Hello from my home!

HOLA A TODOS! I have a Chilean mommy now! Well, more like a granny. Her name is Elizabeth, she's retired, and she lives on the 19th floor of an apartment building in downtown Santiago. No hubby, no kids, just another Chilean student. The Chilean student is moving out next month, so I don't know if I'll get to know her very well.

My day: Today granny took me downstairs to where there is a fruit stand and I met a lot of the people in the apartment building. I met the grocer, Martin who is of Mapuche descent, which are the indigenous people of Chile. I also met Pili, a thirty-something with an English spaniel who took a quick liking to me (the dog). She (the person) invited me over sometime! I didn't quite know how to respond, not that I didn't want to but I didn't know if she really really wanted me over. I also need to remember that shaking hands is such an American gesture. I was gonna shake someone's hand but she leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek instead. Think Argentina! Granny took me walking around the neighborhood to the photographer, the key maker, and to the market. I'm not quite sure people are thinking when they see me-- whether they think I'm from China because I'm Asian or whether I'm American because of my clothes. No worries though-- it's a question that sociologists are still trying to answer. : )

Language: For some reason, I can understand most of what my granny says (85%), but with others it's so much harder...like 15%. But at least a lot of people (yes, even Chileans) say that I speak well. I got to speak Chinese when I went to the Chinese-y area of town yesterday! It's good to know that my Mandarin will not rot while I am here. Granny also told me of the Korean area here. Yay my Korean will not deteriorate either! Whew! OK, enough talking, let's go straight to the fotos! (Oh, and I will try to make it a point not to throw in too many random Spanish words because I know some people can't understand and it can make reading it a pain.)

My first foto of Chile after leaving the airport. Looks just like Tucuman, Argentina! Thus, it did not surprise me much.

We ate at a restaurant called The Fat Cows. Fat indeed! These were my UCSD travel buddies, Christy and Grace.

Lookit that fat kabob! It bled. Slowly. I ate it. All.

The view from my $64/night hostel. The buildings are oddly beautiful but oddly disgusting and dirty at the same time. Awww...just like Argentina.

Another view. Hopefully the dirtiness is visible.

I'm ballin' up inhere. Yes, that is a $20,000 bill you see! Puff Daddy, it is not about the Benjamins! It's all about the Chilean pesos! Just kidding. the $20,000 bill=USD $40. It's so hard to convert all the prices. I guess it helps me brush up on my math.

And I just moved in to my homestay. As I said, I live on the 19th floor, so this is the view from my room.

Awww Chilean smog! Just like Tucuman! Black boogers and everything...On a clear day, you can see the snow-capped Andes mountains. Beautiful. Today is not a very clear day.

More view.

View at night.

Quite a drop, if you ask me.

This is my room, before I put everything away. Moon, can you find your "hat" in this picture? Hehehe... Hey! Look! What's that orange framed thing on my nightstand?

None other than sticky pics of GMW on our last day together... Sniff Sniff.