Time flies
and it already has been one month in this wonderful country, living between the
mountains and the sea. Since I moved into my “own place” I really feel like I
arrived. I used to say “Home is not a place, but people you spend time with”,
and again this exchange in Chile made me feel this is true even more.
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| Intercambio Universidad Mayor 2016 |
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| Team Netherlands (which are 80% German :D ) |
This open
culture of Latin America really made me feel welcome and making new friends was
as easy as never in my life. All those loving people from Mexico, Colombia,
Venezuela, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Finland, France, Russia and many more.
The whole atmosphere within our exchange year is so open, nice and “gezellig” I
don’t even want to think about how it will be to leave this wonderful place and
these people behind. Still this is a great excuse to travel the world after :P
So hereby a
bit of an update what has happened roughly in the past 4 weeks:
- moved
into my room, still being really happy with its location, size and especially
the private bathroom is highly appreciated (even though I once in a while
wouldn’t mind a German heater :D )
- 4 weeks
in Santiago also means 4 weeks of University. It’s a bit rough with my
(children like) level of Spanish, but I learn so much new every single day.
Additionally there are so many loving people willing to help (Chilean as well
as exchange students). --> Had my
first small test as well, let’s see how that went.
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| Sping (Primavera) is coming!!! |
- after 3 weeks here and A LOT of
paper “work” (rather getting one paper, running to the next office to get a
different paper to hand that one in at a new office with 4 other documents)I
got my temporary student TNE, which is the Card to drive with the metro. To
make it more understandable, why this is so exciting --> normally one ride
with the metro costs between 660-720CLP (0,92€-1,00€), depending on the time
you take the metro (rush hour and stuff) BUT with the student discount it is
just 210CLP (0,29€) per ride, which makes a huge difference, when you have to
take the metro et least one time a day (to uni, and back)
--> Chileans really like bureaucracy, and bills
(about that more in another “things that are different here” post)
-Big travel
plans in the making. On the list are: Desierto Atacama, Macchu Picchu, Largo
Titicaca, la Serena, the South of Chile, Colombia, and so much more, that
probably won’t be possible in the short time I have to travel. Therefore I
should have to get more concrete soon.
--> UPDATE: Flight to the Atacama dessert is booked!!! 2 weeks of traveling here I come :)
- Spanish
class – finally this week we had the first hours of the Spanish course, the
university offers. Our “profesora” is a kind elderly woman, that just speaks a
few words of English, which makes it perfect to learn Spanish.
- Spanish skills development:
slowly but steady I add Spanish words to the other three languages I speak,
which is a sign of learning the language better and better (at least with Dutch
it was the same). In addition I practice switching languages A LOT over here,
as I have friends for each of the languages I speak (at least I don’t have to
be scared of Alzheimer, as this trains my brain really well).
Reading
articles in Spanish and listening to the classes in Spanish everyday helps a
lot too, even though I feel like the social interaction is the biggest benefit
that adds to my language skills.
- The markets
here are definitely one of the biggest loves I developed here. Like I wrote
already in other posts – they sell EVERYTHING there, like literally, you can’t
even imagine, what kind of ideas people get to make money. Often times it
turned out to be really nice, cheap and convenient, as I barely visit a
supermarket anymore. For now I’ve just been to la Vega and the smaller “fería
libre” in my neighborhood, but markets like Bio Bio are definitely on the list
of things to do here.
- Next to
markets my passion for dancing is definitely satisfied, and especially all the
reggateon while going out at night makes partying so much more fun (even though
I might find partying in Europe rather boring :D). In addition to that I found
some nice people who share the love for dancing Salsa y Bachata, and with whom
I go to free dancing classes every Tuesday.
- Not just
are the students of my exchange year really awesome, also there are many nice
trips organized by the “oficína relaciones internationals”. Therefore we went
to Isla negra - which is not an island
(how I thought as well :D ) but a small village in which one of the houses of
Pablo Neruda is located. Even though it isn’t an island, it is really
beautiful, as it is near the sea with nice beaches and huge rocks.
- Not just
are the students of my exchange year really awesome, also there are many nice
trips organized by the “oficína relaciones internationals”. Therefore we went
to Isla negra - which is not an island
(how I thought as well :D ) but a small village in which one of the houses of
Pablo Neruda is located. Even though it isn’t an island, it is really
beautiful, as it is near the sea with nice beaches and huge rocks.
