Gabriella Kroska

Sota Lina

Gabriella Kroska

South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Providencia February 9th 2017

It all Started with a Plan Last Sunday, CJ, Anna, and I had made plans to travel to Cajon del Maipo to go hiking. It was going to be the first real opportunity I had to go hiking outside of Santiago proper. The plan was a loose one at best; we were going to meet at 8:15 in metro station Tobalaba, before heading to Las Mercedes, where we would take a colectivo to San Jose de Maipo. Well, we ended up running slightly behind because someone stopped for breakfast (which of course, was closed...). Then we headed to Las Mercedes, where we were disappointed to realize that the little convenience stores in the station where we had planned to stock up on water and snacks for the day were closed (because who gets up early on ... read more

Thursdays

South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Providencia February 2nd 2017

Sota Lina

Thursdays are Great On Thursdays, I don't have classes. It's wonderful, really. Either I spent the whole day catching up on sleep, get to explore my city, go on a hike, do homework (so I don't have to during the weekend), or some combination of all of the above. Today, I went to see an exhibit in the Cultural Center in La Moneda. It was an art exhibit of the work of Pablo Picasso. It was interesting, but to be honest, art museums aren't exactly 'my thing'. I can enjoy them for a little bit, but I can't spend hours there. So, after that, I headed out to walk to Bellas Artes, an area of the city that I hadn't seen yet. Then, I headed to Cerro Santa Lucia, a large hill in the day. Next, ... read more

Week 3 Recap

South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Providencia January 28th 2017

Sota Lina

Learning to Speak Chilean Like any region/country has it's own version of the language (ahem, hotdish vs. casserole, coke vs. pop vs. soda, you guys vs. y'all, you get the point), Chile has it's own spin on Spanish, that I am slowly picking up on. As in, a word or two every once in awhile. When someone points them out to me :P For example, instead of 'fresas' (as taught in high school Spanish 101), strawberries are 'frutillas'. The guy who sold me them gave me a weird look as he handed me the box of red fruits and said 'frutillas'. Oops. Also, the add 'po' to words here. 'Sí, po' 'no, po'. I understood a lot more once someone explained that one to me! En el Metro Had an awkward experience in the metro this ... read more

A Wonderfully Long Sabbath Day

South America » Chile January 28th 2017

Sota Lina

Been Meaning to Write... ¡Hola! I've been meaning to write another blog post for days now.... but I always get trapped in the never ending spiral vortex that is Facebook....and then falling asleep. *sigh*. An Adventurous Sabbath Last week Saturday, I took the metro to church for the first time, since the wonderful lady who usually brings me to church was taking a vacation at the beach. I made my way across the city to the combination station (from station Pedro de Valdivia on the red line, to Los Heroes), then to the very last stop on the yellow line, La Cisterna. The pastor's wife had given me directions to arrive at La Cisterna station by 9:45am on Sabbath morning, where I would then meet up with the people who run a van between the station ... read more

Week One in Review

South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Providencia January 17th 2017

Sota Lina

Classes Tuesday marked the first day of classes, but I only had one during the day. So, I walked around the city with one of my classmates until dance class later in the evening. Our favorite find was a little coffee shop near La Moneda that sold COLD PRESS COFFEE. That was a hugedeal, because most of the coffee sold in restaurants or little breakfast/lunch shops in Santiago is made with instant coffee. Or, if you happen to find fresh ground coffee beans, it's almost always going to be served hot. Which....is not exactly what you want when you're from Minnesota and it's over 90 degrees and sunny (which is great, don't get me wrong, but I still don't want hot coffee). Later that day, I had dance class where we began to learn salsa and ... read more

Visa Registration and City Tour

South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Providencia January 9th 2017

Sota Lina

Longest Line of My Life Today I woke up early (or earlier than the past few days) and had a quick breakfast before heading to the center of the city to meet everyone for our group visa registration process. We were supposed to meet by 8:35am at the subway station Santa Lucia before heading to what is essentially the FBI of Chile to register our visas. My host father Carlos took me to the subway to meet everyone (on a side note, it was easier than the subway in Washington D.C., but that could be because it's quite similar and it wasn't my first time on a subway, and I wasn't alone :) ). the process was supposed to be finished for all 50+ of us before 11am, when we were supposed to take a tour ... read more

Mi Familia del Chile

South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Providencia January 6th 2017

Sota Lina

First Full Day Today was my first full day in Chile. We had orientation in the morning, followed by getting picked up by our host families and taken to our new homes for the next few months. It's been a loooong day, but a great day. After lunch and moving in, we had a siesta before my host mother gave me a tour of the neighborhood. There were tons of dogs in the park we walked through, and although none of them were on leashes, they all seemed to get along just fine! I don't know why that surprised me; perhaps because parks in the US have such strict laws about dogs always being on a leash? Tomorrow I will get picked up by a local family from church so that I can attend services (I ... read more

When Plans Go Awry...

North America » United States » Florida » Miami January 4th 2017

Sota Lina

Greetings from Miami When plans go awry... Got a call from Mom just as Dad and I were about to load the car and head to the airport, with plenty of time to make my original 3pm flight. Apparently, that flight was cancelled, but I still haven't been contacted by the airline to let me know. We even verified that they had my correct contact info on file! Why they contacted Mom instead, we may never know... Anyway, we live about two hours from the airport, and while we made it to the airport before my new flight (kindly booked by my travel agent, seeing as the airline decided it would be a great idea to just reschedule me for the next day, meaning I would arrive a day later than the rest of the group ... read more

Heading Out

North America » United States » Minnesota » Onamia January 4th 2017

Sota Lina

Headed to the Airport! I decided to try out using a travel blog for this trip, as it'll be a little bit more extended than my trip to Nepal. I should be able to post regular updates, and this way people can check them out as they want instead of getting emails when I send an update. :) I head to the airport with Dad in about half an hour. Outside it's nearly thirty below (accounting for wind chill), a far cry from the 70 and sunny that is the current temp in Santiago! AND that's not even the high for the day! One last check over the luggage and packing list, and then it'll be off to the airport!... read more

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