Today, Felipe and I went to the campus San Joquin of the Universidad Catolica, where most of Felipe´s classes are held. There, we met Maggie and her friend from the intercambio programa de California. It´s a pretty modern campus, and it was quite nice. We walked around there for a while, ate lunch, then Maggie and Mytrain (the friend) left while Felipe and I went to la feria Santa Lucia (a sort of full-time Saturday market, with crafts and jewlery and such) to look around. Then we crossed the street to climb Cerro Santa Lucia, a b-e-a-utiful hill (cerro is castellaño for hill) with an ancient fortress built on top. It reaches rather high above the city, and from the top there is an amazing view of city as far as the eye can see, the ancient building upon which you´re standing, and teenagers making out in every nook and cranny possible (of which there are many...apparently it´s quite the popular place for ´pololoar´ (going on dates.) Then, we returned to the house for tea (instead of dinner, they have a very light afternoon tea), chatting with the family (whom I hadn´t seen since my first day here), y aca estoy (here I am.)
That´s the boring ´this is what I did today´part. The fun stuff is to reflect on what´s new and different about being in frickin´ Santiago de Chile of all places. Numero Uno--I´ve been here for four complete days, and have not seen a single other redhead. In a city of six million people--how is that possible? It´s not like I´ve been locked up in the house the whole time, either--I´ve spent time downtown and on public transportation every day I´ve been here so far! Speaking of public transportation, it´s quite different here in comparison to the States. The metro is, como se dice aca, ´super-linda y super-limpia!.´ Te amo. Also, there are security guards and lights everywhere--it feels (and I´m sure it is) very safe. While we´re on the subject of transportation, they have the silliest little phenomena I´ve ever heard of with regards to one way streets---periodically, they change direction! Can you believe that? In the morning, there are two-lane one way streets which have both lanes directed toward the center of town. During the day and at night, each lane goes a different direction, and at certain hours in the evening, at the end of the work day, both lanes are only used in the direction leaving town. WHAT? Can you DO that? Apparently....yes. Yes you can. As for now....voy a acostarme...I´m going to bed...because tomorrow is going to be a day llena de carretas...full of festivities....with the family and Maggie´s friends, since she´s leaving soon. ¡Buenas noches!
No comments:
Post a Comment