Getting Settled

Hola Chicos!

I am getting settled here quite nicely. My host family has set me up very well. They are very sweet people. I was worried that being a vegetarian would be a problem, but the Mom (Pabla) was not phased when I told her that I was a veg. She´s had so many other students live with her in the past that it wasn´t something new. She also used to be a nutritionist and feeds me well balanced meals which is so great.

There are five people that live in the house normally. Paula is married to Roberto (who is gone on a business trip and I have not met him yet), and they have two daughters, Paula (26) and Daniela (22) and a granddaughter Valentina (6). I really like Daniela, she is the one who helps me the most with my Spanish and I think that we would be friends if we met each other in school or some other place. Sadly she´s leaving this weekend for the rest of the time that I will be here. They are all very nice but I don´t get to talk to them much- only during meals because everyone does their own thing during the day. I wish I had more interaction with them.

School is going well too. I took my placement exam and was places into the Intermediate group. I think that it´s the best place for me. My class has 5 people in it and everyone is about the same level as me. Right now we are working on conjugation into the past tenses. It´s more difficult than you think to know the difference between - ¨I was going to the store¨ and ¨I went to the store¨ and ¨I always went to the store.¨ Anyway, I´m getting the hang of it.

I have gotten to explore the city a little too. I hiked up the tallest hill in Santiago called Cerro San Cristobal where you could overlook the whole city. It was amazing. There is so much smog in Santiago that you cannot see the mountains. Every day it´s like this. i´m told that only when it rains can you ever see the mountains clearly. I wonder what the smog is doing to everyone´s health here.

I also got to go to the political history museum which was a great little museum in the main town square. They covered a quick history of Chile following mostly the European conquest and settlements. It was a great little museum. I came across a dentist chair from the 1800s and took a picture of it. When I´m a dentist I will post it in my office to make my patients thankful for what we have now. It doesn´t look too comfortable....

That´s it for now. I have Skype now so if anyone wants to talk online my name is Lindfox24.

Besos Amigos!