Blogs from Valparaíso, Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America
It's Your Fault. And By The Way, You're Fat.
Published: May 27th 2012South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Valparaíso
May 23rd 2012
These are two phrases that technically exist in English. Those along with, "I told you so", and "Your face looks like sewer". But if one appreciates having friends, it is advised NOT to say them. Apparently not here. Chileans are terribly blunt and I've had my definite share of *gasp* "Did he/she actually just say that?!" moments. My host brother got robbed last night. As the family and I were eating once he entered the kitchen obviously downtrodden. He then proceeded to tell us that after he gave a tour, some boys stole his backpack which contained some blockbuster movies Pablo (a family friend) had rented, cash, and a VERY expensive medication that he has to take every day. I sat there with my mouth open and took in the irony of the situation. At seeing ... read more
May 13th 2012
It was a phase. If you read my last blog you heard me throughly freaking out because I hit an ugly patch where I virtually knew no Spanish. Okay, it wasn't quite THAT serious but it was bad! Now I know that what I went through is normal for language learners and it's not the end of the world. My mind was just angry and rebelling. Kind of like a mental temper tantrum brought on by fatigue. But that whole mishap ushered me into the stage where I am now: the awkward foreigner. It's sounds funny but there's no other way to describe it! You know how you talk to foreigners and they speak English but say some odd, comical things? Stuff like "he had a bad breath", "the nappy house", or "her legs have many ... read more
April 24th 2012
¿Que?....Exactly. That has been my favorite word these past two days. I don't know what my deal is but it feels like my Spanish has gone out the window. I've noticed that my Spanish abilities literally differ from day to day. Other ISA students say the exact same thing. Maybe it's just part of the process? I don't know but after 2 months of being here, this is pretty scary. Many people assume that after being here for a little over 4 months we'll all be fluent. There's a lot of pressure because no one wants to be the horror story--the person who comes here and leaves speaking the same way. No one wants to be "the failure". THE HORROR!!! And right now I'm wondering if that might be me... I just don't understand. One day ... read more
Exploring We Will Go
Published: April 21st 2012South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Valparaíso
April 20th 2012
Today I had the greatest day! It was marvelous. Earlier I went exploring with Amber and Jack. They're really cool. Last week when I went to my grammar class (they're both in there) I decided that we needed to hang out. Haha! I always talk to them in class but I was thinking "why don't we ever hang out" and that's when I decided it needed to happen. They're a part of ISA as well. I wouldn't say that we're clickish but I can definitely see that everyone's getting to the point where we hang out with the same people all the time. Humans are funny. We get so ruttish. But we have to break out! When I told them we should hang out sometime they were both really excited so we exchanged numbers and today ... read more
Bar Arena...Gringo = Get in Free?
Published: April 14th 2012South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Valparaíso
April 14th 2012
It's 5:30 A.M. and I just got back home from going out. It never ceases to amaze me, the type of night life here. It is truly like none other. When we left at around 5, there were people cooking burgers on the grill in the middle of the plaza, selling sandwiches, and just having a good time. Haha! It made me think "wow...does no one know it's 5 in the morning?!". I love it. :-) I went out with Bri, Claire, and some really cool Chileans from Claire's Intercambio de Idiomas (language exchange) group. They were super warm people. Like always, we had to meet up somewhere first to wait until the discotecas came alive so we decided to go to Matiz which is a very popular bar for the younger crowd in Valpo. Well, ... read more
April 12th 2012
We are baack!! To be honest it's my fault for not writing so long, I apologise but in one respect you can say that I was enjoying the vcays so much!:) So after a couple of nights in the best hostel to date we were going to make our way to Vailparaiso. We honestly had so my h fun in the hostel and we met so many amazing people there, it was soo good that we planned to be back for the Thursday when they would have the BBQ at the hostel!it was a luxurious bus ride to Valpo as we had footrests and a movie which I did not get to finish but hey u can't have it all. We were arriving on a Sunday, Sunday = Market Day, chaos, we were not impressed, no ... read more
April 6th 2012
The bus from Santiago only took 2 hours to arrive to the city of Valparaíso. Along the way, we passed a number of coastal wineries, reminding me of some of the CA southern coast wineries near Santa Barbara. Valparaíso was a sight to see. A city built on hills, destroyed and rebuilt after earthquakes and tsunamis. Similar to Pucon, we passed tsunami escape route signs. Chile, land of natural disasters! We took a short local bus ride then walked up a steep hill to our hostel. A beautiful remodeled Victorian house, our private room had 15 foot vaulted ceilings, crown moulding throughout, and lots of natural light. Once we put our stuff down, the receptionist (who reminded me a lot of my Spanish friend Pascual, with his laid back attitude, goofy demeanor, and love of climbing), ... read more
"I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me"
Published: April 3rd 2012South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Valparaíso
April 2nd 2012
Please go to YouTube and listen to "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell. Haha! For real, just do it, and listen to it while you read this blog. That song is the theme song of my experience at the grocery store today/my life. Okay. Are you listening to it? Let's go! :-) I have no idea what was different about today but I felt seriously watched...EVERY WHERE. I had to go to Jumbo (Chile's version of Wal-Mart, and owned my Wal-Mart too...yes, I think Wal-Mart is single handedly taking over the world) to by some stuff like peanut butter and cinnamon. It's a huge mega grocery store. I went alone and that's when things got crucial. Actually, it started as I was on the WAY to the store. As I was walking, there was a group of ... read more
March 30th 2012
I took salsa lessons with my host brother today. He really wants to learn how to dance. I went because I love dancing of any sort and the first lesson es gratis(free). Dancing really is a universal language because at times I didn't know what my dance partners were saying but it didn't even matter. We'd move in sync anyhow. Anyway, I learned a valuable cultural lesson today: sometimes it feels good to snap. Haha! It needed to happen and afterwards I felt super refreshed. Many people assume that becoming more culturally tolerant means not saying anything when things bother you. Just chalk it up to a cultural difference and get over it. To a certain extent I thought the same thing. The past few times I've gone out with my host brother or he's gone ... read more
Transportation Utopia
Published: March 31st 2012South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Valparaíso
March 27th 2012
Can I just say that the United States needs to take some notes on how to do public transportation? The Valparaíso-Viña region has it down pat. I honestly never knew public transportation could be so useful and FREAKING CHEAP! Did I forget to say FREAKING CHEAP!? Over here families don't have more than one car. The only time my host family uses theirs is to take the whole family to church and the mom uses it for work every now and then. There's not really a need to drive the car since gas is expensive and the public transportation is so efficient. Back home in Texas, I hate riding Dart because it's not very cheap and it takes FOREVER to get ANYWHERE. It's a major pain in the butt. To go somewhere on Dart, you have ... read more
