Hola todos,
On Wednesday, I went out dancing (after my tragic haircut), and it was fun. I met some new friends there, one of them named Alex. He is from California and studies here too. The next day, we got together again since we live near each other and we were talking about the street dogs and how cute they are. He has been living here for 8 months, therefore being here in the winter, and he told me that, in the winter time you see all the dogs wearing little coat jackets, because the Chileans in Santiago don't want them getting cold!!!!
So when it's 30 degrees (F) out, you'll walk outside and just see a bunch of dogs with jackets on to keep them warm.
Is that not the CUTEST thing you have ever heard?!?
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
I Have Become A Colonial Dutch Boy
Hola todos,
Okay, so if you're in Chile and need a haircut, do not let anyone persuade you to get one. Just wait until you get back to your own country. My hair is usually just completely straight across, maybe a little angled in the front, but nothing much. Knowing this, you're thinking, okay, it's easy to cut her hair. And you are correct, it is easy, and I only needed a trim. I figured that, it wouldn't matter where I went, I mean you'd think that if a person works at any hair salon, they should know how to cut hair in a straight line. Well, you are incredibly incorrect.
After class yesterday, I went to a place to get a US$15 haircut. Good deal right? Considering a trim in NY is more or less $80. My hair was 2/3 of the way down my neck, and I asked the hairdresser to cut it to a little below the chin. Easy enough, yes? Well, no. She cut it to that length, but it was uneven, so she had to cut it a little more, then it was still uneven, and she had to cut even more. Now my hair comes up to my bottom lip. She also decided to unevenly cut my side bang too short, and now 1/3 of my forehead is showing. They are even too short to have as full bangs across my entire forehead. Seeing this when I got home, was a sad sad event in my life. And the first thing I thought when I saw my face was, Wow, I look like a brunette 5 year old colonial Dutch boy... Yay.
I went out that night because I had already said yes, and naturally I couldn't put my hair back because it's too short to become a pony tail, so instead I used 5 bobby pins to at least pin my too short bangs back. There was nothing I could really do about my hair. Even worse, all the earrings I own now seem too big because a lot of them dangle. Now, they are longer than my hair. My friends decided to be nice and say I looked fine, but I knew they looked at me and wanted to know if I had asked the hairdresser for a Dutch boy haircut.
This is a tragic event, but luckily hair does grow, so in one month, I'll become a girl again.
Anna "Dutch Boy" Talarico
Okay, so if you're in Chile and need a haircut, do not let anyone persuade you to get one. Just wait until you get back to your own country. My hair is usually just completely straight across, maybe a little angled in the front, but nothing much. Knowing this, you're thinking, okay, it's easy to cut her hair. And you are correct, it is easy, and I only needed a trim. I figured that, it wouldn't matter where I went, I mean you'd think that if a person works at any hair salon, they should know how to cut hair in a straight line. Well, you are incredibly incorrect.
After class yesterday, I went to a place to get a US$15 haircut. Good deal right? Considering a trim in NY is more or less $80. My hair was 2/3 of the way down my neck, and I asked the hairdresser to cut it to a little below the chin. Easy enough, yes? Well, no. She cut it to that length, but it was uneven, so she had to cut it a little more, then it was still uneven, and she had to cut even more. Now my hair comes up to my bottom lip. She also decided to unevenly cut my side bang too short, and now 1/3 of my forehead is showing. They are even too short to have as full bangs across my entire forehead. Seeing this when I got home, was a sad sad event in my life. And the first thing I thought when I saw my face was, Wow, I look like a brunette 5 year old colonial Dutch boy... Yay.
I went out that night because I had already said yes, and naturally I couldn't put my hair back because it's too short to become a pony tail, so instead I used 5 bobby pins to at least pin my too short bangs back. There was nothing I could really do about my hair. Even worse, all the earrings I own now seem too big because a lot of them dangle. Now, they are longer than my hair. My friends decided to be nice and say I looked fine, but I knew they looked at me and wanted to know if I had asked the hairdresser for a Dutch boy haircut.
This is a tragic event, but luckily hair does grow, so in one month, I'll become a girl again.
Anna "Dutch Boy" Talarico
2 Months (And 3 Days) In Chile
Hola todos,
It is so crazy to think that I have been here in Chile for more than 60 days! I have done and learned so much in these 60 days and have enjoyed my entire time here so far. My Spanish is picking up quite a bit, so much that I actually have Chilean friends now, who are willing to talk to me. I have gotten to know Santiago well at this point, and I could most likely know what metro to take to get to a certain place. School has been going well, I met a friend in my class, who turns out to actually be in one of my other classes too. Thank goodness because those are the two classes that are most difficult. I had my first exam yesterday, in "The History of Chile and of America." I had to write 4 pages on the Incan empire and what factors determined their southern border. It was a pretty good essay if I do say so myself, but we'll see what the professor thinks!
I am beginning a volunteer position this Monday, in which I will be taking care of the street dogs, which I am very excited about! I have been keeping busy here experiencing the country whether its going to the Santa Lucia flea market on the weekend, going to a concert, or just going for a walk. I am happy about this because how else is someone going to experience a culture of a place if they're not immersing themselves?
I have traveled a bit, though I want to travel a lot more. I am currently beginning to plan my trip of traveling around South America for the 5-6 weeks I have after school ends and before my plane ride back. Right now, I'm aiming for Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and maybe Bolivia and Peru. But this might be over ambitious.
My apartment is still very nice and comfortable. I completely feel at home here. The neighborhood is an absolutely wonderful place to live; one of the nicest in the city, hands down. It is so safe.
I am having such a wonderful time here and am so happy I have another 4 months!!
It is so crazy to think that I have been here in Chile for more than 60 days! I have done and learned so much in these 60 days and have enjoyed my entire time here so far. My Spanish is picking up quite a bit, so much that I actually have Chilean friends now, who are willing to talk to me. I have gotten to know Santiago well at this point, and I could most likely know what metro to take to get to a certain place. School has been going well, I met a friend in my class, who turns out to actually be in one of my other classes too. Thank goodness because those are the two classes that are most difficult. I had my first exam yesterday, in "The History of Chile and of America." I had to write 4 pages on the Incan empire and what factors determined their southern border. It was a pretty good essay if I do say so myself, but we'll see what the professor thinks!
I am beginning a volunteer position this Monday, in which I will be taking care of the street dogs, which I am very excited about! I have been keeping busy here experiencing the country whether its going to the Santa Lucia flea market on the weekend, going to a concert, or just going for a walk. I am happy about this because how else is someone going to experience a culture of a place if they're not immersing themselves?
I have traveled a bit, though I want to travel a lot more. I am currently beginning to plan my trip of traveling around South America for the 5-6 weeks I have after school ends and before my plane ride back. Right now, I'm aiming for Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and maybe Bolivia and Peru. But this might be over ambitious.
My apartment is still very nice and comfortable. I completely feel at home here. The neighborhood is an absolutely wonderful place to live; one of the nicest in the city, hands down. It is so safe.
I am having such a wonderful time here and am so happy I have another 4 months!!
At the top of Cerro San Cristobal with an overlook of Santiago
Mendoza, Argentina
Hola todos,
This previous weekend, I went to Mendoza, Argentina with 6 other people. I took a bus to get there at 10PM on Thursday. Apparently the ride is 6 hours, so I figured I'd sleep the entire way, get to the hostel, and go back to sleep. Well, the trip was 9 hours instead and we arrived at 7:30. We ended up spending about 2 hours at customs. Oh well.
My friends woke me up the next day at 11 to go zip-lining and rafting! I was tired, but I can always sleep another time. We got suited up and took a bus to about a half hour away. (I slept the entire time.) When we arrived, we put on our harnesses and went zip-lining. It was so much fun! There were 4 zip-lines, and the last two were quite long. We zip-lined over an absolutely beautiful blue lake with mountains surrounding it. There's nothing compared to seeing a place on a zip-line.
Afterwards, we got dressed into our wetsuits. It took like 10 minutes to actually get it on! It was so tight. But, once the 7 of us had them all, I realized that we looked like a crew from Star Trek, so I have a picture (I'll post it below) of all of holding up the star trek sign. A classic. We then took a bus up stream. This was my first time rafting, and it was very nerve-racking at times and I feared for my life at some points, but all in all it was a great rush. We were on the water for about 45 minutes, and we bumped around, hitting rocks, and huge waves hitting us. There was this one wave, I was so scared I was gonna fall off, I just sunk to the bottom of the raft. Screw that, I'm not falling into freezing cold water!! Luckily, no one actually fell overboard. The only boy with us, Josu, who is from Spain, almost fell into the water, and I caught him in mid-air. Those are my lifeguard reflexes. What can I say? We made it to the end of the river where it becomes the lake all in one piece, and exhausted. The guide was with us the entire time and he was instructing us when to paddle, so the entire ride all I heard was, Adelante!(forward) Adelante! Alto!(stop).... Adelante! Adelante! I swear those words were running through my dreams that night.
Afterwards, we returned back to the city, got changed, and then went out for a wonderful Argentine dinner. We ordered wine and got lots of meat. (Argentina is known for its spectacular meat.) People are right, the meat there is wonderful, as well as the wine!! At that point, I had decided that I had picked the wrong country. Why would I choose Chile, when Argentina is right next to it?!
Following the nice dinner, we went to a little bar and had a drink. Half of us went back to the hostel after, me included, and the others went to another club. Although I was sleeping on springs with a hint of mattress on them, it was a wonderful sleep.
The next morning, we woke at 9 to go on a city tour. We saw Mendoza more in detail, learned about the history, and took pictures. We also went up to the top of Cerro de la Gloria, which is a very well known, hill, in lack of a better word, in Argentina. It was beautiful because we were able to see the entire city and mountains around us. After this tour, we returned to the city and got a quick lunch before we went on our wine/olive oil tour.
At 2:30, we took a trip to two vineyards and one olive oil seller. We went on a tour of the first vineyard, drank wine, then went to the olive oil sellers and ate a variety of olive oils with different breads, and then finished the tour with more wine. It was a nice mix between food and wine. In Mendoza, there is also a wine tour on bike, in which you spend an entire day going to different vineyards via bike. I wanted to do it, but some other didn't, but there are wine tours on bike in Santiago, so no problem.
After the wine tour, we went out for dinner at an Argentine buffet. Oh my goodness. I have not eaten so much/ such wonderful meat before. I had steak, chicken, sausage, and tried some part of some animal that I cannot recall. But it was good. However, as I have said that I pride myself on my eagerness to try new things, I tried something called morcipán, I believe, which looks like a sausage but, is actually filled with congealed sheep blood! Normally, I have enough manners that if I eat something I don't like, I'll deal with it and finish the bite, but I actually could not do it. I had to spit it out. It was awful! But, how many people do you know who can say that they have tried sheep blood? Besides this, everything else was wonderful. Afterwards, we all just returned to the hostel to go to sleep. Half of us were going back to Santiago the next morning.
At 10 the next morning, 3 of the others and I took a bus back. The landscape of the bus trip was breath-taking because of all the gigantic mountains, the sky, and little villages we passed.
The trip to Mendoza was absolutely fabulous and I had a great time. I'm very happy that we were able to go, before it becomes too cold. The weather was very nice and we were able to be outside the entire trip. The food was wonderful, the city and area surrounding were gorgeous, and I am very excited to return to Argentina sometime soon!
Below are some pictures:
This previous weekend, I went to Mendoza, Argentina with 6 other people. I took a bus to get there at 10PM on Thursday. Apparently the ride is 6 hours, so I figured I'd sleep the entire way, get to the hostel, and go back to sleep. Well, the trip was 9 hours instead and we arrived at 7:30. We ended up spending about 2 hours at customs. Oh well.
My friends woke me up the next day at 11 to go zip-lining and rafting! I was tired, but I can always sleep another time. We got suited up and took a bus to about a half hour away. (I slept the entire time.) When we arrived, we put on our harnesses and went zip-lining. It was so much fun! There were 4 zip-lines, and the last two were quite long. We zip-lined over an absolutely beautiful blue lake with mountains surrounding it. There's nothing compared to seeing a place on a zip-line.
Afterwards, we got dressed into our wetsuits. It took like 10 minutes to actually get it on! It was so tight. But, once the 7 of us had them all, I realized that we looked like a crew from Star Trek, so I have a picture (I'll post it below) of all of holding up the star trek sign. A classic. We then took a bus up stream. This was my first time rafting, and it was very nerve-racking at times and I feared for my life at some points, but all in all it was a great rush. We were on the water for about 45 minutes, and we bumped around, hitting rocks, and huge waves hitting us. There was this one wave, I was so scared I was gonna fall off, I just sunk to the bottom of the raft. Screw that, I'm not falling into freezing cold water!! Luckily, no one actually fell overboard. The only boy with us, Josu, who is from Spain, almost fell into the water, and I caught him in mid-air. Those are my lifeguard reflexes. What can I say? We made it to the end of the river where it becomes the lake all in one piece, and exhausted. The guide was with us the entire time and he was instructing us when to paddle, so the entire ride all I heard was, Adelante!(forward) Adelante! Alto!(stop).... Adelante! Adelante! I swear those words were running through my dreams that night.
Afterwards, we returned back to the city, got changed, and then went out for a wonderful Argentine dinner. We ordered wine and got lots of meat. (Argentina is known for its spectacular meat.) People are right, the meat there is wonderful, as well as the wine!! At that point, I had decided that I had picked the wrong country. Why would I choose Chile, when Argentina is right next to it?!
Following the nice dinner, we went to a little bar and had a drink. Half of us went back to the hostel after, me included, and the others went to another club. Although I was sleeping on springs with a hint of mattress on them, it was a wonderful sleep.
The next morning, we woke at 9 to go on a city tour. We saw Mendoza more in detail, learned about the history, and took pictures. We also went up to the top of Cerro de la Gloria, which is a very well known, hill, in lack of a better word, in Argentina. It was beautiful because we were able to see the entire city and mountains around us. After this tour, we returned to the city and got a quick lunch before we went on our wine/olive oil tour.
At 2:30, we took a trip to two vineyards and one olive oil seller. We went on a tour of the first vineyard, drank wine, then went to the olive oil sellers and ate a variety of olive oils with different breads, and then finished the tour with more wine. It was a nice mix between food and wine. In Mendoza, there is also a wine tour on bike, in which you spend an entire day going to different vineyards via bike. I wanted to do it, but some other didn't, but there are wine tours on bike in Santiago, so no problem.
After the wine tour, we went out for dinner at an Argentine buffet. Oh my goodness. I have not eaten so much/ such wonderful meat before. I had steak, chicken, sausage, and tried some part of some animal that I cannot recall. But it was good. However, as I have said that I pride myself on my eagerness to try new things, I tried something called morcipán, I believe, which looks like a sausage but, is actually filled with congealed sheep blood! Normally, I have enough manners that if I eat something I don't like, I'll deal with it and finish the bite, but I actually could not do it. I had to spit it out. It was awful! But, how many people do you know who can say that they have tried sheep blood? Besides this, everything else was wonderful. Afterwards, we all just returned to the hostel to go to sleep. Half of us were going back to Santiago the next morning.
At 10 the next morning, 3 of the others and I took a bus back. The landscape of the bus trip was breath-taking because of all the gigantic mountains, the sky, and little villages we passed.
The trip to Mendoza was absolutely fabulous and I had a great time. I'm very happy that we were able to go, before it becomes too cold. The weather was very nice and we were able to be outside the entire trip. The food was wonderful, the city and area surrounding were gorgeous, and I am very excited to return to Argentina sometime soon!
Below are some pictures:
 |
| The main Square in Mendoza |
 |
| The view from Cerro de la Gloria |
 |
| The statue at the top of Cerro de la Gloria |
 |
| The buffet where all the meat is grilled |
 |
| Rafting |
 |
| A lake in the mountains on the bus ride back |
Monday, April 22, 2013
English To Spanish, Spanish To English
Hola todos,
I have mentioned several times by now how difficult the Spanish is here, and how difficult it can be to get around. This aside, I have been speaking a lot of Spanish and it is really improving. However, as strange as this seems, believe it or not, I feel like my English is getting rusty. At least speaking wise. Since I have been speaking Spanish all day every day (except skyping with people from home), I know that the pronunciation, word order and words themselves are very different.
Here is an example of my English... what's the word I'm looking for?... Ah, deteriorating.
When I was in Mendoza on Saturday, we were looking for a place to have dinner and decided on a Tenedor Libre which is a buffet. The waiter asked what the translation was and I said, boofet ("t" sound included), I knew that didn't sound right so I corrected myself and said, boofay and again I knew that wasn't correct. Finally I decided upon the correct pronunciation being buffet (buhfay). I think the waiter was a little confused with my lack of my native language.
Also, today I was in the library studying with a friend for a test that I have on Wednesday. Apparently her Spanish is deteriorating too because we both had trouble finding a word. We were looking for a word for when a business puts something into action. (The word was implement.) And we're saying, implentt? emplament? no, no! implemant? emplimant? Ah! What is the word?! She looked it up we both just sighed with a "Wow really??" look on out faces. It was a tragic experience and the English language is very upset looking down on me now.
I have also noticed that I am saying words and phrases in English that only make sense in Spanish. For example, the word "seriously" in Spanish is "en serio". Basically meaning "in seriousness." I am sad to say that I have said that a few times instead of "seriously." Also, I may have done this in my entries, but I have started saying, "for this reason" because "por eso" represents, "so, because of this etc., but more so, for this reason.) For example: "I needed milk and for this reason I went to the store." This isn't grammatically incorrect, but who says that? One would say, I needed milk so I went to the store."
But on a better note, Spanish is also helping my English. Because my native language is English, I still do think in English when I am translating something or reading something in Spanish. I have realized that I use the word "so" a lot in English. So yeah. However, there is not really a word for "so" in Spanish. For that reason I have cut down on my "so" usage.
I am confused how my native language could possibly be deteriorating, and how a completely different language is ironically helping it as well. My English is going to be very weird when I return to the U.S.!!
I have mentioned several times by now how difficult the Spanish is here, and how difficult it can be to get around. This aside, I have been speaking a lot of Spanish and it is really improving. However, as strange as this seems, believe it or not, I feel like my English is getting rusty. At least speaking wise. Since I have been speaking Spanish all day every day (except skyping with people from home), I know that the pronunciation, word order and words themselves are very different.
Here is an example of my English... what's the word I'm looking for?... Ah, deteriorating.
When I was in Mendoza on Saturday, we were looking for a place to have dinner and decided on a Tenedor Libre which is a buffet. The waiter asked what the translation was and I said, boofet ("t" sound included), I knew that didn't sound right so I corrected myself and said, boofay and again I knew that wasn't correct. Finally I decided upon the correct pronunciation being buffet (buhfay). I think the waiter was a little confused with my lack of my native language.
Also, today I was in the library studying with a friend for a test that I have on Wednesday. Apparently her Spanish is deteriorating too because we both had trouble finding a word. We were looking for a word for when a business puts something into action. (The word was implement.) And we're saying, implentt? emplament? no, no! implemant? emplimant? Ah! What is the word?! She looked it up we both just sighed with a "Wow really??" look on out faces. It was a tragic experience and the English language is very upset looking down on me now.
I have also noticed that I am saying words and phrases in English that only make sense in Spanish. For example, the word "seriously" in Spanish is "en serio". Basically meaning "in seriousness." I am sad to say that I have said that a few times instead of "seriously." Also, I may have done this in my entries, but I have started saying, "for this reason" because "por eso" represents, "so, because of this etc., but more so, for this reason.) For example: "I needed milk and for this reason I went to the store." This isn't grammatically incorrect, but who says that? One would say, I needed milk so I went to the store."
But on a better note, Spanish is also helping my English. Because my native language is English, I still do think in English when I am translating something or reading something in Spanish. I have realized that I use the word "so" a lot in English. So yeah. However, there is not really a word for "so" in Spanish. For that reason I have cut down on my "so" usage.
I am confused how my native language could possibly be deteriorating, and how a completely different language is ironically helping it as well. My English is going to be very weird when I return to the U.S.!!
I Am Not Marrying An American, Canadian Nor Australian
Hola todos,
It has been a while since I have last written, but I have been busy.
I have decided that I will be marrying someone most likely from Europe. I don't know anything about Asia nor Africa, and the men are too short here in South America. And this is why:
This weekend I went to Mendoza, Argentina! (I will write a new entry about that adventure.) Since I am American, I had to pay US$160 to get into Argentina! Therefore, at 3:00AM (I took a night bus), I had to not only go through Argentinian customs, but also had to go pay $160 to be in Argentina for not even 3 days.
I knew this of course because I looked it up online, and not only do Americans have to pay, but Canadians and Australians need to pay as well. Apparently this is because us Americans (Canadians and Australians) charge people from other countries $160 to enter the U.S. Therefore, these countries are giving us Americans (and Canadians and Australians) a taste of our own medicine. Though I understand this, I personally have no say in this matter with the U.S. and therefore I should not have to pay. But, obviously that is a completely irrational argument and if I went on a rant about that, I would probably never see Argentina. So, I kept my mouth shut and dealt with the burden of American politics.
I will be marrying someone from Europe because I can then become a citizen/ resident and get a new passport. Then, I will not be associated with America, Canada, nor Australia when I travel to other countries. I plan to travel a lot, do you know how much money I would save marrying a European?!
And you're thinking, Wow all of that really stinks. But even worse, I plan on traveling to Brazil, and there, you need to get a special tourist visa! Therefore, not only do Americans, Canadians, and Australians have to pay $160, we also have to go through a huge hassle to get a visa, even if we were going for a day.
So, sorry American, Canadian and Australian guys, I am not interested!
It has been a while since I have last written, but I have been busy.
I have decided that I will be marrying someone most likely from Europe. I don't know anything about Asia nor Africa, and the men are too short here in South America. And this is why:
This weekend I went to Mendoza, Argentina! (I will write a new entry about that adventure.) Since I am American, I had to pay US$160 to get into Argentina! Therefore, at 3:00AM (I took a night bus), I had to not only go through Argentinian customs, but also had to go pay $160 to be in Argentina for not even 3 days.
I knew this of course because I looked it up online, and not only do Americans have to pay, but Canadians and Australians need to pay as well. Apparently this is because us Americans (Canadians and Australians) charge people from other countries $160 to enter the U.S. Therefore, these countries are giving us Americans (and Canadians and Australians) a taste of our own medicine. Though I understand this, I personally have no say in this matter with the U.S. and therefore I should not have to pay. But, obviously that is a completely irrational argument and if I went on a rant about that, I would probably never see Argentina. So, I kept my mouth shut and dealt with the burden of American politics.
I will be marrying someone from Europe because I can then become a citizen/ resident and get a new passport. Then, I will not be associated with America, Canada, nor Australia when I travel to other countries. I plan to travel a lot, do you know how much money I would save marrying a European?!
And you're thinking, Wow all of that really stinks. But even worse, I plan on traveling to Brazil, and there, you need to get a special tourist visa! Therefore, not only do Americans, Canadians, and Australians have to pay $160, we also have to go through a huge hassle to get a visa, even if we were going for a day.
So, sorry American, Canadian and Australian guys, I am not interested!
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Walk Like A Chilean. Talk Like A Chilean. Be A Chilean?
Hola todos,
In Chile, the people generally are quite short as you all have gathered by now. For that reason, a lot of the girls wear heels. Therefore, there are a lot of heel sales. As mentioned, I am a giant here, but I decided to test out the trend. I went on a shopping "spree," as in a huge flea market where 50% of the stuff there was not that great. But, I bought two pairs of heels. A few weeks ago I had also bought a pair. So, I now have 3 pairs of heels with me, and the first pair I bought are two inch red wedge sandals and surprisingly don't kill my feet. I like them a lot, but obviously when I wear them, I can see over an entire crowd. Comfort wise, they have some cushion in the front and therefore aren't too bad, but after a night of dancing, they do start to hurt of course.
I bought another pair of wedge sandals yesterday (apparently wedges are a lot easier to walk in). However, unlike the others, there is no cushion in the front, therefore my heel is lifted even higher. When I tried them on, I looked at the heel and they looked the same size as the first pair. Well, I was so wrong. They are 3 inches high. I went out last night and decided to wear them. I'd say after an hour into the night, solely walking, I thought my feet were actually bleeding. Understandably, because I am 5'11" in them. Then, it got even worse, because we all decided to go dancing and I figured, okay, I can deal with this. Wow. My feet are still in pain. I had fun and all, and was somewhat able to ignore the pain, but when the night was over and I walked back to my house just a block from where the cab dropped me off, no kidding, I was considering taking them off and walking bare foot. I mean the shoe are so thin in the front that I can feel the ground already. But, I dealt with the pain, made it home, pulled them off, and just sat down. It was late, I was tired, and I wanted to brush my teeth, but I just needed at least 5 minutes to just, sit.
The moral of this story is that, it's okay to buy heels if you don't mind towering over everyone else, but, but, break them in before you walk more than a half a mile. (In total I walked about 2 miles last night.) Either way, I did have a fun night, but those shoes need another few wearings to get used to. The other pair are short boots, and for those of you who don't wear heels, it is much easier to wear heeled boots than sandals.They're also not 3 inches.
I'm beginning to walk like a Chilean.
As I have most likely mentioned, Chilean Spanish is the most difficult Spanish of all Spanish speaking countries. This is because, they speak very fast, drop a lot of letters from words, and have a great deal of slang. For example, words that end in -ado or -ada, the "d" is completely dropped, Ex: curado (cured) becomes curao. Ah! And even worse, similar to English, the "s" is a very important letter for pluralizing words. Here, they just decided, eh, do we really need the "s"? Therefore, instead of "gracias" (thank you), they say "gracia" and even worse, a common phrase, "mas o menos" (more or less) is pronounced, "ma o meno". This is just the tip of the iceburg, I could go on and on about how strange the Spanish is.
The most common thing people have told me here regarding the Spanish is, if you understand the Spanish here, you'll understand it anywhere, but, don't learn Spanish here because when you leave Chile, no one else will understand you. At times like that, I think to myself, why in the world did I come to Chile?? Therefore, I have decided to not try to speak like a Chilean. As weird as that seems, because no one wants a foreign accent, but I really don't want to speak Chilean Spanish. Even when I hear people say "ma o meno" I still continue on saying "mas o menos". Whether this is a good thing or not, I don't know.
I an not talking like a Chilean.
Now, I think Chileans are great people, and I would love to be a Chilean, but, because I do not resemble a Chilean, am too tall to be a Chilean, and don't speak like a Chilean, I will never be a Chilean. I have accepted that I will never fit in. Though, learning how to walk in heels is always a useful skill to have, so I will have taken at least one thing with me when returning to the U.S.
In Chile, the people generally are quite short as you all have gathered by now. For that reason, a lot of the girls wear heels. Therefore, there are a lot of heel sales. As mentioned, I am a giant here, but I decided to test out the trend. I went on a shopping "spree," as in a huge flea market where 50% of the stuff there was not that great. But, I bought two pairs of heels. A few weeks ago I had also bought a pair. So, I now have 3 pairs of heels with me, and the first pair I bought are two inch red wedge sandals and surprisingly don't kill my feet. I like them a lot, but obviously when I wear them, I can see over an entire crowd. Comfort wise, they have some cushion in the front and therefore aren't too bad, but after a night of dancing, they do start to hurt of course.
I bought another pair of wedge sandals yesterday (apparently wedges are a lot easier to walk in). However, unlike the others, there is no cushion in the front, therefore my heel is lifted even higher. When I tried them on, I looked at the heel and they looked the same size as the first pair. Well, I was so wrong. They are 3 inches high. I went out last night and decided to wear them. I'd say after an hour into the night, solely walking, I thought my feet were actually bleeding. Understandably, because I am 5'11" in them. Then, it got even worse, because we all decided to go dancing and I figured, okay, I can deal with this. Wow. My feet are still in pain. I had fun and all, and was somewhat able to ignore the pain, but when the night was over and I walked back to my house just a block from where the cab dropped me off, no kidding, I was considering taking them off and walking bare foot. I mean the shoe are so thin in the front that I can feel the ground already. But, I dealt with the pain, made it home, pulled them off, and just sat down. It was late, I was tired, and I wanted to brush my teeth, but I just needed at least 5 minutes to just, sit.
The moral of this story is that, it's okay to buy heels if you don't mind towering over everyone else, but, but, break them in before you walk more than a half a mile. (In total I walked about 2 miles last night.) Either way, I did have a fun night, but those shoes need another few wearings to get used to. The other pair are short boots, and for those of you who don't wear heels, it is much easier to wear heeled boots than sandals.They're also not 3 inches.
I'm beginning to walk like a Chilean.
As I have most likely mentioned, Chilean Spanish is the most difficult Spanish of all Spanish speaking countries. This is because, they speak very fast, drop a lot of letters from words, and have a great deal of slang. For example, words that end in -ado or -ada, the "d" is completely dropped, Ex: curado (cured) becomes curao. Ah! And even worse, similar to English, the "s" is a very important letter for pluralizing words. Here, they just decided, eh, do we really need the "s"? Therefore, instead of "gracias" (thank you), they say "gracia" and even worse, a common phrase, "mas o menos" (more or less) is pronounced, "ma o meno". This is just the tip of the iceburg, I could go on and on about how strange the Spanish is.
The most common thing people have told me here regarding the Spanish is, if you understand the Spanish here, you'll understand it anywhere, but, don't learn Spanish here because when you leave Chile, no one else will understand you. At times like that, I think to myself, why in the world did I come to Chile?? Therefore, I have decided to not try to speak like a Chilean. As weird as that seems, because no one wants a foreign accent, but I really don't want to speak Chilean Spanish. Even when I hear people say "ma o meno" I still continue on saying "mas o menos". Whether this is a good thing or not, I don't know.
I an not talking like a Chilean.
Now, I think Chileans are great people, and I would love to be a Chilean, but, because I do not resemble a Chilean, am too tall to be a Chilean, and don't speak like a Chilean, I will never be a Chilean. I have accepted that I will never fit in. Though, learning how to walk in heels is always a useful skill to have, so I will have taken at least one thing with me when returning to the U.S.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
In Chile and Need Clothing? Ha, That's Too Bad.
Hola todos,
Today, after my classes, I decided to go shopping to buy some winter stuff, etc. My friend told me about a place that was kind of a higher class flea market, so I decided to try and find it. Well, I never found it, so instead I went to a store called "Paris." This store is the store here and apparently is very cheap. I looked at the shoes first, then the clothing. Ha! First of all, it was all ridiculously expensive. As in, a shirt that could be found in the U.S. for $10 was at least $25 here. Imagine clothing that is $30 in the U.S.! Also, the clothing isn't very nice/ attractive. There were maybe three things that caught my eye. And they were all expensive.
Maybe this is the snob New Yorker in me speaking, but I was looking at clothing and if I looked at a piece of clothing that was unattractive, I let go of it as if it were scolding hot and was making a face of disgust while doing so. After doing this several times, I actually realized what I was doing, and laughed to myself, then stopped. Wow, I thought, these poor Chileans have no options of clothing/ cheap clothing! But, as I said, that may be the snob New Yorker in me speaking.
My shopping experience does get worse. When I found some clothing that was acceptable and not too expensive, I got my size and went to try them on. In the U.S. I am a solid size Medium. I must've forgotten that I am a giant here, because all of the clothing was super tight or just didn't fit! For that reason, I gave up and left.
It was quite a failure of a shopping trip. Looks like I am going to have to find a better place to shop!
Today, after my classes, I decided to go shopping to buy some winter stuff, etc. My friend told me about a place that was kind of a higher class flea market, so I decided to try and find it. Well, I never found it, so instead I went to a store called "Paris." This store is the store here and apparently is very cheap. I looked at the shoes first, then the clothing. Ha! First of all, it was all ridiculously expensive. As in, a shirt that could be found in the U.S. for $10 was at least $25 here. Imagine clothing that is $30 in the U.S.! Also, the clothing isn't very nice/ attractive. There were maybe three things that caught my eye. And they were all expensive.
Maybe this is the snob New Yorker in me speaking, but I was looking at clothing and if I looked at a piece of clothing that was unattractive, I let go of it as if it were scolding hot and was making a face of disgust while doing so. After doing this several times, I actually realized what I was doing, and laughed to myself, then stopped. Wow, I thought, these poor Chileans have no options of clothing/ cheap clothing! But, as I said, that may be the snob New Yorker in me speaking.
My shopping experience does get worse. When I found some clothing that was acceptable and not too expensive, I got my size and went to try them on. In the U.S. I am a solid size Medium. I must've forgotten that I am a giant here, because all of the clothing was super tight or just didn't fit! For that reason, I gave up and left.
It was quite a failure of a shopping trip. Looks like I am going to have to find a better place to shop!
Monday, April 8, 2013
A Weekend of All Kinds
Hola todos,
This weekend was absolutely wonderful, and each day was quite different.
Thursday night, (kind of the weekend since I don't have class on Friday) I went to meet up with this girl I met while I was organizing my Chilean ID named Mary. We met near her house where I met her friends, Hilary and Emily, and her host sister. We went to a party at Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile (La Catolica). It was in the middle of an outside courtyard of the Central University Campus. I met some Chileans, and got to know these girls. They are apart of a program called CIEE. It was a fun night.
Friday, the usuals and I went to a plaza to eat. I got ceviche! And it was quite good. (Better than the one I had in Valpo.) Afterwards, we went over Laurel's house and met up with some other friends there.
Saturday, during the day, I went to an artisanal market called Santa Lucia, where I bought some jewelry, a purse, and other Chilean products. It was such a nice market filled with wonderful things, and it was quite huge too! I must go back there.
Saturday night, we celebrated Ignacio because he's such a great friend and has helped us a lot so far. We went to a bar near my house and then, 4 other people met up with us all of whom are in CIEE. I requested a ticket for Lollapalooza (a music festival) which took place at Parque O'Higgins this past weekend. The person, Addison met me, with Emily (the girl I met Thursday night), and two others named Casey and Patrick. It was a fun night and I got to know some of the CIEE kids better.
Sunday, was the best of all the days though. I woke up at 12 to head to Lollapalooza with my new friends, Emily, Casey and another girl named Paige. I also met up with two of Aly's friends that I met in Valpo! The first artist we saw when we got there was Keane. (They're known for the song "Somewhere Only We Know") and they were great. Afterwards, we went on to see Foul (I didn't know who they were). We then saw Franz Ferdinand (They're known for the song "Take Me Out." We saw Porter Richardson (House Music) then Dead Mau5 (House Music). Dead Mau5 is quite popular in the U.S. and apparently very much so in Chile too. It's funny because I saw DeadMau5 in Albany, and now in Santiago! We came upon other bands, and last but not least, for the final show, we saw The Black Keys! They were really great, a good band to finish the festival with. I was there for almost 10 hours, and one would think that I'd be worn out, but I really could've gone Saturday too if I had been able to. It was so much fun and I'm so lucky I got to go in Santiago!
Below are pictures of Lollapalooza:
This weekend was absolutely wonderful, and each day was quite different.
Thursday night, (kind of the weekend since I don't have class on Friday) I went to meet up with this girl I met while I was organizing my Chilean ID named Mary. We met near her house where I met her friends, Hilary and Emily, and her host sister. We went to a party at Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile (La Catolica). It was in the middle of an outside courtyard of the Central University Campus. I met some Chileans, and got to know these girls. They are apart of a program called CIEE. It was a fun night.
Friday, the usuals and I went to a plaza to eat. I got ceviche! And it was quite good. (Better than the one I had in Valpo.) Afterwards, we went over Laurel's house and met up with some other friends there.
Saturday, during the day, I went to an artisanal market called Santa Lucia, where I bought some jewelry, a purse, and other Chilean products. It was such a nice market filled with wonderful things, and it was quite huge too! I must go back there.
Saturday night, we celebrated Ignacio because he's such a great friend and has helped us a lot so far. We went to a bar near my house and then, 4 other people met up with us all of whom are in CIEE. I requested a ticket for Lollapalooza (a music festival) which took place at Parque O'Higgins this past weekend. The person, Addison met me, with Emily (the girl I met Thursday night), and two others named Casey and Patrick. It was a fun night and I got to know some of the CIEE kids better.
Sunday, was the best of all the days though. I woke up at 12 to head to Lollapalooza with my new friends, Emily, Casey and another girl named Paige. I also met up with two of Aly's friends that I met in Valpo! The first artist we saw when we got there was Keane. (They're known for the song "Somewhere Only We Know") and they were great. Afterwards, we went on to see Foul (I didn't know who they were). We then saw Franz Ferdinand (They're known for the song "Take Me Out." We saw Porter Richardson (House Music) then Dead Mau5 (House Music). Dead Mau5 is quite popular in the U.S. and apparently very much so in Chile too. It's funny because I saw DeadMau5 in Albany, and now in Santiago! We came upon other bands, and last but not least, for the final show, we saw The Black Keys! They were really great, a good band to finish the festival with. I was there for almost 10 hours, and one would think that I'd be worn out, but I really could've gone Saturday too if I had been able to. It was so much fun and I'm so lucky I got to go in Santiago!
Below are pictures of Lollapalooza:
 |
| Franz Ferdinand concert |
 |
| Dead Mau5 concert |
 |
| The logo of the music festival |
A Night At The Opera
Hola todos,
It has been a little bit since I have written, but I have been busy. But, on a more important/interesting note, I went to my first Chilean Opera on Tuesday the 2nd! It is called "Gloria" and actually pretty good.
It all started when I was walking home from class and stopped in the GAM Performing Arts Theater to see if anything was going on. At 8:30, an opera was going to play. It cost about $6.00! Now, firstly, I figured I had nothing else to do, secondly, wanted to immerse myself in the Perming Arts of Chile and thirdly, who would pass on a $6.00 opera?!
When I arrived, it was 7:45, and I had to be at the opera at 8:15, so in that half hour, I grabbed a quick dinner. When I returned, I got my ticket, and I was seated in the third row! When I sat down, the people next to me chatted with me and I was telling them how, Chileans speaking Spanish is hard enough, let alone Chileans singing Spanish! However, I did quite well! I'd say I understood a good 80% of the opera. They had subtitles on top (in Spanish) and if I needed some aid, I could look at the subtitles.
The opera was good. It was about a women named Gloria who goes on a talk show of an old friend and his talk show partner. All of this drama starts when her old "best friend" comes on stage and betrays Gloria's biggest secrets. Then everyone finds out that Gloria has a child and the father is the old friend on the talk show! Well, of course, the host and his partner on the show are lovers. That caused an abundance of drama and she ended up trying to kill herself by drinking a bottle of soap, but she lived. Either way, the show ends with all of them crying, but when the TV show ends, they all stop crying and start laughing! It was all a joke. I laughed too.
I am so happy I saw "Gloria" because it was great for my Spanish, and good entertainment all the same. Hope to go to more shows!
It has been a little bit since I have written, but I have been busy. But, on a more important/interesting note, I went to my first Chilean Opera on Tuesday the 2nd! It is called "Gloria" and actually pretty good.
It all started when I was walking home from class and stopped in the GAM Performing Arts Theater to see if anything was going on. At 8:30, an opera was going to play. It cost about $6.00! Now, firstly, I figured I had nothing else to do, secondly, wanted to immerse myself in the Perming Arts of Chile and thirdly, who would pass on a $6.00 opera?!
When I arrived, it was 7:45, and I had to be at the opera at 8:15, so in that half hour, I grabbed a quick dinner. When I returned, I got my ticket, and I was seated in the third row! When I sat down, the people next to me chatted with me and I was telling them how, Chileans speaking Spanish is hard enough, let alone Chileans singing Spanish! However, I did quite well! I'd say I understood a good 80% of the opera. They had subtitles on top (in Spanish) and if I needed some aid, I could look at the subtitles.
The opera was good. It was about a women named Gloria who goes on a talk show of an old friend and his talk show partner. All of this drama starts when her old "best friend" comes on stage and betrays Gloria's biggest secrets. Then everyone finds out that Gloria has a child and the father is the old friend on the talk show! Well, of course, the host and his partner on the show are lovers. That caused an abundance of drama and she ended up trying to kill herself by drinking a bottle of soap, but she lived. Either way, the show ends with all of them crying, but when the TV show ends, they all stop crying and start laughing! It was all a joke. I laughed too.
I am so happy I saw "Gloria" because it was great for my Spanish, and good entertainment all the same. Hope to go to more shows!
Monday, April 1, 2013
A Weekend At The Beach
Hola todos,
All is well here in Chile. This weekend, I went, with one of my friends, Aly, down to Viña del Mar. Viña del Mar is a nice little beach town about an hour and a half to the coast from Santiago. She lived there and went to school in the neighboring town, Valparaiso during January. Because of this, she knew people and we were able to stay with a friend. We left early Saturday morning at 8AM. When we got there, we put our stuff down, and ate a small brunch. It was cloudy and chilly, but we figured it would clear up and get warmer as the day went on. Therefore, we went down to the beach. The only thing I really wanted for the weekend was sand and sun. I need some color! Though it did warm up a bit, we really only had about 15 minutes of good sun. I still fell asleep on the beach, but still wearing my shirt and shorts. Oh well for both days of sun. We then met up with 3 of her friends and went for a walk together to view the area. It really is a pretty place. Much more relaxed than Santiago. It represents a solid beach town.
Later, we went out for dinner. I demanded we get ceviche, so we went to a restaurant and though it was expensive, we still shared a bowl of ceviche. Eh. Disappointing, considering we are right next to the ocean. But, I'm still happy we went out for it. After that, we actually got dinner. We didn't want to spend money so we went and got Chorillana which is french fries covered with pieces of hotdog and chicken covered in carmelized onions with a fried egg over the top. When it came out, me heart said to me, Anna, I am preparing to go into cardiac arrest. But, it was good.
That night we went to Aly's favorite discoteca in Valparaiso. It had four different floors with different music on each. I met her friends and it was great fun. The next day was Easter. It was very nice of her friend that we were staying with to invite us to have Easter lunch with him and his family. Before this lunch, we returned to the beach, but it was cloudy, cold, and drizzling, so not a good day to lie on the beach. But, Easter lunch was very nice. After, at about 5PM, we got a ride back to Santiago with his aunt and uncle.
I had a nice weekend and am so happy I saw Viña del Mar. A little disappointing though that I did not get to lie on the beach.
All is well here in Chile. This weekend, I went, with one of my friends, Aly, down to Viña del Mar. Viña del Mar is a nice little beach town about an hour and a half to the coast from Santiago. She lived there and went to school in the neighboring town, Valparaiso during January. Because of this, she knew people and we were able to stay with a friend. We left early Saturday morning at 8AM. When we got there, we put our stuff down, and ate a small brunch. It was cloudy and chilly, but we figured it would clear up and get warmer as the day went on. Therefore, we went down to the beach. The only thing I really wanted for the weekend was sand and sun. I need some color! Though it did warm up a bit, we really only had about 15 minutes of good sun. I still fell asleep on the beach, but still wearing my shirt and shorts. Oh well for both days of sun. We then met up with 3 of her friends and went for a walk together to view the area. It really is a pretty place. Much more relaxed than Santiago. It represents a solid beach town.
Later, we went out for dinner. I demanded we get ceviche, so we went to a restaurant and though it was expensive, we still shared a bowl of ceviche. Eh. Disappointing, considering we are right next to the ocean. But, I'm still happy we went out for it. After that, we actually got dinner. We didn't want to spend money so we went and got Chorillana which is french fries covered with pieces of hotdog and chicken covered in carmelized onions with a fried egg over the top. When it came out, me heart said to me, Anna, I am preparing to go into cardiac arrest. But, it was good.
That night we went to Aly's favorite discoteca in Valparaiso. It had four different floors with different music on each. I met her friends and it was great fun. The next day was Easter. It was very nice of her friend that we were staying with to invite us to have Easter lunch with him and his family. Before this lunch, we returned to the beach, but it was cloudy, cold, and drizzling, so not a good day to lie on the beach. But, Easter lunch was very nice. After, at about 5PM, we got a ride back to Santiago with his aunt and uncle.
I had a nice weekend and am so happy I saw Viña del Mar. A little disappointing though that I did not get to lie on the beach.
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