Friday, March 25, 2011
and i'm a monkey's uncle.
Many Chileans have a working knowledge of English and can be downright obstinate about putting it to use when they meet a gringo. Case in point: a couple of weeks ago, my friend Andrew and I were in a taxi and the driver told us that he'd been to several cities in the US. He wanted to explain that he'd been a merchant marine for many years, but instead of simply telling us in Spanish (which without a doubt would have been easier to understand), he stuck his thumb to his chest and declared, in heavily accented English "I am seaman." We had NO idea what he was saying, or even that he was speaking our mother tongue. But rather than admit defeat and switch to Spanish, he opted to repeat himself until the weight of his words sunk in: "I am seaman. I AM SEAMAN. I. AM SEAMAN. I. AM. SEAMAN. I AM SEAMAAANNN!"
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT: THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED CHILE POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's officially been a month since my last post and I've been catching some flack. LONG time no blog, I know! SORRY! I got MEGA busy with orientation, new friends, classes, new family, spanish up the wahzoo, blah blah blah. What matters is that I love you and I've missed you, dear readers, and I return to you with renewed blog fervor!
What I've decided to do is to give you really broad overview of my time here. Excuse the outline format and if there's a particular topic you'd like to hear more about, LET ME KNOW GOSHDARNIT!
I. ARRIVAL
I got here safe and sound on February 23rd in the year of our lord 2011. Travel was really uneventful, actually, so I'll spare you the details.
II. SANTIAGO/ORIENTATION
When I say "I got here," I actually mean that I arrived in Santiago, the capital of Chile, for orientation. Before coming to Chile, all I knew about Santiago was that it was a big city (home to 40% of Chile's population) with a bad smog problem. The LA of South America. I was pleasantly surprised, thus, when the city turned out to be sunny, charming, and super-clean. Santiago (or at least the part I saw) is very modern, with wide streets, lots of concrete, and skyscrapers. In other words, very different from much of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. It struck me how very apparent the process of development can be. I stayed in a SUPER ADORABLE bed and breakfast in Santiago and Ignacio, the innkeeper/sweetest man in the word, was great about giving me directions and bent over backwards to make sure I was comfortable and well-fed. Before orientation began, I met some people from my program, did a bit of exploring in Santiago, and bought my cell phone. All in all, a productive couple of days!
Orientation lasted 2 days and was a bit tedious, though very necessary. On the bright side, I got to know the Middlebury team (our program director, Jeff, his assistant, Paula, and our writing instructor, Juan), my monitors at the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Nicole and Cristian (students that will help us sign up for classes, etc.), and all of the kids that will be in Chile through Middlebury this semester. I'm sure I'll tell you more about these folks later, but for now I'll just say that it's a solid group of people. Other perks of orientation included a swanky hotel, nice food, and wine/pisco sour up the wazoo, all on Middlebury's tab. Here's a photo from a scenic overlook in Santiago, Cerro San Cristobal:
III. VINA DEL MAR/VALPARAISO/FAMILY
I took a bus to Viña del Mar with the two other Midd students who will be living there, Andrew and Becca. We arrived at the terminal in Viña and my family was there waiting- my host dad David, my host mom Ruby, and my host sister, age 22, also Ruby...Rubyta (little Ruby) to avoid confusion. My family made me a tasty lunch of choripan and asado and dove in to the get-to-know-you conversations. David is a retired naval officer who now works as a freelance accountant and apartment complex administrator. Ruby (the mom) works as a sales executive. Rubyta is in her final year at the Universidad de Valparaíso, studying to be a biomedical engineer. THEY ARE THE NICEST FAMILY IN THE WORRRLLLD!!! After lunch, we went on a little walkabout in Viña to get to know the neighborhood. To give you an idea, I can see 3 malls, a GIGANTIC Chuck-E-Cheese, lots of high-rise apartment buildings, and the beach. All the American brands that a person could want are right at my fingertips. It's kind of scary, actually.
While Viña is new and modern and heavily americanized, Valparaíso is just the opposite. "Valpo" is full of murals, brightly colored buildings, galleries, cafes, and winding cobblestone streets. The city is organized into 42 hills, "cerros," each one with its own cable lift, "ascensor." Here's a picture of me with my family in Valparaiso.
I took a bus to Viña del Mar with the two other Midd students who will be living there, Andrew and Becca. We arrived at the terminal in Viña and my family was there waiting- my host dad David, my host mom Ruby, and my host sister, age 22, also Ruby...Rubyta (little Ruby) to avoid confusion. My family made me a tasty lunch of choripan and asado and dove in to the get-to-know-you conversations. David is a retired naval officer who now works as a freelance accountant and apartment complex administrator. Ruby (the mom) works as a sales executive. Rubyta is in her final year at the Universidad de Valparaíso, studying to be a biomedical engineer. THEY ARE THE NICEST FAMILY IN THE WORRRLLLD!!! After lunch, we went on a little walkabout in Viña to get to know the neighborhood. To give you an idea, I can see 3 malls, a GIGANTIC Chuck-E-Cheese, lots of high-rise apartment buildings, and the beach. All the American brands that a person could want are right at my fingertips. It's kind of scary, actually.
While Viña is new and modern and heavily americanized, Valparaíso is just the opposite. "Valpo" is full of murals, brightly colored buildings, galleries, cafes, and winding cobblestone streets. The city is organized into 42 hills, "cerros," each one with its own cable lift, "ascensor." Here's a picture of me with my family in Valparaiso.
IV. CLASSES
My first week was filled with orientation activities Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso with some added paper pushing to register my visa here in Chile. All I can say about that week, really, was that it was a long, overwhelming, bureaucratic process and I'm glad that I'm done. I'll be taking 3 classes at the University: a literature class, a photography class, a class about globalization in Chile, and/or an art history class about pre-Columbian cultures.
My first week was filled with orientation activities Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso with some added paper pushing to register my visa here in Chile. All I can say about that week, really, was that it was a long, overwhelming, bureaucratic process and I'm glad that I'm done. I'll be taking 3 classes at the University: a literature class, a photography class, a class about globalization in Chile, and/or an art history class about pre-Columbian cultures.
School for the next 5 months
V. INTERNSHIP
I'll be working at an urgent care center, SAPU Miraflores, for 10 hours each week. SAPU is a public facility located in a very poor neighborhood in the hills above Viña del Mar. The people that come to SAPU have nowhere else to turn. They can't afford to visit a private clinic and, as such, are forced to settle for the basic care that SAPU- perpetually understaffed and strapped for resources- can manage to provide. For now, I'm just shadowing doctors and nurses to get the lay of the land. BUT SOON, I will start taking vital signs and will eventually learn how to give injections, start IVs and suture. AHHHHHH!
I'll be working at an urgent care center, SAPU Miraflores, for 10 hours each week. SAPU is a public facility located in a very poor neighborhood in the hills above Viña del Mar. The people that come to SAPU have nowhere else to turn. They can't afford to visit a private clinic and, as such, are forced to settle for the basic care that SAPU- perpetually understaffed and strapped for resources- can manage to provide. For now, I'm just shadowing doctors and nurses to get the lay of the land. BUT SOON, I will start taking vital signs and will eventually learn how to give injections, start IVs and suture. AHHHHHH!
VI. FRIENDS, BIRTHDAY, TSUNAMI DE TRAGOS, Y TEMBLORES
I've already got a great group of friends here. I spend most of my time with other students from the Middlebury program. Because we are bound by the "Middlebury Language Pledge" to only speak Spanish, we end up speaking a unique brand of the language, filled with words that we assume are cognates (example: animosity --> animosidad...which it turns out isn't a word) and American colloquialisms translated directly to Spanish (e.g. "creo que debemos llamarla una noche" - I think we should call it a night). Little by little, I'm making friends at the University and I LOVE spending time with my host sister and parents.
Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of celebrating my 21st birthday here in Chile. Valpo and Viña are known for their nightlife, so it's a downright ideal place to celebrate the big 2-1. In case you are curious, my first legal (by American standards at least) drink was consumed at midnight on the 11th. It was a flaming shot purchased by my friends. The "real" birthday celebration (on the night of the 11th) had to be delayed to the 12th because of a tsunami warning in Chile following the earthquake in Japan. I sought refuge on higher ground with my family and waited for the big wave...which turned out to be a dud. In the words of my host father "Kate, it's looking like you won't experience a real tsunami tonight, but there is no doubt in my mind that you will experience a booze tsunami ('tsunami de tragos') tomorrow!"
I've already got a great group of friends here. I spend most of my time with other students from the Middlebury program. Because we are bound by the "Middlebury Language Pledge" to only speak Spanish, we end up speaking a unique brand of the language, filled with words that we assume are cognates (example: animosity --> animosidad...which it turns out isn't a word) and American colloquialisms translated directly to Spanish (e.g. "creo que debemos llamarla una noche" - I think we should call it a night). Little by little, I'm making friends at the University and I LOVE spending time with my host sister and parents.
Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of celebrating my 21st birthday here in Chile. Valpo and Viña are known for their nightlife, so it's a downright ideal place to celebrate the big 2-1. In case you are curious, my first legal (by American standards at least) drink was consumed at midnight on the 11th. It was a flaming shot purchased by my friends. The "real" birthday celebration (on the night of the 11th) had to be delayed to the 12th because of a tsunami warning in Chile following the earthquake in Japan. I sought refuge on higher ground with my family and waited for the big wave...which turned out to be a dud. In the words of my host father "Kate, it's looking like you won't experience a real tsunami tonight, but there is no doubt in my mind that you will experience a booze tsunami ('tsunami de tragos') tomorrow!"
Birthday dinner in my apartment!
Since my birthday, the the tectonic plates have been having a field day. Living in Wisconsin and Maine, I had never felt a tremor before. It feels kind of like a boring amusement park ride. Without fail, though, the tremors always make me think about one thing and one thing only: CAROLE KING.
So that's that. I hope this post finds you all happy and healthy. Now that I've got you caught up on the basics, you can expect a bevy of short, witty entries about my day-to-day life.
XOXO, K8
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