La gata, "Gata"

I didn't mention in the first blog, that Milena has a cat, named "Gata," which means they essentially named her cat or kitty. Funny. Gata decided she loves my room, so I have made a new friend very quickly. Last night, she waited for me to go upstairs to bed, then cried outside my closed door. She came in for a while and then begged to go out. Just like a cat, huh? In the middle of the night, she started meowing loudly again because she wanted into my room. She woke everyone up and Mile threw her outside. I fell asleep again quickly, to be woken up by a cat meowing INSIDE my room. Turns out, she had climbed a tree to a little rooftop outside my room and came inside my window. Talk about determination. It was hilarious.

Other, non-cat related notes-- I am really loving my life here. Life with Milena's family is very wonderful. I think my Spanish is already getting better, but I can't wait to start class tomorrow and have more formal instruction. The whole family went out after dinner on Friday, because "all Chilenos go out on the weekends" to a little shopping and dining area. We sat down for a drink- talked and laughed until well after midnight. My Spanish is definitely better after a glass or wine. I'm being educated on Chilean wines, like Carmenere (a French wine, that was destroyed in France by a plague after its arrival to Chile).
Yesterday I ran around with a couple of guys, Wayne (from Reno!) and Andres (living in Miami, but originally from Colombia) from the USAC program. We tried Fanschop, which is half beer half Fanta orange soda. It was... interesting. Later we tried a bunch of different ice creams at a little shop. The server was so nice when we were asking what everything was. I tried lucuma, which is a fruit that tastes strangle like coffee and chocolate, although online definitions say maple syrup and sweet potato. I settled on my favorite, sandia (watermelon) and Andres had lime and basil. Really interesting flavor. Wayne and I live one metro stop away from each other, so we decided to go home together, just to find out the subway was closed! Turns out there was a protest, so the whole family came to pick us up. They said it was their 2nd rescue mission of the day-- I'll tell you why. Hugo has a friend who is 24 and she lives at home. She dated a guy for while, then they broke up for several months and have finally gotten back together. They are a little embarrassed to tell people (especially her parents), so Mile and Hugo are the only ones who know. So, they went on vacation to Brazil but took separate flights so when her parents picked her up they wouldn't see her boyfriend. So Mile and Hugo had to pick him up and they were almost caught!! They kept calling it "Mission Impossible" and "Saving Private Ryan." Very funny. As a thank you, their friend is having us over to dinner tonight and invited Wayne too. He is making sushi (at home!!), pretty cool. :)
Dinner time (9 o'clock, btw)-- better run!!

Already at home

My room

I'm so very grateful to be here and living with Milena couldn't be a better experience. For those of you who don't know, I met Mile while she was doing an exchange in Reno last Jan-May. We became conversation partners and developed a close friendship, so when she asked me to live with her during my visit to Chile, I was thrilled!
Back tracking-- orientation was great, although no real new information for me. I'm super excited to work with the wonderful staff here: Lucho, Brenda and Melissa. After Mile and her husband Hugo picked me up, we had a great lunch (cooked by their maid!) of rice, chicken, salad and spanish tortilla. Also, fresh strawberry smoothie. Yummmm. Took a little nap while Mile went to meet with a client. Did I mention that she is a psychologist? It must be why she is so patient. Later I met the other house guest, Estaban, Hugo's nephew. He's in high school, but taking a summer math course at the university. He's very polite and has competed nationally in English, so when I am totally stuck on a word, he can help out. We had once which is the Chileno version of dinner. It's very light- usually just bread, maybe meat and cheese, occasionally salad, fruit and tea or coffee. Hugo and Mile took me on a tour of the city by night. It is quite clean and with very little traffic in the summer. Hugo is just what I expected of a husband of Milena's-- kind, smart and very funny. His English isn't bad either. Hugo has vacation for one more week, then starts his 1st year of medical residency.
Santiago really doesn't feel much different from the U.S. which is the most surprising thing. No culture shock yet, but my brain does hurt from all of the Spanish. Another mellow day tomorrow- campus tour and such with the USAC kids again. I'm making friends with some of them, but I've already had a girl ask me if it was weird because I'm SO MUCH older than all of them. Charming. Although I take comfort knowing that there are at least 2 people older than I. Ha! Take that, Miss IJustTurnedNineteen.

Hope everyone is having a good week. Post a comment so I know you are out there and click on the "See My Photos HERE!!" link to the right.

On the road again...

I can't believe that I'm in the Reno airport (listening to the ever present "Wheel of Fortune" slot machine) waiting to catch a plane for another 4 month adventure. I procrastinated packing until THIS MORNING, which definitely made my blood pressure spike.
Funny story-- when I was finishing up, putting the last few items in my carry on, something occurred to me. I didn't have my passport. Usually, I keep it the my jewelry box (shhhhh, don't tell), but since I moved and boxed everything up a couple of weeks ago, I didn't have a clue as to where it ended up. I was minutes away from leaving for the airport and I hadn't thought to pull out my passport! "I orient study abroad students for a LIVING." We found it, of course, but it was a little embarrassing.
Just the first of my many coming mishaps.