Last night CIEE took us all out to dinner to a tapas restaurant. We had a delicious meal, pisco sours, and red wine. It was a great way to get to know everyone and practice our Spanish. After dinner (around 10:30 pm) we came back to the hotel and finally got some sleep.
Today we had another day of training and I am really starting to feel comfortable in the city. We talked more about security, transportation, and our families. We went to lunch at a really cute vegetarian restaurant then had more time to walk around the city. A small labor protest outside a large office building caused some excitement but i hope to see more.
The most exciting part of the day was finding out our host families. I am smack dab in the middle of the city. I am really excited to meet them and see where i am living, which could be an apartment A friend of mine in the program is only about 5 blocks away. Most of the other students live in the nearby "comuna" or neighborhood called Nunoa.
My address in Santiago is:
Adriana Undurraga 207
Santiago, Chile.
Tonight we have the whole evening to do whatever we want. A group of us are going to dinner at 8, then more exploring the city. Many of them want to go to the local "carretes" or clubs and I'll probably tag along.
Today while we were walking around, I told everyone how much i love this city. A friend of mine reminded me that "euphoria" is the first stage of culture shock. Apparently once this wears off, irritability or resentment kick in. I told my friend to let me keep feeling euphoric and I'll handle the irritability when i need to. So far, So go. I'm having a wonderful time and I can't wait to get out there and experience Santiago on my own.
If you want, check out the link below, which is a map and satellite image of my home. Explore the map, it looks pretty cool! http://www.mapcity.cl/Ploteo.asp?ciudad=santiago&IdArco=174468&TipoVia1=CALLE&NombreVia1=ADRIANA%20UNDURRAGA&Altura1=207&Comuna1=SANTIAGO&Str_Direccion=CALLE%20ADRIANA%20UNDURRAGA%20207&Punto_X=345883&Punto_Y=6297664&Este_Min=345633&Este_Max=346133&Norte_Min=6297414&Norte_Max=6297914&moverse=ZOOM5000&Encabezado=SI&Producto=DIRECCION&IdServicio=&GenRuta=&STransito=&TxtPer1=&TxtPer2=&opcbuscar=dire&icorigen=../images/botones/ico_estrella_ch.gif&icdestino=&icmapa=../images/botones/int-bt_color.gif&colormapa=color1&icono1=estrella&icono2=&Inicio=SI&xp=345893&yp=6297666&Escala=5000&CodigoPostal=8330439&dir_original=@ADRIANA%20UNDURRAGA@@207@
