Semana Mechona

It's hard to believe I have already been here a whole month. The time here has seriously flown by considering the slow pace of everything in this country! I really wish I had the patience to write a long post right now but really I dont feel like it. Last week was good. All my program was gone traveling except for me and my friend elena. it was good though. we explored more of valpo hung out a lot and went to this tiny potsmoking fishing town called hurcon. we mostly just climbed on rocks for 3 hours. but it was fun. a good week in all. im going to the chile vs. uruguay in santiago on wed. im so pumped!!! we won yesterday also, so im keeping my hopes up for south africa. more details to come about the game, but for right now, enjoy the pics from my week.

Se acabo la luna de miel

So the honeymoon phase of my study abroad experience is definitely over. This was probably the hardest week so far for me here. I got super frustrated with the language and not being able to understand anything in my classes. I think that is one of the hardest things to get used to here, is the school system. Allow me to explain.

The education system is completely different here. There are 8 different websites and places that you can find announcements about classes and info about your courses and books to read to help with the classes. Of course everyone knew about these places because they are used to the system, I am having an extremely different adjusting to the differences. The library is so confusing also. You don't buy your own books, you go to the library and make copies of the books that the prof reccomends. But for the week, he won't give you a specific amount like "read these 20 pages in this specific book" These are the instructions I received for my zoology class "read about the urochordates for next week". There are 9 books on the recommended reading list. I searched the library 2 days straight looking for these books. Aparently the recommended books are in a reserve area behind a counter that you have to check out specially. Anyways, a very friend TA helped me figure all this stuff out. Lesson learned; ask more, specific questions to get solid concrete answers.

Another lesson I learned this week was to really know what classes are cancelled for semana novata before you buy a plane ticket. So starting monday begins semana novata. This is a special week at the beginning of the school year for incoming freshman where there are many musical acts, cultural events, games, and many other activities. I was told that most of the classes were cancelled that week, except for the ones early in the morning. Well, aparently the labs for my classes weren't and they are mandatory to go to since we work in groups and the following lab builds off of the next. Anyways before I found out about my labs I bought a ticket for Patagonia for the week to go hiking in the national park Torres del Paine. So I couldn't go now and couldn't refund my ticket. I was really upset about the amount of money I wasted and an opportunity missed to see a gorgeous part of the country. Now, though, I have come to terms with it. I feel a peace in my heart now about staying here. I know God has a plan for why I am not able to go...

That reason might be to stay with my friend Alex who had to go to the hospital yesterday for stomach/intestine problems. She is fine now, but she had to stay overnight in the hospital and it was very scary and painful for her. I was really glad I was able to be with her and help out in any way; if I went on my trip I wouldn't have been on a plane when she was in the hospital.

In conclusion this week was probably my lowest, but I survived, realizing that the study abroad experience is a long one and it is still early. I'm going to go through many problems, highs, and lows and I need to keep pushing through. I am blessed to have met some very awesome girls in my program who are making it easier. Also, hearing about others' study abroad experiences makes me feel like I'm not alone in my journey. Man, that was probably my deepest thought yet. :)

Primera semana de clases

.




So a few days before Macalester begins spring break, I finally attended a class! Unfortunately, I did not learn one single thing, since the first week of classes is just talking about the classes and what we're doing this semester. Blah, blah, blah. I'm still trying to figure out my schedule though; it is quite difficult though, with scheduling of labs, classes on other sides of the city, and all that stuff. It looks like right now I'll be taking developmental pysch, personality pysch, vertebrate zoology, and my spanish class. I might add in this camp class where seriously, you get 3 credits to learn how to camp and then go camping :). We shall see, we shall see.

My classmates were pretty nice, especially in my developmental pysch class which contains only kinesiology majors (of course they are the coolest haha). But some students approached me and made me feel very welcome and all that, especially since I'm the only gringa in my classes. In the other classes that people in my program are taking there are way more gringos than Chileans, so I sort of lucked out in my classes as of right now...

Besides from school and trying to figure out the classes, the bus system, and the hard-to-understand Spanish, I've been trying to get to know the cities a little better. Last Saturday, our program went on a tour of Valparaiso. We went to Pablo Neruda's House, La Sebastiana, which was so gorgeous, the inside was decorated so uniquely and beautiful, full of bright bold colors. Unfortunately, we could not take pics inside the house. But the view was amazing; you could see the whole city and the ocean. Perfecto. We also walked around on 1 of 42 hills that are in Valpo. There are so many artists out sketching the hills, buildings, and people of the city, I'm starting to become inspired. Haha. But seriously, though, Valpo is so beautiful with all the bright colored buildings, and they structure in which they were built on these hills is absolutely spectacular. We finished the day by taking a boat ride around valpo and vina del mar, which was refreshing.

I also go my ear pierced again. It was the spur of the moment thing, after a very bad day of classes haha. It was only the ear though, other girls got nose and belly buttons pierced (I could have been way more impulsive:) )

This week a lot of people in my program bought tickets for the world cup qualifier for Chile against Uruguay. I'm so excited for my first soccer game. Hopefully it will absolutely insane. That's all for now. I hope all is well with all who read this!

Llena de paltas!

Things I love about Valparaiso:
-the food (I will elaborate more on later)
-the multicolored buildings
-location, right on the ocean!
-weather, a perfect 70 degrees not too hot, not too cold
-the language, although difficult to understand right now spanish is a beautiful language that I hope to perfect here.

So I have officially been here a week, but it seriously seems like a year! Right now I'm chillin' in my room nursing my ridiculous sunburn I got today from being at the beach waaaayyy too long. Painful stuff, but a day at the beach was worth it, especially since the weather will be turning poor quite soon.

I finally moved in with my family last Saturday! What an event that was. We left orientation on Saturday and drove into Valparaiso where we pulled into a horse racing track (weird no?). When we pulled into the parking lot, you could see all the cars with our host families waiting for us. That was so intimidating, because all of our host moms were looking into the bus trying to find us and we were all hiding from them, terrified out of our minds. Then ONE BY ONE they would motion for us to get off the bus and they would call out the student's name and the name of the host family so the families knew who the students actually were. But I felt like I was at prom or at a formal event or something getting my name called and them suddenly I walk down the stairs and appear before the crowd. Awkward.

My mother was there to greet me though and then I meet my dad and my little 12 year old sis. Let me tell you about my family. They are so cool. My dad, René seriously reminds me of a mix between Tony Soprano and my grandpa. He loves to make jokes, but speaks so fast, Chilean spanish of course, which is difficult to understand. But he is very nice. He loves sports and even hockey and baseball, so we always have something to chat about. My mother, Ximena, is super nice also, and told me the only rule in the house is that I have fun. She loves to teach me new words and corrects my Spanish when I'm wrong. This doesn't bother me, she knows I want to learn. The most useful phrase I have learned is "a la vela" meaning like got with the wind or go with the flow, wherever the wind takes you. This is one of the things I'm having most trouble with, because I and people from the US in general are super time oriented, but here it is all very chill. Latin American time: something I believe I will learn to love. My little sister, Victoria, is super nice also. She walked me to the mall and helped me buy a cell phone, yea a 12 yr old helped me :) It is all very early living with them, but I believe all will be just dandy with the fam.

My fam has an avocado (palta) tree in their backyard so we eat avocados at every meal!! They told me by the time I leave, I would be filled to my brain with avocados (hence the title of this post). That is not a problem for me, because I love them. The food we eat is amazing, everything is fresh, the bread is like no other. I cannot complain much about anything! :)

This week was orientation at school. It is so weird to be on the other side of things and go to international orientation and get tours and have activities, etc. I can now see how difficult it must be for all the internationals who arrive at Mac or in the US. But school doesn't start until next week, which is super weird because I believe spring break is nearing for all at home when I haven't even gone to one class.

For now, I'm spending my time at the beach and exploring the cities until class begins. Unfortunately, I will not be able to take my parasite class, which saddeneds me deeply, but what can you do about it right? More to come later about. Thanks for bearing with me on these posts, I'm not one that writes in a linear manner and that can connect thoughts well :)