It's Almost Vacation Time!

Well hello everyone! As I'm writing this, I should be packing... But I'll get there. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we'll hopefully get out the door for our vacation! We are going with my dad's brother and his family. With whom (Is that right?? who whom... just preppin' for my ACT here... hahhaa) went to the hot springs with. We're going to Puerto Montt. Which is, according to google maps, a 15 hour drive. So over half a day in the car. And THEN, our real destination is an island. My parents don't know the name of it since my dad's brother is planning the trip. But from Puerto Montt, we'll take a boat for 4-ish hours, and then arrive on the island, and drive another 3 hours to the final destination. Phew! So that'll be an adventure! We're planning on leaving at 8 in the morning. We'd like to stay there for two weeks, but my parents are in a busy season of work. And so we'll stay down there for about a week. So whenever I come back I'll have lots to blog about!

So. A week ago, I met up with Charlotte and Vivien and we went to the pool. We spent the afternoon swimming and talking. And then we went and bought junk food at the supermarket. :)

Vivien, Charlotte, and I.

It was great to hang out and talk. Oh. And Charlotte came up with the idea of us learning the Cup Song and singing and doing it and making a video. So that us three have a memory together. So I sat on my bed looking like a mad woman with a cup and youtube trying to learn it. My mom came and asked if I was feeling ok. hahahha. We'll record it the next time we get together I think. Oh boy. As a result of the pool, I'm sick!

Okayyy. On Friday morning I slept in and then showered. And when we went for lunch at my grandma's, I saw a note from the post office about a missed drop-off. And to go to the post office (correo!) the next day. But Saturday came around and I ended up not having time..And it was killing me to know who it was from! Because it's still a month from my birthday... And Sunday it was closed.

Oohhh time to tell ya about my Saturday adventures! For lunch, I went with my mom and brothers to the mall to eat. We went to a place (Rincon del Jumbo) that was a little café type area outside of the grocery store. My mom and I got salads. I'm not a huge salad fan to begin with, but I was sick of fast food. The lettuce was pretty terrible but I at it anyways.

We went shopping a bit after that and when we were looking at shoes, a girl came up to me and said Christy!! How have you been!? And gave me a big hug. I had absolutely no idea where I knew her from but I played along. hahaha. Meanwhile my mom was looking at shoes, I was playing with my ring. I put it on my middle finger and it got stuck because it obviously was too small! So I struggled to get it off all the while I was just making it worse. So I had a bright red finger as my circulation was cutting off. So embarrassing.

As we were leaving the store, we ran into one of my mom's friends and they talked for a bit. I started feeling super terrible. On top of the sore throat and headache, I was dizzy and I felt like I was going to throw up. But it was from the food. I excused myself and walked out into the hall and to the bathroom. The cool air helped a bit. While I was in the bathroom, I tried getting that darn ring off with soap and water. When that didn't work I panicked and started imagining the embarrassment of telling my mom I got a ring stuck on my finger. And her trying to take it off but eventually taking me to the doctors to get it removed. hahaha. I left the bathroom even though my stomach was still feeling bad. My mom had a few things on reserve she needed to get and so we went to those. And I sat in the hall on a bench for a while.

Eventually we got home and I went to the bathroom again and to much relief got it off with soap. phew! I'm pretty sure this stuff only happens to me. haha.

I felt pretty terrible on Sunday. Body aches, sore throat, etc. I wanted to go to church, but when I woke up at 8, I knew it wasn't going to happen. I called and talked to Dad for a while and that was great! He was driving home from Ashland and was going to run out of service and so he stopped on the side of the road and we talked and talked. He was stopped right by my favorite moose tree. :) I sure have a good Dad.

Yesterday, Monday, I finally got to go get the mystery package! I went to the post office in the morning at like 10. I was feeling worse than the other day. So I walked to take a colectivo and ignored (somewhat fed up) the construction workers talking and whistling at me. I just wasn't having that that morning. But I got the package! From Caroline and AnnaMarie and the kiddos!

I was smiling as I saw the box in the post office decked out with stickers. Thanks to Katie.

I asked Caroline if I should wait for my birthday. While I waited for a response, I passed out on my bed for a nap. When I woke up, she said there were separately wrapped presents that I could save but to open the box. 

And what I saw made me so happy and I was laughing a lot. Yes those are ring pops. 40 of them to be exact. They had asked what I wanted and I responded that I didn't really need anything...  but something for my friends would be nice.

40 ring pops, drawings, a cute shirt, and 8 or so wrapped presents! I'm so excited for my birthday. 

Ohhh. One more thing to write about. School starts on March 3rd. My BIRTHDAY is on March 4th. There is an 8 day Rotary trip to the North of Chile from March 4th to the 13th. I'm going on the trip. So I'll miss my Chilean birthday and miss the first week or so of school. When I saw the email with the dates of the trip, my heart sank. I panicked and called Dad. We talked about it a bit. Talking about how missing my Chilean birthday would be sad. As well as the first few weeks back with my friends. But then on the other side, when will I ever go to the north of Chile and get to see so many new places? I hung up the phone conflicted but we said we'd both think about it and decide soon. So I was in my room alone thinking and thinking of what to do. And I came up with a plan. I'll go on the North trip. And when I come back, I'll have my birthday on the 14th. A Friday. And so we don't have afternoon classes. So it works better. So I hope that'll work out!

Ok... Well that's it! I'm leaving for the trip with my family at about 8. Thanks for reading!