I’ve now been in Valparaíso, Chile for 6 days. I arrived in Santiago at about 9:30 in the morning and went through customs super quickly with the help of a 25 year-old Chilean woman who sat next to me on the plane. She was studying in the US for the last month and was now returning to continue teaching 5th grade. Well she helped me find the taxi driver in the small but crazy airport and then he, Amber (the other girl from Agnes studying here this semester) and I were on our 2 hour car ride to our host families homes. We dropped Amber off first in the condo where she’s living and then we went to my host family’s house where my four new little brothers and sisters were waiting for me on the porch. They helped me with all my luggage I had and showed me to my room for the next 5 months. The room was an average sized room, smaller than mine at home but comfortable none the less with just a bed, desk, a mini sofa and a closet and two large windows that face the other houses up the mountain we live on. Then we went down stairs and sat on the couch kind of awkwardly as they told me their names, ages, and that both their parents were working and wouldn’t be home until about 7:30 pm. Their grandmother was also there. She was very sweet and kept asking me where I was from because I spoke Spanish too well to be from the United States and where my parents were from until the kids finally pointed out to her that she had already asked me 6 times but I told them it was fine and she could ask me again, they laughed.
Andrea, the youngest 8 year-old sister, was shy at first but that lasted about 5 minutes and then she talked a-mile-a-minute and told me about their dogs and hamster and her school and friends and anything else that came to her head. The twins, David and Ernesto, who are 12 and really are identical except for, they pointed out, a tiny beauty mark on David’s right cheak near his ear, which made me laugh because they told me that’s how to tell them apart but you could barely see it. But they are how 12 year old boys are, silly and wild and energized and constantly bickering but in the most loving way because they hate being apart from each other. And Isabella, who we call Isa, is a completely typical 14 year-old girl. She wants her freedom and to be with her friends and can’t be bothered with her little sister who only wants to be like her and doing whatever she does. But she’s sweet and respectful and watches out for her younger siblings and as much as she doesn’t want to admit it, she’s super close and dependant on her mom.
Then their housekeeper came and told us that luch was ready, their largest and most important meal of the day so we all sat down to eat what looked like a stuffed zucchini but bigger (and it was delicious). While we ate, their dad came home to eat lunch with us and was super energized and excited to be home. We all talked and it was actually really nice. After lunch he went back to work, the kids watched tv and I unpacked until their mom came home and we sat down to “once” which they also call tea time. They don’t eat dinner here, they eat a light “snack” around 9:30 pm that usually consists of tea or coffee and bread or danish or a light food like that.
The next morning was my first day at the university and my host mom, Loreto, took me in a “colectivo” which is like a taxi but it has stops and picks up more than one person at a time to take them to different places they need to go around the city. It only cost 1000 pesos which is equivalent to $2 for both of us to ride the colectivo to the university.
Orientation during the week was alright but really unorganized, which kind of bugged me but I dealt with it. It was kind of like no one really knew what or where we supposed to be or doing except for when we took our language assessment and when we took our tour of all the different mini campuses and buildings of the school around the city but I learned what I needed to from the orientation and we even walked around the city and got to know the area around the school a little bit. I met a lot of students who were also here through ISEP from all over the US and one girl from Spain. So far I’m really glad I came.
Last night, the entire group of exchange students (about 250) went out to a club (Club KA) to celebrate our first whole week in Chile and the beginnings of classes on Monday. I had my first drink here, a pisco sour, the signature drink of Chile and it actually tasted quite delicious! We danced for about 3 and a half hours to all types of music, including a ton of music in english; we noticed that Chilean men are very interested in girls with blonde hair and light eyes! I got home at about 4:30 which is quite early for college-aged students here and my half-host sister (she was the family’s exchange student a year ago and is visiting again until the 12th) got home about 15 minutes after I did.
So far it’s been a great week! I love my host family and from listening to some of the other students’ experiences so far this week I am very lucky to have a normal, happy, engaging family who have the right mix of interaction and independence. I truly already feel like part of their family and am ready to go on our first family outing tomorrow to church and a bike ride along the beach.
susanastravels 