Today was our first full day in Chile, and it really is an amazing change in culture and I am so glad to be here! We started the day with breakfast at the hotel, which consisted mainly of bread, jam, a little meat and cheese, yogurt, and juice, after a nice run along the beach. We were lucky, the day started off warm enough that we could run in shorts, and the weather only got nicer from there. We left to catch the public bus to go to the Universidad Tecnica Federica Santa Maria at like 8:30, and that was an interesting experience, as the bus probably went about 30 km over the speed limit and it flew around the curves! Once at the university, Javier and another Chilean student, Camilo, gave us a tour of the university. It is actually pretty similar to an American university, except without dorms, and the soccer field being the main sports arena instead of the football field. Then we had a lengthy but informative lecture on South American economies by one of the university's professors. Following the lecture was lunch in the university cafeteria, which is very different from US cafeterias, as there is only one plate to get (today it was blood sausage), and the seating area of the cafeteria was completely packed! After our time at the university, we were taken on a tour of Viña del Mar and Valparaiso, the two connected cities in which we are living and spending most of our time. The cities are both centered around a giant cove of the Pacific Ocean, and are surrounded by hills, and the layout of the cities is the biggest buildings are near the coast, and then the cities just sprawl up the hills. This may be the largest amount of land I have ever seen taken up by one metropolitan area, as even at the tops of the hills, you cant possibly see the entire city! The streets in the city are crazy as well, winding up and down hills, full of perilous turns and flying motorists. After touring, we finally got to get empanadas for dinner, and they were as delicious as I had hoped! Dinner was followed up by our first salsa class, which was actually a lot of fun, and I will comment on that more in Wednesday's blog after our second class, so hopefully by that point I will be more proficient and can comment on my progress. Lastly, after salsa, we were taken to a karaoke bar by the Chilean students, and had an enjoyable end to a full day.
Fun fact of the day: Chilean karaoke bars have as many American songs as they have Spanish songs
Hasta Mañana,
Christian
La Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria
Valparaiso, Chile
Mike dancing the salsa with our dance instructor, David
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