Sunday, December 15

Today Sally and I woke up around 10 and then went downstairs to eat breakfast super slowly while chatting with Sally’s mom about the Rotary meeting the day before. Then we went back upstairs and got dressed and ready, and then did a little ab workout. Then Sally’s parents called us down and told us we had lunch reservations at this restaurant that they go to a lot. We all piled into the car and drove over there. It was absolutely packed and soon I figured out why—the portions are huge and the food is really good. We spent like 2 hours sitting there eating and talking, and I realized how much I miss being an only child. It’s so nice to be able to talk to you parents without other kids being there, and it’s nice to have a small family and the freedom to go out to lunch when you want and not have to plan around so many people or worry about young children. Sally’s parents are so nice, and they really treat Sally like a daughter. Its super sweet and it actually makes me a little jealous. Anyway, after we got back, I worked on college essays for a little while (I’m supposed to be finished this week), and then Sally and I went to Sally’s friend Dani’s birthday party. It was a little awkward meeting all of Sally’s friends since I didn’t know anyone, but they were all really nice and I had a good time talking to them. It was also fun to finally meet all the people Sally has gossiped to me so much about.

We stayed at the birthday for a long time (5 hours) just sitting outside and talking, but it was a little uncomfortable, so Sally called her mom and she picked us up around 9. We went to Sally’s and ate dinner and then just kind of lay up in her room not even talking because we were both so exhausted. My parents came to pick me up around 11. I was really happy to see them after like 2 weeks apart and happy to go back to my house after more than 2 weeks away from it. I unpacked and Skyped with my mom for a little while to tell her about Patagonia. We all sat down and ate dinner together at midnight (well they ate and I watched) and I told them about the Rotary meeting and getting letters from my parents and they told me about what I missed in Talca and at the wedding my parents went to. After dinner, my brother showed us this funny video about a Chilean in the US and his reaction to how small the hot dogs are. We all laughed, but then he got this super smug look on his face and started bragging about how much better everything is in Chile and I started to explain to him that it is only a difference in customs and what people are used to and some people from the US actually think their hot dogs are better (even though obviously we weren’t talking about hot dogs anymore), and he got really sassy and mean and so I just ended up leaving. Later, I went to his room and apologized to him and told him why his words had hurt me. We ended up getting into this huge discussion about how he felt that I wasn’t respecting the family because I ask to go out so much and how I felt that they weren’t respecting me or trying to understand my culture and meet in the middle instead of expecting me to just change into a perfect Chilean in 4 months. I was crying a lot and told him how much I wanted to leave their family with a good impression not only of me but of my country. He told me he was sorry that he had made me feel unwelcome in the house. We decided to start over with a clean slate and try to understand each other better and meet in the middle. I’m really excited because I think that talk was a major breakthrough. The worst thing about living here was always the awkward relationship with Maxi, but now I think that’s going to get a lot better.