La gran aventura de Esteban

Santiago is a very livable city and generally speaking I felt safe here. Here are the facts that future exchange students need to know: 

• Santiago is enormous. It’s home to 7.0 of Chile’s 17.1 million inhabitants; it’s divided into 32 districts called “comunas.” 
• The five safest comunas are Santiago Centro, Providencia, Las Condes, Vitacura, and La Reina. I recommend that all future exchange students live in one of these five comunas. This semester, I lived in Providencia and attended university in Santiago Centro. 
• Las Condes is dubbed “el hogar de los ricos” (the home of the wealthy). 
• Relative to Santiago Centro, it’s a common practice to divide the city into four quadrants: NE, SE, SW, and NW. It is no coincidence that all five of the safest comunas are located in the NE quadrant. Regardless of the quadrant, however, it’s always best to visit unfamiliar neighborhoods in the daytime only. In the daylight, it’s easier to read street signs and sense movement around you. 
• Public Transportation - Metro: The metro system is easy to use. There are five metro lines and they are color-coded, so it’s really easy to read the metro map. Four important facts:

1. Before you even ride the metro for the first time, it’s worth investing 2,000 CLP ($4.06 USD) in a Tarjeta BIP. This rechargeable card saves you a lot of time waiting on line to buy individual tickets. (“Un boleto, por favor.”) 
2. Fares vary depending on the time of day. A ticket costs 670 CLP ($1.36 USD) during peak hours and 610 CLP ($1.24 USD) during non-peak hours.
3. During peak hours, the metro is extremely crowded (think Tokyo), so prepare yourself for delays, pushing, and shoving. Additionally, on certain metro lines, during peak hours service is sub-divided into two sub-colors to reduce bottlenecks, so make sure you’re paying attention to the following designations:  Red, Green, or ‘estación común’. This is hard to explain in writing, but you’ll see what I mean when you get here.
4. There is a student rate of 190 CLP ($0.39 USD) per ride, but you don’t qualify for this discount unless you study abroad here for two consecutive semesters. 

• Public Transportation - Bus: The bus system is far more complicated than the metro. Since I lived within walking distance of the university, the metro, and the supermarket, I rarely needed to use the bus, so I never made an effort to learn the system. Nevertheless, there are literally hundreds of lines, so that’s why it strikes me as confusing. 

  

If you’re trying to identify a Chilean among a group of Spanish speakers, here is the two-step litmus test:

1. Cachai?
2. Excessive use of ‘po’ as in ‘sipo’, ‘yapo’, ‘nopo’, ‘obvio po’, ‘trabajo po’.  

Highest frequency chilenismos

1. Cachai? / Me entendi?
2. Como estai?
3. Bacan!
4. Tomar once.
5. El casino.
6. El super.
7. Hacer sAndwich.
8. Al tiro.
9. Oye, tantas lunas!
10. Carrete / carretear / un carretero
11. comida chatarra 
12. Que lata! / Pucha! 
13. Buena onda / Mala onda

My favorite chilenismos

1. vale callampa / vale hongo / no salva a nadie
2. Tengo mas sed que toalla hippy.
3. Como calzon y poto.
4. Guatita llena, corazon contento. 

Other info

As we say in Chile, “Cuentas claras conserva la amistad.” 

PRME, por sus siglas en inglés.

• Isabel = Elizabeth
• Pablo = Paul
• Patricio = Patrick

Uno de mis mejores amig@s del mundo es Kristin Hanewald (nee Roberts), aka “Kristina Robertina.” Kristina es estudiante doctorada de la lingüística española en UGA y a ella le encanta la “linguistic lexical variation,” tales comos las siguientes frases coloquiales usadas en el mundo hispanohablante que significan “I don’t have any money” o “I don’t have any ‘dough’”: 

• No tengo lana. (I don’t have wool.) – México
• No tengo pasta. (I don’t have pasta.) – España
• No tengo plata. (I don’t have silver.) – Chile, Colombia 

To be updated soon. 

Nos vamos a congelar!

Steven Kanczewski
Seminario 62
7500847 PROVIDENCIA
CHILE

This was my address. I can’t believe it’s been 135 days (19+ weeks). This has really been “La gran aventura de Esteban” / Steven’s Great Adventure! When I entered college, I knew that I wanted to study abroad twice — a summer in Spain and a semester in Latin America — and I am so happy that I accomplished my goal. 

Everyone says that study abroad is a “life-changing” experience. It’s cliché, but it’s true. My experience in Valencia, Spain during Summer 2010 was fantastic, and I made four of my Top 10 best friends through this trip. I can’t remember a single moment of being truly unhappy while in Spain. Sure, I was stressed while writing some papers for school, but overall it was a probably the happiest 6.5 weeks of my life.

Chile, meanwhile, had its ups and downs. When you’re away from home for 19+ weeks, it’s inevitable that you’re going to have some peaks and valleys. My worst days were April 27 and June 6, and there were many other sub-par days scattered in the mix. Around June 6, I wrote my dad an e-mail saying that if I had the choice to do this all over again, I wouldn’t.

But my opinion has changed. Just like when I was in Spain, I made a handful of life-long friends. It’s not the quantity but rather the quality that matters. When my classes at the Universidad de Chile were overwhelming me, I always had two people who supported me: Susana Ramos and Helena Moreno. It was no coincidence that Susana and Helena lived with me. God put them there because I needed them, and I did everything I could to return the favor and support them, too. Susana, like me, is a “pájaro loco y feliz” / crazy but happy bird. She loves Madonna and also the song “Qué será de tí” by the Mexican singer Thalía. (El tema fue originalmente popularizado por el cantante brasileño Roberto Carlos, titulado Como vai você.) She dances around the house singing, and I love it. When Susana is happy, she is the epitome of unrestrained joy :)

Meanwhile, Helena was a fellow exchange student. We had a class together and were partners on a 3-person, semester-long group project. We ended up bonding over this class, taught by our beloved Papi Sánchez. Over the course of the semester, we created a list of 35+ “chistes internos” / inside jokes, my favorite of which was: “Tienes un cerebro enorme; va a explotar” / You have such a huge brain, it’s going to explode! Helena taught me how to cook a tortilla de patatas and inspired me to hit the gym and lose some weight. She traveled with me to Buenos Aires and Colonia. But best of all, Helena recently decided that I will be the Godfather to her first child. Helena’s getting engaged as soon as she returns to France this month, and she hopes  to start a family within three years. We’re really hoping her first child is a girl because Helena and her fiancé Alex have already agreed on the name Ines. Knowing that I’m going to have a French-speaking Goddaughter, I decided to take my first-ever French class this fall so that I can communicate with her. FREN 109, here I come! 

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that before little Ines comes our way, Susana, Helena, and I have already agreed to attend all three of our weddings. We are “hermanos” / siblings in every sense of the word, and as an only child it’s great to finally have two sisters :) 

Now that my South American adventure is over, I am proud to present my cumulative travels to date. Because I’m Chilean, I say, “Soy patiperro!” 

Twelve things I missed about the USA:

1. Staff members at the University of South Carolina. There were many moments here in Chile when I felt alone and helpless. In Chile, university is more of a required phase of your life than a part of your essence. There are no dormitories, there is very little staff to support you emotionally, there are no Division-I university sports teams comprised of your classmates, and there is little sense of family. But Carolina is my Family with a capital ‘F’, and I want to thank the staff members who have always been there for me ever since I arrived on campus for orientation in June 2009: Viki Fecas, Meredith McNiece, Dr. Carolyn Jones, Margaret Perkins, Jan Smoak, and Trish Jones.
2. Central heating in the winter. Yes, Chile has OECD status, but the “Rule of Steven” is that a country is not First World unless >75% of the population has central heating. 
3. An oven that actually works. (Toaster ovens are great, but they just aren’t big enough for quiches, cakes, etc.) 
4. Other kitchen appliances (i.e. blenders, mini-choppers). 
5. A real vacuum. 
6. Dryers. (It kind of stinks when it takes multiple hours to dry all your clothes, socks, and towels in front of a space heater.)  
7. Shopping at Staples for my beloved office supplies, esp. 3-ring binders (instead of 2-ring binders). 
8. Cracker Barrel and other Southern foods. Sure, most Southern dishes are fried and fattening, but everything in moderation, right?
9. Chipotle, Qdoba, and Panera.  
10. Grocery shopping at Publix. I can’t wait for a $4.99 roast beef and swiss sandwich!
11. American football and the camaraderie of university sports that is unique to the USA!
12. And of course, my family and friends! :) 

La Piojera y California Cantina.

El frío

Santiago está experimentando un invierno atípico con las temperaturas más bajas de las últimas décadas. La lampa registró -6,1 grados C (21 grados F) por la madrugada el 7 de julio. Han sido 14 vagundos muertos en la calle, una cosa horrible.  

La final femenina de Wimbledon

Mi tenaz ídolo Serena Williams se coronó campeona de Wimbledon el sábado el 7, después de despachar a Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. Por ver el partido en ESPN en español, por fin aprendí el vocabulario técnico de tenis que me faltaba. Aquí está la lista de términos:

La despedida de Hélèna

Después de la gran victoria de Serena, Elba, Hélèna y yo almorzamos en Olan, un excelente restaurant peruana en nuestra calle, para despedir a Hélèna, quien regresa a Francia el lunes el 9.

La final masculina de Wimbledon

Hoy día ganó su séptimo Wimbledon Roger Federer, conquistando al escocés Andy Murrary 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. En mi opinión, ¡este Wimbledon fue lo mejor en la historia! 2012 siempre será recordado como el ano del “comeback,” en lo cual Serena y Roger, los ambos con 30 años, volvieron a la gloria. 

La libertad (terminado con mis estudios)

Es increíble que yo salga de Chile en 15 días. El viernes el 30 de junio, termine mis exámenes finales y ¡qué alivio es! Este semestre fue lo más difícil de mi vida. Tomé cuatro ramos, que es menos que en los EE.UU (donde todo el mundo toma cinco o seis en promedio), pero algo que aprendí durante mi primer semestre en la universidad  es que normalmente en los EE.UU, por suerte, uno o dos de los cinco es fácil. Mientras tanto, acá en Chile diría que sí uno de mis ramos fue fácil (enseñado en ingles y enfocado en la política-economía, un tema que me interesa mucho) pero los tres otros fueron difíciles, requiriendo mucho tiempo y esfuerzo. Dos de ellos fueron enseñados en español y  en los ambos yo fue lo único del extranjero. Llegué a Chile buscando un desafío, pero para ser honesto, nunca pensé que iba a ser tan difícil mi semestre.

El sistema escolar de Chile es bastante diferente que lo de los EE.UU. Para comenzar, la escala de notas es 1,0 a 7,0, en la cual 7,0 es perfecto. Si estás ausente el día de un examen, automáticamente recibes un 1,0. Si puedes mostrar que verdaderamente estabas enfermo o tenías una emergencia familiar, tienes derecho a tomar un examen “recuperativo” durante el período de los exámenes finales, que intuitivamente siempre se lleva a cabo el final del semestre. (Es un período de dos semanas.) En mi opinión, esta característica del sistema es horrible. En los EE.UU, siempre estoy muy estresado al final del semestre. ¡Tres exámenes finales, especialmente cuando son acumulativos, son bastos! Imagina tomar tres exámenes finales acumulativos, más un examen extra, dentro de dos semanas. No gracias.

Por suerte, no fue necesario para mí tomar un examen recuperativo así; no obstante, tuve tres exámenes acumulativos:

• FIN 300 (40% de la nota final)
• FIN 357 (40%)
• MKT 300 (25%) 

Despedidas (ya)

El viernes: La despedida de Andrea en su departamento cerca de Manuel Montt. 

El sábado: La despedida de Laura en Tiramisú. 

La final de la Eurocopa

El domingo: Un grupo de nosotros del intercambio se reunió en el bar Dublin en Patio Bellavista para ver la final de la Eurocopa. Mi querida Furia Roja de España dominó totalmente a la ForzaDEBILIDAD Azzurri de Italia, 4-0. Estoy especialmente orgulloso de mi pequeño hombre Andrés Iniesta, el portero espectacular Iker Casillas, el Fernando Torres y el entrenador, mi abuelito, Vicente del Bosque. tehe :)

Varias veces acá en Chile, me encontré sin poder describir dolor en y características de partes del cuerpo. Para poner fin a mis dudas, acá he puesto dos dibujos:

No me gusta tanto mi curso de Marketing, pero por lo minimo el profe menciona varias instituciones chilenos que tienen algo que ver con la gerencia de la economia. Ejemplos:

• ANP: Asociacion Nacional de Proveedores: Un grupo de 42 fabricantes (inc. Nestle, Unilever, P&G). Proteger los fabricantes contra los distribuidores (esp. minoristas), que con cada dia se convierten en ser mas poderosos. 

• Ale, la boliviana: Pediste una reconsideracion de las ofertas del club lider???
• Yo: Siiiiii jajajaja Los ladrones del Club Lider. Me han robado de cinco barras de chocolate! Es una verguenza total 

El 11:

• El gobierno de España aceptó un rescate del FMI de $13 mil millones de dólares. 
• El rating agency Fitch bajó su calificación de los bancos españoles BBVA y Santander.

El 13:

• Moody’s bajó su calificación de bonos de 10 años del gobierno de España hacia el nivel justo arriba de “junk bonds.”

El 16: 

• ¡Había una fantástica reunión de amigos en el departamento de Claire! Todos disfrutaron de vino tinto y crepes. Habían un alemán (de Nuremberg), una boliviana (de Cochabamba), una colombiana (de Bogotá),  un español (de Barcelona), un italiano (de Roma), nueve franceses (de todas partes), y yo (de Mahwah, #representando). Mi vida verdaderamente es L’Auberge espagnole (una excelente película francesa de 2002). 

Esta explica quien soy yo: Siempre tiene la necesidad irreprimible de comer chocolate. (He always has an overwhelming urge to eat chocolate.)

My best friends at home know that I’m obsessed with chocolate, and Cody Reynolds in particular asked me about Chilean chocolate. The only Chilean brand I’ve found is Costa, which has its factory in Vina del Mar. Meanwhile, there are a lot of Chilean producers of alfajores and the luxury brand is Entre Lagos, which has a factory in Valdivia. In the South of Chile, you can find kuchen and various other German desserts because this region has a lot of German immigrants. 

Discúlpenme por no poner poner al día este blog. Agradezco su paciencia, es que tengo un montón de tarea. 

Con Ale, súper amistosa y buena amiga del intercambio, de Cochabamba, Bolivia. Estamos llevando bufandas dentro de la casa porque estamos en invierno y no tenemos calefacción central.

Desde hoy (el 4 de junio) tiene 33% aprobación del gobierno de Sebastián Piñera, subiendo de 7% de la última encuesta. 

Classroom behavior and academic policies are significantly different in Chile than in the U.S. Some observations:

• The grading scale is 1,0 to 7,0. If you are absent on the date of a test, you automatically get a 1,0, which is the lowest grade. To pass, you need a 4,0. It sounds easy, but very often it’s not. Class test averages are sometimes 3,4, but usually the professors are nice and curve up the average to 4,0. A grade above 6,0 is rock star status. To all the nerds in the U.S. who make 100s on their accounting exams, it will be even harder for you in Chile! 
• Blatant texting during class that rarely gets reprimanded.
• Violent “shhhh!!!” from the nerds to the less focused chatty students.
• No one says “God Bless You” (Spanish: Salud or Jesús) when someone sneezes. 
• Test grades are typed into an Excel spreadsheet and e-mailed to the whole class. In one of my classes, grades are confidential by número de RUT (Social Security Number); in two other classes, grades are posted right next to your name; in one of these classes, if your mark was below 4,0 (which is passing), your grade is typed and bolded in red. WOW!!!! I can think of several USC professors who would DIE if this were the case. Horray for cultural experiences! 

This weekend is full of studying.

Sidenote: Academics and students like me speak Spanish that is “neutro.” 

South America is awesome, but this experience abroad has reminded me of four things:

1. I love my family.
2. I love my friends. 
3. I love my university. 
4. I love my country. 

Let’s talk about #3: I love my university. As many of you know, I am a “super planner” who literally plans his life years in advance. Well, it’s May 26, and to my delight I just accessed VIP and noticed that Fall 2012 final exam dates are already available! I am elated! It’s May. We’re talking about December, people!!! In this aspect, USC kicks butt compared to my beloved (but frustrating) Universidad de Chile, where you get your final exam schedule 11 days before the exam period begins… 

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! I have finally “defeated” evil currency exchange offices!!! Thanks to my Chilean friend Ali Gilberto Sanzana and the appreciating USD, today I went to a casa de cambio on Calle Augustinas and on TWO SEPARATE TRANSACTIONS I only lost a combined 1.17%, as compared to 17.67% on one transaction on April 27 to the thieves near Pedro de Valdivia!!!! I feel AMAZING!!!! This is the least amount of money I’ve ever lost on a foreign currency transaction!! Not everyone is this world is a crook!! And this time I was more alert and prepared and compared the rates at multiple establishments!

¡Vamos a Argentina y Uruguay!

I’ve been in Buenos Aires for three days now, and I’ve come to the conclusion that of the cities I’ve seen it’s my favorite in South America. I love Buenos Aires because (1) it’s very European; (2) the people are so expressive and dramatic (like me); (3) the accent is entertaining! Example: “Che vos sos un boludo, vení acá para comer po[sh]o!”

Nevertheless, although Buenos Aires is great, it’s difficult to get around here if you don’t speak Spanish. Bottom line: Many Europeans speak fluent English and many Latinos speak sparse English. All these countries are so far away from America and England that it’s not as vital to learn English.

So much more to say, but you will have to wait until I have some more time to update this blog!!!

The Old Town of Colonia del Sacramento is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Spanish: Ciudades Patrimonio de la Humanidad).

In the meantime, travel tip:

• If you’re looking for a hostel in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, I’d recommend El Español at Manuel Lobo 377. hostelespaniol.com It’s on the same street that you take to walk to the Old Town. 

*

The rise of Brazil:

When I was in Argentina and Uruguay, I was surprised by the massive quantities of Brazilian tourists. Sure, I realized that Brazil borders these countries and therefore it’s quick and cheap to travel to them, but I just wasn’t expecting so many Brazilians. As a student of both Spanish and Portuguese, for me it was a lot of fun because I took three organized tours, and all three were conducted in portuñol. But my prediction is that it is more important to learn Portuguese than it is to learn Spanish. Here are my reasons:

• Brazil is a potent concentration of power. It is the largest country in Latin America in terms of area and population, so it benefits from economies of scale. Additionally, it is extremely rich in natural resources. The kicker is that the largest existing untapped oil reserve in the world today is in the Amazon, and in my “Latin America in World Affairs” class my professor mentioned that many scholars are saying that Brazil has the potential to become the next Saudi Arabia.
• Brazil is one of the BRIC countries. Together, the BRICs represent 25% of the world’s land and 40% of the world’s population. It is estimated that by 2027 the BRIC economies will overtake the G7 economies. 

In short, although I love Spanish, know it quite well (much better than Portuguese, for example), and realize that it is spoken in many, many countries, my vacation to Argentina and Uruguay taught me an unexpected lesson/gave me an unexpected new goal: I will return to USC in the fall determined to not only maintain my Spanish by auditing a Spanish course but also determined to truly advance my Portuguese. Both are vital. 

Antes de llegar a Chile, tenía varias expectativas, pero dentro de ellas no estaban convertirme en chef. Sin embargo, por vivir con una francesa que le interesa experimentar en la cocina, ahora sé hacer los siguientes platos:

• Enchiladas (México)
• Halusky (la Republica Checa)
• Pabellón criollo (Venezuela)
• Quiche Lorraine (Francia)
• Tortilla de patatas (España)
• Varios platos de lomo de cerdo, palta y salmón

Unos consejos: Le recomiendo que use estes sitios de Web cuando tenga cualquier duda en la cocina:

• Allrecipes.com - Adjusts ingredients based on desired # of servings. 
• Supercook.com - Think your pantry is empty and that you need to go to the grocery store? Think again. If your imagination is failing you, go to Supercook.com and type in all the ingredients you have. It automatically generates a list of recipes you can make with those ingredients!

¡Buen provecho!