Hola friends!
I've realized that I've told you all a lot about the exceptional parts of my life here, but almost nothing about the daily. I hope this can be the start of a series of shorter posts about life here.
I'm going to start with my travels to and from school.
As I have been told by the business students in the English conversation class I help with, "You walk more than us." I've come to not think much of it, but they are in fact quite right.
Valparaíso is a city of hills. There are 43 that rise, brimming with colorful houses all the way to the very top, around a crescent shaped bay. Descending the hills, you arrive at the more urban part of the city, the Plan. This is a small stretch just a few blocks wide that ends right at the water's edge.
I live in the lovely yellow house in this photo. It's located in the lower section of Cerro San Juan de Dios (Hill of Saint Juan of God).
To get anywhere from my house, you need to walk about 5 minutes down a street called Ecuador until you get to the Plan. From there, you can get pretty much anywhere in the city within 30 minutes walking or climb another hill (yes you have to go down to go back up!).
To get to class everyday, I leave my house and go immediately down a very long and steep set of stairs set into our hill. These stairs pass by the doors of our neighbors who live even more on the hill side than we do and let out on Ecuador.
During the day, walking down Ecuador is usually pretty peaceful, minus the trash and the packs of stray dogs. Because it's the city's biggest and rowdiest row of bars, nearly everything is shuttered and bolted during the day. That being said, I do pass by my favorite corner store where they think it's really weird that I've taken a while to catch on to the fact that they bolt their soda fridge and my favorite bakery where I buy whole-grain bread (still not a big thing in this country) and the occasional fantastic cream-filled pastry.
Once reaching the plan, I walk a few more blocks towards the bay past street vendors and local cafterias (what they call diners). Then, I usually run along the water in desperate attempt to catch the metro... which seems ALWAYS to be just leaving, but only comes ever 12 or so minutes.
After just two quick stops, I hop off the metro and walk about 2 blocks to Casa Central, the main class building of la Católica, arriving usually just on time... which in Chilean time means I usually have about five minutes to sit and wonder why I ran to catch that train.
Love to all. Please take a minute to appreciate your cars and the presence of other fast-walking pedestrians for me!
(Cotidiana means daily)
I've realized that I've told you all a lot about the exceptional parts of my life here, but almost nothing about the daily. I hope this can be the start of a series of shorter posts about life here.
I'm going to start with my travels to and from school.
As I have been told by the business students in the English conversation class I help with, "You walk more than us." I've come to not think much of it, but they are in fact quite right.
Valparaíso is a city of hills. There are 43 that rise, brimming with colorful houses all the way to the very top, around a crescent shaped bay. Descending the hills, you arrive at the more urban part of the city, the Plan. This is a small stretch just a few blocks wide that ends right at the water's edge.
I live in the lovely yellow house in this photo. It's located in the lower section of Cerro San Juan de Dios (Hill of Saint Juan of God).
 |
| The yellow on the far left of the yellow, red, blue row |
To get anywhere from my house, you need to walk about 5 minutes down a street called Ecuador until you get to the Plan. From there, you can get pretty much anywhere in the city within 30 minutes walking or climb another hill (yes you have to go down to go back up!).
To get to class everyday, I leave my house and go immediately down a very long and steep set of stairs set into our hill. These stairs pass by the doors of our neighbors who live even more on the hill side than we do and let out on Ecuador.
During the day, walking down Ecuador is usually pretty peaceful, minus the trash and the packs of stray dogs. Because it's the city's biggest and rowdiest row of bars, nearly everything is shuttered and bolted during the day. That being said, I do pass by my favorite corner store where they think it's really weird that I've taken a while to catch on to the fact that they bolt their soda fridge and my favorite bakery where I buy whole-grain bread (still not a big thing in this country) and the occasional fantastic cream-filled pastry.
 |
| The closed bars heading down |
 |
| View of my house (the yellow with the brown roof) heading up |
Once reaching the plan, I walk a few more blocks towards the bay past street vendors and local cafterias (what they call diners). Then, I usually run along the water in desperate attempt to catch the metro... which seems ALWAYS to be just leaving, but only comes ever 12 or so minutes.
 |
| The Plan - notice how the pedestrian light is counting down until we can go! Interesting strategy. |
After just two quick stops, I hop off the metro and walk about 2 blocks to Casa Central, the main class building of la Católica, arriving usually just on time... which in Chilean time means I usually have about five minutes to sit and wonder why I ran to catch that train.
Love to all. Please take a minute to appreciate your cars and the presence of other fast-walking pedestrians for me!
(Cotidiana means daily)
Dear Noora,
ReplyDeleteIt is delightful and refreshing to hear about the daily routine you have come to embrace and enjoy to the fullest. It's always important to look at all of your adventures, no matter how routine, big, or small, to really understand the whole picture. I am so very glad and proud of your day-to-day :) Keep running to catch every train, though, and make the most of every minute.
Love from home,
Josh
Wonderful! You'll have no problem staying fit with all that running and hill climbing. Sounds like you are establishing a nice rhythm to your days. Miss you !
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