Santigo: Sept. 17th-120th

Monday September 17th:
This day three of the group’s members arrived in the great city of Santiago, Chile. Josh had arrived the morning before and was standing outside of customs with Claudia and Manuel. Claudia is our guide while we are in the Santiago and Manuel is her husband (note the difference between Manuel, Claudia’s husband, and Manwell, the C.O.R.E. mascot). Tommy and Jen arrived in Santiago and prepared to meet the rest of the group with the welcoming committee, but soon learned that only Izzy would be arriving today, Eric D, Eric O, L.B., and Walker’s flight was cancelled so the whole rest of the crew would be arriving, together, the next morning. It was definitely an adventure getting to Santiago. Manwell rode the whole way on Jen’s carry-on bag; it was an adventure for him too. The four musketeers went to Claudia’s house for some breakfast and had many questions answered about Chilean life. It is Chile’s independence week so there were not many cars on the street and not many people out. After breakfast she took them to their hostel, Hostel Oveja Negra (the black sheep), and the four of them took a nice afternoon nap. Around 2:30 she picked them up again and they went to an Independence Day fair at a local park. They really got to experience Chilean culture there. They each got chicken or meat on a stick and sat down to watch a Navy reenactment of a significant battle in Chilean history. After they were finished with the fair they went to a huge grocery store called Jumbo, which is actually a supermarket, construction store, and a mall all in one enormous building. They went out to dinner to a Chilean/Mexican restaurant that was DELICIOUS! One interesting thing that they noticed was that the Chilean people eat really late… they finished dinner around 10:00pm and it was at that time that the restaurant was the busiest! They went back to the hostel and crashed for the night ready to see the rest of the group in the morning.

Tuesday September 18th:
This morning the rest of the group arrived and the team was now complete! Unfortunately, thanks to the Gunnison Airport, Casey and Drew’s bags did not arrive with them, but whose mood could be ruined by such news when you first arrive in a new country! It was also great to see the arrival of their fearless leaders, Mark and Nick. The group seemed a little antsy so they decided to take a walk up the hill right outside their hostel called Santa Lucia. It’s a hill in the middle of the city that contains remnants of a castle. It’s really neat but they have been told not to go there at night, apparently if you do you might come back broke and naked. Around 3:00pm they went to lunch/dinner at an authentic Chilean restaurant. They sat down and immediately received wine, bread, beer, pisco, and empanadas. (Pisco is a very common drink in Chile, Claudia says that if you want to experience some Chilean culture, get a Pisco at every restaurant and taste the differences). When it was time to order they got a choice of salmon, beef, pork, or chicken. When the food came it was exactly that, a hunk of meat or fish on a plate. The restaurant was so confident in the taste of the entrée they did not feel the need to provide side items, but let me tell you it was DELICIOUS!! They went back to the hostel and got ready for their evening out, they were going to a place called La Yein Fonda! (in Spanish a Fonda is a party so this place was like a play on words for Jane Fonda). It was a very interesting place. They paid about $20 USD for a night of some very different music. Four bands played that night and apparently they were some of the top recording artists in Chile! Even though no one understood the songs they danced the night away and got a true taste of Chilean culture.

Wednesday September 19th:
They woke up leisurely in the morning and that afternoon they met up with Claudia, Manuel, and their son Diego. Diego taught them how to use the subway system so they went to check out where their language school was. After strolling through the streets of Santiago and stopping for lunch, they made their way back to the hostel. That night they thought it would be nice to have a good time at the hostel. The family who owns the hostel was there so the group prepared them dinner and played some popular American songs for them. Everyone danced and had a great time, then at the stroke of midnight we celebrated the birthday of Casey Davis! Happy Birthday Casey!

Thursday September 20th:
Today they woke up bright and early and started their day with a visit to the presidential palace. They were able to see the changing of the guards, which I believe was because the president of Chile was coming. They toured the palace and learned a lot of information about the history of Chile and the way their government works. After they were done with the palace they walked around a small museum that had a display of different kinds of handy crafts from the different regions of Chile. Once they were done there they were off to their first day of language school. The group learned some important vocabulary words and phrases that would help them communicate on a very basic level for the time being. After a short snack break, they learned the basics of the country and culture of Chile, such as how the country is divided and some of the unique characteristics of each region. Nick did his best to be our translator for the teachers because they were reluctant to speak any English to the group; immersion is the key to language success! After language school was done the group split up, some went back to the hostel and the others went food shopping. A little while later, the group that went shopping came home only to give us the news that Albee got his pocket picked on the subway. It was a real eye-opener for the rest of the group and everyone has been very conscientious of their belongings since then.