Dancing! and stuff...

 What??? How in the world is it Sunday afternoon already!? This week FLEW by!

Ummm Not too much happened school working-wise this week.

This may or may not be what I do in class...

I did take two math tests and a chem test. I think I actually did really well on one of the math ones! I knew what I was doing on all but two problems. I was pretty proud. The chemistry one, however, was a disaster. I had no idea what the questions wanted and no idea what the formulas were for. So I randomly answered all the questions and hoped for the best (mejor!), I mean took a nap). I woke up to the teacher yelling and panicked a little. But then I realized that she was yelling at the kid next to me. Half of the class had been using a group chat thing on their phones to send pictures of their tests to each other. Haha. So a few kids got 0's (well actually 1's. Here the grading system is from 1-7, 1 being the worst and 7 being the best.). In English class, we had to get into groups, come up with  a dialogue, memorize it, and perform it. People kept asking me if I had my lines memorized and if it was easy. Well yes. Haha. Watching all of the groups was entertaining! In one group, the guys talked about going to the muscletorium (meaning to say the weight room) I'm not sure how they ended up with that one... Hahahaha. Whenever my firneds say something about how hard English class is, I say "yep. that is how I feel about Spanish ALL DAY LONG!" Okay well this "short paragraph about how I didn't do much schoolwork this week" turned out to be longer than expected. Here's a few pictures from recreo, which is what we call the 10-15 minute breaks we have between classes.

One of my besties here :) Nico!

 Me, Pablo, Fernanda, and Carolina!

And now on to the exciting part of my week!

If you read my last post, you'd remember that my class has been preparing a dance for a school festival thing. We practiced a lot and skipped a lot of classes ot do so. Whoo hoo! On Thursday night, all of the classes performed their dances. My class' dance was like an Accent dance minus the singing. With partners and twirling and the works. It was SO GREAT! We had  black dresses (vestidos!) made (like the 20's flapper dresses. haha) and we were all very coordinated. I never cease to be amazed at how close my class is. Everyone likes everyone and talks to everyone. And they actually listen to each other's opinions! It's great! Homecoming would be such a breeze if school was like this in Ironwood... Anyways, HERE! is a link to a Youtube video of me dancing. The video is just of me and I'm trying to find a video of the whole dance. If I do, I'll post it. Enjoy! Sorry for the turning of the camera...

So here's a bunch of pictures from before the show!

Fernanda! 

Ready to go!

All of the girls!

Rodrigo and I! Okay. Funny story. I am incapable of saying his name (Rodrigo or Rorro) so I usually just call him Brian. Hahaha. And he just accepts it. :)

Carolina, me, Natalia, and Fernanda! 

Friends!

At the start of the dance

In other random news, I am having piano withdrawals. I miss my piano at home and playing a keyboard in class for an hour each week is not cutting it! This week, much to my dismay, we practiced the dance during Music so I wasn't able to play. :( So when I went home, I asked if they had a keyboard I could use. Haha (jaja!). So this is what I was doing 20 minutes after (después!) being home.

One day after school, a few friends and I went to a hot dog place called Top Dog for lunch. They are famous for ridiculously big hot dogs. And they were sooooo good! Ahhhh. I've been eating too many lately though... Here I had the small size (which is a normal-sized one) and Rodrigo (Brian) had a ginormous one.

What else? OH. So on Friday was a party day all day! Well from 8:30 until 1:30. Then we went home. My class played Just Dance for a while and then walked around. There were a lot of games to play and different (differente!) classes selling food. We also watched some more group dances. That was the day that all of the younger grades performed and they were so cute! And I am missing all the little kiddos (my nieces and nephews) a ton. I only took a few pictures... Lame.

Fernanda, me, and Rodrigo

Part of the festivities. All of the vendors were past the trees.

At 1:30-ish I went home and my mom asked me if I wanted to stay home or go with her to do something at the house in the country. I said "of course I want to go!" in my Rotary fashion and headed off with my mom and dad. They rent out their house there for parties and set up the table, chairs (sillas!), and get all the plates and utensils ready. So for three hours, I helped my mom wash dishes for that. But I am glad I went, rather than just sitting at home.

This post is getting a little (poco!) long, but I am just going to write about Saturday and Sunday and be caught up for now.

On Saturday, I woke up at about 8:30 and got ready to go on a run! My plan was to run to my church and back. It takes me about 35 minutes to walk one way so I was feeling a bit skeptical... But I started running (corriendo!) and was feeling surprisingly great! I think it helps running by a busy road and not wanting to stop and have to walk by creepy people in the streets. I made it there in 14 minutes! On the way home I stopped to walk once but still made it home in 18 minutes. When I got home my host dad looked alarmed. He asked me what had happened. I said that nothing had happened and that I was just back from my run. He asked me if I had run to the church and I said yes. He was surprised how fast I was! Haha. I was pretty tired the rest of the day though. I went home and relaxed for awhile. Then (entonces!) my family and I went to Molina for lunch. We had a huge tray of meat (steak, pork chops, chicken, blood sausage, etc.). It was all so good and perfectly cooked. Mmmm.

And today is Sunday! This morning I went to church with Fernanda and then afterwards we met Rodrigo and were off! We walked to the mall to get something to eat. Once there, we decided we didn't want any of the places in the food court and went to eat at Top Dog again. This place is going to make me so fat. Hahaha. And yes I ate this all (todo!).

 After Top Dog, we waddled back to the mall and walked around for awhile. Then we went to the food court again and got some ice cream (helado!). We sat there and talked and it was so nice. Then... we walked downtown and to the plaza that has benches and fountains with fish in them. :)

Rodrigo and I!

After all that, I took a collectivo home. It was such a wonderful day with Fernanda and Rodrigo! I had a lot of fun.

I got home and sat down to write (escribir!) this post and here I am! And now I'm going to go and help my mom get dinner ready.

Saturday and Sunday!

Sorry for the lack of creativity in my titles...

On Saturday, I woke up at 5:15 to get on a bus at 6:30. I was off to Santiago with other exchange students for my first Rotary conference!

I slept for an hour because there weren't many people on the bus anyways. When more people started getting on, I woke up and started being social for the last hour. I met a lot of awesome people and it was a great day. There were about 60 other inbounds and a ton of them were from the U.S.. I spoke so much English (Inglés!) and it was a nice break from all the Español-ing I've been doing. I wasn't nearly as tired as I usually am at the end of the day.

We went over all the Rotary rules and the trips that are available. One to the south of Chile (with penguins!), one to the north, and one to the Easter Islands. I'll only go on one and it's going to be such a hard choice!

Anyways. After the orientation, we were off to a party! Out in the country and up a big hill. We ate empanadas again! (un otro vez!) and watched people dance cueca. For a couple of songs, the dancers would take people from the crowd and I volunteered.

It was fun. I didn't really get good pictures, but these are the best I have.

And some more of the conference.

What's that in my hand? Oh yeah, another empanada!

Have I mentioned how much I love the mountains and how pretty they are? Hahaha. Ahhh.

It all got over at about 5:30 or 6 and I finally got back into Curicó at 8:30.

SUNDAY!

I went to church again. A few days before, my friend Natalia was asking me about church and so I invited her to come with me. She came and it was great! We had some good talks and I wrote my testimony in Spanish for her. After church we walked to the mall for lunch (almuerzo!). We had so much food! Delicious hot dogs, ice cream, pop, fries, and MORE empanadas! It was all so good though.

Natalia :)

Oh and a picture I took in a parking lot. I like that they have parking spots for pregnant women and it makes me laugh that this is how they portray them. Bahaha. I was laughing pretty hard and Natalia just looked at me like I was crazy.

Then we walked a bit more to where I could take a collectivo home. I got in one, and Natalia went home on a bus. My first collectivo ride alone! It was okay...

So yeah! That was my weekend. So much fun!

Summary!

Okay! It's time to talk about everything that happened last week! I'm just going to ramble on because I don't really remember what days I did what...

I've been told a lot lately that I look like a Barbie. People literally stop me in the halls and pet my hair (pelo!). Hahaha.

Spanish! I think and hope that my Spanish is getting better! It has definitely improved since my first days... Processing what people are saying is still hard because they talk so darn fast here!

Umm. So I joined the basketball team! I had practice on Thursday and Friday. There are only a few girls. It is so fun though! I play pretty well and the coach seems pleased. Haha. But it is so hard figuring out what he is saying when he explains the drills! I will have practice twice a week and eventually we will play games. That will be interesting! For practice, everyone wears the school polo and sweatpants. I am used to wearing shorts and a t shirt, so I get so hot! But lately I have been bringing shorts and a t-shirt to change into. My friend told me yesterday that it is hard to find athletic shorts here (especially for girls.) Weird. 

When I have practice, I have to take a collectivo home. It's like a taxi. Except it has a specific route to follow, that it follows all day. I don't like public transportation very much. It kinda freaks me out being in a car with a bunch of strangers (especially in a foreign country).

On the day that I had gym, our whole class started leaning a group dance. We are performing it on Thursday for the whole school. All the classes make up their own choreographed dance. For not being a good dancer, I sure am dancing a lot here!

September (Septiembre!) is a pArTy month here! It's only the 11th but I have already eaten soooo many empanadas and shish kabobs (brochetas!). Speaking of food... I really, really, really need to start running! Basketball twice a week isn't going to cut it! I eat too much bread... Basically too much in general. Haha. In the life of an exchange student...

On Tuesday night I was really tired and it had been a long (but great!) day. I went downstairs to take a shower, but my brother had just gotten in. So I sat down on the couch to wait. My mom sat down with me and we talked for a good hour. I love the talks we have. We talk about school and people and the future and how she never wants me to switch families. :) She said that when I came, I brought with me so much sunshine and happiness into the house. Dawww!

On Wednesday I went to my first Rotary meeting in Curicó. It started at 7:30 (I think...). the meeting was very formal. I felt like I had to be perfect! We stood around, talked, and ate MORE empanadas. And we watched/listened to a group playing music and dancing cueca. For a few songs, people watching could dance. So me and my Rotary counselor danced. It was weird... Haha. Then we had dinner. There was so much food, but it was all super good. I didn't get done there until 12:30. And then didn't get to sleep until 2. Ooofft.

One day, one of my friends said that I should give a presentation to the class about my life and city. Luckily, Rotary had me make one about my town, family, and hobbies. So on Thursday I gave it in class. I brought in some skittles, starbursts, m&m's, etc. Then loved it all! So that was fun.

Oh and on Friday during the school day, my whole class went to a nearby church. It was called a retiro. Like a retreat. We talked about our families, played games, and took pictures.

Finally some pictures for this post! :

Leo, Natalia, me, and Nicco

Me in my lovely uniform

Having pan and tea! 

Romina, Natalia, me, and Carolina!

I honestly couldn't have a better class. :) I love them all!

Here's some random pictures that I never got around to putting on here.

One night for dinner, we went to a restaurant for hotdogs! (completos!) (Also, if you haven't seen this video, you need to.) They always have tomatoes, avocados  mayonnaise  and ketchup on them and they are sooo yummy! Ahhhh. 

My mom sometimes makes me a smoothie after school.

Don't ask. I was bored.

Oh and one more thing. On Tuesday night I think we went to the festival that was going on in the central plaza area. Like I said, September is a party month. We walked around, watched more cueca dancers and ate EVEN more empanadas and shish kabobs.

Me with my shish kabob

EMPANADAS!

 This post is getting a little long so I'll just write about Saturday and Sunday in another post.

Sunday!!

Yep. Now I'm a week behind on everything... Because I am writing this on Sunday morning of the following week. Oh well!

On Sunday I got up early and ready to walk to church. When I was eating, my dad said that he'd bring me. When I got there, I said hello to the missionaries and started talking to a Sister from Colorado. It was nice break from Spanish! She had been there for a year and was so nice.

Since it was the first (primero!) Sunday of the month, there was a testimony meeting. This is where people from the congregation can get up and talk about the Gospel in their lives. After listening for 20 minutes, I decided to go up. I got up and introduced myself and talked about how grateful I am to have opportunity to be a member (miembro!) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (La iglesia de jesuscristo de los santos de los últimos días), especially here in Chile. I really do love it. Bearing my testimony was such a cool experience. I started talking and these Spanish words came out of my mouth that I hadn't known before!

So church was great. I walked home and not so many people honked. And no fútbol games were stopped. Hahaha.

When I got home, I changed and we were off too more cueca lessons! I am starting to get the hang of it!

Sorry this is a short post and does not have any pictures... LAME.

Oh and for all of you that care, there was a time change and so now I am two hours ahead of the Minneapolis time zone.

Thanks for reading!

Party Day!

Saturday was another party day! Everyday is a party. :D

In the morning, I had my first cueca dance lessons! The cueca is Chile's national dance (look here!). Some family friends taught me, a guy from South Africa, and two girls from Germany. The four of us are the only Rotary exchange students in Curicó. It took some time, but I have got it down now! On Wenesday I will dance during the Rotary meeting. Whoo hoo! I will write about that later! Today is about Saturday!

After the cueca lessons (lecciones!) I went with my host dad to a nearby city (Rauco I think) to visit his mom. She is so sweet. She treated me like I was her granddaughter. I love it! We had cake (torte!) and some hot chocolate.

Then we headed to the party! My dad dropped me off at Fernanda's house and the party started! There were 8 of us there. We had a delicious lunch of empanadas, chicken, and salads. Plus ice cream and cookies for desert. 

After lunch, we sat around and talked and then watched my first movie (pelicula!) in Spanish! (with English subtitles..) Madagascar 3. It was weird hearing different voices for the characters. Then we played some dancing games on the xbox kinect. 

Nico and I!

Fernanda and I!

Then, we played ping pong, volleyball, basketball, and fútbol (of course!). I have such great friends here.

We talked and laughed a ton. They taught me some Spanish tongue twisters like "En mi casa hay un ratón raro y rapido" and I taught them some in English. I love watching their incredulous faces. Baha. I also tried to teach them how to say Ironwood and Luther L. Wright. It is so funny because they can't really say l's and r's like English speakers can. But then again, I cannot for the life of me roll my r's. They make fun of me a lot for it. Haha. The worst name to say is Rodrigo. Plus his nickname is Rorro. Haha.

While we talked we had shish kabobs, bread, and tea. So yummy.

Carolina, Nico, Miriam, and I!

At some point, my mom called me and said that I should come home. So Fernanda's parents drove me home.

Such a fun night!

One last picture from the end of the party! :D
Miriam, Fernanda, Francisco, Carolina, Nico, me and Rodrigo!

Anniversario!!!

There's so much to talk about! But this post will be mostly about my school's anniversary. 

So it was my school's 85th anniversary last week. We didn't have a lot of classes, mostly just parties (fiestas!). It was like homecoming in high school but 20 times bigger and more awesome. There were 3 groups (by grade): Hawaii, India, and Circus. I was in the Circus group. :)

At one of the assemblies. Do you see any blondes? Yeah me either. Haha

On Wednesday there was a school assembly and a lot of different groups (grupos!) performed dances. I learned a dance that day and danced with some of my friends! So much fun! We danced to "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.

Fernanda, me, Natalia, and Carolina. I love these girls!

During the dance

On Friday we had absolutely no classes and were outside all day. We sat around and talked and at some point a girl came up and asked if anyone wanted to play volleyball. I said yes, but my friends didn't want to play. But they wanted to be my cheerleaders. Haha. It turns out that I got put into a tournament for the whole school. It was so much fun! Everyone played with mittens since it was cold (but it was actually perfect...). We played a couple of matches, but we didn't win. I played pretty decently and I got asked to join the volleyball team. Baha.

After volleyball, my friend Natalia and I taped our legs together and played fútbol! It was pretty intense and embarrassing. The whole school was watching.  It is difficult to run together towards the ball and then try to kick it. 

After fútbol, I went and played some more basketball. I've been playing a lot lately and love the scrimmages.

Everyone after one of our games:

On Friday night there was a dance at the school. There were so many people there! It was a lot more fun and so different from the few dances we have in Ironwood. So that was a great end to my first week  in school!
On Saturday I went to a friends house (casa!) for a party and the next post will be about that! Stay tuned!