Yes…its true…I know that you all were wondering about this and it was the thing you wanted to know the most and I’m here to tell you that its true. Counterclockwise is the way the toilet flushes. Although this has been a shocker, I must say that its probably been the easiest one to recover from thus far in my visit to Valpo-Viña, Chile. There are constant reminders that I’m not in the U.S. anymore, Toto.
You know you’re in Chile when:
1. You throw your toilet paper in the trash not the toilet.
2. Your shower is facilating between hot and cold.
3. The bus driver starts to drive away while your standing in the open door.
4. They have special clips on chairs and tables in restaurants for your purse so they don’t get stolen.
5. You see any and every color on houses – including neon green.
6. You get soda water in a little glass when you go to a cafe or ice cream parler.
7. It costs $950 pesos for a coffee.
8. You eat dinner around 11pm, go to the bar at 1am and leave around 5am.
9. Mangy dogs wander around the streets everywhere.
10. You can’t talk on your cell phone in the street because someone might steal it from you mid-sentence.
11. Your host mom tidies up the house – including your room – every day and puts things away for you, like a hotel.
12. You greet everyone with a kiss on the left cheek.
Well, thats the craziest stuff that’s happened thus far to me. Its been an interesting few first days and so far I really like it here. This week is orientation week and we’ll be choosing classes, activities we’d like to be involved in and learning about life at the university and in Chile. There are a huge number of exchange students at PUCV, and the program is extremely well-developed and organized (a big change from Angers, France). Hopefully, pictures will be coming soon (I haven’t had the courage yet to take it with me for fear of it being stolen) and of course more updates are too come!
Chiao,
E
