Warning- this entry is REALLY long
Where to begin… the week has just flown by. I cannot believe that I have already had 3 weeks of class!! It seems like school began a couple days ago.
The weekends here basically begin at 12:15 on Thursdays. This is when Senior Seminar is over, throughout the week there is a collective mentality of “if only I can make it through Senior Sem.” It’s not that it is a terrible class but the work load is pretty steep and requires significant thought. We got our first short essays back today and to my surprise I received a check +, beautifully done so that started the day off well (the grading system for our weekly essays is check, check minus or check +).
After senior sem, another girl and I ventured to the yacht club in Con Con to join sailing. We were both pretty excited b/c after first finding out about this opportunity a couple weeks ago, we heard it was full but apparently it wasn’t. It took awhile to find a Micro (bus) that was going our way but eventually we made it and were actually a bit early. Slowly the other students arrived and set up the boats. This process looked quite complicated although the instructor kept saying how easy/simple the boats were. The other students hopped in the boats, some alone, others in pairs. The newcomers, Kari, myself and two other guys got in a little boat with the instructor and headed out into the bay, all the while, the instructor was shouting instructions to the 4 boats. It was obvious who was just learning and who had been sailing for longer. We anchored the boat to a bouy offshore and listened to the instructor shout for the next 15 minutes or so. Then it was our turn!! Luckily the instructor didn’t throw Kari and I in a boast together, we would have been sunk. Instead, we each got into a boat with the guys who were previously going solo. As I jumped into my boat I smacked my head on the mast, what a great way to begin. Before I knew it we were off. Taking control of the sail was not too hard but soon I had to control the rutter which was much harder for me. The worst part of all was when we had to turn around, you had to jump to the other side of the boat, ducking so you wouldn’t smack into the mast. Not exactly an easy process. I am happy to say that we did not tip, that was pretty much my goal for the day. The other students were all really nice and one of the guys, Francisco, also lives in Vina so he gave Kari and I a ride home, as well as Manuel who lives in Renaca (between Con Con and Vina). After getting dropped off, Kari and I went to the mall. First stop was the food court. I had some cheese empanadas and Kari had a completo. Both were quite good. Then we shopped around a little bit. I ended up getting two long sleeve shirts at a store called Zara. One was light blue and the other was reddish orange. The best part is, they were only $4 each. On the way to the bus stop after shopping I found a vendor selling kettle corn so of course I stopped and got a little bag J First popcorn in three weeks.
Last Thursday I went with a bunch of people to play baby futbol. It is basically soccer that you play on a tennis court. The rules are probably a bit different too but since it was just us gringos we just played. It was fun but I think I prefer a slightly larger court not made of cement. Later that night we went out to Café Journal to have a drink and hang out. Café Journal has been a popular meeting spot for our group and apparently is where all the gringos (foreigners) go.
On Friday I went rowing again. This time was much better and I think I am starting to get the hang of it. I went around the lagoon a few times before being called back to shore. There were more people there this time. One of the guys was obviously just learning too and ended up tipping 5 times or so, once he was a bit farther from shore and couldn’t get back into his boat so they had to send a row boat out to get him. Despite all his troubles he just kept getting back in. Good for him.
Saturday was a beautiful day!! The sun was shining and it was warm outside. Since we had to read an entire book for senior sem, someone came up with the idea that reading by the ocean would be a fun way to accomplish this. Well, after a mountain of french fries, an ice cream cone, lots of chatting and minimal reading, the sun was setting and it was time to head home. We didn’t get too much hw done but it was certainly a fun afternoon. Later that evening I went out with a couple friends to Diego’s Pizza b/c we had been craving pizza for a little while now. I was surprised to see that we passed both Domino’s and Pizza Hut on the way to Diego’s. We were told that Diego’s had the best pizza around. Judging by their menu this is probably true- there were probably about 50 different kinds of pizza to choose from. After staring at the menu for awhile we decided that Hawaiian pizza sounded good so we found one called del Tropical that had ham and pineapple (as well as some other stuff) and so that is what we ordered. To say the least, it wasn’t quite like a Hawaiian pizza. To begin, it did not have normal (tomato) pizza sauce on it, there may have been a white sauce but it was hard to tell. The most surprising part was the peanuts and maraschino cherries. I do not recall seeing these listed on the description but there were a few things we didn’t recognize. There was also something on the pizza that looked very similar to the pineapple but was different. None of us had a clue what it was, in the end we decided that it didn’t add anything to the pizza.
The weekends here basically begin at 12:15 on Thursdays. This is when Senior Seminar is over, throughout the week there is a collective mentality of “if only I can make it through Senior Sem.” It’s not that it is a terrible class but the work load is pretty steep and requires significant thought. We got our first short essays back today and to my surprise I received a check +, beautifully done so that started the day off well (the grading system for our weekly essays is check, check minus or check +).
After senior sem, another girl and I ventured to the yacht club in Con Con to join sailing. We were both pretty excited b/c after first finding out about this opportunity a couple weeks ago, we heard it was full but apparently it wasn’t. It took awhile to find a Micro (bus) that was going our way but eventually we made it and were actually a bit early. Slowly the other students arrived and set up the boats. This process looked quite complicated although the instructor kept saying how easy/simple the boats were. The other students hopped in the boats, some alone, others in pairs. The newcomers, Kari, myself and two other guys got in a little boat with the instructor and headed out into the bay, all the while, the instructor was shouting instructions to the 4 boats. It was obvious who was just learning and who had been sailing for longer. We anchored the boat to a bouy offshore and listened to the instructor shout for the next 15 minutes or so. Then it was our turn!! Luckily the instructor didn’t throw Kari and I in a boast together, we would have been sunk. Instead, we each got into a boat with the guys who were previously going solo. As I jumped into my boat I smacked my head on the mast, what a great way to begin. Before I knew it we were off. Taking control of the sail was not too hard but soon I had to control the rutter which was much harder for me. The worst part of all was when we had to turn around, you had to jump to the other side of the boat, ducking so you wouldn’t smack into the mast. Not exactly an easy process. I am happy to say that we did not tip, that was pretty much my goal for the day. The other students were all really nice and one of the guys, Francisco, also lives in Vina so he gave Kari and I a ride home, as well as Manuel who lives in Renaca (between Con Con and Vina). After getting dropped off, Kari and I went to the mall. First stop was the food court. I had some cheese empanadas and Kari had a completo. Both were quite good. Then we shopped around a little bit. I ended up getting two long sleeve shirts at a store called Zara. One was light blue and the other was reddish orange. The best part is, they were only $4 each. On the way to the bus stop after shopping I found a vendor selling kettle corn so of course I stopped and got a little bag J First popcorn in three weeks.
Last Thursday I went with a bunch of people to play baby futbol. It is basically soccer that you play on a tennis court. The rules are probably a bit different too but since it was just us gringos we just played. It was fun but I think I prefer a slightly larger court not made of cement. Later that night we went out to Café Journal to have a drink and hang out. Café Journal has been a popular meeting spot for our group and apparently is where all the gringos (foreigners) go.
On Friday I went rowing again. This time was much better and I think I am starting to get the hang of it. I went around the lagoon a few times before being called back to shore. There were more people there this time. One of the guys was obviously just learning too and ended up tipping 5 times or so, once he was a bit farther from shore and couldn’t get back into his boat so they had to send a row boat out to get him. Despite all his troubles he just kept getting back in. Good for him.
Saturday was a beautiful day!! The sun was shining and it was warm outside. Since we had to read an entire book for senior sem, someone came up with the idea that reading by the ocean would be a fun way to accomplish this. Well, after a mountain of french fries, an ice cream cone, lots of chatting and minimal reading, the sun was setting and it was time to head home. We didn’t get too much hw done but it was certainly a fun afternoon. Later that evening I went out with a couple friends to Diego’s Pizza b/c we had been craving pizza for a little while now. I was surprised to see that we passed both Domino’s and Pizza Hut on the way to Diego’s. We were told that Diego’s had the best pizza around. Judging by their menu this is probably true- there were probably about 50 different kinds of pizza to choose from. After staring at the menu for awhile we decided that Hawaiian pizza sounded good so we found one called del Tropical that had ham and pineapple (as well as some other stuff) and so that is what we ordered. To say the least, it wasn’t quite like a Hawaiian pizza. To begin, it did not have normal (tomato) pizza sauce on it, there may have been a white sauce but it was hard to tell. The most surprising part was the peanuts and maraschino cherries. I do not recall seeing these listed on the description but there were a few things we didn’t recognize. There was also something on the pizza that looked very similar to the pineapple but was different. None of us had a clue what it was, in the end we decided that it didn’t add anything to the pizza.
On Monday a few of us went to the international police station to finalize our visas. The whole process took a long time even though it was very simple. The guys there were really nice and the atmosphere was relaxed. It didn’t even seem like we were at the police station. The radio was playing, the walls were colorfully painted, etc. One of the guys helping us was very into learning English and kept asking us how to say words, this probably was one of the reasons it took so long to process everything. When we were getting ready to go, a lady officer came up to us and asked if we knew Melissa F. and held out her id card. We were all shocked b/c she is in our group and had her wallet stolen one of the first days we were here. Someone had turned it in! The money was gone but her cards (already cancelled and replaced) were all there. One the way home I took the metro and as I was walking towards the benches to wait, the guy who processed my visa was sitting there. He looked at me and was like “what are you doing?” So I told him I was going home. We ended up chatting until I had to get off. Now we have to take the certificate from these police and get our Chilean id cards. That will be another adventure.
Today we finally got our bus passes! Now we only have to pay 100-150 pesos instead of 350-500. I don’t take the bus very often but when I do, it is a very nice discount. I ended up taking three buses today between going sailing and shopping so I was quite glad we got our cards.
Today we finally got our bus passes! Now we only have to pay 100-150 pesos instead of 350-500. I don’t take the bus very often but when I do, it is a very nice discount. I ended up taking three buses today between going sailing and shopping so I was quite glad we got our cards.
1 comment:
Wow! I would like to learn rowing and sailing!!! That is awesome that you guys have the chance to do so much stuff!
The pizza sure sounds interesting!
Thanks for the pictures!
Laura :)
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