Santiago

3 Weeks In...

Santiago, if you didn't know, is the capital of Chile, with roughly 5.5 million people. I have now been there 4 times, since it is only a 45 minute drive from my house in Machali - Rancagua. Ther first time was when I arrived to Chile, and I really saw nothing of the city. The second time was with my my host "uncle" and sister, Celso and Carolina. We took a bus there (Chilean public transport is surprisingly good) and were in the city by 1:00. We first visited the "Moneda" which is essencially the "Parliament Hill" of Chile (see right). 
Luckily it was a Sunday so the protesting students weren't out. We then went to a different area of Santiago using their subway. the "Cerro Santa Lucia" is a hill in the middle of Santiago, with stairs carved out of the rock leading you to the best view of Santiago and the 
surrounding Andes out there. I took many pictures, unfortunately only a couple of them will make it to this blog. However, this is the base of the hill, and the view from the top (see left). We continued around Santiago  until we had to go home. Despite the negative media surrounding the city right now, Santiago is an incredible city, and a great one to visit. The third time I was in Santiago was to say goodbye to my host sister, Carolina. She was on her way to Germany for a Rotary 
exchange as well, and although I will miss her a lot, it will force me to use my Spanish 24/7 (I could speak English with her since her English was very good). The fourth time I went to Santiago was with my host father, uncle and brother. We went to the "Grey Market" of Santiago. A place where you can buy anything you need for probably a quarter of the price. Although you can buy pretty much anything you would ever need there, I questioned the authenticity of it all. It's part of the culture I guess. 
I continue to go to school and am slowly staring to understand what people are saying around me. I just found out that I am signed up for soccer school, I'll have to let everyone know how that goes in...


Later Days,
Stuart

One Week In

Here's the first batch of pictures, I don't know this program very well so it seems I need to add pictures one by one. I'll put as many up as I can and the rest will come later, or you can see them on Facebook. Everything is going well here, all of Chile has been so welcoming to me, school is hard, but that's because it's all in Spanish. I'm playing with the soccer team, meeting new people every day, and eating the incredible food of Chile!

     Later Days,
          Stuart

Hola Chile

After an 11 hour flight that featured flying through a thunder storm (I'm pretty sure we got hit by lightning a couple times), a couple hours of sleep and an incredible view of the north of Chile, I landed in Santiago at 10:00. I immediately met my family, they were incredibly welcoming and their house has a beautiful view of the Andes just by looking out the back window. We ate a traditional chilean meal of slow roasted pork with potatoes and a tomato salad, which was also very good. I have been told I will go look at my school tomorrow, and then I will start full school on friday. Although the Spanish is difficult, I am sure that all of the Spanish I am hearing will help in the end.

Later Days,
Stuart