Chile Blog Numero 1

Well I´ve been here almost a week. I can´t believe how fast time flys. I´m living in a small city called Valdivia  which is 10 hours south of Santiago the capital. I´m almost on the tip of South America, how cool is that? Oh and fyi I´m using a Spanish keyboard, so if I make a mistake please don´t correct me, you know what I mean. In a week I´ve improved so much with my comprehension. :) I can understand the Chilean  Spanish fairly well when it´s not spoken too fast. However, it´s harder at meal times to share in the conversation, but within a month, I´m excited to see where I am. My host family is really nice and outgoing. We are starting to get really comfortable with eachother, and are even able to joke with eachother. My family here includes Gustavo who is 22 and Celia my mom. Christian her other son is visiting now, and he is really nice and fun to chat with. It´s been really cold and wet here. It is their Spring, but it´s more like winter in the Northwest. Since I´ve been here I´ve figured out the public transport, where I live in relation to my university and how to enjoy instant coffee. That is what they drink here, and it´s not that bad. I actually enjoy it, and the milk here is better than the milk in the United States. I started my classes this week, and they are tough! So much Spanish all the time, my brain is on overload and my goldfish attention span doesn´t help either, but I´m figuring it out. To get to school I ride the Micro which is comparable to a miniature, sketchy/ghetto school bus where I pay 170 pesos a trip or a little under $0.25 USD. I also can ride the collectivo to the city for 400 pesos or $1.50 USD. These are comparable to taxis, but they are the driver´s own cars. Interesting fact about Chilean culture...They kiss on the cheek when ever greeted. And, no one talks to eachother on the bus in the morning. I really miss home and electric heat, and hot chocolate, but I´m making do. I love you all so much and hope things are going well for you. That`s about all I´ve been up to this week, getting adjusted and getting my bearings. Tomorrow, Christian and I are going to go to a book store and the market so I can look at some books in Spanish to read, and see the people of Valdivia selling thier hand made items. As we say in Chile, Ciao!