Saturday, May 10

Today I woke up around 9 at Lily’s house, packed up my stuff, and got her dad to drop me off at the metro station. Then I had an interesting 2 hours navigating through the Santiago metro alone, but I met a nice man who helped me (even though I really didn’t need any help), and talked to me for about 30 minutes before I had to change lines. I eventually made it to the bus station about 45 minutes before Katie and I had planned to meet, so I bought a muffin for breakfast, and went to eat it while waiting for her. I was listening to music and walking toward a seat, so I almost didn’t notice when I passed right by Ruth and Michelle, also waiting in the bus terminal for their bus to Talca. We sat together and talked while I waited for Katie, and then when she got there, we bought our bus tickets and said goodbye to Ruth and Michelle, promising to see them soon, and got on our bus. We got back to Rancagua around 2, and then I waited for a collectivo for a long time and didn’t actually get back to my house until 3. My parents were at a family event in Curico, so I was home alone. I unpacked my suitcase, admired my awesome souvenirs, and packed a backpack because I was planning on spending the night at Cata’s house since my parents weren’t home. I took a collectivo over to the Jumbo and met up there with Fernanda, Lila, and Camila. It was Lila’s birthday, and she had invited us to a “tea party” at her house. I brought graham crackers from the US as her birthday gift, and made them come with me quickly to the jumbo to get marshmallows and chocolate. We went to Lila’s house and sat and talked for a while, and then had an adorable fancy tea party with cinnamon rolls, scones, and marmalade. After the tea, we went into her nice cozy living room (Lila lives in the country in a big country house made of wood so everything is nice and cozy with lots of blankets and comfy things) and watched Pride and Prejudice. All 3 of them basically quoted me the entire movie in English which was pretty hilarious. After the movie ended, we toasted marshmallows in the little chimney on the side of the room and then I got to watch their faces as they tried their first s’mores.

They laughed at how American they felt doing something they’d only ever seen in movies. Then we all sat on the couch for a while longer talking and gossiping about people before Camila’s parents came to pick her and me up around 10:30. They drove us back to Rancagua and dropped me off outside this bar inside a train car that is on the side of the street by my school. There, Cata, Pablo, Vicente, and Louis were chilling and drinking some beer. I arrived and we talked for a while longer, and then walked all the way back to Cata’s house around 12. Whenever Louis is hanging out with my friends, they kind of take advantage of the chance to practice their English and just speak in English. I would never let them do it when they’re just with me, but I can’t really stop them or blame them when Louis is there, so we spoke in a mix of half-English and half-Spanish. Vicente and Pablo are really amazing at English so it really wasn’t a problem.

When we got to Cata’s house, we sat around eating chips and laughing and talking about stupid stuff for a long time. Around 2, Vicente’s parents picked him up (Pablo had already left), and Cata, Louis, and I lay down on her floor with a bunch of pillows to watch a movie. By the time the movie was over and Louis tried to call his dad to come get him, his dad was already asleep, so Louis had to sleep over too. We put out 2 mattresses on Cata’s floor, and Cata slept in her bed, I slept on one mattress and Louis on the other. We stayed up until like 5 in the morning talking and laughing and being weird until we were finally so tired we couldn’t handle it anymore and went to sleep.