I'm Here and Happy!

Hola friends and family!

Thanks for reading my blog, I hope to keep it fun, interesting and up-to-date (no guarantees on this last one, haha).

First I'll review the basics, where? what? when? who? I'm studying abroad in Chile from March - July 2010 with a program called IFSA-Butler. There are about 20 other students from all over the U.S. on my program. I am living with a host family in the city of Viña del Mar and attending classes in a sister city called Valparaíso. Some of my classes will be with my program; and others will be direct enrollment in La Universidad Católica de Valparaíso and La Universidad Técnica de Santa María. All in Spanish, of course.

I arrived in Chile last Friday after over 24 hours in airports and airplanes, talk about a long day! Our group was picked up from the airport and we drove to a town called Olmué for a few days of orientation. The highlights were getting to know the group, exploring the little town and laying in the warm sun by the pool! The program staff is extremely nice and after everything, I felt well prepared.

On Sunday, I met my wonderful host family! My host parents are Jeannie and Pato, and I have two younger brothers, Felipe and Raimundo, ages 14 and 11. We live in a rosy pink colored building about 5 blocks from the ocean. My room and bathroom are lovely, and all of the food is spectacular! We eat a lot of fruit and bread, two of my most favorite things.

Here is where the excitement begins. After our first family dinner, there was a power outage that affected most of the country. We lit candles and listened to cell phone radios (everyone has them here). Meanwhile, we witnessed a robbery of the gas station across the street, police and all. And if this is still not enough action for you, next there was a small earthquake! There have been aftershocks almost every day since the 8.8 earthquake at the end of February. My family was perfectly calm through all of this and we continued laughing and talking in the living room. I already feel so safe and at home here.

This story captures the very positive and relaxed attitude I’ve noticed in Chile. I can already tell what an amazing country this is and am so excited to actually LIVE here for five months (although I must admit I’m still feel like I’m living in a dream). The most overwhelming part is the Spanish. Chileans readily admit that they speak extremely fast, cut off the ends of words, create new words and basically speak a different language than the Spanish we learn in school. I have definitely experienced this, but am quickly learning new phrases and feeling more comfortable thinking and speaking in Spanish. I am excited for the improvement I will make throughout this semester.

More adventures coming soon!