Just a reminder....

So I'm in the process of adding more pictures as I type this post. Just a reminder, this is the link to my pics (and there's a nice little slideshow of some of them on the blog):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsnider88/

An amazing day

Yesterday, Saturday, I went on a day trip with the school to Isla Negra, Valparaiso and Vina del Mar - it was amazing. Isla Negra is a tiny little cost town with amazing scenery. Many Chileans head to Isla Negra for the summer so it's not too touristy, at least not for forgein tourists. After touring the house of Pablo Neruda, a very famous Chilean writer, which is right on the cost and very very interesting we headed to another site just to see the beach. There we hiked the rocky cost line which was tons of fun. Next was lunch at a place right on the cost with amazing food. We hiked around a little after lunch and then headed to Valparaiso (Valpo). Valpo reminded me a lot of Buenos Aires in that it's a little on the dirtier side and more dangerous than other Chilean cities. There wasn't really that much to see on any day, but espeically no on Saturday as it was extremely foggy. We did a little walking tour and then headed out for a tour on a lancha (small boat). Valpo is first and foremost a major Chilean port city, which is very obvious in the photos on Flickr. Next we headed up the "acensores" which are rather ancient (they were built in the late 1800's) but still somewhat fun. They took us to the top of the city, which had it not been so foggy would have made for great view. After that we all, all 15 of us, got back into the minibus (think a little bit larger than the "Lil' Miss Sunshine" bus...but still bright yellow) and headed to Vina del Mar. Vina del Mar is extremely touristy and very expensive. We really didn't do too much there but it was fun to see. After the two hour bus ride back to Santiago I went with a couple other people and got some sushi, which is extremely cheap and good in Santiago. What would normally cost $60 or so in the US costs about $20 (including tip) here. Next was bed. Yesterday was probably my best South American experience to date and was definitely worth the $50.

Being chilly in Chile

So while I love Chile I do miss one thing - heat. The concept of central heating hasn't caught on here. As a result, the houses are cold all of the time. Sure, they have little propane heaters and such but they don't really help much. I sleep with about 5 blankets and in long sleeves and sweatpants - something very very weird for me. On the brigher side of things, the school here is amazing. Right now I have afternoon classes which means I don't have class until 1. At 1 I have one hour of private class during which we talk about anything and everything and he points out my mistakes; something that's been extremely helpful. My "group" class is from 2-6; however, I'm the only one in the class so it's four more hours of conversing, reviewing grammar, writing, etc. Next week I'll have morning classes and I'll be able to see more of the city and participate in more activities - with afternoon classes you sleep in (not to much to do in the morning and most places don't open until 9 or 10), eat breakfast (well more like lunch), go to class and then it's dinner time. I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing this weekend but I'll probably end up going to Vina de Mar, Valparasio and Isla Negra with the school. Next weekend I'll be in Temuco with a trip to Pucon - I bought my bus tickets last night.

Apparently I'm American

So I had my first experience in defending my country and my goverment to someone from another country. Tonight after dinner I began talking to Walter (the "father" of my house who is about 70 and is Dutch but has lived in South America for around 40 years but still doesn't speak Spanish extremely well) about 9/11 - to be honest I don't remember how the topic got started. After a few minutes of discussing he proceded to tell me that planes didn't crash into the Pentagon that it had to be missles and that my government was orchestrating some huge cover up. Furthermore, that Arab terrorists, in his mind, are incapable of planning something so complicated. He didn't say that 9/11 didn't happen (although it was implied once and I surely jumped on that one.....in Spanish actually) but that our, the US government, had something to do with it and now the government was involved in some huge cover up. Yes, he actually believed this and had his "facts" from the internet to prove it. Of course I, and the other US girl that lives in this house were pissed. We proceded to argue for quite a while about this topic in a rather heated discussion. It was the first time I've ever even thought about defending our current goverment as I typically have a very "un-American" mindset about internationl things. Let's just say it was an experience and if I didn't live under his roof for the next few weeks the argument would have been much more intense and he would not have won. I have to say that this was surely an experience for me as I've never had someone talk about 9/11 like that (and it's been brought up a lot since I've been in South America). Furthermore, I told him it was a sensitive topic for an American and that he was pissing me off yet he continued. I don't talk about hot topics in other countries, especially topics I know nothing about. If asked my opinion I might, keyword being "might", give a little of my opinion but I would certainly qualify it by saying I don't know much about the topic and stating that I was talking in generalizations. It was certainly an experience that I will remember.......and for those of you who are interested, after this conversation he brought up Chavez and proceded to tell me he couldn't understand why people didn't like him. Ah, and I just remembered this, during the conversation we talked about internet credibility (as his sources were from the internet). I told him you can find anything you want on the internet, and if you can't for some reason you can type it yourself on wikipedia and claim to be an expert. He brought up a PanAm flight that was shot down going from NYC to London in 1988 that he thinks we know all the facts about. I said I'm sure I can find something on the internet that disagrees; to which he responded would be impossible. Hmmm, why don't you click this link: http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com/keytopics/PanAm.shtml

Day 2 in Santiago

So I'm sitting here after waking up at 7:30 to be in class at 8:00 with a few hours of free time - in Santiago I don't have class until 1:00 (noramlly a good thing as I can sleep in). The school here is much nicer, it's larger and newer (not that the school in Buenos Aires was bad). My family here is amazing and I feel a bit more at home here than I did in Argentina. I miss living with Nikki (the girl from New Orleans) and Dani (the girl from Venezuela) but here I live with a girl from Miami that goes to NYU. Basically here the meals are a bit bigger and more American like (meaning there are vegetables and such, not just meat and potatoes) and I can sit in the living room and just hang out - again, it's not that my Argentine family wasn't welcoming it's just that my Chilean family is more welcoming. I have no idea what I'm going to do in Chile, largely b/c I haven't seen the activities schedule for the school. However, I'm rather sure that I'll be in Temuco, Chile for the 4th of July. There is a recent Georgetown grad in Temuco right now that I'm going to visit and it's where most of our Chilean students at Georgetown come from - so I'll get to see the city and I'll get to celebrate the 4th with an American.

Santiago de Chile

The day didn't start off too well. I woke up a little later then I wanted to. Next I sat there waiting for my ride to the airport - which was supposed to pick me up at 12:30. At around 1:00 my house mom called the company and they said they didn't have a reservation for me. We tried to call the school but no one answered. I only had 30 pesos left and couldn't pay with a card - I couldn't pay for a taxi or something. We finally got a hold of someone at the school and I finally got a ride but it was nearly 2:00 and my flight was at 3:30 (and it takes nearly an hour to get to the airport). I get to the airport and have to pay $70 for my checked luggage b/c the allowance was only 20kg (roughly 44lbs). Next I had to pay the airport tax, pass through immigration, pass through security and make it to my gate. Luckily I made it on the plane (the last person to board actually) at about 3:20.

On a better note, I flew LAN airlines which is by far the nicest airline I've ever been on. The plane itself is huge and is very comfortable. Everyone has their own screen which has its own entertainment system - you can choose from 50 or so movies, 100 or so TV shows and thousands of CD's (very much like on demand with digital cable except free). The meal, which they called a snack but would have been deemed a meal on a US airline, was served on real plates rather than disposable plastic. You couldn't even feel the take off or the landing - seriously, I didn't realize we were taking off when we did b/c the plane was going fast but it didn't feel as fast as a delta plane. Bottom line - if you are flying to Latin/South America, fly LAN.

Santiago's airport is very similar to a US airport. When you first land it's amazing to see the city in the middle of the Andes mountains, which are huge and snow covered. It's much cleaner than Buenos Aires and while I loved my Argentine family I think I might like this one more. First it's closer to the school, a lot closer and second, when I walked in the door their whole family was here and we sat down for dinner - which was sushi!! (The nephew of my Chilean house mom is in culinary school and made sushi - it was amazing). Afterwards we talked Latin American politics had some sandwhiches and drank some coffee. Before heading to bed my house mom showed me where the school was and showed me around the house.

More or less, the day started off terribly but ended amazingly and I'm 100% sure I'm going to love Chile.

Last Day in BA

So today was my last day in Buenos Aires (well technically Sunday is but I have to head to the airport at noon). I spent today doing the last couple of things I wanted to do. First I went to MALBA. I loved it. Basically it's the MoMA of Latin American art. There was a special exhibition that dealt with Mexican art from 1968 until 1997 - I'm pretty sure it's my favorite exhibition of all time. I wanted to buy the catalog for the exhibition but it was aroun $120 - outrageously expensive - so I didn't buy it. The rest of the day consisted of walking around Palermo, which is full of parks and cafes, and buying a few things last minute. I'm sitting here packing now then I will have dinner with my Argentine family for the last time and head out with my friends here for the last time. The next time I post, I'll be in Chile!

Oh! And I also had my first Alfajor today....if you ever come to Argentina you have to try one. Be sure to try the Dulce de Leche one though, it's by far the best. Havanna's, there's one on every other corner it seems like, has really good, and cheap, ones.