The last 24 hours have been very, very eventful! Last night we had a party with our "hermanos." There was live music and food served tapas style. Afterwards, a group of about seven Chileans students and seven of us Americans went to a bar/disco. It was lots of fun, although mostly the dancing. Bars here are very smoky, which is something I'm not used to as a Californian. Also, the drinks (I just tried a sip) are very, very strong-- I really don't think I'll be able to drink them. But anyway, the dancing was very fun.
Today we woke up for breakfast, packed up, checked out, and then met our families. The dad, daughter, and her boyfriend from my family came to pick me up. We then drove to their house, where her mom was preparing a lunch of empanadas-- meat and cheese-- and lasagna. Lunch is the biggest meal here, with dinner being much lighter. After lunch, the daughter, her boyfriend, and I went to a sanctuary, which was gorgeous, a park, and the university. I probably should've brought my camera, but I'm trying not to be so much of a tourist. I do apologize for not having any pictures up yet.
We came back and then Evan came over. We live only four houses apart-- what a coincidence! His house doesn't have Internet, which is really too bad, but all of the houses are supposed to have Internet, so hopefully he will get WiFi. Tonight we had dinner (which is sort of more of a snack here), I gave my family their gifts, and then we were all able to talk to my mom on Skype. It was very exciting for them to meet each other!
A note on my Spanish: So, obviously, I do not come close to understanding everything everyone says. There is a lot of "Como?" and generally Karen (the daughter in the family) has to slowly explain things for me. I am very grateful that she takes the time to explain everything to me in slowly spoken Spanish rather than just translating for me (she studies English at the university so this would be easy for her to do).
Basically, the family I am living with is amazing. They are all so eager to help me out, and I think my Spanish has gotten a bit better just today. Or maybe it's just that my inhibitions in speaking the language have gone down because I have to speak it (Karen is the only one here who speaks English). Anyway, I should get to sleep since I have my test at 9:00 tomorrow morning, and I have to take the bus there (although Karen is taking me on the bus the first day to show me where to go, which to take, and how much it should cost so that the gringa doesn't get ripped off). Hasta luego!
5 comments:
whoa that def sounds like a packed 24 hrs. the disco/bar sounds really fun - what kind of music did they play there? american stuff or was it more local kind of music? and wat kind of drinks did u try? and its fate that u and evan are 4 houses apart :)
and good luck on ur test - i'll send u good luck vibes in my sleep!
um they played some of both. mostly chilean but some american too. haha i don't really believe in fate. the test was fine. whatever group i'm in is the one i should be in.
that's great you get to live with a host family and practice your spanish! can't wait to hear about more adventures :)
and what is chilean disco music like?
um they call it "reggaeton" and i think it's sort of like techno (i don't think it's much like reggae). i don't know though- a lot of the beats are sort of similar to american music, but the lyrics are in spanish.
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