there is so much in this world to love and to write about (jueves, 29 julio)

Instead of going somewhere for lunch I decided to wander around Paseo Huérfanos and Ahumeda to look in some shops. I got some bread, peaches, and juice to take with me and enjoyed the sunlight in la Plaza de Armas. There were a bunch of painters there, so I was excited. I have this thing where every city I visit, I buy a painting. For me, there is no cooler memento of my trip than something completely original made by a native of that city. I´ve always found artists to be a friendly and interesting type of people, so I talked to about three or four of the painters in Spanish for a while. One of them asked if I came from Spain and seemed a little surprised when I said I was from the States. At least it made me feel more confident about speaking Spanish. When I first got here, it had been a while since I´d spoken or heard Spanish (disincluding the Spanish channel), so it wasn´t easy at first. I know it hasn´t been much time at all, but I´m getting more comfortable speaking in Spanish. I was surprised by how difficult it is, especially since I´d always been really good at Spanish in my classes. Then again, the Chilean dialect is a lot different than other kinds of Spanish. I figure that if I can learn to understand people and be understood here, it will be extremely beneficial for me. I ended up choosing a really pretty watercolor of La Calle Catedral. There is a black lantern just off-center surrounded by yellows and pinks of the sunset framed by both sides of the street. The painter said it took about an hour to make. I love being able to talk to the locals about art and the city.

Then I had to return to orientation. When it did finally get over, I walked to La Chascona, which is one of Pablo Neruda´s three houses. Before I came to Chile I bought a bilingual edition of one of Neruda´s collections of poetry. To me, his words are beautiful and completely inspiring. I took a tour in Spanish, and the tour guide was very nice. He kept asking if I understood or had questions since he knew Spanish wasn´t my first language. The house itself is beautiful with all sorts of intricate collections and trinkets such as paperweights, glasswork, dishes, pottery, paintings, and so forth. It is designed to resemble a ship because he loved the sea. Neruda built La Chascona as a place to keep his lover, Matilde, hidden away, but they eventually got married. The house is about as eccentric as Neruda was. The objects seem random, but are a good reflection of his character.

I left there in a creative and inspired mood. There is so much in this world to love and to write about. So many things to appreciate, so much beauty surrounding us. And to think of how much time all of us waste complaining or only seeing the negative. There´s some sort of optimism and realism of being in Santiago, some sort of positive and refreshing energy. Something about this place just resonates love and happiness. I can´t put my finger on it, but that´s okay.

When I got back to the hostel I checked my email, only to find out that back home, my grandma is in the hospital after a sequence of bad events. It was strange because Roman, another volunteer, had let me borrow his laptop to check my email, and without meaning to, blurted out that my grandma was in the hospital and I couldn´t believe all the things that had happened. Roman pointed out that there really was nothing I could do about it, being that I´m all the way in Chile, and worrying wouldn´t do any good. A bunch of volunteers were going out that night to a salsoteca to take salsa dancing lessons, and he invited me to go with. I´m not much of a dancer, but I thought it would be fun, especially since one time back home Kyle and I had been talking about salsa dancing and how he didn´t think I´d be able to learn it because sometimes I´m pretty uncoordinated.

After a quick dinner of avocados, kiwi, almonds, and cauliflour soup, we took the Metro to Baquedano and walked a short way to the place in Bellavista. The music there was lively and fun, and the inside of the place had such a rich South American flavor. It was a little hard to understand the instructor because she talked really fast, but I managed to learn a few steps, spins, etc. She kept having us switch partners and I ended up with a guy, Andrés, who was a great dancer, and he was able to teach me some more salsa. We ended up dancing for five hours! It was a lot of fun and I didn´t want to leave so early (the place didn´t close till 3), but there was still one more day of orientation to get through...

written by  Sara Florecita on July 29, 2010 from Santiago, Chile
from the travel blog: año de dos inviernos (Chile 2010)
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