Estoy acostumbrando...poco a poco

Feels like I’ve been here much longer than just a few days because so much has happened, yet at the same time, I don’t know nearly enough to have been here for much longer than that! Time is definitely a funny thing. We’ve all been really busy as our host families introduce us to everyone, show us the city and surrounding areas, take us to the mall to buy a phone, help us figure out the micros (buses)…but I’m glad that I’ve hardly had a minute to sit still because now, when I suddenly have a free afternoon, I’m not quite sure what to do with myself. Being in a foreign country is definitely an amazing experience, but I don’t want to have time to think about home. I know that as we get used to our schedules, start getting homework for classes, and finally figure out where everyone lives and how to get there, things will pick up again. We all received maps of Vina at the university yesterday, so Jess and I figured out a good half-way point between our houses—a café where we can hang out and study on weekdays. I talked with a few CSB students, sounds like we all love our host families but are ready for some independence and hanging out with friends instead of being around the house all day—guess that means we’re adjusting to life here. That’s the translation of the title: I’m adjusting…little by little.

The Language:
A common topic of conversation with us study-abroaders is los modismos (the sayings, unique expressions) of Chile. My host family points out these “chilenismos” often and has tried to mention some common ones to me. For instance, palta for avocado, carrete for a party or going out, cachai for y’know.
I’m also picking up on common expressions like Que lindo, which can be used to describe anything that’s good, really. Except food, which is covered by the expression Que rico.
Three of my classes are in Spanish, too. I had my first class yesterday, a political science class about conflict in Latin America and international relations. It should be very interesting, but this is the first time the prof has taught a class of estudiantes de intercambio (exchange students) and he spoke really fast. We got him to slow down a little, but it’s still a bit overwhelming. Plus, everyone else acts like they understand, but at one point I got a bit lost and said so. It was pretty funny, actually, because after that he’d pause every once in awhile to make sure that everyone understood—but he’d look directly at me and as long as I didn’t look super confused, he’d move on. Rather amused me, in a way it’s great because I can only improve from here! My art prof speaks quickly but is really easy to understand--plus he's hilarious, so will always look forward to that class.

The Food:
Breakfast is light—bread or galletas (crackers) with mermelada (jam), sometimes Corn Flakes, and coffee or tea.
Lunch is truly a meal if I ever saw one and is served in the early-mid afternoon depending on the family and everyone’s schedules—bread, potatoes, or rice (which can be eaten with mayonnaise—anything can be eaten with mayonnaise, really), usually some type of meat, and vegetables. Then comes soup, followed by dessert, which is either fruit or some very sweet postre (dessert) like pie. Ginger ale is the drink of choice at my house.
Once (which means 11, but is not eaten at 11, so I have no idea how that came about) is served 7 or later and consists of coffee or tea and bread (sometimes with cheese, today we had it with manjar or dulce de leche, a spread with a caramel flavor) or pastries. Sometimes this is dinner for me, but if it’s eaten early enough, then we’ll have something small later—like pie, soup, or fruit.
A few students have said that their dinner is basically lunch served all over again, but in my case and for many others, we’ve learned that it is best to eat everything given to you at lunch—you never know how small dinner will be!
Also, a note on the yogurt--you can basically drink it. I did not know this, so, to the great amusement of Elle and Jordan (mi sobrino, nephew, because his host mom is my host mom's daughter), I spilled it ALL OVER my coat today on the walk home.

The Transportation:
There are 5 main modes of transportation in Vina. The Metro (which I live too far from to take), micros (buses), colectivos (which have routes like buses, are the size of cabs, and will keep picking up passengers until they are full), taxis (which are the most expensive), and walking. I walk whenever I can—I walk home from school, about a 25 min walk, which is basically uphill the entire time. Thought about joining an exercise program…but walking home from school convinced me that it won’t be necessary.

Being Conspicuous:
Yesterday was our first at the university—when a group of us walk by, everyone stares. In the supermarket yesterday with Mama, I caught a glimpse in the mirror of me among the chilenos…tall with lighter hair, eyes, and complexion…plus the still slightly-awed expression of a newcomer…yep, you could spot me from a mile away. I’ve never stuck out in a crowd on a daily basis before, so it’s definitely a new experience for me.

Units of Measure:
Don’t even ask me how much something costs in US dollars if I don’t have a pencil and paper to do the conversion. Same with kilometers and miles. But honestly, there’s so much else to keep in mind here that I haven’t really tried to adjust to these things yet—one thing I’ve learned about myself is that there’s a cap on how much new information I can take in at a time. After a certain point, it’s rather useless to explain anything else to me until other information has taken time to sink in--only so much water can fit in a funnel before it starts spilling over the sides.
Also, it’s military time here--which of course is simple to figure out, but I’m not used to thinking that way yet.

Have been all around Vina—so far these past few days, mis padres gave me a driven tour, the CSB/SJU students went to the “gringo bar” Café Journal on Saturday (I told my host dad that I can speak Spanish better after I've had a piscola--he thought that was hilarious), my assigned “Buddy” from school and I walked to the beach, mi familia went to Mass, and today I walked with Mama to el centro where there are lots of shops. On Wednesday, I don’t have any classes and after lunch neither does Luis, my host nephew (though he’s a year or so older than me). So he’s going to give me a tour of Vina!

Today is Mama's birthday, so we're going to have a fiesta!!!!

Besos!!!