Thursday, August 15

Today there was no school, so I got to sleep in. I still set an alarm everyday for like 9:30 so that I’m not the last one awake and so I have time to put on makeup and everything. While I was putting on my makeup, Montserrat came into my room and we talked about Disney movies while I finished. Then we went out and ate breakfast and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in Spanish. After a while, everyone else woke up too. Montse, Maxi, and I played Chilean Monopoly (Isla de Pasqua=Boardwalk) while we waited for Eric to bring their grandparents (Nancy’s parents from Talca) to the house.

I got to meet them, and they were super nice. I understood most of what they were saying to me, and they talked to me a lot so I feel like I got to know them really quickly. The only problem I have with them is that I have to use the Ud. verb form (it's like a sign of respect), and I always forget and then feel guilty. We all ate lunch together (pollo con sal which I helped Nancy cook), and then I helped Maxi with a presentation he has to make for English.

                Then, Eric, Cristobal, his grandpa, and I went to the Jumbo to run some errands for Nancy and to buy everything Cristobal needs to pack. Since Eric and Cristobal were off planning what he needed, I had more time to get to know my grandpa. He’s super nice, and he talks to me like I can understand everything, even when I can’t, and I like that. Cristobal definitely didn’t buy as much as I did for the trip. He’s making packing look so easy, and he didn’t even start until 3 day before. I started like 2 weeks before and had to go to the store like 6 times because I kept forgetting things.

                When we got home, I went into the kitchen to help Nancy and my grandma cook. I have a notebook and I write down all the recipes (in Spanish!) so that when I come back to the US, I can show everyone what real food is. They taught me how to make queque, papas a la crema and pie de frambuesa. Both were made completely from scratch and both were fantastic.

 
 

 

I really like cooking with them, and I like any chance I get to talk with Nancy because she talks to me a lot in Spanish and I feel like I always learn new words when I’m with her. Also, she always understands what I’m trying to say, even when I know I’m not making much sense. Then, we all got into the car and went to the house of one of my classmates, Joaquin, for a barbeque.

                Joaquin lives out in the countryside, about a half hour away from Rancagua. When we got to his house, he took me, Cristobal, Maxi, and Montse out in a pickup truck to see the fields. It was night time, and the fields were completely dark, but it was still so cool. I sat in the bed of the truck and we could see the outlines of the plants, the snow covered Andes Mountains in the distance, and so many stars in the sky. The trail was bumpy and muddy and there were puddles everywhere, and standing in the back was like a rollercoaster.

When we got back to the house, they had finished barbequing, and they made me try the meat. It was actually pretty good, but I felt so weird eating meat after 12 years of semi-vegetarianism. The barbeques in Chile and Argentina are famous for having the best meat in the world, so I basically have no choice but to start eating meat. We sat around the table and ate dinner and then we ate the pies that we made earlier that day. Everyone talked a lot and Joaquin showed me photos of the countryside and of him doing motorcross in the fields. He seems like a really nice guy who really wants me to feel accepted. I like him and his whole family a lot. We didn’t leave their house until like midnight, and when we got home I was super tired and went to sleep.

 I can’t believe Cristobal is leaving in 2 days. It will be weird for me not to have him here, because we talked on Skype so much before I got here, and since I’ve been here, he’s the only person I’ll allow to talk to me in English, so of course I can talk to him more than anyone else. I think I will understand less of what is going on once there is no once here to explain it to me in English. He is my best friend here, and I don’t want him to leave!