Bienvenidos!

At long last, estoy en Chile! Bienvenidos a mi BLOG. I probably won't be updating frequently, because I'd rather keep you wondering for a while about my exciting life here ... and also, I'm rather lazy.

First off, don't be put off by the title. Lacking creativity, I thought back to a conversation that my mom and I had about a week ago. She's been telling me that she wants to learn Spanish for her visit here in April; however, when I tried to explain some basic vocab/verb tenses, she became immediately exasperated and declared that the only phase she would need to know is "Where is the bathroom?" Reflecting on this convo and the amount of fruit in this country that will undoubtedly exacerbate my already frequent need to go to the "pipi room" (as it says on the door to my bathroom here at mi casa in chile), I figured this title was a solid one. Sorry if that was an overshare... I'll now move on to my arrival in South America!

The flight here was fairly uneventful. Aside from having to fight off some Canadian airport authorities who attempted to tell Emma and me that we had missed our plane (it didn't leave for another 45 minutes), I pretty much remember nothing about the 10 hour ride from Toronto to Santiago. I was too anxious to watch any of the movies that were offered on my personal tv, so I just played sudoku, tried unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position for resting, and finally succumbed to two hot meals provided (although no peanuts?).

After arriving in Santiago and waiting for about an hour and a half to get through immigration and customs (I had to throw out my juice box and my Cinnamon Kashi... damn), 14 of us students from American were greeted by our host familias. While some people made giant spectacles and showcased signs with their students' names, Senora Cecilia plucked me out of the crowd immediately after recognizing me from the picture she had received. It was clear she meant business. I also had a slight interaction with my friend Laura Kate's former host mama (from last spring) who had remembered my name from some of LK's stories and was super excited to see that i truly existed ... she told me to call her!

I can already tell Cecilia is going to be awesome. She's passionate about cooking, has a deaf dog named Coca, and has huge bags of oranges from (get this...) her sister's fruit farm! That stands out as the most exciting piece of information I've learned about her so far. She lives in la Reina, outside of central Santiago, in a cute little house with three bedrooms that is surrounded by shrubs and flowers. The backyard, which I've yet to explore sufficiently, has a patio area and a small shack where she apparently makes pottery? (more details coming on that I hope). Also, she's probably whiter and definitely blonder than I am. She has three grown sons- one, who is a doctor in Santiago, is currently traveling in the South of Chile on a moto. However, when I said, "Como Che?" after she told me that, she had zero idea what I was talking about. Oh well. Apparently, another AU student who is arriving tomorrow will be living in the house next door (really random since most people are in homestays in a separate suburb all together, but seemingly convenient for taxis assuming we can become amigas).

The neighborhood looks very peaceful for walking/running (which I hope to explore tomorrow), but is also right off a main road with restaurants and JUMBO (the biggest grocery/everything else store I've ever seen in my life)... picture your local Super Walmart and multiply by 50. We stopped in and within 5 minutes, I had already taken money out of an ATM, bought a phone card, and added money to the BIP metro card that Cecilia gave me. She also gave me a cell phone... what a classy lady. After selecting some grapefruits and Multigrain Cheerios, she escorted me down the wine aisle where we were offered samples of mango liquor! I guess this is the equivalent to the Whole Foods cheese samples I live off of in DC? When we got back home, I had the most delicious honeydew melon I've ever tasted. Tomorrow I have no idea what I'll be doing, but I have a feeling I might end up back at JUMBO to look around some more! Orientation starts Monday, but this weekend is a mystery, so you better keep reading!

Also, you should...
email me @ juuliemunro@gmail.com
skype me! ID: juuliem
Send me mail! Address: Julie Munro / Trocos Viejos 2292, La Reina / Santiago, Chile