I Didn't Know What It Was, But I Ate It Anyway.: A Quick Update About My Life:

Hello everyone!

So for those of you who don't know I have spent the past few days making my way out of the United States into the spectacular country of Chile! It is absolutely beautiful here. Sunny, in the 80s, not a drop of humidity. I never want to leave, and I've only been here for three days.

Actually arriving was an adventure in and of itself. In true Boston/New England fashion, it was snowing, with the most intense storm warning between 4 and 6 pm. Right when my plane was scheduled to take off. Luckily the storm wasn't as bad as everyone expected it to be (despite being a named snowstorm) and we were able to take off after an extensive de-icing process.

In Atlanta, finding the rest of the girls was easy. Since the flight in from Boston was the last to arrive, there was an area that had already been clearly taken over by a bunch of 20-ish year-old college girls. After an bout of confusion about whether or not we were being re-assigned seats and some minor and not at all concerning electrical problems, the plane took off. I was actually able to sleep, which was a shock. It might have had to do with the free glass of white wine that I got to accompany my surprisingly enjoyable chicken salad.

Our orientation packet said we had to arrive at the designated meeting place in the airport by no later than 9:30, otherwise we would be forced to find our own form of transportation to the orientation hotel. Our plane, on the other hand, didn't get in until 10:30, and then with customs, immigration, and an annoyingly long wait for baggage, we didn't get there until almost noon. So close. Luckily since it was the group flight with almost everyone from the trip on it, they weren't about to just abandon us in the Santiago airport.

All together there are 21 of us, and once we gathered up our stuff and met our two orientation leaders Mark, the director of the program, and Páme (Pamela), the assistant director, we headed out. I tried incredibly hard to stay awake during the two hour bus ride from Santiago to Olmüe, the town we're staying in for orientation, and it was totally worth it. The scenery is incredible. No matter where you look, there are mountains, and the sky is a shade of blue I haven't gotten to see in a very very long time.

The view from our Hotel Pool

Orientation is fun. The lectures about classes and culture are a bit reminiscent of high school Spanish classes, but I'm actually learning a lot and my Spanish is improving by the day.

Food, however, is an adventure. Our first day here there was mayo on my salad. Not as part of a dressing, but about six individual little dollops of mayonnaise all around. I mean, I ate it anyway, but still. Today there was a giant piece of lettuce, half an avocado, and either tuna or chicken salad on top, the jury is still out on that one.

Today's Salad Adventure

We're also having some pretty entertaining dance classes. Today we've got a visit from some Chilean students that we get to dance with. I'll let you know how well that goes (hint: I'm not expecting it to go well).

I get to meet my host family tomorrow! Apparently I'm staying with the same family that the girl from Wheaton stayed with last year, which is pretty cool. And the director of our program has been telling me that everyone who has lived with them has loved them, so I'm pretty excited. I'll be living in Viña del Mar, which is just outside of Valparaíso, where I'll be going to school, and I move in tomorrow! I've also been actively pre-registering for classes and figuring out how to get my life in order enough so that I won't get lost. To be completely honest I'm slightly terrified of tomorrow, but hey, who knows what'll happen? Wish me luck!