Two Weeks in Chile

Hello to everyone! I have already been in Chile for almost 2 weeks, and so much has happened! It’s going to be difficult to decide what is the most important and interesting to write about, but I’ll do my best . . . :-)

(My Chilean family's house.)

I am living with a Chilean family and they are wonderful! I am part of the family – I eat with them, watch TV with them, and this past weekend I even accompanied them to their other house on the beach in Las Cruces. Mariluz and Simeón treat me like their own daughter, even though they actually have 3 of their own. Two of them are living with their husbands in New York, but the third, Lula, is living here at the house. She is 22 years old and is studying music at the University of Chile. Her birthday is August 4^th, just three days after mine, so we’re celebrating together.

(Lula and me.)

I spent the first week getting used to the city and the language. The subway system is really easy to use, and it’s very clean. There is a subway station just two blocks from my house. The city population is 6.4 million people, so there are buildings and stores on every inch of every street. Also, there is a ton of smog, especially now during the winter. There have only been 3 days in the past 2 weeks when I could actually see the sky. I don’t like that aspect – it’s very different from the clean air of Park City. It’s sometimes difficult to breath here – that can’t be good. Fortunately, mi school is in the foothills of the Andes, above the snow (most of the time, anyway). And the mountains are so beautiful and huge! I love them. I can’t wait until I go skiing and hiking!

(University Adolfo Ibanez)

I have visited my school, Adolfo Ibáñez University, twice now. The first time I walked all the way from my house to the school – almost a 2-hour walk! I tried to take pictures of the campus, but a security guard told me that photography was prohibited. What a shame! However, when I returned for Orientation this last Tuesday, I took lots of photos! The school is so pretty. It’s not near any other buildings, but is isolated on its own new, big, and green campus. The architecture is very interesting. It’s a little bit like Olin! My classes don’t start until August 11^th, though, so I still have more time to explorer and see more of the sites.

(The inside architecture of UAI.)

With respect to the language, it is very difficult. I have taken Spanish classes for six years (if you don’t include my middle school years) in high school and college, so I should be able to listen and understand, but not here. Chileans speak very quickly, and their accent is really hard to understand. Many times when they’re speaking they don’t pronounce the s’s at the end of words, and they also don’t pronounce the d’s in words like estado – it sounds like estao. The good thing is that I am now thinking in Spanish all the time: when I wake up, when I’m walking down the street, when I’m writing (many times I start to write in Spanish when I should be writing in english!), always! I hope that my Spanish is better when I start my classes in less than two weeks, because it’s going to be difficult to understand my professors. Next week I’m going to UAI’s other campus in Viña del Mar, a beautiful city on the beach, to take an intensive Spanish class. I’m excited to go there because I spent time at another beach this past weekend, and I loved it. My Chilean family has another house in Las Cruces close to the beach, and it is so beautiful!

(Las Conchitas Beach in Las Cruces.)

Now I need to sleep. I think that I have been really tired because it takes a lot of energy to think in Spanish all the time! I have enjoyed every second of being here. It’s a great experience to live with a Chilean family and be part of their culture. I know that I have much more to experience and I am very excited about that. I hope that God has big plans for me! And less writing next time, too . . . :-)

Chao!

(You can see all my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/loloolin337.)