Beer, beer, beer- bed, bed, AWAKE!

30 hours after leaving home, Valdivia welcomed me with a small wooden terminal in the middle of a lush green forest, in beautiful weather (at least it wasn't raining^^). Yorka, my new roommate and lab partner, as well as two other lab colleagues picked me up. It was here that I first realized that it is not common for English to be taught in school, and the language barriers will continue to challenge me with my 3-word Spanish! After such a trip, one is usually exhausted and longs for a cozy bed... And suddenly, I find myself in the lab, meeting everyone, explaining the project again, and being taken out for a night at the pub. After work, we went to "El Growler," a craft beer pub with 20 different homemade beers on tap. I was introduced to various hop flower teas to decide which one I wanted to try (I think they just wanted to see if us Germans can really hold our liquor ;D). Two buckets filled with "patatas bravas" (potato wedges) and meat and vegetable mixes were ordered. Overall, it was a very nice first evening with many pleasant conversations. Feeling exhausted, Yorka brought me back to the dormitory in a taxi that only follows certain routes, and after a hot shower, I sank into a deep sleep... until my internal clock woke me up at 5 am (12 pm German time). That's when it hit me: OK, Frieda, you're alone in a bunk bed in South America, everything else is far away, and you don't speak the language. The peaceful sleep was over and I decided to go to the lab in the morning with Yorka. Everything was explained to me again, Alejandro (my boss) took me to see the alpacas, showed me part of the island where the lab is located, and invited me to have lunch with his family. His German wife and his three lively daughters spoke in my native language, which gave me some comfort in this unfamiliar situation I am currently in.

Another problem was that my luggage just wouldn't arrive. But thanks to the help of everyone at the lab who called Iberia a thousand times and went to different places in the city where it could have been, it was delivered today. I could have managed a bit longer with various clothing donations and new underwear, but I'm still overjoyed that it's here. What did I miss the most in the past few days? A hat, my fluffy socks, and the charcoal tablets...

My plans for the weekend: recover from jetlag (woke up half an hour later today- yes!), settle in here, and maybe venture into the city center. There are many small differences compared to Europe, which turn even taking a bus or going to the shower into a little adventure. To be continued...

Frieda (August 31, 19)