The Easter Island!!! (Part Uno!)

When I found out I would be going to Chile on my exchange, I was determined that I would make it to the Easter Island. Finally, this dream became a reality! On May third (Saturday), I hopped on a bus and went to Santiago.

I love the beautiful countryside here:

I met up with my exchange friend India (from the US) and I stayed at her house for the night. I got there early in the afternoon and we went shopping at the mall where I picked up some headphones. She has a youth group there that she sometimes goes to and so I said I would go with. We went and failed at a scripture chase in Spanish, but ended up having a really great time with all of the great people there. When we left we were starving and went to get some Pizza Hut!

I guess there are American restaurants in cities bigger than Curicó. hahaha. Okay. Well I guess I should get to the good stuff here.

We met up with all of the district at the airport and we were all soooo excited!

Here I am with my Chilean I.D. card (carnet!) and my boarding ticket!

While we anxiously awaited the plane, I got some Cinnabon since we hadn't had time for breakfast in the morning.

Minutes from boarding the plane! (With Alexis, Bridget, Jodie, and Madison)

Once on the plane, we were headed off for the vacation of a lifetime! Easter Island is known by many names including Isla de Pascua in Spanish and Rapa Nui in the native island language. The flight was about five hours long but went by pretty quickly. I watched a few movies and shows and sat by some fun people. (Jessica and Evan)

 The whole flight, we anxiously watched our flight tracker as we neared Isla de Pascua!

Minutes from landing! (These emotions displayed were sooooo real)

The first picture on the island! Let the adventures begin!

Easter Island's airport just might be the same size as Ironwood's. We waited for a long time for all of our bags to come off the conveyor belt. Immediately, I realized how rainy and humid our visit would be. It was so humid but we didn't care.

As we stepped out of the airport, we were given leis and it kicked in that we were really on the Easter Island!

Before we could get our bags to the buses, it started pouring! So we ran and got in the buses and didn't even mind being rained on.

 On the buses soaked and happy.

After a short bus ride and without a glimpse of any moai statues, we arrived at the hotel. Right away we were greeted by the owner and glasses of guava juice. 

We chose roommates and got our rooms. Each room had four beds. Each with a cute towel and flower. :)

My three roommates were India, Bridget, and Jodie (all from the US). These three girls were so much fun to be with!

The flowers there were so pretty! I pressed a few of them.

Then we had free time! Some people went to swim, but most of us went to explore the island!

A little lagoon. I swam here a bit later in the week.

Such a beautiful place.

One of the first moai statues I saw! Just wait 'til you see the big ones.

Not everybody can say they have a selfie with a moai.

I had a nice chat with him.

How perfect is this? I was in heaven.

I know I know, this is not a moai statue. It's a fist. I don't know why, but it's there! So that's pretty neat.

I was in love with the landscape from the second I got there.

It would've been cooler if I was more flexible. hahaha.

Pretty flowers. :)

After this patch of beautiful flowers, the big moai statues were in near sight. 

 The statues were made in many styles and heights and I'll talk more about that in the next post. This particular one was probably about 15 feet tall.

 This picture basically captures our friendship. :)

 How breathtaking is this view?

 Sadly, we didn't have time to explore further and so we headed back to the hotel so we wouldn't be late for dinner. With a few minutes to spare, we enjoyed some nice relaxing time around the pool.

 Have I mentioned that the flowers on the island are absolutely gorgeous? Well, they are.

 After dinner that night, my room headed off to play some Uno and watch the sun set. I really,really love these girls. (Bridget, Jodie, and India)

A perfect end to a perfect day. I can't fully describe what a dream come true this trip was for me.

It's Here!

The time is HERE!

Going to Easter Island has been a dream (one that was very likely to happen when I was picked to go to Chile on exchange) for a long time! When I got my computer, I put this as my background! And tomorrow, it's becoming a reality!

In a few minutes, I'm taking a bus to Santiago. And staying with India, my lovely exchange student friend from the US for the night. Then, at 6:30 tomorrow, we meet up with 50 other exchange students and head off for the EASTER ISLAND! It is 2,300 something miles away from Santiago. And the flight will be about six hours. 

But basically:

 Two of my favorite jokes (courtesy of Dad):

Get it!? It's like the Moai is a Pez dispenser. hahhahahaha. jajajjajaja.

 Ok! I've got to go! I'll be back on the 9th.

Random Things!

Just some random things I've been up to...

I have the best classmates. Most of the time I eat lunch from home, but sometimes we make other plans.

Sometimes we go to the mall to the food court, sometimes we go to Top Dog to get delicious completos.

Sometimes we go to the mall and buy food in the grocery store.

And sometimes, we have to try on bunny ears in the process.

Once a month, there is a parent's meeting with the head lady in charge of my class. It was at 7 and so on that day, I just stayed with a group of classmates and waited. We sat there and talked and laughed.

Carolina!

Fernanda and Nico!

One Saturday, we decided we'd go blackberry picking. My dad's house from growing up is really big and has a lot of land with it. In the 2010 (8.8) it was destroyed and his family abandoned the house. Still standing, but unlivable. But on the land they have a lot of blackberry bushes. So we went out there with buckets to get some blackberries to make jam with!

The house:

But when we go there, they were dried out! So we only got these:

All the dry weather we've been having has dried them out. Sadd.... But we got some grapes!

Every week my Rotary club has a weekly meeting and once a month I get invited. And this time they asked me to give a PowerPoint about me. So I took the one I made before I came, translated it into Spanish, and revised it. About Ironwood, the weather, my family, and hobbies. I was nervous before, but when I got up there, it went away. I felt so great. I know my Spanish wasn't perfect, but I didn't have to THINK about what I was saying! I've gotten to the point where I don't think in english when I'm talking. I don't have to think of what I want to say in English and then translate it word for word. It's fantastic. So it went super well and a few Rotarians stayed after and were asking me questions. Yay!

Have I ever said that I have some good friends at at school? Well I do.

A few random pictures in class.

With Javier. He's hilarious and reminds me of Benjamin a lot.

With Javier, Sofía, and Pelao.

My friends love to do my hair in school. This is one of the masterpieces Romina whipped up.

Pablo y Nico:

Romina!

AnnaMarie recently sent me a package mostly comprised of Mike and Ikes. A while ago, my Rotary counselor Ernesto asked for my family to send him them. So AnnaMarie sent 10 boxes or so. I've been bringing them to school to share with friends and they love them! They're good, because they're one candy that you can't find here, unlike skittles and snickers.

She also sent Hot Tamales. I personally hate them... But they conveniently have the same shape as the beloved Mike and Ikes that everyone loves. I did warn them though that they were NOT the same. They did not enjoy them at all. hahaha. It just so happened that some people from my class tried them and hated them, and then took them to share with the other two classes of the seniors. Then I got looks the rest of the day like "what kind of terrible person are you?! and is that the only kind of candy you have there?!" hahaha. It was entertaining.

In Biology, we had a project on DNA. I was in a group of 6 people. We had to research about a group of scientists and tell about how they contributed to the discovery of DNA. I researched about Erwin Chargaff. And this is how it turned out! The projects here seen more creative than in the US...

A long time ago, Dad sent me mac and cheese. and one day for lunch, Jessica and I had some. It was so good and she liked it a lot.

Nothin' like pan amasado and mac and cheese. <3

I have lots more random things, but I'll leave it here for now!