Brazillians and New Year's!!

Like I said in my other post, when I got home from the beach late, late on the 29th I had an exciting Facebook message! A message from my favorite Brazillian saying "Hey Christy, just lettin' you know, we're in Curicó at the Raices Hotel. Let's get together for dinner some time!" Vick and her lovely parents drove from Brazil to see me!! (For those of you who don't know, Vitoria stayed in my house 3 years ago as an exchange student. We are like sisters.) And that hotel is like 10 minutes from my house. I was so excited and was tempted to go there at midnight. In the morning we talked and planned to meet at the hotel and go out to lunch.

In the morning, as I was getting ready I literally jumped for joy. I could barely wait. I went with my mom because she had to go to a bank near the hotel. Before she went there, she dropped me off. We walked up the sidewalk and Vick and her parents were there waiting on the other side of the automatic door. :D So of course we ran and hugged! ahhhh. So great. We talked with my mom and she recommended a restaurant and then she left.

Back together! :D

We went to "La Fama" which is a place with a lot of meat. I've gone there a few times for lunch with my family.

It felt so good to be back talking to Vick and listening to Imagine Dragons in the car and singing together. ahhh. And Vick's parents are awesome; so sweet and caring. Her dad speaks Spanish and English too. But when we talked, we talked in Spanish and it was awesome to be able to communicate with them! When they visited in August we'd talk in English.

We ordered a parrilla. (We order them a lot, but I just haven't put a picture up...) It's a big hot platter of meat and potatoes! They are so so so delicious.

These might be my favorite pictures of the trip:

After a big meal and lots of talking and laughter, we went and took a few pictures.

Such great people:

After that, we drove to the mall! We looked around for a bit and then went to Bravissimo for ice cream.

We found our way back to the hotel and relaxed. Just relaxed like we did in Ironwood. Layed around, talked, laughed, watched tv, did my hair. That's really what we needed. You don't need to always be running around viewing the sights. When you're with your loved ones, just enjoy them. :) And so that's exactly how we spent the day.

My chocolate Santa!

At 9, we planned on meeting up with my parents for dinner. They didn't end up coming til 10, but while we waited we had some juice and talked on the patio.

My 3 favorite Brazilians!

We got to the restaurant at 10:30 and enjoyed some super super rich and good meat. We ate so much. We stayed there until 12:30 or 1:30 talking.

The next day, the 31st, I went to the beach with them! They picked me up from the house and we were off to Iloca again!

We stopped at the beach:

 Then we went and ate at a nice place.

My papaya juice and bread with a spicy dip. Oh, hey Vick.

We ordered two plates of fish and shared them. They were sooo good.

We drove back and I went home and they went to the hotel. We met up again at about 5 well actually 6 (we were late again...) and headed out to the camp.

The morning before, this was in my kitchen. A common thing to do is buy a lamb. As it got closer to New Year's I had seen a couple of lambs roped to a tree near houses.

With my dad's siblings and their families, Moncho's family, and ours, we ate salads, lamb, chicken, and cake. It was a nice evening together!

I love this girl <3

Everyone stayed there until 10 or so. 2 hours left of 2013! But my family and I stayed there until 11 cleaning up. Uh oh. I could tell that this was going to be bad...

We ran home, changed, and got things ready. At 11:55 we left the house to meet Vick at the hotel and go to see the fireworks. Remember when I said that the hotel was 10 minutes from my house? Yup, still a valid time. So we sped there and the radio started playing the Chilean anthem. And my mom said "what!? it can't be midnight yet!" But sure enough it was. Yes. I spent the first 5 minutes of 2014 in the car. But it felt so perfect. My family is always late. :) hahaha. We just sat there laughing and my mom squeezed my hand. We got to the hotel and waved Vick to follow us. We drove downtown near the plaza and eventually just pulled over.

We got out and I hugged my mom then ran to hug Vick and her parents. I started crying because I was so happy. hahaha. Or maybe I was just tired. Then I hugged my dad and we pulled out champagne and glasses. We had a bottle of alcohol free champagne too. :) hahaha. There were clowns on the bottle, so I'm pretty sure it was legit.

Trying to open the bottle:

What?! I don't even know how to do it!

We clinked glasses and then they said "Christy! You didn't take a picture!" haha.
Salud!

I am so incredibly blessed to bring in the new year with these wonderful people.

I never thought I'd celebrate another New Year's with this girl! And we did it in Chile no less!

Almost a year ago, I found out I was going to the country of Chile. I knew almost nothing about it, but I was up for the challenge! I started a blog. I finished my Sophomore year of high school in Ironwood and said good bye to Luther L. Wright for a year. I got a 1 at state in the Solo and Ensemble music contest for piano. I got my patriarchal blessing. I celebrated my Sweet 16. I said good bye to my brother Benjamin who left for Russia for a two year church mission. I spent a week with my wonderful family on a family vacation. Hannah Danica Moore brought the count up to nine beautiful nieces and nephews. Carolin and Vick visited me with their families. My brother James got married. I packed up my life in two suitcases and a couple of carry-ons. I said good bye to my friends. I said good bye to my family. I left the U.S.! I flew alone for 15 hours. I arrived in the amazing place called Chile. I learned some Spanish. I became part of a new family. I made a ton of new Chilean friends. I fell in love. With Chile. And I fall in love all over again every day. So I guess it's been a pretty good year, huh?

I'm so grateful to have all the people I have in my life. So, thank you.

I've never been one to set New Year's resolutions... And I don't think this year is any different. I'll just keep living my life like I have been. Trying hard, being grateful, enjoying where I am no matter the situation, loving the opportunities I have, and just being myself.

I don't know what 2014 has in store for me, but I think it'll be a good year. :)