Students from Bellavista

Last week was our final week of school and we went on a couple of excursions with our Spanish classes.  Wednesday, we were taken around the city to see different political and cultural buildings.  One stood out in particular; Londres 38.  Not knowing a thing about the building before stepping inside I was wondering what we were doing there.  There was hardly a piece of furniture inside, the stairs were cracked, and the walls were mostly bare aside from a few informative signs mounted on the wall that I could only understand bits and pieces of.  After skimming through them, talking to different people, and reading up on Londres 38, I've learned it is a very sacred place.  

Kim and I at Londres 38

In September of 1973, the dictatorship had taken away the property, that now sits Londres 38, From the Socialist Party and it quickly became the hub of the Chilean secret police.  This building was used to carry out the policy of detention, extermination, torture and the disappearance of the political opponents of the dictatorship.  There was one room that was especially interesting.  Like the others it was completely empty but on the walls hung enlarged photographs of protests that have gone on between then and as recently as this year.  Chile loves to protest; in fact Chile puts Kim and I to bed a couple of times a week with the chanting and rallying coming from Plaza de Armas a few blocks away.     

 The building sits on a cobblestone walkway.  Every few blocks are in-scripted with the name and age of someone who died during the year the secret police were running the detention.  Sadly, the majority of the people were under the ago of 30.  Walking around this building gave me the same eerie feeling that I felt wondering around the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. 

On a lighter note, we went to Havana Salsa the following night.  Kim has had a thing for salsa dancing for a while now and I've taken quite an interest since I've been here so needless to say we were excited for an eventful evening.  The night was supposed to start with a dance lesson, then dinner, and finally a show which I guess, is more or less what we got.  

Dancers from Havana Salsa

First of all, it wasn't a salsa lesson...how silly of us to assume we'd get a salsa lesson at Havana Salsa!  We actually took a bachata lesson that was extremely difficult.  Kim seemed to get the hang of it and stuck it out a little longer than I.  After the lesson they served traditional Cuban food, which was decent, and then we waited...and waited...and waited.  We were all finished with dinner by 9:30 and patiently awaited a show that was supposed to start at 9:00 but didn't come on until MIDNIGHT! If the show was fantastic I would be okay with that but it wasn't.  It was 25 minutes of half naked men and women shaking around on stage...more or less.  The dancing was horrible and the costumes were worse.  To top it all off the building was freezing, we were all in our jackets the entire time.  Kim ended up asking the waiter for hot water with lemon for her and myself, which was heavenly, until we were charged for it afterward.  We wont be making a trip back there...ever.  

Our Spanish class!

The following day was our last day at Escula Bellavista!  It was a bitter-sweet day.  I truly love that school and had a great three weeks there.  We had a very relaxed day of class that included some learning, some snacks, and some wine!  We were also taught how to play Nunca Nunca, which is the Spanish version of Never Have I Ever.  After class (and a glass of wine or so) four of us decided to go out for another drink to celebrate our last day.  Four people quickly turned into 15 and one drink quickly turned into a lot.  Along with us, there were people from Brazil, Holland, Germany, and Japan.  The more I travel, meet people, and explore cultures the more I learn that underneath it all everyone is very much the same.

(Earlier that day we were informed of all the protesting that would be going on that weekend of May 21, because...well... as I said, Chileans like to protest.  Our teacher told us to be cautious and not do too much traveling outside the city because Santiago's neighboring cities would be rallying as well.)  

Chorillana, A traditional Chilean meal.

Once Kimmy and I felt like we had enough Nunca Nunca, Chorillana, and 1 Liter beers we decided to head home.  While we were walking in one direction there was a swarm of people running towards us, along with numerous police on horseback.  We took a quick left into the closest store that was open which turned out to be a Subway sandwich shop.  A few others followed behind and an employee quickly closed and locked the door behind them.  We were told to wait a few minutes and let the commotion pass which is what we did.  A few minutes later we went back outside walking home, arm in arm as fast as we could.  We walked through Plaza Italia which looked like just a few minutes earlier was full of protesters until they were sprayed with dirty water and tear gas.  Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

The band at Los Dominicos

The weekend was pretty mellow.  We went to Los Dominicos, the end of one of the metro lines, and spent half the day walking around a beautiful outdoor market full of shops selling hand made items.  Anything from clothes and jewelery to antiques and furniture.  It was a gorgeous day and in the center of the market was a band of around 30 men over the age of 50 with trombones, drums, clarinets, etc.  To our surprise, the group played a handful of songs from The Beatles!  

Protestors, a view from our apartment.

Sunset from the top of our apartment.

         

                

Valparaiso..."Paradise Valley"

This past Saturday we hopped on a Tur Bus and headed about an hour and a half northwest of Santiago to a little city known as the cultural-capitol, Valparaiso.  

  

Valparaiso,

how absurd

you are...you haven't 

combed your hair, 

you've never 

had 

Pablo Neruda's house in Valparaiso

time to get dressed,

life has always 

surprised you.   

-Pablo Neruda

Kimmy and I went with our friend Scott who has been there a few times before and was a great tour guide.  The city is made of 42 cerros (hills) that resemble mazes made of steep streets, alleys, and stairways.  Each hill is topped with old, crumbling houses yet at the same time is full of color and charm.

The city sits on the edge of the Bahia De Valparaiso (Bay of Valparaiso) and stepping off of the bus, the smell of the ocean was the first thing I fell in love with. I have missed that smell!  

We took the funicular up to the top of Cerro Concepcion.  From there we spent the day walking; in and out, up and down, all around the backs of the different hills.  Our first stop was at Museo Lukas (Lukas was a local cartoonist).  There, we wondered around his artwork and sipped on coffee as we planned our day.  After leaving there, we walked for a long while admiring the colors surrounding us.  From the houses to the cars and the cement walls; everything was full of color.  Finally, we stumbled upon Le Sebastiana which was another home to Pablo Neruda.  This house was amazing; five flights of beauty.  Each room was made up of big windows facing the bay.  The views were breathtaking and became more impressive with each ascent.  One thing that is always talked about is how Pablo would have big parties on New Years Eve and everyone would go to his house to watch the fireworks over the bay.  I only wish I could have seen that!  

Continuing our walk, we ended up walking through Museo a Cielo Abierto, Open-Sky Museum.  It's a casual outdoor walk made up of  20 colorful murals that were painted between 1969 and 1973 by students from Universidad Catolica's Instituto de Arte.  The murals cover the cement walls and stairs throughout the walk.  

Afterward we ended back on El Plan, the congested, flat, commercial part of the city closest to the water.  We had lunch in Mercado Central which is a market of produce, meats, and fish similar to the one in Santiago.  We had three delicious meals of fresh seafood, bread, and a bottle of wine for 17.000 pesos (under $40).  

While we're sitting in the market there were all types of vendors walking from table to table trying to sell jewelery, kids toys, etc.  This one man was selling some type of noisemaker and he was making noise with this thing the entire time we ate circling the dining area.  It drove us crazy.  A couple hours later we ended up at the bus station to head back home and the three of us are sitting on a bench outside and Scott goes, "OMG look who's here" we turn our heads in suspense and it was noisemaker man, THE noisemaker man, trying to sell noisemakers!...one of the many laughs we had that day.    

At Cafe De Luka

Tons of stray dogs, that fell in love with Scott

Lady working on her mural.

Profile of Pablo Neruda.

For both children and adults to ride through the park.

       

Kim standing below the Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepcion

Kim in Parque Forestal for our yoga class.

Ricardo leading yoga class

Last Sunday, Mother's Day, we went to Parque Forestal for an outdoor yoga and relaxation class that the city gives free of charge for three consecutive Sundays.  We arrived only to find that we were the only two participating who were under the age of 55.  It was more like glorified stretching than yoga but we enjoyed it nonetheless.  The class turned out to be more beneficial to our learning Spanish than to our physique; we now have the words vuelve (this has nothing to do with the female anatomy), eso es, and arriba committed to memory.  It was really nice to see people who happened to be strolling by on a Sunday morning take time from their day to participate in the class for a several minutes and then simply move on.  

An exhibit in Museo de Artes Visuales.

A group of dancers we passed on Dia De La Musica!

Following yoga, we decided to go to Museo de Artes Visuales, solely because it's free to the public on Sundays.  Good thing, because if we paid we wouldn't have been very happy.  The only exhibit to catch my interest was what looked like a city but was made out of white, computer paper, and stood about waist high.  On our way to the Museum we stumbled upon a group of musicians and dancers who were celebrating "Dia De La Musica" and we got a free dance show in the street!

Sunday night we had our first of four salsa lessons!  We heard about it from some friends and we were under the impression that we were headed to a Salsatecha for some drinks amidst dancing, but we ended up in an actual dance studio with a certified teacher.  It was awesome, although much to our dismay, Chileans do not have that internal Latin rhythm that we anticipated.  Classes are every Sunday night for 4 weeks and we can't wait for the next.

View from the top of Cerro San Cristobal.

After class on Monday we headed straight for Cerro San Cristobal.  The park is Santiago's biggest green space and atop it stands a 14- meter high statue of the Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepcion.  It took us close to two hours to hike to the top but it was well worth it because it has the best views in the city.  On the way down we hopped on the funicular which got us back to the ground in 4 minutes!  On our walk home we stopped at Patio Bellavista which is a big courtyard made up of upscale restaurants, artsy coffee shops, and all types of little shops and boutiques.  We had a couple drinks, did our homework as well as some serious people watching.  

A very small part of Patio Bellavista

Last night we went to Language Roulette which is always a good opportunity to meet new people, practice Spanish and help others practice English.  It's been nice getting in a routine here - Spanish classes in the morning, mini field trips afterwards, Language Roulette on Thursdays, Salsa dancing on Fridays, and our salsa classes on Sunday nights...always something to look forward to!

Today is Friday!  It's a beautiful day in Santiago!  We had a great day at class today.  Kim and I both had to do a presentation, which was the equivalent to something we've done in third grade, but this time it was in Spanish.  According to our professor we did great!  We're getting ready to head to our rooftop, watch the sun go down and do some dancing tonight!  Tomorrow we'll be heading to Valparaiso, a little city on the coast of Chile with our friend Scott for the day.  

And for now...eso es!    

A band performing in the street on Dia De La Musica.

Coming down Cerro San Cristobal on the funicular

 

 

Dia de la Madre

 

Dearest Mom,

  

Thank you for being so fabulous!  It's because of your "go-getter" attitude that you have five ambitious children with the drive to explore and live life!  Without that we would not be where we are now and we can't thank you enough!   

  

We wish we could be with you to celebrate on your special day...enjoy, you deserve it!  See you in 7 weeks!!

   

With love, 

Lizzy and Kimmy <3   

Language Roulette

This past Thursday Kimmy and I headed to Language Roulette!  Language Roulette is an event that takes place at different restaurants and bars around Santiago that has a similar set up to speed dating, minus the dating...plus the language! 


There are about 20 people who all share the common interest to learn another language whether it be English or Spanish.  There are ten tables set up, each of which sit a native English speaker and a native Spanish speaker; for five minutes you converse in English and for five minutes you converse in Spanish.  After those ten minutes are up the native English speakers rotate around to the different tables; this goes on for about an hour. 


Kimmy and I were there a little early and became a little skeptical of the situation because besides ourselves, there was one other participant who wasn't working the event.  With a fee of 4,000 (under $10) pesos comes a drink, needless to say, we took that drink ticket right to the bar and on our way there I said to her "let's get our drink and get outta here!"...Of course we stayed, and loved it! 


By the time the event started there were a good 20 people and it turned out to be a great night!  We met a lot of fun and interesting people, while at the same time we were given the opportunity to practice speaking Spanish after all of our hard work this first week of school!   


    

First week of school

This blog is a joint effort so it is told by two different perspectives.....sorry if this causes any confusion.

(Kim)

It has been almost a week since we have blogged so we have a lot of catching up to do.  After five consecutive days of Spanish classes, mini fields trip around the city, eating out, and socializing I think we have a better perception of Santiago as a whole.  Before we break down the weeks events,  here are some of our general thoughts and opinions about the city.

Some parts are beautiful, quaint and extremely clean; other parts are filthy, smelly and overcrowded with people, garbage and stray animals.  Basically we have learned to only make a right when leaving our apartment building.  We are on the cusp of two different worlds in one big city.  The weather has been beautiful all week.  In the 70's and sunny, but the infamous smog continues to loom the city and sometimes obstruct the beautiful view of the Andes.  We are looking forward to a good day of rain.  Apparently, the view will be spectacular afterward.  Overall,  we feel very comfortable and safe.  The metro is very simple to use but rush hour is absurd!  Sometimes we wait and watch three trains come and go before we even attempt to push through the crowds and demand a place for ourselves!

Our Spanish Classes

Monday, May 2 was our very first day of class.  Lizzy and I were split up for the first time since we've been here!  However, I was accidentally placed in advanced Spanish and couldn't understand a word that was spoken by my fellow classmates, one being Russian and one Brazilian.  "What country am I in again?" By the second day of class I was correctly placed in basic spanglish, part B and was reunited with Lizzy - "sigh of relief".

We have two different classes each day with different professors.  Our favorite class is taught by Sebastian - Lizzy has a huge crush on him ;).  He is a Spanish teacher by day and could possibly be a comedy act by night.  In addition to being hysterical with his accent and mannerisms, he never misses an opportunity to make fun of what we say.  For example, today he asked us what we will be celebrating on Sunday.  I quickly blurted out "Feliz de Mamas!"  Apparently, mamas are breasts.  We are actually celebrating "El dia de Madre."  Needless to say, we laugh all through class and have never had more fun at school.

(Liz)

Our Field Trips

Los Mercados  After school each day we have the option to participate in a mini field trip.  Tuesday, we explored Los Mercados.  Our teacher, Senora Lydia, talked me into trying a Terremoto, which is a common beverage in Chile made up of white wine, brandy, and grenadine then topped with a scoop of pineapple ice cream.  Mmm, Mmm.  We were taken through Mercado Central and La Vega.

They're both markets where you can buy fish, meats, vegetables, fruits, candies, even dog food.  (Having been to La Boqueria while in Barcelona in 2009 I had high expectations and Kimmy, loving her fruits and veggies was excited to purchase some fresh Chilean produce).  We were highly disappointed and simply grossed out by all the markets.  There were stray animals lingering everywhere, the places were smelly, dirty, and overcrowded.  Of course I'm glad we saw it because it's always interesting to see other cultures and lifestyles but we don't need to go back...there's a good 'ol supermarket across the street!

 

La Chascona
The following day we went to La Casa de Pablo Neruda.  Pablo Neruda is well known poet in Chile who needed a secret hideaway to spend time with his mistress, Matilde Urrutia, so he built La Chascona.  It really was a very interesting home because of the way it was built and the piece of land it sits on.  The only setback was that because this trip was with our Spanish class, the tour was in Spanish and we'd probably learn a lot more about him and his home if we took the tour again, in English!    

Y que tanto...

*Lunch one sunny day - 2 apps, 2 entrees, 2 deserts, 3 glasses of wine, a basket of bread with yummy salsa - 20 bucks!  

*It's very common, that businessmen find there way to "special" coffee shops during there lunch break.  Sra. Lydia pointed them out to us during our tour of Los Mercados.  They're next to restaurants, shops, at metro stops - pretty much very open to the public.  The only form of camouflage is tinted windows, however you can see the neon lights through them.  Sra. Lydia encouraged the college kid and only male in our group to take a peak and then all the Japonese ladies wanted to sneak a peak as well.  It was very comical.  Needless to say, these place are packed out with men in suits around 1 in the afternoon and we have heard they don't even sell alcohol.