Anna vs. Valpo; the Caliphon showdown

Well, it's been almost a week since I arrived in Valpo, which kind of blows my mind. The best thing is that I already feel so at home here and am looking forward to learning more about my University and city.

However, each adventure brings it's own challenges. I have successfully mastered the micro (bus) system and am currently teaching all the other 'gringos' how to use it. I also took my first collectivo last night, which is basically a taxi that has a set route, meaning it's cheaper than a taxi and probably safer than a micro. I took a micro home at 2:30am once, it was a little 'flighty', as the chilenos say (flighty=sketchy), I'm going to stick with collectivos from now on I think.

Valpo and Vina are neighboring cities and it's super easy to get from one to the other. The CIEE office is in Vina and most of my CIEE-rs live in Vina or in Recreo, which is between Valpo and Vina. Since this week all of my classes are in the CIEE office I've been spending a lot of time going back and forth, hopefully this will die down a little once classes start since most of the campuses are in Valpo. Taking a micro is sort of an adventure in and of itself. The drivers like to compete for passengers, and there are guys at certain stops that record which buses stopped by when. This way the driver can decide whether he should wait at this stop for more people or race ahead to beat the other guy to the next stop. Needless to say, shit gets a little crazy. I've heard some throw things out the window at each other, I haven't seen this yet.

The other day after class we took a micro up to Renaca, which is the 'ritzier' beach area. We made it just in time for the sunset and it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. Marina and I took our shoes off and ran along the beach (first time my feet have touched pacific water!). I also made a dog friend who played fetch much better than Sierra, not that I don't love her anyways. The stars came out and we all sat together drinking cerveza and talking about all the great things to come. We caught a micro back to Vina and being my graceful self, I totally ate it on the steps (fyi, I was NOT drunk, at all). Everyone on the bus gasped and stared at the stupid gringa on the floor of the bus, meanwhile my friend Max is laughing hysterically behind me. I collected myself and got on the bus, thinking 'wow, that really freaking hurt'. The next day I look at my knee and I have a tiny mountain sprouting out of my patella that is bright blue and purple. When I showed Max he immediately apologized for laughing. I've been hobbling a little bit ever since then...

So, my parents put me on a shower ban until I learned how to light the Caliphon, which is the gas water heater I was telling you about. As mentioned earlier, I'm terrified of blowing the house up, so I've been jumping in the shower after other people. My dad called me out on it though, and told me I HAD to learn, apparently all the other gringas could do it so I just look foolish. My mom taught me how to do it yesterday, it's pretty similar to lighting a grill, but you have to stick your fingers waaaaay inside this machine. Sort of terrifying, but doable, and well worth the hot water. It is extremely cold inside my house, and most buildings for that matter. I put layers on to go inside and take them off when I get back outside. I had four layers on the other day in my house and was about to put mittens on but I didn't want to offend my family...I sort of wish I could shower with clothes on, cause getting out of that shower is definitely the worst part of the whole experience.

well, that's probably enough for now. Tomorrow we are going to La Sebastiana, which is Pablo Neruda's house, which lays at the very top of the steepest hill in the whole world. should be fun with my broken patella.

Ciao!

added picture; sunset in Renaca.

ValPOH, si POH

Poh, poh, poh. I remember when my aunt used to imitate me every time I said 'like'. She'd have a field day here with everyone saying 'poh', which is essentially the same thing.

Yesterday I moved in with my host family; Manolo, Ceci y Gaby. Gaby is my 13 year old host sister and Ceci and Manolo are my parents. My dad works with the mining companies up north in Iquique so he is out of town every other week. My host mom calls him a 'part time husband', but it seems to work for them. He's currently on vacation so he will be around for the next two weeks to help me learn the ropes of the bus systems here.

The house is so cute and colorful. The vase I painted for my family fits in perfectly with their living room since it is blue and yellow (I knew ahead of time...). My room is a pale teal and I have the most sunlight out of all the rooms, which is super nice. Indoor heating is definitely a no go here so I've been freezing inside much more so than outside. In Chile they use 'estufulas' which are gas heaters to warm the house. That helped take the edge off of the cold. There is also a gas heater which you have to light in order to take a shower with hot water. Needless to say I'm terrified to shower, mostly because I fear blowing the house up.

My family is not religious, which apparently is not unusual in Chile. My host mom said that the statistics say 80% are Catholic because everyone is baptized, even if they don't practice. So my whole family was baptized, but none of them practice. My host mom said the only altar they have is the one with the wine, rum and pisco (Chilean alcohol). I think I will fit in well here :)

Today I have my first day of classes with CIEE, so all of the Americans get together to learn about the history of Chile and such. That means I have to start using Micros (buses) today in order to get to the CIEE office in Vina...Fortunately my host parents said they will take me for the first week or so until I am able to do it on my own. There are no maps of the routes or schedules so I have to learn the names of the streets I want to get to. This may be a problem since I am directionally challenged and cannot for the life of me remember street names. solid.

Much love to everyone.
oh, and Mom, thanks for the pillow case :)

Live like it's the style

Saludos de Chile! After a few visa debacles I made it safe and sound to the west coast of South America. Both of my flights were enjoyable, but I'm glad to finally be here. (I sat next to a professional wine taster on my flight from Atlanta, got the insiders tips on good Chilean wine. side note a really, really nice bottle of Chilean wine costs about $9 US. Just thought you should all know you're being ripped off up north).
My first view of South America was out of my plane window just before sunrise. The sky above the clouds was blood red, a color that I'm sure doesn't exist anywhere else in the world, which faded into a pale orange. From there a pale blue to a deep, silky blue that you just wanted to reach out and touch. The stars were still out and I could see Orion hovering above...

There are 41 of us enrolled at PUCV this term and we all met up at the Santiago airport. Two hour bus ride later we arrived in Vina del Mar after passing through Valpo, I drove by the street I'll be living on, pretty cool. We are all checked into the hotel for orientation and will be spending two days here before meeting our families. I got an email from my family with a picture, I have a younger sister who is 13 and a very nice cat. My host mom and dad seem very nice, and I will be the 10th exchange student they've hosted. I feel some pressure to live up to host student extraordinaire expectations...

Besos a todos, I'm thinking about all of you.

Pre-Departure Disclaimer

So here is where I will be publicly recording all of my thoughts about my adventures in Chile over the next 6 months. Since this will be my main mode of communication with most of you I wanted to write a little disclaimer; CONTENT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL . You all know me and how my life tends to be and I don't want to deprive anyone of the full, colorful story you all deserve. That being said, you have been warned.

11 days til departure.