o my!
so im kinda speechless and not at the same time. i've been living in chile for 4 days now! que loco! on sunday i left ohio at like 2, got to atlanta in the evening, made the round of calls, and boarded my only 9 hour flight to chile! i met 3 other girls, kathleen, chloe and ashely, who are in my program in atlanta, and ironically we all had seats next to each other so we got to know each other a little. i watched a movie, ate and slept un poco on the plane, when i woke up the sun was rising over the clouds and it was spectacular! i sat next to a chileno joven and for the next hour until we landed we talked, he told me alot about chile and then he pointed out the andes and ocean to me...it was amazing, there was a point where chile was so thin that i saw the pacific on my right and the andes on my left. so when we got off the plane there was some drama because kathleen had put the banana from breakfast in her backpack for later, the police dog smelled it and she had to go explain to the police, in spanish, why she had it. after an hour and some tears she ended up paying like 200 bucks for a fine...its sucked. but then we met up with most of the group and waited in the airport for like 2 hours until everyone arrived.
the people in my group seem really cool and nice, most are really into the environment, everyone is really laid back, and we all just want to see everything and have fun. there are 37 of us, only 6 boys. im really happy everyone seems so nice and has similar interests as me and are feeling the same way.
so we left the airport, went to olmhue, which is a small town about and hour from santiago and stayed at a hotel called copihue (the national flower). this place was so pretty. we had a cute room, i stayed with jenny and ashley, really nice girls, who really like to party, and we had a cute llittle patio with lots of flowers. we had orientation meetings and stuff monday, ate some interesting food. empanadas, REALLY sweet fresh juice. these chileans dont mess around with their sugar, everything is so so sweet, i almost cant handle it. even the ice cream is better than anything i have ever tasted.
then monday some of the girls and i hung out on our patio, drank some gato, a cheap chilean wine, we have a phrase already that the "gato strikes again" and then we hung out the more of the group outside so awhile. soo late that night, after only a few hours of sleep on the plane, i finally went to bed. we had breakfast at 8 the next day, did more orientation stuff, then some of the girls and i took a micro (bus) to la compana, a mountain, where we hiked half of it and took some pictures...which ill put up when i figure it out. it was really fun, the weather was perfect. then more orientation stuff and the weirdest lunch ever, it was called pastel del choclo, its like a cornbread shell and inside is a mix of a chicken break, with the skin, ground beef, oysters, fish, a hard boiled egg, olives and weird juice from all of that....it was disgusting to say the least. but you cant not at least try to eat the food, one girl didnt eat her ice cream (after a 3 course meal with at least 8 plates) and the cook and 3 waitresses asked her what was wrong and what else they could get her. its really hard to try everything and have room, there is just so much food, especially bread, they have it with everything!
then we went to a safety meeting and learned about our familias!! ill talk about them later...
we went to dinner that night and later just hung out at the boys casa/outside. i got sort of drunk off the gato...great start...it was really really fun tho, just meeting everyone and really getting to know most of them. so went to bed very late and got up 4 hours later to meet the family!!
my family is amazing. i have a mom, vivi, dad, guido, and 26 year old brother named andres. i also have another older brother named pablo who lives in santiago and has a 10 year old daughter maria jesus, who visit every other weekend. also, i live right next to my abuelo and abuela. vivi and her sister picked me up at the hotel, vivi is soo nice, she is patient and calm and helpful and relaxed and sweet and so cute. she tells me all the time to just "tranquila" (relax) and that it'll get easier and she always knows what im trying to say. she helps me alot. she makes really good food, we had a vegatable quiche for lunch with an amazing fruitilla (strawberry) dessert. then i unpacked and later andres woke up (ya at like 3 so i wont feel bad sleeping in hah) and he invited me to go play with him and lulu, our honey colored pitbull. he is also really nice and patient, talks really fast tho. but he slows it down, i think he might think im kinda stupid, but he always tells me it will get better and easier. then my dad came home, he is soooooo nice. he took me on a tour of valparaiso (we just call it valpo), my sister city and vina del mar, where i live. we did that for 3 hours, he drove me everywhere, i saw the ocean, the ports, the trains, the ascensores (like elevators for the hills) the above ground cemetaries, he showed me all the good bars and restaurants and just cute steets. then we stopped for "once" like 5 oclock tea, but more like a meal ha we ate at a cute little place and it was only like 4 dollars for everyting. amazing. he explained everything, kept telling me my spanish was so good, and was just so nice. then we got home and i just relaxed alone, which was so needed.
so today, thursday, i took my placement exam, we took a tour of downtown vina, where my programs office and most school buildings are, and then my mom me maggie (another program girl) and her sister and mom went to a market with sooo much cool stuff, and then made the 20 minuteish walk home. i ate lunch with vivi, eggs, bread, tomatos, salad, quiche, cheese, melon, juice....there is always waaaaay too much food. and now im here! its amazing so far, its huge, beautiful, the people are so great....i cant wait to update more!