El casa y el clowder.

This is my house. It's in Vina del Mar. My original plan was to live in Valparaiso, but I was set up with this great place as my home stay during my two week Spanish Immersion program and was offered a chance to rent the room for as long as I please. Although Valparaiso is where I really want to be, I decided that I'll live here for a few months first. Valparaiso is only 10 or 15 minutes away by bus and this is a nice cozy place to live while getting accustomed to the area. Its also really close to the Vina del Mar offices of both of the schools where I will be working. I have a host Mum, host bro, and three other house mates. One is a Japanese teacher and the other two are students at the local university. We also have a maid, who doesn't live here but is still here for like 12 hours a day, and she is very patient with my bad Spanish.

Outside our house we have a clowder, which is a group of cats. (Guess who I learned that from?) There are four of them but they are pretty apprehensive, and therefore I've only been able to get good pictures of two.

Most of the crowds of summer tourists are gone, and yesterday I had most of the beach to myself for the first time. Check out the guy in the tiny orange bathing suit. I had no idea he was there when I took the picture. I was just looking at the city in the distance.

This post is boring. I'm sorry.

Besos,
Allie

Graffiti Especial

Since moving here, I've kind of been inspired to become a graffiti artist. The only thing holding me back is that I have no idea what the legal penalties for such things are here, especially for foreigners who are planning on working illegally until their work permits come through. That and paint isn't my medium of choice. Do you think I could graffiti with felt?

These pictures were taken in both Viña del Mar and Valparaíso. The photo in the header of this page was taken in Valparaíso.

Without further ado, graffiti especial:










This means: Consumer, it consumes you.
So awesome.

One week special.

Well, I've been here one week. Here are the developments.

• I have not met another American, or even another native English speaker. The closest I've come is my Japanese house mate who lived in Boston for a year. I'm sure this will all change once I start working an English language schools, but so far its been a great environment for learning Spanish.
  
• I've lost a significant amount of weight. I wish I could find a scale. I haven't been eating much because I'm not on a solid schedule yet and I'm not crazy about the incredible amounts of meat in everything. Also, I've been walking for hours every day. If I keep this up, I'm going to have to buy some new clothes next week.
• I live in the Miami of Chile. So I asked Japanese house mate why she prefers to live in Viña rather than Valparaíso, where she works, and she said she likes it here because its like Miami. I laughed. Then I thought about it and decided that she is right. This is totally the Miami of Chile. There is the beach, casinos, shopping, and thats about it. Its a vacation spot for the well off of Santiago. Its okay for now, but in the long run, not really my thing.
  
• I've done a lot of thinking about language learning and how difficult and frustrating it can be. I think that it will make me a better teacher. I wish I had a tape recording of me when I first arrived because I know that my Spanish is much better now, even after a week, its just hard to quantify.
  
• I want acupuncture. There is a point on the side of my head that is just aching to be poked by a needle. I'm almost ready to do it myself.
• I have a place to live (I'm staying with Mafalda for now) and at least one job lined up. I'm doing pretty well.

Yayyyyyyyyyy!

Valparaíso, te quiero.

On Thursday afternoon I went to Valparaíso, and I fell madly into an all consuming, throbbing, passionate love. (Sorry, Seattle!) Picture an old crumbly European style city with windy little streets and hundred year old ornate architecture painted fabulously bright colors all on the side of a mountain falling into the sea. That plus the best graffiti ever all over everything. Ughh. Just writing about it makes me tingle. Once I get a little more on my feet, I'm going to look for a place in Valparaíso, and be the happiest girl in the universe when I wake up every morning.

Yesterday I laid out on the beach and realized that I must be the whitest person in Chile, if not South America. Even still, for some reason, people usually assume I'm Chilean until I open my mouth. Someone told me that its because I don't dress like an American, which I suppose has some truth to it...

Okay... Pictures!!

This is the customs building. It was the first building that was built in the city and still functions as a customs office today. I love that it's bright pink...



This is a Navy, or Armada building.



Port!

So, one of the main challenges of building a city on the side of a multiple steep hills is getting people up and down. Thats why they built ancensors, or elevators to bring people around. They are kind of like street cars that go mostly vertically. Here is a picture taken from inside a car on its way up.


Word on the street is that about a year ago there was a gas leak and a huge explosion that blew up most of a city block. This is a piece of what's left.
Vince, I'm in a pretty developed area, so I haven't been able to see many stars. I'll let you know if I ever get out someplace more rural. Also, I asked if there were any Pinochet monuments still around and I got just about the dirtiest look ever from everyone in the room. Thanks. :)

Besos,
Allie

Observations (and a few more pictures)

So, its not just Mafalda that I can't understand here, its everyone except Luciano, the Director of the Spanish school. During my job interview yesterday, I was relieved to hear that its not just me. Chilean Spanish is an actuality different from the Spanish I've been exposed to in the past. To make it worse, people talk incredibly fast and don't annunciate at all (not even a little). When I hear most people speak, every sentence sounds like one long jumbled word. I've learned that if I smile and giggle, people are more likely to repeat it slower. If I try to respond with someone that doesn't make sense, they are more likely to write me off.

A few pieces of Chilean Spanish vocab for you Spanish speakers out there:
(Disclaimer: This might not be just Chilean, its just new to me.)

palota- avocado
pololo/a- boyfriend/girlfriend
chico/a- small
ave- chicken (it actually means poultry, but they use the word here to talk about chicken on menus and stuff)

The city is really crowded now. There is the largest music festival on the continent happening here this weekend. Its a nightmare to do anything, including walking down the street. Apparently, the population of Viña doubles on this weekend every year. I kind of want to go to the music festival, but I can't figure out how to get tickets, or if there are even any still available, or where it is or anything else.... so, yeah.

It looks like I have two jobs lined up. I don't know many details yet, so I'll post more about that later.

OK, more pictures:

Does that say Allie?!?!


Vince, I would totally post about seeing a "new sky" if i knew what that was. Please, enlighten me. I haven't seen any Pinochet monuments yet. I'll keep an eye out. I haven't looked into the candy scene much, as the nut risk is so high. There is lots of ice cream though....... (Brenna, I'm trying to lure you... )

Besos,
Allie

fotos de la playa (on Laura's request)

So, I just fell in love and out of love with empanadas de queso in one sitting. Picture a really dense croissant stuffed with cheese, covered in oil, and then baked (to be healthier than the fried kind). The first few bites were incredible, then you realize what you are eating, and then it starts settling in your stomach and... its not as incredible. They are kind of what I imagine emergency rations to be like.

Oh, in my last post, I forgot to mention that I lost my cell phone on the plane, which also means that I lost all of your phone numbers. Ironically, the only reason that I brought the phone with me was so that I would have everyone's phone number. Please e-mail your phone numbers to me!!! I also got a cell phone here which can (apparently) receive calls from the U.S. at no cost to me, so e-mail me if you want my number.

Okay, now the photos:

This is the ocean.

The funny thing about this picture is that about 100 feet away from these people swimming, there is a sign with a picture of a person drowning explaining that 171 people drowned in Chile last year due to swimming in unsafe places. To me that implied that this might not be the safest place to be swimming.... to make it better, everyone in the water is either an unsupervised boy between the ages of 6 and 12 or an overwieght woman in a neon bathing suit.
Hey, look! They took one of these things from Easter Island and put it next to their library!

This is the library. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I LOVE libraries. The funny thing about this one is that it took me half an hour before I could find any books. The first floor is all art displays, which is great. Then you get to the second floor, and thats all art displays too and you find yourself wondering if "biblioteca" means museum instead of library in Chile or something weird like that. At that moment, I caught a glimpse of a card catalog tucked off in the corner, and then I found a whole wall of them with a little window at the end through which I could see all the books. You can't even get close to them until you know what you want. Its officially the least fun library ever, but its really pretty and really big.

This is the museum of natural history. If there is something in this world that I love close to as much as libraries, its science museums. I haven't gone in yet because it was only half an hour to close when I found it, and I want to spend a good long time when I pay up the 1500 peso entrance fee. (Thats about $3.) Oh, and I really hope that its pronounced Museo Funk.


Other than that, I've had some pretty promising job interviews and two more to go. I wont bore you with the details. I'll save that for when I have a job.

Besos,
Allie


PS- Laura, the exchange rate is 475 pesos/US dollar.

PPS- Who are you, Boobooboy?

Mafalda is better than anything... and everything... ever.

I'm probably to tired to be doing this right now. I'm probably to tired to be breathing or existing or trying to get this days old oatmeal cookie out of plastic wrap so that I can have some dinner.

Luciano picked me up from the airport. He owns the Spanish school that I will be attending and he is seriously awesome. He has already offered to help me get a work permit, a cell phone and has a few people for me to talk to about jobs. After 2 hours of talking to him in Spanish about everything that my limited vocabulary and ability to gesture could handle (including the similarities between Pinochet and Bush), he dropped me at my home stay.

Mafalda is my host Mum, and I kind of feel like she has saved my life 545702 times already. Either Mafalda doesn't dumb down her Spanish for me, or I can't understand her accent or I'm to tired to be taking up physical space in this universe, but I can't really understand much that she says in Spanish. Luckily, she speaks English, and when I found this out I felt it necessary to prolifically explain that I am not brain damaged, I'm just too tired to uhm.... anything. She smiled, and has been looking at me ever since kind of like I'm a wounded puppy. She very generously offered to take me to the mall and help me exchange money and buy outlet converters (which I didn't know I needed, and are way more complicated than you'd think). Then we got ice cream and bought a bunch of really long pieces of wood from a hardware store. (I'm still confused about this as well.) Picture me dead tired in what must have been the most crowded hardware store in Chile, ice cream cone in one hand, large pieces of wood being steadied on a shopping cart by the other, laughing hysterically while trying not to impale or drop ice cream on screaming children. Where am I again?

Anyhoo, the home stay is pretty posh. The living room has a crystal chandelier with matching crystal sconces and crystal other stuff all over every flat surface. I'm kind of afraid to go in there. We have wireless internet too, and a cute little covered patio where we take all the meals which are prepared by a hired cook. Where am I again?

I'm going to bed, tired, amused, confused and happy.

Besos,
Allie