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!