End of March

Yes...I have not updated in a while (sorry). I just feel like nothing much has happened. I know I am here, 4000 miles away in South America, but really I am just living the regular life. For instance, the first week of school our Wednesday classes were canceled for the anual "PASEO." 85 tour buses came to pick up about 3.000 students at 9am to bring them to Isla de Maipo. This was a HUGE park surrounded by trees, fields, pools, and such about an hour away from Santiago. A DJ was set up in the middle, along with a consession stand that obviously sold pisco and beer. In short, just imagine 3.000  dancing, swimming, and drinking college students- this is what school was cancled for. The buses picked us up again at 9pm and brought us back to school. It was a blast and extremely exhausting! 

Along with this, I went to Radiohead. It was awesome...they played their old music, which I enjoyed, because the chilenos LOVE the 80's and 90's. Hearing them sing in broken spanish was very enjoyable as well. 

Que mas? I made the volleyball team at my school, which sounds like a great accomplishment, but really they suck. It is every Monday and Wednesday. I have really been enjoying playing for a team again, it has been a long time since I have competed in anything. 

School has officially started and I am now drowning in reading. My modern philosophy class is pretty hard-I had my first test today, but I think I did okay. It is hard enough to understand Descartes, Hume, and Kant in English, let alone Spanish. My history class is FULL of reading, and those of you who know me, know how much I LOVE to read-WOOOO!!! We have about 400 pages of reading and a 5 page paper due by the 20th of the April. Poetry is informative and interactive. Also, I will be starting my community social work this week. I will be helping teach English at a school in a less fortunate area of town. 

Oh! I forgot to mention...I am going to Buenos Aires on Tuesday for about a week! I can't wait to see it, we are also going to Montevideo...I say we because I am going with 5 other girls from my program. I am also trying to go to Patagonia and hike/trek the "W". I will be missing some school, but I REALLY want to go. 

My apartment life is incredible still. My roommates and I are still getting along. We cook dinner and drink really good chileano wine almost every night. There was a Chile vs. Peru soccer game here last night, which is like war. They are not just playing a game-its politics. CHILE WON!!! Anyway, every time Chile scored the streets went completely nuts. I looked outside my window and EVERYONE in every apartment building stuck their heads out of their windows and shouted, along with bars going crazy, and people in cars honking their horns. It was incredible. The street roared with victory and pride!

See regular life. 

Saw this guy on the street, thought he was neat

Apartment Pictures

Here is my apartment: I live on the 9th floor of an apartment building and I am located in Santiago Central. I am about 15 minutes (walking and metro) from school, and perfectly located by a few parks, bars, grocery stores, and such. I had Philosophy and history today...they will both be hard, but the teachers seem very nice. Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day, so our group is going to one of the only "gringo" bars in Santiago to have some green beer and celebrate. Again, I am doing well and would love to hear from everyone. 

School

School started on Thursday. At first it was very overwhelming. I am taking  poetry of Latin America, History of Chile, Modern Philosophy, and Poverty and Development (a theology and social work class). I am hoping that I will be able to tackle them all, but if not I will probably drop Philosophy. There might be too much reading. I am a little nervous, but I am also hopeful that I can succeed. The people in my program are really nice, and the faculty at my school is very helpful, just a little unorganized. I also hope to participate in Volleyball and Pilates. Apparently every Sunday in a nice little park there is free yoga, so I am going to start this as well. Last night our program had a BBQ. The food was incredible and it was nice to hang out with the group outside a school environment. My roommates went camping this weekend, but I couldn't go...too much homework already..eeee. 

The heat in Santiago is killing me. It is about 90-95 degrees everyday, makes me sorta lazy. The heat is especially bad in the Metro (underground subway system that is extremely efficient). 

One more thing, for those of you who know Radiohead, I bought a ticket to their concert! Can't wait! 

 

Valpariso

Valpariso was great. I went with Vlad, Tim, and our new friend Arjun. Vlad has some friends with an apartment in Vina del Mar (ten min. from Valpo) that we were visiting. Tim, Arjun and I stayed at this pretty cool hostel. Unfortunately, I woke up with a stiff neck!!!! It was awful. However, I didn't panic. I put heat on it right away and stretched. It got better throughout the trip. Anyway, the first day we went to the beach. It was very hot and the water was really cold. I couldn't go in the water because it was WAY too rough,  but I waded a little. Then we went to Vlad's friends house and cooked a spectacular dinner and had some good Chilean wine. The next day we went to Pablo Neruda's house...it was really nice. 

FINALLY!

I found an apartment!!! I met these two girls from Mexico and Spain who were also looking for a place to stay (I met them at my hostel). However, these two chicas had a problem...they found the PERFECT place, but it was three bedrooms, not two. So, I talked with them for awhile, had breakfast with them, then they showed me the apartment. Suddenly, I have a beautiful place to live with two really nice people! On top of it, the apartment is B-E-A-Utiful. It is huge and brand new. The views of the city are incredible and I couldnt have asked for more. We move in on Sunday and stay there until school ends and we start our travels. I will try to post pictures as soon as I am settled in.

Bed Bugs

Based on popular demand, I am going to tell you the horrifying story of my experience with BED BUGS. The first night I was here, I was eaten alive. I guess I am allergic to the fleas here because when one bites...my whole body goes crazy with more bites. I went to the Pharmacy and got a pill to take for the allergy and some cream. I don't think they helped too much. I was in misery for the first three or four days; I could not sleep. To top it off I really did look like a monster (as you can see from the pictures). However, today Tim said, "Julia you finally look normal." Anyway, things are okay now, not in too much agony anymore, but if it happens again...I will flea the country (no pun intended). Sorry if the pictures are a little graphic....plus this was just the first night....they got much worse....it was like this ALL OVER MY BODY.

The only PLUS that came from this, is that my hostel is now FREE!

End of the First Week

So, here I am, in Santiago. I am currently living in a hostel. It is an old HUGE house. It is pretty nice, but I have been here a week and I am more than ready to leave. I am actively looking for a place to live. I have been in contact with a few potential places, but finding a time we can meet is a little difficult. I registered for my classes, but I am still not sure what classes I will be taking. The whole process here is VERY different then the US. Apparently you can go to classes for a week, see which ones you like, and then enroll...strange, i know, but makes some sense. I have orientation on Monday with the WHOLE school. It starts at 8:30am, it will be hard for me to wake up.
I have been having a blast at night. Most of the bars I go to are outside, reminds me a lot of Europe. The night life starts around 11 and goes until morning, I have only done this once. The people here are incredibly nice, but the Spanish is very hard to understand. Yet, I seem to be doing very well with my Spanish-it can only get better!
Today was a little hard for me, I am feeling a little lonely and far from home. I just have to shake it off and put my two feet down.
I am planning on going to Valpariso this weekend with Tim and Vlad. It should be a lot of fun. It is a beach town/city with an array of colorful houses. Hopefully this will cheer me up!
Besides all this, I am healthy and feeling comfortable and safe. It is not as cheap as I thought, but the dollar keeps going up!
Miss you all and hope things in the US are good!
Love
Julia