Student Blogs/Sierra in Chile
"All this information is great, but what is exchange ACTUALLY like", you say. Well, I am going to walk you through a typical day in Viña Ciudad Bella. This is how most of my wednesdays are here in Chile.
*Note: this will vary with your class schedule. I have classes at 8:30 in the morning two days a week but it's not mandatory.
7:15am - Wake up. Press snooze.
7:20- Wake up again, press snooze but actually try and stay awake. Remember that it was the Chile vs. Brazil game last night and that bottle of Concha y Toro vino blanco is glueing your head to your pillow.
7:25 - Alarm goes off again, finally crawl out of bed even though the thought of not going to class ran through your mind, but you missed last weeks class because you were travelling so you have to go.
7:45- Walk to the school bus that stops 5 blocks away.
8:00- Bus leaves for school.
8:15- Bus arrives at school, go up to sit in the place that everyone in your class hangs out for the 15 minutes before class starts.
8:30- Class starts. Try and stay awake. Your brain flips over to Spanish mode and you try and contribute what you know to the class.
9:40- Get out of class, head outside to the patio and meet up with your friends.
10:00- Head inside the library to attempt to do some work. Get distracted and end up checking Facebook for messages from your friends at home and in Chile.
11:30- Next class starts. It's called Pre-Columbian cultures taught by Manuel Casanuevas. This is your favourite class and the teacher is awesome so you always look forward to it. Even though it is a history class, you are so interested in the material and there is never a dull moment in class. You get to learn about the gory and crazy rituals and beliefs by the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, and even got to learn a few words of Mapungdun, the language of the largest indigenous group in Chile, the Mapuche.
12:40- Come out of class happy and smiling. From here either head home or hang out with some friends who went to the cafeteria to eat lunch.
1:00- Catch the bus home. Its stops 15 blocks away so you can either walk or take a bus from where it lets you off. You can also hitchhike ("hacer dedo") with some students from school that will drive you down the hill and drop you as close to your house as they are going.
1:15- Stop for a snack at a street vendor. It might be a sopaipilla if its a little cold out. They are kind of like a pastry but made out of pumpkin. They dont taste like pumpkin but they are deep-fried and a Chilean favourite when the weather turns bad.
1:30- Get home, take a nap.
2:30- Wake up. Open computer, check Facebook. Its a beautiful day outside so message your friends and see if they want to go to the beach or get some food.
3:00- Meet up with some friends at the beach, in Quinta Vergara park, or on your balcony overlooking the beach. You might choose to meet up with a friend from the US, from Canada, from Germany, Spain, Bolivia, or from Australia, or you might call up your Chilean friends that you always have so much fun with and always end up getting a little bit more insight into the Chilean culture just from hanging out and exploring the city.
5:00- You should probably start doing your homework now.
7:30- Make dinner or plan to meet your friends at "Lime" Mexican Restaurant. Get a call from a friend insisting you go out with them tonight to their host brother's band's concert
9:00pm- Catch a micro (bus) over to your friends house and start the carrete (fiesta)!
6:00am- Get a collectivo (shared taxi) home. On the 4 block walk from where they let you off, get followed by a cute street dog. Get disapproving looks from your doorman. Go to bed! You don't have class until 3pm tomorrow so you get to sleep in!
Of course I have a mild routine for how I spend my days, but the greatest part about living here is that you have so much freedom to to whatever you want, whenever you want. Everything is close by and the public transport will always get you there, however overwhelming it appears at first.