Las dos caras de chile

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Now that the preprogram is over, I'm getting settled into my life here in Santiago. I could not imagine heading into this semester without everything we did in the program though- from getting to know each other, to learning so many chileanismos, seeing a few towns in Chile already, and especially the past week, where we each lived with a host family in the campo, in San Dionisio. The first night staying with my family there, my host mom ("mamita," as Laura and I referred to her as) asked where I'd be staying in Santiago, and when I told her Las Condes, she just raised her eyebrows and said, "Vas a ver las dos caras de Chile"- You'll see the two faces of Chile.

My week in San Dionisio was truly a great experience. We all lived with host families, most of us doubled up, in this little tiny town. Almost everyone in the town was related to each other somehow. The houses were modest and many cultivated their own food, such as the fruits, cheese, milk, and bread. Laura and I helped make bread one day- my first time! I was surprised when I first got there though to see they had 2 TVs, hot water (in Chile you have to turn on the hot water before taking a shower), and water you can drink from the tap. Granted, it's their summer, but our time there was slow and relaxing, we took siestas every day, played soccer with all the chilenos a few nights, walked to the nearby town to hang out and the plaza/pub, and had a few carretes (parties). Wine is everywhere in this country! The nights were beautiful- I haven't seen so many stars since Costa Rica. It was incredible. One night on our way home we detoured and ended up going to the nearby lake at 4:30am. Seeing the moon and stars reflect off the lake was worth postponing our sleep!

Last weekend my family, our neighbor's family (who our friend Jake was living with), and a bunch of cousins all went camping. Well, we slept in a tent but it was a specific camping site where you have your car, and there were picnic tables, a swimming pool, and a center with some pool tables and such. It was really relaxed, just hanging out, playing some cards, going swimming after being thrown in with clothes on, etc. The night was another story, as the family broke out the wine. Our host dad, who until then had been really quiet and not very talkative, suddenly could not stop talking we had some pretty long conversations. Around 3am a bunch of the cousins our age and Jacob decided to go to the discotech.. but Laura and I decided that crashing in our tent was a much better idea, given the situation.

Anyway, I loved how all the families lived so close, and nearly everyone was just a walk away. The roads were all gravel, but they had a few street lights, which have just come in the past 5-10 years. I also have come to love tomatoes since San Dionisio, and the tomato/avocado sandwich combination is just amazing to me. mmm!! I started to crave it.

Well, now on to Santiago, la otra cara. Definitely will be coming back to San Dionisio... buena gente. 😊

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Photos

Soccer field in Linares
A bit dusty, but it was fun to play! We ended up breaking the soccer ball, whoops

View from the campo
Elizabeth and the Andes... the campo was so beautiful!

View from our soccer field
San Dionisio

As the sun sets over our game
San Dionisio