My First Vineyard And Day of School

Hola todos,

Today was my first day of school! But, before I get into that, I went to my first viña (vineyard) yesterday, Sunday. I went with two of the girls who are in my program, Arantxa and Laurel, as well as Arantxa's mom who took us and one of Laurel's friends named Ignacio. It was so much fun! The viña is called Viña de Concha y Toro. It is just outside Santiago. When we arrived, we went on a short walk around the vineyard where we saw the grapes that are used in specific wines. So many! I am proud to say that I saw grapes that are used in Merlot and other well known wines. After this walk, we went outside a building and tried a white wine. We then continued on to see where they age and hold the wine. I felt like I was with the Greeks and Romans with the abundance of wine. We then tried a red wine.
Afterwards we walked to the main building and sat at a long table, with 4 glasses of wine, cheese, and bread in front of us. There were 2 white wines and 2 reds, accompanied with 4 types of cheese. What could be better than wine and cheese? We went on to smell, look at and taste each wine with the cheese that complemented it best. It was absolutely wonderful to be able to try all the different types of wine they had, considering Chile produces such an abundance. This was my first viña trip, but will most certainly not be my last; there are lots of viñas outside Santiago. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.

Today, as I said, was my first day of school! I of course am very lucky, and my first class is 12PM. I walked a short distance and caught a bus that went straight down to the Juan Gomez Faculdad de Filosofia y Historia. There, Arantxa and I met our helper Freddy (also a Universidad de Chile student), who gave us a tour of the campus. This was only one of the main 4 campuses of the university.
I went to my class, Historia de América y de Chile: La Formación de la Sociedad (The History of America and of Chile: The Formation of Society) which, I was comforted to know, I have with Arantxa. The class is about 30 people. When the professor walked in, he asked if there were any internationals in the class. Arantxa, 3 other internationals and I raised our hands. One of them is from Norway, but the rest are from the U.S. 
The professor was quite an entertainer. He had a smart sense of humor and is interesting. He didn't just lecture us; it was a more casual class. Thank goodness! Spanish wise, I can say I understood... 50% maybe? Some of the time, I am not going to lie, my mind wandered. But, all in all, I think I will survive in the class. After the class, I talked to an international who was sitting next to me, who is from Brooklyn. We chatted and I met one of her other friends. I have made 2 friends already!! Next step is to make a Chilean friend, hopefully.
One of the girls I met, I went to the Artisan Market with at the edge of the city against the Andes. Lots of beautiful things there. All in all, today has been a successful day. I had my first experience in a class in Spanish with native speakers, and explored a new area in Santiago. We'll see how tomorrow's classes go. Wish me luck!
 

The vineyard

Wine and cheese tasting