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On Thursday, our first real day without class or lab, the seven of us went on an all-day city tour which we apparently paid for as part of our program fee. (I would have liked to know about that beforehand, but oh well.) I learned a lot about the history and landmarks of Santiago, but the best part, once again, was interacting with the locals and observing how they react to tourists. I hope I can actually have a meaningful conversation with them one of these days, but first I need to improve my Spanish speaking ability.
An important building. I don't remember which one though.
Love graffiti on the streets of Santiago.
I guess sometimes policemen have to text too.
These high school students thought it was hilarious that we were taking their photos.
Statue of the Virgin Mary on Cerro San Cristóbal. It's way bigger than it looks.-----
Yesterday was cool because Madeline, Bijan, Joey, and I got to drive up to the observatory at night and use the big telescope there to look at, well, whatever Professor Maza told us we should look at. It was pretty exciting to see the Southern Cross, Alpha Centauri, and NGC 4755 (a globular cluster), since they're pretty important and none of them are visible from the Northern Hemisphere. We also looked at Saturn, though the atmosphere made the rings hard to resolve.
Back during high school, I used to spend hours every night standing outside with nothing but a pair of binoculars and Starry Night running on my laptop in nighttime mode. I'd search for stars and constellations and use the binoculars to look at smudges in the sky that I imagined to be beautiful nebulae and galaxies. It was during these stargazing sessions that I decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to understanding the workings of the universe. Obviously, I've remained on that path in college, but I need experiences like yesterday's--standing back and just enjoying the beauty of the heavens--to remind me of why I enjoy astronomy.
I slept in today (Saturday) for the first time in a week, but the day ended up being super busy anyway. After cooking pancakes for ourselves, we took the bus and subway down to the Central Market, which is sort of like the Farmer's Market in LA but indoors and much much bigger. We bought a bunch of groceries for the upcoming week, including salmon filets and assorted fruits and vegetables (mangos!).
As soon as we got back home and put away the groceries, we had to head out again for a classical music concert at the Universidad de Chile, which I really enjoyed despite the fact that they ended the concert with a Romantic era piece. (No offense to any Romantic fans, but I just think Baroque and Classical are far more interesting to listen to. I'm sure we can all agree that Contemporary is terrible.) Afterwards, Cecilia left us to find dinner on our own, which we ended up eating at a nice seafood restaurant called Azul Profundo. It was yummy, but I'm not sure the taste to expense ratio merits returning. We'll see. I accompanied Daniel home after dinner, while the rest of my housemates went off searching for a bar or club. But they're back now and apparently they had quite an adventure. More on that later.
We discovered a street stand that sells what we affectionately call "meat sticks." They're delicious.
Market workers cutting paper. I think.
This man ate his soup very defensively.
More market workers. The guy in yellow noticed that I was taking the photo a moment before I pressed the shutter. Oops.
Bijan drinking delicious milk tea.
As expected, I've experienced several episodes of cultural shock during my first week in Chile. I suppose I'll end this entry with the two most interesting ones.
The first is the cheek kiss. You know, the whole thing where you touch your cheek to someone else's opposite cheek and make a kissing sound. (At least that's how it is with strangers. Apparently close friends and family members actually kiss the cheeks. *Shudder.*) I've seen it in movies that are set in Europe or South America, but I naively thought that nobody actually does it in real life. Well they do, and it freaked me out the first time it happened to me. Hopefully it'll become more second-nature as I adjust to life here.
The second is actually the opposite of cultural shock, in a way. The mall next to our house, Alto Las Condes, is such a perfect clone of American supermalls that I'm always a little disoriented when we visit. The brands, store names, and even some of the discount signs are in English, and the food court looks like it could have been lifted straight out of my mall back home (except that it has a movie screen and a couple Chilean restaurants as well). I understand other countries trying to replicate the success of American capitalism, but this is just taking it too far. I suppose that all I can do is to make sure that I experience true Chilean culture rather than languish in my comfort zone of familiarity through Alto Las Condes and the internet.
Bedtime. Good night.
Back during high school, I used to spend hours every night standing outside with nothing but a pair of binoculars and Starry Night running on my laptop in nighttime mode. I'd search for stars and constellations and use the binoculars to look at smudges in the sky that I imagined to be beautiful nebulae and galaxies. It was during these stargazing sessions that I decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to understanding the workings of the universe. Obviously, I've remained on that path in college, but I need experiences like yesterday's--standing back and just enjoying the beauty of the heavens--to remind me of why I enjoy astronomy.
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I slept in today (Saturday) for the first time in a week, but the day ended up being super busy anyway. After cooking pancakes for ourselves, we took the bus and subway down to the Central Market, which is sort of like the Farmer's Market in LA but indoors and much much bigger. We bought a bunch of groceries for the upcoming week, including salmon filets and assorted fruits and vegetables (mangos!).
As soon as we got back home and put away the groceries, we had to head out again for a classical music concert at the Universidad de Chile, which I really enjoyed despite the fact that they ended the concert with a Romantic era piece. (No offense to any Romantic fans, but I just think Baroque and Classical are far more interesting to listen to. I'm sure we can all agree that Contemporary is terrible.) Afterwards, Cecilia left us to find dinner on our own, which we ended up eating at a nice seafood restaurant called Azul Profundo. It was yummy, but I'm not sure the taste to expense ratio merits returning. We'll see. I accompanied Daniel home after dinner, while the rest of my housemates went off searching for a bar or club. But they're back now and apparently they had quite an adventure. More on that later.
Poor delicious fishies.
We discovered a street stand that sells what we affectionately call "meat sticks." They're delicious.
Market workers cutting paper. I think.
This man ate his soup very defensively.
More market workers. The guy in yellow noticed that I was taking the photo a moment before I pressed the shutter. Oops.
Bijan drinking delicious milk tea.-----
As expected, I've experienced several episodes of cultural shock during my first week in Chile. I suppose I'll end this entry with the two most interesting ones.
The first is the cheek kiss. You know, the whole thing where you touch your cheek to someone else's opposite cheek and make a kissing sound. (At least that's how it is with strangers. Apparently close friends and family members actually kiss the cheeks. *Shudder.*) I've seen it in movies that are set in Europe or South America, but I naively thought that nobody actually does it in real life. Well they do, and it freaked me out the first time it happened to me. Hopefully it'll become more second-nature as I adjust to life here.
The second is actually the opposite of cultural shock, in a way. The mall next to our house, Alto Las Condes, is such a perfect clone of American supermalls that I'm always a little disoriented when we visit. The brands, store names, and even some of the discount signs are in English, and the food court looks like it could have been lifted straight out of my mall back home (except that it has a movie screen and a couple Chilean restaurants as well). I understand other countries trying to replicate the success of American capitalism, but this is just taking it too far. I suppose that all I can do is to make sure that I experience true Chilean culture rather than languish in my comfort zone of familiarity through Alto Las Condes and the internet.
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Bedtime. Good night.
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I love your pictures and the captions!! Enjoy your time in Santiago. I really want to visit Chile - my favorite author is Isabel Allende, who is the niece of Salvador Allende...
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