Chilean Literature Essay #1

In case those of you that are Spanish savvy want to review my first essay...

La poesía: Una comparación de los textos de Huidobro y Emerson

Vicente Huidobro, un poeta chileno, es más conocido para su iniciación del creacionismo, un movimiento literario que él llamó una “teoría estética general" a principios del siglo XX. En el siglo XIX, Ralph Waldo Emerson, un escritor estadounidense, proponía transcendentalismo, un movimiento que acentuaba el individuo. En “Arte Poética,” escrito por Huidobro, y El poeta, escrito por Emerson, los dos autores establecen sus visiones del papel del poeta. Aunque los textos no son en la misma forma, como el primero es un poema y el segundo es un cuento, hay muchas similitudes entre los textos. Además, hay un gran intervalo en tiempo entre los datos cuando los textos fueron escritos, como el ensayo fue escrito en 1844 y el poema en 1916. A pesar del intervalo, mucho del contenido de los textos están en concordancia.

En primer lugar, los dos textos contienen el pensamiento que los poetas les ofrecen a los lectores una nueva experiencia. En el ensayo, hay mucha descripción sobre las ideas originales que los poetas escriben: “El poeta tiene un pensamiento nuevo: él tiene una nueva experiencia entera para desplegar; él nos dirá cómo estuvimos con él, y todos hombres serán el más rico en su fortuna” (Emerson). En otras palabras, el contenido de los poemas es algo nuevo, algo que no puede ser expresado en una forma de otra manera que la poesía.

El yo poético en “Arte poética” empiece el poema con un símil que describe el poder de la palabras: “Que el verso sea como una llave/ Que abra mil puertas” (Huidobro 1-2). Es decir, hay obstrucciones que la palabra puede superar y cosas que las personas no pueden experimentar sin las palabras. Como resultado, quien controla las palabras también tiene el poder puesto que puede decir lo que las personas pueden experimentar y tiene el poder de censurar esas experiencias. Las mismas ideas del poeta como una persona que posee algún nivel del poder surgen en el ensayo cuando el narrador propone:

“Al lado de su intimidad del poder como un hombre individual, hay un gran poder público, en que él puede dibujar, desatrancando, en todos riesgos, sus puertas humanas… Su discurso es trueno, su pensó es la ley, y sus palabras son universalmente inteligibles como las plantas y animales” (Emerson).

Como el símil en “Arte poética,” el narrador usa una imagen de una puerta desatrancada y abierta para ilustrar como la poesía puede presentar nuevos conceptos. El narrador continua expresar el papel del poeta cuando dice, “el poeta es el que dice, el que denomina y representa la belleza” (Emerson). Una persona que denomina las cosas tiene mucho poder y responsabilidad porque, como la idea de la censura en el poema, esta responsabilidad podría ser abusada.

El yo poético reitera el papel del poeta como un creador en el próximo estrofa: “Inventa mundos nuevos y cuida tu palabra;/ El adjetivo, cuando no da vida, mata” (6-7). La poesía es una forma literaria más breve que otras formas, así hay menos palabras y los poetas necesitan escoger las palabras que dan vida al poema. La herramienta del poeta es el adjetivo porque puede inventar nuevas imágenes, conceptos y símbolos cuando lo usan. Asimismo, la denotación del poeta como "el que denomina" en el ensayo, como discutido antes, está en la conformidad con estas ideas presentadas en el poema. El poeta puede construir y asignar nuevos nombres a cosas diferentes.

Los dos textos mencionan la belleza en relación al común. La primera estrofa de “Arte poética” ilustra algunos eventos que ocurre cotidiano y no son grandiosos: una hoja cayendo y algo volando (3). El poeta no necesita buscar extensamente para encontrar cosas bellezas; hay la belleza en cosas ordinarias y mundanas. El pensamiento que el poeta debe encontrar la belleza en cosas comunes es una característica del movimiento romanticismo que también surge en El poeta:

“Así que el hábito del poeta de vivir debe ser puesto en una llave tan bajo y simple, que las influencias comunes lo deben encantar. Su alegría debe ser el regalo de la luz del sol; el aire debe ser suficiente para su inspiración, y él debe estar achispado con agua” (Emerson).

El narrador piensa que el poeta debe vivir con esperanzas bajas para que recibir alegría y entusiasmo de cosas sencillas. Es importante darse cuenta que ambos textos ponen un énfasis a encontrar la belleza en el común, y además en la naturaleza. En “Arte Poética,” el yo poético presenta una rosa como un sujeto que florece en los poemas: “Por qué cantáis la rosa, ¡oh Poetas!/ Hacedla florecer en el poema” (14-15). La rosa es un símbolo de la belleza que puede encontrar en la naturaleza. El narrador del ensayo repite el pensamiento que la naturaleza es una origen de la belleza y compara un poeta a un “hombre de la belleza” (Emerson). También sugiere que, a diferencia de otras personas, el poeta se aprovecha de su capacidad de ver y comprender la belleza encontrada en la naturaleza, como dice, “la naturaleza aumenta su belleza al ojo de hombres amorosos, de su creencia que el poeta percibe sus exposiciones al mismo tiempo” (Emerson). Propone que todas las personas poseen una fijación innata a la naturaleza pero la mayoridad de las personas no puede, o no quiere, expresarla.

Al final del poema, el yo poético en “Arte Poética” compara un poeta a un “pequeño Dios” (18). El narrador en El poeta también hace una comparación directa entre el poeta y Dio: “los poetas así liberan a Dioses” (Emerson). Además, el narrador sugiere que el poeta tiene algunas calidades de Dios. Por ejemplo, usa la palabra “divino,” cuál implica que el poeta tiene un papel espiritual, cuando dice que “la condición de denominar verdadero, en la parte del poeta, es su dimitirlo al aura divina que respira por formas, y acompañando eso” (Emerson). Pero, al mismo tiempo, el narrador también sugiere que el poeta es “representante.” Es decir, el poeta es una persona común que ejemplifica lo mejor de las personas. Esta idea crea una dicotomía porque el poeta tiene algunas calidades humanos y algunas calidades divinas. Hay un elemento humano presentado en el poema también cuando el yo poético dice, “Estamos en el ciclo de los nervios./ El músculo cuelga,/ Como recuerdo, en los museos” (8-10). “El ciclo de los nervios” es la medula de los humanos y la origen de los sentimientos. Como resultado, el yo poética implica que la poesía es una manifestación de los sentimientos de los humanos.

Otro ejemplo de una diferencia entre los textos incluye la frustración que el narrador de El poeta demuestra en su realización que todavía no ha encontrado un poeta suficiente: “busco en balde el poeta quien describo” (Emerson). El narrador describe una falta de un poeta que puede representar las personas y describir debidamente la belleza, pero Huidobro nunca menciona una falta de los poetas. Quizás esto revela una diferencia en la intención de los textos; el poema de Huidobro celebra las capacidades del poeta mientras que el ensayo de Emerson describe las capacidades del poeta ideal.

Como resultado, a pesar de la diferencia entre la forma de los textos y el siglo en que fueron escritos, los conceptos presentados en “Arte Poética” y El poeta son muy similares. Los temas centrales en los textos incluyen la idea que el poeta debe describir nuevas experiencias, el poeta tiene calidades divinas; y hay una conexión entre los poemas, la belleza y la naturaleza.

Writing and orchestra concert

On Sunday, nearly my entire day was devoted to writing “the essay.” For the past two weeks, we have been studying Modernismo and La vanguardia in Chilean Literature. The essay was completely open; the only guidelines were that it had to be 3 pages single spaced and relate to Modernismo or La vanguardia. We could even utilize American texts that we have studied to draw comparisons, so I decided to compare the role of the poet as described in “Arte poetica,” a poem by the Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro, and “The Poet,” an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I started working on it at 10 a.m. and continued until 3:30 p.m., when I went to meet Adrienne and John at the mall for dinner. I convinced them to go back to the restaurant that has the cheesecake – yum!

After eating, we went to the municipal theatre in Viña to see “Camerata Instituto de Musica PUCV,” a chamber orchestra from the university we attend. They played Warlock, Bach, and Mozart and there were 6 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, a bass, and a flute soloist. They sounded really good and perhaps the only difference between this orchestra and ones at UW-L was the concert attire. The girls wore long, black skirts with different, brightly colored shirts (yellow, pink, blue, lime green). Those colors would never fly at UW-L.

Yee haw!

On Saturday, everyone from my program (all 30 of us) went horseback riding in Con Con, a city about 30 minutes from Viña. It was one of the best experiences thus far! Being around animals (other than the large stray dog population) felt like home. We rode through huge sand dunes that reminded me of desert scenes from Aladdin. Riding on the beach was my favorite part, though, because we had the entire shoreline to gallop. It was so tranquil! A lot of the other students had never ridden a horse before, so it was also amusing to see the city slickers get all into it. I’m the only one that lives on a farm out of the group, so everyone is always in disbelief that I raise and show beef cattle. After the ride, we returned to the stables and had a Chilean barbecue with pork, beef, and sausage around the fire. I got home around supper time and reluctantly started to brainstorm ideas for my first literature essay.

Check out the stirrups. They're like carved, wooden boots.

On the beach.

Huge sand dunes.

"El fin de los tiempos"

On Friday, John, another student in my program, and I hung out with our conversation partners for the first time. One of the girls that was sitting at our table at the initial conversation partner meeting didn’t end up getting an American partner, so we decided to invite all three of them to see a movie at the mall Friday night. Beforehand, we ate ice cream at Bravissimo, my new favorite place to get ice cream. You can pick any three kinds of ice cream from an extensive list of flavors, along with toppings, chocolate, fruit, etc. The dish was humungous and the ice cream was delicious! I'll definitely be back for more.

Sadly "Kung Fu Panda" wasn't playing when we were there.

We decided to see “El fin de los tiempos” at the movie theater (aka “The Happening”). I was really disappointed because the movie wasn’t dubbed in Spanish; it was in English with Spanish subtitles so it was basically like if I were to see it in the U.S. I took a Spanish Films course in the spring, so I was all prepared to utilize my skills. But other than the language discrepancy, the movie was good. Just kind of graphic. Jessenia, Romina, Ana Maria and I were hiding under our coats and squinting with disgust at some points in the movie. Yes, the sight of people stabbing themselves in the neck or laying underneath lawnmowers is universally shocking, no matter what language you speak.

The Mackay School

During my first week of classes, I heard another student talking about an opportunity to work in a Chilean school teaching English as a second language. I figured I could earn some extra credits for my major, so I talked to the international student coordinator at PUCV and she set me up with a school in Reñaca, which is north of Viña and a 30 minute bus ride from the university. I went on Monday for the first time to The Mackay School, which is a British school that was founded 150 years ago and has 1,000 students from preschool to high school. It didn’t take me long to realize that it’s an all boys school. Angelica, one of the teachers I work with, instructed me to be “as ugly as possible” so as to not draw attention from the students.

The entire time I was at Mackay the first day, all I could think of was how similar Mackay is to, of all places, Hogwarts from Harry Potter. Today I was talking to Peter, one of the students in my program who also helps at the school, and he agreed. Here’s a few reasons we think so…

1. There’s not a principal, there’s a “headmaster.” I met Headmaster Ernesto OReilly on my first day. He’s like a Chilean Dumbledore. Kind of.

2. Preppy British-looking uniforms. Whether they’re practicing rugby or in the classroom, the students always have matching uniforms in the school color of navy blue: blazers, ties, sweaters, jackets, pants, bags, etc.

3. They have “prefects” that serve as mentors for the younger classes. These students have badges on their blazers that denote their position.

I’ll be helping at Mackay four days a week and each day I’ll work with a different grade: 9th, 10th, and 12th. At the end of the year, the students have to take a “test” in the form of an oral interview to earn a certificate in English. I have been helping them prepare for the interview by asking mock questions to individuals or pairs of students. I was really surprised with their fluency, but I guess most of them started in kindergarten so they have a lot of experience. I’ve learned a lot about Chile just from conversing with them and hearing their stories. They ask me a lot of questions about the U.S., too, mostly involving school and our grading scale, the presidential elections (Obama has a lot of supporters down here), how I like Chile, etc.

Today, one of the themes in the conversations I had with 12th graders was discrimination. One of the boys talked about gender equality and I couldn’t resist bringing up the fact that Mackay is an all boys school. I asked him if he considered that discrimination and he replied that it has less to do with discrimination than it does “tradition.” He also pointed out that there are all girl schools here. Another boy said he would prefer a mixed school since men and women won’t be separated in the real world. His parents, however, want him to attend Mackay, which I think is a common theme here.

I got an email today from the professor at UW-L that I needed to get approval from in order to receive credit. Apparently, due to the phrasing of the course description, I can’t get credit for teaching at the school, which means I have another Spanish class to squeeze in before I graduate in May. That’s okay, though – I’m still loving it!

Day 2: La Serena

Since our bus back to Viña was scheduled to leave at 2 p.m., we didn’t have any formal plans for Sunday morning. The owner of the hostel we stayed at told us the beach was a brief 10 minute walk. He was about 30 minutes off. It was worth the trek, though, because the there was a neat lighthouse and the view from the beach was gorgeous. Most of the coastline in Viña and Valpo is rocky or used for docks, so there are fewer beaches than in La Serena. Too bad we won't be able to actually enjoy any beaches or go in the ocean while we’re here – maybe if it was 20 degrees warmer.

The lighthouse.

Vaish, Me, and Adrienne along the beach.

Since it was Sunday, basically everything was closed, including places to eat. Lacking any other options, we went back to the grocery store to have lunch at a restaurant there. The brownie ice cream was all too enticing to pass up afterwards. After lunch, we picked up our stuff from the hostel and walked to the bus terminal.

The 7 hr ride back was relaxing – the road paralleled the ocean most of the way and went through more mountains. They showed three movies on the return trip, two of which were some of the most violent gangster movies I have ever seen. It seemed a little out of place to look out the window and see picturesque mountains and then look at the t.v. screen and see a thug cutting off the hand of another thug.

We got back to Viña a little after 9 p.m. Adrienne lives relatively close to me compared to everyone else so we were going to take a micro from the bus terminal to our neighborhood. After waiting awhile, we discovered there were very few micros driving around (because it was a Sunday night?) so we ended up walking back. When I got home, the apartment was pretty quiet but that was okay with me - I was exhausted and still had homework to do. I think I fell asleep while reading “El chiflón del diablo.”

Day 1: La Serena, Valle de Elqui

For having planned everything literally two days in advance, my weekend trip was a great success! By the time we went to the bus terminal on Friday to buy tickets, the only available departure time was 11:20 p.m. - we decided an overnight bus trip wouldn’t be so bad. It was $36 round trip for a 6 hour trip on a really nice double-decker coach bus. We all slept through the entire trip and arrived in La Serena at 5:30 a.m. Besides me, four other students from my program made the trek, two of which we entrusted to make reservations at a hostel beforehand. We walked from the bus terminal to the hostel in complete darkness, in a desolate street, in an unfamiliar city. It was a little unnerving.

This was my first experience in a hostel and, I have to admit, it was very disillusioning. I was prepared to share a room with 10 other people, sleep on a bare mattress, and/or see rats crawling everywhere. Instead, I shared a rat-free room with one of the girls in our group, we had our own bathroom and shower, and the beds were stacked with plenty of blankets for the cold night. It was a lot less eerie than I was secretly hoping it would be.

By the time we checked in and everything, it was 6:30 a.m. We had decided to go on a day trip to the Valle de Elqui and the van was scheduled to leave at 9 am, so we all slept for a whopping 2 hours before joining 8 other people for the excursion. The trip through Valle de Elqui was beautiful! The valley is a huge agriculture region and boasts a multitude of crops: potatoes, grapes, strawberries, lettuce, clementines, chirimoya, etc. Our first stop was a huge dam near which a brand new hydroelectric plant was built to supply all of the energy for a nearby town. It was impressive!

Me on the walkway at the top of the dam.

For lunch, we stopped at a remote restaurant on the outskirts of a little town in the mountains. It was neat because they use solar boxes that reflect sunlight off of foil to cook the food. We had a choice between a meal with chicken or goat. I’ve been trying to eat a lot of food that I wouldn’t eat in the U.S., so I opted for the goat. Who knew... goat is really good! It tasted like beef, just a lot more tender.

The solar boxes used to cook our food.

We also stopped at a Piscolería, where they utilize all of the grape crops they grow to make Pisco brandy. At the end of the tour, they had us try some Pisco that was in the middle of the distillation process so it was almost 20-proof over the legal limit in Chile. After seeing the revolted faces of everyone else trying it, I knew I shouldn’t drink it but it was one of those things you have to do just so you can say you did it. So I did. Words cannot describe the disgustingness.

Grape crops in the valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

One of the towns we passed through was where Gabriela Mistral, a Chilean poet we’re currently learning about in my literature class, went to school. We went to the museum there, but sadly it wasn’t anything spectacular. The sun was setting just as we were heading back to La Serena and a pinkish sky draped the mountains all around us. It was a nice escape from the city.

We got back to the hostel around 6:30 and we went to a small corner restaurant a few blocks from the hostel and had empanadas for supper. It was the first time I’ve had cheese empanadas that were deep fried – yum! I compared it to a giant cheese curd and got blank stares from the four other students I was with. After supper, we were all craving Chilean pastries so we walked a ridiculously long way to a grocery store. It’s really hard not to be overwhelmed at bakeries here - there are too many choices! I finally decided on a tart with custard and fruit – I still can’t believe I actually made it back to the hostel without devouring it.

I survived my first week!

It was cold and rainy this morning, which made it even harder to get up to go to class. For homework, I got another worksheet in grammar and a story to read for lit. – not bad. After class, everyone in my program gathered to meet our language exchange partners. We will meet with a Chilean student once a week so they can practice their English and we can practice our Spanish. My partner is Jessenia, an 18 yr old girl that was really sweet. They fed us empanadas, which was the first time I’ve had the pastry here. I had one with just cheese in it – amazing!

I went back home for awhile and then Adrienne and I met up back at the university to go to the mall in Viña. We stopped by the bus terminal first to concrete some weekend plans that four of us have been making to go to La Serena, a city located north of here. We effectively conversed with a bus company employee to figure out how much the bus costs and when it leaves. We were proud of ourselves.

We headed to the mall and had a huge meal at a restaurant there. This was an especially momentous occasion, because the restaurant had 13 different kinds of cheesecake – my favorite! I had a big delicious slice of some kind of chocolate cheesecake. We wandered around the mall for awhile and noted all of the American influences: music, McDonalds, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. We took the micro back – it turned out to be the wrong bus and I ended up walking quite a ways alone in the dark to get back home. Luckily, there were a lot of people in the streets celebrating a soccer game. I still need to figure out the bus system here! It's normally a 50/50 chance that I'm on the right bus because there are multiple numbers that go to the same place. It's confusing to most of us!

If all goes according to plan, I’ll be heading to La Serena at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow on a 7 hr bus ride and staying the weekend. We still have to buy bus tickets, provided there are some left tomorrow. Hopefully, everything works out for us!

First day of classes!

After waking up at 7:20 a.m. yesterday, Graciela served me breakfast in bed - cereal and fruit. (I’m kind of getting used to being spoiled...) I headed out into the cold at 8 a.m. and hopped on a micro to the university. Although getting up early is difficult when I’m in “summer mode,” I love both of my classes! There are 8 students in the lit. class and 10 in the grammar class. Both classes are in the same room, so the chances of me getting lost in the university are slim. The literature class is definitely going to require the most work of the two. We have to give one oral presentation, write 4 essays (3 pages single-spaced each) and there is a final exam. This wouldn’t make me flinch in my literature classes at UW-L, but 3 single-spaced pages of Spanish is fairly significant and most of the Spanish essays I’ve written have been semester-long papers. It’ll be a challenge to whip out 4 polished essays in the next month. We didn’t receive a specific syllabus for the grammar class, but Pedro, the professor, said we’d have minimal homework and 3 quizzes – that’s it.

Today was my first day of homework. I had to read two poems and a short story for Lit. and do a worksheet for Grammar. After classes, I decided to go back to my apartment for lunch – I’m glad I did. Since it was so cold and overcast outside, Graciela made Carbonada, a traditional Chilean soup. It was hands down the best soup I’ve ever had. From what I could discern, it has beef, carrots, onions, potatoes, bowtie pasta, and the perfect blend of spices.

Valparaíso

After lunch, I went back to the university and Chilean students took us on a 2.5 hr walk around Valparaíso. We rode the trolley to an ascensor (elevator) and went up on the hill for an incredible view of the city and the ocean. It was overcast and on the verge of raining, but it would be difficult not to enjoy the sights from above. By the end of the walk, it was dark outside and the city lights were shining from all sides of the bay. I took the micro back to Viña (for the fourth time today), got home, talked with Natalia, and had more Carbonada for supper. Have I mentioned I love Chilean food?

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso

Today was orientation day! Natalia walked me to where I take the micro, but today was the first time I rode it alone. I didn’t really remember where to get off to get to the university, but luckily the man I was sitting next to was also going there and showed me where to go. PUCV is ranked 5th out of 60 universities in Chile and the campus is spread out across Valparaíso and Viña del Mar - the building where my classes will be is in Valpo. There are 29 international students in my summer program from across the U.S. and about 14,000 total students studying at PUCV. The Chilean semester ends mid-July, so the campus is still packed with students.

We took a diagnostic language exam to determine the appropriate level of classes (beginner, intermediate, advanced). There were 7 pages of multiple choice grammar questions, but the hardest part was the final page, which was an essay with blanks that you had to fill in without a word bank. It was a little tricky to come up with words on the spot that were of the right gender and plurality and made sense in context, but I felt pretty good about the exam. Afterwards, Chilean students gave us a tour of the classrooms, the International Student Office, the library, and the gym. They gave us a “light” snack of incredible cakes and pastries, sandwiches, and fruit juice.

A few of us enjoying lunch at orientation

I had to return to the university later today to find out the results of the exam and register for classes. They said I had one of the highest scores and placed me in the advanced classes. It was reassuring to get some verification of 7 years of Spanish coursework. I had to pick two classes to take and decided on Contemporary Chilean Literature and Grammar. The only downside to placing in the advanced classes is that they start early - very early. My literature class is from 8:30 to 10 am and my grammar class is from 11:45 to 1:15 pm.

After registering I went to Jumbo, a Chilean equivalent of Wal-mart that’s right across from the university, with Amanda and a friend of her host family. I bought gloves to go with the scarf I bought earlier today. I have officially returned to winter! The temperature has been around 35-37 degrees every morning - I’m glad I brought my winter coat.

Graciela was waiting for me when I got back to the apartment with the ever popular question: “Que quieres comer?” (What do you want to eat?) I also met Roberto, my host brother, for the first time tonight.

I’m excited to start classes tomorrow!

Barbecue

Last night, I met some of my host relatives! Natalia’s cousins came over for supper around 10 pm. My host mom’s boyfriend barbecued on the porch for the occasion. I was a little concerned after noticing the grill was in the same spot where the bird cage was the day before, but Natalia assured me we weren’t eating Patito, the parakeet. Instead, we had pork ribs, steak, longaniza (sausage), rice, potatoes, and salad. Everything was delicious! It felt like a typical family get together with a lot of music, food and laughing. The radio music was a combination of Spanish reggae and American, mostly 80s. There were frequent jokes about how I don’t eat very much and how it was their mission to make me a “gordita” (literally, a little fat girl) by the time I leave.

My host mom's boyfriend, my host mom, my two cousins (one is 7 and one is 15), aunt who is a high school Biology teacher, me and uncle who is an Engineer.

The relatives also found it funny that I’m a cheerleader, because there aren’t any cheer teams in Chile. When Natalia and I were walking around on my first day here, there were two guys and a girl partner stunting in the middle of an intersection during a red light. They were actually really good, doing a lot of stunts that we do at UW-L and I got excited thinking that I would be able to see some cheer teams here. Natalia was quick to point out that cheerleading doesn’t exist in Chile and that they were doing the stunts for money. I thought about the UW-L Cheer Team stunting on Losey Blvd. in La Crosse for a fundraiser and decided it probably wouldn’t be the best idea…

Chilean Address

Here's my address in case anyone would like to send me something... You might even get something in return! :)

Kelliann Blazek
Las Rosas 309
Edif. Traslaviña
Depto 603
Viña del Mar, Chile

Valparaíso

Yesterday afternoon, Natalia and I went to where my host mom, Katia, works, a currency exchange place (convenient). Natalia speaks fluent English, but Katia and Graciela, the housekeeper, only speak Spanish. Afterwards, we went to Ripley’s, the mall in Viña. 4 floors of bliss. I had some manjar chip ice cream at the mall and it was delicious! Since I loved that, Natalia had me try a churro with manjar in the center. Also delicious! Manjar is creamy and kind of like caramel, but better (a mixture of milk, sugar, honey, etc).

My eating schedule is all messed up right now, due in combination to the time zone difference and the Chilean meal times (breakfast 9-10, lunch 3-4, dinner 8-9). I had yogurt and a flat bread with cheese inside for breakfast yesterday and soup, chicken, mashed potatoes, a roll and pineapple juice for lunch. The bread is amazing here and I have a feeling the bakeries will see a lot of me. I’ve been snacking on clementines a lot, too, which are even better than the ones in the U.S.

Yesterday was also my first time riding in a colectivo, a taxi-like vehicle that you just jump in with random people already inside. It was 400 pesos to the mall – about 80 cents. The driving in Chile is surprisingly pretty good, in comparison to other Latin American countries I’ve been to.

Today Natalia and I took the microbus to Valparaíso, which is 430 pesos one way. I’ll be making the 10-15 minute trip Monday through Friday to go to Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, where I’ll be taking classes. She showed me where the university is and we walked a lot through the streets of the city. It is older than Viña, the buildings are more European, and the streets are trashier. There is an indoor/outdoor marketplace a block from the university that has every kind of fresh vegetable and fruit imaginable, plus lots of fresh crab, shrimp and fish since we are right on the ocean.

The view after we rode on the ascensor. Viña del Mar is across the bay.

I went on an “ascensor” for the first time today. Ascensores are elevator-like boxcars that people use to get to the high parts of the city, since many areas of Valpo are on an incline and incredibly steep. It was fun!

By the time Natalia and I took the microbus back to Viña, we were exhausted. Our apartment building is half way up a steep hill and we barely made it up all of the flights of concrete stairs. My legs had flashbacks to stair workouts during cheer practice last fall – I will definitely be getting my summer workout time in here!

By the numbers

3 countries. 5 airports. 28 hours of travel. I’m finally in Chile! Other than being incredibly long, the trip here was fairly uneventful. I think that’s a good thing. I left from Madison and then flew to Milwaukee, DC, Toronto and Santiago. While waiting for my flight in Toronto, I randomly met another student that’s doing the same program as I am. He was supposed to arrive on Wednesday to snowboard for a few days before classes start, but his flight ended up being cancelled and he slept in the Baltimore airport. After hearing this, my flight schedule seemed a little bit more tolerable.

Arriving in Santiago was accompanied by a milestone in that it’s my first time to South America. This also means I am officially ahead of my sister in our ongoing “Who’s been to more countries” rivalry. Sorry, Jennifer!

I was a little apprehensive arriving in Santiago for a couple reasons. 1) I never received any information about my host family - just that I’d supposedly have one. 2) The university arranged airport pick-up and I was told to look for a taxi driver with a sign that said “Kelliann” in a location that I forgot to write down. I figured there couldn’t be too many taxi drivers, especially ones with signs that said “Kelliann.”

Luckily, I found him and he drove me the 1.5 hrs from Santiago to Viña del Mar, where my host family lives. Natalia, my new sister, greeted me into the apartment building when I got there. I have my own room with a TV (one English channel) and wireless internet (whew!). The apartment’s on the 6th floor, so the view of Viña is amazing. My host mom, Katia, works at a bank, so I didn’t meet her until later that night. She is divorced and my host brother, who is 19, lives with his dad so I don’t know when/if I’ll meet him. There is a housekeeper that makes all the meals, cleans, and does laundry. I also have 2 host birds that live in a cage on the porch.

My room.

The view from my window.

After eating lunch, Natalia and I walked around the city and by the ocean. Today, we’re going to take the bus to the university so I know where I’m going for the first day of classes on Monday. It’s 11:30 am and Natalia still hasn’t woken up. I could get used to this!