Mi Semana Primera en Santiago!!

Hola Todos!!! Yo he pasado 6 dias en Chile y yo he teniendo un buen tiempo. Mi familia es muy simpatica y grande. La ciudad de Santiago tiene mucho ver y yo planeo ver todos. Ok I won’t write all of this in Spanish, but its good practice for me. Anyways, I arrived in Santiago on Wednesday morning. After meeting my family and eating breakfast, I went to my first day of school at Latin Emersion. The school is only about a 10 minute walk from my house, and I really like it thus far. The neighborhood I live in is called Providencia. It is one of the nicest in Santiago.

The family I live with is incredible. Elizabeth and Roberto own the house and their daughter Maria, her husband, Emilio, and their two children Katalina (6) and Diego (7 months) live here too. There are other family members in and out all the time, so it’s basically like a family reunion everyday. I’m so thankful that they eat every meal with me. They also talk slow so I can understand them. The accent here is quite unique. It might take me awhile to get used to it. But, I already feel like my Spanish has improved immensely.

Yesterday, I went rafting with the school to a place called Cajon de Maipo. We had a blast. I’m sure you can tell from the pics. Today my family cooked a huge lunch called cazuela (meat, corn, potato and yam in a soup broth). We also had empanadas con queso. Both dishes are typical Chilean food, and they were deliciosos. They also taught me how to make Pisco Sour, the famous Chilean bebida. I only had one because it was SUPER strong. I spent the rest of the day swimming with all the kids. I love hanging out with them because we communicate on the same level.

I will post again in a week or two. I miss everyone and I hope you are all doing well. Keep posting comments for me!!! Chao!!

Bienvenidos to My Blog!

I am once again embarking on an adventure to a far away land. This time I will be spending a year as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Valparaíso, Chile. I leave on February 3, 2009 and will be in Santiago for the first month attending language school and living with a family. After that, I will head over to Valpo to start my studies at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso aka PUCV. I will also be getting involved in a service project through my host Rotary Club of Playa Ancha (I am SUPER excited about this!!).

In preparation for my departure, I have been soaking up as much time as possible with my family, friends and boyfriend, Kevin. I currently live in Playa Del Rey, California and will miss my apartment and of course, the beach. Since graduation from Cal Lutheran in 2006, I’ve worked at a couple different law firms and have yet to confirm whether or not law is for me. Chile, I’m hoping, will help me figure that out.

Despite my nerves, I am extremely excited and thankful to have the opportunity to serve as an Ambassadorial Scholar. I am the first from my home club of Thousand Oaks. Thanks to their support, I feel I am well prepared to be an Ambassadorial Scholar dedicated to “Service Above Self.”

I am a newbie to blogging, but I will try to update this as often as possible and please post comments!