I'm in my new home!

  Well, I'm sitting in my bedroom in my host family's apartment! It's a really nice apartment right across from the mall, very very near the center of town. 2 blocks away is the beach (!) and about a block away is the bus stop with 'la micro' that will take me to my university (about 20-30 mins away). 

  So far, I've met my oldest brother Jorge (22yr) (he was in bed... they go out around 2am and return around 5 or 6am, and come back and sleep all day...), one of my brothers, Cristobal (12yr) and my little sister, Antonia (4yr). My other brother, Felipe, (14yr) is at a friend's house (apparently he's quite the socialite) and my last brother, Angel (19yr) is out. He lives in Santiago during the week and goes to some sort of special school for sports stars (he plays tennis) and come and stays with his parents on the weekends. The grandparents live in the apartment upstairs, and I met my grandmother briefly today, too. Oh, they also have a huge bird cage-home thing on their deck. They have a bunch of really colorful pajaritos, whose eggs they eat! They said the look and taste like chicken eggs... I am skeptical, but of course I'll eat what they give me. 

  My family seems really nice, and they're being very patient and kind and slow with their Spanish, so for the most part, we are communicating well. It's exhausting to speak and listen to Spanish so much, but I'm getting the hang of it ... hopefully my classes will go well...

  We "pre-register" on Wednesday, and it seems like there's a "shopping week" of sorts where people try out different classes before they settle on the ones they want. As a part of our program, we meet with Chilean Univ. students on Monday morning ('Monitors')- they show us around the buildings and help us decide which classes to take (I think ... I hope!) The process is kind of overwhelming, but I found several classes in the History, Language Science, and Religion departments that sound interesting. I'll be taking either three or four classes at the university and then one obligatory Spanish class through Butler... and those will all start on March 8 (aka most American Spring Breaks)

  Other than that, Orientation in Olmue was great- all 33 of the IFSA Butler students got to know each other, try to learn what to expect in our homestays/school/lives, and just kind of get acclamated to the idea of being in Chile. I was really sad to leave our safe cocoon in Olmue, where there were always other gringos to speak to... but it is also really cool to be un-packed in this home... it feels like it's more permanent and not so much like summer camp.

  This morning we went on a "light hike" at La Campana, which was about 15 mins up the mountain from our hosteria. It was really pretty- because of the way the sun hits the mountain, one side was full of different sorts of cactus, and the other side was lush with green trees- really interesting! We also hiked up to an old copper mine.... we walked into it- WITHOUT a light- and went really far in, until it was absolutely, completely pitch black (and really short). It was literally the same with your eyes open and shut- a really cool concept... but I am thankful for the sun. Pictures will come soon.

   It's 8:15 here... and I'm kind of starving. We had some lemon meringue pie around 7 as our snack- delicious... but not particularly substantial. My host mom (I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to call her...?) said they usually eat around 9pm, and tonight we're going to (maybe) have a barbque "depending on who shows up"... so I'm not entirely sure what that will entail... 

Oh- good news! I have wireless here at home, so keeping in contact will be oh-so-easy. 

Hasta luego!

I'm here!!

Hello world, I am now writing from Olmue', Chile at orientation!! (I don't know how to do accents because it won't let me copy and paste... but there's an accent over the E)

  My journey here was uneventful, but long. (13.5 hours in the air plus numerous hours in airports) I made my connection in Dallas-Ft. Worth, (awkwardly) found my group, and landed in Santiago without issue. We then made it through customs/immigration without anyone being deported (even though I had illegal food... oops..) and found the IFSA-Butler program people who brought us here. The bus ride was about an hour and a half and it was funny because none of us really knew what to expect/where we were going/what was going to happen when we arrived... but we were all going anyway... safe... ?

  There's 33 here getting oriented with the IFSA-Butler program, from all over the country (though a lot are from UNC or Minnesota- random). The group is really great- everyone is friendly and speaks Spanish well, and most have travelled all over the world, so it's a really interesting bunch.

  Olmue is a little bit in the mountains, so this time of year, (summer) it's either really hot with no breeze or pretty cool- it has been cool for us, which seems like the preferable option. It's a pretty small town with a little centro with shops and restaurants- but we mostly stay at the hotel because we're in info sessions (pretty boring, but necessary) most of the day, and then have all of our meals here. Delicious food, but huuuuge meals (4 or 5 courses each for lunch and dinner) It's a really nice hotel with a nice pool (which was really cold) and rooms (my roommates are Julie S from Colorado and Alison from UNC-- they're both super nice and we've been getting along well) -- it reminds me a lot of the hotel OPMH stays at in Reynosa.

  Last night we had two of the IFSA people come and give dance lessons in meringue- it was super fun, and I'm thinking about taking a Latin dancing class as one of my classes this semester- we'll see. (We start the registration process- and believe me, it's a process- on Monday)

   Other than that, we've been learning about safety, Chilean history, el shock cultural, and all sorts of fun and exciting stuff... but mainly just getting to know each other and eating. The eating schedule here is different .... a light breakfast and then "once" at 11:00 which is coffee and cookies, and then a big lunch at 13 or 14:00 (of course, they use military time...ugh) and then another coffee/cookie break at 17ish and dinner at 20 or 21:00... i hate military time, but i love the food

   Well, that's just a little look at what's been going on here... I hope to be able to update often, because I know everyone is terribly interested in every detail of my life... but apparently internet is a little bit harder to come by once we get to our host families on Saturday in Vina del Mar, so we'll have to see

 Hasta luego,

juli

My Host Family!

Hello world,

  I leave 2 weeks from today, on February 24, and I thought I would make a blog so I can try to keep my adoring fans up-to-date on my life and my adventures.

  I found out my information for my host family a few days ago- I'll be living at 2 Oriente 1308, piso 01, Vina del Mar, Chile... it's only a few blocks from the beach, and looks super nice (check it out on google earth)! I think that some of my classes will be in Vina, while others will be further down the coast in Valparaiso, which is the second largest city in Chile and the home of the Chilean Congress. 

  My host family has 2 parents, 4 brothers, 1 sister, a maid (a "nana"), and a bird! 

  I found this map of Chile - it highlights the major cities in Chile and gives you an idea of how long and skinny it is... Valpo is right in the middle, a little northwest of Santiago.

So yeah... talk to you later, world!