My weekend !

Well I had such a busy weekend that it deserves its own post!

  One of my classmates in my speech class is named Raquel and she's a Mom returning to university. Last week, she invited my gringo classmates and me to her house for an almuerzo, so last Saturday, the 4 of us (Ashley, her friend from Santiago, Michael, Amanda, and myself) went to her house - about a 30min metro ride away, to have lunch! She made us homemade lasagna (she made the noodles!!!) and we ate with the 6 (out of 8) of her kids that live at home, her and her husband, and a grandson! It was such a huge and loving family- so very fun!

 

   Then on Sunday, I spent the afternoon with several other intercambio students to volunteer with a family in Valpo. 2 of my friends are here on Rotary Club scholarships, so they had to find a service project to participate in during their year here, and someone told them about this family. Their mother, Gina, has seven foster kids- from ages 8-16 who are all victims of sexual and/or physical abuse. She receives (very little) money from the government to raise the kids, but needs a whole lot of help, so my 2 friends have organized a group of about 10 "Tíos and Tías" to play with the kids and help her out. Yesterday, we had lunch and then divided them into 3 groups and had a scavenger hunt through Valparaíso-- they had sooo much fun- and so did we! We plan to do two large events (like yesterday's) each month, and then do lunch each Wednesday (while Gina takes some of the kids to the psychologist) with a few gringos, and a few other events as we're able. The kids were all really great- so well-behaved (very unique around here...) and just incredibly sweet and appreciative the whole afternoon.

  Well world, that's what I've been up to! I had classes today, so that was a bummer... but I'm going to Curacaví and Isla Negra with my study abroad group (read: free) this Saturday, so that should be fun! We're only going for the day and I think it's only like an hour to get there.... so hopefully there won't be quite as much excitement on this bus ride, but we'll just have to wait and see....

hasta luego, world!