Since my schedule is only monday through thursday, I have officially finished my first week of school! However, I have yet to start my history classes. I learned the hard way that the history classes do not start until next week. On wednesday I got up really early to travel to the history in Viña for my history class that was at 8:15. However, the only people that showed up were the extranjeros. We sat in the class for 40 minutes before realizing that we did not have class. Woops.
I like all of my classes so far and have even decided to add some different classes. I find that the classes that are for spanish as a second language are much easier. They talk much slower and with easier words. Thus, my grammar and writing (which I added) classes are very easy to follow and participate in. The conversation and culture class I have three days a week, and I really enjoy it. All we do is talk about our experiences and about Valpariso. It is a great way for us to practice our developing language skills. Each of these classes have less then 10 people in them, meaning we get a lot of interaction with the professor if we have any questions. All of the professors are very interactive and energetic. These classes I am going to keep :)
I decided that I wanted to take a chilean poetry class. It is really hard. The professor talks very fast and I have no idea most of the time what he is talking about. I do not really know anything about poetry in english, so it makes it that much harder to take it in another language. It seems really interesting, but I think I am going to drop the class and take traditional chilean dance classes instead. I am really excited for that class :) I may add in a PE class as well, they all sound really entertaining. I need to get in shape for my upcoming soccer season, so why not take el hombre y los juegos (man and games). They have no gym here so I have decided that I am just going to go for runs around the streets of this beautiful city.
I´ll report on how my history classes next week, when they actually occur. I think that all of the classes I am taking are for exchange students, which is a little disappointing. But it ensures that I will actually understand what they are talking about.
Last night, a group of friends and I tried a local sushi restaurant. It felt weird having sushi in Chile but it was delicious. We are right next to the ocean so all of the seafood is extremely fresh! Tonight my friends are coming over and we are cooking dinner and having a sleepover. They know I do not like staying alone in my house, so they are awesome enough to come stay with me!
This weekend I will probably spend at the beach or exploring. There is a huge asado (BBQ) for students at PUCV at the botanical gardens in Viña that I plan on going to!
NEW WORD: cachorro = puppy
Updates to come!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
First Day/First Tickets bought
Today was my first day of classes here in Chile at PUCV! Luckily today my class was in Valpo, so i did not have to try and wander around Viña to find my classes. I only had one class and it started at 2 pm, so I had all morning to myself since my parents left to Patagonia today. I am taking five classes and only have classes monday through thursday!
This morning I woke up and had breakfast with Loli, whom is the maid that comes everyday throughout the week, and is my lifesaver since my family is gone. She knows exactly what I like to eat and always keeps me well fed. She gave me fresh coffee and tons of food for breakfast! I ended up spending the morning talking with her and the grandma that lives right next door! They are amazing and very helpful. They always make an effort and give great advice! I spent most of the morning unpacking and then having lunch with Loli. She made me a salad with fresh avocado and pasta! Lunch is the largest meal of the day here in Chile, so she made sure to feed me more then enough.
After lunch, I had an hour before class and decided to walk. It took me about 35-40 minutes to walk downhill to the school at a relatively fast pace. I got to the university just in time to see the school bustling with people. I ended up finding other exchange students that had the same class as me and we walked to class. Luckily I found them because it was in a completely different building then I had thought. The professor showed up a little late, which is very Chilean. They have no real since of time. The only class I had today was a grammar class that was only for exchange students. I think it was a good introduction to the school. We spent the entire time introducing ourselves and going through the class schedule. The professor is very interactive, so I am excited to see what the semester holds and what my classes tomorrow are going to be like! :)
After class I went to Viña with my friends to buy tickets to go to Patagonia for Easter break and we ended up buying them. We are going for eight days, 3/22 till 3/30. I AM SO EXCITED.
Patagonia is in southern Chile and Argentina and is a 3-4 hour plane ride from Santiago (I live 1.5 hours from Santiago). We are flying on a chilean airline "Sky." We plan on staying in hostels and camping in some of the beautiful parts. We are still deciding on plans, but know we are going to go on a penguin tour and to Torres del Paine (see photo below). We decided to go so soon, because at the ed of the trip it will be winter and far to cold to go so far south.
First trip is booked and now it is onto the next one(s).
If you have any tips about what we should do down there, please send me an e-mail @kristen.e.berry@gmail.com!
This morning I woke up and had breakfast with Loli, whom is the maid that comes everyday throughout the week, and is my lifesaver since my family is gone. She knows exactly what I like to eat and always keeps me well fed. She gave me fresh coffee and tons of food for breakfast! I ended up spending the morning talking with her and the grandma that lives right next door! They are amazing and very helpful. They always make an effort and give great advice! I spent most of the morning unpacking and then having lunch with Loli. She made me a salad with fresh avocado and pasta! Lunch is the largest meal of the day here in Chile, so she made sure to feed me more then enough.
After lunch, I had an hour before class and decided to walk. It took me about 35-40 minutes to walk downhill to the school at a relatively fast pace. I got to the university just in time to see the school bustling with people. I ended up finding other exchange students that had the same class as me and we walked to class. Luckily I found them because it was in a completely different building then I had thought. The professor showed up a little late, which is very Chilean. They have no real since of time. The only class I had today was a grammar class that was only for exchange students. I think it was a good introduction to the school. We spent the entire time introducing ourselves and going through the class schedule. The professor is very interactive, so I am excited to see what the semester holds and what my classes tomorrow are going to be like! :)
AND NOW THE EXCITING PART...
After class I went to Viña with my friends to buy tickets to go to Patagonia for Easter break and we ended up buying them. We are going for eight days, 3/22 till 3/30. I AM SO EXCITED.
Patagonia is in southern Chile and Argentina and is a 3-4 hour plane ride from Santiago (I live 1.5 hours from Santiago). We are flying on a chilean airline "Sky." We plan on staying in hostels and camping in some of the beautiful parts. We are still deciding on plans, but know we are going to go on a penguin tour and to Torres del Paine (see photo below). We decided to go so soon, because at the ed of the trip it will be winter and far to cold to go so far south.
First trip is booked and now it is onto the next one(s).
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| Flight map from Santiago |
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| Torres del Paine National Park |
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Exploring Valpo
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| View of Valpo from the first night I got to the country |
I thought I would just have this entry be photos of what I saw.
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| A mural on a wall right down the street from my house |
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| One of the many views of the city from the hills, sort of a muggy day |
Here are also some pictures from the two beaches I went to in Viña del Mar
I hope these photos make you want to come visit!
Chilean Club Scene/One week down!
On friday night we were invited by our group leader to a welcome party here at a club in Valpo. Here in Chile people do not start going out until 11 or 12 and stay out until the really early hours in the morning. And they go out hard, it actually is really exhausting keeping up with them!
Because I am the only one in Valpo, I had to figure out my own way down to the club. I asked my host mom and she told me that I should walk down on the 20 minute walk and take a cab back. Well it was 10:45pm so I was a little nervous to walk down by myself, but it turned out to be perfectly fine because there seemed to be a lot of people out on the street walking around to different bars and restaurants. It was a beautiful walk because I got to see all of the beautiful lights of the city. (The photo is from a friend because I cannot upload my photos yet, but this is Valpo at night!)
I walked and at first was lost but eventually found other girls from my group and found the club. Because it was a welcome party we got VIP wristbands and got to go all the way to the top and meet with the other exchange students. At first it was only us because none of the Chileans go out until late. But once they showed up it was a blast. The DJ played both American (old music) and spanish music. It was a blast, but by the end of the night my feet hurt! The club scene is amazing and fun. Unlike America, you do not have to get all dressed up to go out, no one cares!
It has basically been one week since I got here! I survived and I love it! Tomorrow I get to start all of my Chilean classes, which I am excited about/ nervous! My family is leaving tonight for two weeks, leaving me here to fend for myself. The maid will come during the week from 9am-4pm and cook for me, but I am a little nervous to have the house to myself. Some of my friends are going to come over to cook and hangout, and I may stay some days in Viña with Melissa! I'll keep you up dated!
Chao pescado (see you later Alligator)
Oh before I forget, for Easter week I am going with some friends to Patagonia (Southern Chile) for almost a week. I am so excited, i'll get to see Torres del Paine, penguins, and so much more!
++ We have a two week vacation and are going to go to Argentina and explore that area. Melissa and I are going to go to Machu Picchu, Peru in April. I have no classes on friday so I will be spending my weekends traveling!
Because I am the only one in Valpo, I had to figure out my own way down to the club. I asked my host mom and she told me that I should walk down on the 20 minute walk and take a cab back. Well it was 10:45pm so I was a little nervous to walk down by myself, but it turned out to be perfectly fine because there seemed to be a lot of people out on the street walking around to different bars and restaurants. It was a beautiful walk because I got to see all of the beautiful lights of the city. (The photo is from a friend because I cannot upload my photos yet, but this is Valpo at night!)
I walked and at first was lost but eventually found other girls from my group and found the club. Because it was a welcome party we got VIP wristbands and got to go all the way to the top and meet with the other exchange students. At first it was only us because none of the Chileans go out until late. But once they showed up it was a blast. The DJ played both American (old music) and spanish music. It was a blast, but by the end of the night my feet hurt! The club scene is amazing and fun. Unlike America, you do not have to get all dressed up to go out, no one cares!
It has basically been one week since I got here! I survived and I love it! Tomorrow I get to start all of my Chilean classes, which I am excited about/ nervous! My family is leaving tonight for two weeks, leaving me here to fend for myself. The maid will come during the week from 9am-4pm and cook for me, but I am a little nervous to have the house to myself. Some of my friends are going to come over to cook and hangout, and I may stay some days in Viña with Melissa! I'll keep you up dated!
Chao pescado (see you later Alligator)
Oh before I forget, for Easter week I am going with some friends to Patagonia (Southern Chile) for almost a week. I am so excited, i'll get to see Torres del Paine, penguins, and so much more!
++ We have a two week vacation and are going to go to Argentina and explore that area. Melissa and I are going to go to Machu Picchu, Peru in April. I have no classes on friday so I will be spending my weekends traveling!
Arrival and Orientation
Getting to Chile was a mess, but I am finally here and settled. I left at about 7:30 am from PDX to go to LAX full of anxiety and nerves as I was about to set off into a new adventure. Melissa and her mom came to get me a little after I arrived at the airport to go get some lunch, and while I was waiting I swear I saw some celebrities because it was Oscar sunday! And low and behold I saw the dance teacher that is the start of dance moms! She loaded her stuff into a van right in front of where I was waiting! Once Melissa came we decided to check in our bags so that we did no have to worry about them when we went out to eat. We were going to fly from LA to Mexico City and then on to Santiago. For some reason they would not check my bags all of the way through, so I had to go get my bags and re-checkin in Mexico City. Little did I know, but Orbitz and AeroMexico messed up my flight schedule and planned on making me take a flight a whole day later, so I would be late for my orientation. This was not going to happen, so I had to pay the same price for my whole ticket just to go on the plane to Santiago. Don't worry my parents were able to get them to give me a refund!
Once we got to Mexico City we had almost five hours to kill, so we first dealt with my flight fiasco and then we went and got subway, which was actually really good :) Then we loaded the plane to learn that one of our pilots could not make it and so we were delayed another four hours (from 2:00am to 6:00am). Melissa was great and let me sleep, and once we finally got on the plane for the eight hour flight we had emergency row seats and slept almost the whole time. Total flight time was about 13-14 hours. On the plane we got to meet a really cute Chilean family that told us all about where to go and gave us their contact information in case we wanted to visit! My spanish feels a bit rusty but it went great!
We arrived in Santiago at like 6:00pm local time and it felt extremely hot! Customs was easy and the people were nice. Chilean spanish is very fast and they tend to shorten their words when they speak. I am going to have to get used to that! Melissa and I then took a cab to my house where we go to meet my wonderful family that consists of a mom and dad and three little kids, ages 9 years, 6 years, and 3 months!
Melissa was with me when I met my family because the cab would not drive her into Viña because there is a huge international music festival happening, luckily her host brother was able to pick her up!
To get to my house from the street there is a long set of stairs that lead to the house which is very much Valparaíso. It is small and colorful and is attached to the house of the grandparent and in the back there is a third house that is owned by one of the brothers. They all share a patio that has an amazing view of the coast line and the city. It is breathtaking how beautiful it is right now here. The first night was extremely long so I went to bed early so that I could get up for orientation the next morning.
Orientation lasted from tuesday to thursday and was somewhat organized. We got general information about the school, tours of the main buildings, had both oral and written spanish tests, and I got to get to know a good group of friends! The only thing that stinks about going to school here is that the different schools within the university are all spread out among the two cities and you have to figure out how to get to all of them. I found out that there is a bus that stops right in front of my house that can take me straight to my school and to Viña, which is where almost all the other students live! Here is a picture of the main building of my school: Casa central
I also had to plan out my schedule. Based on our oral and written tests they placed us in levels in which we could take classes. Mine are:
Otherwise everything in great, but I am still getting used to this culture and language. Chileans speak very fast and tend to cut there words short. I think I am already getting better because I have more confidence in my abilities!
Melissa was with me when I met my family because the cab would not drive her into Viña because there is a huge international music festival happening, luckily her host brother was able to pick her up!
To get to my house from the street there is a long set of stairs that lead to the house which is very much Valparaíso. It is small and colorful and is attached to the house of the grandparent and in the back there is a third house that is owned by one of the brothers. They all share a patio that has an amazing view of the coast line and the city. It is breathtaking how beautiful it is right now here. The first night was extremely long so I went to bed early so that I could get up for orientation the next morning.
Orientation lasted from tuesday to thursday and was somewhat organized. We got general information about the school, tours of the main buildings, had both oral and written spanish tests, and I got to get to know a good group of friends! The only thing that stinks about going to school here is that the different schools within the university are all spread out among the two cities and you have to figure out how to get to all of them. I found out that there is a bus that stops right in front of my house that can take me straight to my school and to Viña, which is where almost all the other students live! Here is a picture of the main building of my school: Casa central
I also had to plan out my schedule. Based on our oral and written tests they placed us in levels in which we could take classes. Mine are:
- Historia urbana e historia regional de Valparaiso (urban and regional history of Valparaiso)
- Historia de america latina en el siglo XX (history of latin america in the twentieth century)
- Poesia chilena del siglo XX: Neruda...(Chilean poetry of the twentieth century)
- Español comunicacional y cultura chilena avanzado (communicational spanish and chilean culture)
- Gramatica del español
Otherwise everything in great, but I am still getting used to this culture and language. Chileans speak very fast and tend to cut there words short. I think I am already getting better because I have more confidence in my abilities!
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