On Friday, the other students from USAC and I first went on a tour of our university, then proceeded to go throughout downtown Santiago, and get a feel for the city. The architecture in Mercado Central, one of the sections of the city, are breathtaking. Because we just got an overview of all the different places in the city, I don't want to go to in depth about each because I want to revisit these places and get an intimate feel for each of them.
On Saturday, I went with two other students to Cummings via the Metro to an all day fiesta. One of the girls from my program has a family friend back home in the United States who connected her to some people down here in Santiago. One of these friends then proceeded to invite her over to his house for a party in celebration of his wife being pregnant. The neighborhood this guy lives in is amazing. The houses were build hundreds of years ago, so the ceilings are much higher. I think something like 5 or 6 people rent out the house and upkeep the garden. What I liked most about this little adventure was that while at the beginning it was a bit uncomfortable to be at a party with only spanish speakers (some people did know a small bit of english), it did not take long to fit right in.
It's funny. I realize that I have not been in the country for too long, but I have noticed that there have been several occasions where it has actually been more difficult to speak english as opposed to spanish. Especially at restaurants and the pubs, where everyone around is only speaking in spanish, I tend to just forget I know english and legitimitely think in spanish. Hmm, who knew?
Today I had lunch with my host mom and one of her friends which obviously was a homecooked 3 course meal. Great, I hope you are jealous. I then proceeded to go downtown to Cerro San Cristobal, which is a famous hill in Chile. There is a large statue of Mary at the top and a wonderful view of the city. (I actually stole the pictures below from my friend, Abe--I haven't uploaded my pictures yet, and he is really good slash really in to taking pictures so these should be more exciting than what mine are)
One of the many views of the Andes mountain range. When I walk to and from my house to get on the bus or go to the metro, they are always there and they have yet to bore me :)
the popo: chilean style
(this is what makes this hill so important)
a view of santiago from on top of cerro san cristobal
p.s. to those of you who would understand this: i feel like ms. quinn would be super proud that i went here
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