So I have safely arrived in Santiago. Here is the low down on my last 24 hours or so. Yesterday after noon I packed and cleaned and packed some more. Then around 11:30 pm I left with my host parents and sister to go out one last time before I took off for Santiago. We went to this restruant/club, that had an amazing blend of entertainment and participation. There was an 80{s band there for the first 30 mins and then the party really began. The MC for the night announced that there was going to be a contest. The winners would get a bottle of champagne. The rules were sketchy to me since they were in Spanish, but I didn{t ask any questions. The floor was open for dancing and Claudia my sis and I went for it. Even though the building was big, there were over 200 people in there dancing so it got hot really fast and soon everyone was sweating. But that didn{t stop the dancing. The music stopped and we all returned to our seats to watch a couple from Argentina perform a Tengo for us. Whoa, beautiful! Then more of us doing the dancing. Then a singing contest. There is this song that my host dad likes to sing called America. He was able to get into the contest as one of the five contestants and he dedicated the song to me. THe contest was judged by the crowd and everyone loved my host dad, so he won. We got the bottle of champagne! Suddenly the MC was holding another bottle of champagne and announcing that a reggaton dance contest would be taking place. Reggaton is a mixture of hip hop and salsa. It is the type of music that girls get really... booty with. I actually use a reggaton cd to work out to, so I have danced alot to it, but barely in public. Okay, enough said. Before I realized what was going on I was pushed onto the dance floor by my sister and was announced as one of the five contestants. Whoa, back it up. I am white! I am not latina! I was not going to compete in a dancing competition with latinas, skinny latinas with mini skirts on! But at that point it would have been akward for me to sit down. So I danced. The MC made his way down the line asking each girl her name and then giving her about 2 mins to dance for the crowd. Okay, nervous is an understatement when describing how I felt about dancing reggaton BY MY SELF in front of more than 200 people! But when the MC asked for my name, he also asked where I was from. I told him California and suddenly everyone was watching. There is a stereotype here that gringos cant dance. Well, they wanted to see a gringa try to dance to reggaton. So I danced. And they loved me. The crowd choose me and another girl (the one wearing the mini skirt) for a dance off. I was so nervous that I almost puked right there on stage. But I danced and I was sure that the other girl would win. She was SO sexual in her dancing, she basically looked like a stripper. Well, I guess even though the guys like strippers, women here in Chile would rather see a more innocent version of reggaton. So when the audience was asked for applause, I won. Yep, another bottle of champagne for our table. From that point on, all these people were coming up to me wanting to hug adn kiss the gringa that won the dance. I was the queen of reggaton! Crazy, I know. But believe it or not true.
Okay, I will try to keep the rest short since the title promises that... We got home from teh bar at about 6 in teh morning and a taxi picked me up at 7. SO I didnt shower, I just made some food to eat and gathered my stuff together. I didnt even change clothes! I was planning on using the 6 hour bus ride to Santiago to sleep, but I had insomnia and I spent the six hours staring at the curtain on the window. I arrived in Santiago where it is about 98 F, and finally made it to my apartment after a huge adventure. And there I realzied what a big mistake it was not to take a shower before getting on teh bus. There is no running water in our apartment today due to maintence. So I smell like alcohol and sweat, and there is nothing I can do about it.
On a very bright note, I met my roommates and I love them. One guy is chilean and lives here all teh time, so he will be my roomate for the whole 6 months. The other guy is from argentina and although I cannot understand a word he says becasue of his accent, he seems very very nice. I am, despite the gross film of dirt and sweat covering my body, extremely content. This will be a great year!
Sorry I didnt keep my promise about keeping this blog short!
Okay, I will try to keep the rest short since the title promises that... We got home from teh bar at about 6 in teh morning and a taxi picked me up at 7. SO I didnt shower, I just made some food to eat and gathered my stuff together. I didnt even change clothes! I was planning on using the 6 hour bus ride to Santiago to sleep, but I had insomnia and I spent the six hours staring at the curtain on the window. I arrived in Santiago where it is about 98 F, and finally made it to my apartment after a huge adventure. And there I realzied what a big mistake it was not to take a shower before getting on teh bus. There is no running water in our apartment today due to maintence. So I smell like alcohol and sweat, and there is nothing I can do about it.
On a very bright note, I met my roommates and I love them. One guy is chilean and lives here all teh time, so he will be my roomate for the whole 6 months. The other guy is from argentina and although I cannot understand a word he says becasue of his accent, he seems very very nice. I am, despite the gross film of dirt and sweat covering my body, extremely content. This will be a great year!
Sorry I didnt keep my promise about keeping this blog short!
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