I got to Chile yesterday morning, after a pretty bumpy overnight flight. There were a handful of people on the flight who were also participating in the CIEE program, which was nice. We had a view of the Andes as we landed, but it was partially obstructed by the plane's wing. :( They still looked ENORMOUS and gorgeous, though. I'd love to be able to head east again later this semester. Anyways, cearing customs was fine, minus the fact that I could not understand the policia who was questioning me. The worst part? She was speaking English. Fatigue is my favorite.
At the airport, we were picked up by people who work for CIEE, and we got on a bus ride out of Santiago to the city of Olmue, which is about an hour and a half northwest of Santiago. It's a very small town, surrounded by mountains. We had to wind around a mountain range to get here, which is pretty scary when all of the streets are open cliffs . . .
We arrived at the Hosteria that we've been staying at in time to bring our bags into our rooms and eat lunch. The food at the hotel has been GOOD (and overly plentiful), and I've heard that real Chilean cooking is even more amazing. I'm sure the hosteria knows we're American and is attempting to cater to those needs... the meat option was turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes for lunch, and then beef stroganoff for dinner. I had thin pancakes filled with spinach for lunch, and a vegetable omelet for dinner. Today, though, I had this thing called pastel de choclo. It's kind of like a cornmeal mush dish that's then baked in the oven, so the top part is cooked like bread, but the lower part is chewy and a similar consistency to oatmeal. Regardless, it was delicious and warm. It's definitely going to take a while to get used to a four course meal.. for lunch and dinner....
A picture of Olmue from our window!
Orientation has been pretty boring for the most part... just telling us about the cities we'll be in, and the classes we might be able to take. They're definitely trying to ease us into the transition, which is helpful; we all seem to be having trouble understanding Chilean spanish. It's nice to still be surrounded by people who speak English, which ends tomorrow.
Which leads me to.... MY HOST FAMILY!! I got information about them today, and I could not be any more thrilled!! It's a family with three kids: a 15 year old boy, a 14 year old girl, and a 9 year old boy. AND a dog. I'm so glad to know that there will be kids in my family... and to be my own siblings' ages is such an added bonus. They're coming to the hosteria tomorrow to pick me up and bring me back to Viña del Mar, where I'll be living with them. Crazy.
It's hard to imagine that I've only been in this country for about 36 hours. It's so much different from everything I've ever seen: houses perched precariously atop mountains, stray dogs that outnumber people in the town center. I'm sure Viña and Valpo will be entirely different, and I cannot wait to explore. And I hope it warms up a bit. It's been pretty chilly here. And it's been damp, which just makes it worse. When the sun comes out it's nice, but those moments are few and far between. Tomorrow (and the rest of the week) is supposed to be much nicer - - we'll see!!
This post is already MUCH longer than I had meant for it to be, so I think I'll stop here and update again in a few days!
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