After so much traveling last week, I am pleased to report that there is nothing to report. Except that I am pretty much 100% settled here in Viña, and looking forward to my last 2 and 1/2 months here (what!?). The time has blown by yet it feels like ages ago when I was dropped off at the airport by my family. I've been able to keep in touch with pretty much everyone since I left, which is also a weird feeling. I am very far away, but technology makes the world a lot smaller. It's funny being in touch because in the States it's starting to become fall. I'm hearing about snow in the mountains! AH! Fall is my favorite season, so it stinks to be missing it... but then I just go on a run by the beach with the sea mist spraying in my face and suddenly I'm totally ok with missing fall ;)
Classes have been great, and I'm doing well in them. I'm amazed by how much free time I have here. I literally can do everything I want to do in a day, without being stressed. The only times that I'm stressed is when I procrastinate. This is a strange feeling that I don't think I've had since I was 4 years old. America is so fast paced and everyone is going going going! Initially the laziness of Chile really bothered me; teachers always showing up 5-10 minutes late for class, people walking slower than sloths on the street, and others just not doing what they should be doing. Now however, I'm finding that it has its benefits. One such benefit being siestas! I nap a lot here, because so does everyone else ha. Another benefit is having the time to read for pleasure, which is a luxury I rarely get to enjoy during the school semester. I promptly finished a book within 2 weeks here and am tackling 3 books right now, and about to finish one of them.
My spanish is getting a lot better. And I am really glad that I can say that, because after the first month I was starting to panic a little because I didn't feel that I was improving at all. But you hit hills and plateaus while developing your skills, and as of now I'm in an upward hill and loving it. I can have good conversations that are better than basic small talk. I just have to brace for the inevitable plateau that is coming, because they are pretty frustrating. Not being understood, and not being able to communicate your thoughts or feelings has been one of the most humbling/enraging experiences here. You feel very alone and stuck. Thanks to good friends, such as my buddies from Mexico, it can also be a hilarious situation. They are such fun people, and we enjoy making fun of our bad spanish together. They teach us a lot too, so I guess their payment is entertainment.
Volunteering has been hard, yet so good. I volunteer for two hours every Monday at the nursing home in Viña. The residents are very interesting people, and it's cool to note the differences between our elderly and the elderly here. Our elderly are generally more depressed than the elderly here. The reasons for this are completely logical... it's all about the family. Chile still holds the family unit as very important, in fact it is the most important thing here. For America, this is changing a little. Success, adventure, and fun lives are what is important. It is strange for people to get married young because they are "throwing away" their youth. They could have so much more fun before they have to settle down! Why would they do that? But here, the family is the adventure! Getting a house and starting a family is still really important here, and people work so that they can make a good life for their family. Most of the time in the States people work to make money, buy fun stuff, gain power, and show how successful they are. I know these are huge generalizations, but the patterns exist. Anyway, since family is still the core of society here, it's actually quite strange to not visit your parents in the nursing home. Actually it's strange to even have your parents in a nursing home. It's a rare situation in Chile, but even when it does happen, the family is visiting so much it hardly affects the resident. I like visiting these residents, because they love seeing me and I'm not a bitter reminder to them that they're no longer young... I simply remind them of their grandchildren :)
I think that's good for an update! I felt another earthquake today! It was freaky! My teacher was not even phased until she looked up and saw Kaylin and me. Our eyes were huge and we were just trying to comprehend how the whole building could be moving. Haha, she just laughed and continued with class.
I'm sending prayers for my friends and family to the States! Hope all is well... oh, and GO BRONCOS!
Ciao!
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