The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain…and the rain in Chile falls mainly in Concepción.

Before going abroad, I was told to bring a good umbrella—the beginning of the semester is timed nicely with the end of the winter here, which is the rainy season in the southern parts of Chile. Overall, it hasn’t been as rainy as I was expecting. However, when I left the house today to walk to a little grocery store (my new favorite place to buy food…only five blocks from my house), it was raining, so I decided to take some pictures. I figured I should have some photos of the real life here, not just the idyllic sunny days. So here you are: “Conce in the Rain”

My street--the rain leaves a lot of fog in the hills behind the University. It's really pretty in person.
You’ve got to pay attention to the street traffic when you’re walking in the rain; any car that drives by will make a splash! Although most drivers are very considerate and slow down when they see people walking, the goal is still to be as far from the street as possible.

This is an intersection near the U. The picture is blurry, but gives a good idea of the huge amount of water that accumulates in the streets…

And finally…the grocery store! There are other, larger grocery stores in the city as well, but little ones like this are common for simple things like bread, produce, milk, yogurt, baked goods, etc. I have walked past this one for weeks, but never went inside until about four days ago. I love it. I especially love that the whole window display is alcohol bottles. Ha. As I was crossing my final intersection before reaching this grocery store today, I had a horrible thought: what if it was closed? Most businesses aren’t open on weekends at all (if they are open, it’s only on Saturday morning), but since the big grocery stores have long hours every day, I assumed this would be open as well. I lucked out—it was! I got to escape from the rain and buy my milk, bread, and cheese. Mmm.

One thing that I find funny about the rain here: a lot of people don’t leave home when it rains. I find this is especially apparent at the Consultorio (health clinic where I’m observing). On days when it rains, many people just won’t show up for their appointments. I feel like the people would be used to the rain, since it rains fairly often, and life would proceed as normal, but for some reason, people just don’t go to see the doctor when it’s raining…

Now for stories about the idyllic sunny days! There were two GLORIOUS days this week in which the temperature was warmer, the sun was shining, and I couldn’t wait to get out of class to walk around the city. On Wednesday, I left my house with two objectives: (1) explore a big hill in my neighborhood and (2) see the Río Bío-Bío. I accomplished both objectives and had a lovely long afternoon walk. Photographic proof is included below.

View #1 from the hill: The clock tower in the background is a University landmark.

View #2: A lot more houses than I was expecting…

View #3: There was a whole hidden neighborhood behind my neighborhood!

View #4: Part of the neighborhood that I knew existed. The big building in the background is the University’s library.

To get to the river, I walked past Parque Ecuador, a nice public park near my house. I took this picture because of the ‘soccer court’…there’s one at the University too. Since soccer is very popular here, they have cement soccer fields in areas where there would be basketball courts in the States. Still walking towards the river. Because the main road to the river is higher than the neighborhood that is alongside it, there are these crazy sets of access stairs every once in awhile… I made it! View of the city from the river.

This bridge is an old one…only open to pedestrians.

The Río Bío-Bío is the largest waterway in Chile (I think), which is why I decided it was essential that I see it! What kind of person lives in a city for a month without seeing its most important waterway?

Now for a lesson on the size of the world: it is small. At least, it’s small enough that an American girl can see one man in a Vermont t-shirt and two (yes, two!) people in Green Bay Packers sweatshirts in one week. In a city in Chile. What?!

Anyway, I hope all’s well in the homeland of Paris Hilton, What Not to Wear, and The Simpsons! [Please note: all of these TV shows are viewed frequently in my house, although dubbed or with subtitles…the majority of the TV viewed here consists of terrible programs from the US, shows that almost make me not want to be American (A Double Shot at Love, anyone? Paris Hilton’s ‘My New BFF’?). However, there is also the nightly ‘telenovela’—the South American soap opera. It comes on right before the nighttime news (10-10:45 PM) and apparently is used as a marketing tool by the news station. Anyway, it’s popular. The drama of ¿Dónde está Elisa? (Where is Elisa?) just ended on Thursday. I’m excited for the next saga.]

Love,

Tiernan