Snow in August? School on Monday?
Being in the southern hemisphere offers me the awesome opportunity of hitting the slopes dirung the month of August. Did I take advantage of that tody? No. But my brother and father did and they told me it was less than optimal. Bummer for them...while they were suffering with bad equipment and worse snow, I was in Santiago enjoying the surprisingly warm weather and shopping with Mom. Not bad for a winter day in Chile, huh?
So now I am in the Internet place and I am supposed to be checking online to see if any of the resorts blow snow (Valle Nevado where they went today does not) in order to see if it is worth the trip tomorrow. I am just wasting time though, like always, to not have to do what it is that I should in order to do what it is that I don´t necessarily have to....
Anyways, I am very happy that I will be here for another five months and am definitely looking forward to this next semester. I hope to be very comfortable with my Spanish by the end of the December and am leaning towards fluency. I still haven´t picked my classes out yet (which officially start on Monday) but that is partly because there aren´t actually any spots open for exchange students in any that I am interested in (Ethics in Business, Painting, Water Colors, Accounting, Finance, Ethics in International Politics, to name a few). Because of this, I will have to petition the different departments in order to request a spot...what a pain. It would just be a lot easier for things to be handed to me on a silver platter....
Bubbles
I don{t have much time to write (I have lacked a lot of that in the recent past) but I am back in Santiago, only this time I have the pleasure of being accompanied by my family. We have seen a bit of the coast, today we will be in Santiago, and tomorrow we´ll go to the mountains to go snowboarding.
It is kind of wierd because I feel like we are in our own English-speaking bubble in Chile. People are very nice though and I would say that we don´t stick out too badly nor draw too much attention to make us targets for pick-pocketers (is that the right word?). Anyways, I will try to post a bit more of our adventures when I have the time. Meanwhile, you can check out my brother´s blog (link on the right) because I know that he updated it the other day after we spent the day in Valparaíso.
boughtChanges
I have been putting off writing in this blog because I wanted to wait until I had formed a hard opinion about my experience back home. I wanted some time to think.
I have been home for a week now but I don't know where the time has gone. I am very happy to have been able to be here for this short time in order to help my family prepare for and celebrate my sister's wedding (it's tonight!). But in one week, I have had no time to get anything done! I had plans to take care of some bills and school loans, go to the beach, get a hold of and visit a few friends, etc.
However, I have learned to make boutineires (I know that is spelled wrong) and bouquets of flowers while manaing to spend some quality time with my family, including nieces and nephews. They are growing so quickly! Tonight, I will be able to enjoy the company of my extended family (which numbers around 60-70) and friends.
My parents, brother and I leave Sunday to go back to Santiago and I am pretty excited. I am looking foward to sharing with them the city that I have been gotten to know in the last six months as well as a bit of the country that I still haven't travelled too much.
As for being back in the US, it has been enlightening. Before coming, I had thought a lot about the things that I knew I wouldn't like- seeing mass media and its influence on daily life (which does exist in Santiago but not to such a large extent) and resulting consumerism, having to drive, eating a lot of fast food, etc. But I hadn't really thought of the things that I might like more...
For instance, in my last entry, I had written that Americans make a lot of small talk. I hadn't ever really noticed it before because the only other foreign country that I had visited was Japan and I couldn't make small talk with people over there even if I had wanted to since there existed such a language barrier. But in Santiago, there doesn't exist idle conversation with the person standing in front of you in line at the grocery store, and that has nothing to do with the language- it's the culture. Chileans will go out of there way to help you out once you are friends, but talk to a stranger about nothing only to pass the time? Never. Why bother?
Well, I bother here for several reasons: #1 is because it is my culture and that is what I was always used to; #2 because I like to; #3 because it is funner than standing alone; #4 it passes the time more quickly; #5 because people tend to smile and joke a little while talking to strangers; and #5 because.....just because.
It's funny because people abroad have the idea that Americans are cold because they don't do the little kiss-on-the-cheek greeting when they see each other. But that is overated and superficial I think anyways. Here, when people see good friends, they give each other a good hug and express their enthusiasm with their words, whereas in Chile they give the same little kiss and a "hi, how's your family?" deal to everyone. And so what if the bank teller doesn't REALLY want to know how your day is going when they ask you- sometimes it's just nice to be asked.
There are a lot of other opinions of mine that have changed a bit since being back, but I don't really have the time to share them right now. I need to go buy some last minute things for the celebration tonight....
SURPRISE!!
I love surprises. Yesterday was a great day because it was full of them- I came home to so Cal in order to surprise my sister for her bachelorette party! It was great fun...oh, and the party was too.
I got into California at noon yesterday and my mom and came to pick me up (she knew I was coming) with my niece who had no idea. When Brittany saw me at the airport she started crying! Later, when my brother-in-law saw me, he did a double-take and slammed on the brakes (he was driving). My sisters Angelita and Dorie (the bride) didn't have very entertaining reactions- they were just kind of like "Hey- what are you doing here?". But my sister Jessica, on the other hand, screamed when she saw me and the whole restaurant stared at us! It was great.
So the bachelorette party started at PF Changs in LA and ended at some bar on Sunset Strip. We played a dirty dare game all night and basically just acted really rowdy- my sisters and I are profesionals at that!
Some things that I have taken special notice of/realized/learned since being home-
1. Americans make a lot of small talk.
2. Alcohol is sooooo expensive. (It's a good thing I brought back a few bottles with me.)
3. I love freeways (but I still haven't had to drive yet- thank goodness!)
4. I miss carbonated water.
5. I really don't miss fast food all that much.
6. I am losing my English.
7. My mom is my #1 blog fan. (Thanks Mom.)
I think there will be a lot of other things that I notice during the next week that I am here. So little time!
Chileans aren`t racist...because there are no black people
When I first arrived, my host father admitted that Chileans are classists (pejudiced in terms of economic status) and sexist, but was very sure theat they were not racist. However, after having lived here for over five months, I now know that he wasn`t entirely correct.
Having grown up in southern California, I have always seen and known people from various racial backgrounds. When I moved to Reno, it was a bit of a shock because my university doesn`t really have that much diversity. The black (African American?) population is mainly comprised of athletes and the Hispanic population is pretty small. But in Reno in general, there is much more variation, so it isn`t too weird.
At first glance, Santiago seems to have a variety as well- I can pass as a Chilean until I open my mouth. Since the European roots are strong, it wasn`t too surprising to me to see so many blondes and fair-skinned Spanish speakers. And of course there is the stereotypical ¨Latin¨ looking people. But it didn`t take too long to realize that there exists a lack of darker skinned people, in general, especially in the well-off neighborhood where my host family lived.
That being said, it was very easy for my host father to say that Chileans aren`t racist...but if you are lactose intolerant, you have to have dairy in order to have a reaction, right?
What I mean to say is that Chileans don`t have problems with black people because there hardly are any. But after speaking to two young black women from the States, I now know that once the chocolate milk is brought into the diet, the shit starts running...
The poor girls have had nothing but problems...from people walking up to them and wanting to touch their hair and skin on the street, to being yelled and and told that they will never accomplish anything because of the color of their skin (and that was actually said by a member of their host family). Chileans will walk on the other side of the street to avoid them or wince when they notice their prescence in a store. They can`t seem to fathom why the girls don`t know more about their African roots if they have "African" names, and have made comments that darker skinned people should be treated differently because they have a "different" intelligence (was that the
nice way of putting it?)
In the big picture, it is hard to be accepting of something unknown and foreign and it is very easy to make assumptions and form opinions when you don`t have much of anything to create a base off of...like the Chileans here.
But when it comes to the treatment of another human being, no matter what color their skin is or what sexual preference they have, they still deserve respect. If you don`t like that someone is gay- fine. If you don`t like that someone is black- fine. But that doesn`t make them any less of a
person.
Unfortunately, until there are more exchange students or travelers who are willing to come to Chile and suffer what they may in order to prove that point, I don`t think that the Chilean culture is going change. Because without the presence it is almost impossible to make a difference.
W-O-W is how you spell gay club
I don´t know what other word to use to express or describe last night other than...WOW. The reason why is because I went with a Chilean friend of mine to a gay club in Bellavista, one of the ¨party neighborhoods¨ and I think it was probably the most interesting night I have had since arriving in Chile. Since I had never been to a gay club before so I had no idea what to expect- boy, was I in for a treat.
At the door, we were greeted at the door by a drag queen with a huge feather hed-dress, crazy sparkle make-up, large black platform boots, and a small g-string (how he (she?) fit into it is beyond me...). And the fun was just beginning....
The place was small and dark, but the strategic placement of mirrors made it seem huge and absolutely filled with...men, of course. (Well, mainly young men in their early twenties, but as the night went on, the average age jumped up significantly I would say.) And most of them were good looking and dressed to the T (most gay men have great fashion sense). If I hadn´t known that I was walking into a gay club, it would have been heaven for me- a ton of good looking men, who know how to dress and dance, with a stage show with male dancers (with THE HOTTEST bodies) wearing next to nothing...but then I realized that I was actually in my
friend´s heaven, and not mine.....sigh.
We only stayed for a few hours because I was tired, but while I was there I definitely had a good time. Myself and the other five women in the club were upfront and center with the best view of the dancers (who cares if they weren´t dancing to impress us? they were still beautiful to look at). It´s a good thing that I don´t have problems with homosexuality or seeing two guys kissing, because I would´ve had to run out as soon as I walked in.
I had a great time dancing because I had no inhibitions and I wasn´t worried about impressing anyone, since I didn´t have a chance with any of them anyways. All in all, I am convinced that this club plays the best music out of all of the clubs that I have ever been to in Santiago, so I will probably go back with my friend some other time. It was a good change of place- I think that is the only place in Santiago in which the men don´t stare at the women, mentally undress them, and then thank them for the opportunity to do so...
Learning While Teaching
So after the first few weeks of mix ups at the library, our schedules finally coincided and I began teaching my computer classes a few weeks ago- I am now looking forward to lesson number 5 (although I should be on 6 but each lesson seems to go a little more slowly than the one before).
Considering that I began using an Apple II when it first came out (I think I was like 8 years old) and I really don`t remember ever writing an essay outside of class without a computer, being in Latin America has woken me up to the real world. Yes, people still write essays by hand and no, not everyone knows what the
shift button on the keyboard does.
So I have had to start from the ground up in order to teach my students (all three are housewives who want to learn for reasons varying from the desire to get back into the workforce to helping their children with homework). From what the buttons on the tower and monitor are for to hardware components, from operating systems (of course Windows since it was the Microsoft Foundation that installed computers in over fifty libraries in Chile) to Word- the process is slow and detailed.
But honestly, it has proved to be just as much of a challenge for my students as it has for me since I am teaching these lessons in Spanish with specific vocabulary. (I always have to remind myself to change the pronunciation to Spanish so that they can understand me- instead of Microsoft Word it is Mee-kro-sof Wurd...kind of, and instead of cursor it is koor-sore.)
But there is a lot more in addition to learning new vocabulary and a lot of patience- I find myself learning about their lives as women and housewives living in Chile. We gossip a little (come on...we are all women- it can`t be all business and no fun!) and they share what it is like to be responsible for sometimes up to four generations of family members living in the same househole. I don`t know how they do it, because I am still learning to take care of myself!
Despite the fact that I have to travel an hour each way from my house to the library in the southern-most part of Santiago, I look forward to the time I spend with these ladies during our two-hour lesson. We have about ten more to go and I am not sure I am going to be ready to say goodbye when the lessons are over...
What? No Fireworks?
Today is the 4th of July. To you, that probably means a BBQ, time with the family, maybe going to the beach, and most likely seeing fireworks. In Santiago, it was just another Sunday, which means that everything but the malls and movie theaters are closed, and the lack of space means that our "BBQ" was indoors and on the stove of my friend Natalia´s apartment.
Hey- we tried, ok? We had hamburgers and hot dogs, Pepsi, and Lays Potato chips and a Pilsbury cake for dessert. Not bad for being at the end of the map... It is a lot easier than you think to find these products outside of the US- they are just a little more expensive than national brands.
But really, our "4th of July BBQ" was just a good reason to get all of us (six) Rotary Scholars together to try and motivate each other to get more involved with respective clubs and activities. They all liked my new project (I started it about a week ago and my living room is FULL of stuff) of collecting all of the things that exchange students in Santiago are leaving behind as they go back home, sorting, bagging, and bringing it to centers in Santiago that will distribute it to people who are in need. I think next semester I will be able to get a lot more support and stuff, so that is exciting.
After the meeting was adjourned, we went to see Shrek 2. Yes, it is in theaters still here. But I really didn´t need to go to the theater to see it since practically everyone and their mom here already has it on DVD or on their computer. Piracy runs rampant... But I went anyways because I didn´t have anything better to do.
What a bummer- I just realized that I had three little fireworks that were given to me and I forgot about them today. Looks like I might have to save them until New Year´s Eve to set them off, because right now, I have about ten minutes until it is July 5th, and that just wouldn´t be right...
Running in Circles
I returned to the medical center on campus today in order to make an appointment for the lung x-ray that the (cute) doctor ordered and it definitely was not as easy as it sounds. Well, doing anything productive down here is never really easy, let me tell you... Things are always much more complicated then they need to be.
I first went to the student medical center and the girl told me I had to go to upstairs to make the appointment. So I went upstairs but the nurse told me I needed to make the appointment in the University Hall since I am a student. So I went to the University Hall, and they told me no, that I needed to go to the Student Center. So I went BACK and the girl told me that upstairs in Radiology, not the general desk, was where I needed to go to get the codes for the order before actually making the appointment. So I went to Radiology and they gave me the codes but told me I had to go to the University Hall in order to make an appointment with the doctor.
So I went to the Hall and the chick told me I needed to go to the student medical center to make the appointment. So I went back to the place that I first went to and the girl told me, again, that they appointment needed to be made in Radiology.
I went to Radiology (again) and the girl told me that since I had the code already, I didn´t even need an appointment. Ummm, ok, don´t you think she could have told me that the first time around? But things like this always seem to be a big production here- everything is very bureaucratic (bureaucracy is another entire entry- I will get to that another day). Half of the time, I think that people do things like that just to mess with people, but then I realize that not all people follow the same logic... Anyways, apparently I can go in anytime between 8-1 and 2-6 from Monday through Friday.
Just to make sure, I went back to the student center to find out about when the doctor would be able to see me. She said that after taking the x-ray, I have to get another appointment with the doctor, but a different one because they one who saw me last week won´t be seeing anyone next week. Great, so not only did I waste an hour walking back and forth across campus for nothing, but I don´t even get to see the cute doctor again...
