I'm shaking.
And I don't know if it's from the cold (no central heating). So it's probably from the cold, but it also might be the nerves or the excitement from being in my new family's home for the first night.
In all seriousness, I think it's just because the room is really, really cold.

Anyways, I'm writing this second paragraph the day after I wrote the first, so the references to days might be a bit messed up. At any rate, yesterday I moved in with my familia nueva. They're super cool and super nice. They live in ñuñoa which is a large area... kind of like a neighborhood. I guess the equivalent would be to say that University Place is in Tacoma= ñuñoa is in Santiago. I live with mi mama whose name is Evelyn, her oldest son Alexander (19, Engineering Major), Andrea (18) and Anibal (16). They're all super bacan (cool) and nice. In all honesty it's still a bit awkward at home because I don't know them really well, yet. It should pass within a week or two, fingers crossed. I get my own room here, which is really big. Mom and Dad, if you're reading this... my room is really, really big here. It actually has space in it. It's not a few pieces of furniture interspersed by carpet.

Yesterday, my siblings went to eat lunch and spend the afternoon with their dad (the parents are separated), so mi mama and I went to her friend's house. She coincidentally hosts a bunch of exchange students. Joshua is from North Carolina and he just finished his semester last week and will leave next week. Matt arrived yesterday a few hours before we got there and he's from Illinois, but goes to school in Wisconsin. "Lunch," as it's called, starts around 1 or 2, and is the principal meal of the day. But yesterday we had lunch for about 5 hours. Not all of it was spent eating, but it's the equivalent of going to someone's house for dinner. I was spent, but I kept my game face on and tried to keep in the conversation. Matt, on the other hand, who probably spent close to 24 hours traveling before sitting down to eat, practically fell asleep at the table. Been there, done that... last week.

There was a ton of food and I got uncomfortably full which I hadn't felt for about a week. There is hardly any obesity here in the city and I’m not sure if it’s because of all the walking and commuting that the locals do or if it’s their diet or both. The interesting thing about their meals is that they don’t look very big, but they fill you up just perfectly. I feel a little hungry after eating a meal, but if I wait for 5 or 10 minutes, I feel completely satisfied. It’s awesome.

After lunch, we hung around at home and talked for a while. Chileans here in Santiago call themselves "penguins" because they stand around their huge space heaters and talk, it's really funny, but I of course found myself doing the same. The days here are really mild and almost warm. I could be in a t-shirt and shorts without a problem during most of the days. But in the mornings and after the sun sets, it's muy, muy cold. The other day it was so warm that I fell asleep on a park bench in a pair of shorts and a “tuition relief now!” t-shirt while everyone else in the park was bundled up in their big coats and scarves. Que raro!

Also, today Anibal and I went running. No, that’s very inaccurate. I went running, Anibal rode his bike next to me weaving through pedestrians on the sidewalk. It was fun, it was a short run though, but it was good to get out and do something.


So it’s a new day today… by that I mean it’s two days since I started writing this post, which should give you an idea of how busy I am. I have class everyday besides weekends and holidays starting at 9 a.m. and going to 12:30 p.m. This is just the intensive preparatory language program, actual classes start in early August. But I’m still super busy running around trying to get the country to recognize my physical presence in Santiago and also checking out local places like the Concha y Toro vineyard. We went there today after class, and it was a good experience. I’ve never been to a vineyard, and I guess it wasn’t that exciting, but it was kind of cool to see the dungeon where they keep some special kind of wine called “Casillero del Diablo.” Apparently you can get it at Trader Joes. If you go buy a bottle, 2007 is supposed to be a good year ;). I was talking to my host mom about wine and the vineyard and I had to explain to her what a “Wine-O” was and how there’s a whole Wine-O-feminist culture back in the states.

Oh- something else interesting that you might like to hear about is how I get to school. My commute to school takes anywhere from 30-40 minutes or so. I walk a few blocks down the street, get on a bus for 10-15 minutes, and then take the subway (which they call the Metro) for the rest of the way; it stops right in front of the main campus. The whole concept of using public transportation is new to me, but I totally think it’s a great idea. Right now, I pay 400 pesos to go one way (you can change methods of transportation for free as long as it’s within 2 hours of getting on the first time). That’s about 80-90 cents I think. And then I have to pay to get back. But once I get my student I.D. card I’ll pay 130 pesos, which, for all intensive purposes, is about 25 cents. Awesome, right?!

Now that I’m writing this a day later, I’m very happy to say that things are much less awkward at home. I had a great conversation over dinner with mi mama and my younger brother. My sister was organizing some school event and my other brother was with his girlfriend… three years of dating and they’re still a long ways away from marriage. Here in Chile, and in South America I would imagine, long-term relationships between young people are common. It’s not like you date for a few months and break up and that’s it. I’m sure that happens here, but it’s not rare or extraordinary for 16-year-olds to date the same person for a few years at a time.

We have Thursday and Friday off from school- Thursday is a holiday and schools here actually have common sense so they take Friday off, as well. There’s a possibility that some of us might go explore the area outside the city- I think it’d be really fun, but who knows what will happen. All I know is that I want a little bit of rest and then a lot of fun and exploration of Chile. Cross your giners for this one- we might go see Harry Potter tomorrow after class! I just hope that A) there are tickets, and if there are, that B) the movie is in English with Spanish subtitles and not the other way around. I’d die.

I also sent an e-mail to the guy on campus in the Physical Education department who deals with Cross Country. La Catolica has a program- but it might be a class, or a club, or a team, I’m completely unsure. I think it would be awesome to get involved with running here. It would expand my social network, which is lacking, and, at the same time, necessary. But it would be interesting to hang out with people my age involved in the same sport since I have this feeling that distance runners, on a universal level, are somewhat similar.

I’m probably forgetting hella stuff. Let me know if there are things you want to hear about. I take requests.

Derek.