I have not updated the blog this week because I have been very busy and the internet at the hostel I've been staying at has not worked super well, but it's been quite a week. I arrived on last Saturday and was able to explore the city quite a bit. Santiago is not a very beautiful city, it's big, busy and industrial but there are some very great parts and some very pretty old buildings worked in. There is a big catholic church in the middle of town and the architecture and paintings both in and outside of it are unbelievable. It was built in the year 1551 and it is absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately pictures are not allowed on this inside so you'll have to visit there yourself (or google it). I also was able to visit La Moneda, which is their version of the whitehouse, and some great parks. I also went to Santa Lucia which is a big fort where the city was founded and from the top of a whole lot of stairs you can see the whole city.The city is just busy, busy with people everywhere, and cars and smog, but it feels very modern and safe. In Chile there are stray dogs everywhere, some of them very beautiful expensive breeds even. I haven't been petting them but I have wanted to because they are all really calm and mellow.
During the week I was mostly busy with training stuff and spanish classes, which ended up being very helpful. The people who run this program are extremely nice and welcoming, which really makes a big difference in adjusting. I've also made a lot of good friends. There are 6 of us going to Valdivia and we've become a pretty tight group. Most everyone is here is American and close to my age, with a couple of exceptions.
Spanish has been hard for me, there are some very very good speakers here in this program and some others at my level or lower, but I can already feel I am improving and remembering vocabulary from my classes. I can order food, get directions and other basic stuff so I"m doing okay.
On Thursday, I went with some friends to an America-themed sports bar in Santiago to watch the Lakers game on a big projector screen and to my surprise it was full of fellow Americans as well as Chileans. Lakers dominated, and it was a really fun night, cheering along from another side of the world. After a bit I started slightly lying and saying I was from L.A., close enough, right?
On friday after we wrapped up training the program threw a giant barbeque/party and it was a lot of fun. On Saturday, most everyone slept in a bit and then a lot of people left. Us Valdivia peeps aren't leaving until today though, so we stuck around and hung out in Santiago.
Then today, we went to Valparaiso which is an hour from Santiago, on the coast. It is a very beautiful city. It reminded me a lot of San Francisco because you can smell the ocean throughout the city and there are giant hills everywhere with houses on them. Also while there, we visited the house that Pablo Neruda used to live in while he was alive. Pablo Neruda is a Chilean poet whose work I really like, definitely check out his stuff if you haven't. His house was pretty neat. After that, we ate a great lunch and came back to Santiago. My bus to Valdivia is leaving in an hour or so. It's a charter bus going 10 hours through the night.
internet is sloooooow so Im saving a bunch of pictures for later, but here's a taste:
2 comments:
Kevi, your Chilean adventure sounds good so far. I changed your link on the real love website to say "Kevin's Chilean Blog." Hope that is ok.
Spanish can be tuff, I'm sure they have different accents than Kiel or Fisher, and that's gotta hurt. Wish you were with me in Romania. You would have loved our stop over in Munich.
Have you learned any new Spanish cuss words, those are my favorites.
PAUL
I like the radiohead bear... also, you look fresh.
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