Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Now for a summary of my time in Vina del Mar, Chile. I had a lovely time in Vina del Mar and I was sad to leave. The photo is from the day in La Campana National Park.
6th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
I was walking fast through Vina del Mar to the Spanish school and after crossing a road I tripped as I went back up on to the pavement. I thought if someone had seen me do that in England I would get the comment did you enjoy your trip. No one mentioned a thing though I'm glad to say. I managed to get to school for 8:00. I obviously had retained more of the directions from Kaike showing me around than I thought I had. I first sat an entrance exam and while we were in there a dog came in and was rolling on all our feet so that was a bit of disturbance. I then had to be back at the Spanish school for 11
I went back to apartment, got in lift and went up. I was puzzled to not see my room number. I wondered have I managed to walk into wrong apartment building so I went back down and checked. I thought I'd go and get some food from the supermarket and then come back up to apartment. I got food and went up to apartment again- my apartment number still wasn't there. Rocio's bike wasn't there either. I thought have they wrote the wrong number on Spanish school information but that wouldn't make sense as I had managed to find it yesterday. I also looked at the locks on the room doors and they were different too. I wondered whether I was cracking up. I thought is there two buildings with the same number and I went down to check that. Then I thought I will meet Kaike later and ask her. I went to see the local shopping mall instead. I had my conversation class which seemed easier than the ones at the same level in Santiago. There were three Swiss students, me and a United States student. After conversation class there was a welcome lunch so I met Kaike and we each had an empanada at school. We then went to Starbucks and I had a hot chocolate before going to grammar class. There were 2 Norwegians and 2 Swiss in my grammar class. I then talked to all the others in between their classes before walking back to apartment. It turned out that I had used the wrong lift in the morning so I was on the wrong side of the building
7th February 2012 Vina del Mar
Had lessons at 11 and then at 2. As soon as I ordered chicken for lunch I knew it was a mistake when they put it in the microwave. It came out looking a little bloody. I was trying to work out whether it was from the colour of the red umbrella above me or bad cooking. It didn't look as bad out in the light but I still decided not to chance it. Grammar class went ok and after grammar class I went to zoo in Quilpue with ECELA. We walked through Vina del Mar to get the metro out to Quilpue. We then walked to zoo from metro station. Quilpue was quite a bit different to Vina del Mar- not as modern. The zoo was like most other zoos though in world. I enjoyed watching the monkeys playing and we were watching a sea-lion for a while. We were waiting for him to go in water as he was on the edge looking water. Don't know whether he doesn't like people watching him when he goes for a swim but he didn't go till we left him. We were walking on the long road back to Quilpue station when someone offered us a lift back to station so we all got in. I spoke Spanish most of the afternoon and they said I was doing well with it so that was good.
8th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
Lessons and went out for lunch.
9th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
Had to rush to get to the school as I had been talking to Kaike and had left too late. I arrived just in time for conversation class a little out of breath. We played a board game where I first had to name 8 things in classroom which was a little bit of a challenge as one of the others had already named some and I couldn't repeat any. My second space I landed on I had to name 3 Chilean foods which I couldn't do. I also kept rolling 0's and then name some countries in S America. I was disappointed in myself that I couldn't name enough but I wasn't allowed to name the same ones as the teacher had and she had named pretty much all the ones I had visited. After classes I had to hang round to wait for others as they were playing football that night and I had to be back at school an hour and forty minutes later. I walked down Valparaiso street and went in the shops. I talked in bookshop about buying lonely planet guide and tried to help them with some English translations-they wanted to know what holy diver meant. I didn't really know myself-I know what the words mean separately but not when you put them together. I watched as someone wound up some music on an old fashioned object. I still get reminded of home in Chilean stalls as they were selling Everton bracelets. I Walked back to school and walked with them to beach. Most of them played football, I watched and talked to a Brazilian in Spanish mainly.
10th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
In morning I looked for newspaper articles to report on in class. Couldn't find anything that was particularly interesting or easy to explain. I ended up using an article which was about very valuable jewellery that was thought stolen but had now been found. I ended up having to have a bit of a run to get to the school on time. I find the slow walkers in market area very annoying especially when running late. In conversation class we talked about newspaper articles and then mobile phones and then pros and cons of the internet. I ended up arranging to go and see a vineyard tomorrow in Casablanca. I asked the director what trips the Spanish school were doing at weekend and she told me a vineyard but she said she didn't think it would be happening as there wasn't enough numbers. I didn't say anything as I didn't think it would be happening but didn't really fancy it that much anyway. After leaving she came rushing after me saying I have got four people including me in her number counts so I felt I had to go as she needed four people for the trip.
I then went for lunch for a pizza and as we had took some time to get to restaurant as we were large group and had been talking at Spanish school etc. The meal came pretty quickly but there was a drinks spill before ordering as well. It ended up with a couple of us being late for afternoon classes which was rather frustrating. In my class I was the only one who went for a meal but apparently Stephanie and Bruno were late and I arrived before Hilde. We studied adjective possessives. After the Spanish school, there was a school trip to the naval museum in Valparaiso. We first got bus to Valparaiso then walked to the acensor. At the acensor we had to queue for a while before getting the acensor up to the top. The acensor was a little bit of a rickety thing and only went a short distance. At the top of the acensor were views over Valparaiso port and the naval museum. I can't even go in a naval museum without being reminded of home as at least one of the ships was built in Birkenhead. Later that night we went to the bar. As I was walking out of the bar I fell over and I hadn't had anything to drink. I got back around 1:00 and I was really grateful to the Swiss girls for walking back with me to the apartment.
11th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
We drove to the vineyard indomitable. It was between Vina del Mar and Santiago. It was more beautiful than I expected and was on a hill overlooking the vineyards. We had a discussion about whether to have the tour in Spanish or English as two people were American, (obviously I am English) but the other person was Brazilian. We were not sure whether she could understand English. I said I wanted the tour in English as I would probably understand nothing if I had tour in Spanish as learning about the vocabulary for making wine is not something I would have come across in my Spanish lessons. After finding out the Brazilian could also speak English we decided on an English tour. The tour guide had very good English so the tour was informative. We had three tastings of wine after the tour outside on the terrace. There was also a lovely looking restaurant in the vineyard which was where we were sampling wine also. We had three glasses-white, red and stronger red. The white I finished off even though I wasn't too keen on it. I could then only have a little taste of each of the other two glasses as it was beginning to make me feel a little sick. The others were pleased as it meant they got more wine. The stronger red was described as having lots of different tastes as it went down like chocolate and leather. I wasn't too keen on it-if I had tasted a decent bit of chocolate I would have been happier.
I decided to walk to the place selling good empanadas before going back to apartment. I tried to order a ham and cheese empanada but I also ended up with spinach in it. She must have somehow thought I said espinach when I said empanada. I threw the spinach away in the dustbin and then had a good empanada. Later on Kaike and I went out for dinner.
12th February 2012 Vina Del Mar, Chile
First there was me, Ricardo, Rocio, Kaike and Ignacio in the car to go Kayaking. We were then joined by four other people That meant that there were nine of us squashed into a small estate car. Ignacio went into the back but then there were 5 adults sitting along the back seat of car. I was sitting on Kaike's knee and wasn't particularly comfy and I'm sure she wasn't too. My head was resting on the ceiling and my bum was near the seatbelt connector. When we got into Valparaiso we had to duck as we went past a police officer.
We were launched over the side in kayak so water washed over the legs. Me, Ricardo and the 2 boys were in single kayaks. Rocio and Kaike were in a kayak together and Erica and her friend were in a kayak. I had a good time probably only about half an hour on the kayaks. It was a little unnerving when we looked up and could sea lions above us and when the sea lions began diving in. It was fine though as we were probably further away than we thought we were and the sea lions didn't dive on top of us. We had a little bit of a race underneath the pier before getting out. Ricardo dived back into water as he had falled out earlier. I would have been tempted to go for a swim if water was cleaner but no way was I getting in that water by choice. It was filthy as it was near the port.
Ricardo and Rocio dropped us off in Valparaiso. The Celebrity cruises were in port and we had a little walk around the port area. There was an old man with music playing trying to sell his insect puppets. I found it quite good to watch him making his puppets dance. As a child I know I would have wanted one. We then got in a rickety acensor up one of hills in Valparaiso and then walked down it before getting bus back to Vina del Mar.
13th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
Kaike and I left the apartment together but as I hate being late for education or work-related activity I walked fast and ran to the school so I got there on time. ECELA had two buildings in Vina del Mar as there were too many people in the school that week. The new school was fine and it was closer for me in the mornings which was good considering that lessons were starting at 9 this week. In conversation we discussed plastic surgery and not one of us in the class would think about having it. Later on I realised that I may not have plastic surgery but I wanted laser eye surgery and possibly laser hair removal.
In the afternoon I went on lanchoenete (boat) in Valparaiso with the Spanish school. As there were two different schools-there were groups coming from both schools so midway through the bus journey Carolina had to get off the bus to find the others. She told us to wait for her at the port and we hoped we were waiting in right place. Luckily we were and the others joined us. We then got on the a little boat launch to go around Valparaiso harbour. I was being careful not to take photos of the navy ships in there. I took photos of sea lions sitting on an anchor. I got a little bit of a surprise when some water splashed my back-not much but it still made me say ooh as I wasn't expecting it.
14th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
I had to have a bit of a run again to get to the school on time. Had lessons and went out for lunch.
15th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
Had lessons and went out for lunch. In one of the lessons we played a game where my classmates had to describe who I was. At first I was Condoleezza Rice and they said I was a lady American politician. Once I had asked was it Hilary Clinton I had to ask for a different person as I don't know American politicians. I do know Condoleezza Rice but her name would never have come to me. My second person was Hilary Clinton so I got that.
It was amusing using Google translate while Ricardo and I were chatting as one of the translations came out only frog. Both of us knew that this was not what Ricardo had wanted to say to me and started laughing. La Campana translated as hood.
16th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
We played a game where we had to name different things and had to remember what each other said. If we repeated someone's answer we lost that question. I lost the game as a few times I named the example again by a mistake as I was making sure that I didn't repeat what any of others had said but had forgotten to take example into account too. I also repeated the name of a Hollywood film as I hadn't heard it. I had to do a dare as I lost the game. I ended up having to sing and dance to Shakira. Was horrible especially the singing. Didn't stand much of a chance with the singing as it was in Spanish and fast.
In the afternoon Kaike and I went to the beach. I was time watching as there was so many things I wanted to do that afternoon-beach, homework, dinner and salsa. We got to beach and it was very crowded but we managed to find a small spot. Kaike was sunbathing and I went down to water edge just to try temperature of water before going swimming. I decided that the temperature was fine for swimming. I didn't quite take into account the strength of the waves though. I couldn't swim as waves were so strong and high that they knocked me off my feet a few times just paddling. The sand hitting my legs with waves could be a little painful also when I fell to my knees they made them a little sore. I did see a sign later though on the beach next to where I had gone in the sea saying no swimming. It was a lovely hot evening though and was nice to be in the water. I then walked along the beach looking at sand sculptures and the stalls by the beach. It was nearly 7 o'clock when got back to beach to Kaike. As it took about half an hour to walk from beach I still hadn't done my homework, needed to have dinner, needed to talk to parents and go to school to meet for salsa (which took half an hour walking) I ended up running and walking fast on way back to apartment. Only if I ran and walked fast would I have a chance of making salsa. I did walk past a fire thrower at the traffic lights on the way back to apartment. I wasn't too sure about going too close to him and I hoped he was a good juggler. It was another one of those tricks at traffic lights where they have limited time to do their trick and then collect money from the people in the cars.
I talked to parents again in apartment then had a shower and did homework. I made it in time for going out to salsa but I hadn't had dinner. I picked up 2 horrible empanadas on the way to the school and munched through them before getting on the bus to Valparaiso with the Spanish school. As I went in salsa club I was asked for ID. In my rush to get there I had forgotten ID. They asked me my age and luckily as I was with the Spanish school, they were able to vouch for me. I think I was the only one who was asked for ID which is ridiculous when some of them were only 19. The salsa lesson was difficult and I was partnered with Eric from my Spanish lessons. I am surprised he was happy to dance with me after my bad performance of Shakira this afternoon. He luckily was a good leader and dancer though and could understand more of the Spanish than I could. I quite enjoyed it but it did sometimes feel like we were tied a bit in a knot. After that we had freestyle dancing and some songs came on that we knew. Someone stepped on my feet which hurt but apart from that I was enjoying the dancing but I knew I had to get up early the next day so we left quite early. Even after all my experiences in India I found the bus back quite scary. He was driving fast around sharp bends and at times I thought he wouldn't make the bend. It did amuse me when the conductor of another bus opened the doors of his bus to talk to our driver through our drivers' window. They had a quick conversation between the two buses.
17th February 2012 Vina del Mar, Chile
In morning had lessons and then went out for lunch.
I put the washing out to dry when I got back to the apartment. I think a washing peg may have flicked off balcony so I'm hoping it didn't land on anyone's head. I was a little worried going around Valparaiso on my own and catching the bus. First I walked past cafe journal along the main road to clock of flowers. At first I missed the Clock of flowers and bus gave me a little bit of a scare when it was very close to me going fast down the road. The Clock of flowers was lovely but it was a little crowded with tourists as expected. I then turned right and walked back towards the beach at Vina del Mar past Sheraton and all the boat shaped buildings. I also saw the outside of castle wuff which was beautiful along the sea front.
I crossed the bridge and got on the bus to the port of Valparaiso. First I went along the market stalls and bought some earings and bracelets before going in the tourist office to find out where I should be going. The girl spoke very good English and was very helpful so I didn't have to try and understand Spanish. I took the acensor up to naval museum for a second time after waiting a long time in the queue to go up. I admired the good views of the port and the surrounding areas before doing a very short walk from acensor. I also looked at the graffiti around the area and then went to take a photo of the acensor from just below the entrance to it. Again the acensor is a rickety old thing and then I got the acensor back down. I then began the short walk to try and find the next acensor. Valparaiso down at the bottom was a little confusing about what was pavement and what was road as they were on the same . I found the acensor and this time there were no queues and the acensor carriage was a lot smaller. I was a little worried that I would get up there and it would be deserted. Anyway people got in acensor and we went up. I then walked back down admiring some of the graffiti. I used to say that I didn't like graffiti but since I've been travelling I've begun to appreciate the arty stuff and enjoy looking at it. I found my way back down to get on bus. I really enjoyed going around Valparaiso on my own but I was also relieved that no petty theft had happened to me up there.
From bus station in Vina del Mar I walked across the bridge to the museum where the authentic Easter Island statue was. It had actually been near the old ECELA school and I hadn't realised it was there until I asked in tourist office in Valparaiso. I saw an interesting looking person along the Valparaiso Street playing an accordion and I also saw someone on stilts at traffic lights. I jumped out of my skin when a skateboard speeded by me.
18th February 2012 La Campana National Park, Chile
Well today was my trip to La Campana National Park. We left the apartment later than planned. We (Ricardo, Rocio, me and Ignacio) travelled to Quilpue. Rocio was asking me whether I wanted any suncream and I was saying no as I had already applied it. My pronunciation of Spanish wasn't right so instead of saying I had applied suncream to my neck I made it sound like I had applied suncream to my bottom. Rocio and Ricardo had to explain what I had said that amused them. At Quilpue I met Ricardo's family and also a lovely dog. Ricardo's nephew and girlfriend joined us and we began our journey to national park stopping at the supermarket along the way to buy some things for making up sandwiches. I found ordering the ham at delicatessen a little tricky.
We arrived at the national park and Ricardo was told we wouldn't have time to walk up La Campana. I was a little disappointed that wouldn't have time to do it as it was something I wanted to do. Near the start we all took photographs together and we began walking. Rocio was so fast but the others were slower. I got stuck between the two groups and as I couldn't see Rocio I thought I'd better wait for the others as I didn't have a map, I had paid as a Chilean national rather than a foreigner (even though I would have been quite happy to pay the correct price) and then also my Spanish wasn't good enough if I got into difficulty. The views were beautiful. Ricardo said to me I was like a machine and I said no that's Rocio. He said you've got a bag on your back too. We stopped mid-way up for lunch and then me, Ricardo and Ricardo's nephew carried on to the Darwin plaque. I was very pleased to reach that as it was something I wanted to see. There was also a Chilean Fox up there which was really good to see. I climbed up to the Darwin plaque to read it and read it in Spanish to the others. I wasn't too sure about my pronunciation.
Ricardo's nephew and I walked down to see the others at the mid-way point while we waited for news from Rocio and Ricardo. The walk to mid-way point I found quite hard as it was downhill and my boots were slipping on the surface. I played noughts and crosses up there with Ignassio but it was so hard to see it in the sand and I kept losing. We then transferred to a rock as there was a tiny bit of charcoal we could use but then the stick broke. We began the walk down me, Ignassio, Ricardo's nephew and Ricardo's nephews' girlfriend. I had a little bit of a walk around the car park area twice while waiting for Rocio and Ricardo. It did get very boring. Poor Rocio had gone over on the ankle near the top so she was coming down in pain. It was now about 8:00 and I still hadn't packed for tomorrow. We then dropped the others off in Quilpue and went in for dinner. Had lovely tea and jam and bread. Was very nice. We drove back to apartment and got there about 11:00.
19th February 2012 . Back to Santiago, Chile
I woke up at 7 with alarm but as I only had 4 hours sleep I needed to have a bit longer sleep otherwise I wouldn't have been in a fit state to meet mum. I finished off my packing and at 10:50am I went to buy chocolates for a thank you to Ricardo and Rocio. At 11:25am I went and bought my bus ticket for 12:00 and she said the last bus she could get me on was the 12:00 bus. I went back and checked my room and say goodbye to everyone. It took longer than I expected. It was quite emotional saying farewell to everyone. Rocio kindly walked me to bus station. On the way there we met Ricardo and I was so lucky they were with me. The turbus in the station was the 12:10 bus to Santiago. I just thought the time was slightly different but it turned out the 12:00 bus had already gone. Ricardo went around all the bus offices to see whether I could get another ticket on another bus. There were no more tickets for that day. That was when I felt like crying as I needed to get to see my mum. Rocio and Ricardo were really good and kindly offered to take me to Santiago (an hour and a half away) if I paid petrol. I was so grateful. Ignassio was pleased as he likes going to Santiago..
They all helped me in with my bags into hotel and my mum came out from the room next to reception. There were tears as my mum greeted me. It was really nice that my mum met Rocio and Ricardo. We all had photographs together. Afterwards mum and I walked to Plaza de Armas for a very late lunch. I found it a bit hard to find my way there as I had been living elsewhere in Santiago and also I was busy talking to my mum at the same time. As it was not lunch and not dinner we couldn't get steak but only a meat sandwich with chips. We had trouble ordering red wine as I was trying to say Vino Roja when it should be vino tinto. Two people on the next table helped (a Peruvian and a girl from an English speaking country who could also speak Spanish) so my mum finally got her red wine.
- comments