The plane ride was great, minus the fact that I managed to get a measly 3 hour-night's sleep...Kate, Sam, and I all sat next to each other, and slept, watched movies, and shared intimate secrets and anxieties about our upcoming South American adventure.
Alas, we touched down. Nothing special, really. It basically just looked like California...but I knew the real adventure was awaiting when I could leave the airport and explore Santiago.
We made our trek out of the ginormous jet, and proceeded to customs. I was called in with my passport first, and ended up being the last one finished-go figure. The man wouldn't stop talking to me and asking me questions. Our conversation was entirely in español, and he admitted to me that when he first looked at me, he thought I wouldn't be able to speak spanish (like I haven't heard that one before), but he is VERY impressed with my skillz! Booyah!
Oh, and during the flight, we had been forewarned about smuggling in agricultural goods--produce and NUTS. I was freaked out at such a thing and was struggling the entire flight with the decision to either toss the 3 pre-packaged trail mix packages that Bubba packed for me, or fill out a separate sheet to attempt to claim them. In the end, I decided that I was going to throw them away...for fear of a hefty fine. So, when I was chatting it up with the customs hombre, all of a sudden I freaked out because I thought it was too late to dispose of the nuts, and I hurriedly but quietly said, "OH! SENOR! Los nuts! los tengo!" ...he was so confused...and said "Que, senorita?" and I was like "Los nuts! Del Trail Mix!!! Aqui, tengo tres paquetas! Tomalo....puedes comerlo!" And I proceeded to slide my trail mix packages through his glass door and smiled as he looked on in immense shock. If you don't know spanish, basically, the dialogue was me telling him that I had nuts, him not knowing what I meant, and then telling him they were nuts in trail mix packages, and then I proceeded to give him the packages and told him that he could eat them if he wants to.
I'm sure that's one of the many confusing/ridiculous Jennifer-gone-latina spanish conversations that will erupt during my visit here.
After we got our luggage, we found the CIEE man and he led us through the airport-everyone was staring at us because we all looked so out of place, but what surprised me and I guess it shouldn't have was how darn hospitable chileans are. It's remarkable. I know you can't be too trusting, but they took such good care of me and my luggage and with helping me find my way, that I couldn't believe it...you just don't get that service in the U.S...and definitely not at LAX!
We all arrived at the hotel, got assigned our roommates for the next two days, and then walked a few blocks for lunch. It was some kind of smorgus-board cafeteria, and I had to be vegetarian for the afternoon because I could not cut the meat, let alone chew it! It was all fun though...
We got back to the hotel, then had an orientation session, met everyone in the CIEE group, and now we have a 3 hour break before we go out to dinner and whatever else we want to do-we'll be freed! Hallelujah!
Alright...I think I'm going to shower finally and take a nap. I am so delirious I feel like the ground is shaking under me...but-they do have earth tremors in Chile! So....
Hasta luego!
No comments:
Post a Comment