Let's get down to business

I know that it's been a while since I've posted anything. [Who knew that school here would actually be time-consuming.] I realized that I haven't written about my classes so even though I'm about halfway through the semester, I’m going to go ahead cover my school life in Santiago de Chile.

Facultad de Letras [department of letters] where I take one of my classes

All right, so I’m studying at the Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile and I'm taking 3 Spanish literature classes [there are foreigners in them too, but they are just normal classes for Chileans]. They are Chilean poetry, Nobel Prize winning Latin American authors, and City and Latinamerican Novel. But my favorite thing I'm doing for academic credit is my “practica” [an internship], which is helping teach English at Liceo 7, an all girls' middle and high school only 20 minutes from where I live. The first couple weeks on the job I gave a powerpoint presentation showing pictures from my life in California and basically sharing United Statesian* culture. The girls adored my photos and I had so much fun joking with them that my house is the Hotel del Coronado and about my ex-pololos [boyfriends]. They also loved the story about the guy I know from Big Time Rush because they’re obsessed with that show here [yeah, I see James on magazine covers everywhere] and everything about Sigma Kappa and Greek life. They also made kissing noises when I showed pictures of my brother, which was hilarious, and commented that my exbf, John, looks like Justin Bieber. 

Another buidling on campus 

*Quick side note. The reason I said United Satesian [ya, it's not a real word] is that  "American" doesn't work here to describe the US. People here are technically "Americans" too because they live in South "America". The word in Spanish for US citizens is "estadounidense" but we don't have an equivalent for it in English, which is frustrating. Chileans can get offended if you describe yourself as "americano" because they are "americano" as well. So you see, saying United Statesian really makes more sense.

With some of the girls at Liceo 7

Ok, back to my practica. Here's a funny story: Each time I gave the presentation I let the girls ask me any questions at the end and one time one of the girls raised her hand [this was in a freshman class] and asked, “Do you have ‘touch and go’ in the United States?” I didn’t know what ‘touch and go’ was so I looked to the teacher for help. She proceeded to explain to me that it’s when you meet someone at a bar or a club and then you are with him or her just for the night. I was shocked! This freshman girl just asked me about one-night stands!! I laughed and told her that in the US it's called a one-night stand or hook up and then the teacher even told me to write it on the board! I was dying; it was just so unusual to be telling a class about this.

Another cool thing about my practica is that I had the idea to teach them an English song and play it on the guitar while the girls could sing along. I made a sheet with the lyrics and left some of the words blank so they would have to fill them in. I brought my guitar to the school and we sang and danced to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. Some of the girls stood on their desks and they were clapping and getting ready into it. My heart was about to burst I was so happy. I had a girl take a video during one of the classes--if you want to watch it, it's in my videos on facebook!

A photo I took in Plaza Italia last week

I’ve only been working there for a few weeks, but I’m already dreading my last day; the girls are just so fantastic I can’t even express how much I’m going to miss them. The profes [professors] joke that I’m like a celebrity on campus because all the girls know who I am and say hi--it’s so heart warming! One day a few weeks ago I stayed during the lunch break at the school and hung out with a group of senior girls. We talked and joked and alternated between speaking Spanish and English. They asked me a pretty funny question too: "So, do you call your friends motherf***ers?" Me: "WHAT! Uhh noo, who told you that?" Them: "Well, this guy who worked here last year from the United States said that he would go up to his friends and say, 'Whattup mothaf***as!'" Me: "HAHA! Oh my gosh, en serio?? I mean some people do that I guess, but no, I don't." 

My room! 

Even though I’m technically taking 4 classes [the practica counts for 3 units! But I would do it for none, I love it so much], I still feel like I have a lot of free time. I don’t have anything on Fridays, which gives me a three-day weekend. Also, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a big break between classes so my friend Rachael and I hang out on campus, drink Starbucks, and jam on the guitar and talk.

The awesome view from my window

Let’s see what else haven’t I talked about yet…oh my apartment! So I know that I mentioned that I moved out of my homestay 3 weeks after arriving and that I’m living in an apartment now. I live with 3 people from France [three girls and a guy] and a German girl, but I have my own room with a huge bed!! The only downside is that the view from my window is a little less than optimal—I see the tin roofs for the building next door; pretty stereotypical South America. But, just the other day I went on a run [which reminded me how much I hate running] and I could see the snowy mountains in the distance! It was so beautiful! I haven't really gone around taking photos of the area of the city I live in, but here are some pictures I stole from the internet to give you an idea of how LEGEN-wait for it-DARY Santiago de Chile is [these were all taken on extremely clear days--usually the pollution prevents the mountains from being seen, which is kinda gross]:

This is a 5 minute walk from my apartment

Well, that's all for now. 

Chao!