Story time.

I accidentally took a bus 35 minutes outside Santiago. How did I manage to do that, you ask? Well, it was actually quite easy. I took bus number 201e (“e” for express) instead of bus number 201. Careless mistake. Bus 201e apparently goes straight to the highway and doesn’t stop until it reaches its final destination...in the middle of nowhere! Obviously, I survived to tell the story—without any major physical injuries or emotional breakdowns—so that’s a plus. I opted not to tell my host mom the story; why worry her when I already learned from my experience, right? Instead, I decided to get her opinion of the 201e bus: “I almost got on the 201e bus today,” I said. “Where does it go?” To which she replied: “Oh, no, no, NO. Never get on that bus. That will take you halfway to Argentina.” I took a [fake] mental note of her advice. Ay, ay, ay, so much trouble over a little “e.”

Last Friday our SIT group visited a municipal school in Santiago and had a sort of cultural exchange with the students. In pairs, we ventured to different classrooms and had absolutely no idea what we were supposed to do once we arrived. (That seems to be the SIT trend.) About an hour later Estefania and I had gotten to know our 4th grade class very well—what they like about their school, their favorite subjects and after-school activities, etc. We learned some Spanish jokes, too, none of which I can reproduce. The students kept their end of the deal and asked us question after question, mostly in some form of “What is Pennsylvania like?” or “Which do you like better: Pennsylvania or Chile?” I talked about my small town called Ephrata—the farms, the cows, the Amish, the contrasts to Santiago. Somehow at the end of my explanation I had them thinking that everybody in Pennsylvania uses a horse and buggy for transportation. I’m not sure if that’s what they wanted to hear or if it was just lost in translation; either way, it was really cute.

Below is a video from our visit to the school. As a part of our very warm reception, a few students performed some traditional Chilean dances. It was so beautiful and reminded me so much of the children in Peru.

While University of Richmond is on Spring Break, we're just starting to get into the intense class schedule here in Santiago. Presentations, interviews, articles to read, Spanish to learn... I think I had forgotten what homework was. Wake up, Jenna. Study abroad isn't all travel and relaxation. In fact, from here on, there will be much less free time to just spend with our families or walk the streets of Santiago. It's a fine tradeoff, though, because instead we're investigating some some really profound questions that would challenge us even in English, I think. I will go into greater detail about the class material once I've had time to process another week or two, I promise.

Random facts: 1) At this moment, we are an hour ahead of the East Coast. HOWEVER, we turn our clocks back an hour this Saturday and will then be in the same time zone. 2) It is nearing the end of summer here, but temperatures have been stubborn, and don't seem to want to cool down. Most days have been in the upper 80's, sometimes into the 90's.

Hasta pronto!