Clases, Rotaria, Cerros y Ascensors,

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone!!! All is well in Chile. I just came back from a bout of food poisoning this weekend and am ready for a busy week. I’m in my second week of school now and have officially decided what classes I am going to take: español escrito, gramática, español comunicación y cultura chilena, historia urbana de valparaíso, y violencia social. My favorite class thus far is violencia social.

Last week was also a very busy week with Rotary. I went to two meetings in one day and also spent some time with my host sponsor, Marguerite. My club has about 20 people with an equal amount of men and women members, which is not common here. The president is also a woman. I will be talking with her over the next few weeks about my role in a project with them. I also went to the Rotary Club of Reñaca’s meeting. That is Jessica’s host club, so we were both able to spend time talking with them about their club activities and projects.

On Sunday, Jessica and I went on an adventure through Valpo. The city is basically a port surrounded by hills or “cerros.” Each cerro is a different neighborhood and most have and outdoor elevators or “ascensors” that you can pay about 300 pesos to take to the top. Some of the hills can take about an hour to walk up. When we visited Pablo Neruda’s house, La Sebastiana, we cheated and took a cab. There was no way we were walking up that hill. We also took a boat tour through the port and saw two huge cruise ships. I wanted to sneak on one of them and see if they sold JIF peanut butter.

My Spanish is creeping along. I have moments of extreme frustration with it, but I guess that means I’m learning. Pablo Neruda, a famous Chilean poet and writer (he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971) once wrote, “Chile es una Isla”/ “Chile is an Island.” In my Chilean Culture and Communication class, we discussed the reasons why he said this. In the North is the Atacama Desert which spans 600 miles along the Pacific Coast and separates Chile from its neighbors Peru and Bolivia. According to NASA it is the driest desert in the world. To the south are freezing temperatures, glaciers, iceberg, etc…check out a map it almost hits Antarctica. To the east of course are the Andes, and to the west the Pacific Ocean. Once I really started thinking about this, the things that had puzzled me so much when I first arrived, started to make sense. For example, Chileans speak their own version of Spanish, hence my frustration. I’m not just talking about a different dialect. They have hundreds of words for things that already have words in Spanish and they also speak in “Modismos/Chilenismos,”(slang). Here are my top 5 so far: 1) Al tiro – immediately, now 2) Bacán – awesome, cool 3) ¿cachaí? – Do you understand? 4) Pololo/Polola (Polear) – Boyfriend/Girlfriend (to date). Novio/a is used when you are referring to your fiancé. 5) Buena Onda – “Good vibe”

Next week is “semana mechona/novata.” It is the initiation week for the freshman at my university, and classes are canceled. Jessica and I will be taking trip to the south of Chile to explore a few national parks, volcanoes, and the island of Chiloé. I will post when we get back. I miss everyone and please send me e-mails or posts, I love hearing from family and friends.