¡Bienvenidos a Santiago!

Well, friends, I made it to Chile...and lucky for me, my way overstuffed bags did, too. Now, I'm not sure if any of you have also seen pictures of celebrities like Victoria Beckham after a cross-country flight from L.A. to London, stepping off the plane, impeccably suited up in a mini-dress and heels with a full face of make-up and a flawless hairdo, but I can assure you, that was not me. In fact, if Victoria has some secrets to share about international traveling, then I would love to hear them because never have I felt more exhausted and disgusting than stepping off a plane (in sweats, mind you) from nearly 24 hours of travel.

It all began in Chicago. I had a short flight from Chicago to Des Moines with a flight attendant that could have been Liza Minnelli's long lost twin sister. That was followed by another short flight from Des Moines to Dallas-Fort Worth, TX. On this flight I struck up a conversation with a nice man that said to me, "Name's William, but you can call me Will." Now Will was an interesting man, native to the State of Texas with a love for Texas that outshines even the love Sconnies have for Wisconsin. This was the first time in 2 years since he'd been back to his home state and was on leave from his tour in Iraq with the Navy. We shared laughs over a book he was reading and giggling about, a book that I read this past summer entitled, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Now, I know a lot of you are getting a chuckle over this because of course, I would make a new friend in an hour and a half flight, but what can I say, I just love people. Will came from such a different background than me and was doing such different things with his life, yet we bonded. He talked about his fiancée, his children, why he joined the Navy and what he wanted to do after he was done serving. Fascinating, really. Despite the many obstacles he seemed to have encountered over time, there was rarely a moment when there was not a big grin plastered on his face. Sensing my nerves about the big move, he assured me he had been to Chile and how awesome of a place it is. His optimism was inspiring and if only for that short time in air, I was comforted by the words of a stranger.

My layover in Dallas was a couple hours long, so I made my last few phone calls from my beloved U.S. cell phone…and had a few drinks. I boarded the plane a little before 9:00 pm. For the first time, my nerves seemed to dissipate and were replaced by waves of excitement as I heard mumblings of Spanish from all over the plane while I made my way to my seat. It reminded me of why I’m going on this adventure in the first place…to better my Spanish language skills! The flight itself was remarkably uneventful…and the 9 hours it took to get there flew by fast. We were served dinner and an early breakfast and had the option of watching a dumb Jessica Biel movie. I opted to sleep. The unseasoned traveler that I am did not bring a neck rest and eye mask with me, so the sleep I tried to get was interrupted by the kinks I would get in my neck and the lights from people around me trying to read. However, once day broke out over the wings of the plane, the Andes were revealed and it was a beautiful sight! The only thing that would have made the view better was a window seat.

Once I landed, I stood in long lines to pay my entrance fee into the country, collect my bags and go through customs. Toto, we are not in the Midwest anymore. This is the moment I realized that Chilean Spanish is unlike any other Spanish I’ve encountered. Meanings of words and phrases that I know were totally lost on me when spoken. The woman directing the traffic through customs wanted to know if I was carrying any food…I thought she wanted to check my documents. She was not happy with the misunderstanding. Then, the man at the customs station asked me if I needed his help…his “ayuda.” Now, I know this word, but for some reason, however he was saying it did not sound like “ayuda” to me. After he said it a couple times over, I finally understood. I seemed to have no communication problems with the man at the taxi stand, thankfully, but the taxi driver himself could not understand the address of the location I was trying to tell him. One of the other passengers, a Chilean who had spent some time learning English in New York, helped bridge the gap in understanding between the driver and me.

I made it to the place I’m staying and a little man helped me lug my very heavy bags up four flights of stairs. The look of disdain on his face clearly questioned what the hell was in my bag, but all I could respond with was a “muchas gracias.”

It’s amazing the connections you will find once you make plans such as this and move out of the country. My Aunt Tracy’s friend’s daughter, Alana, also from Wisconsin, is in Santiago and happens to be a teacher at the school where I will be working. She was kind enough to take me in for a little while until I get settled into a place of my own. Her roommate, a German woman, coincidentally spent some time in Wisconsin as an au pair…it really is such a small world!

Shortly after I arrived, Alana took me to the supermarket, which was surprisingly just like ones back home. It was clean, sectioned off in the same ways and featured many of the same products. They were even playing Steve Winwood’s “Higher Lover” as we cruised around the store. After, we walked around the neighborhood a bit and made a few pit stops on the way home. The neighborhood of Providencia is nice. The streets are narrow and the buildings brightly colored. It’s just a little outside of the main downtown area. As we walked around, it became very apparent that I am going to stand out as a tall person…and a tall woman at that. However, the people seem very friendly and smile often.

After a much needed nap and shower, I ate a little empanada I bought earlier at the store and watched some TV. The funny thing was, almost all the stations featured American shows! I flew all the way to the other side of the world to watch Two and a Half Men, Seinfeld and Scrubs. Too funny!

I’m hoping to spend the rest of the weekend exploring a bit, getting to know the area and getting a feel for the transportation system. I start work Monday morning at the Institute and am really excited for it! The only thing that I am really missing at this point is the ability to call and/or text whoever whenever I feel like it. Skype and video chat through gmail has already been put to use to remedy the situation. Thank god for advances in technology!

Take care and talk soon!

BESOS! :)