I have arrived in Chile (Feb. 13) and with only 3 days in Santiago under my belt we were swept off to Buenos Aires, Argentina for some cultural museum visits, classes, exploring etc. After four days in Buenos Aires, we crossed the Rio de la Plata aka: the 3rd largest river in Latin America after the Amazon and the Orinoco in Venezuela. Crossing the Rio de la Plata brought us to , Montevideo, Uruguay where we stayed about 3 1/2 days to explore, learn, stare etc. For those of you who have never thought about the country of Uruguay in your life, you should think about it sometime. It is a really tiny country, but really amazing. The capitol city is very chill and the people go with the flow. There is nothing of the rushed feeling of Buenos Aires or the 'trying to be European' in Santiago. It is special. Montevideo was never a spot on my list of places to go, but it is sure to make it on the list of places to return to.
So after all that we returned to Santiago yesterday for a brief, but utterly terrifying orientation of classes and host families. Thankfully, I am now living with my host family so that part doesn't seem so scary anymore, but the classes continue to loom. We have not started classes yet and will not start until the 5th of March. All of Chile is on summer vacation right now, as a result I feel like I'm on summer vacation and it is weird not being in school. I feel like I skipped my whole spring semester, but don't worry, it won't be like that for long. My days promise to be busy and full and my nights? full of homework.
My Chilean host family is amazing however, so I am not worrying about any of that right now. My father plays the piano and the banjo (what?) and my mother is a social worker. I have three younger siblings Maria Fernanda (20), Victoria (18) and Juan Eduardo (14) so I'm pretty pumped about that. They seem like a very up-beet and happy family, just like my real family at home so I don't think it will take too long to adjust. There is however, the unavoidable awkward week in which you first arrive and must make polite small talk and talk about yourself way too much for anyone to be comfortable. After that there is a lull that settles and you get to talk about normal human things like the news and what you did that day and all that fun stuff. I am only talking about how it played out in Ecuador, perhaps it will be different here.
Well, that's all for now. To those who actually follow this I am deeply sorry that my entires are so disappointingly far apart. I must further disappoint you that it is not for lack of internet connection or any sort of modern commodity, it is just the fact that I never remember to blog. So, keep a weathered eye out for the next one as I will try to post with at least some regularity from now on.
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