Viva la Viña 2012: julio 2012

I almost began to write this post in Spanish jaja. Today was our first day at the university and it was very interesting. I had to get up with the sun, just before 7 am, so that I could shower, meet up with the Dan and Allison, and walk to the bus stop about 10 blocks. We are still all dumb gringos, wandering around, searching for the bus, and speaking our loud English. We will learn soon, I hope. I had my first classes today: History of Chile: Independence and Social Conflict in Latin America. The former is a mix of Chilean and international students, so many are from the US. The latter is a bunch of people from our group, three German guys, and a Finnish girl. Many of us in the class were a little overwhelmed with the work load, the profesor's rapid Spanish, and the intimidating Germans, who seemed to know everything even the profesor's obscure references to authors. Some of them might drop the class, but I think I am going to stick with it.

First day of class with Maddy :)

I had several hours between those classes, so I just hung out with people, chatted, met new people, and spent some time in the library on facebook and reading the newspaper. I think I was sitting in the warmest place in Viña. With the sun and a big glass window, I had to take off my coat and my face was all red after a couple hours. It's kind of strange to have so much free time and not know what to do. That's another thing I hope will change soon.

Hanging out in the courtyard with Danelle, Mike, and Laura (from Michigan).

I got the bus back with a few people, but being dumb gringos, we missed out stop and ended up having to walk a ways. As I was going about 10 more blocks alone, I decided to take a micro to avoid creepers. That whole process was a little nerve wracking, but hey, I got back ok and the only way to learn is to make mistakes, right? Now, I am dead tired, but am going with Allison and Dan to hang out with Kelsey in a little bit.

I have now been in Chile for over two full days! Here is a summary of how the beginning has been for me:

I arrived in the Chile airport Friday at 7:30 am. It was a strange journey to get here because my family was on a cruise in Europe. So, I had to get off the boat a few days early and get a flight from Naples, Italy to Paris, France. In the Paris airport, I had a very long layover so I scoped out a good place to wait that had reclining chairs. After about an hour there, a huge group clad in red jerseys and blue shorts (a fútbol team) showed up and stayed in my area for several hours. I figured they were heading to Chile as well, and I was right. When we landed (after a looong, cold flight spent watching 21 Jump Street and The Prestige and sleeping), a huge posse of their families holding signs and chanting. It seemed very Chilean and also slightly adorable. Here's a picture of it:

I went through customs fairly easily, but the next challenge was to find my group. I had absolutely no idea where anyone was, so I went to a café and had a coffee for a couple hours to wait. Then, when I didn't see the Dallas/Fort Worth flight that the rest of my group was taking on the screen, I began to worry. But no matter, everything turned out ok. After wandering around, brushing my teeth in the bathroom, and getting accosted with many offers by taxi drivers (which I kept saying "NO GRACIAS" to), Marietta (the director from my university) finally found me. Turns out one other guy from my group was here and groups from other universities in the US, but the flight from Dallas/Fort Worth was delayed 12 HOURS. We were going to Viña without them and Marietta would return for them that evening.

: On the bus with Ben Evenson, the only other person that arrived at the same time as me.

: On our way to Viña!

We arrived in Viña about noon and immediately were bombarded by Chilean families looking for their newest members. My mama Chilena and host sister found me after a few minutes and brought me to my new home. Their names are Pia and Macarena (23), and I also have a have a host brother named Tomi (18). The dad and an older brother live somewhere in Viña, as well, so I assume I will meet them eventually. My apartment is located just up the hill from both the ocean and the three malls in Viña. It is on the fourth floor and also goes up to the fifth floor. By the way, there is no central heating here and it is winter. Even though it is more like our fall, it is freezing because we are not used to being cold inside. We wear pantuflas (slippers) and sweaters and have space heaters. My bed has about 10 blankets, as well.

The sunroom in the entrance to my apartment. We eat here a lot because it is warmer.

My room on the 5th floor. It was my host sister's, but she is letting me use it - so nice!

The view from my room on my first day here.

After unpacking and having some lunch, the mom had to return to work. Macarena took me to the mall so I could buy a cell phone, another coat, and some school supplies. We got a tiny, cheap-o phone at Ripley, the department store and then went to Lider (their version of Wal-Mart) for food and school supplies. After that, I had some free time until dinner. That night, my host brother, my host mom's pelolo (boyfriend) and my host sister's pelolo were all coming in by bus from Santiago, but all at different times. Álvaro (sp?) came in about 9 and we had pizza! They have sort of different pizza here and not really for the better, but it was still good. After dinner we had some piscola, they gave me a Chilean slang lesson, and I tried to follow their conversation. I went to bed early because I was about to nod off at the table.

At dinner with Macarena and Álvaro.

Saturday was orientation. We met at our usual meeting place - Museo Fonck - and took a bus up the, as promised by passed groups, VERY big hill. But it was worth it. The view from the university is amazing.

Orientationing in Universidad Adolfo Íbañez, our new school.

Here we have a strange man holding a large branch... don't ask me why :)

After orientation, the "buddies" (Chilean students from the school who help us adjust) invited us to a carrete (party) that night at Café Jurnal, a bar. Most of the students from our group went and it was a ton of fun hanging out and meeting Chileans.

My neighbors! (CSBSJU students that live in my same apartment complex)

Today, I finally had the chance to sleep in late. In the afternoon, we walked along the beach. People were everywhere and I tried a palmera (a fried, sugary sweet). I also got some good pics of the beautiful sunset and had a coffee at a cafe with my host mom and her boyfriend. Finally, I got to skype my family tonight and it was good to see them.