My Chilean School and Friends

So last week was the first week of the new semester at Scuola Italiana and man was it great to not have to attempt to take any tests! My classes are great because I've already learned all of the material so I can focus on the Spanish and keep from getting too lost! School here is a lot different from SHS. The first difference is that whereas in the US I've got about 500 kids in my class, here there's about 500 kids at the school. There are two classrooms for students my age which makes my class here about 35 students. Last year we started the year with 32 in my Spanish class alone....another major difference is that they don't have individualized scheduals. I stay with the same class all day for every subject and we also all stay in the same classroom. I found myself in awe the other day at my classmates' social abilities...my friends and I run out of things to talk about all the time and we're all in different classes, with different friends, and do different extracurricular activities. My classmates here, most of them have been in the same class with eachother since they were five, know everything about eachother, and don't have different after school activities because school doesn't end until 5, but still never stop talking. Well actually, school ends at 5 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. On Wednesday we end at 3:30 and on Fridays at 1!

My friends from school are great and I love spending time with them...the most popular things to do are to go to the mall, go to the beach (to play soccer, I'm a lot worse than I thought :) or hang at the Grifo), or have asados (bbq) at eachothers houses. Some of my friends speak english pretty well like Jorge and Cata and others just say random frases! Earlier this week my friends were looking through my photos on my camara and they saw the pictures I had taken of some of the different foods here. They got to the pic that's on my blog of the stuffed tomato and didn't really get why I had taken a picture so I said 'porque hay comida dentro del tomate!' and they thought this was absolutely hilarious. They also love hearing me say uyuyuy which is a native saying from the people who live in the mountains to show excitment or emotion and I think I can best explain it as how some americans from the west-south say weeee-doggy. Anyway, my voice is a lot higher than most people's here and with my american accent and everything even I think the effect is pretty funny. Also my friends (epecially Cata, Cecilia, and Roman) absolutely love the fact that I can listen to their music and tell them what the songs are about and sometimes even write them the lyrics so they can try singing them...although its a little awkward when they ask me 'que significa?' and then say a line from a rap or something and I just start laughing because it's something like Akon's song 'smack that' and i'm just standing there wondering whether i should tell them its about prostitution or just let them keep singing it :) good times good times!

Camila and Camila Me, Nacho, Camila La Extrañas (USA and Italy)

(don't you love my school uniform :)

Cata and Jorge Luciano and Me Roman

(I can't figure out how to rotate the pic)

Pics

Me and my friends from school at one of our asados! ( from left Luciano with Camila´s dog Machu, Nacho, Franco´s cousin, Roman, Carlos, Valentina, Franco, Camila, Jorge, Me, Hernan)

This is the military building that overlooks the city. It is also a popular place for weding ceremonies. I went here with Jorge and a cousin who lives in Santiago on a bus tour of the city that was free as a promotion thing from the city!

A typical street store with a saying that I liked.

Buildings along the Plaza de Armas en el centro de La Serena. The red building is a municipal building, the white is a museum I went to and the last is the cathedral.

New food! This is a tomato with tuna fish inside and veges on the side.

Me and my two sisters Conny and Caro getting ready before going to a discoteca. Discos are a big part of typical life for the younger people, the one we went to was called Babylon and was one where people go just to listen to music but there are others where everyone dances. I don´t have pics of the place because it was better that I blended in!

Camila, her sister Natalia, me , and a performer at a restaurant in Santiago. This was taken at 10:30 pm but that´s a normal time for dinner here.

Santiago looking from the hill where the Spanish claimed the city.

Santiago. Here we saw a bunch of street performers and even a group doing a history alive presentation of how the spanish took over the city despite the wishes of the natives.

Camila and I outside the Moneda (equivalent of the white house). I couldn´t get over the fact that there was practically zero security. You could walk up and look in the windows, enter the plaza without a bag check, and there weren´t police officers everywhere either.

Coquimbo harbor. The pelicans here are the size of me but are too fast so I have a bunch of pictures of blurry flying objects :)

Me in Coquimbo. Coquimbo is only about a 15 minute colectivo ride from my house in La Serena but I´ve only been there twice because it is a lot more dangerous than La Serena. Everything there is either really beautiful or really not. I haven´t been to the 3rd millenium cross yet but I´ve been told I have to see it before I go home so its on my list to do!

This is my host family´s house at 1302 Carlos Naranjo

Me in Parque Japon which was a gift to the city of La Serena by Japan. Years ago, Japan and La Serena had one of the major trade routes across the Pacific. Still today lots of trade occurs between Chile and Japan.

Winter Vacation This Week!

Wow, I guess it´s been a while since I last blogged and a ton has happened! I went to my first asado with my friends from school which was really cool, it´s still hard for me to believe how incredably welcoming they are. Also another exchange student arrived from Italy and is going to be going to my school. She´s really nice but doesn´t speak more than a few words in spanish which is kind of a bummer and, like all the other exchange students, is a year older than me so we won´t be in the same classes :(. That´s ok though, we both had a meeting with the director of our school and I changed around my schedual a bit to drop quimica and fisica in order to help out with some english classes and take a spanish class ( I made it into the 4rd grade!!) so I´m really looking forward to that. Earlier this week I went with my friend Camilla and her family to Santiago to see everything there and had a great time. There is so much less security here than in the US, I couldn´t believe there weren´t any metal detectors or bag searches anywhere and we took a picture standing at the front door of the president´s house. I´ve also had the chance to try some amazing Chilean food like meat with eggs on top and salmon baked with tomatoes. They also eat a lot of soup here but its more like a meal in a bowl with liquid around it and it´s acceptable to take the elements of the soup out and eat them on a plate. I really hope my spanish has improved but I can´t really tell. The hardest thing is that my dreams are apparently still in english because I wake up and everything is much harder to understand than the night before, but normally within an hour or so my thoughts are more in spanglish and by lunch (2 or 3 pm) my thoughts are for the most part in spanish.
Even More New Things!! : -the parents of friends or friends of Mami Mile are Tio and Tia, not Snr and Snra -there´s papaya flavored ice cream -if you´re with friends its ok to eat french fries with your hands and with ketchup/condiments, but if adults are around you use a fork and no condiments -the radio is a mix of spanish songs and songs in English (I really like the group called Camila because they sing slower and I can understand the lyrics) -at most stores besides supermarkets, you go to one register to give all of your items, leave your items there, go to another register with the recipt to pay, then go back to the first register to pick up your bags

Pictures!

La Serena looking up from the beach

The lighthouse I went to on my first walk around the city

Landing in La Serena!

Me and the other exchange students during the orientation in Santiago (I´m in blue)

Pic of the Andes from the orientation site in Santiago

My First Week

Hey Everyone! My first week was great! My school, Scuola Italiana, is not taught in Italian. Everything except for Italian class is taught in Spanish and I don´t go to Italian class so I´m working on my Spanish a lot. The school is really cool because it´s an outdoor campus. It´s really small too but all of the schools here are small and private. My grade has two classes, A and B. I´m in the B class and we have 13 kids and then I make 14. The older kids at the school have exams that seem like midterms, but are a lot shorter, stretched out over last week and this week and then there is winter vacation. I took the language test and got a 2 out of 7 which everyone thought was hilarious seeing as a 4 is the minimum passing grade! I also took the math one which was stuff I learned in 8th grade so that one was easier. I take a colectivo to school and home but I decided to walk home the other day and it only took about 45 minutes. On Friday I didn´t want to take the physics exam so I asked to go to a class to work on my spanish so first they took me to the 3rd grade, but they were doing something so I got to go to preschool! It was actually pretty fun...my classmates are cool and really nice but they forget that they talk really fast and a couple of them were discouraged after we had a history lecture and I had a full page of notes but then I couldn´t understand when they asked me if I wanted to eat lunch inside or outside, o well! Everyone loves my pictures from home and they keep comparing SHS to high school musical because that´s the only other school they´ve seen that´s as big as Shrewsbury´s. It is cold here and I´m so glad I have under armor but today is really nice and I´m in a t-shirt and capris. It´s not anywhere near as cold as it gets in MA but there isn´t any indoor heating anywhere so if your sitting around it´s freezing. The house is nice and I wear my shoes all the time because there aren´t any carpets and my family is very convinced that if you wear only socks you´re going to get sick. On Wednesday I wanted to go out so I took the map I got from AFS and wanted to go to Japon Parque but ended up at the beach instead...perfectly ok with me it was one of the most beautiful things I´ve ever seen! On Thursday, Jorge went with me to the center and showed me a ton of stuff and I told him my mom would love him because he insisted on taking a picture of me almost everywhere we went. Sunday afternoon I went to the mall with Conny and Mami Mile and Sunday morning I went to church with Mami Mile. It was nice because I understood a bunch and the mass was the exact same as the ones at St. Anne´s but it wasn´t so nice that I wore my sundress and tights and everyone else was in jeans. Even the people speaking were in sweatshirts and sweatpants, next week I´m going to dress down more. My room is nice, they moved a tv in there for me because the tv is on 24-7 here even if no one´s in the room or everyone´s sleeping but I haven´t really used it much. O ya, another thing, everyone swears here like crazy because they watch the Simpsons a ton and when they listen to music its rap. It was so funny, my classmates swear a ton but I don´t think they really know what they´re saying because I looked up and said the word for but and they all turned red couldn´t stop laughing.
More New Things: -there are no speed limits; everyone drives fast and stops, there is no slowing down -people put salt on and in everything they eat -cars are not called "coche" they´re called cars or autos -we go to the supermarket everyday to get bread and meat for onces -I´ve tried a ton of new food that I love like completos (hot dogs with mayo, hot sauce, and avacado) but I really don´t like "Pap"(papaya flavored soda) -classes at school don´t start and end when the bell rings, they start whenever the teacher shows up and whenever the teacher leaves -it´s polite to kiss your teachers goodbye as well as your friends

Estoy en Chile

Wow, I can´t believe I´m actually here!! I arrived in La Serena at 5:30 pm the daybefore yesterday and everything has been so new and amazing. Before I got here I went to an orientation in Miami and then an orientation in Santiago. It was great to meet other foreign exchange students and weall became really good friends. It was wierd how we were all treating eachother like we´ve been best friends for ages and then we realized that we didn´t even know eachothers´last names. Anyway, when I got to the La Serena airport I met Jorge and Conny who are awesome and so excited that I´m here. They brought me to my house and we dumped my stuff and had time for a quick tour before we went to their Aunt´s house for onces. From there we went to a baby shower and then they threw mea welcoming party-It didn´t even start until 11:30 and I was up until 5. They really do know how to party here! Today I went with my family to the supermarket which was more like a super walmart and a restaurant on the beach for a parrillada, or bbq. Then I went with Jorge to a lady´s house to buy my school uniform because guess what, school starts tomorrow! They loved the presents I brought and were especially excited to try the salt water taffy. I´m having so much fun here, I´ll upload pictures soon!
Things I´ve Noticed Since I Arrived: -people of all ages wear velcro shoes -blue is not a common color for a house but bright orange and yellow are -there are dogs absolutely everywhere -I actually fit in pretty well and no one stares at me; until I open my mouth and then I´m called gringa (yankee or American) -It´s normal for people to call me ´sister´ because I am the sister of the people they know

IT"S THE 24TH !!!!

My plane to Miami leaves at 11:40 and I've been up since 5:30. I guess I'm just too excited to sleep. Yesterday my mom and I spent the entire day packing and re-checking and re-checking and re-checking everything. So I better be all set because there is no way in the world I am unpacking that suitcase again :) I also made a scrapbook for my family of all of the pictures I took of my family, home, school, and friends, so thank you to everyone who let me take pictures, especially the ones of my classes! The band barbecue/pizza party was yesterday as well, which was great because I got to see a couple of my friends again before I left. OMG I'm leaving for the airport in an hour...I don't think there are words in the English language to explain how I feel right now! Blog to you soon!, Kathy

Chile Conference Call

So I just got off the phone with a group of students who are going on the summer trip to Chile and a returnee who went on the trip last year. I think it was really helpful to hear all of our questions being asked and to hear what the other kids are worried about as well. It's so cool that there are other kids in Illinois, Washington DC, New Jersey, Colorado, and Washington who are looking forward to leaving for Miami in less than two weeks just like me. Having the returnee answer all of our questions was really great too and he had a lot of country-specific advice for us. He told us about how the younger people use the word 'po' that doesn't really have a translation but is used on the end of words to show emphasis and how most of the slang words aren't different words but are just regular words that are cut short. I also thought it was good to know that we should start by only drinking small amounts of water to get our immune systems used to the different chemicals and bacteria. He told us about his own experiences too: eating a 'completo' which is a hot dog with mayo, relish, mustard, gravy, pickles, olives, lettuce, and pretty much everything imaginable on top; sharing his photos of home with his community and seeing the shock of the Chileans that he knew black and asian people; and introducing his host family to males do household chores. 12 more days!! : )

Pre-Pack

I didn't know that packing could take so long or be so tiring, now I do. This morning my mom and I packed my suitcase and carry-on for Chile to see how much room I needed and make sure that all of the weight limits were met. I was actually pretty surprised to find that a 44 pound suitcase and 22 pound carry-on were enough for everything I'm going to need. I also realized that I need to start wearing a watch because I'm not bringing my phone with me and I need to think about whether or not I'm going to bring my i-pod for the plane trip or not...decisions, decisions! Since the last time I blogged, I received the family information packet from AFS and my dad was so relieved to find out that Conny and Jorge both traveled with AFS and that they've hosted students before. They also have a black toy poodle named Zeus who I can't wait to meet and am so happy that he's a hypo-allergenic dog! Unfortunately I also received the information for the summer work from SHS that I need to do for my AP classes next year. I can't decide whether or not I even want to bring the work with me...I'd hate to feel like its hanging over my head while I'm in Chile and miss out on any of the once-in-a-lifetime experiences that are sure to happen in order to stay home and do AP work. Then again I'm not too excited about the idea of coming back to the states and having a summer's worth of homework to do before school starts:(. I don't know, but I'll figure it out. I also went to the bank and got some money exchanged into Chilean Pesos and their money is so much cooler looking than US dollars but are in huge denominations. It's weird to think about spending 5,000 pesos because I automatically think that's a large amount of money when in reality its only like 5 bucks. I guess that's just another thing I'm going to get used to! Only slightly less than 3 weeks, 7 school finals (boooo), Erin's birthday party, and father's day to go!

My First Orientation

Orientation was so much fun today, I got an AFS t-shirt! But really, the best part was being able to talk to the returnees who just got back and were able to answer our questions and share their own experiences. So much advice in such a short period of time...research as much as I can but don't have too many expectations, make an effort to make plans with friends and be included, pay attention to little pieces of culture, and a lot of advice that at the core meant always keep your safety in mind and use good judgment and common sense. It was really cool to have the chance to talk to some of the other kids who are getting ready to go abroad. I even met another girl who is going to be going to Chile this summer so now when I arrive in Miami I'll recognize someone there. Listening to the other kids talk about their host countries made me wish I could go to them all. Just in my one class of 20 kids going on summer programs there were kids heading to Italy, France, Finland, Thailand, Japan, Argentina, Ecuador, Panama, and even Ghana. Then at lunch I sat with some kids who were looking forward to spending their senior year in Germany which is an idea that just blows my mind away. I think it was good for my dad too, although the examples of everything that could go wrong didn't really reassure him, I think he better understands now that it doesn't matter how much research, information, advice, and examples of other people's experiences he can give me because my experience is going to be something completely unique. He can't change the world for me but trust that I'll adapt to the world. I had such a great time today and it makes the wait seem sooooooo much farther away. Just 36 more days to go!

Orientation's Tomorrow!

Every time I get an e-mail or letter from AFS I start jumping up and down and tomorrow I get to go to the first orientation, which is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to meet other kids who are as excited about becoming an AFSer as I am. I have my binder all ready with all of my AFS e-mails printed out and all of the information about my family in La Serena, Chile!!! I got another e-mail from Conny, Jorge Luis, and Mami Mile earlier this week and they included photos which is amazing for me because now I can really picture living with them. I hope that tomorrow I'll be able to to talk with the AFS returnees about the biggest culture shocks. Whenever I think about my trip I just get so excited that I'm afraid I won't be completely prepared for how different life is going to be. I also hope the parent discussions will help my dad with some of the fears he has about me leaving, the truth is I've considered the things that he worries about (ex. me not coming back) but I just have such feelings of pure elation whenever I think about this summer that I can't seem to place any worries or fears along with it. Definitely dreaming of Chile tonight!