Hola Chile

Exactly one week ago today*, I was a couple thousand feet in the air, anxiously awaiting my arrival in a foreign, mysterious land. Well, at least I thought that Chile was going to be a foreign, mysterious land. I thought that all foreign countries would have a Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory esque feel to them, where everything is so new and different (and hopefully delicious), and I simply walk wide-eyed in the streets absorbing all of my new surroundings. But, partly because Chile is a familiar, westernized country and partly because my concept of other countries was completely absurd, Chile has not been the Wonka Factory. It has been different. But, it has surpassed my expectations.

The view from our balcony at night

After arriving in Santiago early Sunday morning, Reed and I somehow made our way across the country** and to the doorstep of our host family, with only our undeveloped Spanish abilities and an address. But that’s another story. Arriving without any prior contact, our host mother accepted us with open arms and a kiss on the cheek. After settling into our new rooms, we were treated to a lunch of stewed beef and mashed potatoes. Initially, I thought that this wonderful meal was a special welcoming feast, but every dinner here has been delicious, ranging from chicken and rice to completos (hot dogs with cabbage, tomato, avocado and mayo). Our host mother is pretty awesome.
However, it did not take long for me to realize one very important fact: my host family speaks no English. The language barrier was in full force at that first lunch, and Reed and I often shared looks that said “You understand?” “Nope.” “Well, these next five weeks are gonna be hard.” Maybe I had just been in denial, but after that lunch it fully hit me that my Spanish abilities needed to catch up fast if this trip was going to enjoyable. And that’s where Ecela comes in.

The amazing little shop that produces
amazing emanadas

Ecela is a school designed for tourists to learn Spanish while traveling, which has locations in six South American cities. Every weekday, we have two, 1.5 hour long, classes: a conversation class at 11, followed by a grammar class. But we cannot forget about lunch between the classes, which has been one of the best parts of our time in Chile. Reed and I have gotten empanadas for literally every lunch. Holy Shmoly, empanadas are so unbelievably, amazingly, out-of-this-world-ly delicious.
We are fortunate that our classes have on average .5 other people in them, so we are able to get a lot of personal attention and improve. I use the conversations at dinner every night with our host mother to evaluate how much our Spanish is progressing: the first dinner was filled with many of the same looks that we had during lunch, the second night we were able to actually have a conversation, the third night the conversation got better and faster and every night since then has gotten incrementally better and richer. Last night, we were even able to have an in depth conversation about our hosts mother’s experience during the Pinochet dictatorship of the 70s and 80s. It feels awesome to be able to see and feel my progress every day as I get more and more comfortable conversing in Spanish.

The view of Valparaiso hillside during our tour.
Valparaiso is known for views like this, with colorful
houses covering the hill.

This first week has been one of extraordinary growth for me. It is still a challenge (and I think it will be throughout my time in Chile), to understand the average Chilean***. But that has not stopped real and I from enjoying Chile. We have kept busy going on tours in Valparaiso, to beaches in Renaca or even to an Organic vineyard (but more on that in the next blog). Chile certainly is not the Wonka Factory, but it has been so much more.

*“today” being when I wrote this first sentence, not necessarily when I end up posting this blog - which could be in a couple days because these blogs take a while!

**although this phrase sounds impressive, it really doesn’t have to same grandeur as in the United States because of Chile’s unique shape. The cross country trek was about 2 hours by bus.

***Chileans have a very strong accent where they often do not pronounce “S” or the end of words. Except I have noticed that many people here are very friendly towards us and will try to abandon their accent to help up. But the keyword there is “try.”

Mmmmmm empanadas.
This one with shrimp and cheese.