Belleza

Pablo Neruda's writing materials and view

Belleza: "Beh-yay-zah" noun, Beauty.

So I forgot my camera the day we went sightseeing, so forgive my use of other people's pictures, but what we saw was too cool to not share with all of you. Above is Pablo Neruda's 4 story house way up in the hills of Valparaíso (Chilean poet extraordinaire, learn more about him here and read some of his work: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Neruda). While he died in 1973, his legacy remains in the form of his many properties and possessions, all viewable to the public as museums with audio guides (though I didn't pay much attention to mine, as its all in Spanish and the view from the  top floor of this house is too stunning and you have to channel all your senses to your eyes in order to take it all in). As we continued our exploration, we also got to see the official, university recognized historical murals of Valpo, many of which are done in impossible places such as steep alleyway staircases or along the sides of multistory, old buildings. Here is an example of some of the amazing work: 

Why No Educación

So all of the public universities in Chile are on mass strike to improve the cost of education, and for this reason I won't start my official university classes until the strike breaks and will only be starting my international program classes for exchange students. The Chilean students have staged MANY an impressive protest (including many flash mobs, kissing for education, marches, taking over the university buildings and living in tents inside, blockading entrances with desk chairs shoved into fences, etc.) recently for their cause, and this one is one of my favorites:

Where in the World?

So I've been absent the past few days because my program, CIEE, has been taking us all around Valparaíso to the landmarks and touring our university, etc. Before I dig into the amazing art and houses, etc. I think we should address the question everyone seems to have on their mind: Where exactly am I and why is it in the Eastern time zone? (though blogger sets everything to west coast time...very confusing) Or better yet, how do you pronounce that place you live in?
Well- I'm in CHILE- prounced Chee-lay, not Chilly or Chilli, you eat chilli with a spoon people, you travel to the country of Chile. I go to school in Valparaíso, pronounced Bahl- par-ah-ee-so, not vall-par-eye-zo (like that college in the USA pronounces it...eww). Here is a world map to show you where Chile is:

Way down beneath Maine is the long, skinny country colored brown, to the left of Argentina on the South Pacific. That would be Chile. Notice that no, it is not beneath California because Mexico and Central America are not a straight line. Valparaíso is about halfway down the country, an hour and half or so from the capital, Santiago.
Valpo is important as the home of the National Congress of Chile (as of 1990) as well as Latin America's oldest stock exchange, the continent's first volunteer fire department, Chile's first public library, and the oldest Spanish language newspaper in continuous publication in the world.
Valpo also was/is home to notable residents such as Augusto Pinochet, Pablo Neruda (whose home I visited yesterday- details to come!), Salvador Allende, poet Rubén Diario, and Tom Araya, singer of metal band Slayer (...though I think I'll skip learning more about him...). Its siesta time, so I'll check in later today! Besos-

La Vista Mía

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For all you impatient Americans- here's the view from my window on a sunny day! Remember I'm waaaay up on a hill, but if I dare descend it the frigid Pacific is right there! 

The same view through my window a few hours later...

It´s Chilly in Chile

Yes. You may all utilize this highly original pun now because when I come home I´ll probably have one or more fewer fingers as they are all going to turn blue with hypothermia and have to be amputated.

Home

Casa: (n) house, dwelling, home

Hogar Dulce Hogar: (expression) Home Sweet Home

I'm finally home! To say that I'm lucky, spoiled, ridiculously fortunate would all be an understatement. During my pre-departure time back in Cleveland one of my many worries was that I wouldn't feel at home or welcomed by my Chilean family. I was afraid of tiny apartments, freezing temperatures, hostile host mothers, whatever irrational selfish thought I could muster. Silly me. My host mother is AMAZING. Americans overuse this word, just like "awesome" has lost its original meaning as well. My "mamá" greeted me with the customary kiss on the cheek but knowing the American way, gave me a big bear hug right then and there afterwards. She is warm, funny, chatty, and open minded. She thankfully drove me and my humongous duffels back to her house with a little white dog waiting inside! In her family description it said they had a "cooker spanish" (cocker spaniel?) but I later found out he passed away and the tiny cat-dog belongs to her daughter, but Vella is cute nonetheless.
We drove from the beach of Reñaca to her neighborhood, Cerro Castillo ("Castle Hill," literally a Georgetown-esque fortress in the middle of the city) high above the docks of Viña del Mar ("Vineyard of the Sea), passing the summer home of President Sebastián Piñera (who recently took office after Chile's first female president, Michelle Bachelet, a true champion of women's and children's rights)  and the sprawling personal residence of the city's police chief. Once we had driven almost to the top of the small mountain overlooking the ocean, we arrived home. Take a gander ladies and gents, that, yes THAT is my homestay house! I was waiting and waiting for an apartment building that never materialized amongst the beautiful churches and multi-colored Spanish style stucco homes with red roofs and  lawns decorated with fountains or garden art. Their home has three stories, with mine on the higher tier of the split level second floor, and once you are on the top floor the view of the ocean and the city facing you is stunning. It deserves the true sentiment of awesome. 
Setting aside the material aspects, the people I've been surrounded with are even more exciting. It is common for Chileans to have help in the home to cook and clean, and in our house she brings her granddaughter to play with Vella while she cooks (amazingly, with fresh kiwi for dessert and cheese empanadas for dinner...which if I continue to eat all the time I will definitely gain ten pounds). I got to meet my brother Daniel who is a extremely down-to-earth surfer type, very open-minded and easy going. I'm excited to get all of his suggestions of places to go and things to explore as a fellow student here. Sonia (mi mama) later took me on a drive down to the port to see where all the fisherman hang out and we tried to go see vendors on the docks but it was closed. She showed me the important centers of the city, like where the students are on strike for raised tuition costs, the fresh public market, collegiate (although in Chile you go to university, not college which is more like elementary school) hangouts and shopping centers (which she is so excited to take me shopping (oh yes, we were meant for each other) for more warm clothes tomorrow (after we both wake up late, per her instructions, "because its the weekend and who wants to get up early anyway?" Oh yes. The Gods truly intervened on my behalf to match me with such a kindred spirit), because she's worried about my "poor circulation," (thanks for those genes, pops) and I need a better coat anyway (reporting to you live from under my hot water bottle heated double comforters with a ski hat and 4 layers on).
We also visited with her son-in-laws mother who is 80 years old but was going dancing and needed outfit advice! I might as well start my plans to retire in Chile. I've found Spanish is coming to me better and better conversationally, I've been able to actually have opinionated discussions about music and current events already, which gives me hope for my Spanish becoming better and better, and Sonia has told me I speak very well and only have to work on conjugating harder verbs and learning the colloquialisms, so that gives me a little more confidence. I'm looking forward to these next 5 months, even though eventually the vacation period will end and I'll be getting lost and late on the way to classes, dodging all the stray dogs and freezing to death or sitting here working on homework entirely in Spanish, but at least I can see the ocean while I'm doing it. 

PS I'll post said view when its sunny and I have a picture worthy of the hype 

Día 2

Amazingly full (adj. busy, adj. no longer hungry after immense quantities of food) day of Orientation today here in Reñaca preparing for my semester at PUCV (Pontifica Universidad Católica de Valparaíso).  We started the day at 8am with a normal bacon, eggs, fruit, coffee hotel breakfast, but the hotels in Chile actually serve you and clear your dishes for you rather than the "continental breakfast" of the US. We had a long information session about how to use the transportation systems, exchange rates (still unbelievably confusing, but the bills have fun little windows of clear paper you can look through), expectations and rules. We don't get to sign up for classes until next week, which I am incredibly anxious to get rolling considering how strict Tulane seems to be about transferring credit and all of the factors you have to consider (i.e. transportation time from class to class here in Chile because there is no unified, traditional campus but rather scattered buildings around the city and surrounding areas organized by subject) Students in Chile, however, choose a direction from day one and only take classes in that major for the rest of their university years without fun electives that I've thankfully been able to take (i.e. my days of classical guitar, Salsa, Black Women Pop Culture,and Sexuality). But I digress; later on in the morning we went to the beach on the Pacific for three hours to play icebreakers, including the collegiate version of the trust fall which basically entailed a 5 foot rope that we assumed was for tug of war that was actually a team sport of hoisting your entire team to the other side without touching the rope. This was insanely hard when it came down to the last few people, I was third from last which wasn't too bad but my team lost with each side down to ONE last person. We also played Chilean dodgeball which uses only one ball and you have to hit below the waist, and the people who are hit and "out" can be passed the ball to throw from the endzones. I was the last one standing on my team! (sadly I failed us and we lost again...and then the ball was run over and popped by a bus! It sounded like gunfire and all of the Chileans watching us cheered). We had another session after our multi-course lunch (each meal at the hotel has included salad, soup, main course of some kind of scrambled egg tortilla or lasagna, and pudding-type dessert) that was all about safety. Moral of the story: Chileans thoroughly enjoy opportunistic robbery and we should cling to our stuff like it's our children. We all went out to eat at an amazing local chain, Entre Masas (which means "between the masses") that served all 33 of us at once with fried empañadas (em-pahn-yadas), which are like fried dough stuffed with any variety of things, I had one with oregano, tomato, onion, and cheese and the other with shrimp and cheese. DELICIOSO. The CIEE staff took us out to a karaoke bar afterwards where everyone sipped local Pisco mixed drinks and sang American music with a ten year time lapse. I had the overwhelming feeling as I sat there that said "you know what...you're going to be allllright."

Bienvenidos!

I'm finally here in Chile! After 11 hours of Air Canada's "mood lighting" (yes, the lights literally changed colors every ten minutes to another dim (yet bright enough to be irritating) color and awkward sleeping positions, my feet are on Chilean soil. I don't know if anyone else has taken Air Canada before, but the international terminal of the Toronto airport was the most interesting place, with so many nationalities milling about, so many overheard foreign accents and conversations that serve to remind an American that she is about to embark on quite an adventure.
When I first boarded my (very late) plane,  I was filled with wishful joy when all I could see was the oddly Star-Trek-esque horizontal pod shaped first class individual little terminals...only to quickly have the curtain opened to the normal people area. Fortunately I sat next to an older woman from Argentina who talked with me a bit and even spilled red wine on me (don't worry, my pants were black!).
Now that I'm here I can look forward to what lies ahead.I'm going to be living in Viña del Mar with the family of Sonia Labra, an elementary teacher with 2 daughters, Paula, 33 and Marcela,36, and son Daniel, 24, who is studying psychology (don't get any marriage ideas yet, overeager friends). I don't get to meet them until they pick me up from my Orientation hotel on Saturday but I'm so excited to meet them and move into my new home and get unpacked and "nest".  So far I've seen the sunset over the Pacific from a gorgeous mile-long beach as well as the twinkling lights of the city in the little mountains accross the bay in Valparaíso. Truly blessed to be in the best of both worlds. (minus the pesky little fact that its winter...) I'll check in with pictures as soon as I can! Con amor,
Lauren