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!