Hello!! I have now been in Chile for 3 days. When I left off last I had just seen the tour of Santiago. On sunday we got up and went to an arte museum in the city and an outside mall with lots of little shops and places to eat. All of the things in the shops to buy were hand made and were veyr pretty. A very common thing is sweater, scarves, or hats made from alpaca fur. The fur is very soft and they can die it to be many different colors. From there we then went back to the hotal and got on a bus which took us to the largest bus station I have ever seen. It reminded me of a large train staition in the movies but each bus had a place to park and then it would leave from there. We all had to haul our luggage one more time into storage and then board the bus for another 10 hour night travel. The bus was a double deck buss with very comfortable seats which we were all excited about however as soon as we started a sick baby started crying and she cried the entire night. In the morning however we arrived in Valdivia, with basically having one night of sleep in three days, but we were all very anxious to meet our families. When we got to the school all of the students were waiting for us and they had a little welcome ceremony. First little children 3 & 4 years old were dressed in chilean dress up clothes did a typical chilean dance for us. It was absolutely precious and I would love to bring one of them home with me. Then some of the other preschool classes sang us some songs in english. After all of the songs and clapping was done we were then each presented with a gift and we met our families. The gift we received was a doll with wearing the Windsor School uniform and it had my name written on it.
Now the scary part! I met my sister Sofia, she is 17 years old and is a junior at Windsor School. She then introduced me to my host mother Beatriz. She was very kind and helped me get my suitcase and just like that I was leaving the school without saying bye to my fellow classmates or my teacher. I tried to put on a smile since it was the first time I was meeting my host mom on the inside I was freaking out, with no sleep or food, I was trying to speak spanish, it didn't work out very well. However once we got back to the house she showed me around and then she left for work so I was able to take a shower and a much needed nap. The rest of the family was at school and work so I was alone in the house with the maid, Rosa. My house is very pretty with a lot of wood walls, beams, and floor. My family consists of la mama, Beatriz, la papa, Arturo, y la hermana Sofia. They have two older children as well, Felipe and Gabriella, but they don't live here.
The morning was a bit of a haze but then in the after noon at 1:00 everyone in the family comes home for a big lunch, the mom, dad and Sofia left school and work to come home. Rosa made salad, chicken, potatoes and dessert, it was very good. My host father works as a managar at a gas station and my host mother is the director of the agricultor department of the university in Valdivia. After lunch they all left again and I got to explore the house a little more. Sofia didn't get home from school until around 6 and then Arturo got home from work around 8. It seems very strange for me but at 8 pm it was still very light outside and it felt like it was 5 in the evening.
This evening I was able to go on a walk with my host father and we walked to where my host mother works, it was a beautiful day and he explained a lot about the city. Once we met up with my host mother she showed me all around the University. This campus has all of the major relating to health for humans and animals. When we got to the campus it was 9 oclock and there were still students everywhere and classes were just getting out. The time in Chile is much different then in the USA. When we arrived home we had "dinner" which was basically leftovers from lunch, not a typical dinner in ohio. One thing that I absolutley love about chile is the juice that they have. Since I have been here I have tried pinnaple, apple, pear, apricot, and a fruit called chirimoya, that is native to Chile. I don't normally like juices but these are amazing! After dinner we watched some soccer, now I am here typing away my day.
Overall today was amazing and I love being in Chile. Sure it is a little scary at times but I am getting more confident as the days go on and I am loving learning about this country. Valdivia is very beautiful and the view from my room is magnificent. Now tomorrow is our first day in the school! Chao!
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