La lluvia

Buenas tardes,
It is really chilly here and it is raining. It is like a late October/early November rain, very cold. Yesterday I got soaked walking home from the CIEE office, not fun. We have had quite a bit of free time this week to select classes and to talk to people about the classes we plan to take. I am planning on taking quite a few literature classes, because they are the ones I think will transfer the best and will suite me the best as well. It was really hard to pick classes though because there were so many of them and none of them had course descriptions that were easily accessible, so it was difficult to know what the class was about, but I think I made some good decisions.

About the rain...Viña y Valparaiso are located on the beach and the cities are built on part of the beach until the hills, so when it rains, the streets flood. It was great fun walking, there was one street that was unwalkable (earlier in the day there was a man with waders and a shopping cart ferrying people across the street for a fee). I really hope it stops raining tomorrow because I am sick of being wet and cold, I guess it is part of the territory. Today I have had my coat on all day. I have been drinking a lot of tea. This kind of cold in the US is different because when it is this cold, people turn their heat on, but in Chile the buildings are not heated...we have a little stove that is used to heat the main parts of the house, but that is it. It is just going to take some getting used to.

I have started to have dreams in Spanish, which I guess is a good thing...although I don´t know if I am dreaming in Spanish or if I am just waking up and then thinking in Spanish...either way, it is good because it means I am getting better at Spanish. My head hurts when I go to bed at night and I am exhausted when I finally get into bed at night because thinking, talking, and living Spanish is a lot of mental work. I think I am to the point though that I am thinking in Spanish for the most part and not translating so much anymore, unless there is a word I don´t know or that I am not really sure how to say correctly. I still have a long way to go before I am "fluent" though, I can be understood when I speak, but I have to build up my confidence in speaking in front of and to strangers.

At our introductory breakfast on Monday, one of the speakers said that we came to probably the most difficult country possible for learning Spanish because the Chileans speak very poorly, they drop letters off of their words and add parts to other words and they speak extremely fast. For example: sí (yes) becomes sípoh. They add "poh" to almost every one consonant word, I am getting used to it, but it still kinda throws me. And ¿cómo estás? (how are you) becomes ¿cómo estai? There are whole books (dictionaries) of Chileanismos. I don´t think I am ever going to get to know all of them!

Also at breakfast we had the opportunity to listen to traditional Chilean music performed by individuals from La Catolica and watch dancers perform traditional dances. The dancers would do the dance and then go looking for gringos to dance with them. For one dance, el pavo, they asked for volunteers before the dance even started. I volunteered and so got to dance. I didn´t know what I was volunteering for, but being adventurous, it didn´t really matter. For El Pavo (the turkey), there is one more guy than girl. The girls form a circle on the inside and the guys on the outside. The girls skip one way and the guys the other. When el pavo claps, you switch directions and skip the other way. This goes on until El Pavo gobbles. When el pavo gobbles, the guys have to find a girl and grab her (it reminded me a lot of musical chairs and duck, duck, gray duck...for all you non-Minnesotians, duck, duck, goose). The guy without a girl becomes the new El Pavo and the dance continues. It was very fun and involved a lot of laughing.

I had my first class today, Globalización, it went well, and I think I am going to learn a lot about Chile in the class. I found it kinda difficult to take notes and listen at the same time in Spanish, but I think after a couple of classes, I will be in a groove!

Okay, that is enough for now.

Love,
Kathy

El cine y los micros

Hola,
Today is absolutely beautiful, the sun is shining brilliantly for the
first time since I arrived in Viña. I did decently on my pruebas, I
still do not know what I received on my oral part, but on the written
part I earned a 5, which is a B in the United States. It will be used
to help me pick classes to take. I think I did very well on the oral
part. As a CIEE group, we did not have anything going on this weekend, so we had a chance to get to know Viña on our own.

After my oral exam on Friday, Fernanda picked me up with her friend
Lola and her daughter, and we went to another friends house to drop
something off, and then we headed to Fernanda´s parents´ (Ita y Tata) house for tea. Her parents are in their 80s. Her mom´s health is
failing, but was still a very sweet woman. When we got home, I went
with Lelo and Alvira to the supermarket to buy some things for "happy
hour," cheese, wine, olives, salami, a mixture of pickeled things: ham,
turkey, pickles, cauliflower, carrots, olives, and something like
bologna. Lelo taught me how to tell if a wine was going to be a good
one...first you swirl and see if the wine has legs (whether it drips
down the glass), then you look at the color, then you smell it, and
finally you drink. The wine was spicy, but very good. I met many of
Nico´s friends, Felipe, Sebastian, and Neno. After "happy hour" at my
house, I went out with a group of CIEE people and some of the siblings
of my friends. We went to a place called Casa Journal, it is a place
to sit and talk and just chill with friends. Afterwards we went to El
Huevo, a club where we danced the night away. It was really fun, I
really like dancing.

On Saturday after I woke up, we went to buy me a cell phone, it was
really cheap in comparison to those in the US. It cost 16.990 pesos,
which is about 35 dollars. With the phone I got 10.000 pesos worth of
minutes (not sure how many minutes I can actually talk with them, but
quite a bit), and 50 text messages, so I pretty much got the phone for
free. Then we, Fernanda, Alvira, and I, went over to Ita y Tata´s for
lunch. It was a salad with tuna fish on top and fricase, fried
potatoes, peas, hot dogs, and a bit of cream. It was really good.
After lunch I came home to hang out, but Emily called me and invited me out to Pirates of the Caribean 2 with her, so I headed off to the
theater. I got there right as the movie was starting, and didn´t see
Emily so I headed into the theater and sat down, thinking I would catch
her after the movie. I left the theater and still didn´t see her, so I
waited and then called her, but she didn´t answer, so I waited some
more and then called her again, this time she answered. She said she
was still in the theater, I said I was in the mall, but would come back
up to the lobby of the theater, so I did, and then I waited some more.
Still no Emily. She called me back and told me her phone was about to
die, but where was I, so I described my surroundings and then waited.
Finally she and her siblings come walking up the steps. Turns out
there are two movie theaters in Viña like right across the street from
each other, and we were each in different theaters. Neither of us knew
there were two of them! Afterwards we went out for tea and then back to Emily´s house to hang out for a bit, then I came home on a micro
accompanied by Emily´s brother, Axel because he was on his way to a
friends house. We waited for a micro for a long time, and then finally
the right one drove past. When it was time for me to get off, I rang
the little bell, but the driver didn´t stop, or even seem like he was
going to stop because he was getting faster. I got really nervous and
so I rang the bell several more times, but to no avail, it was broken.
So I whistled with my fingers, and he stopped, but then the doors
didn´t open, so I yelled, more loudly than I wanted, ¡Abre la puerta,
por favor! I felt very embarrassed after I got off the micro, but oh
well. When I got home, Lelo and all of Nico´s friends got a real kick
out of my experiences for the day.

I am learning, and will continue to learn about being in Chile.

Love,
Kathy

Mi familia

21 July 2006
Hola todos,
I have been living with my family since Wednesday. My father´s name is Luis, but everyone calls him Lelo. He is a professor of education at La Universidad Catolica. My mom´s name is Maria Fernanda. She was a religion teacher, but I don´t think she is teaching anymore, but I don´t really know...everyone is on vacation right now. I also have a brother and a sister, Nico and Alvira. It is kind of crazy, because they are the same ages as Ben and Tim, my biological brothers. Nico is a law student at la Catolica...he has had a really big test to study for all week, so I haven´t had a chance to get to know him or really talk to him at all. I have been talking a lot with Lelo and Fernanda, and I think my Spanish is really improving, while my English is getting worse! We live in an apartment, which is small, but just the right size. I feel kinda bad because Nico had to give up his room for me, so he is in a room the size of a walk-in closet, but I think he has another place that he lives sometimes, or can go to get away (his cousins apartment in Valparaiso). The apartment is on one of the main streets in Viña.

Yesterday we (the CIEE group) went out to el campo, the country, to learn about the way of life out there. We got there and ate a lunch of empanadas and fruit, which was an amazing lunch. After lunch we learned how to dance the cuaca, the Chilean national dance. It was quite difficult, I really struggled with it, mainly because I thought it was like the grapevine, but it wasn´t, so I was doing it really incorrectly, but I think that I got it figured out. After the dancing, we went to a flower plantation, and learned about growing flowers and creating seeds. After this we learned how to make empanadas, and then looked at animals.

Then we went to a viña, where they grow grapes, both for export (plain eating) and for use in wine. It was really cool, I wish we could have seen it when there were leaves on the plants, since it is winter, there was no green on the plants, but a few grapes that were decomposing on the plants.

When we got back to the camp, there was a little soccer game between the gringos while the Peruvians watched and laughed at us.

After we got back to Viña, Emily and I went back to my apartment and had some té and then went for a walk around Viña.

Today we took tests for placement...not sure how well I did, I should have reviewed before I took it, but I had no idea what would be on it, I thought that it would be more of a writing exam, but a lot of it was which word should be used in this space...I got really confused, so I will see how I did a bit later.
It is really quite cold here, but I am living with it and in reality it isn´t COLD, but chilly like in October. I have to get going because it is almost time for my oral exam.

Love, Kathy

Beautiful city

18 julio 2006
Hola todos!


I am in Chile! Once again, there were some issues with the flying, but we were only delayed in Atlanta for 3 hours, and CIEE was still waiting at the airport for all of us, and it gave us the opportunity to get to know each other a bit before we left the country.

Santiago is absolutely beautiful, it is a big city, but it doesn´t really feel like a big city. The Andes are in the skyline, pretty much where ever you turn. The air feels clean when you breath it and it is very refreshing. It is pretty chilly at night and in the mornings, but for the past two days it has been up into the 70s during the day. Yesterday we went out to dinner at a restaurant, very fancy. It was on the 16th floor of the building and it was all windows, so we could see the skyline and all of the lights of the city. The city seems to stretch on forever, there really wasn´t an end to the lights. The cool thing about the restaurant was that it rotated, yes that´s right, we were spinning while we ate dinner, so we got to see the city from all different views. Yesterday during the day we went to the high point of the city and looked out over Santiago, it was quite breathtaking. To get up the mountain we rode the Funicular, s train/tram type thing. It was fun. There was also a chapel and statues on the mountain, a huge statue of the Virgin stood at the top, very cool!

Today we find out who our host families are, I am so excited! We went to La Chascona, one of Pablo Neruda´s three homes this morning as well, it was very neat, there were three different parts, all separated and you had to walk outside to get to each part. In the main dining room there is a hutch, one part of the hutch holds dishes and the other is a trap door that Neruda used to surprise his guests. He would come out of it in crazy costumes and serve his guests dinner. I really enjoyed seeing his house. As part of the program we will have the chance to see his other two houses as well, something to look forward to.

There are 41 students in my group, and we are all getting along quite nicely, there are some that I get along with better than others. I met a girl today from South Carolina, named Emily, with whom I think I am going to be good friends. Emily and I wandered around today after lunch, and encountered a group of musicians in the mall after we found peanut butter for her (something that is hard and expensive to come by in Chile). They were absolutely amazing. There were three male singers accompanied by a small orchestra (one of each of the strings) two of the men were singing traditional male parts, but the other was singing soprano! He was absolutely amazing, he sounded like a woman, I have never heard another amature male singer sound like him, I was in awe!

We leave Santiago tomorrow and go to live with our host families. I am keeping a blog, that way anyone not on my e-mail list can keep tabs on my journey and time in Peru. If you are interested (the postings will be the same as the e-mails) it is www.kathystrek.blogspot.com.

Much love, Kathy

Trials and tribulations

11 July 2006

Well, my departure for Chile is fast approaching. I leave in five days, I am excited, nervous, and stressed about the whole thing. There is so much that has to happen before I can get on that airplane to Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. The main stressor is my student visa. It has been quite an ordeal; I started applying and getting all of the information I would need before I left for Peru, only to learn that one of the things I needed (acceptance letter from a Chilean University) would not arrive until 3 days before my departure for Lima, so I had to wait until after I returned to apply. However, everything that I had previously gotten together had expired, since everything had to be dated within 30 days of applying. This meant I had to have another physical and HIV test done and request background checks again. Everything was going well in acquiring all of these materials, until the letter of good health and the results of the HIV test didn't show up, and didn't show up, until I couldn't take it anymore! I was calling the doctor's office almost daily (they didn't like me very much!) Finally after 2.5 weeks of waiting, I couldn't wait anymore because I had to get the application in at least 3 weeks before I left, and the 3 week deadline had arrived. I asked for the letter and the results to be faxed, so they faxed them, well the letter. I was reading the letter and discovered that they had put the wrong birthday on there, so it didn't look like me! I called the doctor's office to have them change it, and waited on hold for an hour. When I finally got through, I talked to a very nice lady who told me that they would have it faxed before the office I was having it faxed to closed. A half hour before the International Affairs Office closed, the fax had still not come, so I called the Doctor's office and was told that they would fax it before 5 pm, which would have been 2 hours after the IAO closed! AHHHH! So I told her that I needed it in a half an hour. I went and wandered around, and came back...still no fax. Finally I called back and was like where is my fax? She put me on hold and went an faxed it! This time, again, no HIV results...(they didn't get faxed until 5 pm, so lots of good that did me). I went home because Dr. Compton had to go home as well. I had a letter to the janitor from Compton to let me into the office to get the fax, so I could go in early, get it and then head to the UPS Store to mail it, and I would have to pay for same day delivery. Well, I got home, and what was in my mailbox, but the letter and the HIV results that I had been waiting for! I was so excited. I jumped in the car and drove to the UPS store to send it to Chicago. My Student Visa application made it to the consulate in Chicago, exactly 3 weeks before I needed it.

On the checklist for all of the application materials, it says that you will be contacted by the Consulate to set up an appointment to appear in person to sign and fingerprint the visa, so I waited for a phone call. Finally it reached the point where I needed my passport back (you have to send your actual passport to the Consulate...a bit scary!) So I called the Consulate yesterday to see what was going on. I had plans to leave Marquette on Thursday after saying goodbye to Chris and then head to Chicago, stay overnight at my friend Mike's, then go to the Consulate on Friday morning sometime and head home after doing that. All of this had to happen in this way because I am working a 60 hour shift that began Monday evening at 9pm and was supposed to end Thursday morning at 9am. When I called the Consulate, they notified me that I could come get my Visa today (not possible...working) or Thursday morning at 8:30 am, which also did not work because I was still supposed to be at work for another 30 minutes, and unfortunately the drive to Chicago is more than 30 minutes! When I told the lady this, she said that she could squeeze me in at 12:30 on Thursday...doesn't help much since I am would only have 3.5 hours to get to Chicago, which is at least a 6 hour drive from Marquette. What to do? I called mom in tears because I was so frustrated, and then I called some people from work. There was pretty much only one person who could cover my shift...I called him and he said YES! Whew! So now I am leaving Marquette at about 5am to drive to Chicago for a fingerprinting and signing of my student visa at 12:30, then going to Mike's house to stay overnight, and then heading home on Friday. Oh the drama. I hate drama, especially when it is drama that directly concerns me. But at least I should now be set to get on the plane on Sunday afternoon!