As much as my body would've loved to keep sleeping, the sun was pouring into our room and reminded me that we were in Chile! Once we were all ready, Kristen, Emily, and I all went up to the 15th floor for a traditional Chilean breakfast which consisted of various pastries, coffee, cereals, very runny yogurt, and cheese. If we weren't awake when we got there the view we had over our meal certainly did the trick as Santiago was in full swing.
Our program coordinator, Lizette, herded us all downstairs after had finished our breakfasts for the 2 and half hour orientation meeting (the first of three). The orientation focused mainly on things we will need to know while we live in Valparaiso and especially about living with our host families. Most of the information were pointers we received in our pre-departure packet so the meeting went by relatively quickly but all of us were ready for lunch when the clock struck noon. Loading up on the same bus we took yesterday, we headed to the Mercado Central to have lunch and spend a little bit of time in a farmer's market equivalent.
When we arrived, all 45 of us stared at the colorfully decorated open market and were ushered to our tables but of course with a group our size we were inevitably split up. In Chile, lunch is supposed to be the largest meal of the day and it is served generally around 2 in the afternoon but since we had a lot of sight seeing to do we arrived around 1. Our choices for lunch were grilled or fried chicken, fried fish (with the bones and tail still in tact!), a shellfish soup, and then a vegetarian plate with only vegetables. I chose the grilled chicken and contrary to popular belief, Chilean food is very bland because they don't use any type of seasoning besides a little pepper, oil, or lemons. This is still a bit of an adjustment but considering I'm a relatively picky eater, I can't complain!
Hands down the best part of lunch was getting to walk around after our meal. Kristen and I were looking at all of the fresh fruits and vegetables when an elderly man approached us and started speaking English to us. We were shocked as he asked where we were from and when I told him Texas he didn't believe me since I didn't have boots or a cowboy hat on and since I wasn't on a horse. So even in Chile, the stereotype lives on! Once we broke away from him, a younger man tried to convince us to eat at his restaurant and when we told him we had already eaten he began to question us too! Asking the same questions as earlier, he began to wonder if we could understand him (which a lot of people seem to do with us!) and when we told him we could he then told us that if we could understand Chilean spanish that we could go anywhere in the world. However, he did advise for us not speak like Chileans since they use so much slang. Abruptly moving on, he then asked Kristen and I which part of heaven we fell from and said that we must have fallen from the top because he couldn't catch us from where he was. Without thinking about the consequences, Kristen and I both bursted out laughing at his remark and then glanced at our watches to find out it was time to slip away as we continued to joke about the encounter.
Straight from the Mercado Central, we walked over to visit the Plaza de Armas which is basically a big open area where people hang out while many artists sell their paintings and tourists such ourselves gawk at the beautiful Cathedral. As Lorna, our smaller group leader, was explaining the history of the Plaza de Armas we noticed that people--men in particular--stared us to no end and didn't care if we caught them holding an extended gaze! Once Lorna told us we could go walk around and take pictures, all of us practically raced to get into the large Cathedral and escape the wandering eyes. None of us were expecting the extravagant beauty that was around every corner of the old cathedral and we spent a majority of our free time taking pictures of the intricate decor. When the time came for us all to meet up again, we walked down the Paseo Ahumada which had both outdoor and indoor vendors lining the cobblestone walkway.
The Cathedral in the Plazas de Armas.
Kristen and I in front of a fountain in the Plaza de Armas.
After we walked through the Paseo Ahumada, we arrived at the Palacio Presidencial de La Moneda which is the President's Palace and his official place of business. We received a walking tour of the grandiose palace and actually saw the governor of Chile enter the building as well! The rooms were very well decorated with wartime paintings on nearly every wall while historical pieces of furniture were scattered around. It was very interesting to watch our tour guide, Andres, spout out the meticulous details of each room.
The Palacio Presidencial de La Moneda.
The Chilean flag reminds me so much of Texas!
Mitchell pretending to be the next Chilean president.
Emily, myself, and Kristen all watch puzzled.
As our tour came to an end, we took the metro back to the hotel where people continued to stare at us and especially Kristen and I. Maybe it has something to do with her tall stature and my blonde hair and blue eyes combination. Upon returning, we decided it would be a better idea to get dinner with a big group in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last night's embarrassment. So, we took about a 2 and half hour break to give our feet a rest and look at the day's pictures.
When we all met up together at 8 for dinner, we thought staying in a slightly larger group of about 10 would make things easier until we picked up 3 more students making us look even more American than before. Arriving at the restaurant, our group got more stares as the waiters pushed tables together for us and we tried to decode the menu. Kristen and I decided to split what we thought were going to be french fries but ended up being a sandwich with a brisket like meat, tomatoes, and green beans. Random. Needless to say, we each took a bite and knew that our dinner would be a light one for the evening. I had ordered a traditional Pisco Sour which tastes just like a margarita and opted to let that conclude the meal. The rest of the group ordered different drinks which in Chile we found out they put about twice as much alcohol in all their drinks compared to the States. I will say it was priceless watching everyone's surprised reaction as they tasted their drinks and had similar feelings about their food as well.
Once we received the bill it took us almost 10 minutes to try and figure out how to pay for the meal with Chilean pesos. As we were leaving, a man from the table behind us bought a flower for Emily which she respectfully declined which only made us walk faster out of the restaurant. But the best part about dinner was the walk home as we all experienced first hand just how forward the men here are, as if the flower situation wasn't enough evidence. There was one group of skateboarders that whistled at us and threw many compliments our way as we tried to maneuver quickly past them. Thinking we had dodged a bullet, another group of skateboarders tried to pull the same moves but luckily they weren't persistent!
We have officially been in Chile for nearly 48 hours and the culture is absolutely fascinating! Chileans are incredibly relaxed and have almost no sense of urgency unless it's about protecting themselves from pick pocketing. I've been overwhelmed by the size of the city and all of people that reside here but more importantly the past 2 days have been remarkably humbling. Even though He created the beautiful city of Santiago that is so rich with history the Lord is incredibly proud of each and every single one of the people that He hand sculpted to walk this earth. He definitely has had His hand on us as we've weaved through the Chilean streets and He is preparing our hearts for what lies ahead in Valpo by exposing us to the culture in a tangible way. Tomorrow is yet another big day so I'm calling it a night for now but rest assured that all is well here and more stories are bound to follow!
Murphy! I love your writing. You are doing a wonderful job on the blog!
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