So here I am in Santiago. I'm tired because the flight last night was long and uncomfortable, and my shoulders are angry at me for having such heavy luggage, and I miss home a lot more than I did yesterday, but I'm so excited to be here I didn't notice any of those things until the IFSA people (Katty and Valeria) asked us to sit down and write a letter to our future selves, to be opened when we leave. I realized that this really IS a long time to be away and I'm really NOT going to see a lot of the people I care about for a long time. But, I wrote to 12-months-from-now self, I hope that I can get over those bad feelings and really get out there, really immerse, get away from las areas norteamericanas, aprender el castellano chileno, viajar en lugares fueras de las calles turisticas, and so on. In about 15 minutes we're going to meet our Spanish professor and talk to her for a little bit about why Chilean Spanish is so wierd (which it really isn't so far, just fast--then again, I've only really talked to people who interact with Americans all the time). It's interesting, they don't use "gringo" to mean American here. A gringo is anyone with blond hair or blue eyes or pale skin, or some combination of those. That kind of surprised me. Anyhow, to go back to the timeline I started a sentence or two ago, at 7 our families are coming and we're going to have dinner with them in their houses! Hokey smoke! I'm the only kid living in my particular neighborhood (que se llama La Reina). Everyone else lives in Providencia or Ñuñoa. I'm excited to get out into Santiago a little more, all I've seen so far is the road from the airport to this hotel, and the hotel. Which, incidentally, is very nice.
These pictures are of my travels (the one of me was taken sometime in the middle of my 11-hour layover in MIA...don't I look happy?). The ony with the truck in the foreground is up there because I literally burst out laughing when I saw that the first sight you get upon leaving the airport in Santiago is a colossal billboard for Chevy with "An American Revolution" plastered on it...in English. No song lyric today, I think that's a bad plan because it takes too much time. Oh well, it seemed like fun at the time. Chao!
1 comment:
Awesome postings, amigo. (What's Spanish for 'son'? Brother is 'hermano,' right?) Sounds like you're plunging right in, which is as it should be.
Was talking w/my friend Dan Griffin, whose favorite uncle Louie died recently. Dan his family attended the wake and funeral, and his kids (ages 8 and 5) were agog. Dan talked about the whole event's "horrible rightness." Not that that describes your situation, but I liked his expression.
Love, Dad
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