Pictures help ...

Last week I ventured out into Valparaìso to get a better feel for the city and to venture up the hills. I ended up finding a sign for the house of Pablo Neruda ... which I knew was nearby but hadn't really planned to walk right to it.



Well, I didn't exactly walk right to it ... it took me about 25 minutes to walk up the hills to the house. The view was definitely worth it and I was able to get a better feel for how people were living in Valpo. I felt very fortunate to be in Viña, where besides not keeping there houses warm most people live in very good conditions. Of course I found out that the program is putting on a tour this weekend to his house ... but I'm going to go anyways and spend time with the friends I've made in my program, and enjoy a big lunch!



Other things that happened in the last few days ... Patty's husband Antonio was home over the weekend which was great. He is a really nice guy and very funny as well. We were at lunch Saturday and a friend of Patty's and Antonio started quite the heated debate about politics. Of course understanding more than 40% of the conversation would have been nice but it was still interesting to sit through.



Saturday night my friend Rodrigo invited me to a friend's apt. and told me to invite friends which began with the two girls who live closest to me and then from there more or less snowballed to being about a dozen students in my program at this great apartment with a dozen Chileans and an amazing view of the cityscape. Of course we ended up wandering around the city a bit and finding more students along the way ... I ended up at a bar/restaurant with a cheese empanada so it was quite successful indeed : )




The pictures I am posting along with this entry are of Valparaìso - Neruda´s house, houses on the hills, and street art. Enjoy.

Hooray! Photos

First four photos are of a small village that we stayed in for orientation - Olmuè
Next two are from out of my window - I can see the Ocean and the beach is 4 blocks away.
Three after that are from Reñaca which is a neighborhood of Viña
The last two are of the University in Valparaìso where I'll start next week

The Stars

Last night most of the students and I went to a bar/restaurant in Viña called Cafe Journal, doesn't sound very Chilean right? Well it was a pretty interesting place, long wooden tables and benches flanked this bar which was more or less decorated with cut-outs from magazines ... more often then not of girls not wearing much. But regardless it was really nice to get out of the orientation setting and really talk with the other students. We chatted it up with two Chileans who ended up at our table, and although conversation was limited it was nice to get a chance to really speak the language.

Today was my second day at the Universidad Pontifica de Valparaíso, which is where I will be studying this semester. In small groups we worked on getting our Student Visas approved through the school and had a tour of the campus. It's hard to explain Valparaíso ... it's a very colorful city, hundreds of houses line the hills facing the Pacific and every one is a new color. I have yet to explore Valparaíso much, but hopefully in the coming days I will be able to post some pictures which better convey how interesting and beautiful the city is.

From the little computer room here I can see a perfect sunset over the ocean and the first bright stars of the evening.

It has been amazing to talk to my family a bit the last two days and hopefully I'll figure out a better and cheaper way to call soon. I have yet to find any postcards and I'm sure there must be a place for us tourists somewhere :)

Still lots to figure out, but so far so good.

"Good friends are like stars, you don't always see them but you know they are always there."

buenas noches -- irene

Settling in ...

The last few days have been a bit of a blur ...

After landing approximately 27 hours later than we should have, myself and about 12 other students drove an hour or so to the small village of Olmue. As we got off the bus we met the other half of our group who had managed to get onto different flights into Santiago.

Orientation didn't slow down because we were all exhausted either ... Where we were staying was a bit of a resort I suppose. We were fed big group meals which were extremely delicious. In Chile it is very typical to have lunch as a main course for the day, so our lunches consisted of four courses. Empanadas, Soup, Entrees, and dessert. There were also breaks in which we were offered coffee, tea, and pastries. While in Olmue we learned about the school systems, registration, chilean customs. We also had dance lessons - very comical! Friday we went on a horseback ride and Saturday we went hiking through a beautiful National Park.

The only downer was taking the placement test. After not doing so great on it I was relieved to hear other people feeling the same way. I had been so nervous that I was the only one who was anxious about not feeling good about my spanish, but luckily there are all different levels of fluency amongst the students.

Saturday we drove into Viña del Mar to meet our host families. It was like a scene out of a movie ... we were in two big busses and as we drove into the city we were all anxious and getting more and more nervous. We drove into a big parking lot where the entire group of host families had gathered. As we came off the busses one by one our program director yelled out the name of our families and shouts of excitement filled the air. It was pretty amazing, and I'm sure comical for anyone watching.

My host mother's name is Patricia Velasquez, ´Patty`. She has two children, and three grandchildren. Her husband is home every 15 days (I'm not entirely clear on why yet ..). She is very sweet and refers to everyone as mi amor (my love). Her apartment is about 5 blocks away from the ocean, it's really an amazing place. Today we drove to Valparaiso which is about 15 minutes and is where I will be taking my classes. It has been very comforting talking to Patty, she only speaks to me in spanish but is quick to repeat herself and slow down when I need it ... or answer everything with a nod and ... yes, yes ...

As of now I'm using an old computer that is in an extra room here but hopefully tomorrow I'll figure out what the situation is with using computers at the school, as well as making phone calls and sending letters.

I hope everything is going well from wherever you are reading this from ... ciao, ciao

Bienvenidos a Miami ...

Well day 1 of traveling started out well enough ... I managed to pack exactly 49.5 lbs per suitcase and get away with bringing three carry ons : )

Apparently my good luck stopped at security because once we boarded the plane (tiny, three seats across) we sat on the tarmac for over two hours. It ended up that I would wait four hours in total before I got back on a flight to Miami. Having found out that my connection to Santiago was cancelled I was very nervous about spending the next 24 hours in Miami before the next flight.

It turned out to be nice to spend the night in a big bed (covered by travel insurance) and I spent the entire next day at a gigantic mall. I saw a movie, got a haircut, and went into every store twice. Now I'm heading back to the airport to try again. The reason for the cancellation was allegedly weather - I even had a supervisor of American Airlines tell me there was snow on the ground in Santiago which is absurd -- it was 55 degrees. (Good thing too because I talked myself out of bringing my snow boots!)

It's amazing how bilingual Miami is. Every single person in the mall today - without a doubt - spoke spanish. I saw postings in windows which required applicants to be bilingual, and was asked in spanish at a shoe store if I needed help. It would have been nice to have been able to get to the beach, but being around all that language was a nice introduction to the reality of the next six months. eek! Maybe on my next trip through I'll ask my questions in spanish also ...

All for now, wish me luck for the next flight!