Mi Pololo!!

My Monday started out pretty terribly. I woke up at 6:45 and went downstairs to shower. I pulled back the curtain and took a step forward and as I did, this little guy came out.

And before I could stop, I stepped on it with my bare foot. ACCCKKKK!! I didn't completely kill it and so it skittered to the corner. There, I took a picture of it on my ipod as part of my duty as an intercambista. I was too chicken to touch it... Then I proceeded to shake out the shower curtain again, shake out my clothes and towel, and put them on the sink. I'm really not a bug person and I'm kind of scared for a summer in South America. Also, (además!) the other day I was talking with my mom about one of my exchange student friends from the US who is in South Africa. She had said the other day that she saw her first rain spider, which are these gigantic spiders. I laughed as I told my mom about this and told her I was glad to be in Chile instead of there. She then informed me in all seriousness that there are some big spiders here too. "But they aren't out yet, they're still hiding in the walls. You'll see them in the summer." OH NO!!

Luckily, the day went uphill from there. We took a class picture with everyone in blazers, dress shirts, and ties. Everyone looked nice and I really kind of love seeing everyone in white shirts and ties (corbatas!) It's so refreshing from the sagging pants and tight shirts. I'm so happy that I get to be in a picture with my amazing class (curso!). I love them all so much and I hope that every time they see the class picture they'll say "hey! I remember Christy! I like her!"

After lunch, I went back to school SUPER happy. I don't know if it was because I understood math or I was just deliriously tired, but I was extremely happy. So anywho, it turned out to be a good day. Oh and after school, I tried my debit card but it still didn't work.

After school on Tuesday, I stayed and played some games with compañeros. Fernanda, Nico, Lucas, Rodrigo, Carolina, Leo, Romina, and I. We played volleyball and ran some races. It was really hot out and so we sat in the shade and talked for an hour. I hadn't had the chance to try my debit card that day and the money was due the next day and so at 10:15 my parents and I went the the Lider (the grocery store nearby). AND IT WORKED! Yay! I was so relieved. And then my parents had to go somewhere so I took a colectivo home. At 10:30 at night. The right one didn't come for about 15 minutes and I was getting kind of freaked out. But it did come in the end! So it was all good. And now my trip to Ba-ri-lo-che eh! eh! eh! is all paid for.

Wednesday was a really good day and I actually took some pictures! For the first class period we did absolutley nothing. We just sat in the classroom talking, braiding my hair, painting nails, and eating cherries (guindas!) from Nico's house.

Romina and I with our cherries!

Sofia with her lovely earrings.

I like when people braid my hair. :)

I just like how big my dimples are in this picture. :)

Cuarto medio (4th grade, or the Seniors) are almost finished and we spent most of the day celebrating with them. Trecero medio (3rd grade, Juniors) all pitched in money and bought hotdogs, tomatoes, avocados, and the works for a lunch. Therewas music and games of volleyball and soccer between 3º and 4º. Some girls asked me to be on a volleyball team, but we never ended up playing because the guys' match took too long. We ate chips and completos and then at 1:15 the bell rang and it was time to leave for lunch. I wasn't hungry and so I skipped lunch and stayed with my friends. With nothing else to do, Romina, Natalia, Carolina, Rodrigo, and I walked to the mall for ice cream. Mmmm cookies and cream. On the walk there, we saw a pololo! A pololo is a boyfriend, but it is also the name for this kind of bug.

My pololo. :)

And in the mall, there were these elf cutouts so of course I had to take a picture. It doesn't even seem like Christmas is so close. Where's the SNOW!???!

After the mall, we had to go to real class... sad. Lenguaje. After class, we realized that the next day we had a chemistry and a math test. Romina, Natalia, Rodrigo, Leo, Nico, and I. We didn't end up studying too much... Instead we ate cherries, took pictures, and talked.

Rodrigo and I:

Romina studying hard.

Nico making fun of Rodrigo's carnet (i.d. card). That's a popular activity here, comparing carnets.

One of the funniest things is when Chileans use their mad English skills. This little girl came around the corner and was greeted by a torment of: "Hello! How are you? CAT! DOG! WINDOW! SHUT THE WINDOW PLEASE! Sit down! Open your book! Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you too! What's your name? How are you? I'm very dog." And then we had her sit down with us and we had a normal conversation in Spanish. And then she took a picture with me.

Leo and I :) Look Leo! Here you are! On my blog!!

You know... being gangsters and stuff.

Yesterday was Thursday and I did the dialogue again for English class. There were about 40 ten-year-olds and they didn't understand a word of English. hahaha. The dialogue went well.

And then I had to talk about myself for a few minutes. And that was kind of a train wreck. I didn't have a powerpoint or anything and I didn't know what to say. But after that... another student asked a few questions to the kids and they could answer and get candy. The directions were in English and so they didn't understand what they had to do. The first one was "who is the president of Chile?" After I leaned back and whispered "quien es el presidente de Chile?" they timidly raised their hands and said Piñera. A couple questions later, when they got the hang of it, the question was "who is the president of the U.S.? And then all 40 kids were yelling "Yo sé! OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!" I was laughing so hard!

I had a math test, which went terribly. I knew the information and I understood all the homework, but I could not for the life of me, understand what the questions wanted. Plus we didn't have a lot of time for all of the work. UGH. Then, I went to chemistry where there was a test. But the teacher gave me one and said "just for you to have..." so I didn't do it. I like her. :)

After school I taught the English material to Rodrigo, Natalia, and Valery. That was fun. Prepositional phrases, which the name itself they can't pronounce. hahaha.

And that's what's been going on lately in Chile!