Bienvenidos a Chile

Hola todos!!

It's 630pm on Monday here in Vina del Mar. I am so tired!!!! I'll give you the lowdown on the past day or two so i don't have to unpack. I got to the airport and went to Miami all by myself like a big girl. I get off the flight in Miami, which landed about 25 minutes early, to see that the monitor suggested that my flight to Santiago had been cancelled. While everyone panicked I managed to get from one side of the airport to the other :) . I sat for a number of hours by myself until I found a couple of girls from CIEE. It was nice to have company, even if we were all a little apprehensive. Then, around 10pm the other Clarkies arrived. We finally boarded and I ended up sitting with 2 girls from the program, so that was a plus. Right from the get-go, the flight was in Espanol. Surprise! I didn't end up sleeping much during the 8 hours, so needless to say, I am feelin it now!

Landing is when the real adventure starts. Since the earthquake, Customs can only handle one plane at a time. We sat for a good 40 mins on the runway until they emptied us right there on the runway. We stepped into the beautiful weather to find all the luggage in beautiful rows on the pavement. Mine was in the first row, score! You all would have laughed at me trying to lug them around also with my massive backpack (thanks Krevs) and my pocketbook and my folder of documents. Spanish comes to you real fast when that's all the personnel speaks. International Police and Customs are in big tents, also on the pavement. I took some pictures. It was a long process, but overall not too painful. There were 7 of us from my flight that all did it together. We found CIEE among the myriad taxis and signs and they brought us to our bus/van thing. I was really disappointed not to have found a bathroom, seeing as the ride to Valparaiso was going to be an hour and half. Anyway, we ended up chillin by the van while the two girls who got there last night joined us. Then a few others joined up and we were finally on our way! I forgot to mention that it's at least 70-75 degrees :)

Our driver was super cool, and we ended up stopping at this cute little store for a potty break and some dulce de leche candies. He pointed out good places to take pictures. I got lots of mountains and also of vineyards, all beautiful. It is weird, cuz every now and again you will see leaning trees. I think there may have been an earthquake...

We finally rolled into Valparaiso/Vina del Mar. The two cities are practically one. Both on the water. My pictures are awesome, I'll post them soon. We got to the CIEE office where immediately host families started showing up. Mine wasn't there yet so I went to check my email. I tried to email some of you but I couldn't figure out how to make the @ sign on their keyboards, isn't that special? I like my keyboard better. So finally it was my turn to get picked up. My mama is so cute. She is like 4'8" and very sweet. I am their 9th student and 2nd Jewish girl. They always takes girls cuz she already has a son. Martin, my brother is also very nice. He is 23, and speaks English reasonably well but he told me he would only speak to me in Spanish. He has been showing me around the city, with his friends, who are all really cool. So, apparently, here in Chile, lunch is a big deal. She made me a feast which I could only eat about 1/2 of. She gave me boatloads of rice and she made chicken. She also cut me up a tomato and made salad. Mama also makes her own juice. I don't quite know what was in it but it was so good. Then she gave me raspberries and beaches with some kinda sorbet. All delicious, but I wasn't feelin it. Then two of her friends dropped by and one of Martins friends came over too. Their house is always bustling which I think will be fun. This is the hangout spot, so its like when the band comes over :) My room is cute, although it lacks a mirror. I have a cute bed and desk and a chair, and a huge closet. Unfortunately, unlike many of the others on the program, I do not have my own bathroom. Mama and Martin provided me with a bunch of converters and a working (dilapidated) cell phone. She also gave me a lock box, which is greatly appreciated. The girl who stayed here before me wrote me a 4 page letter front and back raving about my family. Martin also works closely with CIEE. I think I lucked out!!!!

CIEE threw tons of information at us, which I only processed a small fraction of. Tomorrow we have the day off, thank goodness. Slowly but surely I am learning my way around. Everything is gorgeous!!!!!! Not to mention its a beautiful day. Martin and his friend Felipe told me that its unseasonably warm today. Fine by me. PS--I'm 8 blocks from the beach. Although I don't really know where everyone else is....

I'm going to take pictures of my room so you can see! I should probably unpack, maybe a little. I'll post again soon!

Besos (that's all they do here),
Carolina