Well first off, I've been in my classes for over a month now. I'm taking four business classes, aka with all Chilean students. I am also in two Spanish speaking classes that are focused in helping me with my Spanish. In the beginning I was SERIOUSLY lost in my business classes. All my professors speak so incredibly fast and it's hard to keep up. Now, after a month or so of classes, I'm still lost but not as bad. I had my first completely in Spanish presentation for my Human Resources class last week. I'm alive to tell the tale so clearly it wasn't that horrible but it's honestly really intimidating having to get up in front of a whole class full of native Spanish speakers and talk. But I survived and need to already start thinking about my solo presentation coming up in the next couple months :/
Just gonna tough base on this subject of my tummy issues real quick because everyone keeps asking me. For those who know me well or maybe not that well, know that I have Ulcerative Colitis. I was a bit worried about coming to Chile because I wasn't sure on how the food and water would affect my poor tummy.For the most part, I drink filtered or bottled water. My host mom makes sure to have it in the house for me. I honestly don't drink enough of water here though. People in Chile don't seem to bring a lot of water but rather lots of juice and soda. The water isn't "bad" here, it just has different sort of bacterias in it but the coffee I drink every morning is tap water and I'm still alive and well. It took about 3-4 weeks for my stomach to really adjust to the food and water here but I'm doing great :) I was finally able to find Almond Milk but it is so expensive. I paid about US$5.50 for a small container of almond milk.
So as some of you guys know, I am doing an internship here while I am in Chile. I need to complete 300 hours for it to count as one of my two required internships to graduate. I'm working at a television channel in the Administrative Department helping with some organizational things. I started about two weeks and I really do like the place I work at. I love the work environment and the people I work with. I'm by far the youngest person who works in the department but that obviously doesn't really matter. I have been given a desk with a laptop and an additional screen. I really am thankful for being given this opportunity to work there but it is sort of taking over my life a little bit. I'm working 17.5 hours a week which clearly isn't THAT much but I now have absolutely no time to sleep in ever anymore and it's seriously exhausting to have to wake up early, go to work and then after go to classes. The classes in themselves are tiring because they are all 1.5 hours long. I thought my hour and 15 minute classes on Tuesday/Thursday were bad? An extra 15 minutes on top of that is horrible. Anyways, I haven't really been given much to do at my internship. At first, I worked on creating an organizational chart for the company and I also did some research about HSEC policies. (A HSEC policy is a policy about the Health, Safety, Environment, and Community and how a company affects these categories). All in all, I really do like it there but sitting around bored for 7 hours, playing solitaire, listening to music, and playing games on my iPod is tiring. This may the one and only time I say this, but GIVE ME MORE WORK!
Some of the interesting things about Chile:
- There isn't always hot water when you want to shower. I've learned the secret though that 99% of the time works to make the water hot. Sometimes though I'll be showering and have to hop out really quickly because the water hates me and wants me to freeze to death.
- Some of the streets in Vina, where I live, changed directions and absolutely confused the hell out of me. I actually thought I was going crazy thinking that some streets had changed but it actually happened. So after learning the streets here and the directions Chile wanted to eff with my mind. So for that, thank you.
- People have staring issues here. Point blank. At times, it feels like I must appear as an alien to everyone. That I must be wearing something goofy, I have something spilled down my shirt or my fly is undone. It's none of the above though. People literally just love to stare. Like I really don't think I stand out THAT much, but apparently that's false. I'm not sure if it's just because I'm a gringa (basically an American girl) or what it is. I've just started to play along with it and stare at the person back in attempt to make them feel uncomfortable. I even went up some guy at the bar because he was staring so hard and I was like "uhmmm do you have a problem? i can see you blatantly staring at us". We ended up being BFFL'S so it was totally okay. But really, my thing is if you're going to stare, at least have the nerve to come up and say something to me. If not, look away. Or take a picture, that will last longer.
- I absolutely love the way people greet each other here. We are doing it oh so wrong in America. When you greet someone and say goodbye you give them a kiss on the cheek or basically putting your cheeks together and making a kissing sound. It's personal and I just love it. I feel like when I get back to America, I am going to wanna greet people like that and people are going to be like "what the eff is this girl trying to do? why is she trying to kiss me?"
- Two things I definitely want to bring back to the states with me in this liquid sugar that's so good. I don't know if there is an american equivalent but it goes so perfectly with my coffee. Also Chile has this amazing liquor here called Pisco. Most people pair it with coke called piscola but I love it with sprite. Gonna have to bring a couple bottles home with me...
- The mosquitoes absolutely love me here. The other night I woke up with 15 mosquito bites (and I'm not even exaggerating). I think I might be some sort of allergic to them because they get seriously red and huge. Plus they are soooooo incredibly itchy and it's just so hard not to itch
- Men straight cat call girls here. Like the regular cat call whistle, happens all the time. At first it was a nice self-esteem boost but it has just become annoying. I'll be walking down the street, two guys in a car drive by, and the driver it honking while his friend has his head out of the window trying to holler. Just stop. The answer is NO.
Well that's all for now really. I need to get serious about starting to plan some weekend trips in and around Chile. I really do want to go to Mendonza and Buenos Aires but yeah who knows where else I will go.
By the way, for those who REALLYYYY miss me, I will most likely be coming home 1-2 weeks earlier than planning because I will be finishing my internship earlier than expected and I should go home to try to make some money and get my life together before I have to move back to school for my senior year of college. Scary thought in general.
By the way, if there is anything anyone is curious about in any aspect of my life in Chile, feel free to comment and let me know what you wanna know about!
Hasta luego (until later),
Ciao
