Santiago, Chile

After waking up this morning and eating breakfast, my exchange student and I arrived at Santiago College, where I spent the day shadowing her classes and doing activities with our group. First, we headed down to the school’s kitchen and met Chef Alejandro. Here, he taught us how to make  “pina” empanadas with meat, olives, and onions. After we all made our own empanadas and stuck them in the oven, we went outside and took some nice pictures of Santiago’s mountain views by the school’s athletic fields. While we waited for our empanadas to cook, we watched a Spanish movie about a historical political uprising in Chile. When the empanadas were ready, we went back to the cafeteria to try them, and they turned out pretty good! Then, we walked to the art room, where we painted mandala squares for the “Cary Academy Exchange” wall mural in the school’s hallway. When we finished our art, we met up with our exchange students and attended their remaining classes. Even though the classes were sometimes hard to understand because they are all taught in Spanish, it was interesting to see our students participate in the same classes we take at CA, but in a different learning environment. After school, a group of us ate dinner and went to see the movie “La Momia” or “The Mummy” at the movie theater across from school. Luckily, it was in english (but with Spanish subtitles) , so we could understand it much better than the movie we watched earlier in the day!

The subtitles also gave us all a few new Spanish vocabulary words to add to our list. After dinner and the movie, we all went back home and spent time with our host families before going to bed.

So this morning started off pretty uneventful. I woke up and then got ready but I skipped breakfast because I was fasting. Once I had left my room I walked down to the main floor and met with Mr. Lazarski and Ms. Solis. As I was sitting with them, I was asked to have a conversation with one of the workers (in Spanish) in order to order a taxi. It was successful. We then were on our way to school and got there in just a few minutes.

At school we met the rest of the Cary students, and we had also added 4 more students to the list. Pablo, Alfredo, Max, and Cristobal were the only exchange students that decide to tag along today, but no one was disappointed with the outcome of them coming with us. We then all got onto the bus and our journey to Santa Cruz had started. We arrived to the museum in less than 4 hours,with only one stop along the way, but there was continuous music being played on the bus. While we were in the museum we enjoyed the sights and saw some pre Colombian art and some very interesting mummies/ replicas.

After, we went to the vineyard and had lunch. The scenery was beautiful and the food (from what I saw) looked delicious. At our lunch table, the conversations were very interesting and fun and we all got long perfectly. After we ate, we went and toured around the vineyard and then took pictures at the top of the hill. After that, we went to the car museum and saw some very old cars that are no longer available today, and it was very interesting to see the history and each time period every car represented. Once we finished, we got back on the bus and continued our journey back to Santiago. The journey took three and a half hours, and my brother and I ended up breaking our fast on the bus. The bus ride back was very entertaining and fun, especially since the exchange students had more energy then anyone else left on the bus. Yesterday (Wednesday) was by far one of my favorite touring days.

We started off the day getting up early, eating breakfast, and left for school. Since this trip was longer than the past ones, we did not go to homeroom with our exchange students and went right to meeting the bus to leave. The bus was a longer trip than usual (three hours). It was the last trip that we were taking in Chile, therefore Ms. Solis offered for some of the Chileans to join. The only Chileans that were able to join were Pablo, Alfredo, Cristobal, and Max because the rest still had classes that they needed to attend. We started out the day at the Museo de Colchagua. We watched a short video and then walked through and learned a lot. After the museum we drove 30 minutes to have lunch at a vineyard. After lunch, we got a tour of the vineyard and took many pictures of the pretty view. Then, we went to a car museum and saw many different types of cars. After this it was time to leave because it was another three hour drive back to Santiago. Once we got back to Santiago College, it was late and we all went our separate ways to have dinner and get ready for the next upcoming day.

 

I started off the day with great bowl of muesley (actually really good food 10/10 would recommend). We then ventured off to school with Valentina’s brothers, Thomas y Vicho. It was quite the crisp morning with lots of dew on the ground! It was a nice change from the NC weather. We went to homeroom like we do everyday!!!!! We learned about social emotional learning and how to keep your school clean all in Spanish. Then the bell ran and we made the cold walk over to reception; after saying goodbye to our students of course! We got on our bus while listening to music on a speaker (brought by Suki). Let’s just say the ride was really fun and Loud!!! We then arrived at the fruit market. We ventured around seeing flowers, new fruits, new cheese, and some interesting smelling pickled things….

We stumbled upon a juice shop on the way out and decided to get some!!!!



I got a Maracuya y Mora juice con agua. We all had to order only in Spanish which was great! The juice was a little seed though which I should have thought of. After our COLD juice we where ALL freezing so we went fast back to the bus. Then we ventured off to our next spot a natural science museo.



They had a really cool projection of whales on one wall that was really cool! And they even had some cool sculptures. We of course where joined by many children. The Museum had the great idea of leaving all the doors open making us all freezing which lead to Abby’s wonderful assumable below.



After we walked through that museum ( Senora Solis even walked through TWICE) we went!and bought some lunch. Which was some Chilean hot dogs and empanadas. They where great and had a lot of avocado on them.

After lunch we went to NOT ONE BUT TWO craft markets. Which had so MUCH LLAMA STUFF. Nadeen, Ian and I all bought llama rugs. Ian provided a lot of business to one store going back three or four times and bringing many a people there! Suki even bought a mini Alpaca/ LLAMA thing.





We ended our time at the market with empty pockets and full bags! We headed back to school are 3:00 and got back before classes where over.

After school Ian, Nadeen, and I ( along with our exchange students) went to a cafe getting some warm drinks for a cold day. We talked about our trip and how it had been going. Then Valentina and I headed home on the bus as per usual. (PSA Busses ARE actually really great and fast. We should take them more in America!!). Me and Valentina hung out at home talking to her friends and figuring out plans. A bunch of the students decided to get sushi . It was really good sushi and we all shared different types of sushi rolls. We decided to get some milkshakes for a little taste of home. We even shared some. That was the end of a great day!!

Today I woke up early. I was not feeling good because I have been sick. I got ready and we sang happy birthday to Romi’s brother Lorenzo. He is 13 now. He blew out 12 candles on a box of Duncan donuts. Then we went to school and I went to homeroom with Romi, like usual. We left around 8:30. First we went to a vegetable market. It was kind of scary because random people were staring and talking to us. There were also dogs jumping on us. I had mango and pineapple juice; it was really good but hurt my sore throat. Then we got into the bus and went to a museum. At the museum Abby wasn’t feeling well so we stayed with her and made sure she was ok. After we went to have lunch at a hot dogs place. I don’t like hot dogs so I had empanadas. On the way to the lunch place we saw the “hooters” style coffee shops our tour guide told us about. It was funny. After lunch we went to a craft market. I spent about $60 USD on souvenirs and gifts. It was really cool and fun to barter in Spanish with the vendors. Afterward, we left around 2:30 to go back to Santiago college. I went home and took a nap. Then we celebrated Lorenzo’s 13th birthday. I slept at 12:00.

Cata and I ate toast spread with manjar for breakfast as well as instant coffee. We then walked to school where we went to homeroom with our students. After home room, we gathered outside the lobby.

The day started with a lovely short bus ride to a vegetable market. There we learned about the native produce from Mrs. Patricia (our tour guide). We saw various produce, fish, meat, and dairy products. We learned that there is a special cheese made from potatoes that is used in Chile. We then went to a juice station where we got homemade juices. I ordered guanábana juice, which is soursop in Spanish. It was delicious!

We then got back on the bus and rode to a museum. I wasn’t feeling well and so I layered up in more coats and took a short nap on Suki’s lap which helped. The museum discussed things from fossils to evolution.

After the museum, we rode to lunch at Dominos. I ordered empinadas and a sausage hotdog with avacado and cheese, called the Brazilian. Seating was squished, but the food was good.

We then rode to a crafts market where I purchased various gifts for friends and family. It was fascinating trying to barter (and often being successful) in Spanish. There was a lot of merchandise made from alpaca wool and leather. There was a smaller market first with Native American merchandise and then we walked to the larger market.

After the shopping, we rode back to the school at around 3. Cata and I then went home to rest since I still felt fairly ill, and she went to her singing lesson.

Today I woke up at around 5:45 to eat breakfast before sunrise. I ate strawberries and had chocochips for cereal. I then drank a lot of water so that I will stay hydrated through the whole day and won’t have to break my fast. After I ate, I got into the shower and put on clothes. When I was done, I waited for Andres to finish getting ready. Once the whole family was ready to go to school, we all got into the car and Julian( Andres’ father) took us to school. I found Cole, Milen, and Michael and we all went to homeroom with our students. After homeroom, we walked to the reception where I went to the bathroom and then left to go to bus. We are now in the bus heading to the beach. Currently, the whole bus is listening to drake. We stopped to go to the bathroom and also fed llamas and alpacas. We then went back into the bus and continued to drive to the beach. I also am trying to solve my tunic cube but it’s very difficult at times. I noticed that when driving. The weather changes drastically. Now there are clouds but it was very sunny a minute ago. After 10 minutes I noticed that the sky is now clear and bright blue. We just arrived and have a very nice view. When driving, I see very nice graffiti on the wall which is amazing and creative. We have just arrived at the beach and are taking pictures. I regret taking off my shoes but I still think it’s worth it because you don’t always get a chance to go to the beach in Chile. I got my pants wet but so did Suki and Kevin so I thought it was funny. We are now going to explore Valparaiso. I just got off the bus and am a little mad because you had to pay 300 pesos to go to the bathroom. We are now going on a boat ride and I am feeling a little tired because I just woke up from a nap. The ride was ok but it smelled very weird and it was cold. We are in a restaurant but I’m not eating so it is very boring, but the food looks good. We just arrived back to school and it’s time to eat. I am happy with the food I am eating and I am now going to Pablo’s house. The girls wanted to go to the mall but I feel like we have gone there too much. We are now relaxing and having a good time. I just left from Pablo’s house and now going home. At home I am going to take a shower, wear my pjs, and then watch tv with my student. After this I will pray, brush my teeth, and finally go to sleep. I am going to sleep right now and it is around 12:00 am.