Ok, this is the first of very many many posts about things I´ve noticed but have had no time to post about, since I no longer have a computer. The first of these is Chilean stoplights.
I used to think New York driving was awful and scary. However that was before I´d been to Chile. It brings it all to a whole new level. Good lord! These people are crazy. First of all, you know how in New York when the walk sign starts blinking you get ten blinks to cross? Yeah, not so much here. You see blinking and you run, no matter where you are on the street. Because as soon as it stops, that means the green light is up, and you will die if you are in the street. I have been in the middle of the street and people have actually stepped on the gas full throttle, meaning they were two seconds away from killing me if I didn´t do cardio.
This may be one of the scariest parts of living here so far. You might think no big deal, she´s lived in the city, she knows how to walk. NO, it is completely different. In New York drivers openly hate pedestrians, honk at them, but never run over them. Here it is as if people walking across the street don´t exist. If I don´t burn my hand off with the damn calefecon, I´m going to be killed by a car that thinks red means, hurry, you might run it without getting killed. Just thought I´d share this little tidbit with those who might be thinking of braving the streets of Santiago themselves. Wear a helmet.
Tuesday, June 17
Monday, June 16
HATE technology
I hate technology! Not having a computer is a huge bummer, and of course today was busier than usual. I have so many things I want to post, but for now I´ll give an overview of my weekend and leave it at that. So, Friday I finally hung out with the roomies, helped make dinner, good times. Of course this ended at 12 a.m. because that´s how Chile rolls, but it was fun nonetheless. So then Saturday I did some major sightseeing, pics of which will be posted as soon as I have some time at work.
Saturday night deserves it´s own post, but I don´t have time. I went to my first Chilean barbeque! Chileans love their barbeques, and they are hard core filled with lots of meat, and lots of pisco, which is equivalent to vodka, but is technically a brandy according to wikipedia. It´s very sweet, and I had my first piscola. Then we went to a disco, and since J is an important guy in Latin America, we of course were in the VIP of the VIP sections, which was amazing. We were there until it closed at 5, and then we went to J´s for some after hours winding down. I got home at 8, and that is a typical Chilean night out. AMAZING. Not so amazing was my latin dancing, which I am terrible at, but luckily most of the music was like what you´d find at a U.S. club. Anyway, after much fun times, I had a good day at work and am headed to dinner with J and J and M in a little while. More posts tomorrow, I promise!
Saturday night deserves it´s own post, but I don´t have time. I went to my first Chilean barbeque! Chileans love their barbeques, and they are hard core filled with lots of meat, and lots of pisco, which is equivalent to vodka, but is technically a brandy according to wikipedia. It´s very sweet, and I had my first piscola. Then we went to a disco, and since J is an important guy in Latin America, we of course were in the VIP of the VIP sections, which was amazing. We were there until it closed at 5, and then we went to J´s for some after hours winding down. I got home at 8, and that is a typical Chilean night out. AMAZING. Not so amazing was my latin dancing, which I am terrible at, but luckily most of the music was like what you´d find at a U.S. club. Anyway, after much fun times, I had a good day at work and am headed to dinner with J and J and M in a little while. More posts tomorrow, I promise!
Saturday, June 14
Thursday, June 12
Trabajando en Santiago
I know I already posted today. But I´m here for such a short time, and I want to document everything, and I just have so many things I notice! I´ve worked in quite a few laboratories in my day. Some were very strict, and some were not, some in between. But to be honest, nothing compares to a foreign country. Everything here is SO lax.
For example, in the U.S., in every single lab I worked at we were required to put anything pointy, as well as anything glass in these special metal containers that we then had to lock, and they were taken out by special cleaning people each week in special biohazard bags. And this was not just something labs did, this is due to a law meant to protect people. Here in Chile, they have a container to collect glass in, but it is an open tub. Gloves go in a normal trash can, gloves can be reused, gloves can be taken off however you please! AND I worked with phenol for the first time. Phenol is a very volitale and dangerous incredibly toxic. There are also experiments where it seems to be a possible carcinogen in lab animals. Good lord! I used this stuff in the most unordered lab environment I´ve ever worked in.
Having said all this and possibly made labs in Chile seem inept, I have forever thought all the regulations in the states were unecessary. I thought it was so stupid, even when I was working with human skin on a regular basis, that I needed to be wary of contamination and being careful to wash my hands every 5 seconds. And for the most part, it really is unecessary. I´m sure the accident rate here in Chile in labs is not any worse than in the states. However, when we went through hours and hours of safety training at P&G, we got to watch a lot of videos about things that can go wrong in a lab. Most of them were based on true stories. They were not kidding around, all this stuff can kill you. It is scary shit on the real. The worst was Remember Charlie, which is an amazing video that made everyone in the audience all three times I had to watch it break out into crocodile tears. I don´t reccomend watching it if you are paranoid or have a weak stomach.
So now, all those things I learned, like how phenol can be absorbed in the skin, and you need to clean your bench with alcohol each day, or even storing glass in a locked container start to make sense. My new awareness has made me extra cautious, and thus brings me to my conclusion. They say before you must know the rules before you can break them. I think my time in the U.S. fully taught me the rules, and I mastered them. Chile makes a little more sense, but I believe I will only avoid an accident because of my intense training in the U.S. I don´t know what training is like here in Chile, but I can´t help but wonder if my two countries need to mingle a bit more to come to a commonality.
For example, in the U.S., in every single lab I worked at we were required to put anything pointy, as well as anything glass in these special metal containers that we then had to lock, and they were taken out by special cleaning people each week in special biohazard bags. And this was not just something labs did, this is due to a law meant to protect people. Here in Chile, they have a container to collect glass in, but it is an open tub. Gloves go in a normal trash can, gloves can be reused, gloves can be taken off however you please! AND I worked with phenol for the first time. Phenol is a very volitale and dangerous incredibly toxic. There are also experiments where it seems to be a possible carcinogen in lab animals. Good lord! I used this stuff in the most unordered lab environment I´ve ever worked in.
Having said all this and possibly made labs in Chile seem inept, I have forever thought all the regulations in the states were unecessary. I thought it was so stupid, even when I was working with human skin on a regular basis, that I needed to be wary of contamination and being careful to wash my hands every 5 seconds. And for the most part, it really is unecessary. I´m sure the accident rate here in Chile in labs is not any worse than in the states. However, when we went through hours and hours of safety training at P&G, we got to watch a lot of videos about things that can go wrong in a lab. Most of them were based on true stories. They were not kidding around, all this stuff can kill you. It is scary shit on the real. The worst was Remember Charlie, which is an amazing video that made everyone in the audience all three times I had to watch it break out into crocodile tears. I don´t reccomend watching it if you are paranoid or have a weak stomach.
So now, all those things I learned, like how phenol can be absorbed in the skin, and you need to clean your bench with alcohol each day, or even storing glass in a locked container start to make sense. My new awareness has made me extra cautious, and thus brings me to my conclusion. They say before you must know the rules before you can break them. I think my time in the U.S. fully taught me the rules, and I mastered them. Chile makes a little more sense, but I believe I will only avoid an accident because of my intense training in the U.S. I don´t know what training is like here in Chile, but I can´t help but wonder if my two countries need to mingle a bit more to come to a commonality.
Santiago Social Life
Well, I can´t say yesterday was particularly easy, nor is today. My cousin´s funeral is today, and my family and I have been on the phone quite a bit. I feel very guilty that I can´t be there, and of course a young death brings up many dark thoughts and feelings, but for the most part I´m trying to be positive. After all, what´s done is done, and while it will take time to heal, it lets me have a new perspective and appreciation for the life I´m slowly building here, and especially for the unity of my family.
Last night I went to dinner with J, a friend from P&G of J and M. The letters are really getting quite confusing, so I may have to just give it up, and ignore some peoples possible preference for anonymity. We went to a restaurant/bar, really more of a lounge, which was quite fun. I had a cosmopolitan, and determine that being away from college and losing a little weight from all this stress equals an easily intoxicated Jessica. So, I stuck to my one cosmo for the night, which to be honest, was the best cosmo I´ve ever had. I´m sorry New York, ya´ll don´t cut it anymore.
Anyway, it was a fun night of talking, meeting a new person, and just all out good times. J is from Mexico originally, but has lived in a bunch of countries in Latin America, and Miami. Thus, he speaks english. He is also relatively new to Chile, only having been here since January, so we have some of the same first complaints when moving anywhere new. It´s always nice to know you´re not alone. His friend is having a birthday party tonight, so I may go to that as well. Anyway, Chile is starting to look up, and hopefully these are good signs of things to come. And heaven help my spanish, it needs it.
Last night I went to dinner with J, a friend from P&G of J and M. The letters are really getting quite confusing, so I may have to just give it up, and ignore some peoples possible preference for anonymity. We went to a restaurant/bar, really more of a lounge, which was quite fun. I had a cosmopolitan, and determine that being away from college and losing a little weight from all this stress equals an easily intoxicated Jessica. So, I stuck to my one cosmo for the night, which to be honest, was the best cosmo I´ve ever had. I´m sorry New York, ya´ll don´t cut it anymore.
Anyway, it was a fun night of talking, meeting a new person, and just all out good times. J is from Mexico originally, but has lived in a bunch of countries in Latin America, and Miami. Thus, he speaks english. He is also relatively new to Chile, only having been here since January, so we have some of the same first complaints when moving anywhere new. It´s always nice to know you´re not alone. His friend is having a birthday party tonight, so I may go to that as well. Anyway, Chile is starting to look up, and hopefully these are good signs of things to come. And heaven help my spanish, it needs it.
Tuesday, June 10
For the Davidson Family
Well, this is unfortunately a very serious, sad post. This evening my parents informed me my cousin died from an overdose. He was two years younger than me, so young. He had a problem with cocaine for many years now, and despite rehab and much familial support he was unable to overcome it. We don't know the details, but I just want to say that I loved him very much, and I hope that he's finally at peace, free from his addiction. My heart goes out to his parents and all my family, and I hope we can use this as an opportunity to grow closer and reflect on how important family really is. I know it really helps put my last few weeks in perspective. Whoever is reading this, most likely you are a close friend of mine, and I ask you to keep my family in your prayers and your hearts, and remember how dangerous any addiction can be. Rest in peace Michael.
The Tall and Short of It...
In my previous blog I mentioned how short people are. I didn't want that post to go on forever, so I decided to start a new post about some things about Chile, rather than just my days here. Now, I'm not so tall, 5'7'', and I am HUGE here. Some of the guys are pretty tall, and oddly there are a few women in my lab as tall as me, but for the most part people are very short. And you can see it in how certain things are made. For example, the subway is soooo short! My dad isn't huge, 6'2'', but he's coming to visit me in a month, and I really think he might not fit right in the subway! He'll definitely have to duck to get in. I'm sure it's not so much shorter than the one in New York, but I haven't even been in it with heels on, and it still seems super short to me. I'm actually a little worried about wearing heels, cause then I would look like a giant. Emily told me people here are much taller than chileans outside the capital, since people here are more metropolitan. Good lord, I don't even know what that would look like!
Speaking of the subway, the subway here is great. I think they use space less wisely than the New York subway, but they also seem to have a lot less people riding it, so I don't think it matters. They don't have very many seats per car, but they do have a really cool handlebar system, where the vertical ones have three mini bars coming out of them, so people aren't constantly fighting for a spot. My friends and I would always complain when you had to touch someone elses hand, or hold your arm awkwardly so you wouldn't touch someone, and this fixes that. And it comes soooooo often. About 30-90 seconds after the previous one, a new subway comes. Which lets face it, is AMAZING. So much better than haphazard new york. It reminds me a lot of the D.C. metro system, and since they're both newer, that makes sense. I'm really glad they didn't go with the New York color scheme, cause honestly, the orange and yellow that reminds one of baby food was really not a good palate choice.
Another thing I really love about Santiago is how beautiful all the streets are. There are fountains, and palm trees, and flowers everywhere, not to mention tons of statues. And the sidewalks are huge. I mean, each side of the street has a sidewalk the size of the street itself. Which is really quite nice, lot less congestion, but the stores seem to make up for the space by being the size of a closet! However, just walking around outside is so nice, and every restaurant has outside seating due to the huge sidewalks. If you ever come here, walk outside everywhere as much as you can!
My last post will be about weather. It's been beautiful so far. Apparently very unlike Santiago winter, so at least the city is trying to cooperate with me. very warm, never need more than a light jacket, and when I'm in the subway I'm actually sweltering! It's like my ideal weather. I was kind of expecting New York winter or something, but it's never bitterly cold, or at least not so far. Unfortunately, regardless of the outside temp, my room is always freezing. The walls are made of concrete, so they never warm up, and it is always 57 degrees in my room (you think I'm exaggerating, just come visit, it's nuts how cold it gets) even when it's 70 outside.
However, with all my complaining, my time really hasn't been so bad. The people are really quite friendly, it's just so frustrating not being able to communicate. Friday I believe, one of M.'s friends from P&G is going to invite me out to see the town, or maybe to a party, so I can meet some people my age. Let's hope it goes well!
Speaking of the subway, the subway here is great. I think they use space less wisely than the New York subway, but they also seem to have a lot less people riding it, so I don't think it matters. They don't have very many seats per car, but they do have a really cool handlebar system, where the vertical ones have three mini bars coming out of them, so people aren't constantly fighting for a spot. My friends and I would always complain when you had to touch someone elses hand, or hold your arm awkwardly so you wouldn't touch someone, and this fixes that. And it comes soooooo often. About 30-90 seconds after the previous one, a new subway comes. Which lets face it, is AMAZING. So much better than haphazard new york. It reminds me a lot of the D.C. metro system, and since they're both newer, that makes sense. I'm really glad they didn't go with the New York color scheme, cause honestly, the orange and yellow that reminds one of baby food was really not a good palate choice.
Another thing I really love about Santiago is how beautiful all the streets are. There are fountains, and palm trees, and flowers everywhere, not to mention tons of statues. And the sidewalks are huge. I mean, each side of the street has a sidewalk the size of the street itself. Which is really quite nice, lot less congestion, but the stores seem to make up for the space by being the size of a closet! However, just walking around outside is so nice, and every restaurant has outside seating due to the huge sidewalks. If you ever come here, walk outside everywhere as much as you can!
My last post will be about weather. It's been beautiful so far. Apparently very unlike Santiago winter, so at least the city is trying to cooperate with me. very warm, never need more than a light jacket, and when I'm in the subway I'm actually sweltering! It's like my ideal weather. I was kind of expecting New York winter or something, but it's never bitterly cold, or at least not so far. Unfortunately, regardless of the outside temp, my room is always freezing. The walls are made of concrete, so they never warm up, and it is always 57 degrees in my room (you think I'm exaggerating, just come visit, it's nuts how cold it gets) even when it's 70 outside.
However, with all my complaining, my time really hasn't been so bad. The people are really quite friendly, it's just so frustrating not being able to communicate. Friday I believe, one of M.'s friends from P&G is going to invite me out to see the town, or maybe to a party, so I can meet some people my age. Let's hope it goes well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)