Despedidas

Hey, people

I cannot believe that I am leaving Chile today. The whole experience has felt so surreal, and it went so quickly. I'm going to miss seeing the beautiful ocean every day and having the amazing opportunity to practice my Spanish.

Yesterday was a great last day. I went to our classes for the last time in the morning. We had a final, graded discussion in my Film and Literature class. It went much better than I thought it was going to cause some people in the class are slightly aggressive in their opinions. In my Chilean Conversation and Culture class, we talked about what we would teach Chileans who came to the United States about our culture. It was interesting.

Rachael and I went to a store called "Paris" after class, and I bought a cute shirt. Then we got some cheese empanadas, while we waited to find out our grades from our first class. We had to return to the university to get our grades for the discussion and our final average. I'm very happy with it! We should be getting an email within the next week for the grade of our other class. Rachael, Kate, Liz and I went a tour of the port. It was super fun, and the guys who took us were really nice.

I went back to my house to finish packing and rest for a while. Christine and I had a nice dinner together. I went out to the bar, Oasis, in Viña del Mar with a lovely group of girls-Elizabeth, Taryne, Kate, Liz and Rachael. It was super fun and a wonderful way to end the trip. I'll be having a big lunch with my host family soon, and then it's off to the airport with ISA!

I'm so excited to be coming home, but it's going to be really strange. I hope everyone's been doing well and can't wait to see everyone so soon!

Finishing Up!

Hello, everyone

Well, I feel like I should be writing my final reflections on my time here so there may be a bit of that intertwined in the doings of the past couple days.

Tuesday night, Rachael and I went to an interesting restaurant in Viña del Mar called Restobar. We got to sit on a balcony outside and relax, which was really nice. I had a delicious pineapple daiquiri and "churrasco a lo pobre." Churrasco is kind of like roast beef, and I had it in a mix of fried eggs, french fries, and onions. It was really good. I like their random mixes of food here.

On Wednesday I went to class, as usual. We went around two cerros (big hills) to view the street art and graffiti that is super common in Valparaíso (in case you can't tell from all my pictures). It was pretty cool, but we were walking SO fast to get through everything in an hour and a half. It was a bit chaotic, but still better than sitting in the classroom. After classes, I went home to eat and drop off my things. Then Rachael and I went to the archaeology and Francisco Fonck museum. We were told by our friend, Kat, that it was the best of four in the area. It was pretty cool, but nothing incredibly exciting. Even though I really like history, I think art museums are more interesting for me. I spent the rest of the day finishing up some homework and starting to pack (AH!).

Our classes today weren't too exciting. Things are obviously starting to wrap up and slow down a bit. Rachael and I went to some shops by the university for a little bit after school. Sadly, we ran into two of our friends as we were walking and found out that one of our friend's had her iPhone stolen right out of her hand on the street by our school. It was a completely ridiculous situation. I feel horrible, and it's the first case our group has really had of robbery. I'm about to have a huge and delicious lunch with my host family because it's really nice outside. We'll see what the rest of the day holds! Rachael and I wanted to go ziplining in the Botanical Gardens here, but they only will open it for a group of 12 because it's the winter here, so that's pretty disappointing.

In general, this has been a very interesting trip. I've found out that I do not want to live in a city in the future. It's too overwhelming for me, and I just don't like it. I love to be in nature and see trees and grass and other green things. As much as I love Spanish and the history of Latin America and Spain, living the culture is so, so different from learning about anything. It's been exhausting, but my Spanish has definitely improved. It's going to be really different to be back in the United States, especially in the intense heat that's been going on! I'm so excited to see everyone though and be able to relax and speak in English. I hope everyone's doing well, and I can't wait to be back on Sunday. 

4 Days Left!

Hey, everyone.

I am feeling quite a bit better now. I finally began to be able to eat some real food on Sunday and am feeling LOADS better because of this. This weekend was a bit rough because I was exhausted and couldn't move around too well due to lack of food. However, I've been going to classes and walking around this week, so that's great! I still can't have too many kinds of food, but feeling much better now.

The rain has finally stopped here so we've gotten back to exploring and doing some fun stuff, which I'm happy about. On Saturday and Sunday, I rested a LOT and wrote my essay which was due yesterday. Last one for that class, hooray!

Yesterday after classes, Rachael and I went to the artisan markets in Viña del Mar to pick up our final souvenirs for people. Then we worked on homework for most of the afternoon so we won't have too much as our week finishes up. Today, we stopped at the "Portales" station on the metro. It's right by the water with quite a few restaurants and things. We wanted to take some pictures and check it out. It wasn't too long, but still fun. Tonight, we're planning on going to dinner somewhere and hanging out for a bit. It should be relaxing.

I also thought I'd show everyone how we have to get to classes in the morning. We don't take classes in the normal classrooms of the university because we're international students. Our classrooms are in this crazy location. Here's a video. Can't wait to be home -4 days!

Sick Days in Bed

Hello, all

Unfortunately, I don't have much to report from these past couple days cause I've been really sick. On Tuesday, my family and I had lunch together. We had a soup, some pasta and vegetables, and an empanada de pino (ground beef, eggs, olives). My host mom, Christine and I all got some type of bad food poisoning that we think is from the empanada.

I went to class on Wednesday after a night of throwing up (sorry for the slightly detailed info). However, I then slept all day and could not go to class on Thursday. I stayed in bed all day and tried to do a little bit of homework.

I did get up and go to class this morning. I'm feeling quite a bit better, although my stomach is still kind of upset. I'm just trying to take it easy, mostly, because it's not good if I move too much. Really though, I don't have anything else to say other than I hate food poisoning. It's been quite an awful experience, but it was a total mistake. Hopefully I'll get to do something pretty fun this weekend, depending on the weather (it's been raining for a couple days).

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well. Can't wait to be home in a little over a week!

Adventures in the Mall

Hey, people!

Well, due to the homework situation this weekend, it wasn't too exciting other than our trip to the beaches. However, I did get a lot accomplished which is making this week a lot better for me.

Yesterday, I slept in a bit and then worked on homework until about noon. I went over to Rachael's to work on our presentation for our Film and Literature class. It's about the human rights violations during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. We worked on that for a couple hours and then had a HUGE lunch with her host parents, 3 host siblings, and two other Chilean families. It was really interesting. They were discussing big political topics and other random things. We tried to follow along, but it was very interesting, hahaha.

Today, I had class (big surprise, I know). We started watching a movie in my Latin American Film and Literature about Dawson Island. We've begun discussing music in my Chilean Conversation and Culture class. It's made getting my present for Jacob much easier :)

After going home and working on more homework for a bit, I ran down the street for some snacks. Then, Rachael and I went to the mall! It was quite an adventure, in reality. It's really far away from any metro stops so we had to take a micro (bus), which are always crazy to figure out. I found a souvenir for my brother that I'd been looking for, and we also got some ice cream.

It's a huge mall! Then we had to take a micro back to Recreo (our neighborhood). It was probably the most violent ride I have ever taken in my life. I actually thought the bus was going to tip over, hahaha.

I miss everyone. It's getting so close to coming home!

Beautiful Days in Chile

Hi, everyone!

Today was lovely.

Well, yesterday I mainly did homework. We have TONS this weekend, and Rachael and I tried to complete a lot of it yesterday so we wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of the weekend. We also walked around by our houses cause I needed to get Bandaids, hahaha.

We all had to wake up early this morning to meet at the Municipal Theater of Viña del Mar with our ISA group. We first drove into Reñaca, where I went the first day with my host family. It wasn't as pretty cause it was slightly cloudy, but still absolutely gorgeous.

The view is incredible.

After visiting Reñaca, we traveled to this random beach area to ride horses. I have to say that it was an adventure. My horse really wasn't bad, although it wanted to eat and drink quite a bit. I just had to be tough and pull him away. However, they didn't really train anyone on how to handle the horses so everyone who hadn't ridden before had some trouble. Boy Jordan's horse took him down into the water..it was hilarious.

After this interesting horseback riding, we traveled to Horcón. I had some DELICIOUS cheese empanadas with Rachael, Katie and Elizabeth. There wasn't too much else to do, but it was still nice to visit. Finally, we went to Zapallar. It was absolutely gorgeous. Liz and I climbed to the top of this huge rock structure, and it was one of the most incredible views. There are tons of pictures on Facebook in the album "Playas del Norte." We started driving back to Viña del Mar and though about going sandboarding, but everyone was a bit exhausted/it was kind of dark and cloudy. However, Rachael and I went shopping again after we got back and got LOTS of souvenirs for people. I'm really excited about them.

Only 14 days until I come home! So weird. Miss everyone :)

Chills

Hello, all!

There's nothing too exciting to report from here in the Southern Hemisphere, other than the intense cold that there has been in the mornings and later at night. Central heating is SUPER expensive here so no one has it, making the houses very cold. However, it still has gotten very nice in the 60s this week!

Well, yesterday was quite a busy day. We had class, of course, in the morning. Rachael and I got some lunch after class to eat in the ISA office. We have to analyze a poem by Neruda for our Film and Literature class, so we worked on that and talked with some fellow students for a while. Then we had a silly orientation about culture shock. It was slightly useless, but it was nice to see everyone from our program again! I did some more homework after going home and ate dinner with my host family.

At about 9:30, Rachael and I met up with Jordan, Jack, Marlo and Tori at Café Journal in Viña del Mar. Wednesday nights are supposed to be really popular with "gringos" here, but we were really the only ones on the first floor. It was really crowded and fun to hang out with some other people. We didn't stay out too late, by Chilean standards, but we still had a good time!

More classes this morning and then work on a paper and presentation. Hooray! I also had a delicious lunch with my host family. Hope everyone's doing well!

Sunshine and Flowers

Relaxing night yesterday, although our internet hasn't really been working for a couple days due to some intense wind. I've been reading a lot though which is really nice.

Today was slightly boring in class. We finished watching the film "Il Postino" in my Film and Literature class. The ending was very different from that of the book it's based off of. In my Chilean Culture and Conversation class we discussed September 11th of 1973 some more and started watching the movie "Machuca." Unfortunately, we'll be watching this same movie in my other class next week...hopefully we can convince our professor that we don't have to come to class those days.

I finished my homework, had lunch and edited my paper with my host mom after class. Rachael and I took a walk along the coast to the flower clock in Viña del Mar at sunset. It was gorgeous and really nice to walk. We also went to a bakery by our house. I bought a doughnut thing with "manjar" in it. It's almost like caramel, but it's not totally the same taste.

Tomorrow we have a random ISA orientation, and none of us have any idea what it's going to be about. Hopefully it's not too boring! Anyway, I miss everyone lots and can't wait to see you all!

Back to Class

Not a super exciting day for me, but I thought I'd post some pictures of my host house for everyone to see, particularly my mom!

I went to class this morning, and there was apparently on accident on the main road so there were a TON of people on the metro instead of taking the micros or colectivos. In my first class of Film and Literature, we watched the movie "Il Postino," which is based off of the book we're reading. Then in my Conversation and Culture class we began to talk more about Salvador Allende, the military coup on September 11th, 1973 and Augusto Pinochet. It's very interesting because it was so recent and disturbing.

Well, after that, Rachael and I went to a little empanada shop behind "La Católica." Empanadas are by far the best thing I've tried here so far. I keep trying every kind I can. This place had the first chicken empanadas that I've seen here. We ran into our Chilean Conversation and Culture professor there so we knew it was pretty good. They definitely were! We did some homework in the ISA office until we had a "Language Exchange" event. Five Chilean students who are learning English came to speak to us. We spoke in Spanish half the time and English in the other half. It was a bit chaotic cause there were way more students from the United States in comparison to Chile, but still fun to practice!

"Once" and dinner tonight! And here are some pictures of my host house:

View from my bedroom window

Part of my bedroom

Kitchen

Stairs

Living room

Now I'm a Real Chilean...

Today, I realized that I only have 20 days left here. That is so crazy. It's been going by so fast. However, I do miss everyone.

Well, this weekend has been very busy and really fun. Friday night I relaxed at home and did some homework. I got to sleep in on Saturday a bit, which was very nice. The weather has been gorgeous here recently in the upper 60s and low 70s. Therefore, I decided to read outside on my porch on Saturday. I finished the short novel I had to read for my film and literature class called "El Cartero de Pablo Neruda." On Saturday night, I had a real "once" with my host family and friends. Usually my host mom, Claudia, makes me and Christine a bigger dinner while they have more snack-like food. I chatted with all of them for a bit and then Skyped with my Mom. After that was the real adventure of the night!

The night life in Chile is literally crazy. Many people don't go out until midnight or two in the morning! Thank goodness I have friends who want to leave a bit earlier in the night. Taryne, Rachael and I met at the metro station at 9:45 to ride into Valparaíso last night. Rachael and I hadn't been out in Valparaíso at night before this, but Plaza Aníbal Pinto had been recommended to us by our Chilean professor and Chielan tour guide who is a student at the same university as us. We met up with our friend Elizabeth once we got there and checked out a couple places. Unfortunately, not a ton is even open until a bit later. We found a cheap place to hang out in for a while. Then we went to a restaurant that looked kind of like the Rainforest Cafe. It was really fun.

As we were walking about after the restaurant, we saw a huge crowd of people outside a "discoteque" that our Chilean Conversation and Culture professor had told us about, called Mascara. She said that they played a lot of 80s music and that it would be really fun, so we decided to go in! We got in pretty quick due to the fact that we're "gringas," but we still had to pay a $7 cover fee. Interestingly, the word "gringo" is not meant in an offensive manner here like it is in some other Spanish-speaking countries. It simply means any foreigner in the country.

Anyway, the music they played was hilarious. We heard George Michael, Spice Girls, Banarama, and tons of Lady Gaga. We loved it. We actually ran into one of the Chilean tour guides and his friend at the discoteque. He was super friendly and nice. Also, there was a performer who did aerial silk acrobatics to one song. I have literally never seen anything like it. Well, at about three in the morning we decided to head out cause we were exhausted and the smoke was getting to us. There don't really seem to be laws about smoking in public places, so when we go out at night all our clothes end up smelling. Mascara was really bad though cause everyone was smoking in the confined dance areas.
Rachael, Taryne and I took a micro home, although we had to wait for it to fill up so it took awhile.

Today, Rachael, Taryne and I went to Cerro Concepción in Valparaíso and explored a bit. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the water was super blue. We decided to find a café that overlooked the ocean and city. We found one with some delicious food and coffee/juice/milkshakes. It was a super fun day. However, I'm exhausted now after my one late night like a real Chilean would do. I'll be going to bed early for classes tomorrow!

Also, there tend to be musicians who play in the metro illegally who are actually super good! I decided to record one pair today, and I'm going to try to get more in the future! Have a good night everyone.

Hot Days in Viña!

Hello, everyone!

The past couple days have been super fun. Rachael and I didn't do anything on Wednesday night cause we wanted to finish our papers, for sure, and then get some sleep. However, yesterday was really fun! We had class in the morning and then hung around our university until our tour with ISA later in the day. We got our reading done during this break, ate lunch and walked around a bunch. I bought a pan de leche, which is like a cream doughnut but even better!!

We split up into small groups led by Chilean students. Our tour guide was named Karen, and we had toured with her last week too. She's so nice and invited us to hang out next week! We're planning on going to Café Journal and eating empanadas! Well, she took us to Pablo Neruda's house in Valparaíso, which is called La Sebastiana. The view was gorgeous, as was the house.

Overall, I think I liked the house on La Isla Negra best, particularly because of the view. This house really was beautiful though. Then we toured some more of Valparaíso, especially street art. We explored in some stores and got to eat some delicious empanadas.

Then, last night, Rachael and I went out to a bar called Oasis. We looked in a couple bars that only had beer in it, which wasn't great for me. I never smelled or tasted a beer I really liked, except for last night! Oasis was super nice and classy. They were projecting music videos on the wall, both from the United States and Latin America. I tried "piscola," and it was pretty decent. "Pisco" is the national alcohol in Chile. Rachael and I also split a beer called Becker. We took a micro (bus) home, which was exciting cause we had never done it by ourselves before!

Today we had our last day of class for the week! It was pretty relaxed because a lot of ISA students were gone in Mendoza, Argentina. Our Chilean Conversation and Culture professor took us to the oldest part of Valparaíso. It was really fun and had an incredible view of both the mountains and the ocean. Rachael and I went shopping in Viña to get some souvenirs a little earlier, and I was just playing with María. I'm excited for a relaxing weekend. Hope everyone's doing well!

Tarea, tarea, tarea

Tarea = homework

Unfortunately, life hasn't been too exciting here for the past couple of days. However, I think we've all appreciated the time to relax, get to know our families better, explore the cities and relax.

On Sunday, I slept in! It was the first chance we've had to sleep in, which was super nice. Over the weekend, from my film and literature class, we had about 65 pages of reading. It was pretty intense. So, on Sunday I read about 40 pages (all in Spanish) cause I'd read the rest on Friday and Saturday. I also got to watch some TV and read, for leisure, which made me happy. We had a huge family lunch with our Chilean grandfather, grandmother from the other side of the family, host brother and his friend, Christine, host dad, host mom and María. I tried mini-shrimp in an avocado with salad. They were pretty good and super fresh! However, something about the seafood here doesn't sit too well with my stomach. Everything in moderation! I hung out with María a bit and organized all my things a bit better at night.

On Monday, classes again! In my film and literature class, we were assigned a short reading with comprehension questions and a paper. We were all surprised that our paper had to be 4-6 pages, 1.5 spaced cause we only had four days to do it. The expectations are so different here than in the United States! For my Spanish classes this past year, I had about a month to write a paper that long! It's crazy, but I worked on that basically all afternoon Monday and Tuesday. I'm done early, so that's great!

On Tuesday, Rachael, Tori and I went to get our student metro cards officially! I think it's so funny here because when people realize we're from the United States, they want to try speaking English with us, so they're speaking English to us and we're speaking Spanish back to them. But, like I said, I worked on my paper for basically the rest of the afternoon. I reorganized a bit and edited it myself.

Today has been really good! I should mention that the sun has been shining brightly since Monday morning! The ocean after the rain was absolutely incredible. I didn't really get any great pictures because I only saw it when I didn't want to take my camera out, like on the metro, but the waves were huge and it was beautiful. Anyway, in my conversation and culture class today we went to "la feria." This is an outdoor market of a size I have never seen. The fruits, vegetables and flowers are so big, cheap and fresh! The prices in the supermarket here, Jumbo, are two times what they were in the market! We got to go around and see fruits/vegetables we hadn't seen before and talk to people. It was great. Then, Rachael and I went to Jumbo to buy some things we've been craving (for me-chocolate and juice). I also found a loofah here! I know that's silly, but I could not find one ANYWHERE, and I got so excited. Hahaha.

Rachael and I worked on our essays at her host family's house after that, and we edited each other's. We had some delicious pasta and vegetables with JUICE. My family only really drinks water and tea, so I was excited. Then we read the first 20-30 pages of a novel called "El cartero de Pablo Neruda" or "The Mailman of Pablo Neruda." It's a fictional work that's about 130 pages in all. We have to read it all for Tuesday. Crazy, crazy professors! It's a lot of work, but it does help our Spanish. I Skyped my mom and brother a bit. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEVIN!!! Then, I had dinner with my host family and am now updating this! Rachael and I may go out to a café, but it's hard on school nights cause we're all so exhausted! We'll see.

I hope that everyone is doing well, and I can't wait to here from you all! Have a great last day of May :)

Sorry for the lack of pictures, as well.

Rainy Days in Valpo

Buenas noches!

Today was a great day despite the intense rain that's been occurring for the past two days. First off, the rain makes the waves HUGE and really awesome. I also like hearing the rain against the roofs here. It's interesting though because they don't have great drainage on the streets so there are gigantic puddles everywhere or it falls down the hills.

Anyway, last night was super relaxing. I went to bed very early and got quite a bit of sleep. This morning Rachael and I took the metro to our university to meet our ISA group. We took a tour bus about 2 hours to the small town of Pomaire. Everything there was SUPER cheap and cute. I got lots of presents for people and some things for myself too. I was really excited. I also got to eat a delicious cheese empanada.

After Pomaire, we went to "la Isla Negra" the oceanside house of Pablo Neruda.

The view was absolutely incredible, even though the rain was slightly crazy. The house itself had tons of cool stuff inside it, as well. There were collections of shells, glasses, ships and other stunning things. I wish the pictures could really express how beautiful this was.

We had to take another lengthy bus ride to get back to Valparaíso, but it had stopped raining when we got back which was nice. It's raining super hard again now, but I like it cause I'm inside! I've done some reading, Skyped with my Mom, chatted with her and Mrs. Perles online, added pictures to Facebook and updated this blog. I'm glad to relax and to sleep in tomorrow! It's our first really free day cause our beaches trip was cancelled due to rain. Hope everyone's doing well!

My First Week of Classes

Sorry for my lack of updating this week, everyone! It has been crazy busy starting classes and going on tours in the afternoon. I have lots of new pictures to show and lots to tell about my classes though!

On Wednesday, we started classes. Rachael, Taryne and I took the metro to Valparaíso where our university is. My first class of the day starts at 10:05 am and lasts until 11:35 am. It's called "Latin American Film and Literature" with my professor, Marisol Galilea. It seems like it'll be an interesting class, although there's quite a bit of reading. We're going to be focusing on the idea of "the other"and how they've been portrayed in literature and film, which I think is really interesting. We're starting by reading selections from Rigoberta Menchú's book, "Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia."

In my next class, "Chilean Conversation and Culture," my professor, Virna Díaz, is super bakán (cool). We just talked about where we're from, what we like to do and why we decided to come to Chile on Wednesday. After class, we went to the ISA office, which is across the street from our university, to eat lunch that our families packed. We also rode the metro to the Viña del Mar station to try to get our student metro cards for way cheaper. It's kind of complicated though, and we have to wait to get them for a little bit. We returned to Valparaíso to walk around the university some, and then we took a tour of Viña with ISA.

First, we went to "el Parque Quinta Vergara." It's a beautiful park that was founded by the Vergara family. There's a huge house that they used to live in, as well as an amphitheater for huge music concerts. It was really cool and gorgeous.

Parque Quinta Vergara-walkway

The same day we also went to an artisan market in Viña where they had lots of cool scarves, sweaters, mugs and other touristy things. We took a tour bus to Reñaca, also, and watched the sunset on the beach. It was a little chilly, but very nice.

Yesterday, we took the metro again to class. We discussed geography and climate in my conversation class. Rachael, Liz and I hung out at the ISA office for lunch and to do homework. Thank goodness I finished it cause it was quite a lot! Then we got to go on a tour with our university in small groups. Karen, our Chilean student who took us around, brought us up "Cerro Alegre." It took us up one of the large hills in Valparaíso with beautiful views. We walked along many streets to see shops, churches, boutiques and coffee shops. Then we took "Cerro Concepción" down to ride the trolleybus back to the ISA office.

Rachael and I went out to a really cool, cheap bar last night with Christine, my American roommate, her friend, Melissa, and Melissa's Chilean host brother. We watched some of the Chilean soccer game against Paraguay, tried the drink called "terremotos," and learned how to take the micros and colectivos. I liked watching soccer and the "terremotos" were pretty good, but very sweet. Overall, it was a really fun night, and I liked getting to know Christine and Melissa more.

Finally, our last day of class for the week! We talked about all the cultural differences between the United States and Chile in my conversation class. It was an in-depth conversation that really made me consider why we have different customs. It was very interesting. It's been raining like crazy today, so Taryne and I went with Rachael to buy an umbrella. Then we took the metro to the Miramar station. We walked quite a bit to find a good, open place to eat. I had a pizza with beef, eggs, tomatoes and bacon on top. It was delicious! Rachael and I hung out for a bit at my house, trying to plan weekend trips, but it proved to be much more difficult than we expected. We're not sure what we'll be doing yet tonight because of the rain and because we're so tired. However, I'm excited to relax for now and rest. Sorry for the long update! Miss you all.

First Day at the University

This morning I took "el metro" with my host mom to the university, which they call "La Católica" here. The full name is the "Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso." Taking the metro was WAY easier than I thought it would be. I'm a little nervous about doing it on my own tomorrow, especially because I'm not totally sure how to put more money on my card by myself. My host mom helped me out today, haha. I'm really excited though because my close friends here, Rachael and Taryne, live super close to me so we can do it all together.

This is the courtyard of my university! Very, very cool. 

We had a nice welcome session with the staff for international students at the university here in the morning. Then we had to take a language proficiency test to determine our placement for classes here. I was a little nervous about that, but I ended up in all the classes I wanted, which is great! I'll be taking Latin American Film and Literature and Chilean Conversation and Culture. They should be really interesting classes! We start tomorrow, and we're really only in class for 3 hours a day, which is less than I thought it would be. 

This is the view of my university from the terrace on top of the ISA office. Gorgeous!

The rest of the day was dedicated to tours around the university and surrounding areas. They gave us usernames and passwords to the computer and internet there. We also learned where to go in case of an earthquake or tsunami (don't worry mom!). They showed us how to get to the ocean, as well, which was very cool. 

My host mom and sister picked me up from the ISA office at about 4:30, and we went back to our house. María José held my hand the entire way back; it was adorable. I Skyped with my parents and Jacob a little bit before having dinner with my host family. Then I just hung out and chatted with them for a bit. I'm currently preparing to start classes tomorrow by organizing all my stuff. Hope everyone is doing well! Miss you. 

First Day with the Host Family

Hola, mis amores! Yesterday and today were very interesting, to say the least. We arrived in Valparaíso and Viña del Mar at about 6 pm yesterday. We were picked up from la "Universidad Católica de Valparaíso" by our host families. I had dinner with the entire family and my American housemate, Christine. She is incredibly sweet, and I'm so grateful that she's here to help me out. It's super overwhelming speaking in Spanish at all times, but I can already tell that I'm improving and learning a ton!

This is across the street from my host house in Viña del Mar. It's very pretty, and I'll post more pictures of the house itself and my family soon. 

My host family is so sweet. I told them that I had never seen the ocean before yesterday so they brought me to the prettiest views today. It was a national holiday, so there was no school for everyone and we got to travel around to beaches and areas near Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. It was gorgeous. 

This is my host sister, María José. She is adorable, although I sometimes have a bit of trouble understanding her. She was singing Adele this morning and said that she liked Shakira, hahaha. It's so interesting because the large majority of the music that I've heard here is in English and usually artists from the United States. 

Here's another gorgeous view. We went to Reñaca and Concón - lovely areas near Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. I tried an empanada with cheese and meat, which was delicious! I'm working down my list of typical Chilean foods :)

I actually got to see dolphins through the water today! We saw them while we were driving along the highway next to the ocean. We stopped to take pictures. I couldn't grab a good picture, but it was very cool. 

This is simply an exceptional view. I'm so excited for the next four and a half weeks, but I also miss everyone a lot! My brother's graduating tonight, so I'm thinking about him a lot and can't wait to see you all! I had dinner with my host mom, sister, grandpa and Christine. Their sugar here is liquid and delicious! I might bring some home with me! After that, I hung out in my room a bit and watched Lady and the Tramp 2 with Marís. Tomorrow I'll have a long day of orientation at the university, but I'm excited to see all my fellow ISA people again. Off to bed soon!

Traveling to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar

Hello! Last night was super fun. Rachael, Taryne, Kate and I went to a small pub that was full of Chileans and incredibly busy. It was really nice and fun! We also got to sleep in this morning for the first time since arriving!

My breakfast this morning! Not too different from yesterday, but I loved the raspberry pie. 

Our kitchen where we attempted to light a gas stove and cook on Friday! It went very well, actually, after a few tries.

Today, we went to "El Pueblo de los Dominicos." It's an arts and crafts market. It was super cute!

I had a "completo" today. This is typical Chilean food-a hot dog with mayonnaise, tomatoes, sauerkraut and cheese. It was pretty good, but not my favorite thing here so far.  

Gorgeous Cerro Santa Lucia. Loved it. This is where Santiago was founded in the early 1500s. 

Rachael and I in front of the fountain at Cerro Santa Lucia!

They tend to have lots of important parties and events here. It was seriously an incredible place.

After visiting "El Pueblo de los Dominicos" and Cerro Santa Lucia, we took a bus ride for about an hour and half to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. They were much bigger than I expected them to be! I met my host family, which was really scary but exciting! My host mom, Claudia, said that my Spanish was good, so that made me feel comfortable. We had a good dinner and now I'm relaxing in my room.