20 Lessons Learned while living in Chile

1) When staying in a hostel with breakfast included, check to see what that includes.
2) When travel books advise to book hostels, etc. early, do it.
3) Do not, and I repeat, do NOT eat unwashed fruit, especially grapes.
4) When taking the micro anywhere, always give yourself at least 30 extra minutes, in the (not so rare) event that the bus doesn't come.
5) Do visit the vineyards, they are beautiful.
6) Habla español whenever you can.
7) Do not order the paila marina. It is a soup which consists of every type of imaginable seafood and all of its parts. It may provoke a similar reaction to that of eating unwashed fruit.
8) Try a (as in one) pisco sour.
9) Do not pet the stray dogs, unless they are the friendly ones on campus.
10) Travel around. There are a LOT of really cool things to see in Chile!
11) Love ice cream, it's everywhere, and everyone is always eating it. No exaggeration here.
12) Learn to love the Virgin Mary, you'll fit right in.
13) Ask before taking photos of government buildings, lest you get reprimanded and lose your camera.
14) Do not be alarmed by the locals blatantly staring at you, they are just not used to seeing foreigners. Feel free to stare back! It won't stop them at all.
15) Walk around. There are fun and different things to see on every street!
16) Do not order a paella for three people, especially at Donde Augusto's. A group of six and you're set!
17) In public restrooms make sure you take the toilet paper before entering the stall. This will save you some hassle within the next few minutes.
18) Keep your showers short--gas and water are very expensive here!
19) Take advantage of the overnight buses. They are accommodating and will take you to all parts of Chile!
20) Get used to being honked at by taxi drivers, dogs barking through all hours of the night, car alarms going off 24/7 and hearing the words, "Weón! (lots of meanings, most prominently "man")", "¿Cachai? (understand?)" and "¿Quieres comer? (Would you like to eat?)" Today after class a group of us went to Donde Augusto where Ellie and I had previously been promised that if we brought our friends back to eat lunch, we would all receive complementary pisco sours. They lived up to their promise and a group of 10 of us came in today to enjoy (or not enjoy) a 2-hour lunch! The restaurant is located in Mercado central, which consists of fresh fruit stands, other odds and ends, and prominently fresh fish. We were led up to a far corner of the market to sit and after waiting for about 45 minutes we were finally able to place an order. It was a day for trying many new things for Kelsey! We ordered cerviche, which is like a fish salsa. It consists of raw fish soaked in lime juice with some cilantro, and somehow the lime juice "cooks" the fish and turns it into a type of salsa that you can eat. It is actually really good! Marc and I asked the people at the table next to us what they were having because it looked delicious, so we followed suit and ordered it; the Paila Marina (literally translated to "Pan of the sea"). Little did we know that it would include every imaginable type of seafood, from clams to shrimp to oysters to octopus to who knows what else.
I have no idea how many different types of mariscos were in there, but every bite produced a risky adventure. Unfortunately I ended up eating some unwashed grapes the other night and the paila marina produced similar effects for me as the grapes did... I'll leave the rest for you to decode. After eating I explored a little bit more of my neighborhood, which included making a pitstop at the local JUMBO, the Chilean version of Super Wal-Mart.
Yesterday after class I decided to explore a little and went downtown to Cerro Santa Lucia, where there are some beautiful fountains, extremely dangerous staircases and a beautiful view of Santiago from the top.

The typical Chilean looks as follows: asleep, lounging in a chair. Here in Chile the preferred form of exercise is channel surfing, and I have witnessed this first-hand in our house. This photo was at the Plaza de Armas where the sun was shining bright and the mid-afternoon nap time was settling in. Also, as an aside about Chilean culture: it is very common for the men (and some women as well) to work extremely long days (Carlos leaves before I wake up in the morning and may not get home until 10 pm!), but just because they work long days does not mean that they work hard. For professional meetings not only is it common to show up extremely late, it is also common to spend the first hour or more simply chatting and catching up, and therefore leading to working longer days.This photo was taken the same day, a group of us enjoying Santiago, Plaza de Armas. This was also when we discovered that it is a-ok to bathe in the public fountains.