Partying in Córdoba

So as most of you know, I'm not that much of a party person, at all, except for when it usually comes to anime, glowsticks, and DDR. That's not the kind of partying they really do here obviously, but I've been slowly trying to get myself these past few weeks to try partying like an Argentine.

So I actually haven't done the previa followed by the boliche thing yet, but I've gotten close enough.

I'm just astounded how normal it is for people to be up so late here in Argentina.

So last night I went with Jennifer Walton to the Paseo De Los Artes in Nueva Córdoba. It was like 9-ish when we arrived, I don't really remember. But It's there regularly on the weekends and I am definitely going back, because there was a lot of beautiful handcrafted items I'd love to buy! There were a lot of hand carved maté gourds and bombillas, and I saw beautiful home-made baby clothes that I was tempted to buy for Anya and her baby, but I've been told that the mail system here in Argentina isn't all that dependable, so I don't think it would have gotten to her on time.

Jen and I found a bar/cafe right by the artesan market and ordered some food. Our waiter was really cute. We kept ordering more and asking him questions just to keep him coming around more often.

The artesan Market closed up around midnight and we just walked around and wandered over to Patio Olmos where we saw a lot of teeny-boppers all dressed up going to a special under-age boliche at Patio Olmos. Jen and I were having fun poking fun at some of their outfits. While some of the young teenage girls were in some cute outfits, there were also some that looked like trash. Let's just say that if I saw my sister Katie wearing some of the outfits these 14-year-olds were wearing, I'd have to punch some sense into her repeatedly.

The stores in Patio Olmos were all closed, but the food court was still open. We walked around inside because it was raining a little. It was surprising to see whole families in there with their little kids, like 2-8 years old, eating dinner after midnight! It's just normal here, for everyone to be up that late, especially on the weekends.

Jennifer and I later got a taxi to a house party some where in my barrio. Apparently Jen's host mother told her about it, but didn't know where it was. Jen's host mother said she was going to go, but when we texted her, she said she wasn't feeling well. So basically Jen and I had an interesting time telling the taxi to take us somewhere that we didn't know and that he had to go on his walkie-talkie to get directions for.

But we did end up finding the house. Basically the party was a house party that someone was hosting that anyone could get inside, but we had to pay 5 pesos to get in. The music inside was okay. It wasn't bad, and you could dance to it, but it wasn't overwhelmingly fantastic. There were drinks in the kitchen, but the cheapest thing was beer at 13 pesos. The beer cups were huge for one person, so Jen and I split a cup. We didn't really talk to anyone, but yet again I was surprised to see kids there. There weren't a lot, but I saw like, two eight year old boys come from downstairs, go to the kitchen, dance a little, and then head back upstairs. No adults were concerned, they danced a little with them, and this was all at around 2am!

Awhile after Jen and I finished off the huge beer, we realized some people had left and that the party wasn't exactly getting anymore exciting. (Not that it was horrible.) I also found it a little nervewracking when I realized we paid money to go inside some stranger's house to drink and dance and then leave not knowing anyone there, let alone whoever lives there!

We left the party at around 3am, which, for me, is a good time to stop and go to bed.

So I may do the boliche thing sometime soon. I'd like to go to one with good music that isn't packed though. So yeah, it was fun partying, but I don't feel the need to do it every weekend.

But anyway, I gotta slow down, because this week is just full of exams, and then we all go to Buenos Aires this weekend!

I'm Fine

So I woke up late this morning. (Actually afternoon. I woke up sometime before 2 but after 1.) I get a light brunch, and then go over to my computer to check my email and facebook page, and find one slight newsbit about an earthquake in Chile. I go over to google news to find out what happened, and see all kinds of articles about the 8.8 earthquake right by Santiago and Concepción, Chile.

Córdoba is not that far away. We didn't get hit per se, bit we were supposed to be able to feel it. I didn't feel a thing though, and my host mother didn't even mention an earthquake when I woke up, (And she pays more attention to the news than I do right now.)

So just so you all know, I'm fine. I didn't feel anything, no shaking, no aftershocks. I was still sleepy when I found out about it over the internet. I was just reading along random things and then I was like "Wait. Earthquake? . . . in Santiago, Chile? . . . yawn Gotta go and google that . . . . Oh crap! This morning? That sucks for them."

So yeah, pray for the victims, and hope that Japan and Hawaii take proper precaution and evacuate everyone on time before the tsunami hits.

Beggars, Buses, and Wal-mart

I'll be going in order of the title, and throwing in random bits as my thoughts interrupt. So obviously there's poverty everywhere you go, but I part of the culture shock for me was the different things people did here. So a few times during my first two weeks here, random people, normally mentally retarded or young children, would walk up to me and hand me cards, say something, walk off and then come back and take the cards out of my hand. I didn't know what the heck was going on the first time it happened. (I think part of the daze I had the first week and half trying to understand every single word I heard.) The second time it happened, it was a boy of about maybe 10 or 11, and when he came to take the cards back, he came from the same direction he approached me. Because of this, I thought that it was ploy to distract people while his sneaky little buddies went and pick-pocketed. I quickly checked my pockets and wallet and everything was still there, but I became a bit more wary after that.

I soon learned that the cards usually say something about there situation and why they need money. When they come to take the cards back, they're usually expecting a donation with it. They're some people that do the same thing where they shove a product like a flashlight or pen in your hand and then come to take it back if you're not buying it. Most of the 'sales-people' will come on the buses. They tell the bus driver what they're doing beforehand, and then they try to get everyone's attention at the front so they can pitch their product, pass whatever it is they're trying to sell, and then make rounds picking it up again. I didn't understand all of this at first, because although I've seen all types of gimmicks all over Europe, I hadn't seen this one before.

I'm not sure what was going on this week, but Taylor and I had lousy luck with getting our bus to go to school on time this week. On monday, our bus, A10, passed us three times without stopping! We didn't know what was going on, but we finally caught an A10 bus at 9:15. We were late to class by 20 minutes, and we had an exam that day too! The next day, the A10 bus passed by us twice. When it came by the second time, it sort of stopped. It only opened the back door to let people off, and Taylor and I saw people shoved against the front door. That's when we realized that the buses probably weren't stopping because they were so full of people, that they couldn't take on any more. When that happened, Taylor and I decided to take one of the D buses to school. They're a little more expensive, but it was the only other bus we knew that went to the University. The next day, we just tried really hard to hail the bus down, and got the second one that came by.

Taylor and I were so confused by this, because before this week, our bus would just stop at our stop without us having to hail it of chase it down. First we thought it was new drivers that didn't know the route, then we wondered if some part of the transportation plan changed and we just didn't know about it. When we figured out it was just too full, we knew it was a bad omen. You see, the school year here doesn't start until March, and they told us that's when the buses get really crowded. The school year doesn't start for two and a half weeks, and our route is already getting super full.

But last night Taylor checked the bus routes online, and he figured out that the A3 bus also goes to the University. We figured it would be a good idea to try it this morning since A3 comes by more often and appears less full. And wouldn't you know it, the A3 bus practically has the identical route as the A10. So now Taylor and I know two back-up routes for when the real school year starts.

The other day, Taylor and I went to Wal-mart here in Córdoba. Taylor wanted to pick up cheap stuff for trekking, since he doesn't know where else to buy camping gear, and I went along just to see what cheap crap I could pick up. Even though things are cheap here in Argentina, it's mostly because of the exchange rate. Whenever I pull out, say, 200 pesos, I think of it as US$200 so I can keep my spending under control. But it's weird, because I had to buy sunscreen the other day and it cost 44 pesos. Now that's cheap considering 44 pesos is like, $15, but I never think of having to pay $44 for a bottle of sunscreen back in the US. That's why I wanted to tag along.

So the Wal-mart here has the same basic layout and appearance of Wal-marts back in America. The signs are all in Spanish (of course) and the prices, well, they're mixed. Because some things, like junkfood, will be priced 1,2,3 pesos like they would be charged 1-2 dollars back home, but most other things are priced according to the exchange rate. (It's still generally cheaper.) In the stores around Córdoba that specialize in selling school supplies and notebooks have notebooks priced around 11-50 pesos each. They were around 3-4 pesos at Wal-mart, so I bought a few since it was a better deal, and I'll need them for school. I also bought the DVD of El Secreto de Sus Ojos which if you don't know, is a recent Argentine movie that is nominated for and Academy Award this year and the Best Foreign Movie category. I actually haven't had a chance to watch the movie yet. I don't know if it'll work in the DVD player when I get home in July, but it runs fine on my macbook. And there are subtitles in English, just in case anyone was wondering.

But yeah, it's mostly the same. There was a McDonald's attached, just like the one in Roanoke, and the shoppers walk around almost just as disinterested in the other people around them as they would back at home. What really threw me off was how they sold cosmetics there, and I've only seen them this way at the Wal-mart here and nowhere else. At home, you can pick up a cheap eyeliner or lipgloss in thin cardboard packaging and just take it off when you get home. What really threw me off here, was that even just tiny chapstick looked like it was taken out of the packaging, and they were all being sold in these thick plastic containers with huge knobs attached to them, that look like those ink tags attached to clothes in Macy's, that need to be taken off by the cashier when you pay for them. And this was just for the cosmetics! It made no sense to me! I wonder if they do that because people steal them often enough, and they're so easy to just stick in you pocket and steal. It kind of curbed me from picking up chapstick. I'll just get some at a regular pharmacy when I need a new one.

Now I'm in the habit of paying for everything in cash here, and just using my card to pull out money at the banelcos (ATM). But Taylor tried to pay with his credit/debit card, and it took forever, because the cashier had to input moneys from his card manually, and then wlak over to some office so someone higher up could look and verify it, and then that person had to call corporate or something to verify that the card was okay to use. I think the fuss is over it being an American issued card. I never had this problem when I traveled in Europe, but I remember in Japan I couldn't use my card in some places because they only accepted Japanese-issued cards. So even though I've been using cash the whole time, I really know to be wary about using my card to pay for things now, just because it was such a hassle and took so long! the whole ordeal with the Taylor's card took over 10 minutes if I remember correctly.

So I got a few odds and ends for even cheaper, but after that I don't feel the need to visit Wal-mart here ever again.

Today we finally met our Speaking Partners! Mine is a short girl named Natalia, who goes by Nati. She's 24 years old and this year is her last year of University. She told me she's studying management. I told her I was studying Spanish and Creative Writing. I have to explain Creative writing to everyone here, because as a major or program, that just doesn't exist here. I told her it's where you study to write well, like poetry, and novels, and fiction, and that I do it because ever since I was little I always wanted to write books. They took all the CC-CS students and the Speaking Partners to meet each other and chat over at one of the small cafe's on campus. There were free bottled sodas and mini sandwiches courtesy of CC-CS. A bunch of us students, including Speaking Partners went to walk around town and hang out. As we were leaving, I noticed a bunch of unclaimed, unopened bottles being left behind, so I grabbed a few and stuffed them into my bag before heading out. (College student habit. Why would I leave good free food behind?)

So that's been my week this week. Next week is our final exams for our class, and for the CELU. Good thing we don't have homework this weekend. I'd like to relax and just use my free time to study and brush up for my exams.

Tecnologia

So there's actually been a few things going on. It's been kind of a busy week. We've been to a lot of Estancias Jesuiticas. We went to the Manzana Jesuitica here in Córdoba last tuesday before our afternoon classes. They were the ones that founded UNC here. The church inside was absolutely gorgeous! We also went inside one room in the old monastery that was part of the original university, and the tour guide told us that it was where all the students took their exams, and that the exams took about 8 hours straight, and were entirely in Latin.

On friday we all went on an excursion to Estancias Jesuiticas outside of Córdoba. The estancias are farms or ranches settled by the Jesuits. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the rooms at either of the estancias. First we stopped at the Estancia Corroya, which also functioned as a small boarding school if I remember correctly. It was so hot and humid there! More than in the city! And it rained during various periods throughout the day, and it would only make it more humid! But anyway, there were some really cool swords on display at the Estancia Corroya, and in one corner of the courtyard were these really weird statues, that looked like naked melting people. It was obviously modern art, and I have no idea why they were there.

The second one we went to was the Estancia Jesús María. I found this one a little more interesting, because it was et up more like a museum and they had a wider variety of things to look at. They had an exhibition about the aborigines here in Argentina, and how some of their stuff mixed with Christian ideology when the missionaries arrived.

They also had a lot of really cool artwork upstairs. It was all present-day art, some from foreign artists. I don't know why it was there, but they were pretty. We also saw some old school toilets, and there was a room that displayed old coins from around the world, including the United States. There was also a room full of all different types of porcelain dishes. The only place you could inside the actual church from the balcony in the back and look from there. The church was beautiful and huge, and really blue. The walls were also really bare. Our tour guide explained that there used to paintings all around the church, but they got stolen.

After visiting the two estancias, we went to lunch at about 2pm. We had lots of different types of carne asada. I ended up sitting by some girls from the other study abroad group. There was one girl from Germany, one from Brazil, Austria, and Switzerland. I don't remember any of their names, sadly. But I remember the German girl pointing out that it was interesting how we were all able to talk to each other with a common language, but it wasn't any of our native tongues.

The way lunch was set up, we didn't have our own personal plates. We had these ceramic discs placed throughout the table, and the waiters would come by every couple of minutes placing different foods on them, and you just ate off of the plate with the person/s you shared it with. One of the things they served was blood sausage. It didn't actually taste bad, but after four bites I just couldn't eat it anymore. It was the mushiest out of all the different meats and sausages they brought out. they also served salad on the side, and served papas fritas with scrambled eggs on top. It was really greasy, but it tasted so good! I took a few pictures of the food and serving dishes at the restaurant.

Speaking of pictures, and cameras . . . Mimi drove me nuts the other day. It wasn't something horrible, but she had this video on her camera that she wanted to upload onto her facebook. It was hard to tell her directions, because I don't really know computer terms in Spanish. It should have been a simple enough process, but what I could have easily told my own mother was difficult to explain to Mimi. We got the video file uploaded to her computer just fine, but then we had to figure out where on facebook you could upload the video. When I finally figured it out and had it start uploading, the internet connection was slow, and the upload bar said it would take three hours. I tried telling Mimi that it was uploading, but she could do other things on the internet and computer while it was doing that. She then proceeded to close the window, which stopped the upload, and then went straight to her profile expecting the video to be there, and then asked me why I didn't do it right. We repeated this cycle for over an hour and I just wanted to punch the computer. I kept telling her repeatedly that it was working, but that it was going to take awhile so she should just leave it alone. She asked me why I didn't know what to do, and I just told her that even in English I just don't understand technology all the time. It finally ended when she told me that I should get taylor to do it tomorrow. She ended up getting on her facebook by herself the next day when the internet connection wasn't so slow. I just never want to have to go through that again.

OMG! It's a Vlog!

Just as the title says, I made a little vlog! I tried uploading it directly up to here, but the file was too large, so I uploaded it onto Youtube instead, and decided to post the link here.

El Fin de Semana

So I probably should have updated this blog a few days ago. God knows I actually had the time this weekend. I just didn't realiz how much time had passed since the last update.
Well, I'm in the intermediate class, and let me say, for an intensive period, this class isn't all that intense. The hardest assignment we had was to prepare a 10 minute presentation about an Argentine Province, which we had to present today. I had La Rioja, and basically, there isn't much there, and it's not that heavily populated, but it has El Nacional Parque Talampaya, which is a bunch of giant red sand canyons left behind by the River Talampaya. Kind of like the Argentine version of the Grand Canyon.
And I have fast learned that the typical University school week here in Argentina is four days long, versus the five in the United States. And I need to learn how to better spend my time here in Córdoba and keep myself busy. There were a lot of students that went different places, like boliches y bares. Even Taylor went to a bar. He went with some other guy, and didn't invite me along. I think he needed some Guy Time because so far we've been going EVERYWHERE together. But still . . .
Basically all I did this weekend was stay at home. I did my homework, read some of El Principito and watched what I could of the Olympic games on TV.
There was bad thunderstorm on Saturday, and it cut out our electricity for over 8 hours! The storm started around 3:30, our power got cut around 4, and didn't come back until 12:30 am!
Also, last week, Mimi bought an illegal DVD of Avatar. I thought it was funny. The cover slip is totally printed computer paper, and the DVD inside is obviously one of the burnable ones. Whoever pirated it didn't even bother to make it look all that professional, the actual DVD just had AVATAR written on it sloppily with a sharpie. I tried watching it on my computer, and compared to REAL DVD's the image quality was pretty poor. But the funniest part is, the DVD was set up to have both English and Spanish audio and subtitles, but whenever someone started speaking in the Na'Vi language, the subtitles were in German!
I was going to do a video review of the disc to post on here, but Mimi's son Pablo took it home with him yesterday to Buenos Aires.
Anyway, while I was watching the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics on TV, I started getting homesick. That's actually kinda hard for me to admit, because I've been to so many places around the world, that I like to think myself being above homesickness. What got to me was all the "Canadian-ness" and all the Pacific Northwest references. I was watching it thinking, "That's home. That's where I live."
Today was much better though. After class, a big group of us went to a Grido Helado en La Plaza España. (Grido Helado is a chain ice cream store here in Argentina.) Somewhere in that trip, Taylor and I split up. I stayed with some girls to eat my ice cream, and one girl talked about possible going to visit Mendoza one of these weekends, via omnibus. She said she'd check all the prices first, and then get back to us. The plan is, if we can pull it off, is to leave by bus the Thursday night before, and spend time in Mendoza doing a lot of wine-tasting! (Because that's what Mendoza is famous for.) And then come back Saturday Night, or early Sunday morning. If I can do this, why would I pass it up while I'm living here?
Tomorrow, instead of meeting class at UNC, we're all meeting at La Manzana Jesuítica at 9:45am tomorrow. We're touring through the place as a group, and then walking back to UNC for a quick afternoon class session afterward.
The only thing that irked me about today, was that it rained this morning. It wasn't the rain itself though. The rain this morning wasn't as bad as it was during the weekend, it was kind of like Seattle rain. But in Argentina, when it rains, the taxi's and Buses don't function as often. Normally Taylor and I can catch the A10 bus around 8:40 am, and it's usually never later than 8:50, and we usually reach school by 9:15. But because it was raining, the bus didn't show up until 9:00 and arrived at school around 9:35. Taylor and I were able to make it inside before classes started though. And the excuse for the buses being late here, is that it's raining, and that's a good enough excuse for them. Now I understand, if it was raining like on Saturday, because in some places, the water got waist-deep! But as a Seattle-ite, I find that unexcusable! Now I know it's part of the culture shock for me, but I just shake my head. It's like the Argentines are just like my friends at Hollins that refuse to drive in a drizzle because the "roads are dangerous." I'm sorry, but that's close to the only condition we have at home to drive in, and knowing how to drive in the rain is an important life skill!
Well, that's all for this rant. I'll try to be more regular updating my blog in the future!

Placement test and money

So today was the day of the placement test, and it finished earlier than I expected. Mimi showed Taylor and I where to catch the A10 bus (which does work on Mondays ;) and rode with us most of the way. She had to get off before us, because she had a doctor's appointment.

Taylor and I were the first ones to arrive. They gathered all the PECLA students into the same room. There were the CC-CS students, and some from Brazil and a girl from Germany. After explaining the test, they had all the Brazilian students take the test in another room. (Their program lasts for only one month.) There were some parts where I'm sure I did just fine, but I'm pretty sure I completely bombed some other parts. Not that I didn't understand the test, but it made me realize that I really need to expand my vocabulary, and work on other tenses.

After the written part, Taylor and I walked around the UNC campus once so we could start familiarizing ourselves with all the different buildings.

I was so nervous for the test, and I stressed over the written part. But I ended up taking my oral exam early. I kept stressing about it, but it actually wasn't so bad. They asked basic questions about my life to test my oral skills. I ended up telling them how my dad was in the military, and that I was born in Japan, and had lived in Italy. One question I get asked a lot, and they asked me en la entrevista is the origin of mi apellido. I know "Hudak" isn't a very common American sounding name, but it amuses me how often the question pops up. And sometimes when I give the answer, people ask me if I have a dual citizenship with Slovakia.
But I'm pretty sure I did much better on the oral test than I did on the written test.

After our entrevistas, Taylor and I walked with another girl from CC-CS who lives near El Centro and we went to different shops to buy transformers, converters, phone cards and notebooks. I didn't buy anything myself because I didn't have any cash yet. We stopped at a bank so i could exchange my traveler's checks, but when I got to the cashier, I found out that most banks in Argentina don't buy American Traveler's checks. But the man at the cashier's desk was very nice, and when he realized that I was an extranjera he spoke slowly, and wrote down the address of a place that does buy traveler's checks.

After we said Good-bye to our classmate, Taylor and I went searching for Barujel where the man said I could exchange my traveler's checks. We eventually found it, and I was able to exchange my traveler's checks. It was a bit of a pain in the butt, but it was worth it. Taylor and I went straight home on the bus afterwards, and we were successfully able to find out way home! I'm pretty sure we'll be experts by the end of the six months.

When we got home, there were men working on the lights and electricity in Mimi's kitchen. We had some maté with Mimi, and then we each went to our rooms to rest for a bit. I wanted to go online when I got to my room,but my internet connection kept going in and out. I then noticed that my connection timed out when my ceiling fan turned off, because of the electricians working. I decided to just give up and go online when they left. I meant to take just a short nap, but because I walked so much today, I was out like a light! I fell asleep around 4:15 and woke up around 6:30, just in time to catch Mimi making empanadas.

It was my first time eating empanadas, and they were delicious! We also had wine for dinner in celebration because today was Taylor's 21st birthday! ¡Feliz Cumpleaños!

After dinner, Mimi said she was tired (we all were) and said that we were to get to school by ourselves tomorrow (which I think we can manage by now ;)

Tomorrow we find out if we placed into the advanced or intermediated Spanish class. It's not a total loss if I place into the intermediate class. Both classes are somehow supposed to bring us all to the same level of Spanish by the end of the month. Wish me luck!

Ay! Dios Mio!

I really hope I catch up on my Spanish soon!
Orientation was fine. They explained to us how the health insurance card OSDE worked. And then we all had lunch in a restaurant called Rancho Viejo. All of us CC-CS students tried to talk to each other in Spanish, and I think we're all close to the same level. But then, is we mess up, we all know what the other person is trying to say.
Then we had a quick tour of Córdoba in a tourbus. When the day was over, everyone's host parents came to pick them up, but Taylor and I were supposed to go home by ourselves by bus. Mimi told us to take the A10 bus home, but Taylor and I waited for well over an hour, and that bus never came! We eventually gave up and hailed a tax cab home. When we got back, we learned from Mimi that the A10 bus doesn't function on weekends. But we survived.
Mimi had made us cornbread when we returned. Apparently one of her former exchange students taught her how to make it.

Today, Mimi's son Juan Pablo, and his wife, Soledad, came over for dinner. They come over every Sunday, will be back next week. Soledad speaks a little English, and she tried to help Taylor and I communicate with everyone else when we didn't understand what was being said in Spanish. It was a little embarrassing when Soledad gave me a little lecture on how I should try to use full sentences and not just nod and say sí all the time. She then proceeded to tell us about Naty, who just said "yep" all the time, and then about an exchange student from Japan, who stayed with Mimi for only 10 days. He didn't know a word of Spanish when he came, and then spoke Spanish by the end of the week.

One thing I noticed here is that a lot of people think I am timidobecause I don't speak often. I'm asked why I'm so timid and don't talk a lot. I try to explain it's because I'm so busy trying to listen and understand, and that I don't hold long conversations in English in the first place, but I don't know if I got that point across. I'm hoping I'll be more confident by the end of the week.

Tomorrow we have our placement test to see whether we belong in the advanced or intermediate Spanish class for the intensive month. I hope all goes well. And that Taylor and I can figure out the buses tomorrow!

Traveling Down . . .

6:30 Feb. 4, 2010
Atlanta airport

I’m typing this up in Word to be copied and pasted into my blog later when I have free internet access. I mean seriously Atlanta, you’re a huge airport, and Roanoke is freaking tiny. Roanoke has free wi-fi. I mean it’s the least you could do!
It’s about two hours until my flight to Santiago, Chile, and my anxiousness is like a roller coaster. The thing I’m most nervous about is switching airlines when I get to Santiago, and making it to Córdoba. I know I have to re-check in, but I don’t know if they’ll transfer the bags on the flight for me, or if I have to pick them up and re-check them as well. I’m really hoping that it doesn’t require me to go through customs and then back through, because that would be a HUGE pain in the ass. I hope it’s easy, I really hope it is.
I get worried about finding help if I need it when I land in Santiago, and if my Spanish will be good enough to seek the help I need. But then I can calm myself down a little bit when I remind myself that the airport in Santiago is an international airport, so there has to be someone there who speaks English if I get in hysterics and need help.
There’s a few people at the gate for the flight to Santiago, and most of them are speaking Spanish. I assume most of them are Chilean, since well, we’re going to Chile. I’m trying to eavesdrop on a few of their conversations just to see if I can catch everything they say and understand them. I figure it’ll help prepare me for the onslaught of complete and total Spanish that’ll drown my ears when I arrive.
They’re also two other exchange students here. There’s a blond girl who’s staying in Chile. There’s also a guy from England who’s final destination is Santiago as well.
I’m starting to wish that I had talked to Jennifer Walton more and planned my flights so that I would be flying with her, then I wouldn’t be so alone in all of this. It’s too bad I already mailed my cell-phone back home, otherwise I would be making calls home to help me figure this out.
I have no doubt that I’ll make it to Córdoba safely, but the logistics of this whole trip is making me nervous. If my boarding passes had ALL just printed out yesterday, I wouldn’t feel so on edge.
But I remind myself that at this time tomorrow, this will all be over, and I will be settling myself in my bed in Mimi’s house!


Feb. 5, 2010
Santiago Airport, Chile
9:55 am

Everything turned out fine. They transferred my bags and I didn’t have to pick them up and re-check them. Although I wasn’t expecting the $161 reciprocity fee just for entering Chile, even though I am only here for a layover.
I also had a bit of a hassle getting my boarding pass, since I didn’t have it already. The automated check-in counters wouldn’t let me check in (just like what happened in Roanoke.) but the people at ticketing were able to pull up my reservation with my passport number. (And the guy at the ticketing counter was really cute!)
I’m making my connection on time, and I can’t wait to meet Mimi! P.S. Santiago wi-fi isn’t free either.

Feb. 6th
I landed in Córdoba just fine, and Mimi was right there to meet me and Taylor. We each have our own bedrooms with our own bathrooms attached. Mimi just gave me a converter so I can charge my computer, but so far it’s only working when my computer is off. Also, while unpacking, I discovered that I forgot to bring along the cord for my camera, so I can’t upload photos. (Not until I can get another cord anyway.) I would write more about my first full day, but I’m so tired.

Ticketing . . .

I'm still in Roanoke, just sitting, waiting for my plane, should be boarding in 20 minutes or so . . .
Anyway, it was a hassle checking in, because the automated check-in kiosks wouldn't recognize my confirmation or e-ticket number, so I fought with the machines for 10 minutes before getting someone to help me.

The woman working at the computer was actually helpful, but I still find it weird that it took so long to find my reservations. It went along faster when I finally just handed over my passport, and we went along with that.

I have my boarding passes to get to Atlanta, and then Santiago, Chile, but when I land in Chile I have to run to a LAN airways desk and re-check in. Good thing I have a 3-hour layover in Chile, because I'm going to need it!

There is a possibility I can get my boarding pass for the Santiago to Cordoba leg of the trip in Atlanta. I'm gonna try, but we'll see how well that actually works. I think I have a four hour layover in Atlanta to get this taken care of anyway.

I just really hope the rest of this goes smoothly. I don't want to get lost until I get where I'm supposed to be.

I am going to miss everyone at Hollins for this semester. Thank you Katie Teller for the celebratory cupcakes last night, and to Jen and Lauren for the car-rave on the ride over to the airport.

I wish all my Hollins ladies a fun semester. And pray that I'll get to Cordoba all right!

Leaving

So I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'm really excited!
The only problem I'm having is, is that since I packed my printer, I have to use a campus computer to check my flight in. So I've been running around campus looking for a computer hooked up to a printer that will work and let me check in.
However, after trying four computers, I still can't check-in because delta doesn't like doing online check-ins if there is a different carrier for any leg of the flight.

I wish it would let me check-in online so i could pay for my two suitcases ahead of time. (It's cheaper when you pay online then when you pay at the desk.)
But at least I have my confirmation number.
It's just that now I have to pay extra money for my bags when I check-in tomorrow.

Right now I'm doing laundry and re-packing my suitcases so that things fit better.

I hope my flights go smoothly tomorrow, and that I don't have too many problems with customs when the time comes.And that I don't get lost and confused with the sudden onset of having everything in spanish at once.