Alex's Adventures in Chile 2012: April 2012

I have now been in Chile for 1 week! Everything is going well so far, except for the fact that Chileans basically only drink instant coffee. Within my host family, there is the mother, Sylvia, her daughter, and three Chilean students that go to the university. Everyone is nice and welcoming, but when they start talking to each other its hard to understand because Chileans drop the “s” sound, speak super quickly, and use a lot of slang. Sylvia has been going out of her way to make me gluten free food (pizza, cake, bread, pasta), and I’m pretty sure my family has the best food of any of the host families in the program!

I have been exploring the city, which is surrounded by three rivers and is about 20min from the ocean. My house and the university are actually on an island, Isla Teja. The city is beautiful, and there or tons of giant sea lions that lie along the rivers near the city and make ridiculous grunting noises. I got about 5 feet away from one at the fish market the other day! So far the weather has been sunny and pretty warm, but I think the rain season is about to begin.

This past weekend, the aunt of my host family took me to the beach. The water is freezing here, but the waves are giant and the scenery is amazing. The aunt, along with all other Chileans, was warm once I started talking to her, and adamant about forcing me to speak Spanish, giving me advice, and giving me her opinion about everything from education to homosexuality to food. Unlike other Latin American countries, the Chileans don’t hate Americas (except for when they are rude or too drunk), and everyone wants to talk to me and help me. I’m having a little difficulty getting used to kissing EVERYONE that I meet, which is how the Chileans greet each other.

Our program took a trip to “los Campos”, which is basically the equivalent of slums or ghettos, to see the reality of Chilean society. All of the inhabitants of Isla Teja are upper middle class, and the Campos are only about 15 min away from where I live. We met a group of students who were bringing Easter candy to the kids that lived there, so we got to see some of the families that live in the Campos (there are about 400 families living in the Campos of Validiva). My program is going to teach English to some of the kids that live in the Campos, and we are also going to lead English conversation groups for university students on the campus where I take classes.

I am taking four classes, a conversation class, a Chilean culture class, Latin American Cine, and International Relations Between the US and Latin America. So far I like all of my classes, and there are only 3 or 4 people in them, so hopefully my Spanish is going to become “super bien”. My program only has 6 people in total, and we have been spending a lot of time together, trying to make Chilean friends, and checking out the nightlife. Last night we went to a karaoke bar, and tonight some Chilean girls are taking us to the “discos” to dance, which should be interesting because I have no rhythm.