First Day in Santiago

It was around 4 AM when we left town. Mom and I didn't even sleep because we were both angsty to get this show on the road. Along with Dad and Grandpa, we took the long 2.5 hr trip south to LA and stopped by St. Basil Catholic Church nearby the Philippine Embassy for 8 am Mass. The interior was a beauty to behold, emitting a blend of majesty and festive Christmas cheer. Afterwards, we went to McDonalds and grabbed a bite before heading to LAX.

A lady came by and assisted us with check in. I was surprised at her patience, since she ended up staying with us throughout the entire check in process, even with the barrage of questions with which my parents bombarded her. A+ for customer service!

On the flight, I ended up sitting with about 10 USC girls in the same general area, and glorious memories of the Stanford-USC girl came rushing back. Seeing my sweater, this one girl gave a secret look as she tried to look away before I caught her eye, much to her failure. I didn't have the heart to ask her "Why you so sad?". It would have been disastrous.

I sat in the middle of a row, with one USC girl on my right and a high school senior dude on my left. It totally wasn't obvious that the dude was checking her out at all. Nevertheless, I made good conversation with these people on the way to my connecting flight. The second flight, from Dallas to Santiago, was less interesting, since I ended up doing my sleeping than talking with the disabled Chilean women to my left. Also, minor turbulence! =D

Arriving in Santiago, the sky looked beautiful. It wasn't too clear, but the sun was definitely out by the time I arrived at 8 AM in SCL. Paying the reciprocity fee was a bit of a nuisance, since I ended up almost last in line. At least by the time I reached Immigration, there was no line, and also n

o line at the Money Exchange! I realized that I don't know my numbers in Spanish. Fail.

I had no way to contact my friend Kevin, who would show up at SCL at 10 AM, so the only way for me to see him was to wait right past Customs, but before the exits. I was in an awkward place just standing by the wall, and being passed by all these people staring at me. This lasted for almost 2 hours unfortunately, before I got to see Kevin and another good friend Laura finally show up. Laura ended up leaving soon with her friend Lindsay to their flight to Argentina.

I met this girl Brittany that accompanied them, who was also involved in the Santiago Study Abroad program. Brittany, Kevin, and I waited for another friend, Chris, who was my roommate this past quarter and would arrive at 1:40 pm. We ended up waiting by a booth at a little deli-like place named Medas, where I ordered Chilean food for the first time. Well, it was more like a turkey and swiss sandwich because I was so hungry. However, this second encounter with a Chilean (the first being with this guy

from Currency Exchange) was even more intense than the first, including a 5-minute heated discussion over whether the water I wanted was to be from the sink or from a bottle. This concluded my first experience in ordering food in Santiago. Upon returning to the booth with food, the three of us had our first conversation in Spanish! How exciting.

Also, apparently, my voice is kinda loud, and the three ladies in the booth over gave me kinda weird looks. Then I mentioned something about wanting to take a picture of us at the booth, and I kinda caught the eye of one of the teachers, but quickly looked away. But then I looked back at

her again, and she also caught my eye, and then the awkward moment climaxed. She broke the ice with her smile and said," I couldn't help but overhear. All of us here are English teachers." And then she came and took our picture. Oh the irony.

As soon as Chris showed up, the four of us took a shuttle straight to our hotels. Brittany booked a different hotel, so we ended up getting separated. We stayed in Hotel Libertador, which was a pretty nice hotel for its rates. We had a nice room with four beds,

a bathroom, closet, and a fan (although there was no air conditioning, and it was a little hot). Fun fact: we have a bidet in our bathroom. Wikipedia: a bidet is a low-mounted plumbing fixture intended for washing the genitalia, inner buttocks, or anus.

I ended up passing out and napped for 4 hours before waking up to go grab dinner. We took a taxi to La Plaza de Bosque, which is the hotel Brittany stayed in. Actually, this is also the hotel everyone in

the program stays in on Sunday when it actually starts.

We walked around the area and settled for Piola, which was an Italian themed restaurant. Dinner was great, and I got to enjoy a nice sirloin steak and fettucine. I know, totally not legit Chilean food, but I couldn't tell from the menu! Everything was in Spanish! Also, apparently everyone thinks it's hilarious when I interact with waiters and waitresses now. Great. What a day.