Daily Life
(University of Minnesota public health students are writing about their experiences abroad this summer.)
By Lauren Neils
Writing from Chile
Daily life is such a simple concept, but in a new country, there are moments when I am filled with the overwhelming feeling that developing a daily routine will be an impossible feat. All of a sudden, the things that are simple at home have become the most exhausting parts of my day. Never could I have anticipated how seemingly easy tasks would be so complicated and challenging. The first days were unavoidably rough. At the same time, each and every day leaves me with a sense of gratification unlike other past experiences.
For me, the first challenge of the day is to shower, which has proven to be a mix between art and luck. Every morning, when it is raining and windy, I need to muster the courage to roll out of bed and walk across the cold, concrete floor to the kitchen in order to light the water heater. Later in the day, it is an easy task, but with the grogginess of sleep, it makes for an interesting start to the day. The heater itself takes some coaxing, but with a little patience, and a couple of matches, the pilot light always seems to start. It was a proud day the first time I used only one match. After the cold walk back to the bathroom, I struggle to find the happy medium between frigid, icy water and scalding, blistering hot water. Some mornings I succeed on the first try; other mornings I spend a number of minutes fighting the faucet.
Our next necessary task was to defeat the grocery store. In my introductory Spanish course last semester, we learned about food (a pretty standard thing to know). I remember thinking that food and dishware should be no problem. However, there were problems. As I walked down the first isle at the grocery store, I pulled my cart up to the yogurt section, which I figured couldn’t be that hard. It didn’t take me long to realize that Spanish 101 didn’t exactly cover everything. Not only were there all kinds of new words for the different styles of yogurt, but there were new words for all of the different fruits themselves. After a little bit of panic, some confusion, and a through scan of the pictures on the labels, I found my breakfast staple. As the outing progressed, we all got over our pride and found our dictionaries, which have been as necessary for us here as raincoats, house keys, and Chilean pesos. Obviously, quick trips to the grocery store have turned into unexpected adventures. I no longer have crazy ideas that I can seamlessly blend in, since a dictionary that is permanently stuck to my hand is as subtle as my blonde hair.
Now that we have mastered the places to which we can walk, we have started to venture outside of our “comfort� zone. We have four choices for transportation: walking, which is limiting; taxis, which tend to be expensive; collectivos (taxis with planned routes) whose drivers have a certain carelessness that makes one rethink the expense of a taxi; and the economical choice, the micros, which are the local buses. I can’t describe our first trip on the micro as successful. First, we got on a bus with the right destination, but in the wrong direction. 
As we began to see fields flying by, we decided to ask the man behind us about our destination. His first response was so fast, I was convinced there was not a single pause between any of the words. After asking him to repeat himself, he spoke equally fast, but louder. An increase in volume, in my limited experience, is not that helpful. Somehow, through more acting and partial Spanish sentences, we figured out that we were headed the wrong way. Since we didn’t have a clue where or how to stop, we just stood up and hoped for the best, which worked. So, with a little walking and three more trips on the micro (which was not an economically sound route) we finally made it to our destination.
The reality is that basic errands usually turn into long, tiring events. Seemingly simple internet installation results in two hours that includes spools of wire and random, enormous tools. Conversations often include blank stares, awkward pauses, and endless rounds of charades. But in the end, everyday is wonderful and I look forward to tomorrow’s next challenge.