Me encanta Yungayyy

Two days ago, I went on my first REAL run in Chile with a friend from school named Carla. Carla took me to her campo right outside of Yungay. We ran about three miles to a lake that overlooked the towering Andes in the distance. To make the view even better, the sun began to set and cast pinks and purples across the sky. It felt so nice and liberating to breath in the fresh air haha!

Carla and I:))

The campo

The campo

Ahh I wish I brought my camera to catch a better picture of the mountains!

Sunset at the lake

This run was the first time I could really take time to think and get hyped up for the next year to come. I had been in constant motion the past two weeks meeting new people every day, learning about a new culture, spending time with all sorts of family, and learning the language that I had almost no breaks or times to just relax. Because of all of these activities, I have been feeling slightly anxious and overwhelmed. There are many moments in school that I just want to break down crying because I can’t understand what people are saying to me. I often feel like I can’t connect with my classmates very well because I am unable to carry out a full-on conversation☹ In the States, I was super energetic, talkative, and loud, but here I find myself super quiet and slightly timid. I experience the most frustration when I have something funny to say or something good to contribute to a conversation but I have no idea how to say it in Spanish. AHHH BRAIN EXPLOSION!!!

On a brighter note, I got the opportunity to meet my second host family last week!! They are SUPER nice and good friends of my current host family. I’ll have two younger host brothers: one the age of Emilio and the other a little older than Martina. Their house has a tennis court and a pool! Yesterday, I went to Chillán to watch my sister compete at a Tae Kwan Do tournament, and they came as well. We all went Go-Karting and shopping together!!

Future backyard

Future parents:))

ALL of my siblings at the mall

I’m currently putting together a list of similarities and differences between Chile and the US culturally, socially, and also physically, so hopefully that’ll be my next post! But for now, CHAO😊

-Allie

Yungay

Yungay in the morning

Volcanoes behind my house!

First Day of School, Disco, and Campo!

Before I could go to colegio, I had to get an identification card. On Monday, my host mom took me to the Chillán police office to present my documents. However, there was some problem at that specific office, so we had to leave Chillán and drive to Concepcion (1 ½ hours from Yungay and on the ocean). Of course I didn’t understand what the problem was because my Spanish es tan horrible haha! But regardless, I didn’t mind driving much of the day because I got to see two new cities. Chillán is tiny, but bigger than Yungay. There are many restaurants and a gorgeous church that takes on an oval like form. You can also see the snowy mountain peaks from the streets just like in Yungay. Concepcion was more like a city, minus the skyscrapers. Lots more people and lots more to do. There are also various universities. My primos live right next to one of them.

Where we parked in Chillán

Church in Chillán

Concepcion...I forgot to take pictures of the city haha!

The next day, Tuesday, August 13^th, I had my first day of school at Colegio Cholguan! Most colegios in Chile require a uniform, so I had to buy my “catholic girl” plad skirt, blouse, tie, stockings, and sweater. I think I’m the only one around here that was excited to wear a uniform that day.

Colegio Cholguan looked very different than I imagined it. It is a one-story building with several outdoor play areas and foosball tables. As soon as I arrived, I was greeted by several teachers and students who are friends of Joaquin, my host brother in Switzerland right now. They took me to my classroom which houses my entire grade, tresero medio (second highest). There were about 30 students, and they all greeted me clapping and cheering. The entire room was decorated with Chilean flags and there was a big sign on the wall saying, “Bienvenido a Chile Allie!” People were taking videos of my reaction! I didn’t really know what to say (in English or Spanish haha) so I told them I was excited for this year and can’t wait to get to know everyone. 

I sat through about two hours of Chemistry, which was especially difficult because I hadn’t had a Chemistry class in two years and I couldn’t understand anything the teacher was saying. After a short break, my Physical Education teacher and classmates threw me a party with typical Chilean foods, dancing, and music. We took a ton of photos at a photo booth they made, and I got a chance to talk to some of my new classmates. However, I have to say, this was probably the hardest part of the day. I was extremely anxious the whole time I was attempting to talk to people because I had to keep asking them to repeat sentences more slowly and I was having trouble thinking of things to say. However, everyone seemed super sympathetic and understanding.

Right before entering Colegio Cholguan for the first time!

My surprise welcome party:))

In the patio outside the school

Photobooth

My new friends:))

I am so grateful for ending up in this specific school because everyone is extremely kind and enthusiastic about my presence; I felt welcomed. I just wish I could speak more than broken up sentences! I want to get to know my classmates more and be able to connect with them at a deeper level than “hi, what’s your name? Favorite movie? Favorite song?” I want to be able to make jokes and speak without having to constantly translate everything in my head. I know fluency will come with time, so for now, I’ll just keep smiling and “jajaja-ing.”

I only ended up having to go to school two times this week thanks to some Catholic holiday on Thursday and Friday. So on Thursday, my family took me to Los Angeles, a nearby town, to eat at a fancy restaurant and watch el Rey Lion (Lion King) in the cinema. I ate more meat than I had ever eaten in all my years combined! I wish I could say which types of meat, but the retired vegetarian within me can’t identify the difference between pork and beef or chicken and turkey😉

About to feast!

In the cinema 

La Plaza of Los Angeles 

The view from outside the mall

Fancy restaurant;)))

Eating candyyyy

River running right through Los Angeles...very polluted y sucio

On Friday, I went to my first Zumba class with some of my compañeros and my sister. Zumba classes in Yungay are free, and the studio is someone’s house. Although I was by far the worst one there, I surprised myself and had a blast. I’m going to attend Zumba as much as I can so I can come home and impress everyone😉 After Zumba, my cousins from Concepcion arrived to celebrate my host papá’s birthday and my twin cousins’ birthdays. The next day, my family met up with them in the family’s campo (campo = large farm area with a bigger house, a pool, and animals). We ate a big lunch with all sorts of Chilean foods (in other words, LOTS of carne!!)

In the night, my cousin Amanda and I left the campo for the Discoteca to meet up with some of my classmates from school. In Chile, there people party every weekend, whether it be at the Discotecha or at someone’s house. This was my first time at a Disco, as you have to be 21 or older to enter the Disco in the States. The Disco in Yungay was small according to my cousin (she lives in Concepcion, a city), but incredibly fun. It kind of reminded me of Homecoming at Henderson because the music was loud, the room was filled with colorful lights, and everyone was constantly jumping. However, unlike Homecoming, everyone wasn’t in a sweaty clump, the music was good, and it lasted the entire night. My cousin and I ended up leaving at around 4am, but many of my classmates stayed even later. The Disco was a really fun experience, and I hope I get to go again next week😊

On the way to Discoooo

My classmates and I at Disco

My cousin and I at Disco

The next day, everyone in the campo woke up at 1pm because we had all stayed up until 6:00am the night before. After “breakfast”, all of my cousins, siblings, and I left to explore my papá’s campo. For three hours, we walked through acres and acres of farmland all belonging to mi abuela and papá. The views are incredible; there are towering mountains lingering in the distance, a river meandering gently through the rolling hills, and a dense forest surrounding it all. I love the Campo and can’t wait to be there all the time this summer!

The cook-out house

My cousin and some of the dogs at the Campo

Entering the fieldsss

Primos y hermana

My cousin and I on the trail around the campo

My cousin and I

District 4355 Orientation and Meeting the Family

Hola! Well, I arrived in Chile and it turns out I was supposed to meet up with the Rotarex (past Rotary exchange students) during my layover in Santiago, but I guess the other Rotary Exchange student I met in Atlanta and I missed the sign☹ However, everything ended up working out, as we arrived in Concepcion with all the other exchange students. Honestly the whole airport experience was super overwhelming: I was anxious thinking about the fact that I’ll be spending a year in a different country and I was constantly meeting new people. Its extremely hard to stay enthusiastic and happy when you are so nervous and scared! However, the bus ride to the Orientation site, Salto de Laja, was more tranquil and provided me with some time to take a deep breath and feel more excited than nervous. At Salto de Laja, we stayed in a hotel that had a gorgeous view of the waterfall from the window of every bedroom. The town was peaceful and the food at the hotel was PHENOMENAL! I had a lot of fun getting to know the other exchange students and exploring the area. On Saturday, a couple of the other exchange students and I got close to the waterfall and got super wet! It was extremely cold and I was stuck walking back to the hotel with wet clothes in sub 40 degrees (F).

As for the orientation, everything was in English. All of the exchange students could speak English because it’s kind of universal. The Rotarex people were extremely entertaining and welcoming. They shared a lot of their stories and were the source of much of the comedy throughout the weekend. The Rotarex also taught all of us the traditional Chilean dance: The Cueca! It was very interesting to learn, as it tells the story of a man trying to win the love of a woman. In the end, they end up together, of course😊

All of the Rotarex were phenomenal dancers. On the last night before we left to go to our new homes, we had a little karaoke party, and all of the Chileans out-danced those of us from other countries. Apparently dancing is very popular in Chile, so everyone can move their hips haha. I am an absolutely TERRIBLE dancer, so hopefully my skills will improve and I’ll be able to impress everyone in the States😉

On the last day of orientation, we met our host families. They arrived at Salto de Laja at 12 pm to pick us up and drive us home. Some of the exchange students had to take a bus for 6 hours farther south to meet up with their families. As for me, my family picked me up at Salto de Laja, as my town was only an hour away. When I woke in up Salto the morning of my departure, I was feeling very confident and excited. For one, I was one of the only exchange students who could remotely speak Spanish. I felt confident in my abilities to get to know the family. I also had been texting my host mom for two months before, and she seemed very warm, compassionate, and welcoming. I was excited to get to know her and the rest of the family. However, about thirty minutes before 12, I started to panic. I think it finally hit me that I’m in Chile and I’m about to live with people I had never seen in person in a foreign country! I felt more nervous than the times I’ve had a cross country race and had to throw up because of the nerves. When they finally arrived, they greeted me with a Chile hat, a sign, and lots of hugs and kisses. I understood less Spanish than I originally anticipated, but I was super grateful that I at least could get by. Some of my exchange student friends that couldn’t speak Spanish were put in families that spoke no English.

After drinking some chocolate caliente with another family, my new mama drove me to my new house. To be completely honest, I went into this experience not expecting anything. Although I knew I was going to Chile, a beautiful country with tons of volcanoes, mountains, beaches, and deserts, I didn’t expect to be in the center of any of that. I signed up to be an exchange student so I could learn the language, experience the culture, meet new people, and challenge my adaptability. However, Yungay surprised me: the ride to Yungay was very tranquil and pretty: I passed countless dense forests and many views of the towering, snow-capped Andes in the distance. You could see them even from the town and my house! Yungay in itself is also very different. The people are so friendly, the houses are right in the center of town with all of the shops, and there are a ton of “wild” dogs. In fact, my house is on the main street of Yungay. Many families also have something called a campo, which is a place where they have a bigger house, a pool, and lots of land. My family’s campo belongs to my Papá’s mother, and is gorgeous. My family also has a maid (or a nana) that comes every day to clean the house, make food, and watch the kids. Maids are expensive, so many people don’t have maids or only have them for a short period of time when they need extra help. It is very strange for me to come home every day with a bed perfectly made and an organized room.

As for my family, I couldn’t have been luckier. Mis padres have a son my age living in Switzerland on the exchange, so they are treating me like one of their own children. For example, my papá is paying for my sim card, my mom has helped me dry my hair after showering with a dryer (I had never used one before haha) and lent me a lot of clothes, and I’ve had pajama parties with my sister. Even though its been such a short amount of time, I really feel like a part of the family.

I feel so lucky to have ended up in such a cute and small town with such a wonderful family. I can’t wait until I can speak fluent Spanish and be able to express how much I love everything!

My new family:)

Volcán Chillán erupting (un poco;)

La Plaza of Yungay

Yungay:))) My town

More of Yungay...mountains all over the place!

Breakfast in bed!