But now, it's time for the post you all knew was coming! Prepare yourselves for a gushy 1-month-mark post!
Exactly one month ago I arrived in this beautiful country called Chile. I was sad to leave my family and friends and didn't know what to expect. I was worried that my host family and I wouldn't connect and that it would be hard to make a whole new group of friends. I shouldn't have worried at all because this month has been one of the best and fastest of my life! I am in love with the people, culture, and language!
Here are a few (or more than a few...) of my thoughts about my time in Chile thus far.
Family: I LOVE my family, they are so great.
My mom is one of the sweetest people I know. She helps me with everything and always checks up on me. I am her daughter. No one can replace my mom, but my mom here in Chile is such a good second mom for me. She and I talk a lot and it helps with my Spanish a ton. She is ever so patient with me. If she ever gets frustrated with me, which I'm sure she does, she doesn't show it. We go shopping together sometimes and it is so fun. She'll ask me 'hey do you need new clothes?' to which I'll respond that I do not need anything. 'Okay good, me either, but let's go shopping anyways!'. And then we go out and buy cute outfits.
My dad is great too. He is very nice and helpful. He makes a lot of jokes and I laugh a lot. Sometimes he makes fun of my Spanish grammar. At first I would get slightly upset and frustrated, but I've learned just to laugh and try to improve.
It is hard for me to talk to my brothers because I can't speak a ton of Spanish yet and they are both sort of shy. But I think they like me. Haha. As a family, we laugh a lot and I am always so happy around them. I love them. :)
My friends!: I feel like I say this a lot, but my friends are so awesome. On my first day of school, I was quite nervous. Before this, I had been in the same town, in the same school, with the same kids for all my life. I've never had to be the new kid. Again, I shouldn't have worried. I feel so loved and have so many good friends. I always feel included and feel like they genuinely want to talk to me and get to know me. I love going to school because that means that I get to spend the whole day laughing, talking, and making memories with 40 amazing Chileans.
Español!: I am loving Spanish and I cannot wait until I can speak it better. There are a lot of moments of confusion and frustration, usually followed by me laughing hysterically. Some days I feel like I'm totally on track to being a Spanish pro and other days I feel like a 2 year old. Well actually, scratch that, pretty much everyday I feel like a little kid. People have to speak slowly and repeat themselves to get me to understand. A few of my friends said that they caught themselves talking super slowly at home. Hahahaha. But all in all, I think (I hope!) that my Spanish is improving.
Food!: I love the food. I've liked everything I've eaten so far. I haven't had anything too different. One thing that I eat a ton of (besides empanadas and hot dogs) is bread. Everyday I eat at least one pan amasado. It is so good! I can't even describe it...
I drink a lot of nectar de durazno too. Oh and the milk is different here. It comes in boxes like this:
Exactly one month ago I arrived in this beautiful country called Chile. I was sad to leave my family and friends and didn't know what to expect. I was worried that my host family and I wouldn't connect and that it would be hard to make a whole new group of friends. I shouldn't have worried at all because this month has been one of the best and fastest of my life! I am in love with the people, culture, and language!
Here are a few (or more than a few...) of my thoughts about my time in Chile thus far.
Family: I LOVE my family, they are so great.
My mom is one of the sweetest people I know. She helps me with everything and always checks up on me. I am her daughter. No one can replace my mom, but my mom here in Chile is such a good second mom for me. She and I talk a lot and it helps with my Spanish a ton. She is ever so patient with me. If she ever gets frustrated with me, which I'm sure she does, she doesn't show it. We go shopping together sometimes and it is so fun. She'll ask me 'hey do you need new clothes?' to which I'll respond that I do not need anything. 'Okay good, me either, but let's go shopping anyways!'. And then we go out and buy cute outfits.
My dad is great too. He is very nice and helpful. He makes a lot of jokes and I laugh a lot. Sometimes he makes fun of my Spanish grammar. At first I would get slightly upset and frustrated, but I've learned just to laugh and try to improve.
It is hard for me to talk to my brothers because I can't speak a ton of Spanish yet and they are both sort of shy. But I think they like me. Haha. As a family, we laugh a lot and I am always so happy around them. I love them. :)
My friends!: I feel like I say this a lot, but my friends are so awesome. On my first day of school, I was quite nervous. Before this, I had been in the same town, in the same school, with the same kids for all my life. I've never had to be the new kid. Again, I shouldn't have worried. I feel so loved and have so many good friends. I always feel included and feel like they genuinely want to talk to me and get to know me. I love going to school because that means that I get to spend the whole day laughing, talking, and making memories with 40 amazing Chileans.
Español!: I am loving Spanish and I cannot wait until I can speak it better. There are a lot of moments of confusion and frustration, usually followed by me laughing hysterically. Some days I feel like I'm totally on track to being a Spanish pro and other days I feel like a 2 year old. Well actually, scratch that, pretty much everyday I feel like a little kid. People have to speak slowly and repeat themselves to get me to understand. A few of my friends said that they caught themselves talking super slowly at home. Hahahaha. But all in all, I think (I hope!) that my Spanish is improving.
Food!: I love the food. I've liked everything I've eaten so far. I haven't had anything too different. One thing that I eat a ton of (besides empanadas and hot dogs) is bread. Everyday I eat at least one pan amasado. It is so good! I can't even describe it...
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| Fyi: not my picture |
The culture!: I love the Chilean culture! (Are you noticing how much I use the word love? I must be enjoying myself here...) Chilean people are very warm and welcoming people. They want to know about my life and family and how I am doing. Cueca dancing is everywhere, especially because it's September. Tiki tiki ti!
It started to hit me today that I'm here for 11 months. I won't be in Ironwood for a year! I won't see my Dad or any of my family in person. I'll miss James and Miranda's wedding. All of my nieces and nephews will by giants when I get back. I won't see my friends or go to school at good ol' Luther L. Wright. I'm missing my whole Junior year. No homecoming or football games or pep bands. My friends will go to prom without me. I won't see REAL snow for a year! Woah. It's pretty crazy!
But I'm going to have so many cool experiences here in Chile! I am grateful for this amazing opportunity!
So yeah, to sum everything up, I love Chile and I'm happy to be here. :)
I feel like I'm forgetting about a lot... But I should get going now. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Tonight I'll try to write about what I've been up to lately.
I love you, Christy girl. We miss you, but you'll be back before you know it, and it'll be like you never left. Except you will speak Spanish, know all about Chile, and have family and friends there. Love you!
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