La Vida

Well, now that I have updated you all on my trip to Mendoza, Argentina, I'll back track a bit and talk about general life here in Chile.

**Below you will find 2 posts outlining our trip**

For my 2nd week in Chile, life became pretty routine (still wonderful, but routine)  I get up and eat breakfast with my host dad - we chat in Spanish and English, read the paper, drink our coffee and eat our toast.  Well, he usually is there more to keep me company as he eats when I leave, but either way it's wonderful company!
I then am at school until about 1pm each day - class consists of different activities each day, but in this level we are mostly practicing our speaking abilities (which are rusty, but we get better each day!)  We've been learning the past tense, which is very helpful in order to be able to explain my day to my host family - as it gets confusing when all I could speak in was the present tense.

In the afternoon we do a variety of things - some of us from school will usually go and get lunch somewhere, we've done everything from typical Chilean sandwiches to Chinese - as lunch is usually a little later than I am used to I am usually so hungry that everything tastes wonderful!
Some days we'll go out to see different things in Santiago - last week we went to a beautiful Artisan market where there were about 50 different little shops selling kitchy touristy stuff (jewelery, leather, clothing, etc) but it was fun to see!
Other days we hang out in our neighborhood, study at school, or I'll go off walking by myself to take pictures.

Around 7:30 or so we'll eat dinner with my host family - on Tuesdays and Thursdays my host mom's granddaughter (Valentina, 8 years old) comes over for dinner while her mom and my host sister go to a dance class (or aerobics, I don't remember.)  Those are always fun dinners as she is very funny, animated, and very smart.  We discuss everything from school in the US to our favorite fruits and vegetables.  As the days go by and I become better in speaking Spanish, I can contribute more and more to the conversations.

Wednesday nights (for some stupid reason) are the big going-out nights here, so we typically start out hanging out at a bar then move on to a club/discoteca - where much fun and dancing ensue.
I'm definitely starting to get a feel for the city and whatnot now, and am starting to feel much more comfortable getting around here.  The metro (although is usually very crowded) is very clean and efficient.  I have only taken the busses once, as the metro usually works fine, but the busses were great too!

It's become more about the little things now in Santiago - successfully negotiating things in Spanish (the other day I bought 2 pens at the store and did so very successfully without much stumbling in Spanish!) hanging out with students from school, drinking a good coffee (which is surprisingly difficult to find as most is just instant) putting minutes on my cell phone, practicing Spanish with my host family (we have been able to have some political discussions! After Michelle Bachman showed up in the papers here, we had a fabulous discussion about American politics and the Tea Party)
Being here, with a family and a school to go to has allowed me to feel like I am less of a tourist and more of a normal person here.  Granted, my silly sounding Spanish and my blonde hair will always give me away, but I've been able to settle into a nice little routine that gets broken up by the constant adventure of being in another city, in another country, and living in another language.

I have a little over a week left here in Santiago, and I just cannot believe it!  While it feels like I have been here forever, and Denver feels like years ago, it has also just FLOWN by.

As this was the first time that I've ever really traveled on my own, I have definitely learned a lot so far!  I'm really looking forward to getting to enjoy every  moment that I have left here, especially since I know that it will go by way too quickly.
On Saturday we are planning to go to Valparaiso for the day (a beautiful little town on the coast) - I'm not sure what I will have planned for the rest of the weekend.  Probably sightseeing and playing around Santiago - unfortunately I don't think I'll get to all of the other places that I had planned to go to, but that's ok!  I knew that there was no way to get it all in, and whatever I do manage to fit in will be amazing and wonderful.

I am just so thankful that I get be here, experiencing all of this - I couldn't have imagined or hoped for a better way to spend my summer.