San Pedro de Atacama

Last week from Tuesday to Friday, I went to San Pedro de Atacama with my GW program. San Pedro is in the Atacama Desert in the north of Chile. Our two hour flight would have been about a 20 hour bus drive, so I am VERY glad we flew :). I think pictures speak louder than words so I am going to post many pictures.

view leaving Santiago from the plane

 

the whole group attempting to jump in sync

The first afternoon we hiked all around and climbed a hill to watch the sun set.

we were about to walk down that huge hill...

walking down

made it half way!

and we are at the bottom!

 

The next day we woke up to leave at 5am and go see the geysers. IT WAS FREEZING!!!!!!!

Vicuñas - to read more about the animal click HERE

The last day we went sandboarding! I don't have any action pics yet, but here are some :)

  

The little town we stayed in was really cute! It was small and very touristy, but really cool. 

 

The Atacama Desert is the driest hot desert in the world, and let me tell you that it gets extremely cold at night, especially because it is winter in the southern hemisphere right now! We were very surprised that the last day it actually started raining! It was only a few drops, but because of that I took a picture of the rain on the ground :P 

First Week in Santiago

I don't even know where to begin, but my week has been great and I love Santiago so far!
Tuesday morning after some orientation sessions we went to see a campus of one of the universities we will be taking classes at. Little did I know I would live right across from this campus, and unfortunately I will not be taking any classes there :(. After lunch we went on a bike tour throughout Santiago. It was cool seeing different parts of the city all in a few hours. I wouldn't have thought to do a bike tour, but after this I am definitely open to doing another one in a different city because I really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it.

in the central market - stop on our bike tour

bike tour

a church in La Plaza de Armas - stop on our bike tour

On Wednesday morning we went to visit a few campuses from the universities we can take classes at. After lunch we learned a lot about the classes we can take and the different education system. We also learned a lot about Chilean culture and some phrases that they use which are particular to Chile.

One campus of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

One campus at La Universidad de Chile

Thursday morning we focused on host families and our living situations in the orientation sessions. We took a break and visited one more campus, which is where we will be taking most of our classes. We then ate lunch and had one final session before our host families came to pick us up. My host mom came with my friend Emily's host mom together to pick us up and we dropped them off before going to my house.

I live on the 9th floor of a very nice apartment building. There is a pool outside, a gym downstairs, and there are dryers! I have my own room with a closet, drawers, desk, nightstand, and bed. My bed seemed larger than a twin sized bed and so I asked my host sister and we concluded it was a 1.5 sized bed, as in like a twin and a half. It is perfect because I have a lot of space but it isn't too big. Across from my room is a bathroom and I am the only one that uses it. I am very comfortable here. My host family consists of my host mom, Claudia, and my 22 year old host sister, Javi (short for Javiera). They have hosted about 12 students before me, so they are very comfortable with hosting. I didn't realize they had hosted that many students, but I think it is great because I have a lot of independence. Meals are a little interesting. Breakfast consists of something like toast with jam or peanut butter if you are me haha. Lunch is the big meal and would be similar to the size of an American dinner. Dinner on the other hand is pretty much non existent since they eat something called once. It is pretty much tea/coffee, break, some toppings, and maybe something more if you are really hungry. It is like a really light lunch. I know for a fact that my stomach shrunk since coming here because I haven't been snacking at all, but I have started eating something more for dinner. I will have to prepare it myself which is completely fine because I do that in the US in my dorm already so I am used to it.

Friday I had to be at the GW office really early because we went to the International Police Office to start the finish of the process of getting our student visas. I have to say that the visa process is quite lengthy. While in the US I had to get a lot of paperwork together, including acceptance letters, an FBI background check, and an HIV test. Then I had to send everything to the Chilean consulate, who then scheduled me an appointment to go in with my passport. After paying the $160 reciprocity fee I got the visa put in my passport. However, once arriving in Santiago there are a few more steps to complete before finalizing the process and getting my ID card. I will finish it all within the next 10 days.

In the afternoon we climbed to the top of a hill with stairs in the center of the city, la Cerra Santa Lucia. It was really cool to be able to look out and see the city, but it was unfortunate that it was foggy. I guess I will have to go back sometime soon! After, I went home and relaxed. I ended up going to bed early because I was so tired. It was an exhausting week.

Saturday during the day I met up with some of the girls in my program and we went to a mall to go shopping for the essentials - of course we all came out with more than just the essentials. Besides buying some hangars and cosmetics, I bought a hat, a couple tshirts, and a mint green sweater, and I must say that they were all on sale - score! We all went home to supposedly nap and then go out to celebrate a birthday, but it was so cold and started raining so many of us, including myself, stayed in. I got to rest a lot and chat with my host mom. Sunday I did some laundry and was spent hanging around the apartment. My host mom has become very good friends with the other woman she picked me up with, so Emily, her host mom, my host mom, and me went to a mall for a few hours today. It was nice getting out of the house for a bit.

Tomorrow I have an orientation at a university with my GW group. We are going to San Pedro de Atacama, which is the desert in Northern Chile, from Tuesday through Friday. I am excited to see the geysers, go hiking, and go sandboarding. I'm sure I will have lots to tell! I am about to go watch a new show with my host sister, but I will hopefully write more soon.

Arrival!

I arrived yesterday morning super early into Santiago and waited at the airport for a few hours for other students to come. My flights were uneventful and I was actually lucky because on my 11 hour flight from New York to Santiago I was in a window seat with no one next to me so I got to curl up and lie down. It wasn't the most comfortable thing, but I did get about 6-7 hours of sleep which was great.

After checking into the hotel and notifying my parents of my safe arrival the whole group met in the lobby and went to lunch. The restaurant was called Giratorio and it turned! It turned slowly but we got to see different views of the mountains and the city throughout lunch. We started orientation after lunch and ha a few sessions about safety, earthquakes (which are pretty common in Chile), and telephones. I received a basil Samsung phone which will be what I use around the city. Petty theft is common and the fact that smartphones are not super popular makes them desirable to steal. Luckily no one will want to steal my little basic phone.

After relaxing for a little bit 3 other girls and I went to dinner at a nice Chilean dinner at a casual restaurant. The other girls had been in Costa Rica for 5 weeks, an optional program before coming to Chile, so they told me all about their trip and we talked about the upcoming semester. Because I was so tired from traveling I got to bed really early and got a good night sleep. This morning I woke up with a runny nose so hopefully I am not sick. I don't want a cold :(

I am really excited about my upcoming semester. It hasn't really hit me yet, but I think that's because we are staying in a hotel and haven't moved in with our host families. I am excited to meet mine Thursday evening.

I will try and post as much as possible, but it will probably not be more than once a week once I get in the swing of things. For now, I hope all of my relatives can know that I am safe and arrived with all of my luggage and am having a great first few days. Hasta pronto!

Bye bye USA, hello Chile!

I just boarded the plane from JFK to Santiago and I am excited! I am not exactly looking forward to the 11 hour trip, but hopefully I will sleep some. I will update you all on my adventures while studying abroad with GW Chile in Santiago, Chile for the next 5 months. I am ready and excited for my new adventure!!