We finally moved into our official hotel for the program, which started on Sunday Jan. 8. The name of the hotel was Plaza de Bosque, this really intense high-class hotel, with really fancy bathrooms and equally fancy beds. It was almost a bit too much, just dropping onto the bed and losing myself in heavenly sheets.
Speaking of heaven, I immediately got ready for Mass at 12:00 pm, and I went to this Church a few blocks away called Our Lady of Los Angeles. It was very beautiful, yet quaint and comfy at the same time. I realized that without knowing prayers in Spanish, I was kinda helpless. However, it was nice to listen to the Mass in Spanish; a few weeks before arriving, I had been attending Spanish Mass at home so I could start getting accustomed to listening to the readings in Spanish. A beautiful fountain was laid out in front of the church, and nice old ladies were selling stuff for really cheap. I asked them where the nearest Catholic bookstore was, and they did more than just that; they told me to be careful about thieves because I dressed up so nice and fancy for Mass, with my vest and slacks and shades. I may have gotten hit on without even knowing.
Coming back, people were ready to head out to lunch. We went to Mr. Jack, which had UH-mazing burgers. I got myself the Mr. Jack, which was the classic on the menu. The burger was humongous, and the fries were so glorious. Another memorable meaty meal. Side note: I would declare myself carnivorous if meat didn’t have those little green things for seasoning.
The next morning was the actual starting date of the program, beginning with a nice orientation at the lovely hour of 9 in the morning. We drilled through all the basic logistic stuff, like getting our BIP card for use in the metro and micro (bus) stations, our cell phones, and our academic schedules for the quarter. We did this really fun activity called the Scavenger Hunt, in which the goal is to get better acquainted with the city. Actually, there was a secret prize for the teams who could complete five of the listed 12 activities, including the mandatory tasks like riding the metro! The entire afternoon was so fun and tiring. We also got to take a trip to the Stanford Center, where we would spend the majority of our time during the school week. The Stanford Center is located right near one of the Metro Stop Stations, Tobalaba, making its location very convenient. The center is the entire second floor of this 17 floor building, consisting of study rooms, a terrace outside for eating, a locker/chat room, a computer cluster and classrooms. Interestingly enough, on the front wall near the entrance was a bulletin board of all our names and pictures. It is an understatement to say I was creeped out. I was actually more excited to meet my host family Tuesday evening!
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