Sunday, March 16

Today I woke up around 11 feeling much better after the long sleep I’d had the night before. I took a shower, and then went downstairs to eat breakfast with everyone. Turns out like half the people who were supposed to go to the airport last night didn’t go, and they weren’t even sick so I really didn’t feel guilty at all. During the morning, I helped Nancy and the rest of the women make cake and empanadas for Tia Alicia’s birthday. Tia Alicia has cancer and this is probably her last birthday party, so they worked hard to make it special. In the afternoon, Tia Alicia and Vale (her daughter and my friend) came over. I spent the afternoon hanging out with Vale, Matias, and Nacho. I also made a big effort this time to have conversations with all the aunts and uncles and random family members who were there because I have no idea if I’ll see them again before I change families. It was nice to realize that I know almost all of their names and can have personal conversations with each of them. I feel more like a part of the family. Also, the fact that I was able to just go upstairs and sleep yesterday shows how comfortable I am with the family. We had empanadas for lunch, then completos for dinner, then we all packed into the kitchen (some were literally leaning in the kitchen window) to sing Happy Birthday to Alicia.

She, and some other people, started crying during the song. After she blew out her candles and we all ate cake, it was finally time to pack up and go. We packed 10 into the 8 person car and made the hour long drive back to Rancagua. We arrived around 10:30 at night, and I quickly showered and dried my hair even though I was dead tired. I went to bed as soon as I could, but it still ended up being around 12.