We started our first day with a trip to Escuela de Bella Vista, which is the school where we will be taking 3 weeks of intensive Spanish classes. The school is maybe a 20 minute trek in all. A quick metro ride, (the public transportation is really easy to use and really clean, reminds me of Barcelona) followed by a short walk. We didn't need to be there yesterday but decided to check it out. We met with Sim, who works the front desk. She amazes me because she's originally from Malaysia where they speak Manderin, she now lives in Chile speaking Spanish and when these two Gringos (Kim and I) walk in she speaks English with them. I was curious, so I did ask, and she speaks about 7 languages in all.
Since we were there already we sat down with our teacher and took a verbal Spanish test, which was just a little conversation between the three of us to figure out what level class we'll be in. We'll both be in level "basico" but she made it clear that there are two basic levels and we're in the second one...or maybe she was just trying to make us feel better. As we were leaving the classroom I said to Kim, "she might think we're a little slow but I think we did a really good job"...and I meant it.
Escuela de Bella Vista does activities after class everyday. They're like optional field trips but they seem like great opportunities to speak the language with other people and we're excited to take advantage of them!
 | |||
| This strap comes with the chair...avoids all the petty theft |
We ended up on the patio of Sur Patagonico (Southern Patagonia) with a couple glasses of white wine, pulpo a la parilla (grilled octopus), and croker/salmon ceviche. Deliciouso! Diego, who is from Uruguay, was our waiter and we were doing our best to talk to each other about what we're doing here and what we think about Santiago. Once we couldn't understand each other anymore he grabbed his friend, Ignacio the Bartender, who speaks great English to translate for us. Their shift happened to end as we finished our meal and they invited us for drinks down the street. It turned into a little class, we teach English-they teach Spanish, Kim even had her notebook out! We told them we'd keep in touch and invite them to "Language Roulette" on Thursday which is like speed dating for the languages; 5 minutes of only Spanish speaking and then 5 minutes of only English speaking, when the buzzer goes off you switch partners.
Afterward, we threw on some heels and met up with other TeachingChile participants to go Salsa dancing. We met Scott and Danielle who have been here for about 10 months. On top of that, they both have a Spanish speaking history so their Spanish is awesome. They take a two-hour Salsa class every Sunday and their class goes to Mi Gente Salsotecha on Fridays so we tagged along. Needless to say it was a blast. But the fun started when we actually found the place. We got off at the correct metro stop but literally walked right instead of left and ended up on some streets I never want to walk on again, in heels no less.
 | |
| Us & Danielle |
Going back to Mi Gente Salsotecha, Scott and Danielle's Chilean friends came by to dance. It doesn't matter what language you speak or where you're from, the language of dance transcends all cultures. Between the eight of us, we salsa danced for a couple hours (some better than others), swapping partners after each song...it was so much fun and we're both looking forward to doing it again. |
| Scott & Kimmy. He's from Tennessee but has a great Chilean accent! |
Once we decided it was time to go we hailed a cab and actually got him to take us to the right apartment! The ride cost 2,150 pesos but with a big smile on his face, the driver told us to only give him 2,000 pesos (less than $4) which goes to show the amazing people we've been running into everywhere and it's only our second day!
Y que tanto? ... (and what does it matter?)
*in the supermarkets the Pantene and Tressume are locked up!
*there are stray dogs and cats everywhere
*milk and eggs are not refrigerated
*instant coffee is served even though Columbia is on the same continent
*American movies and television shows are shown in English with Spanish subtitles
No comments:
Post a Comment