My First 2 Weeks in Santiago

The first 2 weeks in Chile have definitely been a doozy. We had orientation, cross cultural training, field trips, teacher training, and Spanish classes. (See Below- All of us bundled up in our winter clothing in class every day).

However, I definitely appreciated it even though I am fatigued, but overcompensating by wearing as many layers of clothes as possible, taking my vitamins every morning, and trying to sleep at a decent hour while some of my fellow volunteers chose to stay up late to blog and chat on Skype. But, I have adapted well since I was in the mindset to be “fluid” during my stay in Chile (as my Director and previous volunteers have suggested). It's been great to be with a great group of volunteers.

During our training, we did skits on what we would do during different levels of emergencies (1- Stay Put, 2-Consolidation, 3- Evacuation, 4-Other). I acted as a news reporter during our skit. (See below- That's me on TV!)

My first impressions (during my first 2 weeks in Santiago):

THE GOOD:

• Chileans can be very cautious, but in a good way to foreigners. I have been approached several times to wear my backpack in front or keep my purse close. (Santiago is known for theft and pickpocketing).

• Chileans try to be as helpful as possible. If I had a question, they would try their best to give me an answer, but now I’ve learned that they might give you a not so accurate answer versus telling you that they can’t help you.

• I LOVE cazuela soup! This is homemade chicken soup with pasta or rice, chicken with skin, butternut squash, cilantro, and sometimes carrots. Mmmm…This is also often offered as a cure for a “cana” (or hangover).
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• Condorito comic book. This is a well known comic book in parts of South America and the author/artist is Chilean. It is FUNNY!

• Chileanmismos (Chilean slang) ARE FUN TO USE! I have learned more Chilean slang in the last 2 weeks than Mandarin slang (which I only know 2). “Chuta” and “Pucha” means AWESOME/COOL. “La raja” means “the shit”. Many kids use “pichi” which means pee pee (excuse my candor).

This was a pretty "Pucha" bathroom sign at a restaurant that we went to. (See Below- Can you figure out what everyone is doing?)

• Had it not been our Spanish teacher, Arnavik, we would not have had the pleasure to ride the metro out of our safe "touristy zone" to a restaurant where locals would drink large Terremotos (wine with a dollop of pineapple ice cream with grenadine) and split huge oil drenched french fries with onions (marinated with wine after several weeks), olives, tomatoes, potatoes, and chunks of cheese. Mmmm.. delicious!
  
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THE (NOT) SO GOOD:

• Hotel Londres- The staff here is really nice and it was nice that we got to use their dining area so much since we gringos turned it into an Internet Café by night. It was nice that it was near lots of stores and restaurants. HOWEVER, it was a very noisy hostel with, small rooms, and only the 2^nd floor had hot showers. However, if you pay for the rooms yourself, you probably would get better rooms and better amenities, but I think because we went as a group, we got budget amenities.
  
  
• Air Pollution- I have not been affected by it much, but I can definitely see it.

• Cigarette Smoke- This is something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to…often being the 2^nd hand smoker. Restaurants, clubs, and bars can easily fill up with smoke and all my clothes and hair smell like smoke.

• Dogs run amuck or sprawl across the sidewalks as their beds. They are friendly and do not bark at people. We do say “awww” every time we seem them and when they start following us around (they appear to take a liking to us gringos). However, WATCH OUT FOR DOG POOP! We do see stray dogs with sweaters which is nice because random people will put them on for them since it is so cold out. But we do get sad when we see them chew on newspapers possibly because they are hungry.

• Chilean diet- Most Chilean restaurants do not offer many vegetables and if they do, they often offer very few ingredients in each salad. However, we’ve noticed that there are many European (particularly French) inspired cafes which offer delicious multi-ingredient salads. Every time I have an opportunity to eat vegetables, I will order it over the frequent hamburgers, hot dogs, asados, French fries that they offer in the smaller restaurants.

• Cold Weather- This winter is supposedly the coldest it has been the last 30 years. It is snowing like crazy down south so they are changing some of the volunteer placements since transportation is difficult in/out of those areas. I hope it gets warmer soon as I’d like to go hiking down south in Patagonia.

• Though I hoped to improve my Spanish during my time in Chile, we are learning that the Spanish here is very different. "Chileanese" is filled with humorous slang and many Spanish words are shortened by dropping the "s". I think it will still be a fun experience.