Viva la Viña 2012: Forgetting to turn off the water heater. And other things of that sort.

My first few weeks in Viña have flown by, yet it feels like I have been here for a lifetime! I absolutely love it here in Chile and am finally getting into the swing of things. I feel less like a Gringa every day :) Although there are still the occasional problems, some of which include: speaking too loud in English, forgetting to turn off the hot water heater (that we have to start with a match every time we want to take a shower and is a bit jenky), dropping/almost leaving important things, not understanding the bus system, etc.

My host mom and me at a café.

Here in Viña, I live with a host family. I have already mentioned this, but I haven't talked about them too much in detail yet. They are amazing! First, there is my mom. I love my mama Chilena! Her name is Pia, she is a single mother of three, she works in finance at the at a company that deals with the benefits for the Armada, and she is so sweet. She is an amazing person who works all day, comes home and cooks and cleans when she can, is a diligent mother, and always has time to talk to me for a while every night. I love that she cares so much about me, but at the same time she gives me the independence I need while living here. She asks that I tell her what I am doing, to be safe, and always wants a report on how everything is going for me, but she also wants me to enjoy myself. In her words, she is a "persona jovial, I'm very youthful" and "I don't worry, I don't want stress." I just love her, she's just like me.

At dinner with Maky and her boyfriend,

Then I have a 25 year old brother named Andrés who does not live here, but with his father about 10 minutes away. I have only met him once, but he was very nice and funny.
I love my host sister Macarena (Maky, 23)! She is adorable, always concerned, caring, and extremely selfless. She will sacrifice her time to make me food, drive me somewhere, or talk to me for a while. She is working on her thesis for civil engineering at the Universidad Católica in Valparaíso, a neighboring city. She also has a boyfriend named Álvaro, who I met on my first weekend here. He lives in Santiago and is an IT guy. They met while traveling for a few months to Vermont a few years ago (cute!).

Hanging with my bro.

My other host brother is Tomy (18). He is a hoot and also very nice. He is in his last year of studying at the German high school here in Viña. He always just has a funny, cool attitude about him and says things like "¡Qué bueno!" all the time. So great. When I ask where Tomy is, Pia just shrugs and says "No sé como siempre, él es todo el tiempo afuera de la casa, nunca sé donde esta." (Basically she doesn't know because he's always gone. During the week it is school or at his dad's house, during the weekend it is just one big party).
Like I said, I love them all and they have made me feel as welcome as possible here. Maky even gave me her room! She sleeps in her mom's bed all the time and they are always chatting. Even Tomy is always chatting and joking around with her. Just now she told me I could leave the lights on because she will close the door to her room and Tomy will be in there with her. So sweet that they are so close. I saw this gem that Tomy wrote on Pia's facebook wall a while ago:
"eres la mejor mami del mundo, por lo tanto te mereces el mejor día. No sé que hice para merecerte pero cada día que pasa para mi es un orgullo haberme acobijado en tu vientre.
Te namo"
(You are the best mami in the world, you at least deserve the best day. I don't know what I did to deserve you but every day that passes I am proud for having been in your womb - I think... I'm not that great at translating just yet.)

Classes have been going well, too. It is so strange to have so much free time and so little homework. Below is my schedule:

First seminar class with the whole group.

I also have seminar with our group coordinator, Marietta from 1-4 on Tuesdays, but that is mostly talking about art, culture and adjusting or taking field trips around the city. Monday I have a double block of History of Chile: Independence from 8:30 to 11:15 and Social Conflict in Latin America from 4:30 to 5:45. Today we talked about the exact same thing in both but technically the former is all history and the latter is a mix of Political Science, History, Literature, and Humanities I guess. Wednesday I do not have class until 4:30, but then I have a double block of Spanish Grammar followed by my other class period of Social Conflict. So there you have it: 4 classes, 2 mods each. So easy and so far I have only received homework for Social Conflict and Grammar, and very little at that.

Bus schedule

After Power Jump (class on mini trampolines)!

Aside from classes, the school is so architecturally interesting and has a great view, as you can see from previous pictures. I am also enjoying trying some of the exercise classes with friends. I went to this wonderful aerobics class called Power Jump twice and RPM (a biking class) once. I also really like chilling in the library with it's many tables and huge windows that bring warmth and incredible views. Although I love that the school is high up, I hate the hill. I mixed up the bus schedule and had to walk up it today. I am STILL adjusting to the buses and to military time, but sooner or later I will get the hang of it.

Very helpful map of one of the buildings in my school.

Fitness Classes Schedule

We went out to bars and discotecas a few times since we have been here and it was fun, although I prefer hanging out with small groups in houses or walking around and exploring the city. I have been to two movies in the cinema at the mall - Batman and Spiderman (both excellent, but I liked Spiderman best!). We thought all of the adult movies were in English with Spanish subtitles (I was surprised to discover this when I went to see Batman), but not so. At Spiderman the next week, we walked in a little late and it took us a while to realize they were not speaking English. I went outside and asked someone who worked there if they had a different theater with the subtitled version. According to that worker, Spiderman is only showing dubbed at their theater. We ended up watching the whole thing, and I am proud to say that I understood it all! But I still would have preferred the original voices.
I have also been to several cafés, run along the beach, walked around everywhere with my friends, and found a McDonald's that will suffice for American food whenever I am homesick.