Communication

One of the things I've committed to as part of my study abroad program is a language pledge. Except for some communication with family and friends (i.e. this blog), I've affirmed to completely immerse myself in Spanish. The gist of it is that I'm doing almost everything in Spanish: reading, writing, speaking... even when I'm chatting with the other gringos, and even if someone wants to practice their English with me. Not using English as a crutch is definitely helping my Spanish a ton already. I'm learning new words every day, becoming more confident in conversation and I'm even starting to think in Spanish more and more, just two weeks in. Still, I struggle with every Spanish sentence. There's so much I can't say that I want to say, so many things I want to talk about with my Chilean host family and friends... but I just can't because I'm not fluent enough. It can be incredibly frustrating. But it's also super exhausting. My brain works so hard all the day that by evening everything just wants to shut down and I find it super easy to fall asleep. Every day I feel some progress though, and I guess this is what study abroad is all about. Struggling and making lots of mistakes, but pushing on and enjoying all the fun and great memories which come out of the unique experience.

Caramba it's raining hard right now. I'm going to bed.

Transport

One of the few downsides to my living situation here in Valdivia is that I live relatively far from the center. I basically live in a Chilean vision of suburbia. My neighborhood is called the “Villa Europa” (European Village) and all the streets are named after cities and countries in Europe. There's block after block of similar looking single-family homes, and most people use some sort of motorized vehicle to get around. So what do I do about transport? Well I’ve walked a few times. It’s only a half an hour to get to the city center, 40 minutes to the university. Thankfully there are also a few other options.

Micros (buses)

Micros are common throughout Valdivia. There are 20 different routes which cover the whole city. Routes 4 and 5 go near my house. I have to walk two blocks to a bus stop. Wait for the bus. Hop on and wait till it takes me to the center. There are two slight problems with this mode of transportation, though. One is time. Micros take the most erratic routes to get to where you need to go. They constantly turn onto side streets and stop to pick up more passengers, so it’s almost faster to walk. Secondly, I always seem to get the most aggressive micro drivers who weave in and out of traffic, narrowly avoid ramming into other vehicles, and never give me enough time to get off the bus before they zoom off down the road. This option has clear downsides.

Colectivos

These are basically taxis that have predetermined routes, squeezing as many people as can fit into the vehicle. I like this option for the quickest way into the center. But they don’t go to the university. They’re also really cramped. And the cost adds up if I take them several times a day.

Bike

I bought a bike this week. I’m really happy with it. It’s really cheap and crappy but gets the job done- it gets me places. The one problem is that Valdivia hates bike riders. It rains almost every day this time of year, so anytime I hop on a bike I'm just asking to get drenched with mud. The roads and sidewalks aren’t built for bike riding, and cars and micros love to hog the road.

I’m still trying to figure out the best solution…

Arrived in Chile!

Well it’s been a while so I thought I’d post a bit of an update now that I’ve settled down in my new home in the Southern Hemisphere. (special shout out to all you guys enjoying summer back up in the north!)

Anyway it’s great to finally be here after the crazy amount of paperwork and preparation. Chile, and especially Valdivia, is not at all like the stereotype of Latin America. Thinking about Latin America might conjure up images of a picturesque beach with a lot of sun, or some sort of warm, tropical paradise. Not Valdivia. It is cold. It is rainy (locals call it Val-lluvia—Val-rain in Spanish). Sometimes it is pretty freakin’ miserable. But there’s a reason they also call the city the Pearl of the South. As I'll try to explain below, this place truly is a treasure.

One of the main pedestrian paths with the city cathedral in background

There are about 140,000 people living in Valdivia. Although it is not all that big, it’s really not that small either, with plenty of good food, entertainment, and historic sights to see. There are few cities in Latin America that can match Valdivia’s unique style. Sweet German-influenced architecture, a lively main avenue, parks and plazas on nearly every street, a busy river market with lots of great seafood, and hungry lobos del mar (sea lions) mooching for scraps.

River market complete with lobos del mar and assorted birds

But more than anything else, Valdivia has some of the best natural beauty in the world. The city is basically surrounded by rivers and mountains. There is a great botanical garden on campus which has thousands of types of trees and plants from all over the world.

Botanical Garden

Skiing, hot springs, hikes, beaches (maybe when it’s a bit warmer) are all super close. There’s a lot to look forward to this semester.

I’m living with a great Chilean family a five-minute drive/25 minute walk from downtown. It is a nice middle-class neighborhood, reminiscent of suburban neighborhoods in the U.S (although generally, houses are much smaller here). Although I definitely regret being a bit removed from the center of Valdivia, I couldn’t ask for a better host family. I’ll wait to talk more about the home life until later…

(Avenida Picarte/main street)

So what am I doing now? Well I’m not all that sure really. The first days here have been a bit crazy, figuring out class options, internships, registering with the police and civil registry, trying to get credit card issues resolved… But thankfully, classes don’t start for another three weeks (a two-month strike by students last semester forced the university to compress this coming semester. So I have a lot of time to finish getting everything sorted out. One thing I have started is my internship with a local environmental group (more on that some other day).

Well, I should probably get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day. I work at my internship in the morning and in the afternoon I’m going shopping with my host mother to get a bike (fast, cheap, ideal transportation for Valdivia).

Feel free to check out my photos on my facebook page. I’ll add more as the semester goes on.

I’d love to hear from you- shoot me an e-mail!