GO CHILE

This week Alex and I did something that I am extremely proud of. As many of may or may not know, I have had many problems with Rotary in Chile this year. The other exchange students and I have felt betrayed, unsupported, and abandoned by our clubs this entire year and we felt that something needed to be said. Alex speaks Spanish phenomenally and felt very strongly about this, so she decided to give the presentation. I was shy and didn't want to complain about anything at first, but then I was thinking about it and realized that of we didn't tell them how we felt, all the future exchange students were going to have the exact same experiences and that wouldn't be okay. Alex and I put on our bravest faces and walked as two teenage girls into a room filled with powerful middle-aged men to offer our not-so-pleased personal opinions in a second language. Alex had prepared her presentation and I went to support her and show them that she wasn't only speaking for herself. You guys couldn't possibly understand how amazing Alex is. She walked up there and spoke like the President. She spoke with grace, patience, and respect the entire time. The point we were making was that we have had the most amazing and wonderful years, but they were good because we made them that way. We were trying to express that we felt like they didn't care about us and that they should show more interest in the kids that leave everything they know to come overseas and represent their countries and learn about other cultures. These Rotarians didn't know our names or anything about us before we walked into that meeting, and we have been living here for over 10 months! During the end of the presentation, the Rotarians began to interrupt her and say things that were kind of attacking her and not letting her respond to her comments. They said that no exchange student has ever complained before and that they aren't interested in the program or getting to know us. Alex and I were feeling a little hurt but then one Rotarian stood up and said that even if he had to do it alone, he promised to get to know the new exchange students who will arrive in August. In the end we may have only changed a few minds, but even that felt like a great success. We didn't want to offend anyone, just protect the future exchange students from the unfortunate experiences we had had with our Rotary club, and to some extent I think we did that. 

That same day, Chile beat Spain in the Mundial! All of Chile was practically screaming. Cars where honking and I swear all of Chile was jumping out of joy! Alex and I got into my host moms car in red Chilean soccer jerseys and stood up through the sun roof with a Chilean flag and screamed and celebrated with all the Chileans as we drove through downtown Rancagua. It was probably one of my favorite moments of my exchange and I will remember it forever! 

Later in the week I went over to Alex's house to spend the night and visit my old family. Manuel was off in Curico visiting his father, but Alex and Lilian and I all had tea together and then Lilian and I did some catching up while Alex wrote some weird essay about the chemistry of potatoes or something. It was nice to sit in the old kitchen of my old house with my adorable little host mom again. I miss the Onces in that house so much so I made sure I enjoyed every bite! 

I have spent this entire weekend lounging around with my host siblings and being lazy. It's freezing outside, and when it isn't freezing it is pouring rain so we are happy to sit inside with hot chocolate and cuddle and watch movies. I spend a lot of time at home now, but it's okay because I never feel lonely. I see my friends at school and sometimes have lunch with them but I spend a lot of time with family now. In this family, I love spending time in the house, cooking delicious meals, and just feeling comfortable and like I belong. :)

Goodbye Katie Ward

This week I had to say goodbye to one of my closest exchange friends, Katie Ward. In Rancagua there are two Katie's whom I love very very much and I hated having to say goodbye to one of them so early. All the Rancagua kids are very close, so we kind of made her goodbye a week long thing. On Tuesday night we went over to her house to eat pizza and hang out and then on Wednesday we all took a trip to Santiago together. Before getting on the bus, however, we got into our matching Rancagüino hoodies and had a photo shoot for the last time we would all be together. 

We spent the day roaming around the markets in Santiago, having a nice lunch, and going ice skating. It was a beautiful day and we all took away some great memories!

On Saturday morning we all met at Katie's house to say one final goodbye. I went over there with the expectations of crying and crying but it didn't end up bing that way. Sitting in her house felt so normal, and even right now I still feel like I could take a Santa Teresa micro to her street and eat peanut butter with her while watching movies. Katie and I have very different personalities, but she has been such an important part of my exchange. During the summer when we never seemed to have any plans, we would always find eachother and then figure out ways to have fun. She was the shoulder I cried on when I found out I had to switch schools and has been ther for me this entire year even though she may not have wanted to hahahah. Arizona isn't that far away from California, but I am going to miss our days together in Chile. It's a good thing we have millions of hilarious memories to look back on, and I know we will make some more in the future. 

We call this picture "Katie Gets Thrown off the Island" or "And Then There Were Five." 

I love Katie a lot. I know I will see her again and I know there is Skype and I know I am lucky to love someone enough to miss them like I will miss her, but I will still miss annoying her and our jokes and just everything about our in-person friendship. 

Another Happy Little Semana :D

Oh my goodness guys! This past week was absolutely amazing for two reasons: I am in love with my host family and my Chilean friends are the most delightful people ever. Nothing super special happened this week, but it was just a super happy week and I had such a fun time living it hahaha. 

This week was filled with a bunch of little silly moments that I will probably sound ridiculous for telling you about, but I don't want to forget them, so I am going to write them out anyways. 

On Tuesday I went to crossfit alone because nobody else wanted to go with me because it was pouring rain and freezing outside. I however, was determined to get a good workout so I bundled myself in about a million jackets and stepped out into the stormy Chilean night. It was dark outside before I even began my journey to the gym, and because of all my clothes I probably looked like a fat man waddling down the street so a lot of cars splashed me as they drove by leaving me pretty wet with rain water. I shook it off and continued because I'm tough hahahah. I arrived at crossfit eventually and did my workout, but the journey home was even crazier. The rain had stopped and was able to catch a taxi pretty quickly. The ride was normal but when I went to get out, I stepped ankle deep into a muddy puddle. Embarrassed, I hurried to try and close the door and walk away and that is when I slipped and landed pretty much face first in the puddle! The taxi drove away and I got up all muddy and soaked and flustered. I was appalled at what just happened, and didn't even know what to think of myself. That's when I looked down at my feet and just started laughing. I probably looked like a crazy person, standing there in the gutter all dirty and drenched and just laughing, but I didn't care. I laughed because I never ever imagined I would find myself in a foreign country alone, standing in the rain, completely soaked, completely pathetic, and completely happy. What was there to be upset about? My day could only get better from that point and the only thing I had in my near future was a warm meal and my family waiting for me down the street. I like that I found a way to smile in that moment, because if I could find a way to be happy during little experience, I have faith I will be able to be happy no matter what life throws my way! When I got to my house, Maxi opened the door to a wet-puppy-looking freezing cold Sally and was super worried. He brought me a jacket and some warm slippers and told me I should shower hahah. My brother takes care of meee! He is the cutest. While I was in the shower he even put my wet shoes by the fire so they would dry! 

On Thursday Alex went to crossfit with me for the first time! She loved it but she doesn't want to pay to actually go as often as I do hahah. Still it was fun going with her and we had a lot more luck with our travels there than I had on Tuesday hahahha! 

This week I learned something in chemistry! I don't even know what I learned, but I learned it the day before the test and actually ended up taking a chemistry test! I was so excited because I love learning things and I wanted to show my teacher that even though I understand nothing in her class, she still matters to me. Also, now I can say I took a chemistry test in Chile! I don't know who I would ever end up telling that to, but I still like saying it hahah. 

I don't know why I am putting this in my blog, but Paula came to school with this little stuffed animal heater hanging out of her jacket like a little Joey in a pouch and it was so adorable that we took about five million pictures with it. What was even cuter though, was that the day after I ran up to her to show her that I had made the picture the wallpaper on my phone and she pulled out her phone to show me she had already done the same hahahah. So cute :D

Paula, Fran, and I have a whatsapp group now called "the bad girls" and it is seriously the most hilarious thing  you could ever read. It's mostly them trying to talk to me in English and then a series of Chilean and American cuss words jumbled together, but it is amazing. I promise. :)

This weekend Eduardo messaged me on Saturday morning saying that he had come back early from the Air Force Academy and that we had to hang out. He gave me about an hour to get ready, and then he came and picked me up and took me over to his house to have sushi with his family. His stepmom talked the ENTIRE time and she is the most hilarious person ever. We seriously had an entire lunch conversation about the pros and cons of fake boobs and I was trying so hard to control my laughter the entire time! 

After lunch I went home and my mom, sister, and I went to Santiago so I could meet the rest of their family. It was fun driving down there as just us girls hahahha. It reminded me of my road trips with my mom and Molly, just a lot less weird hahah. When we got to Santiago  and I finally met the family I instantly fell in love. They are all such warm and inviting people and I felt right at home right away. I recieved a lot of hugs and compliments on my "gringa smile" and I felt very content all weekend. We spent the night there and on Sunday on the way home, we stopped and ate completos in a gas station on the way home at like midnight on a school night because people in only need about 3 hours of sleep every night hahaha. 

That is about all that happened this week. It was a simple little week, but definitely a good one. I am so happy in this little country :)

Supermarkets and Goodbyes and Manu and Roses

This past week was kind of really fun because I had barely any school. From a combination of Rotary events and tests I didn't have to take, I spent the majority of the week hanging out with exchange students, Chilean friends, and family. It was a nice week. :)

On Wednesday I spent the afternoon with my friend Manu writing about a million essays. By a million essays, I mean we had to do a group project and then he helped me write one essay. I just want to take a moment to express how deeply grateful I am to have a friend like Manu. He sits next to me in class everyday and is always always there for me and all of my questions. This boy is a genius, but he is also one of the best people-persons I have ever met. Our conversations never bore me and he is used to all of my silly habits and tolerates me anyways. Manu is just someone who I feel like meeting made me a better person, and I could honestly see him being the president of Chile someday. I mean, I would vote for him! I am going to miss this kid too much, but I was more than lucky to even get to know him in the first place. 

(Unfortunately the only picture we have together...)

On Friday I met up with the other exchange students to take a bus to Santiago for a rotary goodbye party. We left at noon and spent the day riding the metro, eating rose flavored ice cream, and enjoying eachothers lovely company. I used to be afraid to hang out with exchange students too much, but in these last weeks I have with them, I try to cherish every minute that I get to spend with them as a group. It's so hard, now, to not think about all the goodbyes and to just disfute the last happy days have left with eachother. The party ended up being really boring, but it was nice to see everyone of course. 

These days I have found myself feeling very tired. I still have thirty-something days left in this amazing country, and I am so happy to be here and I love it so much, but the goodbyes seem to be silencing me a little too early. I get so confused when I think about leaving, and I know I shouldn't think about it so much, but when I don't it's still there pressuring the back of my mind. I don't know. Hahahaha. 

Today I went to the supermarket with my host mom for the first time, and wow! Chileans live so differently from one another. While my old family went to the supermarket everyday, my new family goes once a month and buys everything for the huge family. We had three carts filled to the rim and spent over three hours looking at food. Luckily, I had Monse to entertain me and ended up running into some friends from Coya, which was soooo nice because I miss them now more than ever. 

This seems like an ubrupt way to end a blog post, but I am very tired and have a chemistry test tomorrow. Goodnight! Bye!

Feverish but Happy

This past week wasn't that exciting, but it was a week in Chile and a week of my exchange so of course I loved it anyways! It's so weird that I have so little time left, but I'm not even going to think about that. I'm just going to enjoy every second like it's my last until it actually is. 

This week I spent most of my days in bed with a fever. Well, three days, but still that's kind of a lot. Wednesday was a holiday in Chile because of some naval battle in Iquique a trillion years ago, so Tuesday my friends and I decided to go out dancing! I went with some friends from the grade below me, and I don't know all of them very well so I was kind of nervous. When we got to he club thing, Alex and Louis ended up being there and I was soooo happy! Alex and I danced for a really long time and laughed and sang the songs at the top of our lungs! It was amazing! In the morning, well, this happened:

After that I was home sick until Friday evening, when I went to an exchange students goodbye party in Talca. My family and I had plans to spend the whole weekend in Talca, so it kind of worked out perfectly. I still felt a little sick, so I only stayed until midnight and then my dad came and got me. He took be to my grandparents house which turned out to be one of the favorite houses I have been to. It is small and colorful and there isn't any wifi. There were 7 of us staying there and only two bedrooms and two dogs were running around the house the whole time, but it just really felt like family there. I really like this family and it's just so easy to fit in here. I felt comfortable and relaxed and that is so amazing because I have been loving with them for such little time! 

Saturday night I went to my first Chilean baptism party. My little cousin was getting baptized, and afterwards they through a big party where everyone danced all night long! I had a headache, and my dad was sad that I wouldn't dance with him because I didn't feel well, but they understood and let me go with the promise that I would for sure dance next time. I would totally dance with these people! Instead I sat conversing with my new Chilean cousins. One of them is named Javi and she is 15 and we talked almost all night long hahah. She pretty much knows my life story by now and I know all about her. It was a great weekend but I am glad to be home! :)

Día de Alumno y la Gala de la FACH

I was going to blog on Saturday night, and then I was going to blog on Sunday morning, but then I forgot and decided to blog on Sunday night. Well it's Monday night now, but I still remember the amazing things that happened to me this past week and OF COURSE I have to share them with you! 

Last Friday was Chile's "Dia de Alumno" or "Students' Day." This holiday is celebrated like Mothers Day or Fathers Day, but instead the students are honored by the entire country and all the teacher put on shows at school while about parents make us big classroom brunches. 

The day started with a big classroom brunch where we all sat a put decorated tables in our classroom and ate delicious foods and cake. 

After eating, we played "Amigo Secreto" which is like secret Santa but without Christmas. I had to get a gift for a boy in my class, so I made him Oreo Bon Bons and a card and he loved them!

Paula had to give me a gift and what she gave me was exactly what I would have chosen out of all the gifts in the class: a letter. I know it might sound lame, but I have begun loving letters so much more than actual presents. I like words and I love when people form messages out of words just for me, and especially in Spanish! Paula made me a huge heart shaped card filled with a very long and sweet message and I loved it so much it is hanging on my bedroom wall!

After the brunch we went down to the courtyard to watch the teachers but on a show for us. It was absolutely hilarious! The teachers wore all sorts of wacky costumes and I was almost crying I was laughing so hard hahahaha! 

After the teachers show, one of the most beautiful things ever happened to me! I was told our whole senior generation was going to gather and take a group picture together. We all got in a big circle so that a teacher could take our picture from the balcony. We were waiting to take the picture when a bunch of people shouted for me to go into the center of the circle. I didn't understand what was going on, but I did it anyways. They them told me to start spinning in circles, which was even weirder, but I did that too! I spun about 10 circles giggling while everyone counted aloud my number of circles until they told me to stop. When I regained the focus in my vision, I saw a girl in my class holding up a Chilean flag that every single senior in my school had signed for me! I almost started to cry it was so sweet! They then ran in and gave me a big group hug! I haven't been alive for long, but that was certainly one of the happiest moments of my life so far. I later found out that it had been Lilian's idea and that she had brought the flag to school and told them to make me some sort of special moment. It was such a special moment. Best first host mom ever hahahah :D

That night, Alex and I went with Eduardo and his friend to their Air Force Ball. It was so much fun and we danced a lot and just had a good time together. Anywhere I go with Alex or Eduardo I am sure to have an outstanding time though, so I shouldn't have been so surprised! 

That's all I have really done! Today I went to crossfit for the second time and I am totally loving it. I completely ate dirt doing box jumps and was hunched over thinking I had ruptured every internal organ in my body for a few minutes, but after that I was fine and I finished the workout with nothing more than a bruise the size of Saturn on my left knee. Good night everyone!

Senior Hoodie

 Oh my goodness! Today I experienced one of the most touching things I have gone through on this exchange. 

As some of you might know, I had to change schools during the Chilean summer and it was pretty hard on me. I had an amazing group of friends in my old school who I love a lot and was devastated to have to leave behind. I was afraid of having to be the new girl again (which is a million times harder in Spanish, trust me) and I had doubts about my abilities to connect with my new classmates as well as I did with my old ones. I have only been going to my new school for a little over a month now, but I am glad to announce that in that amount of time I have met some pretty awesome people, experienced some pretty hilarious days, and have found a million reasons to be happy at Colegio Quimahue. Don't get me wrong; all that I have stated above is really nice, but what happened today changed everything for me and I just have to share it with all of you. 

This morning I walked into class and everything felt completely normal. The teacher got to class and began teaching a lesson. In the middle of the lesson, my friend Rocio walked up and whispered something to the teacher, who stepped away to give Rocio the classes attention. I was waiting for her to begin announcing something about school or a project, but instead she looked at me with a big smile and told me to come join her in front of the class. I was completely caught off guard and got super nervous, which apparently showed on my face because everyone around me started laughing and telling me not to worry and that I want in trouble. When I got to the front of the class, Rocio turned to me and began saying the sweetest things. She told me she spoke for the whole class when she said that she was delighted about how in such short time I have become such an important attribute to Cuarto Medio B, and that everyone appreciated having me around. She then told me that since I am one of them now, they wanted to show me how much that means to them, and at that moment my friend Manuel came up to me with a wrapped gift. The class started cheering for me to open it, and when I did, my heart practically melted to the floor. I pulled out the blue class hoodie embroidered with everyone's names on it and put it on immediatly! Everyone cheered and I loved the gift so much but the emotion left me at loss for Spanish vocabulary so I put my hands on my heart and just said "muchas gracias" a lot. This gift made me feel like a true member of my classroom, and the idea that they thought of me as one of them made me want to cry a little bit. :,)

The hoodies in Cuarto Medio are a Chilean tradition in most schools. Each class has it's own hoodie with everyone's names on it with little doodles that someone in the class usually draws. My class had made their hoodies over the summer before anyone knew me, before I even had an idea I would be changing schools. Before today, everyday all of my class except for me would wear their adorable matching hoodies and I would stand out a bit. I had always wanted one of the hoodies, but at first I felt silly asking about them because I didn't want to pry myself into the class or anything, and after a while I just sort of accepted that I wouldn't own one. Little did I know, all my classmates had gotten together my first week of school and decided to get me one in secret. They had all chipped in to raise the money for it, and then set up this elaborate plan of how to keep it a secret between them, the lady who makes the hoodies, and the head teacher of our class. They had a bunch of plans for if I came close to finding out, and even made a chat group for talking about it on Facebook! 

It might seem like I am a bit overexcited about such a little thing that happened, but for me this meant a lot. It meant that my dear classmates cared about making me feel cared about before they even really knew me. It meant that I was a part of the class before I had any idea they wanted me there, and most importantly the words Rocio used told me that they believed they had made the right decision and that they care about me even more now. Tomorrow I will go to school in my hoodie, and other than my height, skin tone, freckles, blonde hair, and blue eyes, I will look exactly like everyone else in my class! 

Today was an amazing day and I am absolutely in love with my class. If any of you are practicing your English by reading this, thank you so much for making me feel this way. I love all of you.