Classes and Travels

It's hard to believe that I'm already at the halfway mark of my time in Chile! Though I haven't kept a very constant blog, things have been extremely eventful here. We are now in the middle of Spring; the weather is warming up and my hope is to be swimming in the ocean here soon.

I started classes a little over a month ago. I'm taking Sociology of Organizations, Philosophy, Religion, Spanish Literature and Stories as well as a class on the History and Culture of Valparaiso. All the classes are in Spanish and I've found all of my professors to be top notch. My Sociology class is quite interesting: there is an even distribution of Chileans, students from France, Germany, Canada, Austria and the United States. We have been able to discuss and relate the social aspect of each of our countries. It has truly been a unique learning experience. At times, Philosophy moves at a fast pace and is challenging. I shouldn't be surprised as this is a class that takes time to fully grasp in one's native language, much less another. My history class has been eye-opening as well. The class focuses on the ways in which Valparaiso became the world's door to Chile and as a result, emerged as a fusion of international cultures, art and expression.

In the past couple weeks I've also been able to take some exciting trips. On two occasions, I travelled to a city about 5 hours north of Valparaiso called La Serena. This is a large coastal town that is known across Chile for its religious concentration. You'll find many beautiful churches there. I had a chance to first go to La Serena through our study abroad program here. Soon after, my host bother, Hernando, invited me to go on a camping trip in a very mystic mountain valley near La Serena called Valle de Equi. The 5 days spent in Valle de Equi were extremely tranquil. No internet, television or even windows on the structure in which we were staying.


A view from our place in Valle de Elqui

A group of 7 and I took a short trip to an nearby national park called La Campana, which is only about 2 hours from Valparaiso. There we arrived at night, pitched our tents and prepared for a big hike the next day. We hiked nearly all day on Saturday, trekking up to the top of the highest mountain in the area. This was a hike that Charles Darwin completed as wrote about. The view from the top was spectacular.

A following weekend started with a day trip to a local vineyard where we got a chance to experience Chile's national dance, the Cuaca. The following day, it was on to a small fishing town called Quintay where a small group of us stayed for the night. Quintay is an old waling town that now focuses on purely fishing. That weekend we got a chance to do some climbing and hiking; one day a wrong trail led my friend Mike and I through an epic jungle adventure of more than 7 hours. We ended up catching Chile's version of poison ivy but once the itching stopped, we agreed that it make for a noteworthy experience.


The Cueca (above), the Pacific Coast off Quintay (below)

Chile's equivalent to our 4th of July is a day called Fiestas Patrias and is on September 18. This celebrates the establishment of the first Chilean government in 1810. Usually the festivities last a few days and noting this, we decided to take a trip up to a beautiful desert region called San Pedro de Atacama before the big day. We rented a car and drove about 16 hours to get up to this are. There we biked, sand-boarded, went to geysers, camped, swam in naturally-heated thermal pools and tried llama. The trip was remarkable. I fond San Pedro to be one of the most beautiful and unique regions I have every seen.


Salt rock desert (above) and our group sand boarding (below)

Following the trip up North, I came back to the festivities which involved pretty late nights out and lots of amazing food. Soon after, the host family and I here went back out to the countryside (La Campana) to celebrate my brother, Hernando's 26th birthday.

I've become really great friends with some of the Chileans and a few other study abroad students. We're all getting together throughout the week, running, exploring Valpo and planning more trips. We're planning a trip now to Mendoza, AR.

Here is a link to all of my pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/Arthur.W.Woods
From here, I'm beginning to look toward trips to Southern Chile, which I hear is incredibly breath-taking. As always, definitely shoot me an email to let me know how things are going with you!

Life in Valpraiso

I was hoping to have made this a bi-weekly blog but at the least it will be monthly. July in Chile was fantastic! I took a trip to Buenos Aires for the weekend with my friend Mike. We stayed with Mike's friend from school and his host family. During the days, walked around the city and saw the famous sites including the cemetery, where we saw tomb of Eva Peron. During the nights we went to some of the dance clubs in the city. On the last day, we decided to really play "tourists" and spent the day at a large theme park.

A statue in central Buenos Aires (left) and the tomb of Evita Peron (right)

At end of July I united with CIEE, my study abroad program and left Santiago for Valparaiso. I enjoyed a couple days with about 30 other exchange students from various parts of the US and we arrived to Valparaiso on a beautiful day. CIEE led orientation panels and discussions for a few days to prepare us for the classes, travels and life on the Chilean coast. By the end of the orientation, I had become good friends with many of the other students.

Toward the end of the CIEE programs, I met the Vargas family, who will be hosting me for the next five months. They live a block from the ocean in Vina Del Mar (a few miles north of Valpraiso). Elizabeth Vargas, my host mom, like my mom from home is an incredibility loving person. Despite the fact that she is a social worker by day and part-time college student 3 nights per week, she has done a spectacular job with three sons. Hernando is 25 and he's an architect. Rodrigo is 22 and he just finished school to become a physical education teacher. Vincente is 14 and still in high school here. My host mom is a single parent but her parents come around a lot. We eat a family lunch frequently throughout the week (lunch is the most important meal here).

The Vargas family including my host mom, three brothers, their girlfriends Nacha and Connie and my host grandparents

I have really clicked with this family. Every member of the family is extremely musical. The three boys collectively play guitar, didgeridoo, piano and sing. They love the fact that I'm in the Chimes a capella group back at Georgetown and we've already had some late nights of singing their favorite songs from the US (80's music seems to be the big hit here -- I think I've heard "When a Man Loves a Women" on every radio I walked by).

I have a deal with Hernando that he teaches me how to play guitar and in return, I'll help him with English. This has been going well so far. We've ventured around some cafes in the area and practiced English and he's gotten me to the point where I can just about play the cords for "Knocking on Heaven's Door." Rodrigo surfs and wants to set up the same deal for surf lessons. By the end of my stay here, I'll hopefully be able to play guitar and surf more or less and these guys will be able to call the US and give me more pointers in English.

What I think has made me most at home has been the beauty of the area. The ocean has casted some of the most breath-taken sunsets. Though it is Winter now, the weather has not been overbearingly cold. We'll move into Spring in September and Summer in December here so this is about the worst of the weather.

I'll be starting classes within the next week or so (some start later than others). There was a large protest in the school system last year that shut the universities down for a month or so. As a result, the class schedule shifted a bit. By August 18 I'll have started all the classes, though. I'm studying for the semester in Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso. I'll be taking a Spanish Literature, Marketing, Social Organization, Philosophy and Religious Studies. My classes are all on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so I'll have a longer weekend to study and travel.

So far it looks like I'll be traveling to Northern Chile on a few trips in the next couple weeks. We'll be taking a trip with the exchange students to La Serena next weekend and the following, I'll be going to Valle de Elko with my host brother, Hernando.

I have my friends David Lee and David Dawson visiting from Georgetown for a couple days so I've been showing them the sites here. It's surreal to act as a tour guide in a foreign country.

With Dave and Dave in an elevator car, going to the top of Valparaiso

All my pictures from the trip will be uploaded to this website. Definitely keep checking it out:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Arthur.W.Woods

As always, I love hearing how things are going with the friends and family. My email is arthurw@missionthree.com. I'll be making an effort to write on the blog more often. !Mucho amor de Chile! (much love from Chile)

¡¡Bienvenido a Chile!!

I started the journey in San Francisco and on the second leg of the trip from Canada to Chile, I was both intrigued and overwhelmed to sit next to an old Argentinian character wearing a three piece suit. Between the many stories he shared with me, he managed to steal sodas and entire bottle of wine from the temporarily-vacant beverage cart. I wouldn't have wanted to start this trip any other way!

(With fellow Chimes Jay, Mark and Brandon in San Francisco before leaving and on the right, a picture of Santiago, Chile)

I arrived in Santiago on Thursday, June 21 and was picked up at the airport by my friend, Ignacio Torres who was one of the founders of an entrepreneurial education organization here called Accion Emprendedora. Accion has become well-known in the country for its success in educating low-income citizens and providing them with the necessary knowledge to start their own businesses. I agreed to volunteer with Accion during some of my time in Chile, mainly once I move to Valparaiso (Valpo) during some time outside of class. I am currently in Santiago taking a Spanish course before I start college classes in Valpo on August 4.

Ignacio was nice enough to let me stay with him and his family for a few days. We met the Accion crew and headed off to Valpo for the grand opening of the new center where I will be working. Valpo was incredibly gorgeous. A city of about 200,000 with more people in the total surrounding area, Valpo is Chile's main shipping port. The city is nicely situated on the Pacific and features beautiful beaches in Vina Del Mar, as well as mountainous surroundings with picturesque views of the ocean. You'll hear and see much more about Valpo in the coming weeks.

I stayed in Valpo for a couple days to travel around with an old friend, Carlos Bortoni from Mexico, who I met through HOBY (Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership) in 2004. Carlos and I are both volunteers with HOBY now. Carlos is in Chile with a group from Harvard so I spent the weekend with them and formed some cool new friendships. One day, we went to the house of Pablo Naruda, a famous Chilean poet, and undoubtedly, one of the most beloved people in the country.

(My buddies Carlos and Mike with me in a central square of Valpo and a scenic view of the city on the right)

Once back in Santiago (about an hour and a half drive from Valpo) on Monday I started Spanish classes. My classes start at 10am and run until 2pm each day. Though I am enrolled in a "group" class, though the class is only me and a girl from University of Chicago. So far, the classes have been fantastic and I feel as though each day is an incredible learning experience.

I moved in with the Zuniga family for the week. Gabriel Zuniga studied abroad in Chester (stayed with the McCoys) in 2006 and told me to come stay with him if I ever traveled to Chile. I decided to take him on on the offer for a couple days. He and his family were incredibly hospitable--even when I returned late from the Discoteca (a Chilean dance club) at 6am one morning (this is when I discovered first hand that the Santiago public bus system doesn't run regularly after midnight).

(With the Zuniga family and the view from their neighborhood- this is a normal view from Santiago)

I completed my last move while in Santiago to a very nice family living in the northern part of Santiago (don't worry, the plan had always been to stay with a total of three families here--they didn't kick me out). The Riveras have one son and two daughters. In Chile it is customary for young people to continue living at home until married. So though the three kids are all well out of college, they still live at home and eat with the family at the dinner table every night.

As it is winter in Chile now, I had to take advantage of the opportunity to ski in the Andes. I went this last Sunday with some college friends from the east coast. The ski runs are completely different here. There are no trees at all but the snow conditions were amazing. We made it to the hill here called "Colorado" surprisingly enough. In two weeks I'll be headed up to Valle Nevado (another large ski mountain in the area).

(Brint, me, Emily and Mark on the backside of El Colorado, and right, a beautiful view on the last run for the day)

I'm off to three days in Buenos Aires starting tomorrow and will surely report back on that experience. Argentina is supposed to be a beautiful country as well. Feel free to comment on the blog here and ask many any questions you have about Chile. It's always a blessing to hear from the US family and friends! Miss you all!