Week 2: living, eating and breathing Chile

I can´t believe that two weeks in Santiago have flown by so fast. On the one hand I hate that my time here is moving so fast, on the other, it feels as if I have been settled here for quite some time so I can´t really complain that I am truly enjoying life right now and am so thankful for this opportunity I have created. This past week was filled with so many great experiences and excursions that continue to make me feel as if I truly am getting a taste for living in Chile. I am learning my way around, the people are nice and welcoming and the city is muy bonita! One thing I am absolutely in love with is the whole experience of trying to learn a new language. It´s frustrating and challenging for the most part, but the feeling of understanding someone in Spanish or, even better, being able to respond is pretty exhilarating. I nearly forgot the feeling of my brain feeling tired from studying or concentrating on something so seriously, but at the end of the day, when I go to purchase a bus ticket or ask for directions and not only does the person understand me, but I understand their response, it makes it all worth it. I still have a long way to go, but I notice an improvement every day and I have to say the best practice tends to be at a bar or nightclub at night, so really going out is just an excuse to improve my Spanish skills.....

As my language skills grow, I find myself being able to engage more deeply in conversation with my host family, which I really enjoy. In Chile, I have noticed, they don´t shy away from topics that we might consider inappropriate to discuss with strangers in America. For example, politics, religion, money...all fair game and people are truly interested in your opinions. I´ve been having conversations with my host parents ranging from my job and family to political views including abortion laws, my thoughts on 9/11, the war in Iraq and literally everything in between. It´s engaging and not only a chance to learn a lot more vocabulary in Spanish, but also provides a really interesting perspective on how foreigners view the States, our government, our culture....really, all very fascinating. Through these discussions with my host family, and even my teachers, I´ve also been learning about Chilean life and culture and the many differences between us.

The past week (give or take a few days) I´ve had the opportunity to explore a multitude of sites in and around the city. I´ve climbed up Santa Lucia (a beautiful park/hill in the center of the city), visited an artisan market, cheered on U de Chile at a futbol game, tasted Chilean wine at a local vineyard, ventured outside the city to Cajun del Maipo for rafting and went on a walking tour of the entire city centro.

Santa Lucia

Toasting at Undarraga Vineyards

Futbol

getting our gear on for rafting

One of my favorite excursions of the week, and certainly one where I felt least like a tourist, was going out to a local Cumbia club in the heart of Bellavista (a popular nightlife spot I would equate to the East Village of NYC). Cumbia is a style of music, originally brought over from Africa during Spanish colonial times, which spread throughout South America (specifically the Andean region). The live band we danced to at the club included several percussion instruments, saxophones, singing....the club was crowded, sweaty, loud...all in all, an incredibly awesome night! Big shout out to Dave and Zach, some new friends who introduced us to this. I was fortunate enough to share the fun night with my friend Leah (also a NY girl who is taking classes at the school) and  my friend, Lori, who met up with me in Viña del Mar. Lori came through Santiago for a quick view of the city and we had a great time. She even accompanied me to a vegetarian restaurant I was dying to try as eating here has probably been the hardest thing for me outside of learning a foreign language. Vegetarian doesn´t necessarily mean you don´t eat chicken, etc... so being specific is key and people don´t understand why in the world you wouldn´t eat meat...that has also led to some interesting discussions I may or may not have understood in Spanish. Regardless, most of what I eat on a normal basis includes bread, eggs, avocado, cheese...certainly not winning any nutritional awards, so seeing tofu for the first time in a while was pretty special.

OMG, tofu!

So between the eating, walking, touring, wine-tasting, rafting, dancing (and even a little sleeping) I´m feeling good about making the most out of my short time here. Next weekend, I´ll be traveling back to the coast for some additional time in Valparaiso and then only one week left in Chile!!! (for now). I´ve been researching some volunteer opportunties to potentially return towards the end of my adventure....
More to come soon, Chao!