It's Going

Yesterday we left Santiago, saying goodbby to everyone was nice.  The trip was great and the family was amazing.  It turns out that my cousin's, Catalina, boyfriend (I almost wrote bolola, boyfriend in Chileano, because I am thinking in Spanish a bit), is back from the US and was there last year in Topeka.  It was arelief to hear some English again.  On the drive back I watched the sunset over the Andes.  the smog of the city made it beautiful, change the colors and making the whole sky turn orange, red, yellow, ect.  That was about the only good part of the five hour drive back.  I had some fun here and there for a bit with the family, but with six people in a five seat car, it was cramped, very cramped.  Not only that, but the door isn't properly sealed and cold air was blasting my arm, even with my sweatshirt blocking it.  With those two obstacles and a back that was screaming to be stretched I couldn't sleep whatsoever.

We got back and I did a few things and dropped out to sleep.  But, just like the car, my window leaks cold air.  Luckily I have a pluthera of blankets on my bed.

The day began as a bust, the policia de international worked and I got a few things there, but the post office people weren't working.  This meant that I couldn't get my ID card.  They were just sitting behind their desks, not doing anything, wasting time.  Also, I couldn't withdraw the money for my trip to the south of Chile with Rotary.  But that is all fixed now and I can do both of those things tomorrow. 

I met up with two other Rotary students, both from Denmark and we went to the gym.  The gym was pretty shoddy but, it has pretty much everything I need.  The guys at the gym were impressed by how much I could lift and made me flex a few different things for them, kind of awkward. 

With the guy from Demark, Alex, I am going to play rugby.  I chose this instead of soccer because I've never done it before, Alex is doing it too, and I might join a college club when I get back.  I have to pay for it though, and another bad thing about rugby is that on the first day the players must initiate us.  This includes taking out pants, putting them on our head, giving us a wedgie, rubbing out face in the dirt, and who know what else.  I'll post an update on that when it happens.  We start on Sunday, Alex was going to start on Wednesday but wanted me to be there with him for the initiation and we just have to work things out with my parents here and everything will be good. 

I am starting to really like it here. The city is rundown, but it is really interesting, and it is a city.  I only walked a few blocks but I already know I am going to love living in the city.  Walking and looking is great and everything is pretty close.  The only problem is that my parents seem pretty strict with going out.  Everyone I know is allowed to go out as long as they want on the weekend, I however, have to be in by one, maybe two.  It is pretty late, but I know I am going to miss out on a lot with my friends in the city and the night life.  I consider myself a pretty independent person when I want to be and their restrictions are going to be hard for me.  I had been planning on asking for another family part way through the year, but now I think that I will work a bit harder for it.

My Spanish, Castellano in South America, and sometimes referred to as Chileano in Chile because they have so many different words and saying, is coming along very good.  My Danish friends said that I speak as good, if not better than them and I've only been here for 6 days, or something like that, I have already lost tract over everything, while they have been here for 3 weeks.  I'm feeling good about just about everything, except my restictions.

A couple things I forgot about the other day are:

1. The bread.  There is fresh bread every day and I love it.  The bread is deliecious and I've always wanted a bakery near me in the US and there never has been, this is going to be great.

2. My school.  It is a Catholic school.  If you know me, it's going to be hard.  There are uniforms (I'll put up a picture at some time when I get one and figure out how to.   I can't have and earring, and my hair has to be above my eyes.  Alex, the Danish boy, said that at his school they don;t really care because he is foreign, but who knows at my school. 

Thats about all here.  I am fitting into the city pretty well and I really like my friends from Denmark.  I start school tomorrow and hopefully make some Chilean friends.