Saturday, November 30, 2013

College Essay :)

So this isn't a certain day, but I always talk about this great college essay I'm working on, and I figured I would share it would you all here because I'm actually really proud of how it turned out! Enjoy!


Studying abroad in another country is like stepping into a cold shower. It is shocking, uncomfortable, and incredibly different, but it forces you to adapt. During my year in Chile, I am maturing, learning more than I ever thought possible in one year, and becoming independent. I don’t know if I’ve reached adulthood yet, but this year is pushing me a lot closer.

I was first introduced to the idea of study abroad through a book called The Global Student, which is a collection of testimonies from former exchange students about how the experience completely transformed the course of their lives. The idea immediately consumed me. I am bold, and am constantly searching for ways to take advantage of every opportunity I am presented with. I was ready to get out of my perfect bubble of suburbia, to get off the beaten track, and to spend my senior year learning things that I could never learn in a classroom, or even in the US. I’ve never been comfortable with sitting back and doing what everyone else is doing. My resolve was tested time and time again during the process of planning my trip. My friends doubted that I would follow through with such a drastic decision, and they failed to support me, but I pushed through on my own. My school counselors said it would be nearly impossible to handle all the classes I would need to graduate a year early on top of my already busy schedule, but I stayed cool under pressure and finished high school in three years with straight As. I also faced inner challenges. I had to come to terms with the fact that I would be alone and isolated. Sure people would care about me, but I would be leaving everyone who truly loves me behind in California. I knew that an abundance of embarrassing moments awaited me. My confidence would have to be intrinsic instead of being verified by my achievements, because it was inevitable that there would be many more failures than successes living in a foreign country with foreign customs and language. I would have to prepare myself to watch my friends grow closer to each other and close the gap where I used to be. After the initial excitement wore off, the magnitude of what I was planning to do really set in, but I never looked back.

                I have been in Chile now for a little over two months, and I have never been so sure that I made the right decision about anything before. Obviously there have been failures, tears, and a never ending supply of embarrassing and hilarious stories to write in my blog, but I have already been permanently changed for the better. I’ve learned how to be my own person, and am now comfortable even when I am outside my comfort zone. I know that I can choose whichever path I want, and I will be successful even if I have to walk it alone. I have developed a more well-rounded vision of the world, and also of how the world views the United States. Absorbing the political and cultural perspectives of my family and friends here has completely opened my mind to new ways of thinking and new ideas of what’s acceptable in a society and what isn’t. I have also become an ambassador to the people here, teaching them more about US culture and doing my best to break the ugly stereotypes. I know I still have a lot more learning to do in the eight months of my exchange that remain. By the time I return to the US, the person I am now will be unrecognizable to me. My dad once told me that through studying books, a person can only expand their knowledge in two dimensions. To learn and grow three dimensionally, a person has only one option—travel. 

Friday, November 29


Although I had gone to bed around 1 the night before (which is early for here), I was really tired in the morning, and I was actually still sleeping when my friends Chichi and Ale burst into my room and woke me up to teach them how to make American style pancakes. I
took a quick shower to wake me up, and then we talked for a while before we started cooking. We grilled pancakes for like 3 hours because each time one was ready, someone from my family would ask for it, or we would eat it, and there seemed to never be enough chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup to go around.
After a while, we just sat down at the table and ate and talked for a while. I really like these girls, and I think they’re a lot like I am (or like  I was in the US because honestly  I don’t know how  I am now), which I can’t say about too many people here. After they left, I walked to the Jumbo and shopped for some necessities for my trip to the south tomorrow (like jeans and a warm scarf). Then I came home and helped Sra Adela get all the Christmas decorations out of the attic. Later, I took a micro over to the movie theater and saw Catching Fire with my friend Camilla.
Being with Camilla is kind of stressful because she definitely doesn’t try to talk slower or use easier words to make me understand. I always have to be on my toes to understand her, but I kind of like it because I know it makes my Spanish better. She’s also super sweet (she doesn’t go to my school but she’s like best friends with my friend Lila), and I hope I can see a lot more of her this summer. After the movie, we walked outside and I saw a girl I knew. We talked for a while, and then I saw a couple that I know walk by and we talked for a while too. It was kind of cool to see all these people who are so familiar to me now whom I didn’t even know existed 4 months ago. Camilla dropped me off at home, and nobody else was in the house, the gate was locked, and my cell had run out of battery, so I had no choice but to climb over the pointy and dangerous gate to get into the house. Once I did that without killing myself, I sat in my room and listened to music for a while before talking to Jose over Skype for like 2 hours. Then I went to sleep after a day well spent.

Thursday, November 28


We woke up around 11 today after having gotten a horrible sleep the night before. We ate breakfast slowly and then I went and talked to Maxi and Maria Jesus for a while because I felt bad for leaving them and only talking to my friends in English. After a while, we started cooking, and everyone worked really hard for a while. It was a little difficult to plan everything and to dance around Sra Adela who was also cooking in the kitchen and wasn’t very accommodating to our needs. After a few hours, we walked over to the jumbo to buy chicken and a few other last minute necessities. Then we came home and continued cooking. Later on, our friends Mery and Pitu came over to help. We all finished up the cooking and then while the cornbread and sweet potato soufflĂ© were cooking, we went outside and put our feet in the pool and talked for a while. Then we decided everything was ready and we put all the great food we had cooked out on the table and ate a Thanksgiving dinner.
We had chicken, cornbread, sweet potato soufflĂ©, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (in the Lider there were like 2 cans of Wal-Mart cranberry sauce and I’m pretty sure these were the only 2 cans that existed in all of Chile), salad with Ranch dressing, stir fried vegetables, apple pie (we looked for pumpkin for like an hour and came the definite conclusion that it doesn’t exist here), pumpkin spice cookies with homemade cheesecake frosting (Katie’s mom sent her the mix from the US), M&M cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, Doritos, and coca cola. Overall it was a very American meal. Before we ate, we each went around the table and said what we were Thankful for. We ate until we couldn’t eat anymore and then Katie and I cleared the plates and brought out colorful paper and taught everyone how to make hand turkeys.
Sure we kinda felt like 5 year olds, but we all spent a good hour laughing and talking and making the most perfect hand turkeys ever created. After a while, everyone left, and I went to Skype with my family. My parents are in Pennsylvania right now visiting with my aunt and grandma, and so for the first time in a long time, I got to talk to my extended family. I’ve explained before about how whenever we go anywhere in Chile, all Cristobal’s family asks about is him and how he’s doing and when can they talk to him on Skype. I always felt very jealous and very forgotten because I don’t have a tight and loving family like he does and I didn’t feel like anyone was missing me the way the people here were missing him. However, talking to my family today was a special treat. It made me feel connected to them, and if made me feel like they care about me. Never before have  I thought family was super important, but coming to Chile has taught me how great a close family can be, and when I get back to the states I am going to work to foment that bond in my own family. After we hung up, I went and hung out a little while with Maria Jesus. We had a super deep conversation, and I really felt nice having someone like her that I could tell anything to without fear of judgment, she’s a great cousin and I’m lucky to be a part of her family. Around 11, my dad came home from work, and I heated up the food again and served Thanksgiving #2 to my family (plus my grandparents and Jesus).
Before we started eating, I told them all what Thanksgiving was about, and I tried to impart to them how important a part of my culture it was. They have family get together every weekend, but for us, Thanksgiving is one of the few times where we all get together to share time as a family. Then we all went around the table and said what we were thankful for. They all were thankful for having me in their lives, and seeing a bunch of Chileans celebrating an American holiday together just because I was there almost made me cry it was such a cool feeling. Then we all dug in, and they got to try some good old American food. I’m not sure they liked it very much, but they tried everything and were super polite about it. At first when I told them about Thanksgiving and they told me they were busy all day and would have to have dinner at 11 I felt sort of like they didn’t care or even want to learn about my culture, and I think that was partly true, but they did end up coming together for me in the end, and for that I feel truly blessed.

Wednesday, November 27


Today was my official last day of school and it was an absolutely perfect end. During first period, I got called out of class and into the principal’s office. My mom had complained yesterday that I am not on the roll sheet, I don’t get grades, and even if  I do take tests (which I am not obligated to) I don’t get grades. The principal told me that starting next year he would make sure  I got grades on all my tests and that  I was treated more like a normal student. He also told me how shocked he was by how dedicated I was to working and learning Spanish. Although I’m not completely sure it’s a good thing to no longer have the opportunity to ditch class or not take a test, I was really pleased that he recognized my hard work and that I really am here to learn and not just to goof off and not speak Spanish. During PE, we had this giant party with a ton of food and two people actually brought portable grills to make hamburgers. I knew the Chileans were crazy about their asados but making them during class was just a little crazy. I admire their dedication though. 
During the rest of school we basically just talked the whole time. I talked to all my friends and listened to their conversations and couldn’t help thinking about how far I’ve come in the last 4 months! After school, I went home and worked on college apps for a while, and then hung out with Maxi and Maria Jesus until Katie and Antonia came over. We walked to the Lider and started buying the long list of food we needed to cook a genuine Thanksgiving dinner. We dropped off our purchases at home and then walked to the Jumbo to finish the shopping. When we got home, Katie cooked us mac and cheese for dinner, and then Daniel came over. We sat around the kitchen table and talked (in Spanish when my family was with us and English when they weren’t) and make Oreo bonbons, and ate ice cream. Around 1, Cristobal called the family and needed my help to fill out the forms for his Rotary trip because they were in English and I was the only one who understood enough.  I also got to talk to his second host family (he switched on Tuesday), and they are the sweetest people ever. After we hung up, I found Daniel, Antonia, and Katie talking in my room. We all sat on the bed and ate chips and talked about everything under the sun.
They are probably my best friends here and I love them because even though we haven’t known each other very long and we all come from such different places, we can talk about everything and we always have fun together.
Daniel and Antonia are both leaving in a few months, so we made an awesome bucket list of stuff we have to do together before they leave. I think we are going to make the next few months absolutely unforgettable. Around 4:30 Daniel went out into the living room to go to sleep and Katie, Antonia, and I slept sandwiched together in my bed. I was in the middle and it was pretty hard to get a good night’s sleep there.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Tuesday, November 26


Today at school was a good day. Now they’re just doing review which basically means they’re doing nothing so we just talk the whole class period. After school, I walked over to Instituto O’Higgins and met up with Katie. We sat outside and drank soda and talked for like an hour and a half and then went into the school to teach an English class. There was awkwardly no one waiting for the class and Katie was really confused until she realized that the class was supposed to start at 4 and not 4:30 and that everyone had already left. There was only one girl left, and so we apologized and then taught the class to just her and her friend. We basically just had a conversation with them in a mix of English and Spanish, but it was still fun. Then a few of Katie’s friends came over and sat with us and eventually my friend Jose came over too. We all just ended up switching to Spanish and talking and joking around for a while. I love Katie’s friends and they are really hilarious! Around 5:30, I walked into the center and took a micro home. It was actually the first time I’d taken a micro alone, even though I’ve been in them about a million times. When I got home, my cousin Maria Jesus was there, and so I talked to her and Maxi for a really long time. Then we sat down to dinner with my grandparents who had been staying with us like a week, and we had a super long conversation about the trip to the South that I’m leaving for on Saturday. I really liked talking to Maxi and it was one of those conversations where I actually feel close to him. Then Maria Jesus and I walked to the Jumbo to buy peanut butter because I wanted to make peanut butter cookies for my class because tomorrow is my last day of school. We got the peanut butter and walked back and then made the cookies. After completely burning the first batch to a blackened crisp that stunk up the whole house because I was in the shower, I became more vigilant and made the two other batches really well. Then my grandma taught us how to make apple pie. By that time it was really late, and so I quickly dried my hair and went to sleep.

Monday, November 25


Today I basically felt like death when I had to wake up for school. I really need to get more sleep. Anyway, last Friday was basically the last day of classes and this week is just review for the tests (which I’m not going to take), so Katie, Daniel, and Antonia aren’t coming to school anymore. I decided to just go to hang out with friends. It was an ok day at school but I was so tired that I didn’t have to energy I wanted to. After school, I worked on my blog for a little while and talked to the people who were still in my house from the night before. Then Daniel came over around 5 and we hung out for a while before walking over to the Jumbo and meeting up with Antonia. We tried to take a collectivo to the movie theater, but we accidentally got in one going me the exact opposite direction so we had to get out and take another one. We finally got there and met up with Katie and then went to Papa John’s to eat a large pizza and garlic sticks. Then we went and saw Catching Fire. It was an absolutely fantastic movie! I absolutely loved it and I want to see it again! During the movie my mom sent me a text saying that Eric had the car and so she wouldn’t be able to pick me up. After the movie when we went outside, Antonia found out she would have to take a micro to the Jumbo to get home, Daniel would have to walk like 15 minutes to another grocery store to get picked up, and Katie would have to wait at the movies like 20 more minutes. This all happened at like 10 on a school night. We just had to laugh at the irresponsibility of our Chilean parents. Antonia and I went together because we were both going to the Jumbo. We waited on the side of the street trying to hail a collectivo in the dark, but when we asked a micro driver which collectivo to take, he said collectivo that go to the jumbo don’t run by the theater at that time of night. He was super nice though and he told us we could get in the micro without paying and he would tell us where to get off the get a collectivo. We did that and finally ended up making it to the Jumbo. When I got back to the house around 10:30, my mom apologized and I just said it was fine and it actually pretty cool that I was able to completely find my way back through the city using public transportation in Spanish. I took a quick shower and went to sleep as soon as possible.

Sunday, November 24


Today I woke up super late and then showered (another cold one) and got ready. I ate breakfast, helped fold up the chairs and tablecloths from the night before, and then ate lunch (but I didn’t really eat because I had eaten breakfast like an hour before). Then Nicole, Caro, and I went over to the swing set outside and sat in the sun and talked for like 2 hours. They are so super great and really want to make me feel welcome. They seemed like they really cared about everything I had to say and all my stories from the US. They just kept asking me things and I answered them all. Then Maxi and Felipe came over and we all talked a bunch. I have such a great time with them and we always laugh so much. I hope I get to go back to the country with them (yes I’m willing to endure the gross bug bites and cold showers) in the summer because they’re really great. I was sad when I had to say goodbye to all of them, and then we got on the road back to Santiago to drop off Caro and her mom. I was pretty tired by the time we got to Santiago and I just wanted to go home and sleep, but then my parents decided to go visit some old friend who lived nearby. We were there for about an hour and didn’t leave until 9:30. I slept in the car on the way back to Rancagua. We got back to the house around 11 and were greeted with a big surprise. Like 10 family members were there waiting to greet us because they had been in Rancagua for the baptism of my cousin that we hadn’t been able to go to that weekend. I was so dead tired, but it was nice to see some friends (Javiera and Pedro) that I hadn’t seen since I went to the countryside in September. They told us all about the baptism and we looked at pictures while we ate some pan de Pascua (typical Chilean Christmas cake that my mom makes like every night now). I was pretty pissed off that they were staying so late and very confused as to why they hadn’t left yet because it was a school night for all of us. Around 1, I couldn’t handle it anymore and I excused myself to go to sleep. Javiera came into my room about an hour later and slept with me because it was way too late for them to drive two hours back to their house in Talca but  I barely even noticed because I was so dead tired.

Saturday, November 23


Today Caro and I woke up around 10 and then stayed in our room talking for like an hour. Then I went and took a shower (there was no hot water so I showered with cold—another reason I’m not too fond of the countryside). When I was ready I went out and ate breakfast and then helped Caro Eva and Nicole set up chairs and tables outside for the party. Then I went in and helped set the table and get everything ready for the huge family lunch with 25 people again. After lunch, Tamara, who is 11, invited me over to her grandparents house (they live like a 1 minute walk from the house we were staying at) to see something (I didn’t really understand what), so I agreed.














 
 
 
When we got there, all of the other little kids were there, passing out candy to a bunch of old people seated in the garden. It turns out her grandparents were holding an annual party for the people who lived in an old folks home nearby. I greeted the old people and gave them some candy, and then a mariachi singer came out and started entertaining them. Tamara’s grandma kept asking me to go ask the grandpas to dance, so finally I decided what the heck and asked one to dance. After that song, I had to individually dance with each grandpa there (while everyone watched) and then the mariachi singer asked to dance with me too.
After like 10 dances, I escaped to the kitchen where Tamara’s grandma put me to work making sandwiches for the old people. We served them and attended them, and then it came time to sing happy birthday. We all sang, and then they gave me the mic and told me to sing it in English. I had to awkwardly sing the whole song into the microphone completely by myself. It was uncomfortable and I felt vaguely like Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday Mr. President. After that, Tamara’s grandpa dressed up like Santa Claus and handed out presents to the old people. By that time it was pretty late and I was worried that the birthday party was starting down the road, so I excused myself and the little kids and we all went back. When we got back the patio was all beautifully decorated for the party and everyone was preparing the food (70 people were invited so we were basically cooking for an army and obviously they’re Chilean so they cook everything and don’t buy anything premade). I worked on the appetizers, which were little pieces of bread with different stuff on top.
We made like 400 of them, and by the end of the night they were all gone. After I finished that, I changed into jeans and then went with all the big kids to a nearby field to play baseball. Felipe plays baseball and I told him that I really like it too, and so we threw the ball around for a while while trying not to get eaten by flies and mosquitoes that were everywhere in that field (the next day I had like 10 super red swollen and disgusting bug bites that still haven’t gone away). Then we went back to the house and met more people as they showed up. We stood in the patio and talked for a while, and then we all sat down to have dinner and then sing happy birthday.
Then, the dancing started. Felipe invited me to dance and he tried to teach me how to dance Merengue and Bachata. I was the only person there who didn’t already know how, but he was a really good dancer and actually a pretty good teacher so I had fun dancing with him. After a while all the kids went inside and talked for a while, and then went back outside to dance some more because they had put on music with a better beat. I was expecting all the kids to be great dancers with great rhythm because I mean they’re Chilean, but they were all really shy and embarrassed to dance, and Felipe and I were the only ones who were actually into it. After a while Felipe asked me if I wanted to learn how to dance reggaeton. I said why not so he put on a reggaeton song and we started dancing together. Reggaeton by nature is a pretty sexy dance, and so obviously we had to get close, but we kept it PG. Even so, I noticed after a few minutes that all the adults had stopped dancing and we were the only ones left on the floor and everyone was looking at us. It was really awkward but I still wasn’t sure if it was socially acceptable because Felipe seemed to act like it was perfectly normal. After 2 songs, we stopped and went to sit with the other kids and talk some more. After a while we all got bored and tired and went upstairs to watch a movie. We couldn’t agree on a movie, and after arguing for like an hour, we finally started watching YouTube videos of this really hilarious Chilean dude who is kind of like Jenna Marbles in Spanish. It’s called Hola Soy German I recommend it. Around 5 in the morning I was so tired I could barely open my eyes, so I excused myself and went to sleep.

Friday, November 22


Today was actually a really good day. I feel like my Spanish has improved to the point where I understand almost everything people say when they talk in a group. At school we took a partner test in Physics, and while I did the test my partner took pictures of my work and sent it to the class group so they could all cheat off of me. I felt really proud! After school I went home and packed up my stuff because we were spending the weekend at a family friend’s birthday party in Mellipilla, which is countryside kind of on the side of Santiago. We packed up and it took forever to get out of the house like it always does. Another two cousins are getting baptized this weekend, and although I don’t know them well I wrote each of them cards and put in postcards from California and one of my USA pins for each of them. We got on the road but we were all really hungry, so we stopped at the gas station to get sandwiched and empanadas. Then we drove up to Santiago to pick up our family friends who are also going to the birthday party. I was super excited to spend some more time with Carolina (caro) who is 14 but acts a lot older and is like literally the most welcoming person on the planet. We talked for a while and when we finally got to the big country house in Mellipilla and met like 20 people already there she went around and introduced me to all the new faces. They all immediately crowded around me and asked me a million questions and made me feel really loved and at home. We sat down at this huge long table and ate dinner together all 25 of us! There were like 5 young girls Monse’s age who absolutely adored me, and then there were the big kids—Maxi, me, Caro, Nacho (17), Eva (14), Felipe (18), Sebastian (22), and Nicole (20).
They were all super nice and we stood outside in the patio while the adults started setting up for the birthday party that would happen the next night and talked for like3 hours. By then it was 3 am and I was dead tired, so Caro and I went to our room and went to sleep.

Thursday, November 21


Today we woke up around 1 after going to sleep at 6 in the morning. We all debriefed from the party the night before while we showered, got ready, and made breakfast (college style—the milk, cheese, eggs, and ham in the fridge was all spoiled so we ate toast with avocado and drank coke). Then we packed up and Vicente drove us to Starbucks, which we were all craving desperately. We ordered, laughed about how badly they messed up the spelling of each of our names, and then drank our coffee slowly while we talked and sat outside.
After we all finished, we got in the car to drive back to Rancagua. It was the first time since I’ve been here that I’ve been in the car just with young people and it was the best feeling in the world to be able to roll down the windows, blast the music, sing at the top of my lungs, and feel completely free and utterly happy. That was one of my favorite things to do in the US and one of the things I miss most is that amazing feeling of freedom and joy. Anyway, we got back to Rancagua and they dropped me off at my house. I talked to Sra Adela for a while, and then went for a run, showered, ate dinner, and went to sleep early because I was still tired from the crazy night before.

Wednesday, November 20


Today at school was pretty boring but still a good day. After school I met up with Jose and we talked for a little while. Then he dropped me off at home and I packed really fast for the dance in Santiago that night and my dad dropped me off at the bus terminal. I met up with Katie and Sally there and we got on a bus. On the way there Katie finally told us a definite plan of what we were doing that night. We were going to the end of the year gala for the engineering department of the Universidad Catolica, which is like the best university in Chile. Katie’s host brother had invited her and told her she could invite friends. After the gala we would be sleeping over at his apartment and then he would drive us home to Rancagua on Thursday. When we got to Santiago we had to take the metro for a long way. On the metro I saw a guy from my school that I had met at a party one time, so we went over and talked with him. When we got off the metro Katie’s brother Vicente was waiting for us.
Vicente went on an exchange to the US the year before, so he speaks literally perfect English, and so we spoke in English. We went to a nearby mall and had a sushi dinner, and then we went to his apartment to change clothes and put on makeup. We had about 20 minutes to get ready, so it was kind of a whirlwind, but we managed, and when Vicente’s friends came to pick us up we were ready. We went to this pre party at another guy’s house, and when we got there there were like 15 other people there. We greeted everyone, but it was super awkward and Katie, Sally, and I just kind of stood there talking to each other in English because we didn’t know anyone, we were 3 of 5 girls there, and we were the only ones not in college. After a while though I decided to just go for it and I went up to the 2 other girls there and struck up a conversation. Pretty soon other guys starting drifting over to talk to us. I think once we made ourselves more approachable by talking to them, they really wanted to get to know us too. We bonded in the bus to the party while they all tried to talk to us in English while teaching us bad words in Spanish. It was a great time and they were all absolutely hilarious.
When we got to the party, Vicente introduced us to some of his friends, and we talked to them for a while. Everyone was absolutely fantastically nice, even if I couldn’t really hear them over the music. It was cool to know that these are some of the smartest people in Chile who go to the best university there is but they still know how to have a great time at a party. After a while we went over to the dance floor to dance. I danced with one of Vicente’s friends for a while, and then I got tired so I danced with Katie and Sally.
Then Katie and I kind of lost Sally and started dancing with these two really cute guys. Mine was named Milo and he was super sweet and funny. We spent the rest of the night with them dancing and having a great time. We all had to meet back up at the bus at 4:30 in the morning, so at like 4 we said goodbye t the guys and went looking for Sally. We eventually found her and went to get our coats from the coat check and go.
We got on the bus and all of Vicente’s friends were super drunk and Katie and Sally were super tired. I really wasn’t that tired (although my feet hurt like hell from dancing for so long in these tiny heels I had on) because I was still so amped up from the party, so I had a great time exchanging more curse word laden phrases with drunk Chileans. The bus ride took really long because the bus had to drop each person off at their house, so we didn’t get back to Vicente’s apartment until 6! The alarm on my phone that wakes me up for school went off before I fell asleep. It was exhausting, but it was one of the best nights I’ve had here and I loved spending it with such great people. Every time I meet new people here it renews my belief that almost all Chileans are just plain really nice (oh and that almost all Chilean boys are super flirts).

Tuesday, November 19


School today was nothing super exciting. After school I walked over to Instituto O’Higgins and met up with Katie (the one who doesn’t go to my school). We walked around in the center for a while and bought a few things we needed for the dance tomorrow night. Then we went back to her school, bought sodas, and sat outside and talked for a while. I get along really well with Katie because she’s super positive and sweet, but also realistic and willing to tell the truth about the hard stuff. Anyway, around 6 her mom came to pick her up and I walked back to my house because I didn’t feel like waiting for a micro. When I got home, I went for a run, showered, and ate dinner with my family. I Skyped with Kathryn for a while. I ended up going to sleep late even though I'd really have no idea why or what I was doing.

Monday, November 18


Today I had to wake up early for school. I was excited because I thought it was the last week of school, but turns out we have half a week more after this so whatever. When I got to school everyone was buzzing about the election because some people in my class are 18 and so they can vote. I told them I went into the booth and “voted” with my mom and when I told them whom I voted before they all were really shocked and laughed a lot and said I was the only socialist from the US that they’d ever met. During the day nothing super interesting happened, but then my mom came to pick me up at lunch because Maxi and my two exchange friends Katie (not the same Katie, this one goes to a different school) and Sally. She dropped us off at the bus terminal and we took a bus up to Santiago. We then took the metro to Costanera Center (I was the only one who had been before and the only one confident navigating the metro and it made me feel really proud of how far I’d come since being completely new and foreign here. When we got to Costanera, Katie, Sally, and I went to look at dresses in H&M because we were going to a formal party on Wednesday night. Maxi had come with us to look for cell phone cases for his new iPhone 5s, so he left us. I actually felt really bad for him today because he came to the mall not only with a bunch of girls, but with a bunch of girls who speak English. He was really nice about it and didn’t complain or rush us, but I still apologized to him a lot after. Anyway, we shopped in H&M for about two hours and tried on like millions of things until we each found a dress that we liked. Then we walked around the mall and shopped a little more before meeting up with Maxi to help him choose his perfect case. Then we all went over to this ice cream shop called Emporio de la Rosa, which was voted to be one of the top ten best ice cream restaurants in the WORLD!! Obviously we couldn’t pass up ice cream from there, so we all got double scoops and ate it as we walked back down to the metro. We got to the metro around 7, which is peak travel time, and the thing was absolutely packed. It was kind of intimidating and also scary because my mom always says there is a lot of crime in the metro, so we were careful to be vigilant and guard our bags. I feel like we are more susceptible to crime because people hear us speaking English and assume we are ignorant gringos who would be easy to steal from and they’re kind of right.
Anyway, we got to the bus station and took a bus back to Rancagua where my dad picked us all up and dropped Sally and Katie off at their houses. Maxi, Eric, and I got home around 10:30 and Nancy had dinner waiting for us on the table. We ate fast while we told them about our day, and I didn’t end up going to sleep until around 12.

Sunday, November 17


Today was a super lazy Sunday. I got up around 11:30 and got ready slowly, then went and cooked Pan de Pascua (which is a Christmas specialty here that I think is basically fruit cake although I’ve never tried a fruit cake in the US). Monse and I played computer games for a while and then watched Pocahontas in Spanish. Then we all ate lunch together and talked for a while. After lunch I Skyped for a little while with Ana and Emily. We did a group Skype and it was really cool because I actually felt like I was with them and I realized how much I missed the easy conversation and jokes and just miss them.
 After, I went with my mom and dad to vote. The presidential election is today. I was surprised to find out that men and women have to go to separate places to vote and that voting is mandatory for those 18 and older, not optional. I entered with my mom into the little voting booth and she marked her choices (Michelle Bachelet, socialist and former president) and closed up the four little envelopes with lickable stamps. Then we walked out and put each envelope into a separate box. That was the voting process. After we went to vote, we stopped to get ice cream with Monse and Eric. Then we came home, I talked to my friends over Skype, went for a run, ate a long dinner while talking to my family, and then went to sleep.

Saturday, November 16


Today I woke up late and took my time showering and getting ready.  I watched TV with Monse for a while and then Maxi and I played Fifa 14. He tried to teach me how to play, but I am really really terrible at videogames and I lost 4-0. Then I helped Sra Adela make lunch and we talked for a while. Around 2, my friend Jose came over and ate lunch with the family. It was the first time they met and my family fell in love with him. He went on exchange for two years in a row, so obviously he has a lot of incredible stories, and he’s also really smart and can hold a conversation about almost any topic. They talked for about 3 hours! Then Jose and I left and walked over to the Jumbo. We were going to take a micro to his house and then go for a bike ride, but it was really hot outside and we were lazy so we just went to the Jumbo and bought drinks and then went to the park and sat and talked for a while. Later, we went back to his house and I got to meet his whole family. Then we went upstairs and he showed me pictures and videos from his exchange.
I love seeing all the amazing places he’s been and things he’s done and it just makes me more excited to travel and see the whole world one day. Around 10:30 we went to a sushi restaurant to meet up with Chichi and Matias. We all ate sushi together and had a great time talking and laughing. I finally feel like I can be part of a group and part of a conversation without weighing down the conversation too much by always asking for an explanation of words. Around 12 we were ready to leave and we had all been invited to a party that night, so we decided to go check it out. Jose didn’t go because he was super tired and had to wake up early the next morning. Chichi, Matias (who has his license), and I drove over to our friend Joaco’s house. When we got to the party I found that only like 3 people I knew were there and they were all having some sort of drama that I did not want to be involved in, so I was basically left alone in a sea of strangers. I decided to just go socialize with random people and I ended up having like an hour long conversation with 3 really nice guys. I love meeting new people here because everyone is just so friendly and willing to talk. Around 2 Chichi and Matias told me it was time to leave (even though I was really enjoying myself and didn’t want to go yet). I got back to the house and sat and talked with my mom and Maxi (I have no idea why they were still awake) until like 3:30 and then crashed into bed.

Friday, November 15


Fridays are always good days. School was nothing really, but then after school I went over to Thomas’s house to help him, Cata, and Mariana with their English project. It’s funny how popular I get when English projects are due. Thomas really cannot speak English, and it was the funniest thing ever to watch him try. He always laughs a lot and makes fun of my accent, so it was only fair for me to do the same to him. After we finished filming, we ordered pizza and hung out for a while. Then I went home and Katie and Lila came over to bake cookies. We made a batch of chocolate chip and a batch of peanut butter. Then Lila had to leave because she had a practice PSU test the next morning, and Katie stayed and watched Que Pena tu Familia (the third in a series of famous Chilean movies) with my family. After Katie left, I watched a little longer but I was dead tired so I went to sleep early.

Thursday, November 14


Today at school was pretty standard. In sports (I have track) we had a party instead of exercising, so we went into the theater and everyone brought food and we ate and watched a movie. Then after school, Chichi, Marianna, Stefano, and I walked to my house because the car battery died and my mom couldn’t pick us up. We were going to film their project for English class. Their idea was for it to be about a serial killer who went around hitting people with a spoon until they died. It was pretty hilarious and I had a great time filming it with them.
After Mariana and Stefano left, Chichi and I hung out for a while and watched videos on YouTube and talked with my mom. They were just talking, but what they said really bothered me actually. Chichi was Cristobal’s best friend, and so obviously they were reminiscing about him and how much they missed him. Then they started laughing about how he was going to come back super cold and rude like other Americans. I know they didn’t mean it as a direct insult but that’s how I took it. I just felt so not good enough. They all just seemed like they want Cristobal back and would rather have him than me. And I’m sorry that I’m not used to kissing people on the cheek to greet them, but that is not a part of my culture and I can’t completely change that in just 3 months. I didn’t grow up the same way and I’m not the same but that doesn’t make me cold and rude and not as good as their son. I probably took it a little too hard because I’m really sensitive but that’s how I was feeling. Just because I sometimes forget to kiss people on the cheek when I greet them and say goodbye does not mean that I love them any less. I guess I just wish they were a little more sensitive to the fact that their culture is very different from mine and that I’m all alone here and trying my best to absorb all the changes. I decided to make more of an effort to start talking to the family as much as possible, so after I dried my hair I went out to talk to my mom and Maxi for a while. I actually really like the long conversations we have, it just sucks that they always happen so late at night. I didn’t get to sleep until like midnight.

Wednesday, November 13


Today, although we weren’t going to school, Katie and I had to get up at the exact same time. We put on nice clothes, and my mom dropped us off at the bus station after she dropped my siblings off at school. We bought tickets and took the bus up to Santiago while listening to a comedy show Katie had on her iPod. I think people thought we were weird for bursting out laughing at random moments on an otherwise quiet bus. When we got to the terminal in Santiago, I called Sergio, who is the guy who was coming to pick us up. He said we had to wait about a half hour, so we went over to McDonald’s and sat down and drank some coffee. Sergio is a Rotarian that I met in the California. He is a part of the Laguna Niguel Rotary Club, and before I left he came over to my house to tell me a little bit about what to expect in Chile because he was born and raised in Chile. Now, he is back in Chile representing the LN Rotary Club in a project they are sponsoring.
The project in a children’s burn center, and we were going to get a tour of it. After we had waited like 45 minutes in McDonald’s, I got another call from Sergio saying that they were in traffic and so they had sent us a taxi to the Turbus terminal. All he said was that the driver’s name was Jorge. We were a little confused but whatever, so we walked over to the Turbus terminal (it was a different terminal than the one we were at) and started asking taxi drivers what their names were. It was a really awkward and inefficient way to find a person, and after a few tries we gave up and went inside the terminal. The taxi company called me and told me that Jorge was waiting for us in stall 21, so we walked over there and finally found him. He drove us out to the burn center, and we walked inside and met Sergio and Angelica who also works at the burn center. It was kind of weird seeing Sergio because the last time I’d seen him had been in my living room in the states and now we were sitting together in a hospital conference room in Santiago, Chile. We talked for a while (this time in Spanish instead of English), and then a doctor came and gave us a tour of the burn center. It was really pretty and nice, and we got to see the little kids doing their exercises and recovering from bad burns. It was cool to see what my own Rotary club is doing halfway around the world. After we finished the tour, Angelica drove us into downtown Santiago, where the Santiago rotary club meets. We got stuck in a lot of traffic, and it was almost impossible to find parking, but it was fun to see all the pretty and impressive looking buildings in the capitol. We finally parked and started walking to the building where Rotary meets. When we got there, I was incredibly impressed. It was huge and ornate and old looking. It was a meeting hall that Rotary rents out for their meetings. We went up and entered the meeting a little late.
They introduced Katie and me as visiting exchange students, and I went up and traded club flags with the president of the club. It was a pretty intimidating experience because there were probably like 80 old men in dignified looking suits watching me. After we ate a fancy lunch and awkwardly socialized with Rotarians, the doctor who had given us the tour of the hospital (also a Rotarian) offered to accompany us on the metro back to the bus station. We went with him because we had no choice, and then when we said goodbye at the terminal, Katie and I hopped back on the metro to go shopping at Costanera Center. We shopped for a while, got starbucks, and then went back down to the metro and took it back to the bus terminal. It was our first time navigating completely alone in Santiago and we were pretty proud of ourselves.
After we got back to Rancagua on the bus, we had to figure out how to get from the terminal to my house. We took a micro part of the way, then walked a little ways, then took a collectivo to the Jumbo and walked to my house. By the end of the day we were really proud of all the manners of public transportation that we had managed. Katie’s parents picked her up and I was dead tired so I sat in bed and watched a movie (Que Pena tu Boda, which is a typical Chilean movie) before falling asleep.

Tuesday, November 12


Today was a really good day at school for no reason at all. Tuesdays are always great. Antonia and Katie ditched school all day to hang out in the center but I didn’t go with them because I’m really getting tired of speaking English all the time. It’s hard though because obviously I formed a faster bond with them because we speak the same language, and so they’re like my best friends here but at the same time I don’t want to hang out with them because we always just speak English. In school we chose our electives for next year. I chose two classes of social studies and one of calculus. After school I took the school bus with my friends Anto and Carmen over to Anto’s house so I could help them with an English project. It was a trailer for a movie, and so I helped them write the script and learn the pronunciation, and then we filmed it. I had fun with them, laughing and joking around. My mom came and picked me up at 5, and then I went home, ate dinner, went for a run, and showered. Around 7, Katie came over. We walked to the Jumbo and went shopping for a while, although neither of us bought anything. Then we came back and drank coffee and talked to Monse for a while. Around 11 we were dead tired, so we went to sleep.

Monday, November 11


Today I was really tired all day and I have no idea why because I had a relaxing weekend and slept a lot. Whatever I guess I’ll just go to bed early tonight. During PD4 today, we went into the big auditorium again to listen to a speech by a newly published Chilean author. It was really interesting because she said that her book was special because it was written originally in Chilean. I never thought about it before, but almost all famous books were originally written in English (Hunger Games, Harry Potter, the classics) and it must be kind of annoying to read translations all the time. Anyway, after school, Chichi and I changed into gym clothes and walked over to Instituto O’Higgins (another nearby school) to meet up with Jose and Chichi’s boyfriend Matias and go to the gym. We ran, ran up and down the stairs, lifted weights, and did sit ups. Jose was totally fit and not tired at all afterwards, but the rest of us were dying and sweating and it was horrible. But I had a good time with them, and I felt really accomplished after such a hard workout. My mom picked me up at 4:30 and we went home. Sra. Adela served us dinner right away. After we finished eating, Maxi and I talked for a while, and then I went into my room to work on college apps some more. I just want to finish already!! Later, I Skyped with Ilana for a while, then went for a run, showered, dried my hair and went to sleep.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Sunday, November 10


Today was a super lazy Sunday. I woke up late and got ready slowly. My mom, siblings, and I ate breakfast together while we watched this Chilean comedian who makes fun of famous Chileans—sufficed to say I didn’t understand much of the inside jokes and impersonations he did. Then I worked on college applications (something that I haven’t done in a while and that has kind of been hanging over my head). I was really excited because I actually finished the UC app so now all I have to worry about is the common app. Then I went to help my mom cook lunch and she, Maxi, and I had a really interesting conversation about the school system in Chile. In the US for example, if I met someone new  I would assume that they went to a public school, mixed gender, only high school (not kindergarten through senior year), and that they had the opportunity to receive an education basically of the same caliber as mine. Here it is completely different—there are public schools that are prestigious, public schools that are terrible, mixed gender schools, single gender schools, religious schools, non religious schools, private schools, semi-private schools, and each person can choose which type of school they go to (obviously sometimes they have to have money or have a certain GPA, but they don’t always just go to the public school closest to their house). The education system here is really different and a big topic of debate in the upcoming presidential election. We ate a nice lunch all together, and then I went to work on my blog for a while. I was like two weeks behind so it was nice to be able to finally catch up. Then I went back to the kitchen and cooked chocolate chip walnut cookies. My family absolutely loved them. They said it was the first time they’d ever seen the cookies made from scratch. I find it so funny that my mom can cook such complex recipes but it’s like it never occurred to her to cook the little easy things. While the cookies baked, Monse and I listened to Taylor Swift and had a dance party in the kitchen. Then after they were done, I went into my room and Skyped with Melanie and then later with Ana. It was so nice talking to them, and it made me realize how much I love and miss them. I thought talking to them would be hard and it was just better not to think about them so I wouldn’t miss them, but it actually just made me feel really loved. It’s nice to be reminded that I have people waiting for me at home who really truly love me and will always be there for me.
After we finished skyping, I went out and had dinner with my family. We had a super long conversation, and by the time we got up from the table it was 10:30 and I was tired, so I showered and dried my hair quickly and then went to sleep. Sleeping has been kind of hard the past few nights because I sleep with my head turned to the side and all the pressure goes on my ear and my new piercings really hurt. Whatever, I was tired to I just tuned out the pain and slept.

Saturday, November 9


Today I finally got to sleep in a little bit which was really necessary because I have been so tired this week. Around 10:30, my mom, sister, my mom’s friend, and I piled into the car and went to the school to set up my mom’s stand for the Kermesse. Everything was being set up—there were games, food booths, a few little rides, a big tent with tables, a stage with live music, and a bazaar of venders selling their stuff (clothes, cupcakes, and art classes by my mom). I waited around with my mom for a while helping set up and everything, and then I went to help my friend Lorenza with the junior grade’s booth. Then I went to watch Monse and the rest of the younger classes perform in a big show in front of the whole school. The theme of the show and of the whole Kermesse was "amigos de la tierra" so the show was all ecologically themed.
After a while, the rest of my friends came and I went off with some of them. Basically the whole 8 hours that I was at the Kermesse I just hung out with people, walked around, talked, ate some yummy empanadas and way too many desserts, listened to a 70 year old Chilean man murder Queen’s greatest hits.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Although there really wasn’t much to do, I had a great time and I got a chance to hang out with some people that I usually don’t talk to, and I really liked spending time with them. It’s so much easier to talk to people outside of school, and that’s why I’m really excited for summer to come so I can invite people to do things outside of school. I had a great time with Daniel, Pablo, Camilla (who is actually from another school), Katie, Cata, Coti, Vicente, Fernanda, Lila, Chichi, Ale, Isa, Jose, and more people I might be forgetting. Some of those people I don’t talk to at all in school, so it was fun to talk to them and find out that they’re actually really cool! After the Kermesse ended, we packed up my mom’s stand and finally went home.
I was supposed to go to a party that night, but I was dead tired, so I decided to stay in with my siblings. We had a movie night—Soy el Numero 4 and Que Pena Tu Vida (which is actually a Chilean movie filmed in Santiago). By the time we finished I was barely able to keep my eyes open even though it was only like 1, so I went to sleep early on a Saturday night.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Friday, November 8


Today was another good day. At the beginning of school today, the whole school gathered in the gym for a Catholic mass for the month of Santa Maria. They prayed, sang, and took communion. It was the first Catholic (and in Spanish) mass I’d ever been to and it was very different from what I was expecting. Everything was very programmed and ritualistic. During some prayers there were little hand gestures (like forming crosses on your hear or banging your chest with your fist) that they all did at the same time and I was surprised. It was a very interesting experience, and I’d like to go to more Catholic masses just to experience such a big difference from what my church in the US is like. After school I went with my mom to set up her stand for the Kermesse (which is like the school’s annual fair with games, rides, and a bazaar where venders can sell their stuff). She was going to teach little kids how to make crafts—they could choose to make a headband, sock puppet, or mosaic—and I was going to help her teach. When we got there, a few of my classmates were there helping their parents set up the stand for our class, which would be selling typical Chilean food. We talked for a while, and I had fun with them because they aren’t really my close friends so it was nice to have an excuse to bond with them. I helped them set up the Rancho Chileno decorations, and I wrote all of the signs for the booth that said what they were selling.
Then I went and helped my mom set up her booth.
After about 3 hours, we went home. My mom’s friend who had also come to help set up was going back to her house which was right next to the movie theater, so I asked her to take me because I was supposed to meet my friends there and I didn’t want to inconvenience my mom. I got there early, and so I walked around the grocery store nearby for a while until Katie showed up. We talked for a while, and then when Mery came, we decided there were no good movies to watch and we would rather just get pizza, so we went to Papa John’s nearby, ordered a combo for all of us, and then sat down and talked for a while. We had been waiting for the pizza for like 30 minutes before it was ready, and just as we got it, Pitu, our other friend arrived and we all sat down to pig out. We were in Papa John’s until like 11:30 talking and eating pizza.
I had a really good time, and I really like hanging out with those girls. They are so sweet and definitely some of my best friends here. It was nice to have an almost normal conversation with people, filled with jokes and laughter, after I had been feeling so left out and lonely at the beginning of the week. My dad came to pick me up, and when we got home I was pretty tired so I watched a little TV and then went to sleep.

Thursday, November 7

Today at school was a pretty good day and I have no idea why. We got to skip our second class to go to a debate between the two lists of candidates for student government. We all went into a big auditorium and each candidate presented their plan for the school and then the audience was allowed to ask them questions.

The discussion got a little heated, and it was fun to watch them fight and get angry with each other. After school, I came home and worked for a while on my blog, and then went for a run, showered, and ate dinner with my family. At night, I was going to work on college applications, but I really did not have the energy, so I just read my book for a while and went to sleep early.

Wednesday, November 6


Today at school was pretty boring. Nothing exciting happened except that I was a lot happier. I had been feeling kind of sad and neglected the day before, like I really had no friends here and couldn’t connect well with the people here. I used to think they were so similar to my friends in the US, but they’re actually really different. They don’t laugh at the same jokes or do the same things for fun, but at least today I felt more included. I also learned some interesting things at lunch. Apparently girls here don’t shave their legs. They wax them or do laser treatments. When Katie and I told our friends that we shave, they looked at us like we were crazy. I also learned that girls here don’t use tampons for anything other than going to the beach. And even then some of them don’t know how to use them or are too scared. When Katie and I told them that most people in the US use tampons all the time because they’re more comfortable, they all thought we were crazy. I confirmed this with my mom when I got home from school, and she told me that she doesn’t even know how to use a tampon, and asked me what the little string is for. I was downright shocked. Anyway, after school, Katie and I walked into the center of town to hang out for a while. We walked into this little market off the side of the street where they sell things for cheap, and we noticed that there were places to pierce your ears. It was super impromptu (we had no plans to get piercings that day although we had already asked our parents and they had given us permission) and in a super sketchy location, but we decided to do it. I went first, and got a second piercing in both of my ears. I made sure to watch the dude sanitize the gun first, and it really didn’t hurt that much (although I don’t know how badly I hurt Katie’s hand from squeezing it).
Then it was Katie’s turn to get her third piercing in each ear. The guy pulled the trigger on the gun, but the earring didn’t go all the way through her ear. He tried two more times, and it wouldn’t go through. Katie’s ear was bright red and bleeding and I told her we should probably just give up and leave, but the guy insisted that he should try one more time. He did and this time the earring went through. The piercings cost us $3 if that explains to you how sketchy the place where we did it was. After we finished, Katie desperately needed ice cream to cheer her up, so we got some, and then walked over to the mall and walked around for a while.
Then we took a micro to the Jumbo to buy rubbing alcohol for our ears and walked back to my house. At my house we sat around and talked for a while until Katie’s parents came to pick her up. Then I went for a run, showered, worked on my blog a tiny bit, and went to sleep.