I haven't been posting all that much the past few weeks because I honestly haven't done anything too terribly exciting lately. I had a test this past week, I have been working on a take-home test all week that is due tomorrow, and I have another test on Wednesday. So I have been studying all week. Or watching Modern Family on Cuevana...defintitely one of those....
Anyways on to my blog post.
One of the most frustrating things about started to speak a foreign language all the time is that I feel like I lose a little bit of my personality. I can communicate really well in Spanish, I am usually understood and if I don't know how to say something, I can describe what I mean well enough that people get the gist of want I'm trying to say. Years of Spanish classes have taught me basic communication, but that's about it. I know how to get my point across, but it's in the most basic, straightforward way, which isn't a bad thing, but sometimes I feel like a robot.
I never really thought about how much of "me" goes into what I say. In English, those phrases you use, the idioms and swear words, the slang and even just the variation of vocabulary all mix together to give off an impression. The way that you speak really says a lot about who you are and how you present yourself. And the problem is that I don't know any of these sayings and phrases in Spanish. Without all these extra things to add to my speech, I feel a little bland. Hopefully I will start picking them up soon, but until then I suppose I am doomed to be personality-less.
Also, my padre should be happy to note that my use of the word "like" doesn't really transfer in Spanish. ;)
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Museo Bellas Artes y Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
So just a quick post on the museums I visited today...
Today I decided to check a few things off of my to-do list in Santiago and visited some popular museums, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MAC). In Santiago, many museums are actually free on Sundays, and even with the free incentive, there aren't usually very many people, so it is the perfect time to go. And even better, these two museums actually share a building, so it is easy to knock them both out in a day.
The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes was a bit smaller than I thought it would be, but there were some pretty cool exhibits. Mostly older paintings and sculptures by Chilean or Latino painters/sculptors. I was mostly curious to see if there were any real differences between the art in Chile and the art I have seen in museums back home, but the techniques and subject matter seemed relatively similar.
After looking around that museum, I headed around the building to the MAC. Some of the stuff there was really cool, some of it interesting, and some just plain peculiar. There was this room filled with headphones and they all had different freaky sounds coming from them. Another room had a table covered in plastic food containers and cup and they were covered in painted on flies. But I did come to one very important conclusion. It isn't contemporary art if it isn't a. weird, b. creepy, or c. confusing. Preferably all three.
There were photos next to this one detailing the process.
The lady got stark naked, covered herself in pink paint and made
those pink body impressions...
Photos of furniture.
Mona Lisa with meats hanging in front of her?
All in all, a few hours well spent. I love museums, especially when they are free!
Today I decided to check a few things off of my to-do list in Santiago and visited some popular museums, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MAC). In Santiago, many museums are actually free on Sundays, and even with the free incentive, there aren't usually very many people, so it is the perfect time to go. And even better, these two museums actually share a building, so it is easy to knock them both out in a day.
The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes was a bit smaller than I thought it would be, but there were some pretty cool exhibits. Mostly older paintings and sculptures by Chilean or Latino painters/sculptors. I was mostly curious to see if there were any real differences between the art in Chile and the art I have seen in museums back home, but the techniques and subject matter seemed relatively similar.
After looking around that museum, I headed around the building to the MAC. Some of the stuff there was really cool, some of it interesting, and some just plain peculiar. There was this room filled with headphones and they all had different freaky sounds coming from them. Another room had a table covered in plastic food containers and cup and they were covered in painted on flies. But I did come to one very important conclusion. It isn't contemporary art if it isn't a. weird, b. creepy, or c. confusing. Preferably all three.
↓ a few art pieces from the contemporary art museum ↓
There were photos next to this one detailing the process.
The lady got stark naked, covered herself in pink paint and made
those pink body impressions...
Photos of furniture.
Mona Lisa with meats hanging in front of her?
All in all, a few hours well spent. I love museums, especially when they are free!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Random Facts About Santiago and Chile
I have been working on this blog post awhile, making note of differences and simple facts of life I have seen while living in Santiago, Chile. It's certainly not a complete list, and I am sure I'm forgetting something, but here are a few of the things I've noticed.
PDA: There is a lot of it, and not just the hand-holding, brief kiss on the lips kind. I'm talking making out on the subway, literally lying on top of each other in the park, openly groping each other in the street kind. In the United States, PDA is usually frowned upon, and while you might see the occasional couple going at it, those sightings are few and far between. But not here. If you are young and in love in Santiago, you are all for displaying that love for everybody to see. Seeing couples being so touchy-feely in public has definitely taken some getting used to.
Dogs: They are everywhere. Not only does just about every Chilean family seem to own a dog or three, but there is an abundance of street dogs with no apparent home. You can always hear dogs barking at all hours of the day and night and everywhere you look there are dogs laying about in the sun. And the truly surprising thing is that, unlike the half-starved mangy dogs in Costa Rica, these dogs seem fairly well fed.
A few other things to note...
PDA: There is a lot of it, and not just the hand-holding, brief kiss on the lips kind. I'm talking making out on the subway, literally lying on top of each other in the park, openly groping each other in the street kind. In the United States, PDA is usually frowned upon, and while you might see the occasional couple going at it, those sightings are few and far between. But not here. If you are young and in love in Santiago, you are all for displaying that love for everybody to see. Seeing couples being so touchy-feely in public has definitely taken some getting used to.
Dogs: They are everywhere. Not only does just about every Chilean family seem to own a dog or three, but there is an abundance of street dogs with no apparent home. You can always hear dogs barking at all hours of the day and night and everywhere you look there are dogs laying about in the sun. And the truly surprising thing is that, unlike the half-starved mangy dogs in Costa Rica, these dogs seem fairly well fed.
Not sure if you can see,
but there are 6 dogs sleeping in this photo.
And there are 2 more out of frame.
Streets: Nobody cleans them. I mean, not every street is covered in stuff, but many are. This was most noticeable in Valparaiso, but it's true in Santiago too. The other day when I was riding the Micro (that's what the bus system) we passed by a street that looked like an entire farmers market worth of vegetables got thrown about. It was crazy. And it isn't just vegetables and pieces of plastic. Do to the abundance of dogs I mentioned earlier, there is dog crap everywhere. You have to constantly be on the lookout so you don't accidentally step in something gross.
Bread: Eaten with every meal. Which is actually something I am quite thrilled with. I love bread and, due to my somewhat finicky eating habits, it is often the only food I can eat while traveling to foreign countries. But the Chileans eat bread as often as the French. It's primarily sold in these funny little 4-roll loaves (see photo). For breakfast you might have one or two rolls slathered in butter and jam with a cup of tea. For lunch and dinner, you may use a roll to clean your plate or as an appetizer. For dessert, a little bit of manjar spread on some bread can not be beat. I was surprised by the sheer amount of bread consumed here, but I am not complaining!
Smoking: Everybody does it. I'm no stranger to smoking. My mom smokes, and I know a lot of people who might smoke a cigarette or two while drinking, but most of the people I know back home really do not smoke. Which is not that surprising considering the ad campaigns and research studies we are inundated with, telling us that smoking kills. But here it is as if nobody is getting those messages. I have heard about places like France having a lot of smokers, but I just was not really expecting it here. The most surprising is the number of younger Chileans that smoke, college age and even younger. In the US, it seems like the majority of smokers that I know are older, people who have been smoking before the health risks became so well known. But in any case, this has been one of the harder things to become accustomed too, since I really can't stand the smoke.
Lemons: They love them. Seriously, I never knew people could like lemon so much; they put it on everything. You ordered a salad? Squeeze some lemon juice on it. You're eating some fish? It'll taste better with some lemon juice on it. You want a snack? Just snack on a lemon. I have literally seen people on the bus just sucking on a lemon. With dinner every night we usually have a side salad, which is iceberg lettuce with lemon juice, oil, and salt. Sometime we will have a carrot salad or a broccoli salad or a cauliflower salad. Which just involves said vegetable, lemon juice, oil, and salt. I believe I'm actually becoming quite fond of lemons. :)
<-- My host mother making our daily salad.
but there are 6 dogs sleeping in this photo.
And there are 2 more out of frame.
Streets: Nobody cleans them. I mean, not every street is covered in stuff, but many are. This was most noticeable in Valparaiso, but it's true in Santiago too. The other day when I was riding the Micro (that's what the bus system) we passed by a street that looked like an entire farmers market worth of vegetables got thrown about. It was crazy. And it isn't just vegetables and pieces of plastic. Do to the abundance of dogs I mentioned earlier, there is dog crap everywhere. You have to constantly be on the lookout so you don't accidentally step in something gross.
Bread: Eaten with every meal. Which is actually something I am quite thrilled with. I love bread and, due to my somewhat finicky eating habits, it is often the only food I can eat while traveling to foreign countries. But the Chileans eat bread as often as the French. It's primarily sold in these funny little 4-roll loaves (see photo). For breakfast you might have one or two rolls slathered in butter and jam with a cup of tea. For lunch and dinner, you may use a roll to clean your plate or as an appetizer. For dessert, a little bit of manjar spread on some bread can not be beat. I was surprised by the sheer amount of bread consumed here, but I am not complaining!
Smoking: Everybody does it. I'm no stranger to smoking. My mom smokes, and I know a lot of people who might smoke a cigarette or two while drinking, but most of the people I know back home really do not smoke. Which is not that surprising considering the ad campaigns and research studies we are inundated with, telling us that smoking kills. But here it is as if nobody is getting those messages. I have heard about places like France having a lot of smokers, but I just was not really expecting it here. The most surprising is the number of younger Chileans that smoke, college age and even younger. In the US, it seems like the majority of smokers that I know are older, people who have been smoking before the health risks became so well known. But in any case, this has been one of the harder things to become accustomed too, since I really can't stand the smoke.
Lemons: They love them. Seriously, I never knew people could like lemon so much; they put it on everything. You ordered a salad? Squeeze some lemon juice on it. You're eating some fish? It'll taste better with some lemon juice on it. You want a snack? Just snack on a lemon. I have literally seen people on the bus just sucking on a lemon. With dinner every night we usually have a side salad, which is iceberg lettuce with lemon juice, oil, and salt. Sometime we will have a carrot salad or a broccoli salad or a cauliflower salad. Which just involves said vegetable, lemon juice, oil, and salt. I believe I'm actually becoming quite fond of lemons. :)
<-- My host mother making our daily salad.
A few other things to note...
- The typical greeting is the one-cheek kiss, and it can get awkward if you go for the handshake and they go for your face.
- They are big fans of avocado here, which surprised me for some reason, but I love avocado so it's okay with me.
- There is a sad lack of cheese here, and the few types they have are pretty expensive. I want to eat more or less like a local, so it isn't so bad, but I am definitely missing cheese.
- Names can get a bit confusing: In my 25-person Marketing class, there are 7 girls named Maria.
- This isn't the Spanish you have been learning in class. Yes the words are more or less the same, but their vocab is a little different and some phrases have different connotations. They also speak very fast here and sometimes drop the "s". The youth say cachai? after almost every sentence which basically means "you know" "understand?"
- Ciao is the customary goodbye around here. I know I lot of countries use Ciao as a goodbye, but I still associate it with Europe, so it caught me a bit off guard.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Viña del Mar: Day 2
I woke up around 10am on Sunday, our second day in Valpo, and I was one of the early birds. Everybody was pretty tired/hungover, so most people didn't get up until around noon. After everybody had showered and eaten and beautified themselves, a group of us decided to head over to Viña del Mar, a neighboring city known for its beautiful gardens, sandy beaches, and picturesque surroundings. We walked down to the metro station and after several very confusing minutes at the ticket booth, we were on our way.
Sign at the metro station.
You can take a horse drawn carriage on a ride through the city.
Once we got there we immediately wanted to head for the beach, the only problem being that we had no clue where the beach was...But after about 20 minutes of walking in circles and asking random people of the street, we finally found it. There were several locations perfect for taking pictures among the rocks with the sea in the background.
A blocked off area where people aren't allowed to enter.
Water under the bridge ;)
Rocks, the ocean, and a far-off castle.
Sign at the metro station.
You can take a horse drawn carriage on a ride through the city.
A blocked off area where people aren't allowed to enter.
Water under the bridge ;)
Rocks, the ocean, and a far-off castle.
We spent a good portion of the day at the beach, lounging in the sun, recovering from the night before, and looking at some awesome sand sculptures. A few of us decided to eat lunch at a local Italian restaurant called La Dolce Vita and I decided to order a Pisco Sour, which was delicious. I'm still not quite used to being allowed to purchase alcohol, but it's convenient. :) After lunch we went to an artesanía (a market type thing where they sell artisan crafts) and looked around before returning home.
Some of the rocks had bible verses written on them in white.
They were quite beautiful.
One of the sand sculptures of a gorilla.
Sitting on a boardwalk along the beach. Ana (from Colombia), Julia & Jacqueline (from Germany), Me, & Katerine (from France)
My day in Viña was much more laid back and realizing than my first day in Valpo, which was eactly what I needed, but I definitely plan on going back and exploring some more!
Some of the rocks had bible verses written on them in white.
They were quite beautiful.
One of the sand sculptures of a gorilla.
Sitting on a boardwalk along the beach. Ana (from Colombia), Julia & Jacqueline (from Germany), Me, & Katerine (from France)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Valparaiso: Day 1
Last weekend was a 3-day weekend so I decided to visit Valparaiso with about 20 or so other exchange students. Valparaiso is a port town about an hour and a half away from Santiago, and many Chileans claim it is the heart of Chile. We left at 10am on Saturday and once we arrived we headed off to our hostel. One bus ride and a small trek later, we arrived at our brightly colored hostel and were divided into rooms; my room had 12 other people in it. 
View of the port.
View of the houses on the hill.
After everybody had settled in, we all set off to visit La Sebastiana, one of Pablo Neruda' s homes. Now, in case you didn't know, Valpo is essentially built on a giant hill, and Pablo Neruda's home has one of the most amazing views of the city and water, which means we spent about 20 minutes walking up extremely steep hills. But the views of the city and the graffiti were amazing and, after what was probably one of the most horrifying hikes of my life, we finally arrived at the house. It's a very peculiar home, with 5 floors and peculiar rooms, but the views were indeed spectacular.
Some brightly colored houses and a brightly colored car :)
Street view.
La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's house.
After the tour, we headed to the market to grab some lunch. Since we were at the top of Valpo and the market was at the bottom, everybody climbed onto a bus. Now, this might actually have been one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever had. Buses in that area are basically glorified vans, so we had 32 people crammed into seats and about 20 people standing pretty much wherever there was floor space. As if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, we then had to start our descent through the steep and winding roads of the city. This driver was taking hairpin turns at what felt like 60 mph and people are literally flying around the bus. I actually had to shut my eyes some of the time because I didn't want to see the 100ft drop-offs at the side of the road. However we did make it safely to the bottom of the hill and it was certainly better than walking!
View of the market.
A group of guys that starting playing in the middle of lunch.
What the heck is that piano like instrument?
It has a tube that you blow into...
When everybody had finished eating, we walked around a bit and saw the sites. We visited this giant statue/monument to the Chilean military which was really cool and saw a lot of murals and graffiti work. We even got to ride up one of Valpo's famous ascensores, which technically means elevator. But in Valparaiso it refers to these large outdoor elevator-like contraptions that take you up giant hills. Kind of like a ski lift, but on the ground. They are a little scary, but a quick and cheap way to get to the top of a hill. (It cost around 20 cents.)
Me standing in front of the military monument.
Graffiti
View of the ascensor from the bottom.
A group of us inside the club.
And so ended my first day in Valparaiso. :)
View of the port.
View of the houses on the hill.
After everybody had settled in, we all set off to visit La Sebastiana, one of Pablo Neruda' s homes. Now, in case you didn't know, Valpo is essentially built on a giant hill, and Pablo Neruda's home has one of the most amazing views of the city and water, which means we spent about 20 minutes walking up extremely steep hills. But the views of the city and the graffiti were amazing and, after what was probably one of the most horrifying hikes of my life, we finally arrived at the house. It's a very peculiar home, with 5 floors and peculiar rooms, but the views were indeed spectacular.
Some brightly colored houses and a brightly colored car :)
Street view.
La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's house.
After the tour, we headed to the market to grab some lunch. Since we were at the top of Valpo and the market was at the bottom, everybody climbed onto a bus. Now, this might actually have been one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever had. Buses in that area are basically glorified vans, so we had 32 people crammed into seats and about 20 people standing pretty much wherever there was floor space. As if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, we then had to start our descent through the steep and winding roads of the city. This driver was taking hairpin turns at what felt like 60 mph and people are literally flying around the bus. I actually had to shut my eyes some of the time because I didn't want to see the 100ft drop-offs at the side of the road. However we did make it safely to the bottom of the hill and it was certainly better than walking!
View of the market.
A group of guys that starting playing in the middle of lunch.
What the heck is that piano like instrument?
It has a tube that you blow into...
When everybody had finished eating, we walked around a bit and saw the sites. We visited this giant statue/monument to the Chilean military which was really cool and saw a lot of murals and graffiti work. We even got to ride up one of Valpo's famous ascensores, which technically means elevator. But in Valparaiso it refers to these large outdoor elevator-like contraptions that take you up giant hills. Kind of like a ski lift, but on the ground. They are a little scary, but a quick and cheap way to get to the top of a hill. (It cost around 20 cents.)
Me standing in front of the military monument.
Graffiti
View of the ascensor from the bottom.
Once we returned to our hostel (after walking down several flights of very sketchy looking stairs in dark alleys) we had an asado or barbeque. And waited to head out the club. In Chile, nobody goes out the clubs until at least midnight, and even that is a little early, but people start drinking around 10pm, which is exactly what everybody did. Lucky for us, there was a liquor store right across the street. One thing I have to say, is that liquor can be super cheap here. I bought basically a fifth of this Mango Pisco mixed drink and a quart of pineapple juice for $7. The Mango Pisco would have cost $15 alone back home, but I am certainly not complaining! So after 2 hours of drinking Mango Pisco, wine, sangria, and of course straight shots of Pisco, everybody was ready to head out to the club and do some dancing. The club was named Huevo and had 5 floors for dancing, all with different types of music. We got a free drink with our ticket so I got a Piscola which is just Pisco and coke. Even though I'm not a huge fan of dancing, it was a lot of fun and a group of us ended up leaving around 3:30am, which is actually a bit early, but we had had a long day!
Me, Katerine, & Mike hanging out in the hostel before going out.
I think Katerine was a little prendida (colombian slang for tipsy)... :)
Club Huevo (which means egg...)
Me, Katerine, & Mike hanging out in the hostel before going out.
I think Katerine was a little prendida (colombian slang for tipsy)... :)
Club Huevo (which means egg...)
A group of us inside the club.
And so ended my first day in Valparaiso. :)
Friday, August 12, 2011
Cerro Santa Lucia
Yesterday I went to the central campus of my university to get my ID card. Since it was a beautiful day I decided to walk around, and I realized that the Cerro Santa Lucia was just one metro station away. Basically, it is a giant hill with all these pathways and stairs that wind up to the top and a spectacular view of the city.
Base of the cerro.
The second tier.
It takes about 15-30 minutes to climb, depending on how often you decide to stop and take pictures and explore side pathways. :) There is this huge fountain at the first plaza that was super impressive and all throughout the cerro people have written and carved their names into a lot of the trees and rocks, which actually looks pretty cool.
Fountain on the first plaza.
Names carved and written on a tree.
I was worried that it would be really exhausting climbing this huge hill, but it was not that bad and there was plenty to see. Plus, the view from the top was worth the climb. You could see pretty far out into the city, and if it weren't for the smog, you could probably see even further.
On the right is the main entrance building to
the central campus of my university, you
can kind of see the jesus/god statue on top.
A view of the National Library from above!
Me and a view of the park.
All in all it was time well spent and I look forward to climbing the Cerro San Cristobal which is supposed to be bigger and better! :)
Base of the cerro.
The second tier.
It takes about 15-30 minutes to climb, depending on how often you decide to stop and take pictures and explore side pathways. :) There is this huge fountain at the first plaza that was super impressive and all throughout the cerro people have written and carved their names into a lot of the trees and rocks, which actually looks pretty cool.
Fountain on the first plaza.
Names carved and written on a tree.
I was worried that it would be really exhausting climbing this huge hill, but it was not that bad and there was plenty to see. Plus, the view from the top was worth the climb. You could see pretty far out into the city, and if it weren't for the smog, you could probably see even further.
On the right is the main entrance building to
the central campus of my university, you
can kind of see the jesus/god statue on top.
A view of the National Library from above!
This is a view from maybe 3/4 of the way to the top,
I'm trying to show all the levels of the hill.
I'm trying to show all the levels of the hill.
Me and a view of the park.
All in all it was time well spent and I look forward to climbing the Cerro San Cristobal which is supposed to be bigger and better! :)
Monday, August 8, 2011
Santa Lucia
Yesterday I decided to go to una feria (where you would buy artisan crafts and other touristy stuff) in Santa Lucia with two other exchange students, Mike from Wisconsin and Katerine from Paris. When we met up at the Santa Lucia metro station, we ran into some of Mike's friends who were planning on taking a tour bus though downtown Santiago. We decided to join them, and we spent some time together walking around and taking pictures of the scenery, but in typical Chilean style, the bus still hadn't shown up after an hour of waiting so we decided to just head straight to the feria. It turns out that on Sunday's, Santiago is pretty much a ghost town, with many shops being closed. Luckily, most of the stands we were interested in were open, and we all ended up getting some shopping done.
National library of Chile.
Me standing in front of an Easter Island look-a-like statue.
Purses hanging from a stall in the feria.
A warm alpaca jacket and some gloves I purchased at the feria.
Once we had finished shopping, we had planned to climb to the top of the Cerro Santa Lucia which is essentially a giant hill that lets you look out over the city and see some amazing views. But unfortunately, it decided to start raining pretty hard at that point, so we decided to seek shelter in some nearby shops until some of Mike's friends from Colombia came to join us for dinner. Both Mike and Katerine were in the mood for Peruvian food, and I had never tried it, so we decided to eat at a pretty nice looking Peruvian restaurant. They recommended that I try the Ají de Gallina, which is a specialty in Peru and incredibly delicious. Despite it's peculiar color, I was really glad I tried it!
Jeraldin and Jhosep.
Mike and Katerine at the restaurant.
Ají de Gallina
All in all in was a good day and a lot of fun. And I was especially happy since the Colombians complemented me on my Spanish! :)
National library of Chile.
Me standing in front of an Easter Island look-a-like statue.
Purses hanging from a stall in the feria.
A warm alpaca jacket and some gloves I purchased at the feria.
Once we had finished shopping, we had planned to climb to the top of the Cerro Santa Lucia which is essentially a giant hill that lets you look out over the city and see some amazing views. But unfortunately, it decided to start raining pretty hard at that point, so we decided to seek shelter in some nearby shops until some of Mike's friends from Colombia came to join us for dinner. Both Mike and Katerine were in the mood for Peruvian food, and I had never tried it, so we decided to eat at a pretty nice looking Peruvian restaurant. They recommended that I try the Ají de Gallina, which is a specialty in Peru and incredibly delicious. Despite it's peculiar color, I was really glad I tried it!
Jeraldin and Jhosep.
Mike and Katerine at the restaurant.
Ají de Gallina
All in all in was a good day and a lot of fun. And I was especially happy since the Colombians complemented me on my Spanish! :)
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