“People are guests in our story, the same way we are guests in theirs. But we all meet each other for a reason because every person is a personal lesson waiting to be told.” -Lauren Klarfeld
I’m taking it easy today, it turns out. We had a late evening last night watching Chile play Peru in the semi finals of the COPA America tournament. This was a classic matchup for sporting and historical reasons, as Juan, the house owner explained to me.
Apparently it’s always a good athletic matchup, but the two countries have encountered each other a few times on the battle field as well. All throughout the day, while walking around the city, vendors were selling Team Chile swag. Later in the day, I finally broke down and bought a toboggan, rationalizing that it was practical, festive and only 1000 pesos ($1.50USD).
Later in the day, I ventured out with Juan to the neighboring city of Vina Del Mar to purchase supplies for the evening’s festivities. I got to see a new a city and Juan got to practice his driving skills. It turns out that he’s only just begun driving. I thought the other day when he drove us to watch the solar eclipse that he was kidding about being a new driver, but he wasn’t. Keep in mind that it’s difficult to drive in parts of Valparaiso due to the extremely steep, tight and curvy roads and all with a manual car. We won’t even talk about “road rules.” After returning from pristine, touristy Vina, we got our meats ready for the grill and carried the large tv to the rooftop. Sporting my new Chile toboggan and Juan’s vuvuzela (loud, obnoxious horn) I was ready for the epic match up. The national anthems were sung and the game began. Time passed, stories were told and ultimately Chile lost as we were still savoring our delicious steaks and baked potatoes. Samson and I then jokingly, but not really, decided to jumped sides to cheer for Peru in the final match later this week against Brazil, as our housemates were shocked and sulking with their team’s loss.
In our house, besides Samson and I, there are 4 local Chilean’s living here and I think a few other people that are less permanent. We have terrific amenities in the house, like a proper kitchen, running water, WiFi and games on the rooftop, but it’s the people who are making all of the difference for me. Becoming friends with the locals helps me feel like I’m part of something. I like connecting with people and sharing stories and learning from them. Since only one of the guys speaks English, it’s also providing a great opportunity for language exchange. We’ve been able to laugh in both languages and enjoy each other’s company many times in just 3 days being together. We watched the eclipse the other day, then went out for dinner/drinks after and last night, we gathered for the soccer game. They are truly good, fun people. My heart is full.
Besides these connections, I found a local guy, Patricio, that just finished studying to be a Spanish teacher for English students. We have already had two productive sessions together where he is teaching me Spanish and also the “Chilean” way of doing/saying things. I’ve learned about the large currency values, how to get around with the various transportation options, how to ask for the 3 main types of breads and places that I should visit for an authentic experience along with many other interesting topics of conversation. Most of the lesson is spoken in Spanish so I feel proud of the studying I’ve done before now because I understand most of what he is saying, albeit the pace is significantly slower than real life. I’m excited to continue studying over the course of the next three weeks here with him and learning about the Chilean culture, from Patricio’s perspective.
At the moment, my head is still spinning from the late night and waking early to work with Patricio. Reggaeton is blaring somewhere in the house and Wimbledon is on in my room with Nadal playing Kyrgios. I am back in bed, snuggled in the layers of blankets, reflecting on my first few enjoyable days in Valparaiso, Chile. Life is pretty good right now.
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