Valparaíso y Viña del Mar

Hello again friends and family!

I am sorry for the lack of posts for the last few weeks, but at the same time, I think it is a good sign that I have found myself otherwise occupied. Classes seem to be going smoother, at least for the most part. Certain things have still been a bit of a struggle, but I have made a few acquaintances/friends in my classes, and that has made it much easier.

Additionally, this past week of school was made easier by the fact that we had Thursday and Friday off. A three-day week followed by a four-day weekend really improves one's mood :) For the long weekend, my friends and I decided to take a short trip to the nearby city of Valparaíso. Our bus left Santiago around 9 am Friday morning, and we were in Valpo by 11.

Valparaíso is a port/coastal city that was of crucial maritime importance during the 19th century. The building of the Panama canal decreased the volume of commerce in the city significantly, but nevertheless, Valpo remains a prominent city for trade and the Chilean navy. It is a fairly large city, so two days didn't allow us to see a ton, but it is so close that we are certainly going to go back (especially once it is warm enough to actually swim in the ocean!)

Valparaíso

Valparaíso consists of many hills, all of which slope down to the sea. Unlike Santiago, where the streets are generally wide, paved, straight, and flat, the streets of Valpo are narrow, often cobblestone, twisting, and very very steep. We had quite the hike up to our hostel. However, the colorful buildings and street art made the climb worthwhile.

Typical street in Valpo

Our activities in Valpo consisted of wandering around looking for impressive views and murals, eating a delicious variety of food, seeking out fun "hole in the wall" type restaurants and bars, and, of course, the beach. On Saturday, we went over to the nearby town of Viña del Mar to check out its beaches and streets as well. Viña's beaches were great, but the town itself is mostly resorts and places that cater to tourists. As nice as it was, I preferred Valparaíso's more bohemian and down-to-
earth vibe.

                      

My friend Tiara and I at a restaurant called J. Cruz M. It served exactly one dish, the famous chorrillana (pictured below)

The beach in Viña del Mar

I really enjoyed getting to spend some time in another Chilean city because it allowed me to compare and contrast it with Santiago. As I already indicated when talking about the streets, Valpo was not nearly as methodically organized as Santiago. This was evident in other aspects of the city as well: all the people paid with change on the bus instead of the Bip! cards that we use in Santiago. Waiters were not nearly as attentive, and I just got a slightly more chaotic feeling from the place. I had heard that in other places in Chile, they make fun of people from Santiago for being too down-to-business and too rushed (much like the difference between big cities like Chicago and small towns in the south), and I could see why they would make such a comparison.

I have enjoyed hearing from all of you, and I really appreciate you reading my blog. More updates to come!

Highs and Lows

Today marks the one month anniversary of my arrival in Chile. I can't believe it. In many ways, I feel like I just arrived. In others, I feel like I have been here forever. I still have so much to experience in this semester, and I have already gathered a lifetime of lessons and experiences.

One of the reasons why I feel like I just arrived in Chile was that this past week was the first week of regular classes in my university: the first time I was in a classroom entirely filled with Chilean students. After getting very comfortable with the schedule and routine I had established the first three weeks here, I felt like this change sent me back to square one, and I was completely lost again.

My experiences in the Chilean classroom have thus far been quite different from classes in the US. For one thing, I was not informed of where my classes were actually being held beforehand, so I had to arrive at the university early in order to do some investigative work (aka ask about 50 different people) and locate the classrooms. Once I jumped that hurdle, I had to tackle the atmosphere of the classroom itself. Unlike in the US, all Chilean students in the same major and class take the same classes together every semester. Therefore, the Chilean students in my classes are all well acquainted with one another. I felt like quite the outsider. Secondly, since this is the second semester of the year in Chile, two of my classes have pre-requisites that the other students took the first semester. However, I clearly did not have the option to do so, and I therefore appear to be missing a good chunk of background material. This, coupled with the fact that I am taking these classes in my second language, produced a good deal of stress and confusion. Finally, my experiences with the Chilean professors has been much different than my experiences with professors at SLU. I am used to professors coming in on the first day of classes with syllabi and calendars that clearly outline the course requirements and schedule. I am used to professors introducing themselves and having the students go around and introduce themselves as well. In contrast, here, I don't even know the name of one of my professors. However, this is not to say that everything about my first week of classes was bad. I did get a chance to talk to some nice Chilean girls in one of my classes, and we made plans to work together on one of the group projects. I hope that in the next few weeks I can find a way to meet more Chilean friends and that I will get more comfortable with the classroom environment here.

Additionally, after such a stressful week, I got to unwind in the best way I could possibly think of... skiing in the Andes!!! My friends and I woke up around 6 am yesterday (Friday) morning to rent equipment and meet our group to head into the mountains. I have been skiing before, if you can count skiing at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin, but I had never skied in the mountains. What an indescribable experience. Even the drive up was nothing like I have ever done. The road up to the resort was a winding road that slowly crept higher and higher into the mountains. Looking down from the window of the bus made me slightly sick to see just how steep of a climb we were making. After about an hour and a half of twisting and turning, we finally made it to Valle Nevado, one of the best ski resorts in Chile. There were several of us in the group who had never skied before, or who were beginners like me, so we took a beginner lesson in the morning. After that, we were turned loose on the mountain. I quickly realized that the beginner runs in the Andes were more challenging than some of the harder runs I had done in Wisconsin. However, my prior ski experience served me well, and I managed to stay on my feet the whole day. I returned home that night exhausted, but completely exhilarated. I felt like I had been to the top of the world and back.

In the gondola heading up the mountain

 10, 827 feet