Thursday, August 30, 2012

Day 3

More orientation today. Not much interesting to report, just check out the pictures I uploaded to facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4529206229621.181331.1274910332&type=1

Instead I thought I would share what I wrote for my Spanish placement test. The prompt asked me why I want to learn Spanish. I'll put the English translation first, and then my (terrible) Spanish original.


My interest in learning Spanish began when I was young, when I wanted to speak another language so I could  have a secret code with my sister. However, when I started high school, Spanish was very dificult for me, because I am not very good at languages. I continued with Spanish classes because I wanted to be able to speak with more people and travel to other places. Now, I am in Chile to learn to speak Spanish like a native speaker because of a bigger goal than talking to my sister in secret code. 
I want to be a social worker in the health sector, an advocate for those who are sick and need help. I did this last summer with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in New York City, and the experience showed me that many of the people who need me do not speak English. The populations who most need my help are immigrants and the poor who cannot navigate the health system for themselves. There were many times when it was difficult for me to help someone because my Spanish was not sufficient. I want to change that. This semester will be very difficult for me, especially with the Spanish, but I am going to work very hard because my Spanish is not for me. It is for all of the people who need me, those who I will be better able to help because I can speak their language.


Mi interés en aprender español empezó cuando era joven cuando quise hablar una idioma diferente para tener un código secreta con mi hermana. Pero cuando entré el colegio, el español era muy difícil para mi, porque no soy bien con las idiomas. Pero yo continuaba con las clases de español porque quería aprender español para comunicar con más personas y viajar a otras lugares. Ahora, estoy en chile para hablar español como una que hablaba español por toda su vida porque tengo una meta más grande que hablar con mi hermana en código.
Quiero ser una trabajadora social en el sector de salud, una advócate para los que están enferma y necesitan algo. Lo hice el próximo verano pasado en la ciudad de nueva york con la sociedad de leucemia y lymphoma, y este experiencia me mostró que muchos de los que me necesitan no hablan ingles. Los poblaciones quien necesitan mi ayuda son los inmegrantes, los pobres, quien no puedan navegar la sistema de salud para sus mismos. Habia muchas tiempos en  que era difícil para ayudar a alguien porque mi español no era suficiente. Quiero cambiarlo. Este semestre va a ser muy difícil para mi, especialmente el español, pero voy a trabajar muy duro porque mi español no es para mi: Es para todos los que me necesitan, los que voy a ayudar porque puedo hablar su idioma.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Day 2

So much better today because:
  • I got some sleep last night
  • the sun is out
  • I stopped freaking out every time I didn't fully understand what the program coordinators were telling me in Spanish
  • the rest of the girls from the program arrived last night and are all really cool
  • I got to see a short video from my homestay family, as well as a letter and an AWESOME sweater with llamas on it from them. I have a mama, a papa, two brothers in college in Santiago, and a sister who seems to be in high school
  • we got to go see the developed part of Chile, where we will be living and going to classes
  • we drove up el morro, the huge cliff that juts out over the ocean above Chile
  • I saw the Pacific ocean for the first time. It is just like the Atlantic ocean.
  • We went over safety stuff this morning and alot of it was just basic city-sense: don't wander around alone somewhere you don't know, stay with a group at night and in unfamiliar areas, don't make yourself look like a rich gringa. (PS: thanks Meg, Sasha, Laura, Judy, and Inez at LLS for that "full education" you gave me. If i can survive Flatbush, I can survive Arica).
Anyway, I can see how I will love it here. Jesse was right: How can I be unhappy nestled between the ocean and the mountains?

Day 1

So I am here. It took almost 30 hours of travel, but I made it. I havn't slept in that amount of time either, which of course is just fueling the panicked emotions I am feeling right now. I read about the 4 stages of culture shock- honeymoon, crisis, resolution, acceptance - and I skipped right over honeymoon and straight into crisis. There were crises in transit, fueled by the fact that I had 3 flights, 2 of them got delayed for over an hour, and between each of them I had to exit and go back through security. Lesson #1: Cheap flights are cheap for a reason. But my guardian angels were definitely around, because as I began my 6 hour overnight stay in Lima last night, a 70 year old lady who spoke both perfect English and perfect Spanish and had traveled hundreds of times before sat down next to me and started talking about everything under the sun. She talked about random stuff that took my mind off things and she gave me great advice on how not to get robbed (which freaked me out a bit). The car ride here from Peru was terrifying. Everything is desert, and people live in little 4ft square shacks made of cinder blocks and tarps. So not my idea of what this would be like.