Monday, April 14

Today at school I was tired after the long weekend, but it was still fun just being with my friends. I really love going to school now just to hang out with them and I never ever ever want to leave them. It actually scares me sometimes to think that I won’t be with them anymore in a few months. Anyway, I got home from school, changed clothes, worked on my blog for a little while, and then around 4:30, Manuel and I got in the car to drive up to Santiago. He had been invited to a National Carabineros Band concert at the Escuela de Carabineros in Santiago. On the way up to Santiago, we stopped at Bavaria, a restaurant, and got a coffee. It was the first time I’d spent a long time together with Manuel and I actually really enjoyed myself. I liked that we could switch the topic between history, politics, and what I ate for breakfast, and we never ran out of things to say. When we got to the police school, I realized that this concert was actually kind of a big deal.

There were a lot of police in full dress uniform, and when we got out of the car (I was glad I was wearing my Rotary jacket because it made me feel a little more dressed up) one of the policewomen escorted us into the huge theater and even escorted me to the bathroom. We sat down in the theater and I took pictures like a tourist. Manuel explained to me what all the different epilates meant, and I was surprised to find that I was in the presence of 5 out of the 8 head generals of Chile. Then suddenly, everyone in the room stood up and another man walked in. Manuel whispered to me that he was the Director General of the entire Chilean police force. He sat down in the front row in the middle, and then everyone else sat and the concert started.

It was a fun concert, but the band played their nice classical pieces this time instead of the fun Latin stuff they had played last concert. After the concert, we went out to the foyer to drink some juice and eat appetizers. Manuel found a few of his friends from his school days and he introduced me. Everyone asked me about my blazer and all the pins and a woman even took a picture of it. Then, surprisingly enough, one of the 5 generals came up and introduced himself to all of us and then asked me about my blazer. I smiled and explained about being an exchange student and even threw in a couple jokes about embarrassing moments with Chilean culture. They all laughed, and the awkward tension of being in the presence of a superior was lifted. After we left the school and were on the way home to Rancagua, Manuel told me that the Director General had sent that other general over to find out who I was and what that weird jacket I was wearing was about. I felt pretty cool to think that a guy like that had noticed me. Guess I’m basically famous here in Chile now hahaha!

Anyway, Manuel and I kept up the great conversation until we got back to Rancagua, then we ate once with Lilian while we told her all about it. I didn’t end up going to sleep until very late. Sally, the girl who was in this house before me, warned me that Manuel can be very pushy with his opinions and a very judgmental person, but so far I like him a lot. I hope to make him recognize that I am not a stupid little girl and that I definitely have a head on my shoulders and know things about the world. I can hold an intelligent conversation with him, even if it is all in Spanish.  He won’t be able to treat me like a dumb child, and I think that if he knows that, we are going to get along really well together because I also like to have discussions about delicate topics like religion and politics and history and everything!