Hey everyone! I hope that this travel blog will allow all of my friends and family to feel they are a part of my adventure here in South America. I have been in Santiago for 3 weeks now...mas o menos...but either way the time really has flown by! My goal now is to think back on what has happened these past few weeks as there has been a whirlwind of action. I left the US on June 21st at 1:15 pm. It was so hard to say goodbye to the family, but I was lucky to have my travel buddy Annie who could share in all the same things that I was feeling. We had a 4 hour flight to Mexico City, waited 4 hours there, and then jumped on a swanky LAN plane headed to Chile.
Upon arriving at the Campus Oriente at Pontificio Universidad Catolica, we began meeting tons of kids from the program. There are students here from all the different UC's and there are 68 of us in total! At 12:00 noon, we met our host families and I was SO SCARED! All of the families were waiting outside of the open doors and all of us US students were waiting inside with all of our luggage. They would call off a name and the kid would go forward and be greeted by a smiling "mama" who would then take them back to their house and make sure they felt comfortable.
My mama's name is Margarita Diaz, but she goes by Maggie. She said that I am the 40th student that has stayed in her house. Also, one of the first things that she asked me was if there was anything I needed at the moment. I confessed I was really thirsty. So without hesitation she stopped at a store that is only 1 block from the house and bought me two big bottles of water. When we got home, we got lunch and she just made sure that I was comfortable. I found out there are two other American students at the house, and one of them came home shortly after his introduction. We ended up going to the hospital to get a Yellow Fever shot for his trip to Brazil, but after this, Kyle and I walked to the metro to buy my BIP transportation card. He also showed me a really good ice cream shop which I will have to stop by again! It was a great first day in Santiago!
Wow, I enjoyed reading all your blogs and I'm so glad that your so happy and comfortable there in Chile! I couldn't be happier for you! You seem to be really taking in the culture and that's so amazing! I felt the same when I was in Ukraine and there's not one day where I don't miss it and the people I met there! :) How awesome is it that you get to spend 6 whole months there!! I can't wait to see where God leads you next! Give some of the chicos caliente a wink for me! haha Love you and miss you terribly Rosey, but thanks for letting me in on your wonderful adventure! :)
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