Monday was the first day of the first week of classes! I got to sleep in until 1030 which was awesome, and had class at 1:20 (Globalizacion en America Latina, how awesome does that sound!) So I got to my school, with a clever combination of bus (micro), metro (metro), and walking (caminando). Went to the computer lab to do some homework and then went to class! My professor is so cool: she has an awesome accent definately not Chilean and studied not only in Espana to get her masters but also Georgetown in my neck of the woods! She also really knows her stuff about Latin American history and its role in the wars. Right now we are just doing background really. But before her class was my Comtemporary Latin American Politics class which is honestly not nearly as interesting. After those two classes, Maggie, Becca, and I went to this UDP class with all Chileans called "History of African-American Music" which was awesome because it was all about jazz! We spent most of the time listening to Miles Davis and John Coletrane and talking about the US so there was just enough english to get by. But three classes in a row = loooooong day. Mondays are going to be interesting...
The three of us went to the gym afterwards, and as my Dad suggested, it is a phenominal way to reduce stress and have a positive outlet to just run and run and run to get things out of your system. It's also really nice to fall back into a system and a routine--it makes your day go by so much easier. It's been a while since I had that feeling since I've been here, and now that classes are actually starting and I have a general idea of what I'm doing everyday and my spanish is rapidly improving, I feel like I finally belong here and am at home. Even if there are still a lot of new things thrown at me everyday!
There are are few things that people have said to me while I'm here that I try to keep in mind everyday when things start feeling overwhelming and I get a little lost in this big city (figuratively and yes, literally. I'll get to that):
1. Enjoy the little things! When things seem tough, just take a second and think about something small and hoe awesome it is. What I’ve been doing lately: when I walk home form the metro everyday after school, it is usually the best weather of the day. I walk and pass all these cute apartments and houses in the suburbs and a playground and listen to my mellow music and have a few seconds to myself to breathe! Also, the other day, I got money put into my account because it was my last paycheck from Banana Republic and it had just come in. Helllllo money I forgot about! Love it.
2. Take some time to breathe: As my Dad would know, living abroad in another country tends to throw you off balance at first. Therefore, it is completely necessary to stop at little things in the day and realize, 'Hey, this hand that I've been dealt is pretty freakin' phenomenal. And I am so incredibly lucky to be here right now and see for myself that there are things outside my own world."
3. Find something just for you. Again, as Papa Lemp advised, find something that you can do for you. We are talking about food here people. His vice was a little restaurant in India with comfort food. Mine? Peanut Butter. And Nutella. And Tea. I love all three of these so much that my Chilean family is convinced all Americans do. Mainly, it’s the peanut butter. I think I have it at least once a day.
4. "Just remember that everything that is as new as going to school in a different country in another language is going to be hard and overwhelming at first. You will get used to everything and be comfortable there too" – perhaps the truest thing said to me while I’ve been here. Time: that’s all it takes.
So I’m headed home and its late right? So Becca and Maggie convince me that this is the perfect time for me to try out the Santiago bus system so I don’t have to walk home alone for 20 in the dark. They don’t so much as convince me as I put the blame on them for my faulty sense of direction. Buses seem so simple, all you have to do is take the bus going in to opposite direction you came in on and go straight. I know I’m like three stops down and then I get off and there is a forest-y area and I walk down my street for a block and then I’m set. Mistake #1: Thinking I know how a bus system works. Apparently I got on a bus on the wrong street. Ok, so I don’t recognize anything around me for 2 or 3 stops and I figure this has to be in the general correct direction. Mistake #2: Not knowing where to get off even if I was on the right bus. So I exit the bus, all confident and proud of myself for improvising when I don’t know where I am. Mistake #3: Misplaced confidence and convincing myself I know where I am going. So I walk and walk because I believed I just got off a stop too early and had to take a left at the next street. I don’t recognize, again, where I am so what’s the default? Just keep walking. Mistake #4: Don’t keep walking around if you don’t have a clue where you are. By this time it is 8:30 pm, and I’m enjoying my little walk because lets be honest, being lost is not a new feeling for me. When I’m lost, I almost feel comfortable because it always seems to work it out in the end. I see a metro station, and automatically I know I did something wrong. It’s Los Dominicos. To give you an idea, that is the last stop on the red line, and I live on the 4th from last stop on the red live. Here’s a little map. I’m Manquehue (pronounced man-k-way) and I walked to Los Dominicos (all the way to the right). How? I’m still not really sure. But anyway I decided to hop back on a bus going back the way I was and got off two stops later knowing I was at least closer to my home. This was probably the only correct thing I did all night! And also, thank GOD for my iPhone! Or, thank you Dad :) I found some Wi-Fi and miraculously was able to GPS my way home (I was a 10 minute walk away) and then did not get lost again. On the bright side, I got an extra 30 minutes of cardio and I got to explore the lovely suburbs of Santiago, Chile! What a night though. Sometimes getting lost can be so fun though, I really do love exploring.
Home and asleep 4 hours later. And don’t worry; I still managed to eat peanut butter (mantequia de mani, accent on the ‘i’) twice.
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