Santiago de Chile
My first shoot in Santiago turned out well! Thanks to a local photographer on Instagram I went out with two photographers and a model and took some beautiful photos. Note to self: learn how to give modeling directions in Spanish.
Read MoreLiving in a tall apartment building has its perks - the top floor is perfect for taking shots from a high vantage point. I don't have my tripod with me, but am finding ways to make long exposures work...like pinning my camera in the corner of the metal railing and trying not to breathe.
Read MoreI came across some people doing aerial silks outside the Bellas Artes museum in Bellavista and took some shots.
Read MoreWinter doesn't mean snow in Santiago, it just rains. That doesn't mean I wasn't slightly jealous seeing photos from the northern-hemisphere's summer at the same time.
Read MoreA view of the Andes mountains, night photos from a high-rise building, and a location 5 miles closer to my university than my home-stay: I'm pretty dang excited to be living in an apartment building for my second semester abroad. And my laptop + Lightroom again. Thank god. All I need now is to stop lighting microwave popcorn on fire...
Read MoreSmall things: photo edition. I've been in a rut lately, not taking photos, not doing anything different. I just watched a TED talk about getting out of your comfort zone and not letting fear or uncomfortableness get in your way of what you want or who you want to be. (And yes this sounds like wisdom on a Pinterest board) Ugh. I hate it when I read/watch things that are timely and essentially serve to kick me in the pants and then I have to get off my butt and do something about it. I guess watching Netflix and eating manjar aren't the key to achieving my dreams. They can complement it, though. And I'm going to count eating manjar as cultural immersion. Yes.
Read MoreIt's fall here. The bike paths are covered with leaves, crunch and dull brown. It's usually pretty cloudy, and walking to the apartment yesterday I realized I couldn't see the cordillera. It was completely covered up by a mix of clouds a smog. In the midwest US it would have the decency to rain once in awhile and release the clouds, but no such luck here. It is nice breaking out the fall clothes, scarves, jeans...but the sad truth is I still don't have much of a wardrobe after packing so light. But I do have two pairs of jeans now, so that's exciting. Okay, less talk, more photos.
Read More19 april 2015 // flying back to Santiago from Calama, post-Atacama trip
It's the small things, like writing the date on class notes 22.4.2015 or saying I live half a kilometer up Irarrázaval. The ways in which you've changed but don't really know when exactly it happened; they just kind of sneak up on you. Elbowing my way into a metro car (forget Midwestern nice, if you're making it into that car you gotta squish), strategically placing myself in the metro car depending on how many stops I have to go to avoid having to wade through 20 people to get out of the door before it closes at my stop. Keeping spare 100 peso coins in my back pocket (damn no front pocket in womens' jeans) to give to street performers or musicians on the metro. Knowing to hold up the number of fingers you want for thousand pesos you want charged to your Bip - holding up 3 fingers for 3000 pesos - because the card rechargers can't hear very well through the glass. After three months abroad, two of them in Chile, a lot of things have snuck up on me. And it's nice to know you've learned something, especially if they're the small things.
As beautiful of a city it is and as much as I love speaking Spanish, the transition to living in Santiago de Chile has been rough for me. I went from volunteering on a farm in rural Bolivia - to living and navigating a city of 7 million people in Chile, a country with an average income triple that of Bolivia. Taking the Metro, navigating the bus system, and just being immersed in the energy of 7 million human beings has been like constantly leaning on the accelerator pedal: feeling constantly drained. After a month it's definitely getting better, thanks to wonderful friends, host family, and my parents taking my calls with their never-ending patience and love. Here's to becoming a big city fish sooner than later...
film. taken from Santa Lucia hill in the middle of the city. beautiful.
I live with my chilean host family in one of many apartment buildings with a large central park area where families and groups of school kids gather to talk
Skyline of Santiago's business district, affectionately known as "Sanhatten"
Flowers Outside the Bellas Artes metro stop // nature and concrete
Manquehue metro stop // steel and light
Gustock music festival raising money for the public park // good music and even better veggie pesto ravioli
Camila Moreno performs at Gustock music festival // love the sparkly blue dress
"Bienvenidos! El museo ahora es gratis" (Welcome! The museum is now free) did not apply to the dog who followed us in. He was not welcomed by the museum staff :(
NuNu's derp face // no animals were harmed in the taking of this photo
Fruit from the Vega market, known for its cheap, fresh produce. I bought a kilo of strawberries for less than 2 dollars and a small box of huge juicy blackberries for the same amount // nomnom
Shadow of a palm tree on the concrete in Parque Uruguay
Buildings in the older sector of Santiago
More photos to come...semester ends in July.
film. Sunset from a friend's balcony.
From high vantage points it's apparent that the city goes on and on, in layers of buildings and cranes that get blurrier as the distance increases, due to the smog.
