Since it's been a good two weeks since the aforementioned activity took place (that of skiing...in the Chilean Andes) it's a perfect time for me to recollect and recount my experience. First, you must consider the fact that the only places I've been skiing (downhill skiing to be more specific) have been Wisconsin and Minnesota. Notice the lack of mountains inherent within these previous experiences. So, as one naturally can assume, I was absolutely amazed upon seeing, for the first time, a mountain on which I was about to ski (this state of amazement was experienced before I even set foot on the snow...one can only imagine, therefore, the state of absolute ecstasy upon actually skiing down a real mountain with no trees in sight, only powder, some winding trails, meandering throughout the vast expanse occasionally making visible a view to die for...except for when it overlooked Santiago which is basically a pit of smog...). So...all descriptive descriptions aside, this was the most amazing Chilean experience to date and arguably the most amazing life experience to date (in terms of adventurousness at least). But before I proceed any further, I suppose I should tell you a bit more about where I went and the adventures that took place before, after, and in between the act of skiing for what seemed to be a blissful perpetuity. From Viña del Mar (my current home town) myself, Monty, John, Christan, and Rachel took a bus to Santiago on Thursday night August 16th for the manageable price of $CLP 2,000 ($US 4.00). Upon arriving late that night, we stayed in Hostel Internacionale, a cozy hostel in downtown Santiago. We had a room to ourself which costed us $CLP 6,500 a night ($US 13.00). Monty, having talked to the friendly receptionist (succumbing to her feminine charm most undoubtedly) came back to the room with good news regarding a ski rental place just a few Metro stops from where we were. "Good job Monty", we said. The next day, clad in an assortment of warm outer wear (myself and Rachel in our under armor suits), we went to the ski rental place. Upon our arrival, we found it to be a hole in the wall establishment with pretty darn sketchy equipment and the same prices as the Travel Guide recommended Ski Total. "Bad job Monty", we said. So we paid too much for too little and clambered into the bus that would take us up the innumerable amounts of switch-backs up the mountain. There were some Australian tourists that seemed to be having a bad day and delayed our departure because of it. This being the case, we didn't get up to the mountain until 10:30am. The mountain was called El Colorado (creative, I know...like they're trying to compete with somewhere...) and it was pretty sweet, given my first time skiing in the mountains. I figured out that I'm not that good at skiing in powder...or rather my face figured it out after diving head first into the stuff. But I enjoyed myself emmensly. The next day was suuper mejor and we went to a reputable ski outfitter called Ski Total and got some sweet gear then proceeded to go up the mountain to a different resort called Valle Nevado which was also suuper mejor. This place was much more expansive with more exploring possibilities and my skis were better suited to navigate through the powder. I went up to the highest point of the mountain and it was so high up I was having trouble breathing! I usually ended up skiing by myself due to the fact that I lost the group rather often...only to stumble across them somewhere else..then lose them again. But watev....I had fun and am definitely doing this again!
We came back to Viña on Saturday, and after being away for 2 nights it felt for the first time like home sweet home. It was kinda cool after being in a "foreign" place like Santiago to come back to the place I was familiar with...which is weird cause I've only been living here for a month. I was also super sore and getting back in my nice warm bed felt oh so nice. Sunday would be recuperating day. Indeed it was, as I didn't open my eyes in the morning until 1:30 (I guess I should say afternoon then...). Well...I'm kinda lazy so I don't want to write any more...but tune in next time for another Chile update!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
La Vida Escolar
¿¡Hola como estaipo!? Finally I'm writing an original post, gone are the lazy days of copying and pasting an out-dated email. Now that classes have started...yeah I know, August 1st is a bit early for me...I can talk about them and how cool they are! Since figuring out that it doesn't matter what classes I take, as Macalester will accept any of them towards my Latin American Studies major (makes sense I guess, since I'm in Chile!). So here they are: Mondays at 9am I have photography in black and white. My first photography class ever and so far it seems super cool! I just bought a camera down here for 70.000 chilean pesos which is roughly $140. Hopefully I'll be able to sell it when I'm done...or be so into photography that I'll cherish it forever. As of now, I know more Spanish photography terms than English ones. My next class on Mondays is at 3:40pm: Oral and Written Spanish...boring. Then after that it's Mountain sports! This is the sweetest class ever because we get to go out on trips and climb mountains and go camping in the mountains we've climbed. Today we practiced climbing an artificial wall in the gym of la Casa Central...or the main campus building. I made it to the top of the wall, quite surprisingly, and finally learned how to tie a Boolean knot...kind of. On Tuesdays I have my sole music class, ethnomusicology. Basically a long word meaning, the study of ethnic music. We're talking about Chilean indigenous music now and I think most of the course involves talking about the music of South America. Tuesdays are nice because Ethnomusicology doesn't start 'till 3:40pm (can anybody say "Dormir!"). Come Wednesday, I have two classes: Modernity and Social Problems, which consists of studying the effect of modernity on country's development...which tends to be kinda negative if you live in a lesser developed country. This class is very discussion based, which doesn't bode well given the fact that Chilean students discuss/ talk quite fast so I have to ask lots of questions and I don't follow the discussions all the time (hopefully this will improve). Just so you know, GDP (Gross Domestic Product), in spanish, is PIB (of course!). Next on Wednesdays is good old Oral and Written Spanish (otra vez) which is just as boring as it was on Monday. Then, Thursday arrives and I wait until 5:20pm to travel to Valparaíso to attend my class called Action and Solidarity" which is basically a class structured around volunteering in a local municipality school and planning activities for the kids. I'm a fan. For this class we will work once a week around the noon time, outside of class, at a school playing with kids mostly I think and not working too hard. After this class, I'm free 'till Monday (yes you have correctly deduced that I don't have classes on Fridays). So it's a tough here in Chile...but I manage.
Alright...one other thing, not so pleasing, that I've encountered while being a student in Chile, involves just how I get around the city, too and from school. Los Micros or Microbuses or short buses or slightly longer buses or what have you. First, the positive: should you be a student, it only costs 150 pesos to get on (150 pesos is like $0.29...so not too shabby). Now BEING that I'm a STUDENT it should cost me that very manageable amount every time. My student ID card ("tarjeta escolar" as they call it) is still being processed, however, the University has given me a very convincing, even laminated, temporary card. The Micro drivers clearly have not had a meeting to discuss matters such as these so I've encountered very inconsistent service. If you're not a student you have to pay 410 pesos...you could buy two empanadas on the street for that much (and those empanadas are pretty darn delicious!). I usually have to argue with the stubborn drivers, attempting to assert the validity of my temporary "tarjeta escolar", sometimes to no avail. Needless to say...I can't wait to get my real "tarjeta escolar"!
Alright...one other thing, not so pleasing, that I've encountered while being a student in Chile, involves just how I get around the city, too and from school. Los Micros or Microbuses or short buses or slightly longer buses or what have you. First, the positive: should you be a student, it only costs 150 pesos to get on (150 pesos is like $0.29...so not too shabby). Now BEING that I'm a STUDENT it should cost me that very manageable amount every time. My student ID card ("tarjeta escolar" as they call it) is still being processed, however, the University has given me a very convincing, even laminated, temporary card. The Micro drivers clearly have not had a meeting to discuss matters such as these so I've encountered very inconsistent service. If you're not a student you have to pay 410 pesos...you could buy two empanadas on the street for that much (and those empanadas are pretty darn delicious!). I usually have to argue with the stubborn drivers, attempting to assert the validity of my temporary "tarjeta escolar", sometimes to no avail. Needless to say...I can't wait to get my real "tarjeta escolar"!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Choque Cultural
The following post is mostly derived from yet another email because I still have to catch up after starting this blog a bit late. Also, I'm far too lazy to write a whole new post when I've already written on this topic. But, for the most part, the writing that follows consists of the small facets of Chilean life that, were I to be in charge, would be done away with. Here is an excerpt from the email sent on July 29th (yes I know...I'm far behind) :
"I'll try to type this email as error free as possible but my fingers are a little bit like ice cubes. ¿Por qué? you might ask....well, it's winter in Chile and Chileans don't have central heating in their houses. ¿Por qué? you might ask again, starting to wonder what kind of crazy country doesn't have heat during winter...well, in Chile (specifically Valparaíso, the main city where I'm living) winters are mild, usually never getting below freezing, and they don't last long. So it makes sense I guess since it's expensive to install and not economical to use (clearly a mindset far removed from some of us en los Estados Unidos). They do use "estufas", or small gas space heaters, but from what I've experienced (and am experiencing right now) they don't heat up very much space. Needless to say, you pretty much bundle up wherever you go, be it inside or out. [Back to the present day for a moment, I was walking to class in the building "Sausalito" where my mountain sports class is, and it was sunny and warm getting there, but as soon as the sun sets...brrrrrrrr! I was shivering on the way home] Well, enough on the weather, let me tell you something else crazy about Chile...well, maybe not crazy, but it's going to take some getting used to. Not to offend those of you who may smoke, but, should you partake in this most carcenogenic habit, you would be very comfortable in Chile. For the rest of us, it's quite an annoying phenominon. Every club or bar or house or appartment or street corner or alley way or...well that's a bit of an exaggeration, but A LOT of places one would want to go are pretty full of smokers which makes your clothes pretty full of smoke which makes you pretty smelly which makes you want to wash your clothes but your host mom doesn't wash them as often as you fill them with smoke so you wear the same clothes a lot until the smoky ones are clean (breathe). Thankfully my host family doesn't smoke (my 19 year old sister does at parties but don't tell her mom!) and there's no smoking inside the university (whew!) so I'll manage.
Ok, now that I have my two complaints out of the way, it's time to say that this country is amazing! I went up an ascensor the other day which is kind of like a cable car lift thingy and the view over the port was beautiful. Valparaíso is an old city so the architecture is really different and colorful and kind of haphazardly placed in perfect harmony which, when seen from above, is quite the sight. To top it off, there was an accordian player on the patio who really set the ambiance. Down below, there are infinitely stretching beaches and really cool looking "muelles" or piers that jut out into the harbor where you can see all the ships coming in and, at night, the sparkling city lights. There's one called "Muelle Barón" that's perfect for throwing a frisbee (Chileans thought me and my friend were really cool because I don't think they've ever seen ultimate players throwing frisbees before...either that or they were staring at us like we're some weird looking gringos...as I've come to learn, usually it's the latter). Another phenomenal Chilean treat is the wine, which, I might add, you only need to be 18 to drink. I went to a wine tasting expo and was quite impressed by (1) how classy I felt and (2) the wine was quite delectible. I also learned how to describe various types of wine in spanish which will come in handy down the road I think." So there you have it. Some of my first experiences in this vastly long, diverse, strange, country where they like their parties long (I mean loooong) their Pisco sour and their hot dogs ("Completos") covered in mayonnaise...ugh!
"I'll try to type this email as error free as possible but my fingers are a little bit like ice cubes. ¿Por qué? you might ask....well, it's winter in Chile and Chileans don't have central heating in their houses. ¿Por qué? you might ask again, starting to wonder what kind of crazy country doesn't have heat during winter...well, in Chile (specifically Valparaíso, the main city where I'm living) winters are mild, usually never getting below freezing, and they don't last long. So it makes sense I guess since it's expensive to install and not economical to use (clearly a mindset far removed from some of us en los Estados Unidos). They do use "estufas", or small gas space heaters, but from what I've experienced (and am experiencing right now) they don't heat up very much space. Needless to say, you pretty much bundle up wherever you go, be it inside or out. [Back to the present day for a moment, I was walking to class in the building "Sausalito" where my mountain sports class is, and it was sunny and warm getting there, but as soon as the sun sets...brrrrrrrr! I was shivering on the way home] Well, enough on the weather, let me tell you something else crazy about Chile...well, maybe not crazy, but it's going to take some getting used to. Not to offend those of you who may smoke, but, should you partake in this most carcenogenic habit, you would be very comfortable in Chile. For the rest of us, it's quite an annoying phenominon. Every club or bar or house or appartment or street corner or alley way or...well that's a bit of an exaggeration, but A LOT of places one would want to go are pretty full of smokers which makes your clothes pretty full of smoke which makes you pretty smelly which makes you want to wash your clothes but your host mom doesn't wash them as often as you fill them with smoke so you wear the same clothes a lot until the smoky ones are clean (breathe). Thankfully my host family doesn't smoke (my 19 year old sister does at parties but don't tell her mom!) and there's no smoking inside the university (whew!) so I'll manage.
Ok, now that I have my two complaints out of the way, it's time to say that this country is amazing! I went up an ascensor the other day which is kind of like a cable car lift thingy and the view over the port was beautiful. Valparaíso is an old city so the architecture is really different and colorful and kind of haphazardly placed in perfect harmony which, when seen from above, is quite the sight. To top it off, there was an accordian player on the patio who really set the ambiance. Down below, there are infinitely stretching beaches and really cool looking "muelles" or piers that jut out into the harbor where you can see all the ships coming in and, at night, the sparkling city lights. There's one called "Muelle Barón" that's perfect for throwing a frisbee (Chileans thought me and my friend were really cool because I don't think they've ever seen ultimate players throwing frisbees before...either that or they were staring at us like we're some weird looking gringos...as I've come to learn, usually it's the latter). Another phenomenal Chilean treat is the wine, which, I might add, you only need to be 18 to drink. I went to a wine tasting expo and was quite impressed by (1) how classy I felt and (2) the wine was quite delectible. I also learned how to describe various types of wine in spanish which will come in handy down the road I think." So there you have it. Some of my first experiences in this vastly long, diverse, strange, country where they like their parties long (I mean loooong) their Pisco sour and their hot dogs ("Completos") covered in mayonnaise...ugh!
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