Today was an excellent day. I spent an hour in this great thrift store downtown, and I tried two delicious new Chilean foods:
ají
helado de lúcuma
Lúcuma is soooooo good. I've heard people raving about it before but I never understood until today. Where can I get this in the US?!!?
Hola a todos! I've officially been in Valdivia for a week. WHAT. It seems like it has been forever but at the same time, I can't believe that this is my life! Sometimes I forget where I am and then I am zapped back into reality when someone speaks Spanish at me. My first week has been pretty relaxed; I'm trying to get to know the city and get used to all my classes and my life for the next few months. But there have been some exciting things: kareoke bars, CLASSES (I am a nerd), micros, new people, police stations, etc.
First off, can I just say that Valdivia is the rainiest place I have ever been. It's winter here now and basically it rains all day every day. And it's not just drizzling. There is an almost constantly terrifying rain storm happening in Valdivia. Apparently people call it Val-lluvia (lluvia is Spanish for rain) which I think is pretty appropriate. I really thought I was accustomed to the rain after living in Bellingham for two years, but I was wrong. Val-lluvia wins.
The reason I went to the police station this week was to get my Chilean ID! Since I have a student visa, I get to be a legit student resident for four months. On Tuesday, I had to go to the PDI station (there are two types of police in Valdivia- the civil police and the investigators. The PDI is the investigator's office) and sign some forms and get my picture taken and show them my passport, and then today I went to the civil registration office and got my picture taken and got fingerprinted. Actually, this isn't very exciting, but it is pretty important.
I've gone shopping nearly every day this week. I keep thinking of new things I have to buy! Umbrella, scarves, sweaters, folders, pencils... So I've been exploring el centro and trying to find places to buy things! Today I also bought an Isabelle Allende book (in Spanish)! I've never read any of her books before, but now that I'm in her homeland it's very necessary.
One funny thing about Chilean culture (and probably South American culture in general) is that whenever people see each other or meet each other, they kiss each other on the cheek. When I meet other people's host parents, we kiss on the cheek. When I meet my host sister's friends, we kiss on the cheek. When I get home from school, my family and I kiss on the cheek. And when I leave the house, we kiss on the cheek. ALL THE TIME! It definitely took me by surprise my first night because Edu & I ran into a few of her friends downtown (including her boyfriend's siblings) and I got kissed on the cheek like 20 times. It takes a little getting used to but I am totally down for being affectionate.
I also have a new favorite word in Spanish- alcachofa, meaning artichoke! It sounds as funny as it looks.
Tonight the plans are: foreign film on campus, Beatles cover band, and la discoteca!
Hola! Right now I'm on my lunch break, which is usually at least two hours long for everyone in Valdivia. Lunch is the most important meal of the day here, and usually the biggest. I think I'll write a bit about the food, since I think about it a lot anyway.
For some reason, the meals here are HUGE to me. Probably because I'm used to eating on a college budget. My host mom is a great cook and all my meals are super healthy and well-rounded, which I'm very grateful for.
Okay, so breakfast (desayuno) in my casa is generally a bowl of fruit, toast, and oatmeal, along with tea and water (and coffee for my host mom). For lunch (almuerzo) we have some sort of meat-and-carbs combo-- mashed potatoes and chicken, rice and pork (YUM), lentil soup, etc. And a salad. So far, the salad has been carrots and and lettuce with fresh lemon juice as a dressing! Muy rico! And then yogurt with fruit for dessert.
To have dinner in Chile is tomar once. Which literally translates to "to have/drink eleven." But anyway, dinner is the lightest meal of the day and is generally just toast, maybe some cheese and crackers too. I am hardly ever hungry here because every meal is so satisfying. The other exchange students and I definitely aren't used to eating such rich meals, and our host families seem to be perpetually offering us more food. But that's fine with me!
Tonight Edu and I are going to the grocery store together so I'll get to see more food. Yesterday Anna & I went and we saw some crazy things, like this:
Yes, these are pickles and pickled vegetables in a bag. Muy raro!
Hopefully sometime in the next couple of days I'll also go to the market and see more! Food food food.
Here's a picture of Valdivia before I go:
This is Rio Valdivia, which I cross to get to my university. There are tons of sea lions, which are adorable but apparently very dangerous. Behind the buildings behind the sea lions is al centro, the downtown area.
I have more pictures and stories, but I have to leave now for my oral Spanish placement test! Chao!
I'll write more later, but I wanted to post and say that this happened today:
Thirty-three miners who have been trapped underground in a Chilean mine for the past 17 days are all alive!It is legitimately a miracle. My host family told me that the families and people all around Chile have been praying for days, even though all the "experts" said that there was no way the miners would still be alive. We listened to the news on the radio about it and everyone sounded so happy and grateful. It is totally heartwarming. Still, it's going to be months before they can get out again. They might not even be out before I go back to the US. I can't imagine.
Hola a todos! I made it to Valdivia with all of my possessions intact this morning after traveling for 36-ish hours. Needless to say, I'm stoked to be here! It's only been a day and I feel like I've learned so much. My host family is WONDERFUL and have been giving me delicious food all day and being very patient with my wack Spanish. Although actually, I've noticed that my Spanish is getting better already, which makes me hopeful. Sometimes when I hear people speak here it just sound like "ablahblahblahblahblahblah," but it's getting easier to understand my family at least, and easier for me to talk, although I'm pretty sure I make a grammatical error every time I open my mouth. Pero esta bien!
Today has been pretty chill. It rained all morning, which was fine because all I wanted to do was eat and sleep, and I did. After eating a HUGE lunch, I bummed around for awhile more until my host sister Edu showed me around Valdivia a little. We took a micro (tiny busses that run all around town. They're strange to me because there aren't designated bus stops- you just stand on the street that they go down and the bus stops for you) to her university and then we walked around el centro for awhile. She showed me the mall and forewarned me that it wasn't very big, but turns out it's THREE STORIES. She was shocked when I told her that the mall in Longmont is only one story.
One thing that I think is hilarious is that they basically listen to the same music that we do in the US. During dinner Edu & I listened to Top 40 radio and it was mostly US music, with a little reggaeton thrown in. It's so funny to be in a new country, speaking a new language but still listening to Ke$ha and Lady Gaga on the radio. Edu also told me that Justin Bieber is pretty popular, especially with younger girls, and Twilight is big here too. Oh, and Edu showed me the movie theater and all the movies are US movies. So there's definitely some familiarity here. OH! And at her university they have a TV in the dining hall (called a casino, weird) and some students were watching MTV with Spanish subtitles, which is apparently pretty popular.
The language barrier is pretty weird, as expected. I know enough to get around and describe simple things, but I tried explaining UUism to Edu today and it was super hard, especially because it basically doesn't exist in South America. But! I think my personality is coming through regardless of my limited vocabulary, and I've learned some Chilean slang, so mostly I'm really excited to practice my Spanish a LOT over the next 4 months.
There's so much more that I learned and saw today, but I need to go to bed so I can wake up early for orientation at my university! And as soon as I take some pictures, I'll post them.
Hola blog readers! I am leaving TOMORROW, which means next time I update this I will be IN CHILE!
that is, if I ever finish packing.
ají
helado de lúcuma
