Life goes on....

Since my last entry.....
Tuesday night when I was hanging out with Julia, I ate empanadas of corn and chicken, which means I only have 2 kinds left to try. My host mom has actually never had the corn kind.... Apple and seafood are left. Even tho i eat fish occasionally...i´m not sure I´ll have the seafood one more than once.....Wednesday in the afternoon, I had to go to the gym with my phys ed class, even tho i can´t run. I slept.......then we walked to school to learn that the class (recuperation class from the strike) had been cancelled. So i walked home, a little upset that the afternoon had kind of been wasted, but it was ok because I walked alot and it was beautiful weather. I stopped at the grocery store to buy yogurt, and ended up buying 2 and eating both on the way home (well drinking really...didn´t have a spoon.) I thought I would have the house to myself, but Maxiel was there (unofficial host sister). She was extremely bored because had been alone in the house since she had woken up from her siesta. I hung out with her for a bit, then we went to the Zona Franca to mail some letters, singing along ot music from my ipod on the way. She wants to learn english for her job, so i helped her with some basic frases and such as well. When we got home, Johanna wasn´t there, so I walked Maxiel to university and then went back home...house to myself! So i listened to my music as loud as i wanted.....then went to meet maxiel again, but couldn´t find her so came back home. She arrived a bit later, while I was watching the end of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on TV. Later that night, Mema and I watched Law and Order:SVU. (I have been getting back into that show Carrie, Jim and Val...but unfortunately it is usually on pretty late.....so don´t always get to watch it...) After school on Thursday (nothing too exciting happened at school.....my first math test) I went with ppl in my school to dance.....i am actually learning a salsa dance routine thing for the festival de la familia. All the classes put together a show. I don´t know much of the beginning part, gotta practice during class breaks, but the part that everyone is learning new I could do. It´s super fun!! A girl´s mom is making our outfits. Í just hope that i don´t screw up.......At home later (around 8 30 or so....I tried on my prom dress, which is a bit tighter than it used to be. A few of my friends want to go to the gym as well...so I think saturday we are gonna go join!! Finally.....I have dancing again tonight, and then a birthday party for Maxiel´s friend who I have met a few times. Well..that´s all for now. xoxo

Birthday Weekend

So....it was truly a weekend of birthdays, my own and others. Thank you very much to all of you who sent me birthday greetings, much appreciated!!! Friday night, I went with a friend of mine to the birthday of a guy I had met. The other exchangee was there, and I actually knew quite a lot of people there. We got there around 9, ate dinner around 10 and were there until 3.....we had cake and danced a lot...I did some salsa (a tradition basically now) and it was pretty fun. Next day, I slept til around 11 or so, and woke being the only person in my house, so I cleaned some stuff up abit, and made myself a light breakfast. I have learned not to eat much when I wake up on weekends, cuz lunch is always within 2 hours or so. Then i cleaned up my room, and went to a friends house around 3. She was in a dance competition. It was pretty crazy, a lot of the schools here have dance teams. It was like 4 hours long (altho the announced probly talked for at least an hour and a half....) and the dancing was pretty amazing. After that, I went back to my house to get ready for a family get together for the birthday of my aunt. We headed there, and I rang in my birthday there!! (While eating delicious cake actually!!) After receiving birthday hugs and kisses from everyone, (including people who I didn´t know at all....i love South America for that) Johanna and i stopped at the house to change, then head to the disco, first time legally.....Some girls in my class were there, which was nice, cuz Julia was sick so couldn´t come. I also met Gonzalo there. Johanna didn´t particularly like that disco, and the friend she was with´s girlfriend came....so I told her she could head out to her fave disco if she wanted....so she left and I was to meet her at 4 30. So I had about 4 hours of dancing!! It was super fun!!!! I got home around 5, and then opened the card from my parents (I had opened the present and card from my sis, and the present from my parents around 12 15....) and then missed my parents alot....so cried myself to sleep. Don´t feel bad for me tho....it´s all good. The next day,my host dad called my cellphone around noon (he is in a different city right now) and woke me up. It was good tho, cuz I didn´t want to sleep away the day. Being the first one up again, I made myself some tea and read my cards again! Then had lunch, and after Johanna called me because Dirty Dancing was on TV (she knows its one of my fave movies) It was good that she did...cuz i was missing home again.....i have a feeling that´ll happen alot on holidays. We watched the movie, and then went to el centro to get the journal i had bought engraved. At my house later, some friends came over, and we ate cake. In the morning, a cake had arrived from my Exchange counselor...so in addition to the huge one Mema had bought..we had tons of cake!!!! Mema had to go visit her mom, because she was sick. So....it was just me and my friends in the house. At 7, my parents called. I had been waiting for this all day, and ran for the phone when it rang!! I talked to them for about an hour, and was super duper happy afterwards. A tradition here is to have your face put into the cake.....so we did the tradition (after we had eaten what we wanted of the cake..hehe) and then took some fun pics with icing on our faces. After the girls had left, my tio and tia and prima (aunt, uncle, and cousin) came over and enjoyed some cake. I of course had some too (i didn´t eat dinner that day..just cake....i figured it was my birthday....) Maxiel returned (she had come when my face was covered in cake...) with the movie when a stranger calls. I started to watch it...but being easily spooked, I stopped watching about 30 minutes in, and wrote about the days before in my journal, going to bed at 12 30 ish. The next morning, I walked to school where my classmates gave me a present for my bday..and sang feliz cumpleaños (same tune as happy birthday). Then I opened birthday emails, thanx again! The rest of the day was fairly standard...Maxiel and I were going to go to the gym, but she was pretty sick, so no dice. Today, I walked to school in the morning in the rain (que valiente in the words of Mema...) and had to jump over the rivers in the street...seriously, ti was craziness) and then walked back after my 2 morning classes(gorgeous weather by then) . In biology, we started photosynthesis. I was able to take down all the questions, only missing one word in the 13, and then do the same amount of work as my classmates. My teacher was very impressed when she looked at my notebook and had my read some of my answers out loud. After break, I talked for quite awhile with a guy in my class, and understood most everything....lots of exclamations from my classmates...it feels good to not always have to say ´no entiendo´so much anymore. Mema and I walked to school after lunch.... altho we had to wait for Johanna to come pick up the dog...cuz he was following us, and, hard to explain, but he couldn´t be. This one is actually a dog of the street...... Right now, I am in an internet cafe with Julia. We have quite a few weekend ideas of touristy things in the area. Should be good....Well, I think that´s all for now!! xoxo

Since last entry....

What have I been doing.....well, the night of the 18th, I was invited to a friend of a friends birthday, but didn´t go, which was probly a good thing as about half an hour later, I got my first bit of food sickness. I couldn´t sleep, and was miserable for a while, but then Mema gave me some remedy and within 30 minutes I was sleeping like a baby. Tuesday was the one month anniversary of me being in Chile....time flies. Tuesday morning, we were planning to go to the military parade at 12, and found out at about 11:10 that the parade started at 11....so no dice. Instead we went to my abuelos (grandparents). There was lots of snow there, and so Mema, Johanna, and I had a snowball fight before going into the house. It was super fun...some people in the streets had made snowmen, so I took a few pics. We snacked a bit before eating lunch awhile later. Lunch was..of course, empanadas. There were also hot peppers on the table, and I learned a lesson.....that as you get closer to the top of the pepper..it gets hotter. I was taking little bites, and later on, the same size bites left me with fire in my mouth. I grabbed for the empanadas to try and make the fire go away. I was almost crying at some points cuz of the hotness. It was good tho. I also love pebre, which is a spicy salsa. I watched some telly with Johanna, and we shared laughs at the shows, and then we headed home (Johanna had a test the next day). I went for a run, but my knees started to kill about 30 min in, so I had to stop and walk which i was not happy about!! Also..my ipod fell out of my coat onto the street...skech! Then we went to celebrate the 1st birthday of one of my little relatives. When we got back home a bit later, I read over some notes for a test the next day, and then went to bed. Wednesday, my first test, but I was allowed to use the sheet of notes I had written out, so it wasn´t overly hard. Only one class in the afternoon on Wednesday, and it was the class where I run....so I helped the teacher count the number of laps each person had done. The problem was....after the first group, I didn´t know all the names of the people running (and noone was around for awhile...) I was writing things like ´black shirt´ or ´really tall´to identify some ppl....Some girls helped me out later....I felt kinda bad, but its hard to remember like 50 names in a different language, and i´m not the best with names in the first place. I stopped to buy myself some more herbal tea (lemon ginger and a variety pack) because I had finished my other stuff off. I drink at least 2 cups of tea a day, so it goes fast. At home, Mema made pancakes for dinner!!! They were really thin tho..kind of like crepes. I had some with maple syrup, some with manjar, and some with condensed milk (which is actually really yummy!). I got Mema and Johanna, and Maxiel to try maple syrup....and there consensus was that its like honey, but more smooth. A+ Thursday afternoon, I didn´t have classes, so went to al centro and walked around there for a bit. I have already bought some Christmas presents at a market that is only open until sunday! i have never bought nething for christmas this early!!! As I was walking home, Gonzalo called to see if I wanted to hang out (Gonzalo went on exchange to the states a few years ago, and I talked to him via MSN before coming here...) so I went to his place for a bit, chillin, and met another one of his friends. My ipod is not working right now..which is a bit distressing because I use it a lot!!! Last period was history, and they are studying world history...which I have done before. So....I went to the library to study some Chilean histroy. After class, I went with the prof to talk to the sub-director that I will study Chilean history, with some direction from my prof and be tested on the points that I am given to study. This is a way better arrangement for me...Bell rang..I´m out! chau!!

Independence Weekend and more

Well..I´ll start with Thursday night, the beginning of Independence festivities for me. I had a Rotary meeting (not at the same building as before, this one was more casual, with the wives present) We ate empanadas, anticucho, and a whole bunch of Chilean desserts. My fave desserts were also the most traditional. I got home at 10 after 1 and hit the sack...super tired. Next morning, I went to school, and we finished decorating the classroom and then ate empanadas. They are so amazing!!! We didn´t have napkins tho...so used notebook paper. Afterwards was an assembly with a lot of dances and such.....took a lot of pics of the national costume. It ended a bit early, so I walked home cuz it was a gorgeous day!! A guy from my class walked with me, he speaks a bit of English, so understood when I didn´t know what to say in Spanish. After lunch (more traditional Chilean food), I met some girls in my class and we hung out...walked around downtown looking around at stuff. They laughed because I thought most of the stuff was so cheap with the conversion rate. We went to her house, where I showed them Wiarton and Owen Sound on google earth. We looked for my house here, but its covered by a cloud... Saturday morning, I slept in then went for a walk in the afternoon with my host mom. We walked ot my grandparents house...an hour and 5minutes. Then spent most of the afternoon there. I got back to my house, and got ready for a fiesta at my classmates house. Got picked up at 11 (the thing about ppl being a bit socially late is true) and then met a ton of ppl at this guys house. We danced for til 2, when I headed home. Sunday morning, I got up and went for a walk in the snow..my pants, socks, and shoes were soaked when I got home an hour later. We (host mom and I) walked along the Strait of Magellan and saw a car that had been in an accident at 5 am that morning (2 deaths...) I talked to Julia, and we arranged to meet at 3. We went to la Chocolata, where we had amazing hot chocolate and Patagonian chocolate (seriously Lou...i think it rivals belgian....) then went to some market type places with Chilean art type stuff. We took some pics of the plaza with the snow (there was about 2 inches...) and of each other with the gorgeous mountains in the background. Then we went to the house of a girl who just came back from exchange, Camila. Ate an empanada and mote con huesillo.....Later, Johanna picked me up from there and I went to my grandparents house for anticucho (a whole bunch of different meats on a kebab basically) and then to my house at 12. This morning, i got up at 8:30 cuz I was in a parade today with my school. It was on TV!!! (ohyeah...saturday my host dad left for another city to visit his mom)...I talked to him later today and he had seen me on TV...bakan (cool)We waited outside for an hour and 45 minutes...in just our unifroms. No warm jackets...and we had to wear our skirts, and since i didn´t have time to get nylons, I just had the socks on...mucho frio!!! We danced around a bit trying to stay warm, and huddled. I forgot my white gloves in the van in the morning.....so another girl lent me one and we both just wore one..hehe. I hid my hands from the inspectors all morning. The actual parade was only like 3 blocks..but there were tons of ppl, and it was cool. We were at the end tho, so I didn´t get to see the rest of it.....which was a bummer. Johanna had my camera tho, and she took pics for me. Afterwards, I went to my friends house for lunch (empanadas and anticucho without the stick, plus potatoes...) then we went downtown with her cousin. While there...met up with a bunch of other classmates and hung out with them for awhile. There were tons of ppl in the downtown..well, in schools where there were lots of games to be played. Back to her house later, and ate some delicious cake stuff and i had coffee (weak...with no sugar....I don´t use sugar in tea or coffee and everyone thinks I´m crazy). I´m home now....and done this update! ciao!!

Independence Weekend and more

Well..I´ll start with Thursday night, the beginning of Independence festivities for me. I had a Rotary meeting (not at the same building as before, this one was more casual, with the wives present) We ate empanadas, anticucho, and a whole bunch of Chilean desserts. My fave desserts were also the most traditional. I got home at 10 after 1 and hit the sack...super tired. Next morning, I went to school, and we finished decorating the classroom and then ate empanadas. They are so amazing!!! We didn´t have napkins tho...so used notebook paper. Afterwards was an assembly with a lot of dances and such.....took a lot of pics of the national costume. It ended a bit early, so I walked home cuz it was a gorgeous day!! A guy from my class walked with me, he speaks a bit of English, so understood when I didn´t know what to say in Spanish. After lunch (more traditional Chilean food), I met some girls in my class and we hung out...walked around downtown looking around at stuff. They laughed because I thought most of the stuff was so cheap with the conversion rate. We went to her house, where I showed them Wiarton and Owen Sound on google earth. We looked for my house here, but its covered by a cloud... Saturday morning, I slept in then went for a walk in the afternoon with my host mom. We walked ot my grandparents house...an hour and 5minutes. Then spent most of the afternoon there. I got back to my house, and got ready for a fiesta at my classmates house. Got picked up at 11 (the thing about ppl being a bit socially late is true) and then met a ton of ppl at this guys house. We danced for til 2, when I headed home. Sunday morning, I got up and went for a walk in the snow..my pants, socks, and shoes were soaked when I got home an hour later. We (host mom and I) walked along the Strait of Magellan and saw a car that had been in an accident at 5 am that morning (2 deaths...) I talked to Julia, and we arranged to meet at 3. We went to la Chocolata, where we had amazing hot chocolate and Patagonian chocolate (seriously Lou...i think it rivals belgian....) then went to some market type places with Chilean art type stuff. We took some pics of the plaza with the snow (there was about 2 inches...) and of each other with the gorgeous mountains in the background. Then we went to the house of a girl who just came back from exchange, Camila. Ate an empanada and mote con huesillo.....Later, Johanna picked me up from there and I went to my grandparents house for anticucho (a whole bunch of different meats on a kebab basically) and then to my house at 12. This morning, i got up at 8:30 cuz I was in a parade today with my school. It was on TV!!! (ohyeah...saturday my host dad left for another city to visit his mom)...I talked to him later today and he had seen me on TV...bakan (cool)We waited outside for an hour and 45 minutes...in just our unifroms. No warm jackets...and we had to wear our skirts, and since i didn´t have time to get nylons, I just had the socks on...mucho frio!!! We danced around a bit trying to stay warm, and huddled. I forgot my white gloves in the van in the morning.....so another girl lent me one and we both just wore one..hehe. I hid my hands from the inspectors all morning. The actual parade was only like 3 blocks..but there were tons of ppl, and it was cool. We were at the end tho, so I didn´t get to see the rest of it.....which was a bummer. Johanna had my camera tho, and she took pics for me. Afterwards, I went to my friends house for lunch (empanadas and anticucho without the stick, plus potatoes...) then we went downtown with her cousin. While there...met up with a bunch of other classmates and hung out with them for awhile. There were tons of ppl in the downtown..well, in schools where there were lots of games to be played. Back to her house later, and ate some delicious cake stuff and i had coffee (weak...with no sugar....I don´t use sugar in tea or coffee and everyone thinks I´m crazy). I´m home now....and done this update! ciao!!

Ok...so it´s Thursday afternoon, and i technically don´t have school right now, but the internet is faster, and some of my friends are here decorating the class (more on that later), so I am updating my blog and sending out some pics. I have started walking to school in the morning, which means i lose about 15 minutes of sleep, but its my way of trying to stay away from the rotary 30.....cuz i eat a lot here!! I walk as much as I can, and run when Ihave the time. The other day whileI was walking, I was told later that the winds were actually measure at 115 km/hour. Needless to say my hair was all over the place when I got to school!! On Monday, it is the Independence Day soto speak of Chile. It is a huge deal down here!! The class es are decorated, the school is decorated, and in malls there are people doing the traditional dances. It´s pretty cool! Very patriotic. My class is putting a canadian flag in the decorations as well :) In fact, 2 of my classes this m orning, all we did was make stuff/put stuff up on the walls. Pretty fun times. The whole of tercero (gr 11) is in the independence parade of schools, so that means me as well. It was nice, cuz we practiced yesterday during biology, when I was supposed to have a test!! And with the schedule here, we don´t have that class til next week. It´s crazy, i´m not used to having a class once or twice a week. Yesterday, I had one class in the afternoon, but it was just running laps of a track for 12 minutes, counting the number done. I did 13 of a 200 metre track, not terrible considereing i didn´t have a warmup, had just eaten lunch, and not tried to run fast for a while....Then I went home to hang out with my host brother before he left for santiago today. I probably won´t see him again. At night, I ate a kind of fish casserole thing that was pretty good. Then, I watched Law and Order:SVU before heading to bed around midnight. I did not hear my alarm clock this morning, and was very lucky that my host sister woke me up at quarter after 7. Yesterday, i left my house at quarter after 7!! Aka....i had slept in....I was out of the house at 7 23 and walked quickly. About 10 minutes from school, a guy from my class was waiting with his little sister to catch a collectivo, but they walked with me (after i called him perozoso...lazy) turns out i wasn´t actually late at all because I had walked so fast!!
So, here I am at school. Since there aren´t official classes, I didn´t have to wear my uniform, but noone told me that.....there are a few others wearing it tho (the more comfy, blue windstyle pants and grey t-shirt, not attractive, but super comfy). The dance team was practising earlier. They won the national championships, so should be representing Chile in the States at an international competition, but it costs too much money, so hopefully next year. Crazy tho eh!! I watched for a bit, and they´re really good!! Well....i think that´s all for now. I don´t have real classes tomoro, fiesta in the morning til 11, then eat empanadas and an assembly, and then home!! And monday and tuesday are cancelled!! Sweet kickin i say!! ciao xoxo

So...the weekend

Friday night, I hung out at my house, and fell asleep rather early as there had been much activity in my life the days previous. Saturday morning, I awoke first in the household, so got myself breakfast (fruit and cereal..nothin special), then decided to walk to town to buy a Chilean flag for my jacket. The walk is about an hour, and it was a beautiful day. The dogs followed me the whole way, and didn´t leave until I went into a store. I thought they would leave to go home, but oh no.....about 2 minutes into my walk home, they were waiting on the street corner. So, I walked home and got back at about noon. I tried clam and sea urchin, but as some of you know, I am a huge texture person, and the texture of clam, well it´s just weird raw. I did eat some cooked clam in a salad. It´s not my favorite though.....but hey, I tried it. That´s the whole thing ,try everything. In the afternoon, i sewed my flag on, and then a friend from school (and a friend of my ´sis`who is in michigan, came over for a visit. Later on in the evening, I went to Julia´s school with Julia, Gabi, Inge (a girl from germany who is leaving to go home tomoro), and a girl who just got back from exchange in minnesota. We went for a Chilean cultural festival, where I tried more traditional recipes, all super good!!! We also watched a lot of the traditional dance. I headed home for more QT. It was pretty stellar. Headed to bed probly around 12 or 1... Sunday morning, I awoke, made myself breakfast and attempted to send an email with pictures. It didn´t work, so i´ll try again later. Then i went for another phenomenal run along the beach...like 5 feet away from the ocean!! Super cool. Showered at home, then lunch. More chillin at home, and dancing salsa in the kitchen and a bit in the back while the meat was on the barby. After dinner, I watched some tv, visited with the mass amounts of company, and went to bed, refreshed for today.
I woke up at 5 this morning because of mass amounts of rain, but fell back asleep quite quickly. (Yup...my brain lets me sleep now....yay). A bit of confusion about how i was getting to school today, but I got there! Oh...and it snowed this morning!!! for a bit, it was big fat flakes comin down fast, but it didn´t last long, and most melted as soon as it hit the ground. My walk to school in the afternoon was a bit chilly, wearing mitts, a hat, scarf, and vest over my uniform jacket. Definitely a change from sunday, when I ran in shorts!! And tonight I had my meeting with rotary to go over the rules and such....and then ate some delicious homemade fries with meet, and now am going to go to bed. Buenas Noches!! xoxo

Continuation of previous entry

I was called back to class, so here goes. Friday was school, nothing special, I can´t really remember exactly what I did, how bad is that. I know that I was really tired because of the two late nights in a row. Oh..another thing, my host brother came home for a week. He is 26 and pretty cool. He calls me chicken because I won´t sing karaoke with a microphone. Mema pulled a chicken from the freezer, and he was like ´My sister, what happened to you.´ It was pretty funny, maybe one of those you had to be there moments. There has been a lot of visitors at my house over the past few days. One friend of my ´bro´who has been over often is a guy who was at the salsa place on wednesday night, so he and I have been salsaing around the kitchen. I do that with my host bro as well. It´s pretty fun, and I actually can do some moves and such now!!!! It´ll be hard to give lessons when i come home tho girls....cuz i know the girl part (obviously) and the guys lead me most of the time. The break is over....i gotta go to class, and will write more later....

In class...yet again

So, every monday morning is´course orientacion´ which means we do absolutely nothing, so i decided to take the opportunity to fill you in on my goings on over the last few days. So...Thursday night, I had my first Rotary meeting. I got picked up at my house around oh, 9 pm (i told you everything here starts late) and brought to the Club Union, which is the second house built in the city...its huge and gorgeous!! I had been told to wear my school uniform, not Rotary jacket which i was a bit surprised about. But neway, my Rotary counselor just dropped me off because he had to do something else that night. Thankfully, Julia was there!! It was a very special dinner, and everything was very formal. We had appetizers (mini empanadas, which I love by the way!!!) and were offered some alcoholic beverage, but asked for water instead....not breaking the rules! I talked with Julia abit, and then we had a conversation with some of the men (this is a men´s only club, their wives have another organization). I managed pretty well, Julia helping me out a bit. She told me she was jealous of my language ability so soon into the exchange, because she knew nothing when she arrived. Some of the rotarians also complemented me on my spanish/pronunciation. For the meal, we had some awesome fish w/ salsa stuff on top and rice seasoned with...i dunno, but it was really good. Kinda reminded me of home food, cept I wouldn´t have eaten fish at home!! For dessert, we had something else that was kinda creamyish and super hard to describe, but on the top there was cookies shaped like butterflies!!! The meeting ended at about 11 40, which Julia said was actually early..... The president took me home at about 12, and we talked abit in the car. he is really nice! At home, I said hi to everyone and then wrote in my journal before going to sleep at 1 am. Intense!! I have to go back to class....more later!

Days at the End of the World

I forget when I last wrote, and what I wrote actually....but here goes. Tuesday was just school, not overly exciting. I forgot that I did not have 3 classes in the morning, only 2, so went home with different people than normal from my class. It´s nice, cuz everyone wants to make sure I get home OK.....always asking how I´m getting there and such. I can go bymyself, i know a bunch of collectivo numbers that go to my house. Yesterday was pretty sweet though....In the morning i brought my lunch to school with me (for those of you who don´t know...i usually go home for lunch every day, so does everyone) and after the morning classes, a group of us ate quickly and then got on a coach bus and headed off to the Magallenes Forest Reserve (look up on the net for more info if you want, Jack, i forget how to do that cool think where the website is with the words, and well, its too complex to try and figure out in a different language...). It was absolutely gorgeous!! A bit muddy, because it is like spring here. There was a fair amount of snow...well, fair for the fact that the city has none, and my feet got soaked. My camera battery died as I tried to take my first picture, but I plan on going again, so will get pictures then. It was a decent hike. At the top, the views were fantabular all the way around!!! Oh..and there is this green mossy type stuff that grows on the trees. There aren´t leaves on the trees right now, but i can´t even describe the cool ways this moss grows on the trees and how beautiful it is. I said ´Que lindo´and ´que bonita´like amillion times!! We got back to the school after everyone else had left, (therefore the ppl i usually go home with were gone) but it was ok cuz 3 guys live near me, so we took a collectivo together. The two who live in my neighborhood actually walked me to my gate! so cute!! Then i ate a bit of food (meat and bread...) and waited for Johanna to get home from classes. When she did, she, Maxiel and I took a collectivo into town (this is at like 10 pm...) to a club where they play salsa music and some ´pros´are there. Lucky for me, they knew the guy pros, so I danced with them a bit and they taught me some moves!! That´s right...i am learning how to salsa!!!! Then they decided to go to a different club...so off we went. At 2, i asked when we were going home, and we arrived back at my house at 2 45...i changed into pajamas and went straight to bed, extremely exhausted!! This morning..at 7 15 i got up and got ready for school. lucky for me, classes this morning weren´t exactly taxing, and I got to rest my eyes for abit, but the classes are super loud, so I can´t actually sleep. Right now, the class is taking a test, so I took the opportunity to do this. A lot of the stuff in the classes I have already studied, but don´t understand at all in spanish! Well..class ends soonish, so I should probly head out. I just learned from my host sister (via msn..she is at home) that my host brother is coming home today..i was unaware! Ciao...missing home lots!! xox

Second Weekend

My last entry found me in class, and now again...I am in class, kind of. I´m supposed to have music, but the prof isn´t here. So the rest of my music class is joined up with art and they are practicing for their english puppet shows later in the day, which I get to just watch. So...my life since friday. Well, friday night I went with Johanna and Maxiel for about a half hour walk, and then Gonzalo picked me up to go to a volleyball tournament. Two of his friends were there also. He told me that I came to Chile at a great time, because the day after I arrived, a law was passed that prohibits smoking in public places (apparently discos aren´t public?). Otherwise, people would have been smoking in the gym while a volleyball game was taking place. Craziness!! I was back home at 11, and decided not to go to the disco with Johanna and Claudia (another friend...) because I was tired and getting up semi early in the morning. I watched some TV with Mema and then headed to bed. At 9 the next morning, I got up and quickly got dressed and then went to work with Braulio (my host dad). He works at the military base, so I got to see that. I see army people in the streets all the time, like on their way to and from work. At home, we ate lunch. While the rest of the family had a siesta, I decided to go for a walk. I was home an hour and a half later. It was very nice!! That night, we went to the celebration of my 'uncles' birthday. Johanna, my cousin (Oscar) and I took a bit of a detour on the way back from dropping of Oscar´s grandma at home. We stopped at a different disco for a bit, El Templo. I saw several people I knew there, more my age than Kamikaze. Then we headed back to the festivities, to get home at 5 30 in the morning. I´ve always disliked sleeping away the day, but I didn´t wake up on sunday til 4:30 in the afternoon. I was displeased with myself. After..a meal, i don´t know what to call it, I tried to use the internet, but it disconnected frequently, and then went for an awesome run! The family dogs followed me...which I wasn´t overly pleased about, but no biggy. Then I wrote a letter home (to be sent soon mom and dad) and then tidied my room, read a bit, and headed to bed. School this morning, and I´´m thinking about my friends who are either heading back to high school, starting university classes/frosh week. Have fun guys!! My castellano teacher had my analyze a short poem this morning, and I got the meaning, but had a lot of grammar mistakes in my answer! Still lots to learn. Well...I´m gonna do some other emailing, then head back to class i guess...ciao!!Much love...jode

A week of School

I have a feeling that these blog entries may get fewer and farther between as I have started to settle into a new routine. I spent Monday afternoon in bed and watched a bit of english tv with spanish subtitles. (I have discovered prison break...good show)Tuesday , I went to school In phys Ed, we are working on the traditional chilean dance. It was super cool...tho i was too tired and sick to enjoy it fully. Wednesday, I took a note dictated by a teacher and got almost all the words right!! (Weird thing to be excited about....but seriously, its hard..) Then we had english class, the teacher has asked me to talk with my classmates in english during this hour and a half....and for me it is fun. Plus, it gives them an idea of how I feel...because they don´t know how to say what they want, or what I am saying to them. In the afternoon..there was some confusion. I was supposed to go to the stadium after lunch...but understood that a bus took us from the school to the stadium....nopers. The sub-director(ie vice principal) drove me over, and I ran with some guys in my class on the super nice rubberized track for 10 laps. It was a gorgeous day, and felt good to run fastish (for being sick..it was fast). We then walked back to the school. In Punta Arenas, you don´t need hills for natural intervals on a run..the wind is just as good!! After school, the sub-director called me into her office to try some king crab, and I don´t normally like seafood, but it wasn´t that bad. As for all the talk of it being really cold....its not compared to our Canadian winters....i don´t think it has been below zero since I´ve been here...but a lot of wind. Wednesday night, I met my host father. He had been in Santiago. He is very nice, and funny. This means, however, that Johanna no longer drives me to school. There is a friend of Karen´s who lives near me and I got a ride with her both yesterday and today in the morning. Other times, I have gone in collectivos (a bus like car that is complicated to explain, but makes a lot of sense...) or else ridden with the friend´s neigbor (who also goes to the school). My parents called last night, (I told them too) because it was my dad´s birthday. It was sooo good to hear their voices and they made me feel better about little things. Today...my friends asked me if I had talked with them (noone could believe I went that long without talking with my parents) and were very excited when I had. Right now, I am researching areas of the brain, because my class is dissecting brains/heads, and I told ppl the story of passing out, and seeing as how I already am not feeling 100 % the teacher let me come in here to learn about it. She is really nice. A few of my classes here lately have been kind of free periods for me...as the class is writing tests. This morning, my math teacher was sick, and we didn´t have a sub, we just hung out in the class for an hour and half. Yeah...classes are an hour and a half and then a 15 minute break. Its not soo bad tho, cuz there is usually a lot of time given to do homework. They spend a lot of time in school, but it doesn´t seem like they have all that much to do outside of school. So..yeah, I´m working in the computer room, and there are a bunch of ppl from a different grade (i think primero...grade nine), and they asked to take a picture with me, and talk to me a fair bit....its kinda funny. Ón Sunday afternoons, a lot of people go for walks, and I think I am going to go along with that custom. The views are so gorgeous!! Newho..i should probably get back to my research of the brain...or rather translating what I have researched!