The Beginning

Because stories generally have one, you know.  So, although the name of the blog is "Chile from My Room", the experience began with, of course, the process of getting here from home.  It started out simply enough.  After some frantic packing on my part (with no small amount of help from my mom [thanks again, Mom!]), everything was somehow ready to go on time (minus my Spanish-English dictionary, because why would I remember that?).  I lugged my stuff out to the van, and we scooted up to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Once there, my mom dropped me off to check my bag and to find my group while she looked for a parking spot.  Checking my bag was easy enough, as there was an American Airlines station right at the doors where a guy took care of it for me.  Finding my group was also quite simple, as a fair amount of the people who had already arrived had congregated near the same entrance.  So, I sidled into the dispersed miniature crowd and waited for my mom and my siblings to come in from the parking area.  It wasn't long after they came in that everyone else in the group took care of their goodbyes and walked over to security.  I decided I should follow suit, so we took a few pictures at my mom's suggestion before I officially departed from my family members for about four and a half months.

A solitary traveler, ready to face a couple flights and a bus ride to get to his host family.

The traveler and his four siblings...admittedly, not the best picture of us, but, hey, we were in a rush!

The traveler and his lovely (and loving) mother, who probably found this departure just a bit less exciting than I did.

Of course, it didn't take long for the trip to become stressful.  In our haste to make sure everything fit, we forgot about where particular items were supposed to fit.  Namely, my bottle of shampoo and the quart of pure Minnesotan maple syrup that was supposed to be part of the gift to my host family were in my carry-on bag, which, as you well know if you've had to fly somewhere in the past however many years, is a big no-no (no liquids over 3 ounces are permitted in your carry-on for those who aren't aware).  After a stressed phone call to my recently-departed-for-home mother, I ruefully relinquished the two items to the care of the airport.  The following hours went completely as planned.  The plane came on time (I think), and we got to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport with a few hours to spare.  Even though I think a decent number of international airports have some sort of tram system to facilitate quicker travel between terminals, I thought the Skylink here was neat and decided to be a dork and take a video of it from my phone.

 Most of us decided to eat at Champ's Bar and Grill while we were there.  Then, after the second flight had already been delayed once, we got the news: the flight was delayed until around 7:30 or so the next morning (I honestly can't recall the exact time).  As such, they gathered us around a counter and gave us vouchers for a one-night hotel stay as well as breakfast and, for some reason, dinner (no one complained).

Our group standing in line to receive our vouchers.

We then piled outside to wait for a shuttle to take us to the Marriott where we would be spending the night.

Kinda like this one, except only a few of us (not including me) made it on this first one because of all the other stranded passengers.

Just us loafing around, waiting.

More loafing; also pictured: one of many similar phone calls made by group members to parents to keep them updated.

Our group swarming the reception desk.

Hey, at least they put us in a nice Marriott!

In a very major case of "it's a small world", we met one of the cousins (and his wife) of our program director, Marietta, on the shuttle that I was on.  He was heading back to Chile himself and would be on the flight with us the next morning.  In the midst of all the stress and minor confusion surrounding this major delay, it was comforting and kind of cool to have a link to our destination already.  The next morning, we met up early in the morning (ranging from 5:30 to about 6:15, depending on the people) to head back to the airport to ensure that we'd have plenty of time to get through security (again) and eat.  I ended up being on the early end of that range, so I had plenty of time to utilize my two meal vouchers, chat, and attempt to nap on the chairs in the waiting area.  Of course, the waiting wasn't quite over when we got on the plane.  Another issue or two cropped up before we actually got to take off, so we probably sat on the runway for another hour to an hour and a half.  At last, we took off, bound for Santiago.

We got in late in the evening, claimed our baggage (after MORE waiting, yay!), and made for the main area of the airport.  Thankfully, we stumbled across Marietta not terribly long after getting out there, and she guided us to the bus that would carry us the final leg into Viña del Mar.  We arrived in our host city around 12:40 A.M. Saturday morning, approximately twelve hours after we were supposed to have gotten there.  Nonetheless, all of our host families were waiting for us at the appointed stop.  It was at this point that I started to get rather anxious, as I know my Spanish-speaking capabilities tend to stagnate when I'm put on the spot; in addition to that, there was the whole matter of not knowing what my host family would be like.  Thankfully, my fears were put to rest immediately, as I was greeted by a wonderfully kind woman who introduced herself and her oldest son, Giorgio, to me.  Incidentally, Giorgio speaks English better than I speak Spanish, so between the two of them, I instantly felt much more at ease.  Before going "home", they took me up to the university I would be attending, both to show me where it is and to show me an overall view of Viña (with a bit of Valparaiso as well).

We then went "home" (which I will leave off referring to in quotations from here on out, as it is indeed my home here), where the expected sorts of things were explained to me.  There's a spare key available should I somehow lose or forget the copy that I was given (which my host mom brought me to the mall a few days later to get made).  I can treat the apartment's food as my own, though just as I am free to partake of what's there as part of the family, I am asked to buy for the family rather than just for myself if I'm bringing food home.  My room has a flat-screen TV in it (about 32", if I had to guess; I have to admit that its presence surprised me) along with a tiny little space heater (which I didn't actually learn the function of until about two weeks after I had been here).  There is secure Wi-Fi available (as is the case for everyone's family here).  We live at the end of Avenida Libertad, the main avenue of Viña, from which the naming system of intersecting and a good number of parallel roads is actually ridiculously easy (we're talking 1-15 North for intersecting roads and counting up from 1 East and West for parallel roads until you hit something like San Martín).  I was also given the phone that they lend to each student they host (I am the fourth).  After hooking my computer up and doing a couple quick things online, I went to bed to get ready for the rest of Saturday, orientation (which gets its own post).  Oh, a couple quick pics of my room (that were taken a couple weeks after I got here and in daylight):

Oh yeah, there's a landline phone in my room, too, but I don't really answer that.  Phone conversation in Spanish, particularly Chilean Spanish, is not something I voluntarily subject myself to.

My room, as seen from the doorway.  That's my own little bathroom on the right; speaking of which...

...Here's my bathroom, with many of the amenities I brought; on the right, you can see...

...I have my own shower.  Very much appreciated.