That "time" thing sure is slippery!
The whole weekly blog thing didn't go quite to plan, but a post is a post, right? Here's a brief recap of my first 3 weeks in the southernmost city in the world:
Orientation
Arrival here was as hectic as you might have imagined. The 17 of us happy campers were put up in a hotel for the first three nights for non-stop introductions, bonding, and orientating. I was relieved to learn that, at the very least, my classmates are very funny. I don't think you can ask for much more from the 16 people you have to spend the next three months inseparable from. In the midst of this slow discovery of what the semester might actually have in store, we were taking on a half-day boat tour through the Beagle Canal, where we got our first real glimpse of this area's incredibly unique environment and wildlife. Orientation came to a close with more questions than answers, intense anticipation, and the long awaited meeting of our host families.
Homestay
I have the pleasure of being housed by Hector Tapia, his wife Andrade, and their 15 year old son Francisco. Hector is a man of few words, or at least words I can't entirely understand yet. I originally thought he was a factory worker until he took me to buy his lab coat with him and go talk to some people at a hospital. I was really thrown for a loop when I asked him one morning what time he was going to go to work, to which he replied, "No tengo un horario. Soy el jefe" (I don't have a schedule. I'm the boss). Andrade has really taken me under her wing and is a total mother goose. Originally from Bolivia, she has practically no accent and is far easier to talk with. She's an incredibly caring woman, though I'm not allowed to clean any dishes and have to make sure she knows where I am 24 hours a day. Francisco, or Fran for short, has been a welcoming brother. I've definitely spent some quality time with him, but the guy really loves video games.
Hector and Andrade have two other sons as well; a 24 year old studying in Buenos Aires who I don't think I'll ever meet, and Nahuel, a 30 year old who lives ten minutes from us with his wife, two step-children Mia and Juaco and his biological son Julian. They're around often and have been the source of plenty of akward situations. Mia's 15th birthday party, for instance, was a great opportunity for all the men of my extended family to laugh at my sub-par comprehension of Spanish. I do think Juaco thinks I'm the coolest person ever though. And how could I talk about my homestay with out mentioning our dog Champa. He's more similar to a rat than a dog and still shakes every time we're in the same room, but I can't imagine my day without him.
Parents on Parents facetime
What I Do
While this does often feel like just a big adventure, it's important to remember that I still have classes to attend. My current classwork is split up into three sections: Research Ethics, Natural Sciences of Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica, and Spanish (though everything is taught in Spanish). There have been plenty of of laboratory/research center visits and difficult lectures from local scientist, but these two first weeks of classes haven't been much work. This has given us the opportunity to settle into a rhythm and do as much as we can while we have the time. To list some of what we've been up to, we've hiked around some of the mountains around town, been to an obscene amount of bars. I was also able to find a gym with a pool, so I'm not getting too out of shape. And that's about it! Life is more or less tranquil down here, and with an excursion to Chile coming up next weekend, I'll have plenty more to talk about soon!
