The word gringo is used affectionately around here for any foreigner who speaks with an accent. And believe me, that's what I definitely am. For now.
Above are photos of the apartment--pretty cute, huh? When Menina first showed me around on Thursday, the day I arrived in Santiago, I automatically felt at home. The place is so spick and span, and it smells familiar, like a home! To give you an idea of who I'm living with, here's my family:
Above are photos of the apartment--pretty cute, huh? When Menina first showed me around on Thursday, the day I arrived in Santiago, I automatically felt at home. The place is so spick and span, and it smells familiar, like a home! To give you an idea of who I'm living with, here's my family:
On the left doing cara tortuga with me (sticking your neck out like a turtle) is Juan Renee, my host dad. He works as a civil engineer, and he's very funny. He helps out around the house when he gets back from work and teaches me quite a bit about Chilean life. His wife and my host mom, Menina, is a sweetheart and the person that I spend the most time with in the house. Menina is very social and talkative (remind you of someone), and she loves keeping busy with chores, visiting family, and helping out her friends. OH, AND SHE LOVES DOWNTON ABBEY. These two remind me of my parents--they're very similar!
Also living here in Juan Renee Jr. who is 26 years old and working at an organization for historical memory. He knows quite a bit about Chile's past during and after the dictatorship (1973-1991), and his political standing is more to the left. His longtime girlfriend, Cynthia, also lives here. She worked in Argentina for three years studying the dictatorship of the 70s and 80s over there, and we talk quite a bit about politics and society in Santiago. They're both very well-informed, friendly people!
I feel extremely welcome in this family. I never feel like an outsider! On Saturday I went with Menina to her brother-in-law's house to help him move out of his apartment--if that's not personal, I don't know what is! Menina's daughter, Natalia, and her family also came over, which gave me a chance to commence Operation Baby: Become Friends with All the Babies. Natalia has two children, Renato (5 yrs) and Emilia (4 yrs). Eeee! They came over to the house, and I entertained them with pictures of my family and friends. They're so mischievous and funny! And now they're my friends! They didn't want to leave!
That night Menina and I went to the program's Welcome Dinner with all the other mothers and students. It was quite the dinner, starting at 8 pm and ending a little after 12. Afterward, 14 of us gringos went out on the town (carreteando) to the central area of my neighborhood, Plaza Ñuñoa. To clarify, no one goes out at night in groups of 14; it was as if we had a giant target on our group that said "LOS GRINGOS." I had a lot of fun getting to know the people in this program! We share a lot of common interests, and we ended up sitting at a bar for ~2 hours and talking. My first bar experience ever (yeah, yeah, I'm a noob)!
Also living here in Juan Renee Jr. who is 26 years old and working at an organization for historical memory. He knows quite a bit about Chile's past during and after the dictatorship (1973-1991), and his political standing is more to the left. His longtime girlfriend, Cynthia, also lives here. She worked in Argentina for three years studying the dictatorship of the 70s and 80s over there, and we talk quite a bit about politics and society in Santiago. They're both very well-informed, friendly people!
I feel extremely welcome in this family. I never feel like an outsider! On Saturday I went with Menina to her brother-in-law's house to help him move out of his apartment--if that's not personal, I don't know what is! Menina's daughter, Natalia, and her family also came over, which gave me a chance to commence Operation Baby: Become Friends with All the Babies. Natalia has two children, Renato (5 yrs) and Emilia (4 yrs). Eeee! They came over to the house, and I entertained them with pictures of my family and friends. They're so mischievous and funny! And now they're my friends! They didn't want to leave!
That night Menina and I went to the program's Welcome Dinner with all the other mothers and students. It was quite the dinner, starting at 8 pm and ending a little after 12. Afterward, 14 of us gringos went out on the town (carreteando) to the central area of my neighborhood, Plaza Ñuñoa. To clarify, no one goes out at night in groups of 14; it was as if we had a giant target on our group that said "LOS GRINGOS." I had a lot of fun getting to know the people in this program! We share a lot of common interests, and we ended up sitting at a bar for ~2 hours and talking. My first bar experience ever (yeah, yeah, I'm a noob)!
Sunday was the day of our tour in central Santiago with two students from La Catolica, Pablo and Alvaro. They took us to see Lastarria (a neighborhood called the "Paris of Santiago" and known for its cafes and old buildings), Cerro Santa Lucia (a small hill in central Santiago once the site of a Spanish fort in the mid-1500s), La Alameda (Santiago's main city avenue), and La Moneda (the seat of the president--similar to the White House except that the president of Chile doesn't live there.
On the left is the view from the tower atop Santa Lucia. It's a beautiful view of the city landscape and the mountains surrounding Santiago. Have I mentioned that I love it here?
Of course, my time here in Santiago is not just sight seeing and taking pictures of food. My first day of classes was yesterday at La Catolica with the other WashU students. Talk about intensive! Our Spanish class begins at 8:30 and ends at 11:30! Transit to the school was also during rush hours, which last from 7 to 9 am--the metro's packed with people going to work...and doing other things. There was a woman separating her eyelashes with a knife. Trust me, that's uncommon.
Classes went very well! I feel very fortunate to have such wonderful professors who are really dedicated to their work and their students--it's no different from WashU! Professor Gloria Toledo teaches my Spanish class, and we had a lot of fun with Chilenismos, talking about the territories of Chile, and discussing politics. All in Spanish! After lunch outside we went to our Chilean Culture class with Professor Andrew Brown in which we watched a documentary about the political environment right before the military coup in 1973. First essay due on Thursday! O___O
On the left is the view from the tower atop Santa Lucia. It's a beautiful view of the city landscape and the mountains surrounding Santiago. Have I mentioned that I love it here?
Of course, my time here in Santiago is not just sight seeing and taking pictures of food. My first day of classes was yesterday at La Catolica with the other WashU students. Talk about intensive! Our Spanish class begins at 8:30 and ends at 11:30! Transit to the school was also during rush hours, which last from 7 to 9 am--the metro's packed with people going to work...and doing other things. There was a woman separating her eyelashes with a knife. Trust me, that's uncommon.
Classes went very well! I feel very fortunate to have such wonderful professors who are really dedicated to their work and their students--it's no different from WashU! Professor Gloria Toledo teaches my Spanish class, and we had a lot of fun with Chilenismos, talking about the territories of Chile, and discussing politics. All in Spanish! After lunch outside we went to our Chilean Culture class with Professor Andrew Brown in which we watched a documentary about the political environment right before the military coup in 1973. First essay due on Thursday! O___O
After classes, a few of us went to Patronato to see the more diverse side of town. Chile is home to the largest population of Palestinians outside of the Arab world, and Patronato is where many of them live. To be honest, I just saw a few shawarma places and an Orthodox church with Arabic script on it. But Patronato is more than that! There are tons of markets and little stores selling clothes, jewelery, toys, meat, and other goods for extremely low prices! It's the place in Santiago to find great bargains!
What's that on the left? It's only Boys over Flowers, such a fun series! With Spanish subtitles! There was a store in Patronato that only sold Korean dramas, movies, music: Woah! This box set came at such a bargain price, and the lady at the store told me that she learned a lot of her Spanish by watching K-dramas with Spanish subtitles.
I also really liked Patronato for the fact that it's socioeconomically different from the neighborhoods that us students are living in. Our neighborhoods are more middle to upper-class whereas Patronato is home to lower-middle class individuals: people working in the informal sector with the majority owning or working in the small kiosks and tiendas. It reminded me quite a bit of the markets in Istanbul and Karachi: I felt at home!
What's that on the left? It's only Boys over Flowers, such a fun series! With Spanish subtitles! There was a store in Patronato that only sold Korean dramas, movies, music: Woah! This box set came at such a bargain price, and the lady at the store told me that she learned a lot of her Spanish by watching K-dramas with Spanish subtitles.
I also really liked Patronato for the fact that it's socioeconomically different from the neighborhoods that us students are living in. Our neighborhoods are more middle to upper-class whereas Patronato is home to lower-middle class individuals: people working in the informal sector with the majority owning or working in the small kiosks and tiendas. It reminded me quite a bit of the markets in Istanbul and Karachi: I felt at home!
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