This post is taken from Faith’s personal blog, “Faith in Chile“.
Good afternoon/evening/morning (according to your timezone)!
So the main thing that’s happened since I last wrote is starting uni! Although it’s very sad that I don’t get the usual 4 month summer as I would in England, I don’t mind too much seeing as I only need to take 2 classes. I’m doing one module in German and one in Phonetics (a type of linguistics!). They’ve both been great so far – before coming, I was worried I might forget German by the time I returned, but a combination of the uni classes and having German friends to practice with is helping me a lot! Being the only foreigner in both modules means that the professors like to ask me about what I’ve already learnt and any comparisons between Spanish/German and English. (For example, in terms of phonetics, Spanish only has 5 vowel sounds while we have 20!)
A group has now formed with a combination of (mostly!) Mexicans, Belgians, Germans, 1 Argentinian, 1 French girl and me! It’s been great hanging out with them all and doing touristy things together. Last week, we went to a town called Lota, which is mainly known for its park and the mine inside it that you can take a tour of! By the time we’d gotten there and eaten though, it was already late, so instead we went to a beach called Playa de Colcura where the sun just so happened to be setting. This meant many many photos (one of which is above)…but it was beautiful! On Sunday, we went (not quite as far!) to a waterfall which is among the hills behind the university. You also get a great view of the city from up there, photos to follow on Facebook!
Like the different regions of the UK, each Latin American country has its own accent and its own slang. I’ve really enjoyed being able to learn both Chilean and Mexican phrases! Since I am in fact in Chile and not Mexico, I’m going to teach you some of my favourite Chilean words:
- pololo/polola – boy/girlfriend (it’s just a fun word to say!)
- cachai? – do you understand/do you get it? (for anyone who knows Spanish, they also use the inifinitive ‘cachar’ and its conjugations, but this is the most common!)
- bacán – cool (whenever I hear it, I think of bacon…)
- piscola – pisco + coke (pisco is an alcoholic drink a bit like rum!)
Something I’ve had to get used to is how you greet people – while in England we’d be comfortable with a hand shake, or a hug if it’s someone we know really well, here it’s usual to kiss on the right cheek. (But, I’ve been told, 2 kisses is weird!) I remember the first time I encountered this – it was one of my first days here and I was house-hunting. A guy came and met me by the mall to take me to show me a room. After his face hung awkwardly in the air, stretched towards me, for 5 seconds, I quickly realised what I was meant to be doing. Since then, I’ve gradually become much more accustomed to it and now am starting to think that I might forget this isn’t normal when I return home…
In general news, the final 4 housemates all arrived this week – 3 Chileans and another Belgian girl. I’ve almost completed all the form-filling and applications etc etc that I need to do – it’s been quite complicated but luckily I’ve had people to help me! I just hope I haven’t forgotten anything!
Now, I’m off to eat lunch and am contemplating a siesta afterwards due to my 8.15am start (for which I got up at 7.55 and crossed the road…)
¡Adios! 😀