i'm in vina!

An update as to my change of location!

Friday, I met up with Steph in the evening (after walking a lot that afternoon - just so you know, don't ever try to walk all the way from San Fernando to the Irarrazaval metro station - there's a reason why I'd always taken a bus before - for some reason i'm never a good judge of distance, etc.) We went around Bellavista to eat dinner, chat, and browse around the area. Sonja got in really late that night/early the next morning, and then slept through most of the next day. And, Steph met up with another friend on Saturday, so I decided to go on by myself to a bbq in the country where Shana, A, & A were - I can add one more type of transportation to my "reportoire", if you will - I took the "metro tren". It was a very pretty ride, and the bbq was fun - Connie (I. - from Virginia), if you read this, I had 2 good Chilean hot dogs, so don't worry - I ate one for you. That evening, Sonja and I went out to the Plaza Nunoa - caught a bit of an outdoor concert, which was really good, and then ate at La Tecla - panqueques and pisco sours - good Chilean times. Oh - and then Sunday, Sonja went with us to church, we met Steph for lunch, and got Steph's stuff (isn't that a mouthful) over to the house. Whereupon, I threw everything into suitcases, and was ready to give Shana, A, & A their gifts 5 minutes before we needed to be ready to leave.

I got to Vina yesterday evening and moved into my house. S, S, and I rode over together in a van provided by the school - a nice ride once we got out of the jerky stops of Santiago. It was interesting going along the route dropping off the other girls - my house was the last. Steph is Valpo., so she was first. I got to actually meet Sonja's family briefly, and they were very nice and extended an invitation to come visit. And then I got to my house - where my mom Margarita and sister Gaby were waiting for me. They're super-nice, of course. They've had 4 international students before, so that was comforting - they somewhat know the ropes. We went out for pizza last night - tan rico. One of Gaby's friends from Santiago who's been in Vina for vacation is going back soon, so he joined us, along with some others of his friends. That was enjoyable enough - Gaby told them not to speak Chilean, but Spanish, to me - I've gotten used to it to some extent, but I still have to have things repeated, of course.

The house is very nice - lots of nice colors on the walls - Gaby painted both of our rooms this past summer. It's small, of course, but I think I'll have plenty of room for everything once I get everything out of the suitcases and can put those away. I have a little window seat that overlooks the street, which is nice. Gaby's and my rooms are right next to each other, and Margarita's is just across the hall from mine - all upstairs along with the main bathroom, with the living, dining, and kitchen downstairs, and a little patio with lots of plants and a patio furniture set in the back.

Enough about the house. I started orientation today. My family has a car, but I'll be taking the bus to school each day, of course, so Gaby took me to the stop and rode with me to the Casa Central this morning. Once we were split up into our orientation groups, they drove us over in buses to the Estadio Espanol, where we had a nice welcome breakfast where we got our information folders, there were lots of speeches and introductions including some words from the mayor of vina del mar, a gift of a nice PUCV keychain/"symbolic key to Chile, Valpo., PUCV, etc.", traditional Chilean music and dancing, getting to know fellow int´l students (everyone in my group is from the States, and most are ISEP), and then the written spanish placement exam - not bad at all, I don't think. We have the oral one tomorrow, I think - that should be interesting, although I feel fairly comfortable amongst the other American students - I feel like I've picked up a Chilean-enough accent/ear for the language, so I feel fairly confident - or confident enough, anyway - I'm at least used to the process of not understanding things and asking for things to be repeated, anyway. Gaby was waiting for me outside in the car, and we went home for lunch - salad, and porotos granados, or a type of bean soup, which was very good, and I think i've had before. This afternoon, I rode the bus by myself, which was fine for the most part - I got off the bus a little too late, but not too far down, so it wasn't too bad. The afternoon was just a big meeting to explain our folders, give some more info., give some safety tips, etc. - complete with little skits which were humorous, although they made sure that we knew that there was sincerity behind their warnings. Most of it's common sense-ish, but there were a couple of things that were a heads-up to me. Afterward was a big group photo, although a girl named Rebecca and I were talking to eachother and different people as they moved different groups of people onto the stairs to get everyone in several different shots, and ended up missing them all. Oh well - at least we found out for sure what time we need to meet tomorrow, etc.

Now, I'm at an internet cafe with Gaby. I'm not sure how internet access is going to work this week or afterward, because the int'l programs computer lab is closed this week to us, so everyone can register for classes, etc., and for during the semester, I got the impression it's mainly just for academic purposes, and it's also just open during business hours during the week. I'm sure I'll find out where the 24-7 computer lab(s) is/(are) on the campuses. And, this cafe is very close to the house.

The weather in Vina is very different from Santiago - a lot cooler, and a lot cloudier - i've not actually seen the sun since i've been here. It's weird how you can get used to the weather some place - I've always said how much I love rain and cloudiness, etc., and I especially loved the whole two times it rained santiago while i was there, but now i'm kind of feeling all you uk'ers pain. I' m not really "down" about it being cloudy really, but I'll be happy to see the sun, and also when I finally have some sweaters and other fall/winter-type clothes, since I only have my denim jacket and a spring-y sweater to wear with tank tops, as far as over-clothes go - I continue to be amazed at how little clothes I brought - it's been just fine for these first 2 months, but I'm going to have to do some shopping soon, since we're getting into fall, and vina is cooler than santiago. Being next to the ocean is very cool, though. The main street from Vina to Valpo. passes by the ocean, and it's nice to look out to. Another difference between Santiago and Valpo/Vina, I think, is that things move at a more relaxed, less business-like pace. Although, that may have just been my impression from Margarita's talking about how people are in the metro, which they also have here, but is more prominent in santiago, i think - they're doing construction on it near the bus stop near my house.

Something quite similar to Santiago is the direct stares and comments (like "hermosa", which I heard as soon as I got off the bus coming home) from random men on the street - those viejos verdes (dirty old men) that I may have mentioned to some of you before. In our orientation meeting this afternoon, I thought it was kind of interesting that they said not to worry about people doing such things, that this is normal. And also about getting extra attention if you look or sound like a gringo. I guess they just meant that you should be prepared for this, and not to worry that you're specifically going to be stalked or hurt or anything because of the attention/comments/etc. But that doesn't exempt those typical men that do such things from being called viejos verdes in my book. That's usually who these things come from, so I consider it more of a viejo verde phenomenon. Others are a little less direct, or even oblivious.

Ok - after that semi-rant, and an account of all my experiences of the past few days, I'm going to stop. Vina and Valpo. are suiting me quite well, and I look forward to learning more/getting more used to the area, deciding on classes (i found out about a class about the games of the mapuche indians, that steph told me about, and the dad of the monitor in charge of my group is the professor of - so that´s exciting), getting to know all the int'l students, all of the different orientation events, getting unpacked, etc.

Oh - and about pictures - I've only taken one from my bedrom window so far, but I'm sure i'll be taking many more. However, along with the whole computer/internet situation, i'm not really sure how transfer of information, like photos, is going to work either.

I hope everyone is doing well!

All my love, and lots of big hugs and kisses from Chile,
Jessica