HOLA-O!

La Plaza de Armas

The morning commute on the Metro

Pontifica Universidad Catolica

Jugadores de ajedrez

Greetings from the Southern Cone :) Three full days in, and it is still crazy to think that I am half a world away from the two places I call home. My time thus far has been exciting, overwhelming, a blur, and so much more.

The flight down here was, minus the extremely short layover/connection in Miami, smooth. I got into Santiago-along with the rest of the group-and through customs around 9AM on Monday. From there, we headed straight to our homestays located throughout two communities in Santiago: Providencia and La Reina. My roommate, Dan (who I knew prior to the trip), and myself live in the latter with a nice woman named Patricia and her three children, Ricardo, Maria Jose, and Catalina. It's been great living with another Northwestern student. Dan and I have been able to help each other carry the load that is transitioning and adjusting to a different country-offering each other, at times, the respite of speaking English and/or incredibly ugly Spanglish. My Spanish has been day-by-day, almost moment-by-moment. It IS coming back to me, and that is encouraging. My host family doesn't speak a lick of English, so 'Como se dice' is out the window. AWESOME :)

After unpacking, we toured the community with Patricia and then headed to the IES headquarters in Providencia where we began an orientation that lasted until Tuesday evening. The program will be wonderful. I'll be taking 4 classes: History and Culture of Chile, Spanish, Independent Research, and a Public Health in Chile seminar. That latter two have me the most excited. My project won't commence until July, but the seminar began this morning at the San Joaquin campus of Pontifica Universidad Catolica.

This past afternoon, we were able to travel around and see the city for the first (real) time. And from my initial sampling, I like it. Its communities and neighborhoods are unique from one another and offer a different element and take on Chilean life and culture. In a matter of 20 minutes, my friends and I went from a university campus to the heart of the city in the Plaza de Armas, the center of both Chile's commercial and cultural/histoical life. A five-minute walk west across the river took us to the Communidad de Independencia, a neighborhood that stood in stark contrast to the affluence and lifestyles o Armas. In hindsight, I wish we had had someone there to tell the significant history of each place (especially Armas), but it was relaxing and fun to explore the city on our own and to gather our own personal impressions of the place. I am excited to explore and learn (as much as possible) about each community.

It is currently 7 degrees here...Celsius that is (45 F). It certainly isn't Chicago cold, but it is nonetheless brisk-especially with no central heating system. But that is part of the experience and makes me incredibly grateful for the four blankets on my bed :)

OK. Sorry this post is a bit basic and boring. Hopefully, once my schedule calms down and I get my bearings straight, I'll have better stories to tell and updates to give. I hope all is well.

The Voyage has just begun...