1. Don't adopt every sad stray dog you see on the street...because you'd have thousands. That's right, there are TONS of stray dogs in the streets. They're all really pretty and friendly, but they sleep in the bushes and look so lonely and pathetic and you just want to pet them, but DON'T, because they probably have pulgas (fleas). At 4am when you're walking home from the clubs, you can always count on 1 or 2 friends to accompany you though. One time I had as many as 10, which made me slightly nervous...
2. Beware of mayonnaise, they try to put it on everything.
3. Don't drink Capel, a really cheap brand of Pisco. It will give you the WORST caña (hangover) everrr. Oh and get ready to drink lots of Pisco, it's Chile's liquor.
4. Love manjar. It's their dulce de leche and it's delicious...even in empanadas! On that note, love empanadas and try all the different combinations.
5. Have correct change, or at least something close to it, when paying for La Micro (the bus). If you don't, the chaufer's will be annoyed with you.
6. When entering, leaving, or sitting on La Micro, always find something to hold on to. It doesn't matter if you're 99 years old, those Micros will not wait for you to sit down before lurching off at the speed of light.
7. Drink lots of tea. It helps warm you up.
8. Love palta (avocado). And put it on everything...sandwiches, salads, hot dogs, whatever.
9. Be careful with how many copetes (drinks) you consume. Their version of a rum and coke is a glass full of rum with a splash of coke.
10. Don't be surprised if you don't understand a single word Chileans say. They drop S and D sounds from their words, throw in "cachai", "po", and "hueon" at will, slur everything together, speak super fast, and with a sing-song Italian accent which I happen to love.
11. Never turn down an invitation to an asado (BBQ). Chileans cook the best meat I swear. It's simply delicious.
12. If you're a gringa (white woman), get used to Piropos (basically cat-calls or anything of the sort). Las micros do pretty awesome piropos. I was walking down the street the other day and this one started honking and flashing its lights and then they have some sort of button they push that lets out this loud howl-like whistle.
13. If you're going to participate in Chilean nightlife, be prepared to not sleep.
14. Love raggaeton and cumbia. So much great music, ask me for song suggestions if you want!
15. Say "super" a lot. And "rico/rica" can be used to describe people, food, situations, whatever.
16. No need to be on time, Chileans never are...even professors. We had one show up 45min late to class the other day.
17. Get used to having to go around to every person in the room when you enter a party, kissing everyone on the cheek and saying hello.
18. Never expect machine-made coffee. 99.999% of the coffee here is instant.
19. Enjoy sleeping in until noon or 1pm. It's not unusual.
20. Never stop appreciating the scenery. It's absolutely breathtaking.
domingo, 15 de agosto de 2010
viernes, 13 de agosto de 2010
Much needed update on my life here
Sorry I haven't posted in so long!! I'm running around so much here that I'm really spacey and forget stuff like this..please forgive me!
Gosh I've been up to a lot...it's kind of hard to describe it all.
First major change: I'm not picky anymore. I eat crazy vegetables, avocado, fish, all sorts of stuff. Basically whatever they put in front of me.
I'm taking classes at 2 universities, one of which looks like Hogwarts. It's sooo gorgeous, even prettier than Rhodes. All of my classes are in Spanish and I'm taking Chilean poetry, literature, spanish, history, christian anthropology, and probably one other class. (It looks like a heavier load but classes are rarely worth 4 credits here...many are 2 or 3 so I'm really just taking the normal 16 credit load).
I live in Viña del Mar, Chile which is sister cities with Valparaíso. It's on the coast and it's so beautiful with all of these crazy hills and cliffs too. I've explored Viña and Valpo really well and know my way around and last weekend we also went to the nearby Sand Dunes which were awesome (check my pictures on facebook).
I ride the buses everywhere. They're really intimidating at first because you definitely have to be on your game about getting on and off or you might fall and break a leg because the drivers don't really like to stop.
I love my host family. It's just me here with my parents, but they have 3 older children who live in Santiago who I'm hoping to meet soon. We live in a high rise apartment (14th floor) and have a great view. There's no heating indoors in Chile, because most people can't afford it, so I'm always really cold and have to wear like 5 layers of clothing, drink lots of hot tea, take scolding hot showers, and sleep under 5 thick blankets jajaja. But I'm getting used to it and it'll start warming up in September. The weather has been gorgeous for the most part so that helps too.
We go out a tonnn. Chileans pregame til about 2am and then leave to go to the clubs so the clubs aren't really packed til about 3am and then everyone stays out until around 6am. It is roouuugh. jajaja. The clubs are ridiculous! They're like underground with 3 different huge rooms usually with different dj's playing different kinds of music. Chileans are obsessed with raggaeton and this is my favorite song they play in the clubs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I9ytgRg_F8
The other gringos (white people) in my program are really cool and I'm getting along well with everyone. Also, I've met lots of chileans and I love hanging out with them. The people are so friendly here and are willing to help you whenever you need it. I've also felt really confident and safe for the most part. I walk lots of places and people stare at me because I'm white and have green eyes, but they haven't been offensive.
That's all I can really think of for now...Post questions if you want to know anything specific or just to chat! :)
Gosh I've been up to a lot...it's kind of hard to describe it all.
First major change: I'm not picky anymore. I eat crazy vegetables, avocado, fish, all sorts of stuff. Basically whatever they put in front of me.
I'm taking classes at 2 universities, one of which looks like Hogwarts. It's sooo gorgeous, even prettier than Rhodes. All of my classes are in Spanish and I'm taking Chilean poetry, literature, spanish, history, christian anthropology, and probably one other class. (It looks like a heavier load but classes are rarely worth 4 credits here...many are 2 or 3 so I'm really just taking the normal 16 credit load).
I live in Viña del Mar, Chile which is sister cities with Valparaíso. It's on the coast and it's so beautiful with all of these crazy hills and cliffs too. I've explored Viña and Valpo really well and know my way around and last weekend we also went to the nearby Sand Dunes which were awesome (check my pictures on facebook).
I ride the buses everywhere. They're really intimidating at first because you definitely have to be on your game about getting on and off or you might fall and break a leg because the drivers don't really like to stop.
I love my host family. It's just me here with my parents, but they have 3 older children who live in Santiago who I'm hoping to meet soon. We live in a high rise apartment (14th floor) and have a great view. There's no heating indoors in Chile, because most people can't afford it, so I'm always really cold and have to wear like 5 layers of clothing, drink lots of hot tea, take scolding hot showers, and sleep under 5 thick blankets jajaja. But I'm getting used to it and it'll start warming up in September. The weather has been gorgeous for the most part so that helps too.
We go out a tonnn. Chileans pregame til about 2am and then leave to go to the clubs so the clubs aren't really packed til about 3am and then everyone stays out until around 6am. It is roouuugh. jajaja. The clubs are ridiculous! They're like underground with 3 different huge rooms usually with different dj's playing different kinds of music. Chileans are obsessed with raggaeton and this is my favorite song they play in the clubs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I9ytgRg_F8
The other gringos (white people) in my program are really cool and I'm getting along well with everyone. Also, I've met lots of chileans and I love hanging out with them. The people are so friendly here and are willing to help you whenever you need it. I've also felt really confident and safe for the most part. I walk lots of places and people stare at me because I'm white and have green eyes, but they haven't been offensive.
That's all I can really think of for now...Post questions if you want to know anything specific or just to chat! :)
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