La Lista Negra

So if you all remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned my name was on "la lista negra"? Yeah, today the seniors came to school. We were in the gym and all of the sudden everyone started screaming at the top of their lungs and running away and there were dirt bikes outside. I had absolutely NO idea what was going on so I ran into the locker rooms and hid in a shower. Unfortunately, they found us and threw water balloons on us. I was spared getting rotten eggs shoved in my hair - Sole and Rosario weren't. Then we locked ourselves in a bathroom for a few minutes, but when we came out, they were still there! There were jeeps driving around on the grass and sidewalks and they were chasing people. I tried running into the building where everyone was hiding, but on my way there someone poured orange paint in my hair. Then as I was running away from him, someone else threw a handful of mud in my face. Needless to say, I locked myself in the bathroom again. It was sooo funny though because when we were in the bathroom, all you could hear were screams and pounding and it sounded like a horror movie where people were getting killed. But, they finally left after throwing fish heads and muscles, instant hair bleacher, and flour on people. Overall, a very eventful day!

"Culture Fest"

The last week has been pretty dull. I've mostly been working on college applications and Rotary things. Awhile back, the University of Talca invited me, along with the other exchange students in this city, to prepare a stand displaying information and have some food that is typical of our country. Of course, we agreed and of course, we waited until the last minute to put anything together for it. So, Wednesday night we all got together and put some stuff together for the following day. We made a giant poster with pictures and information and made about 9 billion peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (the power even went out during everything). Sara and Chanel spent the night and we stayed up late watching movies and eating ice-cream. In the morning, Benny, Elizabeth, Breno, and Rafaela arrived from Curico to come help us. So, we had everything ready, even though it was last minute, and we got to Culture Fest to set up. And then we talked with the coordinator guy and he told us that because we had such bad coordination and other such things that we couldn't do it anymore. So, we ate some PB&J sandwiches and walked around Talca for a couple hours before the event actually started. We did go for a little bit but it turned out to be lame anyways.

On Saturday I went to the cathedral in Talca for my class's Confirmation. It was cool because it was in a church and it was all catholic and stuff, but it was so incredibly boring and obviously in Spanish...Afterwards I went to Anita's house for lunch and all her family and friends from Santiago were there. Luis was kind of mad at me because I went there instead of going to his office for a family day, which was dumb. It really didn't help because that night my entire class was having a party for Confirmation being over and I couldn't go because I had previously (but very unwillingly) agreed to go to a birthday party with the family. However, I should not have had to go. It was for a kid that I didn't even know, it was 29384 miles away, I knew absolutely no one there, and it was really lame. Not to mention, Luis and Miriam wanted to stay late because the parents were having an asado so we were there until like 3.

Tacos

Last night we ate tacos for dinner. BY FAR the best meal I've had here. When I come home next year, I want to go to El Caporel for my first meal. I miss Mexican food so much.

Nothing much has happened here. Luis wouldn't let me go to Santo Domingo, surprise surprise. I've just been trying to fill out college applications. :( Stressful.

This was last weekend before the 15 cumple, with Toto! And then this week in Viña at the beach with Sara and Benny.

Viña de nuevo

I got back from Viña Del Mar yesterday and I must say, it was a very enjoyable 3 day excursion. On Sunday afternoon, Matthew and I took the train to Curicó to stay with two other exchange students for the night. When we got there, we walked around the city for awhile and met up with a couple other kids from there. We stayed out until about eleven and then Elizabeth and I stayed up for about 3 more hours eating ice-cream and trying to illegally watch Mean Girls online before we passed out. The next day we all took the bus to Santiago and from Santiago to Viña. We stayed in Cabins right on the water that were like part Naval Cabins. That first day we didn't really do much at first. We explored the cabins, went swimming in our clothes, subimos la mierda/esa wea (hahahahhha), and at night we went into town and walked around and went to the movies. We saw Bastardos Sin Gloria. It was soooo good. When we got back we hung out in our cabins and tried to watch Mean Girls again. That failed so we called Chloe on Skype to wish her a Happy Birthday, which I would like to inform you all was on Tuesday, November 10 - not the eleventh as I may have previously accidentally written). So de nuevo, Feliz Cumpleaños a Chlo! 

Tuesday we unwillingly woke up and got ready to leave for a day in Valparaiso, but we ended up not going because Anna was really sick and so Ernesto and his wife took her to the Hospital. However, it was extremely sunny out so Elizabeth and I went and laid in the sun for 2 hours. Horrible idea in retrospect. We went back content with our faint tan lines, only to find half an hour later that our bodies were similar to those of lobsters. So that kind of sucked, to say the least. But we put some clothes on and left to Valparaiso to go to the Congreso Nacional de Chile. It was rather lame compared to the Congress in the United States, in terms of aesthetics, but we got to sit in on a vote and some lady was randomly singing and all the people were cheering, so it seemed a bit more relaxed and lively... We went back to the cabins after a bit of walking around and had an asado. Right before bed, Elizabeth put a pita bread in the microwave and forgot about it (the microwave was broken...apparently) and three minutes later our cabin was full of smoke and she was writing her name with charcoal on the pavement outside.

Wednesday was our last day, so we woke up and cleaned and packed and left for Valparaiso again. This time we went to the port and took a boat around the bay to see the city. It was a bit boring for me because I had done the same thing barely a month before with my family, but it was still pretty. After that we went to lunch and then back to the bus station. Before we boarded, Sara got sick with almost the same thing that Anna had. Booo. When we were on the train, I was waiting for the bathroom and one of the conductor guys started talking to me and then Matt and Elizabeth and I asked if we could go into the Conductor's room thing up front in the train and after promising that we weren't going to kill him, we got to go up and take pictures. I felt like such a little kid, but it was definitely cool.

When I was at Elizabeth's house on Sunday, I weighed myself. Definitely a little bit more than I was when I got here... Today I told my friends and one of my better friends told me that she noticed that my face got fatter. And I was talking to my Matias earlier and he told me that when I first got here my cheeks were more skinnier and skeletal-like. Daily bike rides, 8 minute abs, and no eating out of boredom will be incorporated into my daily routine from now on, I believe. 

Anddd, today I had a really good talk with Miriam and she hugged me for the first time.


P.S. No school tomorrow. Possibly Santo Domingo on Saturday. Thanksgiving next week!

HOLA?

TALK TO MEEEEEE!

Tanto Tiempo

I haven't been writing in this! That is a problem. Everything is great, though. I really love everything here. That is, except the food. And how strict Luis has suddenly become. It's weird how fast my ideas of normalcy have changed since I've been here. In the US, a midnight curfew was cool and thankfully accepted. Here, a 2am curfew gives me reason to complain to all my friends with their silly 5am curfews... And, I can only go out once on the weekends. But you'd be amazed at how ridiculous I find that. These are just things I have to get used to! It's just hard because the funnest times are when I'm with my friends. That's when I learn Spanish and don't feel at all lonely. It's not like I'm just gung-ho, let's-go-get-trashed-and-be-crazy-teenagers-living-in-Chile...It's not like that at all! It just sounds like it when I say I'm going to parties every weekend. But, it's part of the culture here. It's harmless. 

I've also decided I don't like the idea of exchanges. Not in general, but just the fact that when one kid leaves, another one comes to take their place. I think that is a very stupid idea. For someone to enter into a family as a replacement child is a very difficult thing to do. It's hard enough entering in a new family. But this way, the family has expectations. They know their own child so well and obviously love them quite a bit more than they like you. So, when you try and fit in, you are always being held up and compared to the other. The things you do differently make them not like you because it makes them want their own child. It's like you have to try your hardest to fill in the gap they left. Unfortunately, I'm not a champion swimmer and tennis player, nor do I have a desire to do homework during my exchange. I'm not learning Spanish the same way that someone else is learning English. I'm completely different. Which, yes, is part of the point of the exchange. But it could much more easily be done if you were WITH your opposite, instead of replacing your opposite. I'm more of a family-friends kind of person. But this is not my family. And this family won't let me hang out with my friends (as much as I'd like to). Sooo, what then?

On Saturday night I am going to a "Quince Años" birthday party. That's the Chilean equivalent to a Sweet Sixteen. This one is formal. Like Homecoming formal, almost. I'm excited!

On Sunday, I'm taking a train to Curico to spend the night at another exchange kid's house because Monday we're all going to Viña Del Mar for three days. There will be eleven of us and 1 adult! It's going to be nice to be with other exchange kids. There is a girl I met (Elizabeth) that lives in Curico and we were talking on Facebook and then Chloe joined in. Somehow, Chloe found out that Elizabeth knew Bo, an exchange student from Thailand, who Chloe knows because she is the daughter of one of the families that Chloe stayed with in Thailand. But Elizabeth knows her because Bo stayed with her family when she came to the US. And I know Bo because I slept in her bed when I went to visit Chloe. It was so weird to find that out, though. SMALL WORLD. Anyways, we're going to Viña Monday through Wednesday. I get to skip school! :)


And on November 11, Feliz Cumpleaños, Chloe Anna Cook! I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH AND MISS YOU JUST AS MUCH.

reglas estupidas

This is my first negative post.

I understand that I live with a new family. I understand that I have to live by their rules. I understand that I have a good family, compared to some other exchange students. I understand that I have a lot of freedoms that I didn´t have in the US.

But I don´t understand why I can´t spend the night at a friends house. It´s not even against Rotary rules. It´s completely normal here. But not with the Perez Heredia Family. And for some reason, this is bugging me beyond words.

I know, my life is so horrible.

(Este es mi primer ¨post¨negativo. Yo entiendo que yo vivo con una familia nueva. Yo entiendo que mi familia es más buena que las familias de algunos otros estudiantes de intercambio. Yo entiendo que yo tengo muchas libertades, que yo no tenía en EE.UU. Pero, yo no entiendo porque no puedo alojar en la casa de mis amigas. No es una regla de Rotary. Es demasiado normal acá en Chile. Pero, este no es el caso con la familia Peréz Heredia. Y por un razón desconocido, me molesta muchísimo. Sí, sé. My vida es horrible.)