orientation

I'm back....my 4 loyal followers. :) So let me begin with arriving in Santiago. On August 29th I got to Santiago, tired as crap from an 18 hour plane ride. I went straight to my Hostal in the heart of Santiago, one of the more wealthy areas. As soon as I got there I wasn't able to get into my room because check out was at 1pm, so I got on skype and talked to my mom and harv to let them know i was safe and sound. The Haitian at the front desk tried to teach me how to use the chilean pesos so that I wouldn't get scammed, but he didn't speak any english and I was too tired to comprehend everything he was saying. I was so relieved when I got into my room and met a girl from California! English! Safety! haha. The first 2 days were awkward adjusting days. My body felt all turned around and I had no apetite. But it really was also because the lunch I had that day was more than 4 times what I could eat. Lol. That night I watched 24 (Joe, Alex, and Dylan, proud of me or what?) with Jessica, my roommate at the time. After Jessica left, I met a Chileno from the north, Arica, named Jorge. He asked me if I wanted to go eat with him....lol. I said that I wasn't hungry and had leftovers from lunch, and when he asked me to accompany him, I said I had homework and I was tired. It was kind of him, but I think he got the picture. The next day I met up with Kirsty and finished my pre-departure homework at a cafe. That night her and I went out for drinks and got some bomb ass spicy cheesy fries. lol. And of course, PISCO SOURS, a drink claimed by both chilenos and peruvians. Pisco is a type of alcohol made from grapes and the rest of the drink is lemon and sugar. DELICIOUS. But also very strong. After the first bar, we decided to go check out another and ended up meeting a huge group of British people and hanging out with them pretty late. That was party night #1, which I thought was fun, but I had no idea what was to come....

The next day Kirsty and I split a taxi to the airport where our group was meeting to go to Viña. Even though we were the earliest in Chile, we were the last to the bus. lol. We arrived at the hotel about an hour and a half after leaving the airport, all 20 of us....18 girls and 2 boys. Que ridiculo! We had orientation in the hotel where we met everyone and learned the rules and regulations and all that crap. It was fun the first few days and boring the last few. We went boating and exploring and shopping and all that jazz. I was really sad to leave the group yesterday, but also ready to move in with my host family. My host house ended up being a street away from the hotel! Its the cutest little green house. My parents names are Rosa Maria and Pancho, and my 2 brothers names are Panchito(little Pancho) and Ricardo. Its really funny how the houses are layed out here. They dont really have hallways. One room just leads to another room and everyone walks through everyone elses room to get places. I love my room so much. Tiny and cute. I've never really had a small room because I'm such a princess that I usually end up with the big one. But its very cosy. It leads out to a patio where we hang clothes to dry. You can see pictures on my facebook. I've got awesome bedding and my room is right next to the bathroom. More pictures of my house are to come. I already have SO many pictures in my Vina/Valpo album. Soon I'll have to make more albums. Hopefully facebook can hold all the pictures I take this year, and you guys can bear with me. Lol. I will eliminate the unimportant ones as I add more. Please feel free to tell me which pictures are lame. I wont be offended.

We went through a culture shock workshop that prepared me for a few hard weeks here. Apparently the excitement lasts around 4 weeks until it starts going downhill. then usually there are 3 or 4 weeks of frustration/depression/loneliness then uphill again because we are finally comfortable with the language and culture. And once back in the U.S., apparently it will dip lower than the second stage of culture shock. I hope not, but I am prepared for it. Not like I haven't dealt with depression before. I am so in love with stage one! I am so excited about everything and only a little frustrated with the language. I can already tell i'm going to have some amazing friends. Last night we went to a concert. Communist flags EVERYWHERE. Very fun. And after Allende's Chile fell you could understand why. Anyway....I have to post this right now, because "autosave failed." And I'm headed to bed. But there will be many more of these. And more details. Love ya.