Different Names for the Same Thing

Today was...interesting.
I finally got all my problems registering for classes resolved, but in doing so, I missed the entire group leaving for our Orientation at the Facultad de Artes. So, somewhat arrogantly, I figured I would find it myself. Of course, this was also somewhat necessitated by the fact that I had left my phone in the office, which was now locked. Luckily, I had a map, figured out where I thought I was going and proceeded on the subway. Turns out I went to a station that was less than close- there was a better one I could have chosen. And even though the station and the campus were on the same street, that didn't exactly mean that they were near each other in the slightest. I was also worried that my host parents would call me or something and worry since I didn't pick up the phone.

When I finally got to the neighborhood, there was no school where it was "supposed" to be. Surprise! Residential neighborhood. More fumbling with the map book.

Finally, I figured out what street I needed to go to, except no one could tell me where it was. Surprise! Streets in Chile often aren't called colloquially by the same name that's written in the guide. Finally someone figured out that "Allessandri" was what they call Macul...

Once I finally found the building and the orientation, after at least an hour + of walking (not to mention the subway ride too), everything was great. We got a tour of the open air building, which consists of a main spiral staircase ringed by classrooms. Afterwards, we hung out at Plaza Ñuñoa for a bit at Las Lanzas, a cheap eatery/bar which was a great time. After all the stress and the extra walking, I felt deserving of a beer. I tried an Austral Patagona Pale Ale- excellent taste to price ratio. It's so nice to be legal :) On our walk home, there was a lovely sunset against the lovely mountains. And then I watched Dr. Phil dubbed in Spanish with my host mom.(Hilarious) All part of an excellent late afternoon.

Getting lost is kind of my favorite way to get to know cities, except today's incident was no fun because I knew exactly where I was (just not where the place I was going was) and I was on a tight schedule. Luckily, it wasn't in a dangerous neighborhood either. I'm hoping some of the fun kind of getting lost will happen tomorrow- we're planning on going again to Valparaiso, which is pretty much grid-less. Promising!