Primer dia del colegio!

Well, today I donned my lovely nun-like uniform and went to school for the first time! It was kind of scary at first, to be honest. Everyone was staring and talking in Spanish. But then an English teacher took me to my classroom and a bunch of girls instantly grabbed me and told me that we were going to be best friends. I couldn't remember their names for like 4 hours though... The people there are sooo nice and they made me so happy. It's good to finally have friends. They already invited me to their houses and to spend summer vacation with their famililes and go shopping in Santiago and they might be having a party for me on Friday! The only downfall (which to me at this time, isn't really a downfall) is that they all speak pretty much fluent English. It was definitely helpful today because I had no idea what to do or where to go, plus they were able to explain a lot of stuff about Chile that will for sure help me, but I know that it will probably slow down my Spanish learning. They understand though, and try and teach me the Spanish as we talk. It's overwhelming though, because there are always like 6 girls around me all shouting out things and talking in both Spanish and English and expecting answers. It's crazy.
The classes are ultra easy. The kids literally just talk over the teacher the entire time, but he continues to talk anyways. I don't have to do anything because I can't understand anything. It's kind of boring though... And today we stayed until 5:15 because it's a Monday and that's what they do Monday and Wednesday. Every day is completely different. It's going to be weird to get used to...
I still don't know what sport I want to do. Luis wants me to do something. They have track at the school, but I already know it's not very good! And I played tennis with Luis on Saturday and I suck at that, so maybe I might take lessons but that's up in the air. I can also take swimming lessons or a spinning class. Who knows...

corre! corre!

When I was in town today with Miriam I got the hiccups and everyone was laughing at me. Miriam and I bonded every time my body unexpectedly jumped. It was good....

At 2 pm I went with Matias "para entrenar" (track). He said we wouldn't be back until about 8 pm so I was a little nervous about what that would entail. I thought we would be running and running and running for six horas. But no. For about three hours we helped out at the Universidad de Talca in the gym. There were like 80 kids there and we just had to keep them in groups. Of course, this was practically impossible for me because, well, I don't speak their language. I basically just stoood there and acted like I was being useful. It was kiiiiiind of fun. So then all the kids left and we were just there with 2 other kids and all the coaches, which freaked me out because I was thinking that it would be like intense, personal training or something. Matias wouldn't tell me what was going on. So we walked down to the field and they all put on their special running gear such and got out their hurdles and foot holder things and I just, again, awkwardly stood there. We started to run around the track and from the very beginning I made myself take deep breaths and make sure I didn't look toooo tired from running so little. Ah, I love being out of shape. And then! After two laps, they stopped. No more running. They talked for like twenty minutes, stretched a little, talked more, made fun of me stretching, talked, talked, stretched, talked....Pretty much, no running. I was so confused! Not to mention they started talking to me in fast, slang Chilean Spanish so I had no idea what to do. They kept asking me what I wanted to do, and my only answer was that I wanted to run, which for some reason they couldn't understand. So finally I just started running and left them and ran like two or three miles. All the while, they talked. It was sooo weird. What kind of track people don't run??

Today was good though. Even though it was kind of weird/boring with the kids, I'm glad I went because at least I wasn't sitting at the house on my computer avoiding Spanish. I got to ride the bus and I ate the bessst apple ever. Product of Chile, of course. It was also AMAZING to be around kids my age. Thank god for Matias and his friends. I'm soooo excited to start school on Monday. I need friends!

Tomorrow, it will have been one week. I'm not even sure how I feel about that....

Sólo Español

So, I'm going to try this thing where I don't use English. I know, ridiculous, right? Well, I can't exactly talk in it anyways, being in Chile, but I'm going to stop Skyping and Facebooking and emailing, because it really doesn't help when I'm on the computer all day talking in English. I barely speak any Spanish, which is, really, a problem. I will try to keep this updated, though.

Today I decided that I'm going to go to Colegio Inglés de Talca. It's a private school that is close to our house. We took back my uniform for Colegio San Ignacio and got the new one. This one is better, but I have to wear a tie (una corbata)! And, better in the sense that it matches. The other one was a black sweater with yellow and red and green and the skirt was blue with red and white. It just wasn't very coordinated... Like I should care! So, I start on Monday! You can see the website, but good luck reading it! http://www.colegioingles.cl/

After I decided that I was going to speak solo espanol, I went and talked to Marisol, one of Miriams friends/possibly the maid?, and then I went into my room and labeled all of my sharpies with the Spanish words. Not like it helped because I already knew them all, but it put me in the right zone. Then, Sofia and I played checkers and this other game that I'm almost positive she made up as we went. She's kind of a cheater when it comes to games... I took out all my Spanish notes from all the years I've taken Spanish (which turned out to be of no help at all!) and studied for awhile.

Oh, and I tried to build another fire today! Again, I failed horribly. Plus, Sofia and Javier insisted on practically climbing on me to blow the thing out as if that would help. Silly Chileans. They need to learn how to make fires. At least the light attached to my bed works as sort of a heat mechanism....

Mi nueva amiga mejor.... :)

I finally attempted to start a fire today and failed miserably. I think the wood (la leña!) just isn't good because it really doesn't catch on fire. Matias tried to help, and he just kept blowing on it so that it would spark, but after like three minutes he accidently spit all over and we just layed down in the hall and laughed. He's fun to be around because we can barely talk to eachother but we both do stupid stuff and it's entertaining. He also called me a "Lou-sare" and made an "L" on his forehead.

FOTOS!

Day 3!

Today my host mom, Miriam, and I went to "el centro" aka downtown and we basically ran errands for like 5 hours. I got my school uniform and it's kind of bad, but whateverr. I still don't understand anything she says. She is the hardest to understand because she mumbles all the time and talks to herself and it's way to hard to try and interpret so I just wait until she laughs and then I laugh or she will add "Si?" to the end and I just say "Si!". Towards the end of the day I started to understand A LITTLE BIT more than normal, but I still suck.

But most importantly??
I ate mushrooms today! Las setas!
They were in our lunch and I looked at them and started to pick around them, but then decided, "Ehh, whatever. I'm in Chile!" And then I ate them. It was a big step.

Day 2!

Well! I'm in Chile now. It's gone by surprisingly fast, though. I got here yesterday at about 8:30 in the morning and met my family at the airport in Santiago. They are really nice! My host brother, Matias, immediately took my suitcases and put his coat around my shoulders, and my host mom freaked out that I was wearing flipflops. They made all the exchange students (there were like 19 of us!) take pictures with the Chilean and American flag. There was a GIANT crowd of people there--at least 15 cameras were all flashing. It was funny. So, we left the airport and got in the car and Luis (the dad) was talking to me in English, thank god! He said the first day it would be okay. I asked them to drive around Santiago before we drove to Talca and it was so different than I expected! The city is really polluted and not to mention it was foggy and freezing, so I'm not so sure about it. There are a lot of poor parts and it makes the city kind of ugly at parts, but I suppose that's how all cities are...? Yes... Luis was asking me what I thought of it and how it was different from Seattle and I said I didn't know, and he said, "Here, there is no 'sky-crappers'." HAHA. He said it like 10 times and everytime I wanted to correct him, but it was making me laugh so I just let him say sky-crappers. But yeah, they don't have skyscrapers because they have a lot of earthquakes, which should be exciting if I'm here when they have one. We drove up on this big hill and we stopped at the top and were able to see all of the city and the Andes in the back. Except for the fog, it was so beautiful. Then we drove to Talca. It took about two and a half hours and for the first half hour, Sofia (six years old) kept saying "Como se dice ____ en espanol" and then I'd have to answer her. It was hard, though, because she has a strong accent. But, I learned that mice is raton and sky is cielo in Spanish, so I guess it was good... When we finally got to Talca, and to the house, I was so excited. Their house is actually really cool. It has like the traditional Spanish roof things and it's just pretty, I guess. HOWEVER, it is soooooooooo cold! They don't have insulation or heaters, just a fireplace that they really don't care is still burning or not. So, the house is freezing 24/7. I have a heated blanket, though. :) Today, I woke up late and then played a Chilean version of Monopoly with Javier, Sofia, and Matias. It was weird at first but it got kind of fun! Sofia just laughs at everything and she's soooo cute when she does. She just talks and talks and talks and I can barely understand two words, but I just laugh anyways. It's really hard to understand anyone. They all talk so fast and it's so slurred and...foreign. Hopefully when I start school at the end of the week, it gets better!!

Eeeee!

Amber Ann Riser is the most amazing person I know. And I'm going to Chile today.

Ahhhh!

At the end of August, I am going to Talca, Chile as a foreign exchange student for my senior year. And foreign I will be! Hopefully, it won't be tooooo bad though! The first host family I am staying with is really nice. I met them on Skype and the dad speaks very good English. But, he also said when we spoke, that this would be the last time he spoke English to me, so good luck there, I guess. It should be interesting to see if my three years taking Spanish classes helps, even in the least.

So, this is how you guys get to keep track of me. I probably might not write much at first because I'll be getting settled in (and I feel like I'm talking to myself!), but after, expect updates all the time!

Adios!?

Well, I have a blog now. WHOOO! Now everyone can keep track of me when I leave for Chile. (Which by the way is in about two weeks.)