Hola todos!

Look at that Spanish! After only being here a day I can already say that I feel like I have learned something!  I suppose that's what a 4-hour Spanish class will do for you.  At first I was terrified of the idea of 4 hours of Spanish because I had plenty of seminars in college that were 3 hours long and were torturous  (plenty that were wonderful, of course) but 4 hours of Spanish seemed like it would be overwhelming.
However, much to my surprise and delight, it wasn't bad at all! In fact it just flew by!  I think the fact that it was all new, and I just want to be able to communicate with the people around me, made me really pay attention and just try to absorb everything.

Ah let me back track a little bit, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, yesterday after arriving and everything I was able to eat 2 meals with my host family.  They are just hilarious, such wonderful people.  We had a lengthy discussion about Lady Gaga and her many bizarre outfits (though we did all agree that the woman can sing) and also discussed the likes of John Denver and Bob Seger - my host dad loves a lot of American music so he's frequently singing for me (thankfully he's a very good singer.)  My host mom and I discussed strategy of Angry Birds (a game) while we ate tres leches ice cream.  Really, there are so many odd American cultural things here, thankyou internet!
Overall yesterday was a pretty quiet day, my host mom took me on a tour of the neighborhood and showed me where my school is, the supermarket, etc.  I could generally understand a lot of what she was saying to me, but unfortunately couldn't respond with much.  But, I'm definitely learning and that's what matters!
After that i took a nap, read, and watched some tv on my computer - I had underestimated how exhausted I was and was starting to feel slightly overwhelmed, so I decided not to push it.  We had a delightful dinner of Macaroni and Cheese with an overeasy egg on top (?) and talked about weather and I told them a lot about Colorado (I was too exhausted and confused to jump into talking about Minnesota, maybe tomorrow.  From what I'm told, eggs are eaten on most things here - and to be honest, not only am I ok with this eating habit but I am supportive of it! I hit the hay pretty early as I was worn out from travel and whatnot.

Today I was up bright and early to get ready for school.  My host dad and I had a pleasant breakfast of toast, coffee, cheese and a ham-type of meat (not entirely sure) and then I was off to school!
I had to take an entrance exam, which consisted of me getting confused as to which part of my name to write where, so that was fun!  The woman who grades them looked at it, looked me and just says "nada?" to which I smile and nod.
Class started at 9am.  There are 4 other students in my class; 2 are from Switzerland, 1 is from Germany and 1 is from California.  They are all really nice and speak various levels of Spanish, myself and a girl from Germany are definitely the lowest - so we can only go up, and look really smart when we do!
The class was a lot of information and a lot of vocabulary but it was really fun!

After class there was a lunch for the new students that started today - we had empanadas that was really delicious.  We got a short introduction to the area and school, then I went on a walk around the neighborhood with an Australian girl (Nichola) It was nice to be able to speak English with someone, though I am super glad that I have my host family to practice with; it gets rather exhausting and frustrating at times.  But, I do know that with practice will come some level of perfection/learning.
After that I came home for a bit, did my homework, then met up with Elin (the younger sister of one of my best friends in Minnesota) and we walked around the area, got some delicious food, and then walked some more.  I'm still super disoriented and can't seem to figure out which way North is (although we have mountains here just like back home, they're harder to find and I just don't seem to ever be able to find them when I need them!)
I then went to a cookout at school - they made carne asada that was absolutely heavenly.  It was nice to chat with people from school, some in English, some in Spanish, some even in French!  Everyone I've talked to so far is super nice and friendly, so that's a good sign!

I definitely am starting to love it here already!  I think that I'm going to start volunteering at an orphanage that our school has connections with - with whom better to practice Spanish than adorable little Chilean children?!
However, learning Spanish and trying to orient myself is quite an exhausting experience, so I'm gonna hit the hay pretty soon here.  Pictures should be up soon!