Laptop charger works! Good news!!
(Not that I was having problems, but I hadn't had the chance to use it yet and I was fearing the worst)
So, my first weekend is winding down, and as I get ready for my first day of work tomorrow (orientation week; nothing huge, but we do need to dress for work), I'm trying to organize my suitcase, write down what I bought and ate today, look for an apartment, eat dinner (yes at ten thirty pm), update my blog, and email my parents. Whoa!
Saturday, we had an orientation in the morning with our two supervisors from TeachingChile. It was great!! All of the information and tips they gave us really settled a lot of my nerves. Afterwards, my friend Jess, her roommate Ariel, and I went to lunch at a small restaurant nearby. Très delicieux!!! They had mini pizza piled with toppings, and I indulged in my first official empanada. It was called an empanada de pino, which meant chopped beef mixed with sauteed onions, a little cheese, and a random collection of other items, like part of a hard boiled egg and an olive. Hah. Very tasty, very filling, and very cheap! Only $960clp.
Side note, for quick and easy conversion of Chilean pesos, which are close to 500clp-$1usd, it's easy!!! Move the decimal three places to the left, and double whats left. For example, a sandwich that costs $2,000clp is $4usd. ¡Súperfacil!
Anyway, later on we decided to walk off the meal with our French friend Marie. We explored the neighborhood a bit, then went for ice cream. When I asked for the vanilla, and pointed to the white ice cream, I confused the waiter because the white ice cream was piña, or pineapple, and the yellow was vainilla, vanilla. Go figure! After that, some more walking was in order and we went up the street towards loud music. An impromptu dance concert was happening outside a museum! We watched the girls do some pretty awesome hip hop moves for a while, then went inside for a poke around the museum. It was so tiny! It was called Centro Gabriela Mistral and we saw about three or four small exhibits total.
Saturday evening was a Pizco Party at our hostel, a free event in which they introduced us to Chile's famous drink, el pizco, a clear alcoholic drink made from sour grapes. They came in several flavors; I chose mint. It was alright, but a bit herb-y. It tasted a little like I was drinking leaves :p The music was fun and one of our hostesses even taught us some salsa and reggaeton dance moves. Next, they took us all to a Chilean dance club where we had a more official lesson from a dance teacher, practiced a bit, and went off on our own on the dance floor.
This is getting to be longer than I thought, so I'll post Sunday separately.
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