My First Week in Concepcion by Mae Condalary

Traveling to Chile was awful - if you don't count the people I traveled with and the people I met during my travels.  I scheduled my flight to Chile with Valerie Thornton, another student on the trip and a longtime friend.  We met up with another student from the program, Morgan, in the Miami airport.  However, while the three of us were waiting to board the flight (at 10:55 P.M., no less), the airline announced that the plane to Chile had a mechanical error, leading to overnight stays and stressful times for all.

Throughout the entire experience, several Chileans helped me and my companions, even when they knew no English, like the two women who made sure we had tickets for the shuttle back to the hotel the next morning.  We also received help from the man at the Santiago airport who got hotel vouchers for Valerie and me, despite difficulties with our airline contracts.  After two nights in two different hotels, I arrived in Chile strangely well-rested and excited to meet my family:

My family, from left: Connie, Ms. Betty, me, and Fran

I knew from the start that I would fit right in, even though I'm obviously not a family member, haha.  We had a wonderful lunch of Chilean salmon - the best salmon I've ever eaten - with repollo (cabbage), palmitos (hearts of palm), corn, quinoa, cameron con crema (shrimp in cream sauce), lechuga (lettuce), and Chilean wine.  We went to Jumbo, where I quickly became acquainted with Chileans' love of everything gluten.  The beautiful desserts and the artesian breads made me want to eat wheat again, even though I've been avoiding it with little difficulty for over a year.  My family had already bought me several gluten-free foods to help with my bread cravings, thank goodness.  We had a great evening driving around Concepcion and taking in the sights.

They even entrusted me to hold a lobster at Jumbo.

It's too pretty to eat.  Really.

I got to take a tour of the school the next day, including the head of the English department at Colegio Concepcion, Francisco Olave.  He coordinated all of the schedules for us and is excellent at English.  For the past week, he's helped me to learn Spanish, which I seem to pick up quickly thanks to my family's patience.  After school, we visited the Laguna Grande behind the building.  The view paired with the black-necked swans were so beautiful!

The Laguna Grande

On Wednesday, Chile celebrated Navy Day, and so we didn't have to go to school.  Instead, I got to help Ms. Betty and Mami (Fran and Connie's grandmother) prepare a traditional Chilean dish, pastel de choclo (fresh corn casserole).  It was delicious and reminded me a bit of cornbread dressing, which I already love, so double winning.

Mmm, fresh corn.  The bottom layer of the casserole included onions,  boiled eggs, and chicken.

We also went to the mall, which is an impressive size, at least twice as large as the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge.  We didn't even get around to the second floor of the mall.  Its biggest department store, Falabella, has three floors and tons of great shopping.  While were were there, Ms. Betty and I read Pablo Neruda, a world-famous Chilean poet, aloud in English and Español in a bookstore.  We also got awesome ice cream!

On Thursday, we went down to Talcahauno to see the port.  The fishy smell is strong, but I grew accustomed to it quickly, and the smell was worth it for the beautiful view of the sea.  I even saw a sea lion up close, and it stared at me while I stared at it.  I bonded with that sea lion, for real.

See?

Me and Connie at the port

On Friday, I got to make my special guacamole recipe for the family, complete with cooked onions, jalapeños, and garlic.  They really enjoyed my cooking, and Ms. Betty and Connie have put the Slap Ya Mama I brought on just about everything since I gave it to them on Sunday.  We also went to see the hills … the view of the mountains and the lagunas were spectacular.  I also got some awesome selfies with Fran.

Her cell phone case is named Pandita, btw.

Today, Saturday, was the most relaxing day of the week.  I went to the Lider Express minimart with Ms. Betty to pick up some ingredients for a lasagna we made with my gluten-free pasta.  Later, Fran taught me how to make homemade sushi.  Ms. Betty has been working on a cowl for me; she knits beautiful scarves and hats, and so I'm excited to see how it'll turn out.

Even though I've missed Louisiana a few times during my adventures this week, I never feel like I'm not at home.  My family is the best: we have great conversations, teach one another Spanish and English, make inside jokes (for instance, when I confused the words piña y tiña, lol), cook together, and generally have a good time.  I couldn't have asked for better!  And not just my family - I feel at home here in Chile.  Even strangers are very warm and patient with my broken Spanish, the teachers I've met are all dedicated to their jobs, and the students are enthusiastic about our study abroad program and great to work with.  I can't wait to see what the next week holds for me.

I leave you with a picture of my group members with our Coastal Roots Project … it is part of the reason we're here, after all.