Alongside Professor Galarce and her sister, Natasha, we had a wonderful tour guide named Sam who led us through the streets of Santiago. We saw Chile's largest cathedral, toured a peace memorial for its citizens kidnapped during Pinochet's military dictatorship, found a Chilean Starbucks (!!!), and adventured through several marketplaces.
Everyone is thoroughly exhausted from the traveling, but we are so excited to become better acquainted with Chile. I have to say that in my eight years of studying, my Spanish language skills have never been so challenged; every conversation, every purchase, and every sign I saw today was a chance to learn something new. I see now why my professors insist that Spanish majors spend some time abroad.
In just a few minutes, we'll be embarking on a 10-hour bus ride to meet our host families in Valdivia. :) ¡Hasta mañana!
¡Bienvenidos a Chile!
We stand on a ridge overlooking Santiago
Que interesante! After all the films we watched and history we learned about in class, I bet it was amazing to see Santiago in real life. I'm so totally jealous. Someday I really will go there, I want to so badly - stupid freaking invisible disabilities. Anyways. I'm so excited that you're having this experience, and that you're blogging about it so I can live vicariously through you. ;) Have fun girl!
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