This Weekend

On Friday my school ends at 2 pm so I went with two of my girlfriends to see and get a picture with a famous Argentinian actor. I had no clue who he was, or where we were going but I was game for it! We took the metro to Providencia and ended up at a TV station - he was a guest on one of those celebrity talk shows. Anyways we arrived late so we couldn't get into the taping of the show, I felt bad for the two girls, they were REALLY excited to see him! We sat around the lobby of the station until he came on and then left because it was to depressing to watch anymore. We then walked around for a bit and then ended up going to a mall somewhere way far away to meet up with one of the girls boyfriends. So I was able to see some of the city and take my first TransSantiago bus.

On Saturday I woke up early and headed to the Rotary Club of San Bernardo. There was a reunion for the Rebounds of district 4340 and I also was able to meet the other Canadian here on exchange from Toronto, Emily! We stayed for a little bit and then were off to represent Canada and more specifically my district 7080 because they had donated money for a new ambulance! I didn't know about it until the day of, but I am pretty proud of my district back home! There, we were able to take lots of photos, "test" out the ambulance, and also meet members of the GSE (Group Study Exchange) who will be travelling to my district in Canada within a few weeks. After all the smiling and representation of Canada was done we then headed back to the reunion. We listened to some talks, obviously in Spanish, and were able to talk to each other about our experiences so far in Chile. Emily and I both arrived in Chile with NO Spanish knowledge... us Canadians can handle it! After the talks we had lunch and were able to interact with the Rebounds. Most of them had gone to North America or knew quite a bit of English so it was easy to talk to each other, and if they were speaking in Spanish and started to laugh... when all else fails, laugh!

Today I woke up early yet again and went with my host-dad to a Catholic church service. I'm not really sure what it was for but we represented the Rotary Club of Macul (whom I'm hosted by here in Chile.) There were police officers, Mayors, fireman, dancers, all sorts of people! After returning home my whole host-family headed out to San Jose de Maipo. It was beautiful! We just drove and it was a constant scenic drive, everywhere you looked there were mountains, hills, rivers, things that are just so much larger and grander than your own self! First we stopped in the little town and walked around the bazaar. It was such a peaceful and "chill" day just to be able to sight see and take a lot of photos. Driving back there were just moments that I could only imagine could happen in paintings or poems. The way the mountains and the colours were, or how many people were out flying colourful kites, it's moments like these that I really love Chile. Arriving back at home I finally ventured out for a much needed run, I only got a little lost but easily found my way back home. Hopefully one day I'll know these streets as well as I know the streets of Ayr... then again Ayr is just a dot compared to Santiago or even Las Condes!

Feel free to comment or ask questions, it's nice to know that I'm not writing to myself all the time!

The Gringa has arrived!

I have finally been in Chile for over 24 hours. I don't know why but it has felt like at least a few days.
My flight was quite good, I flew out late Tuesday night and arrived mid-morning in Chile. Since the flight was overnight I had approx 3-4 hours of sleep on-and-off, and when the flight attendants served dinner at 3 am lets just say it didn't help with my inability to sleep. I sat beside a lovely Argentinian lady who spoke little English, a glimpse into my immediate future life in Chile, but we were able to have some conversation with the little bit of each language that we knew.

Clad in my Rotary jacket I only ran into one Rebound while waiting at immigrations. I got through security and customs easy enough (I guess you have to declare maple syrup? Well I didn't!) and there was mi mama Chileana, Alexia, and two other ladies waiting for me. With a hug and a kiss on the cheek (usual greeting) we were off. The one lady is a mother of a boy in my class, she speaks fluent English which was a help for those first culture shocked moments.

First sight of the Andes from the ground - WOW!! I think I have a thing for mountains, they are just so big, and everywhere! We drove through downtown Santiago, Provindencia and then Las Condes ( the comuna de Santiago that I will be staying in). I can't quite compare Santiago, it somewhat reminds me of Los Angeles and a bit of Toronto.. but not really at all, it's just Santiago!

Once we got to the house something that I most definably noticed were the gates. A gate to enter into the one area in which 3-4 houses are, and then a gate at my house, and then bars on my windows - I feel safe... I guess. Mi casa is very modest, quite small which is understandable in a city, very different from my house in Canada. As I have told some people before there is no central heating. So it might feel nice outside but inside is freezing, but I have found a spot on my bed where the sun shines in and is quite warm!

Can you guess a Canadian lives there?

I spent the day trying to have conversations with Alexia. We tried our best with my limited Spanish and lets just say my English-Spanish dictionary has been put to good use! I showed her my photobooks from my life in Canada along with a map of Ontario and Canada and explained to her where my family lives and where I have travelled. I arrived in time for lunch, and then around 5-6 pm we had "once", which is like crackers, cookies, tea, and coffee. Alexia knew that I was looking quite tired but I managed to stay up until 8 pm then headed to bed. I guess in that time my host-dad came home and I missed seeing him!

After about 9 hours of sleep I was ready for my first full day in Chile. I had breakfast with Alexia - tea/instant coffee(i opted out of the instant stuff), cereal but with yogurt, and some hard bread with turkey... different. After a freezing shower I gave Alexia her Canadian gifts - I don't think she knows what to do with the maple syrup!

Then she helped me learn numbers and how to count. I counted up to 131 all by myself before i got to tired of counting. Then we headed to the supermarket to pick up a few things
Differences:
-eggs are in cartons on regular shelves, not refrigerated
-pan (bread) and fruit is picked, put into bags, and then weighed by clerks and given a sticker according to weight
-cereal boxes are obnoxiously covered with graphics, I'm talking Shrek staring you down, futbal players kicking a massive soccer ball at you, way to much for the eyes
-booze is in a massive aisle as if you were buying rice or other food
-milk was no where in sight... maybe I didn't notice it or we didn't go down the aisle

Once back to the house we had lunch and I was so tired from translating and using my brain a lot so I went for a siesta. After maybe 10 minutes my cell phone started to ring. I answered it not knowing what to say and it was my friend Cristobal the past Chilean Inbound who was in Waterloo last year! Getting him to talk to my host-mom we were able to meet-up just down the main street at the one mall. It was so crazy to see him, knowing that to me he is like Canada, but now... I am in his country! We took the metro (subway) and it was so nice. Toronto subway looks so run down and disgusting, they should take a hint from the Chileans! We went to his grandparents apartment in Las Condes in a really nice part. His grandma spoke quite good English so she would ask things in English and I would reply the best I could in Spanish and fill in the blanks with English. After some conversation we had "té" which like once was milk, tea, cookies, and bread with avocado - mmmmm! We had to leave around 5:30 pm because it was getting dark, and you don't travel in the dark in Santiago. Went back through the metro and were early before my host mom came to pick me up so we went into the mall. Many different stores, but Cristobal helped me to try and convert the prices so I should know how much I am paying.

Cristobal y yo

After coming back to the house we talked some more and had a phone call from Mia Tere (Maria the lady who speaks English), she helped to translate as I have to figure out information for my school trip in November. My host-dad arrived home around 9 pm and I finally got to meet him. Teo is the president of my host Rotary club. I was finally able to give him his gifts, he loves the tie... maybe. We then had what seemed like another té, I haven't figured out meals yet! We then spent the night trying to communicate, fighting over what a moose is called in Spanish (he thinks its a donkey or a bull... no it's just... a Canadian moose!), and I showed him my maps and then helped him with an English insurance form for my host brother on exchange in Kentucky.

So pretty much my life in a nutshell is a lot of Spanglish, smiling, nodding, and laughing because I can't understand and it's pretty funny right now because I'm horrible at Spanish. I'm sorry if my grammar is getting a lot worse already, or I'm missing words. I am so tempted to write the Spanish words that I know because that is how I am talking, and I am so tired/my head hurts from thinking and having to translate so much.

Much love from South of the equator
Lynn-say (as the Chileans call me)

Erindale Final Rotary Meeting

This past weekend was the final Rotary function where all the Inbounds and Outbounds were together. We were at Erindale College at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus and finally had some nice sunny weather.

I drove up with Karla (Ecuador) and Mickey (Germany) who are the Inbound students in Cambridge along with Raquel (Ecuador). Saturday was spent sitting in a lecture hall and learning things to hopefully help and enrich our exchange experience. We were also issued our Rotary blazers and took pictures later with our spiffy new red blazers - it's official now! Yet again we had another "dance party" at night, also all the Inbounds brought/made food from their home country. I also made a bunch of cupcakes since they were such a hit at Wanakita!

Inbounds

Outbounds

South America Bound - Tammy (Brazil), Me, Maddy (Ecuador)

Mickey and myself being normal

Sunday our parents arrived and we were in the lecture hall again learning about the nitty-gritty stuff about insurance, booking flights, etc. Also we were able to break-apart and talk with the Rebound, Inbound and my parents about Chile and any questions I might want to know. Also that morning a bunch of us had fun seeing how many exchange students we could fit in a tree - we managed to get 12 successfully!

"It's because we're exchange students"

At the end of the weekend the Inbounds received a certificate and it was really emotional especially since this may be the last time before they go on the Cross-Canada Trip or leave to go home that we get to see them! :( Needless to say there were many tears and hugs to go around.

The days are ticking down but I still don't have a date of when to arrive, or my forms back, or a visa... but things will come together eventually!

Adiós

I will be going to...

February 21st was a life-changing day for sure.

I drove to Brampton with my family to meet with all of the inbounds, outbounds, rebounds, and everyone's family to find out where everyone was going on exchange this coming July/August. As I entered the Rotary Club I was the second outbound to arrive, and I was almost immediately fitted for my red Rotary blazer which I'll receive in May. It was so good to see all of the exchange students again since most of us haven't seen each other since Wanakita! After some catching-up the Rotarian's got us all settled down and Announcement Day had finally begun!

First the Rotarians were all introduced and they were very skillful at keeping up the anxiety and suspense. After finding out that no one was going to Ecuador this year I was a little worried because I was hoping for a South American country, but I was ready for anything! Finally the Rotarians called up the first girl for her envelope but before she could open it they read the full letter out for everyone to hear. With my last name starting with a "W" I was expecting to be the last person to open their envelope, but NOPE... I was the second one! I was so nervous but also strangely calm as I walked up to the podium to open up my envelope in front of everyone. As I opened up my envelope I had the great please to announce...

"I'm going to... CHILE!"

Just after opening my envelope

That's right! This blond hair, blue-eyed Canadian girl will be living in Chile for the next year of her life! I'm so happy that I'm going to Chile, it was my first choice to go to and I cannot wait! As every outbound opened up their envelope the inbound/rebound from that country would run up and hug the inbound, it was so awesome! After everyone's country was announced we spilt up into three groups, South America (Chile and Brazil), Europe (Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France), and Asia/Oceania (Thailand, Japan, New Zealand, Australia). We were able to talk to the inbounds and rebounds along with our Rotarian coordinator to learn more about our countries and re-assure our parents. After that we were able to just hang out again, take pictures, and just enjoy the fact that we are all going to amazing countries! Finally to my parents relief, we finally left and I was surprised with a little present at home from my mom and step-dad. My mom being confident in me going to Chile bought me a map of the country a week ago and I also received a lovely little "rough guide" to Chile along with some Canadian flag badges.

Book (from Thailand), Sampo (from Finland), Me (Canada/Chile), and Cristobal (from Chile)

I am so thrilled, ecstatic, joyous, grateful, blessed, appreciative, excited to go to Chile and to have this amazing cultural experience!