Julieta Bautista-Lopez
Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Valparaiso, Chile
Alo amigos,
( Everyone here says that)
So, I just finished my first week in Chile, orientation week actually. Although orientation week was helpful getting up at 7am was not very fun or easy.
Monday:
I woke up at 7am and had my first Chilean breakfast. We drank some tea and had toasted bread with butter, which I do not complain about because I always have a light breakfast. After breakfast I rode the buses or micro-buses as they say here. My host mom has been very helpful teaching me how to get around, I felt like I was back in kindergarten because she packed me a lunch and took me to school and picked me up. Public transportation here is essential and always crowded. I cost me 480 Chilean pesos so about $0.77 U.S for every bus ride. My first day at orientation was very informational, but I have made some awesome friends. After it was all done at 5:30pm I came home and then went out with Nancy, an international student who lives in the same apartment complex. Although it was only my second day here getting around has gotten much easier.
Tuesday- Friday
The rest of the week was very relaxed. We signed up for classes and got to explore the city of Valparaiso. The universities here are much different than in the states. Here the buildings are scattered all throughout the city of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. For example, my history course is in Viña on the top of a hill, but my Chilean Culture course is in central Valparaiso. It is very strange and being from such a small college I think I may be lost the first few days.
For those that do not know earthquakes are very common in Chile and I experienced my first one Tuesday morning at around 2am. It was only for a few seconds and had a magnitude of 4.9, but I definitely felt it. It was not the best thing to be woken up to, but I was later like aww my first earthquake.
The rest of the week has been dedicated to exploring Valparaiso and all the beautiful street art. To end the week off, my friends and I decided it would be fun to go to the beach and tan. WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE. Although it is only 70 degrees here, I am so sunburned and we were only there like 2 hours. I usually never burn so bad, but I am literally a tomato. Other than that it has been an awesome week. Today we are going to a concert/ welcome party that our Chilean mentors put together for us. I am excited to meet some locals and hopefully ask if they can
Until next week!
Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Valparaiso, Chile
Alo amigos,
( Everyone here says that)
So, I just finished my first week in Chile, orientation week actually. Although orientation week was helpful getting up at 7am was not very fun or easy.
Monday:
I woke up at 7am and had my first Chilean breakfast. We drank some tea and had toasted bread with butter, which I do not complain about because I always have a light breakfast. After breakfast I rode the buses or micro-buses as they say here. My host mom has been very helpful teaching me how to get around, I felt like I was back in kindergarten because she packed me a lunch and took me to school and picked me up. Public transportation here is essential and always crowded. I cost me 480 Chilean pesos so about $0.77 U.S for every bus ride. My first day at orientation was very informational, but I have made some awesome friends. After it was all done at 5:30pm I came home and then went out with Nancy, an international student who lives in the same apartment complex. Although it was only my second day here getting around has gotten much easier.
Tuesday- Friday
The rest of the week was very relaxed. We signed up for classes and got to explore the city of Valparaiso. The universities here are much different than in the states. Here the buildings are scattered all throughout the city of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. For example, my history course is in Viña on the top of a hill, but my Chilean Culture course is in central Valparaiso. It is very strange and being from such a small college I think I may be lost the first few days.
For those that do not know earthquakes are very common in Chile and I experienced my first one Tuesday morning at around 2am. It was only for a few seconds and had a magnitude of 4.9, but I definitely felt it. It was not the best thing to be woken up to, but I was later like aww my first earthquake.
The rest of the week has been dedicated to exploring Valparaiso and all the beautiful street art. To end the week off, my friends and I decided it would be fun to go to the beach and tan. WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE. Although it is only 70 degrees here, I am so sunburned and we were only there like 2 hours. I usually never burn so bad, but I am literally a tomato. Other than that it has been an awesome week. Today we are going to a concert/ welcome party that our Chilean mentors put together for us. I am excited to meet some locals and hopefully ask if they can
Until next week!