Sanatiago de Chile

Elena and Daniel, our Homestay parents,

with Marco, a student who has now left for vacations.

Crossing the Ándes, the view out the right side of the plane.

Note how close we were to that peak.

If only I had gotten my camera out of my backpack more quickly!

Crossing the Andes, the view out my window.

My first week in Santiago!

First, let me write of the flight from Buenos Aires. In my program, I made arrangements for my flight to and from South America. But upon arrival the school handles all of the transfers -- that is, they arrange car service from the airport, they arrange transportation to activities, and when you enroll in a multi-country program, as I have, they arrange the flights from one country to the next. Mind you, the students pay for the service, but the school makes the arrangements. Plus, you enter at your starting point and exit the continent from you ending point. Thus, I paid to fly to Buenos Aires and from Quito, Ecuador. The rest is up to them!

My transfer from Buenos Aires to Santiago de Chilé was via GOL airlines. I knew nothing of this airline before my trip, and know little more about it now! But I think it is a Brasilian airline, because every announcement was made first in Portugues, then in Spanish, and finally in English (OR in English second and Spanish last!). Por eso, I deduce that it is a Brasilian airline.

During the flight, as we passed through the mountains to achieve Santiago, we literally passed THROUGH the mountains. From my side of the plane (port, or left), one could see the mountains spread-out below us. But from the other side were the higher peaks, and they were practically BESIDE us. Amazing -- and more than a bit disconserting, I must admit.

Our plane arrived on time in Santiago, and I managed to navigate immigration and customs without problems. Citizens of the U.S.A. have to pay U$S 100 to enter Chile -- in cash, in U.S. currency. But my handy Lonely Planet guide to Chilé alerted me to be prepared with the needed cash. Then via shuttle bus to the house where I am staying. I gave the driver the address. Mind you, all I knew at this point was the barrio (neighborhood) of the house -- the same as the school, Providencia. The driver, upon reading the name on the paper (as you might surmise, "Gutenberg" isn´t a common Spanish name!) he asked me what the street is near. I replied "¡Tengo NO idea!" (I have NO idea!), and everybody on the van, including the driver, laughed out loud. I didn´t explain that I am a foreigner. I think it was pretty obvious at that point!

Thanks to somebody on the other end of his radio, the driver figured out how to get to the house. As he parked the van and told me that we had achieved my address, told him, "Tienes idea ahora, ¿no?" Again, a chuckle. I mention this because it is REALLY difficult to be funny in a foreign language when your sense of humor depends mostly on word-play. Heather B., ¡Tienes razón! Y me conoces muy bien, tambien. (That is, Heather B., you are right! And you know me very well, too.)

Life in this house is exceedingly different from life in Buenos Aires. There, it was just the two of us -- Liliana and me. Here... well, it´s hard to say how many people are here! Folks come and go a lot, and I don´t quite have it all figured out. I believe the residents of the house are the two parents, Daniel and Elena and their son, Bruno. They have another son, Francisco, who is in Europe studying English at present. Also here is Elena´s mother, simply referred to as Abuela (Grandmother). There was Marco, a student in my school (pictured above), but he left on Monday having completed many months of study here. Still enrolled in the school is René, from Switzerland, who is a brand-spanking new Spanish speaker who is in his second of two weeks of study. Then there are friends and neighbors who drop by on occasion, joining us for meals, etc., along with the housekeeper, Señora Lucy, who is here mornings and afternoons. No doubt, in a few days, I´ll have it all sorted out. But let me be clear: I´m enjoying this family VERY much, and am glad to be included in their family. In truth, they remind me a lot of the Ingrahams -- big personalities, great senses of humor, quick minds, all based in deep love and care. A great place to be!

I´m going to draw this post to a close and start on mí tarea (homework).

Oh -- today, I started private lessons in the afternoon. In Buenos Aires one pays for private lessons because there are so many students. Here, one can take up to three hours of private lessons in addition to the 20 hours of class at no extra cost. I´m certainly taking advantage of that! My tutor is Filipe, and today we covered irregular verbs, the different ways to say "stand" in Spanish (it can be quite complicated!), and the premise of Grace sin trabajo (that is, salvation without the requirements of good works). My Cathólico professor, after hearing my explanation of Martin Luther (Luter) and sola scriptura, sola fide, said "Humm. How very different!" Ever the Liberal evangelist...

Also, my class in the morning has a Roman Catholic theologian (retired) who formerly taught at a Catholic university in Austin, Texas. Today, we were to bring articles from the newspaper for discussion. I brought an article on "The Morning After Pill" -- RU486, the drug that prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg in the womb if taken within a couple of days of unprotected sex. Needless to day, it provoked a HEATED discussion in the class (I, the sole protestant, sole Pro-Choice person in the room, was rather alone on one side of the argument... uh, discussion). Needless to say, we all learned a lot of new words -- even our professor!

It is time to get to that homework...

Much love to all of you, dear friends. Know that I appreciate the comments you post to my blog, and also the e-mails you send to my e-mail address. You are very near and dear to my heart, even (especially) at this great distance.

Yours most sincerely,

-- Bill