ay dios!

Hola todos!

So, I guess it has been about eleven days that I have been here in Chile and so far I have managed to learn very little Spanish.

How is that?

I spend way too much time with the U.S. kids in my program!!!

But it's alright.  I know that eventually I will find a way to speak Spanish more frequently whether by convincing my friends here to speak it or by making some Chilean friends. :)

Where I left off last, I was going out clubbing.  This proved to be quite a delightful endeavor, though it was not "clubbing" in the least.  I went to two bars with a boy from my program and then four people from the Stanford program.  We found a really enchanting neighborhood that had a million cute and trendy bars and clubs and the streets were filled with venders selling the coolest stuff!  Although I will not comment on my own personal alcohol consumption, I must say that the drink "Pisco" (a fruity brandy-like drink) is quite popular here.

I went out clubbing (for real) on Saturday night with a few U.S. friends and the host brother of one of my friends (and a couple of his friends).  This was fun and gave me more of a chance to practice Spanish cuz the host brother and his friends didn't know much English at all.

Then I started classes on Monday (January 12) and they're all amazing!  They touch on everything from social justice to grammar to working on perfecting daily conversations (like shopping at the store) to Chilean music and indigenous myths.  There are three classes and the professors are named Marcela, Marcela, and Marcelo... kinda weird.

Oh wait, my host brother just called me to dinner.  I'll write later! :)

Con amor,

Laura

Whoa

So, I didn't realize how hard it would be to keep up with this blog!  I mean, so much happened in the last few days it would be hard to write about all of it.  And I'm exhausted so I can't really even take time to write.

Here's what I'll do.  I'll make sure to get better sleep and then I'll take sufficient time each week to write about the highlights of the week.

Suffice it now to say that I love it here. :)

Ciao,

Laura

Saludos de Chile

Hola todos!!

Well, here I am in Chile- FINALLY!!!  I had some trouble figuring out how to create a new blog so sorry it took awhile for me to write a new one...but here it is!!

My flights went really well- the one from Chicago to Dallas was on time and really smooth and then the one from Dallas to Santiago, Chile was also on time, although not as smooth!  It was a nine hour flight and a lot of it was bumpier than the craziest of rollercoasters!  But I like rollercoasters so it was all good :)

My host family is really awesome.  They came to pick me up at the University (our program coordinator brought us there por autobus) and I was totally blown away as I entered into a humongous six or seven bedroom home!!  It's gorgeous- brand new kitchen, beautiful bathrooms and nice furniture.  Here is what my family consists of (and what it will consist of...)

-Mama: Raquel, 55 years old, really sweet and attentive, speaks real slow too so I can understand her!!

-Papa: Carlos, 63 years old, really nice and VERY goofy!!  he speaks a bit swifter so communicating with him has been a bit difficult

-Erick: 24 years old, pretty nice, likes to make jokes and tease which I guess I'm not used to since I've never had an older brother to tease me!!  he has a girlfriend (or "polola" as they say cuz "novia" means fiance) who is a sweetheart, Janette

-Egon, 18, pretty nice but kinda distant.  he keeps getting phone calls so i'm guessing he's gotta a lotta friends and likes to think more about that than about the new people living in his home.

-Peter: 21, a U.S. student from Reno, Nevada who goes to Stanford and is studying at Stanford's campus here until April.  Very nice and a good person to have when i get tripped up with my spanish and when I have a question about how he has dealt with certain things like adapters for the electrical circuits and how he has gotten around on the transportation system here.  there has been a lot of confusion for me with exchanging money and all that so it's been good to have other U.S. students to help! 

-Two girls from Switzerland: don't know anything except they'll be here in this house for two weeks... I think...

so, it was really funny, Peter is part of a group of Stanford students and one of those students is a girl who went to high school with me- Arelys.  so we were very surprised to see each other at the fiesta that my host family had for all the foreign students in the neighborhood last night.  it's a small world!!

well, i did not sleep a wink last night because there was a party going on last night next door to me.  music was blasting till 6am and i was in my bed cursing the day i decided to come to Chile!!  haha, but my mama told me that it was a very strange occurrence for there to be such a loud and crazy party next door so i hope that either there isn't another one tonight or that exhaustion takes hold of me and i'm able to sleep through it!

well, i'll write more later about the other things i want to mention but am too tired to do now:

-friend of mine who got robbed today

well actually i can't think of more but i might go out clubbing tonight so i'll let y'all know how it goes!!!

hasta luego!

Laurita