Friday, September 6

Today was finally Friday! Nothing especially interesting happened in school today, but after school I went to eat ice cream with Katie and a bunch of our friends from her class. The ice cream store is really close to school, and we can walk there. I think I’ll become a frequent customer.

The flavors were so different. They have manjar flavor, and another flavor called lucuma that I’d never heard of before. After we got our ice cream, a few of the girls had to go to ballet class, so I walked back to school with some friends and we sat in their car and talked for a while until my mom came to pick me up. Nancy and I went to a costume store in the middle of town to find me a traditional Chilean dress to wear for the fiesta next Friday. After we found one that fit me and that I liked, we went back to school to pick up Maxi and his friend. Then we went into the middle of town again to pick up my cousin Nacho, who was visiting us for the weekend from Santiago. Nacho and I are going to run a 10k on Saturday, so Nancy dropped us off in the middle of town to go get our numbers for the race. We walked to the tent where we got the numbers, and then instead of taking the bus we decided to just walk home. It was really nice to see Rancagua on foot, and I enjoyed talking to Nacho. He’s really friendly. When we got home, Maxi and his friend were preparing to make a barbeque and then watch the Chilean national soccer team play a game. We prepared the grill and started grilling the meat when it started raining. Maxi came outside with an umbrella and shielded the meat while it cooked. We brought a TV outside (under the roof) and watched the game while we waited for the meat. When it was ready we all had a feast (and they even cooked some chicken for me) and watched Chile beat Venezuela 3-0.

Halfway through the game my friend Cata came over and we watched together and helped Nancy bake pies. I talked to a bunch of my friends, and it seems like every single person in Chile was watching the game. They are literally crazy for soccer here—way crazier than we are for any sport in the US. I love the companionship that it brings. Like I can literally go up to anyone at school and say “Hey did you see the game?” and we can instantly start a conversation. After Cata left, it was like 12 and I had to get up early the next morning so I took a quick shower and went to sleep.