Yo he regresado de nuevo!

I'm pretty sure my New Year's Resolution is to keep this blog updated. This task is going to be fairly easy now because mi casa en San Nicolas tiene Wi-Fi ahora! This is totally unusual for Chile. AND it's pretty darn fast! I think I'll even be able to keep up with How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock. I'm so happy I could cry! But mostly, it's going to make talking with my family easier. Now, I can actually schedule a weekly Skype date. And I like this a lot!

So far, Chile has been super bacan! I arrived safe and sound last Thursday at 10 am. I declared Beto's food products (corn tortillas, menudito, and pozole) sin problemas. I probably didn't even have to declare them, but I didn't want to risk paying a $200 fine. Then, I went to my hostel, showered, napped for a bit and met up with my friends. My friend Allyson is now the Field Director of WorldTeach and currently, she's preparing for the year-long volunteers who are coming mid-March. Right now, she's living in Providencia (an awesome neighborhood) with a girl named Rad (I know! Another Rad!) who was a DUOC volunteer in Maipu (a neighborhood a little outside Santiago). Rad's Spanish is really good so I am super jealous. She did WorldTeach Costa Rica for a year and then WorldTeach's Chile DUOC for a year. So I have hope. Two years I will be fluent!

So we got dinner and then met up with Beto in Barrio Brasil. The weather has been soooo nice, which means a lot coming from me since I despise warm weather. But here, it's awesome. We sat outside and drank Escudo and caught up. It was great.

Friday, I helped Allyson, Rad, and Meghan (our former Assistant Field Director) move the WorldTeach office out of storage and into its new location at Harvard's Center for Latin American Studies in Vitacura (a super cuico neighborhood. It's next to the UN!) Oh and as a side note, while I was waiting to meet up with them in Plaza de Armas, I had mote con huesillo for breakfast. SO GOOD. And a lady stopped and asked me if I knew where calle San Pablo was. My Spanish just flew out of my mouth (even though I wasn't quite sure where it was haha). There were so many Chileans she could have asked but she chose me! And no, she didn't try to rob me haha.

Then, we all got lunch at a Thai restaurant in Providencia. It was quite delicious but I couldn't afford the pad thai (7 mil?!?! That's like $14 dollars!) But their spring rolls were tasty and cheap. Plus, it had a really nice atmosphere. And of course, we got ice cream after because ice cream in Chile is ridiculously amazing. Mora con crema? Que rico! (Mora is blackberries. And we all know how much I love my blackberries.)

I've also decided that I want to live in Santiago. Either for a bit, or forever haha. Rad has this sweet apartment in Providencia with the most amazing view. Cerro Santa Lucia has a pretty great view of the Andes and Santiago (see my pictures from July). But from Rad's balcony? Pardon my French, but, HOLY SHIT. If I lived there, I would sit out on the balcony all day long. You can see the Andes so clearly and Santiago too. It's so beautiful. And the best part is, it's a two bedroom, two bath apartment. The price tag? 300,000 pesos. That's about $600!!!! And Providencia is a safe neighborhood. And the apartment is NICE. It's furnished and super modern. As Meghan and I were standing on the balcony she said, "We can't afford places like this in the States, huh." Seriously, let's put it this way: The quality of the apartment/ its location/ its view is equivalent to living in New York with a view of Central Park and the city skyline. We're talking millions of dollars here, folks.

As for Friday night, I didn't go out because I was really tired from moving and I had to get up at 6 am the next morning to head to San Nicolas. Saturday morning was rough but not as rough as it could have been. I had to lug all of my suitcases to the bus terminal and then from the bus terminal in Chillan to a bus stop across the street to catch a bus to San Nicolas. Luckily, my new host family (the German's old fam) met me at the bus stop in San Nick and gave me a ride to their house. It was so great to see them! They are seriously amazing. So warm and loud and funny and kind. My kind of crowd. Once I arrived, I doled out my gifts which were much appreciated. Carlos, my Chilean dad, wore the Cal Football shirt immediately. So proud. And of course the twinsies and I have been playing endless rounds of Jenga.

Saturday afternoon, we went to a baptism which was hilarious because Chileans are SO LOUD. Everyone talked during the entire ceremony! Now I know where my students get it from haha. Cell phones even rang!

After that, we headed to the campo for an asado. As per usual, it was awesome. Too much food, too much booze, and too much dancing. I love Chile because people just immediately welcome you into the family (exception being last semester's family haha). And how about all the impromptu cueca dancing? Love it. Plus the stars at night in the campo...son lindas.

Then today (Sunday) we went to the campo again for another asado. Another reason to love Chile: two asados in less than 24 hours. No big deal. This asado was even better than last night's. I hung out with Jorge, Rommy's cousin who lives in Santiago and was just visiting for the day. He's 25 and really cool. We talked for hours (in Spanish!). We also drank way too much jote (wine and coke. Actually, quite good). We talked about everything from traveling, to Chilean politics, to gay rights (he's a fan), to Radiohead. He's also obsessed with soccer (obvio) which I always appreciate. We exchanged numbers and set a date to go dancing in Bellavista this week. Super excited!

And now, I am ready to go to bed. I'm leaving for Santiago tomorrow afternoon to spend the week there. I'm probably heading to Valparaiso at some point this week to see Michelle (don't worry, I'll bring my camera this time!) and then Friday, Beto and I are heading to Mendoza, Argentina for a few days. Biking wine tours here we come!

Well, that is about it for now! I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all and let's Skype!