Weekend
Me at the top of Acensor Polanco, a funicular.
Neighborhood below Acensor Polanco.
My weekend was pretty mellow other than a bizarre Friday night experiencing the Chilean bar scene at the grungy, sketchy "El huevo." Saturday, Christian took me around sightseeing a bit and we went up the Ascensor Polanco as you can see in the pictures. We also went to the ocean and walked along a walkway with views of the ships coming in and out of the port and of course of lots of sea lions...so cute! Saturday night we went to visit some cousins of my host family. I've described this in depth in emails to my parents and Dylan, but anyways it was quite the family gathering! Everyone was shouting and waving their arms around and music was playing and they had this huge dog that was bounding around and the baby was crying. It was overwhelming! Now and then someone would look at me and be quiet, which I knew meant that they had just asked me a question, but I of course had no idea what they 'd said, so I'd just smile and nod. Lol I now understand that listening and communicating with ONE person in another language is quite another thing from listening and communicating in a group of them!
Today we got the list of classes we can take this semester. I'm considering taking some of the following: Chilean Literature, Modern Chilean History, Oceanography, International Relations, Music, Linguistics, Geography....There are lots of classes offered compared to Grinnell, because La católica has 12,000 students and Grinnell 1200! So all the selection is exciting. I think I need to take five classes to fill the requirements.
We had a welcome breakfast this morning for the start of International Students Orientation week. They had a Chilean folkloric music group, and there was a harpist playing! When he was leaving I went up and said I'd enjoyed his playing and asked him some things about the harp professor here. What I've gathered from talking to about 5 people is that there IS a folk harp teacher here, but no one has any idea who it is or how to reach them. This kid was even a harp student, and he wouldn't tell me who the teacher was. But he also had a terrible stutter and I don't speak spanish great, so maybe there was a misunderstanding. Anyways he asked for my phone number and he's supposed to call next week, once classes start, to FINALLY give me some kind of information about the harp program....
posted by Julia | 3:39 PM
5 Comments:
WOW, I'm here before the cat lady! I sure laughed at your description of the family gathering. I didn't realize there is such a difference in the size of the schools. It will be fun to hear just what classes you decide on and if you are actually able to get into them. Good news on the harp scene. Maybe you can join a local band! Love A. Margie
Could you tell by looking at his harp if the distance between strings is comparable? Are they tiny things like that one you rented from Kolacny's that summer? It seems as though it could be REALLY hard to talk to the kid on the phone if and when he calls, given the limitations that exist for the both of you! I hope you have luck. Yksi PS I am NOT a cat lady! I'm a cat! :)
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Lol you guys are having WAY too much fun with this blog thing.... : )
-Neljä
Great photos! I always like some pictures to help visualize what it really looks like out there. It goes well with the text. I especially like the one of you on the funicular! (I had to look that one up I must confess)
love fernman
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