Finally in Chile!

I made it!!  Finally in Chile!!  It was a very long day to get here, but it was all worth it.  I love the people here and the city.  Everyone is so friendly!  =)

The first day that I arrived was a day to relax, sleep, and hang out with my host family.   

The second day though, the UNI students and I met up with our "primos" (our conversation partners) in el centro (downtown).  My primo's name is Diego.  He is very sweet and I know he will be a great conversation partner.  He knows English so well.. its almost not fair haha.  All of us students walked around downtown, exchanged some of our money, and went shopping for things that we needed.  Of course, the first thing I wanted to buy was a hair straightener! =) 

                                 Diego, me, Allyson's primo, and Allyson

Later on we had a birthday party for Hayley, a UNI student.  It was fun for all of us to get together, hang out, and meet every ones host moms.  Afterwards we went to a club called Drake.  Very different from the ones in the U.S.  The clubs here don't open till midnight and everyone stays till 5 a.m.  That is something I will probably have to get used to.  They actually play a lot of the U.S.'s music here.  Its kind of funny.. they know the words and everything. 

On Saturday, we all went to a party for the foreign exchange students.  This day was a blast!  We met tons of Chileans and most of them spoke English.  We ate lunch there and hung out with everyone.  The Chileans taught us tons of new words and some of the slang words that they use.  We also danced salsa with them.  Well, I didn't haha.. I'm not much of a dancer... BUT I did play musical chairs! haha  Tons of people played and I think I got 6th place haha.  The day was muy divertido!

Today was our first excursión for our culture class.  We went to the Museo del Morro de Arica, some caves, and around Arica.  It was very interesting learning all the information, but towards the middle my brain was starting to hurt because I was concentrating too hard to understand.  Chileans speak really fast.. it is taking a while to get used to them speaking and fully understanding. 

Overall though, I am having a blast here.  It is so much fun to go out and explore and meet everyone.  Classes start tomorrow, so we will see how that goes.  Here are some pictures of what we did today and I hope you enjoy them!  I will try to update again soon!  Chau! =)