Chilean Sea Blog: It is really beautiful here! Come visit me!

Hi everybody and happy Superbowl Sunday!

I know it has been a little while since I have written, but I am attempting to make these posts a little bit shorter so here are a couple highlights from the past week. Last week USAC took us on a trip to the Andean Museum about 45 minutes outside of Santiago. The Andean Museum is made up of one man’s personal collection of artifacts from the indigenous people who used to live here. There were so many beautiful pieces of patterned pottery, ornate hats, and gold ornaments. The most impressive part of the museum is that it is also located in a functioning vineyard and winery. The vineyard looked like a movie set behind the museum! Next door to the museum there is a beautiful building with a Spanish rooftop where they sold the wine and one of the most picturesque gardens I have ever seen in my life. It seems like the most perfect wedding location if anyone is interested in a destination wedding in Chile! Please invite me!

Later that day some friends of mine and I continued the theme of indigenous culture by attending a festival celebrating native culture. The festival was on top of a mountain where you could see a large portion of the city. It is always my favorite to see the city as the sun is setting and then when the stars come out. The moon was huge and I was feeling incredibly lucky as I looked out into Santiago, the place where I live right now (in case you forgot)! There was traditional music accompanied by these dances that we attempted to mimic but probably looked foolish. I ate the most ENORMOUS corn on the cob, bought these really cool earrings in the crafts section of the festival, and drank a terremoto.

I will pause here to explain terremotos. A terremoto is basically the second national drink of this country, and directly translated it means earthquake. I forget if I discussed them already, but if I did I think they deserve another mention. A terremoto is a drink that consists of white wine, pisco, grenadine, and pineapple ice cream on top. You must exercise caution when drinking a terremoto. It is better to share one with a friend, because they are so sweet and delicious that you may forget that they are even alcoholic. Do not forget! They are!

The last thing I want to talk about is how my Spanish is coming. I am starting to hang out more with Chileans, going to parties with them, and meeting up with them during the week. It is definitely helping my Spanish and I feel like it has already improved drastically from when I arrived. Last night I had someone tell me that my Spanish seemed very “fluid”, but maybe he said “fluent”? Either way I am taking that as a compliment and trying to speak Spanish as much as I can! I am trying to figure out how I will keep up my Spanish when I come home, so if anyone wants to volunteer to be my speaking partner when I come home I would greatly appreciate it! I’ll make terremotos!

Ciao and GO GIANTS!!!!