Beach Bum!!

Hola!

So for the last few days I have been spending some much needed time at the beach!! Today all of us girls went to the beach and tanned for a few hours... you can't spend a lot of time at the beach because the ozone layer is so thin here that you burn so bad... as I have learned from when I first got here!! Last night I got my hair beaded chilean stylez and bought some hippy jewellery... I feel so laid back here you can pretty much wear anything!! I am still super sick so it is hard to get out there and do stuff... but I'm trying to press through!! Yesterday we had to go get our "rut card" which is like a Chilean ID for foreigners... that took a whole 4 hours of my life that I will never get back... things here are so disorganized and there are no signs so you don't know what the hell you are doing half of the time and you pretty much have to figure everything out for yourself. I seem to be living at the mall lately as well but I never buy anything!! I AM STILL SHOCKED THAT NOTHING HERE FOR THE MAIN PART, IS CHEAPER THAN IT IS IN CANADA!! That is because Chile is the most industrialized and economically stable country in South America... but I hear once I go to Argentina or Peru everything is much, much cheaper. So I am trying to wait for that. Tonight I think we might be going out.... I love to go out but I HATE HAVING TO TRY TO GET HOME!!!!! You cannot walk anywhere by yourself after dark... you are pretty much asking for trouble if you do!! Anywho's I will update soon! I have attached some pictures from yesterday then today at the beach!!! xoxo

Pics!

Maca and I!!

Me and Roberto!! such a cool guy

Me drinking my new fav drink.. pisco y coca cola

Roberto y I again

Diego (my bro),me, and maca and roberto!!

These are some of the pics from Santiago that I promised in my last blog!! But they wouldn't upload... they are just pics of my new friends before we went to the bar!!!
Yesterday I went to the beach with my new friends and then we went for ice cream at this really cheap but AMAZING ice cream place... not to much is new with me.
I started classes on Monday and they are so scary!! So intimidating... especially the classes meant for chilenos... the exchange student classes are a lot easier because the profs speak very slow and you are able to understand everything. However the school system here is very laid-b ack... usually the profs are like 30 mins late to class or they just dont even show up at all. And classes seem to be cancelled a lot for some unknown reason.. its good but also frustrating because u rush to get to school when its completely unnecessary. My classes are all messed up right now too because I might need to switch some around but they all conflict!!! its so frustrating.
Other than that nothing new though so until next time!!! xoxo

Back from Santiago!

Hola!

So this weekend was awesome. On Friday I went to a party for the exchange students where the school rents out a club and the exchange students went their for a night. It was pretty sweet... the girls in my group, Ricardo, and me ended up getting drunk off of Chilean Pisco... its so easy!! And somehow during the night I saw my exchange coordinator at the bar WASTED! It was so funny... we ended up talking about sex in the bathroom... so random?

So this weekend, my first actual weekend in Chile, I went to Santiago with Tati and Diego and their friends to go to a carnival. We left Vina at like 12 and got to Santiago at like 2 or so. Santiago is so huge and while driving through it I definitely saw the poverty infested areas... where there are kids on the street begging for money or trying to do tricks for any sort of charity. It was really sad. We went to Maca's house whom I've met before and we all just chilled at her house, and ended up sleeping away the afternoon during SIESTA. But then later at night we all got ready and went to the club "LA PLAYA". It was really cool... super packed and way different then the clubs in Canada. I ended up dancing with a ton of Chileans who were all trying to dance mirengue and salsa.. and I had no idea how!! It was a blast. And you know what they do... they shoot shampoo into the dance floor!! So random but FANTASTIC when you are wassssted. Also, I ended up meeting a really cool guy too. He is the brother of Maca - the girl who we were staying with in Santiago. He's some sort of engineer and is going to Berkley next fall.. super nice guy... a lot of the young people here can speak some sort of English so its fairly easy to make minimal conversation with strangers. We left the club at 4 and walked to the van that Nico was driving to take us home.. I was talking to that guy that I met in the back seat of the van and the door was open and there were 5 people standing outside the van... when all of a sudden 4 girls came into the van and stole Tati's purse and ran. It happened so fast NO ONE knew what had just happened!!! Unfortunately my driver's license was in the purse but nothing else.. but it just goes to show how careful you have to be in countries like this, especially huge cities. It was kinda scary because I have only been here for a week and everyone was concerned about me but I felt bad for Tati because it was all of her stuff stolen!!! But anyways today we hung out in Santiago all day and then went for Chinese food and now I'm home! I'll post pics of the ppl I was with!! Talk to you soon.. xoxo

Wow

So today was quite eventful... mi and the people in my group went on a tour of the all the campuses in Valparaiso/Vina del Mar that belong to my school and we did that all morning. I absolutely LOVE our group leader... his name is Ricardo and he is freaking awesome... SO FUNNY! Anyways we went on a tour which is pretty sweet... he protects us and always makes sure that we are safe... and he was responsible for the whole tour so we got prime seats for everything!

So after that Ricardo told the bus driver to just drop us off by the casino... and we pretty much got ditched hardcore. No one knew where to go or where we were and we didn't know how to ask someone for directions.. and hell, I DON'T EVEN KNOW THE ADDRESS TO MY HOUSE!!!! Haha.. so we eventually found our way to the tourist area of Vina and got some Empanadas and ice cream and then went to the mall... its magnifico!! Very huge and to my disappointment ... the prices of clothes are not cheaper than Canada. However, I FOUND A VICTORIA SECRET OUTLET.... you know what that means!!!!!!!!!!! ;) haha for those of you who know me... I have a tendency to overdo it in that dept.

Anywho's... I came back home after the mall and chilled out and ate lunch and enjoyed SIESTA con mis hermanos (my brother and sister)... and we sat around and talked for hours which is really, really good practise for me. THEN... at 7 all the students met up at casa central and we went to a concert en the pier where all of the boats and cruise ships come in... absolutely amazing.

Everything about it was just so... CHILEAN!! It was absolutely amazing. So much fun! Then we wanted to go out for drinks after but a couple of the girls forgot their ID's so we decided to go tomorrow night instead.. so me and Hannah and Allison took the micro to Vina home by ourselves which is definition SKETCH... and then I had to walk to my house by myself... and I think someone was following me... so I took off my shoes and booked it all the way home... up 50+ steps but I was so afraid!! I learned my lesson... never ever taking the bus home at night again!!!! ahhhhhh... tomorrow will be another day with a new adventure!!! xoxo

Week of Classes!

Hello!!!

So its Tuesday already and this week is my first week of school... classes haven't started yet it is just the week of orientation for the exchange students. On Monday we had to meet and form into groups with a group leader who is a student at the University... our group is made up of the two girls from my school, another girl who is from Calgary and that I SWEAR I HAVE MET BEFORE! A girl from the states, Minneapolis, a girl from Germany, and a girl from Alaska. It's really cool... but we all speak English so that is all we talk which isn't that good.. but I'm glad that I made some friends already. It is so difficult to understand what the professors and coordinators are saying to us ... most of the information that they give me is going in one ear and out of the other... but slowly I am getting better. We had to take a written test on Monday which yes, was complete bullshit... everyone failed!! I got like 23% and so did the other girls that I am with... so that totally put me off and I thought to myself how am I going to survive here!! But its going to be ok... last night I went with Diego and Tati to their friend Nico's house for home made sushi and for drinks with this alcohol that is only sold in Brazil... it was AMAZING!!!!! That's what people do here all the time... any excuse to drink and get wasted!!! SO we ended up coming home last night at 4 in the morning.. thank god i didn't have school today until 3 in the afternoon! And all we did was walk around the city a bit and take pictures... then I had my oral exam at 5 and the professor asked me questions and made the conclusion that I am intermediate.. which I do not agree with... oh well.
Today was also the first time that I had to take the bus "el micro" by myself... and its nerve racking because I look different then everyone else and people always look at me... and its really sketchy to take the bus because that is where a lot of robbing and purse snatching takes place. I am right now picking my classes and it sucksssssssssssssssss!!!!! I am trying to pick the most easy ones but I don't know anything!! I start my spanish class tomorrow so I'm really nervous for that.... but after, I'm hitting the beach ... to look at the hot latino men ;)

Talk to you soon!!!! xoxo

MAS

MAS FOTOS DEL DOMINGO!!!!!
(more photos from sunday)

I love Sundays!!

So today we went to the beach called Con Con which is like half an hour north of Vina del Mar. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! Last night we went to a club and that was pretty crazy too... we didn't leave the apartment until 1:30 in the morning and we didn't go into the club until 3 in the morning and then we left at 5 in the morning. Crazy!!!

In Con Con the family took me to a classic latin american restaurant where we ate tonnes of Empanadas, Wine, and salad!!! So good... then we walked around the streets where there were little stores and I bought a few bracelets, nothing too exciting. Then we went to the beach which was down some sketchy path in the middle of nowhere and ended up at the nicest beach I have ever seen!!! So I tanned all afternoon and swam in the ocean, it was awesome!! I posted some pictures of last night and then of the beach today!!!!!!!

xoxo