Cajón del Maipo, Cerro San Cristóbal, family life

Chile, Part 2

I’ve been in Chile for 2 weeks now, and I’m starting to feel more accustomed to life here. I know my way around much better than I did before, which is incredibly helpful. It’s still a bit confusing to take a bus (la micro), because unlike in Santa Cruz, these buses do not announce the street name and they only stop if someone wants to get off or get on. In contrast, the metro (the subway system) is much easier to use, but it closes around midnight so after a night of partying you have to either use a bus or take a taxi. You might be wondering how the buses are still running in the middle of the night, and the answer is that they are not! Rather, on the weekend, Chileans don’t get to clubs or discoteques until 1 am, and go home around 4 or 5 am. It’s crazy! On Friday night/Saturday morning, I had such an experience, and you can tell by 2 of my photos where I took pictures of the sun rising from my window.

Last weekend all of the UC study abroad students went on a retreat to Cajón del Maipo, which was super fun. We spent the days alternating between receiving boatloads of information about our school and chatting by the pool, often venturing down the water slide! After a few intimidating days in Santiago, it was nice to go on such a retreat and get to know the other Californian students. Some of the pictures below are from a hike during the retreat, where we gazed at the majestic Andes.

We just finished our first week of Spanish classes, where our teachers alleviated the boredom of the subjunctive tense by playing music from artists such as Silvio Rodriguez of Cuba and watching 2 movies, called Mi Mejor Enemigo and La Buena Vida. I recommend both of them, the former depicting unexpected friendship in a war between Chile and Argentina, and the latter developing separate stories of urban life and tying them together in the end.

Today, I went with some friends to Cerro San Cristóbal, an urban park in Santiago. It was quite a hike up the hill, but good preparation for what awaits me in two weeks (I won’t give too much away about my plans, but let’s just say it involves glaciers, penguins and volcanoes!).

Finally, I took a few pictures of the animals living at my house! I couldn’t get all of them, since there are 11 total, but the others will follow, along with pictures of my host family.

My blog entries always seem scatterbrained to me, which I think is because I am constantly encountering new customs, trying new food, meeting new people, etc. I keep myself grounded by marveling at the confidence that I get from only needing two weeks in an entirely foreign city to feel more and more comfortable.

Thus, los fotos!  

(Additionally, I apologize for the random order of the photos - I'm still getting used to Picasa)

The river on our Cajón del Maipo hike. Clean, no?

The sun slowly starting to rise after my return at 6:30 am

Lucho - the king cat of the house!

Some EAP students out with our guide, eating at Restaurante Venezia in Bellavista

More of the sun peeking over the mountains...

Renée and the dish that we split - the glorious Chorrillana! My new favorite food by far, it consists of  french fries, steak and sausage, with a fried egg on top. Mmmmmm...

My host brother, Mark, with Lucita, the little kitten. 

The vista from our Cajón del Maipo hike

Our view from the top of Cerro San Cristóbal. Too bad it was smoggy, otherwise we would have gotten an even better view! 

Tired trekkers climbing up the Cerro.

Violeta? Or La Cosita? I don't remember. There are so many cats, it's hard to keep track.

Puppy

I like this picture - La Virgen on the very top of Cerro San Cristóbal

Lucita again. This picture is very telling as she has lots and lots of energy, and is constantly jumping, chasing, darting, peeking at everything. It was hard to get a good picture of her!

Another shot from Cajón del Maipo

Otro puppy

Yes, I have a pool in the backyard. So necessary on these hot days...

A cool local artist vendor gallery in Bellavista, Santiago's swanky neighborhood.


That's all for now! I've got to go to sleep so I can get to school tomorrow morning. Chau!