Walking, walking, and more walking

I'm settling here in Viña very nicely. I've been able to connect more with my family here and I found out my host brother is in a band that is "fairly well known " if you will. I don't know how may fans they have but they have music videos and have played on a tv show! They are called signuz if anyone wants too try and look them up (they are in Spanish of course).

On more of the daily happenings side our study abroad group visited the home of Pablo Neruda here. And the views were amazing. It sits right on top of a hill in Valparaiso. After that we then went and walked through an open sky art museum. Which is really just a street. With walls and homes that have art on them. But really in this city almost all if the graffiti is art (not the terrible stuff in the us).  Also on a side note we have been doing a lot of required government registrations and things here and the Chilean bureaucracy is horrible! It's one line after the other. But I think we have finally finished everything we need to!  Aside from that last night was the first night that some friends and I went out to a bar. And thank goodness it is cheaper than Santiago!  However getting to this bar also involved about 30 min of getting lost. And the moment you realize you don't have an iPhone to look at a the maps is a really weird feeling. I actually had to call someone to get directions for the first time in years! But this brings back a simplicity of life I haven't had in a while. And you realize there is no better way to learn a city than being lost in it. It's similar to the us but you have to make sure and walk everyone home here especially the women... No matter how far they live from you so I think the way my feet feel now will be a big diterant from going out a lot.

Yesterday we also visited and toured our campus! It is so modern and the views are so great I may just start sleeping there (defiantly not allowed). But after getting some more info about the school we found out that this is the number one business school in all of Latin America. So maybe I will do some learning here after all. However we go to our first day of class and then the next we leave for pucon. So maybe it will only be a little (I know I will learn a lot).  And I know I am becuase I had a dream in Spanish! Which means my Spanish is getting a lot better.

I may post again today if I feel like there is something to post about or if I forget something.

Also here is my first picture I've promised. It's of the vineyard in Santiago. I'm working on the ones of the views. (But you may all want to move here so maybe it isn't a good idea).

I'm in Viña!

I have officially begun my new life here in Chile! Today was my second day here in Viña but my first full day. And from what I have heard this city sounds like a dream to those in Colorado. The weather is 75 with sun and a low of 60. Yesterday, after half a day in Santiago we left for Viña. And then as a group we all met our families. My host brother picked me up and then we went to our apartment where I met my host mom. And they are great! Very nice and very welcoming and it has been great to already feel as part of the family. My room is small but I don't need any more. And as I suspected it is too small to fit my large suitcase in. After getting to know my host family we all had dinner together and dinners here are much later. We have eaten dinner around 9:30 each night (which I actually like). Today all of the students studying abroad here had a short tour of the city and then took care of some boring official business. After though my host brother picked me up and we took the metro back home. After dinner both nights we have watched a huge music festival on tv that is occurring in this city, it is the largest one in Latin America. And I can even here it from my window. Watching it however is a little different than the u.s because we watch it in my host moms bedroom and sit on her bed, which is fine but a little different than what I am used to.

Luckily my family speaks slow for me, but Chileans speak incredible fast and like to cut off parts of words otherwise. Making the conversations that my family has with each other hard to understand but I'm excited because that just means in a few weeks my Spanish we be better than ever.  My classes however still don't begin until the 6th of march. Meaning I have even more time off as if I needed any more. But this time I have a lot more to fill my time with. I am also excited to start school though because I heard that they have a tennis team and play on red clay. Playing on red clay has been a dream of mine for a long time and I can't wait to try it.

I'm probably forgetting a lot of details now about everything but Ill write more once my days aren't full from 9-6 and I have more time to write when I'm not as tired. I'm also working on posting some amazing pictures but since I only have an ipad here it has been a little harder to upload a picture since I can't just plug my camera and phone into my ipad. But all that everyone needs to know is; my family is great, Viña is great, and hopefully my school will follow suit. I'll try and post again tomorrow with more about my trip so far and with some pictures. But for now ¡Nos Vemos!

¡Más vino por favor!

First, I know I have said it probably in every post but I WILL POST PHOTOS soon. Starting with last night; it was relaxed just like the other nights here and consisted of hanging out with friends and having a few drinks, but the good news as I said before is that my spanish is getting better and as I start to relax about speaking it the better it gets. Also as I suspectd today was just as busy as the last, however today we were able to visit a vineyard (my first visit to one). The experience was great but, it was a little comical because there was clearly an issue in the past with people drinking too much because we had a 3 glass limit when doing the wine tasting. However the experience was still great and if I talked to you before I came here; I am slowly achieving my goal of becoming a wine expert (not even close). After the vineyard visit we took a bus to a plaza which was very similar to the feel of Cherry Creek (a very high end area). After not buying anything we then took a bus to the top of a "hill'' here in Santiago where we were able to see the entire city, probably one of the best views I have every seen. This is going to be the first picture I post. It was almost overwhelming to see how large this city really is. After taking in the view we went back to the hotel and had another orentation meeting where we were able to get more specific information about living in Chile and about the schools that we are going to be attending. I'm not sure if it is good or bad yet but the school I am going to be attedning is almost like a Chilean DU (private and full of students that have lots of money). However, I am very excited to actually be traveling to the ciry I am going to be living in and to meet my host family.

Tonighti in order to save money me and some friends decided to cook pasta, which was a great idea because a package of pasta here is only $1 to .50 cents. And after a nice dinner we decided to go out again, and we all have started to live by the phrase "When in Chile". Agian a relaxed night with friends, but this time we didn't have to worry about getting up as early. And again I am now just sitting in my room writting this post, but tomorrow I will have much more to write about as I am meeting my host family! So again nos vemos!

First Official Night and Day!

Today was my first official day in Chile and by that I mean full day here. It has been packed full of activities and I am just now getting some time off to write a blog post and relax. But before I get into that I would like fill anyone who is reading this in on my first night here in Chile.  My night was fairly low key and consisted of walking around where my hotel is and trying to get my head around the fact that it is summer here and it stays light out for much longer, as well as trying to take in all of the city that was around me. Since we had the night to ourselves I decided to go with a friend and find somewhere to have dinner, we settled on a pizzaria that was suggested to us by our ISA staff. This was also my first real encounter with the people of Chile and the language... and as I soon found out my spanish is a bit lacking. I don't think that I have ever felt that akward and confused ordering a slice of pizza and a beer. Part of that however was due to the fact that I let myself get intimidated when I was speaking, and that I ordered the nightly special and the waitress thought I knew a lot more spanish then I did. However, in the end I got my pizza and beer and there were no more problems. A little later in the night after I visted the local super market which was basically just a spanish version of target (and for my mother, the sell everything that you would normally buy in the states).  Following a brief rest me and my friend decided that we wanted to go out and find a bar to hang out in... but somehow we seemed to miss all of them and walked around for about 30 min before we came to an outdoor plaza that had a happy hour going on (this was at about 11 at night). And I have to say it wasn't that happy... not in a bad way but the drink prices were much higher than any happy hour in the states, but since we found what we were looking for we stayed and had a great Chilean night sitting in the plaza having a few beers and just talking. 

My day today started out by getting a wake up call from the front desk that I wasn't expecting (it was set up by the ISA), and I was woken up about 30 minutes before I wanted to be up. After getting up and having basically a continetal breakfast I had an orentation meeting with the ISA where they went over all the ways to keep for geting pick pocketed and better things such as living with a host family and a little about the city where I am going to be living and going to school (Vina del Mar). Following this meeting my group went to the main plaza of down town Santiago where we were able to walk around and into an amazing catherdral. Following a lunch down town we then took both the metro (subway) and walked to the home of the poet Pablo Neruda. This is probably one of the coolest things that I have seen so far as well as the Nobel prize he had won that was inside. And that brings us to now, where I am just sitting in my room writting this post. I'm sure tomorrow will be just as pakced as today was, but I get to visit a vineyard so one of my goals to become a wine expert may start to come true. I am also slowly (very) starting to feel my spanish skills get better so that is a good sign. I will keep anyone who is reading updated on my night and what tomorrow brings. So as the Chileans say, Hasta luego!

Arrival!

Well I am officially in Chile! I landed this morning at 10:00am (6:00am Colorado time). The flight was long (9 hours) but, since it was at night it wasn't that bad. And to be honest landing here in Santiago didn't feel like landing in a different country, the souroundings looked very similar to landing in Arizona. However, after making it through customs which thankfully wasn't difficult I met up with my ISA study abroad group and we all took a bus to our hotel. After setteling in briefly we all went and had lunch. My group then had the priviledge to go and tour the Chilean equivelent of the White House, which was great but slightly less formal than what I imagine touring the actual White House would be. I've only expierenced a small part of this city and the Chilean culture but, I have still enjoyed everything that I have done so far. Luckily I have some free time tonight to really settle in and do some exploring, becuase I feel like I am going to have a packed Schedule for the next few days. But, I am here, all is well, the parents have been contaced, and I feel more ready to take on this new South American world! (even if my spanish needs some work).

I'll have more photos soon!!

The Time is Now!

Being the first post to my new blog, I feel that I should say I haven't blogged much so we will see how this turns out.

It is an odd feeling to be officially creating this blog, because it means my trip to Chile is about to start. Something that for a long time was just an idea to me and now it is a reality.  I finished the fall quater of my second year at the Univeristy of Denver on November 22, 2012, and since then I have been out of school completely. Thus giving me about 3 months to think about and prepare for my trip (or not to).  However, those 3 months have come and gone and my trip is literally a day away.  Bringing with it a whole new set of challenges; such as trying to pack a suitcase for a 5 month trip, buying way too many things to prepare for the trip, saying goodbyes to the people close to you, and trying to wrap my head around living outstide the U.S.  All of which is completely new to me since I have lived in Colorado for my entire life, and never lived more than 20 minutes from home. 

I am extremely excited to start this trip and to live in a different culture and all that will come with it. But, this trip did come about rather spontaneously if you will, and as so I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous or anxious about everything.  Being an introvert, all of the possible scenarios about this trip run through my head and verge on being overwhelming, but then I just look at the weather in Vina Del Mar and all is well (a nice change from Colorado winter). 

So here's to new experiences, new places, new languages, new freinds, and in therory a new life for 5 months!