Santiago dia 2

Today was much better than the last few.  Another family breakfast and more people to meet with more names than I remember. I don´t even know who´s house I am staying in. It doesn´t really matter, until I have to figure out who to give the gift I brought with me to.

I went to the super market with my cousin, who is great, and I already lost my Spanish dictionary.  Luckily I got a new one when I was in the center of Santiago.  We also took my other cousin to the airport and said goodbye.  I sort of freaked out when she left because I started thinking about home and everything there, it was like living leaving all over again. I feel much better now and as my cousin said, she´ll be back, just like me. 

I went to the center of Santiago and saw all sorts of things like the first post office, their version of Wall Street, and Plaza de Armas, which was beautiful, interesting, and extremely busy. I wanted to buy a ton of stuff, but I´ll do that later.  The Catholic Church in the Plaza was beautiful, but similar to all the others I have visited.  I could spend my year in Santiago easily, there is so much to do here, and I could do it all twice.  Even with all the pollution that makes it hard to see even 2 miles, it would be worth it.  When I came out of the super market with my cousin, I looked up and saw mountains that were no their the day before, only two miles away because of the smog. 

I´ve been hanging out with the family around the house, playing videogames with my cousins and brother, helping my cousin with her English class, and teaching another cousin to play Starcraft. It´s been really busy and really fun all day.  But I still miss everyone and most stuff in the US

Now, less with the events of the day, and more about general things is Chile and how I am feeling.

1. I have to wear my shoes all the time, and if you know me, you know that I´m having issue with it.  My feet are sore, sweaty, and in pain.  I just want freedom for my feet. I need slippers, it´s rude to not wear shoes inside.

2. I can´t stretch at the dinner table but, I can blow my nose all I want.  How am I supposed to eat in happiness if I can´t stretch my stomach?

3. I have started thinking in Spanish a bit. Words here and there are taking over.  Estados Unidos-USA, o-or, mi/s amigo/a/s, my friend/s, and some others, it´s pretty cool.

4. My dictionary is my lifeline and my family thinks it´s funny.  Every time I pull it out, they snicker at me.

5. I still haven´t really settled down in my home.  That means it doesn´t feel like I´m on an exchange yet.  I am just visiting another county and staying in someone´s house. Hopefully that will change when I get to my home in Los Angeles.

6. I like all my family.  Cousins, uncles, parents, and brother.  My cousin and I are feeling a lot of the same things.  Her boyfriend left for the US a few weeks ago, and now here cousin/best friend has left her too.  She is sad and feeling pretty lonely and we have been bonding a lot.  I wish that she live close than the 5 hour drive to Santiago.

7. I´m not sure when I am being rude or not, it´s hard deciding whether I can do something or not.

There are some other things that I´ll think of later, but for now this is pretty long and I should get going, too much time on the computer. I hope Los Angeles is close to as great Santiago is, but from what I saw and was told by some of the people there, it isn´t.  When I get back I have tons to do in prepartation for school and my exchange, everything from my Chilean ID card taht registers me with the government to buying black shoes for my school uniform.  It is going to by another busy few days even when I get back to Los Angeles. Hopefully I can get some time to rest in the meantime.