Friday, September 20

Today we woke up super late after staying out late the night before. We ate breakfast, and I took a shower. The water constantly switched from burning hot to freezing cold; it was not a pleasant experience and I decided I hate showers in the country. Almost immediately after that, we ate lunch, and then we went to a rodeo that was nearby.

When we arrived, the whole town was there. We watched little kids try to tackle a pig, barrel races, bull riding, and people trying to lasso horses. It was entertaining, but also kind of brutal on the animals. Then, the mayor of the town, who was sitting on a horse in the center of the ring, told everyone that he had a special announcement. He told the whole crowd of probably eight hundred people that “we have someone from the US here with us today named Alexandra B-R-Y-A-N-T (he spelled out my name because I guess he couldn’t pronounce it)”. Then he asked where I was and I timidly waved. He rode over and started talking to me in front of everyone. I didn’t understand everything, but I did understand when he said “wow the girls are really hot in the US” and “do you want to marry me?”. I was very uncomfortable first of all because I wasn’t sure I understood and second of all because I had absolutely no way to respond. I just awkwardly smiled and laughed. He invited me to come down and ride a horse in the corral, but I declined because I was already embarrassed enough. Then, the rodeo ended and a bunch of Jesus’s friends came over to say hi to her and to meet me. They were all super nice and they invited us to a party on Saturday night. While we were walking out, this cowboy asked me if I wanted to get on his horse and take a picture, so I did it.

Then, we went back to the house, and Jesus, Anais, and I watched a movie, and I played cards with my younger cousins.

Later, we went into the kitchen (which is actually an outdoor oven and fire pit covered by a roof) and helped make sopaipillas, which are a traditional Chilean food. Then Jesus’s friends Miguel and Jorge came over to hang out with Maxi, Seyla, Jesus, and I, and we sat around and talked and laughed until 5 in the morning. I tried to teach them phrases in English and they tried to teach me bad words in Spanish and I had a great time. Talking with all of them was probably the most fun I had the whole trip.