on a search for lunch, namely some sort of chilean food. Empanadas. We walked for what seemed forever, eventually hitting La Universidad de Chile (where I'll be studying) and at the corner (esquina), we found a pastry shop selling all sorts of dulces and at the end, empanadas de pino, jamon y queso. We met a teenager who was originally from Peru hanging out at the pasteleria. He was shy, but he asked if we spoke English. We said yes and he prodded his friend working at the cash register to practice speaking English with us. She said no. Ha. But we continued to keep talking to the teen until we got our empanadas. Que rica. It reminded me of the curry bread my mom bakes at home. We walked around so more. Found a Chinatown and Grace Wu went into the stores and found some Chinese people and talked to them in Chinese as I stood around listening but not speaking lest I disgrace my ethnicity. We eventually went back and I took a fat nap. We later had dinner at nice fancy restaurant called Las Vacas Gordas. There I got pure cow on a stick with papas fritas. Yum. Suffering from food coma, we all walked back and some of us got ready to sleep. Some of the EAP kids went bar hopping (already) and made a loud entrance back into the hostel at 1 in the morning. I had a nice long sleep, but I was a bit shaken up by my dream. It had something to do with the Dark Knight's version of the Joker and how he came to be. Though it wasn't accurate to the comic book, it was pretty creepy. But other than that, I slept well.
Today was the big day, the day we met our families. After a light breakfast (gratis) at the hostel, our little crew of 5 (we adopted a fellow from UCSC named Eric) packed nuestra maletas (luggage) and took a taxi to Campus Oriente, at La Universidad de Catolica. Upon arriving the antique univerisity, we saw a bunch of people that arrived earlier today. Introduced ourselves and proceeded to wait for everyone else to arrive. Las madres y padres began trickling in and they began staring intently at each person's face in hopes of finding their adopted kid. As families started identifying their new foreign child, a surge of energy and excitement filled the air. Hugs and air kisses to the checks were flying everywhere. I have to admit, the first time I was hugged and kissed on the check I was a bit confused and unsure as to go about reciprocating this type of greeting, but I think I've got the hang of it. A few of us were near the last ones to meet our parents, but finally I met Ana Maria.
Ana Maria is such a wonderful woman. Very kind, helpful, patient, and pretty much the epitome of what I had heard about Chileans. She is a retired primary school teacher, but is still doing a lot of work in translations, research in the area of education. It's perfect. (If you didn't know I'm very interested in the area of education development- that was the theme of MMW6 paper). As she drove me around to run some errands, we talked a bit about ourselves. She lived in England for 20 years (so she's very good at English) and she has a son, Anibal, who was born in England and lived there for 10 years. He pretty much sounds British, but when he speaks Spanish, he's for sure Chilean. She also has 2 cats, one super old one named Yoshi and another younger one named Esperanza. Ana Maria used to study art at a university in Santiago, but when the military dictatorship was implemented, her univeristy was closed (because it promoted the flow of social ideas) and she and her ex-marido had to leave the country. That's when she went to England. She couldn't remain a student of art because it cost too much so she completely switched directions and became a teacher. She also lived in North Africa (Algeria) for a few years. She showed me around her house, a cute white 2 storied house. Simple, but also full of beautiful art, personalized originals from famous Chilean artists. AH and she found a friend that would let me borrow a guitar!!! QUE SUERTE!
A few wonderful discoveries:
- how to get to Campus Oriente via bus or metro.
- the most fragrant panadería (bakery) ever. Had fresh hot bread, and lots of cool foods to try.
- John Williams and Paco Peña.. incredible guitarists. Ana Maria played a CD featuring these two and Inti Illimani while we were eating lunch. They've inspired me to take some classical guitar lessons here.
-a fruit unique to Chile alone, pepino (not cucumber), but something that looks like a dark purple mango but tastes a little like a mix of mango and more so cantaloupe. Ana Maria said it was a winter fruit that lasts only a few months in the year.¡Que suerte!
-Steven saved my life by making me buy this down jacket. While everyone's layering up, I can be super warm wearing a t-shirt and this sveet down jacket.
pictures
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