Estoy apprendiendo Español!

June 23. Ok... So I need to update you on the past few days... But for now I will just try to write a quick entry about today. I have now been here for a week and a day. It is going fast and slow all at the same time. My reading and understanding are improving so much. My English is suffering haha Cause I am not using it much. So my grammar is pretty bad, and sometimes I know the Spanish word before the English equivalent. Crazy right? That is my running joke with my friends. We are stuck inbetween two languages. I don´t feel like I know either extremely well right now. haha. So please excuse typos and grammar errors. It would be much easier to write this in Spanish, actually,which is also really weird. haha but then no one at home would understand. It has only been a little over a week. Today I had desayuno (breakfast) here at my new home. Toast, cheese, ham, y cafè. I like the cafè here, it is from a can, but it isn´t as awful as all the books say. In my culture class we learned about the two main cities I have been to in Chile. Viña del Mar and Valparaìso (Valpo). I live in Viña which is the turist capital, and my universidad is in Valpo. After classes I met with my intercambio (interexchange student from my universidad). His name is Josè and he is trying to work on his English. So it is perfect. He is leaving in a few weeks to go to London for an architecture internship. He took me to a restaurant called Sushi Home. My oldest Chilean brother Tomàs used to work at the same restaurant. Yes it is true, I had Sushi in Chile! A menu in Spanish for Japanese food. ¡Qué extraño! Really good though. I had my favorite a Unagi roll. We also ordered gyoza, but when José asked if I wanted to share some I didn´t understand his accent. So I didn´t know he was talking about the dumplings. haha so he tried to explain it like the Asian version of a taco or empanada haha. It was a helpful lession. After, I came home and watched Spanish Cartoons con mi hermano Lucas. We had a late dinner because my Chilean mom fell asleep after work.

Tonight we had pasta with red sauce, the most familiar dish I have had so far. I also had salad (lettuce con lemon juice). For Dessert, platano (banana) con miel (honey). mmm yummy. After dinner my mom and I talked about some Spanish grammar. The Imperfect and Preterite Tenses.... lol She told me about her past students. (Britney and Tomás). They both stayed for less time, about a month. She said that speak the best Spanish. I was flattered and thanked her. She tells me to be patient. It has only been a week. I know she is right but sometimes I just wish I could speak it better and fluently already. haha. I keep reminding myself that this language for people here is like English for me. They grew up learning it. However, my oldest Chilean brother is the most impressive because he knows French, Spanish and English. He speaks English really well too. She said that Tomás their past student never went out with friends. He always stayed at the house. Britney went out all the time and did very little witht the family. I don´t understan that. Some students in my program are like that too. I sometimes would rather stay at home than go out. She said I am a nice balance. haha Like I am part of the family. =)awwwww..... She says that she likes how I go out at night and how I meet the other students. She loves how I always come home for dinner and parts of the day. I love her she is amazing. I love you too mama!! lol I haven´t forgotten you. I wish you could all come meet them. I haven´t forgotten all my family and friends in the U.S. haha but Chile is amazing. Alright it is getting late here and I have class tomorrow. So night.... xoxo I shall write again soon. I have records and journal writings just gotta post them. LOVE!!!!!

June 16th Orientation Day at my University.

I had to take the train by myself to the university. In the morning my mom and I ate breakfast (desayuno) together. Pan toasted with butter, cheese and ham. I love the train it is quick easy and you get an amazing view of the ocean when you are speeding by. We got alot of things today. We got folders of information and maps of the cities. Apparently, PUCV is ranked 5th out of the 60 universities that they have in Chile. I think it is pretty interesting that the campus is spread out across Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. It is like some universities in the states. We had a tour of the casa central and the building where our campus would be for this trip. We saw our classrooms, the library and the computer labs we could use. We had to take an hour long test to see what level classes we should take. It was really hard. But to my surprise I tested into classes that were (avanzado) advanced. So that was exciting news. I am taking Conversacion y cultura chilena y gramàtica. After the orientation I went to Jumbo with is a huge store-mall near the university. I needed to buy some bottled water and body wash. I forgot soap haha. I went with Miriam and my friend Joel. Later a group of us (Miriam, Laura, Joel and I) went to explore the town Viña del mar with some of my newfound friends. I tried their white wine it was really yummy. We ordered some food and hung out at a local restaurant-bar. It was a long but fun day.

Wow... I am such a bad blogger... lol.=( sorry guys. My Arrival!

Sorry everyone... haha it has been a crazy these first few days. Also my host brother who is 18 is always on the computer. =P Ok so let´s see, on Sunday June 15 morning at 8am I finally arrived in Santiago, Chile. It took 2 flights, about 12 to 13 hours flying in total, and traveling to another state. It was a long day I can tell you that. haha Dad and I met up with this girl Tori who also happens to go to SDSU. We met at one of the study abroad orientations. Before we knew it we were saying our goodbyes to our parents. And we were off to Dallas Texas. We landed in the Dallas Fortworth International airport. Tori and I took advantage of our break between flights and grabbed a bite to eat. A delicious meal of cesear salad and chips with artichoke dip. At the gate we ran into Miriam who is another girl who came from SDSU too.

The flight was long a total of about 9 hours. While we were flying Tori noticed that there were two girls behind us talking about Viña del Mar and Valparaìso, both which are cities we knew. We knew that we would be living with our families in Viña del Mar and the university is in Vaparaìso. So we turned around mention our program named ISEP and we immediately found common ground. They were also students in the same program. Laura and Meredith. Laura is from Texas and Meredith is from Tennesee. We spent most of the flight talking about our thoughts, our excitement, and our worries. I was excited. During the flight there was some excitement a ¨code blue". Or at least that was what was said over the intercom. I don´t know exactly what happened but someone needed medical attention. So that was a little scary. But everyone was handled.

Finally... Chile was in sight. I felt so spoiled looking out the window and seeing the gorgeous Andes Mountains. I couldn´t believe it we were finally here! Every thing else went pretty smoothy. I paid for my tourist visa, went through customs and found my bags. (phew!they didn´t lose my baggage) haha. I found my driver with a sign with my name and three others. Laura was one of them. The other two were guys. One was name Joel and the other Jon. Joel is from San Jose State University. haha I found another California friend yay! Jon goes to school in Nebraska. We took the bus/van for a 1.5 hour drive to Viña del Mar.

I was the first to get dropped off at my house 347 Jackson. Viña del Mar, Chile. So everyone got to watch me meet my new family. My parents and my youngest brother. My mom is named Alicia and my papà is Gabriel. The youngest brother is named Lucas and he is adorable. So finally I knew the answer to my question-were all of my siblings boys or sisters or both. On my information sheet about my family it just said 4 hijos and that means children. So I have 4 host brothers and a girl (prima) cousin. Tomás is the oldest and almost exactly the same age as me (20- and he will be 21 in septiembre). Then it is Matias and he is 18. Next is Ignacio and he is 14 and his nickname he prefers is ¨Nacho". =) like one of Bobby´s friends. Finally, Lucas and he is 6. So I literally walked into my new house and I don´t know why maybe because of nerves, or being overwhelmed I swear I forgot all my Spanish at that moment. I think I must have said "Sí" a hundred times. All the boys were sleeping so I went upstairs to unpack and take a shower. The oldest Tomás is studying at a university in Santiago so I was going to be using his room. He comes home every weekend, but during the week he lives near school. Slowly the other 3 faces peeked in and introduced themselves. It is interesting they celebrate Father´s Day here too ¨Día de Papà´.¨ We needed some groceries so my new dad, Tomás and I went to el supermercado to buy Harina (flour) and huevos (eggs). We shared a car full of small talk. haha which Asian was I? Mi papá´wasn´t far off he guessed Japones. It is interesting here they tip the person who bags your groceries. Tomá´s really made feel at home because he speaks the most english. Dinner... So because it was Father´s day we had many appetizers. We sat around the living room table and ate mussels, salmon, and cheese with crackers. Chips and guacamole. I tried my first Pisco Sour too. Here the legal age is 18 so I was old enough to drink with the family. It was tasty but the alcohol content is strong haha. So of course I got full and then we all went to the dining room to sit down to a full dinner. A generous chicken breast portion and papas fritas (french fries) but they were sphere shaped like cheeto balls or something. I tried so hard to finish it but I just couldn´t. Everyone cleaned their plates and here I was with leftovers. After dinner I went with my mom to the train station so she could teach me how to get to the university. You need to buy a card and you put money on the card. The train takes me right near the school. About a 15 minute ride. Soccer or fútbol is so important here. It is like air they breathe. =) My brothers think American football is so boring in comparison. haha. I watched some games with Nacho y Matias and then I went to bed. I found myself writing in Spanish without realizing it until I had written a paragraph. My brain actually hurt at the end of the day haha. And writing in my native language became so much harder. This was my first day here and I already loved it.

Today is the Day!! Mi aventura Chilena.

Today I fly out of LAX at 3:05. I will then fly to Dallas's international airport. I have a little break and then it is on to Santiago Chile. I will get picked up there and take a 1hr and 30 mins drive to my host family's house in Viña del Mar. I am excited!!! =) Can't wait!

Chile is just around the corner...

Wow... it is so soon! I can't believe how soon it is til I leave the country. I am getting excited and crazed all at the same time. It has been chaotic buying everything and getting everything organized. I sent in my form last week about my host family. It was surprisingly thorough, almost like a roommate application. =P I requested a family that doesn't have smokers, has younger children, and one that doesn't speak much English. Hopefully, this way my Spanish skills will improve. I am reading up about Chile and the Culture. I find it all very interesting. I have been getting some practice with my written Spanish though, because one of the coordinators only writes to me in Spanish. Well it is only a matter of days til I will be updating this from Chile =P Until then, these updates will be from the states...