Chile at a glance
what can i say about Chile? i was there 23 days and nearly cried when i left. feña`s family showed such fantastic hospitality it was nearly overwhelming. they always made sure i had some interesting things to do, always asked about my day, asked what i wanted to eat, took me all over the place. that is, on weekends we would "dar la vuelta" which literally means take the turn but for them means driving around. anyways, every weekend we would take a half-day trip to see some waterfalls, or some lakes, or some other beauty of nature that this part of chile offers. and not just the parents would take me, everyone goes, its a family event! lovely!
i had the privilege of going to carla`s english class, she`s studying to be an english prof and is quite good already! anyways, the chilean college experience was quite interesting. everyone goes home to their home towns every weekend, therefore very little partying is done with college friends, perhaps one night a week. but we did go to a party....and didnt get home until 1 o`clock the following afternoon! thats just how they do....start partying late (we arrived at the disco at 130 and left at 430) , then went to someones house until nearly lunch time!
the south of chile is completely unprepared for cold weather. it snowed the second day i was there, the snow disappeared before the afternoon ended and school was cancelled for the following day! and actually for good reason, because the city doesn`t have the equipment nor means to take care of the streets like we do, they are just not accustomed to snow, the first time in 15 years, imagine!
because of chile`s geography it is a quite beautiful place (at least the south of chile is), mountains, rivers, lakes, beautiful fauna... quite to my liking. however, what i didnt like, the cold!!!! ohhhh so cold every day. i mean not cold in our sense of cold winters but seemingly colder because they dont deal with the cold the same way we do. they simply endure it, they just tough it out, heating the whole house with a single fire in an oven in the living room, such that going to sleep under 7 blankets still requires about 20 minutes so that your freezing toes and hands are comfortable enough to fall asleep. we just fire up the gas and /or electric heating systems and blast it out. their system is much more nature friendly though ours is obviously more comfortable.... comfort at what cost? tough question.
chileans are passionate about futbol and proud of their country. they don`t have the best relationships (or thoughts toward for that matter) with their neighbors argentina and peru, but i was treated fantastically. staying with feña`s family was an incredible experience, it made me want to host a student again, it makes me want to go out of my way in the US and practice hospitality to the stranger, to the exile, to the immigrant, to the refugee.... how great a feeling it is to be treated so well in a foreign land!!!
love
i had the privilege of going to carla`s english class, she`s studying to be an english prof and is quite good already! anyways, the chilean college experience was quite interesting. everyone goes home to their home towns every weekend, therefore very little partying is done with college friends, perhaps one night a week. but we did go to a party....and didnt get home until 1 o`clock the following afternoon! thats just how they do....start partying late (we arrived at the disco at 130 and left at 430) , then went to someones house until nearly lunch time!
the south of chile is completely unprepared for cold weather. it snowed the second day i was there, the snow disappeared before the afternoon ended and school was cancelled for the following day! and actually for good reason, because the city doesn`t have the equipment nor means to take care of the streets like we do, they are just not accustomed to snow, the first time in 15 years, imagine!
because of chile`s geography it is a quite beautiful place (at least the south of chile is), mountains, rivers, lakes, beautiful fauna... quite to my liking. however, what i didnt like, the cold!!!! ohhhh so cold every day. i mean not cold in our sense of cold winters but seemingly colder because they dont deal with the cold the same way we do. they simply endure it, they just tough it out, heating the whole house with a single fire in an oven in the living room, such that going to sleep under 7 blankets still requires about 20 minutes so that your freezing toes and hands are comfortable enough to fall asleep. we just fire up the gas and /or electric heating systems and blast it out. their system is much more nature friendly though ours is obviously more comfortable.... comfort at what cost? tough question.
chileans are passionate about futbol and proud of their country. they don`t have the best relationships (or thoughts toward for that matter) with their neighbors argentina and peru, but i was treated fantastically. staying with feña`s family was an incredible experience, it made me want to host a student again, it makes me want to go out of my way in the US and practice hospitality to the stranger, to the exile, to the immigrant, to the refugee.... how great a feeling it is to be treated so well in a foreign land!!!
love
posted by dk at 8:19 PM
2 Comments:
comfort at what cost? ask Plato.
not that you were there to actually experience the cold and feel its effects...but thanks for the comment.
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