First Week (and some) in Santiago

Events this week:

Spanish Class & Orientation

This week Mon-Thurs we had Spanish class daily and two days of orientations as a group (just ND students). It made for some long days but also gave us our first looks at the university! San Joaquin (one of five campuses, and the one we will take most of our classes at) is it's own block outside of city center, and you hardly notice you're in a city while on campus. The classes have mostly been laid back conversations. In between I've made it my mission to discover where the good coffee is. Evidently at the cost of time to take photos. I will take some for next week (maybe).

Tricao Park

This is where the majority of my photos were taken this week, during a trip planned by the ND program. Tricao is a privately owned park 2-3 hours from Santiago, near the coast. It has a arboretum and an aviary with 50+ species, none native to Chile! I took the full 1.5 hours we had there to walk through. I also tried my first Chilean ceviche for lunch.

Los Dominicos Church, where we met to leave for Tricao Tricao Park Birds at Tricao

San Cristobal

On Saturday, I did the 5.6mi hike up and down San Cristobal, the prominent hill that rises over Santiago. Most of the path is a sidewalk, and on a Sunday the road is full of bikers and runners. With bike businesses and events set up along the way it felt like being part of a local race, even though it was just the Sunday traffic! At the top we got mote con huesillo, a sweet dried-peach summer drink that has wheat at the bottom, and empanadas. Amazing.

Flowers in the Japanese Garden, halfway up the hill

Other Events

• A full country-blackout during Tuesday afternoon/evening taught me that this city's footprint is MASSIVE. It would take me 2 hours to walk my morning commute! Uber is a lifesaver when the metro is down, however.
• I am slowly adopting Rosita's evening tea and 10pm bedtime routine. I like it more than I care to admit.
• Kate and I discovered El Muro, a climbing gym that is only a 10 minute walk from my house. It has tall walls for lead climbing, a bouldering space, and exercise equipment. la raja!