Palmeras and instant coffee: an orientation
After 16 hours of travel we finally arrived in Santiago, Chile. We were bombarded with taxi drivers waving signs and had to search through the crowd for our host families. Once I was finally driving to Santiago with my host mom I immediately noticed the palm trees (or palmeras) lining the sides of the roads. It gets pretty cold here so I was happily surprised! I did not venture out of the apartment until the next day, but took about 3 naps instead. When I finally went exploring I was overwhelmed by how busy the city is, there are street vendors everywhere! They line the streets leading up to Metro stations and roll their blankets out on the sidewalks of popular areas. You could buy anything you could possibly need off these streets from food to sim cards! My program’s orientation was at the school we will be studying at, La Universidad de Los Andes. The school is in the mountains and you can look over the entire city from its campus. We began the day eating breakfast with our group and the Chilean students who will be taking classes with us. They served instant coffee, which I had never tried before that day. It definitely cannot compare to drip coffee but I quickly learned that most people in Santiago only drink instant coffee. During this breakfast I was also introduced to the Chilean greeting. I was slightly uncomfortable when I kissed on the cheek by an entire room of people I had just met. But I have quickly learned to love this greeting, it feels friendly and personal. Overall, orientation has been overwhelming but absolutely amazing. I need to work on my Spanish quite badly but I am excited to discover more of Chile and my new city.
