¡Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas!

This Christmas was extremely different than what I'm accustomed to, to say the least. No holiday music was listened to, no cookies were decorated, no Christmas movies were watched, no trees were picked, no driveways were shoveled, no turkey was stuffed, no stockings were hung, no fires were lit, no carrots were placed for reindeer, no cookies for Santa, and no time was spent with my real family. Yet I still had a very nice two days, just very different than what I'm used to.

Christmas here is basically just not that big of a deal. In the States the whole month of December is filled with holiday cheer and almost everything evolves around Christmas. Here the only signs of Christmas coming are holiday music playing in grocery stores and their attempts to bring commercialized Christmas to Chile. Beyond that you wouldn't really know Christmas was coming. Christmas Eve was a completely normal day- I slept in, ate, tanned by the pool, and watched a movie. Than at 8:00 I went to Christmas mass with my host siblings which was actually very nice. Towards the end they started singing "O Come All Ye Faithful" in Spanish and it was the first time in Chile where it really felt like there was Christmas spirit, I almost started tearing up.

Christmas mass

manger scene

When we came home from mass we had a really nice family dinner. For appetizers we had asian food and salmon, then for dinner turkey with orange sauce and rice. We finished dinner a little after 11:00 then waited until midnight to open presents (or more like my host sister and I made them wait). In Chile they open presents on Christmas Eve- or technically on Christmas Day and they think Santa comes when they are out at night. Presents here are not a big deal- everyone only gets a few things and they don't use stockings. My host family gave me a really lovely scarf/wrap thing and a nice bar of chocolate. 

my first fake Christmas tree

Christmas day was completely normal. Just did our own separate things all day and then went to my host grandparents house with the extended family for dinner (which wasn't anything special because we do that all of the time). It was a very nice few days but definitely did not feel like Christmas. Nonetheless it was a nice experience! I had my first Christmas summer in the summer and tanned by the pool. 

The best part of my Chilean Christmas: skyping with my family and receiving my Christmas package from my wonderful Grandparents that arrived on time. The first thing I did on Christmas morning when I woke up (at 11:30, the latest I have EVER woken up on Christmas) was open it. It contains two huge boxes of mac & cheese, two enormous jars of jiff peanut butter, and a big bag of reese's cups. I now have enough 'tastes of home' to last me for the next 6 months. Thanks Gmom and Gdad :)

Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!

XOXO

Casey

Happenings

Here's just a few things that have been happening this month. 

I've been hanging out a little more with the other exchange students. December is a really hard month for exchange, homesick is at its worst with Christmas around the corner and having 90º heat doesn't exactly spread Christmas cheer. I've been going to Santiago, making cookies, eating American food (burgers and bbq wings at TGI Fridays), shopping, and just hanging. 

Made chocolate chip banana pancakes with real maple syrup with my friend Emily. Yummmm.

Sitting in a 1962 pickup. One of my classmate's dads has an obsession for antique cars. 

Prom!

My school had their version of prom last week. Every senior and their date has a fancy dinner with all of the parents at 9:00. Then at 12:00 all of the friends arrive (I didn't get there until 1:00). Major differences between this and American prom: here everyone wears only short dresses, theres an open bar, and it ends at 6:00 in the morning. After the dance everyone goes and has breakfast at someones house. I got home at 8:00 the next morning. Needless to say, my fellow gringa Macie and I were completely exhausted the next morning. 

Talca!

This Thursday I went to Talca, a city 3 hours south of Santiago, with some friends in Santiago to visit our exchange friends who live there. Talca is really small with just over 200,000 people so we could walk almost anywhere. It was awesome seeing the girls who live there again and just hanging out, eating lots of completos (hot dogs with avocado, tomatoes, mayo, and ketchup), watching movies, and just catching up. Also met a short-term exchange student from Botswana who is only here in chile for 1 month. It was really cool meeting another foreigner and learning about another completely different culture. 

Christmas in two days and cannot believe it. Christmas is just not a big holiday here and Christmas cheer is NOT in the air, but that's okay. All just an experience!

Summer Vacation

I've officially been on summer vacation for one week and it has been amazing. This is the first summer since I was 5 that I won’t spend every day at the pool because of swim team, working in the concession stand, or lifeguarding. I basically have no official responsibilities or anything or real importance to do this summer except for do as many cool things as possible, which is pretty great.

I’ve started going to Santiago a lot to hang out with the ‘old’ exchangers (the girls from Australia and New Zealand who have been here since January and are leaving in a month). They live in Las Condes which is the nicest area of Santiago, and where I live (San Bernardo) is one of the worst areas. Las Condes is well kept: they clean the streets and sidewalks, there isn’t graffiti everywhere, and it is not of full of stray dogs. Taking public transportation there is quite a hastle and takes well over an 1 and a 1/2 but its worth it. The other day we went shopping in a market that sells ‘traditional’ Chilean stuff and I bought my first pair of Chile pants (which are ridiculously comfortable). We ate a bunch of fast food and then in the night went out in Santiago. 

with my friend Elise from New Zealand

Had an end of the year pool party/cook out with my class which was awesome. We had a bbq complete with hot dogs, chorripan, pebre (like salsa), potato chips, cheetos, chicken, steak, salad, tomatoes, drinks, watermelon, marshmellow, and an incredible cake. In the states we would have just ordered a bunch of cheap pizzas, here they really go all out which is awesome. I've really started to feel like a party of my class and connect with them, which is so bittersweet because I just found out that when I change families I change schools. 

some of my classmates

I am changing families after Christmas and I have the unlucky situation of also having to change schools (might I add I am the ONLY exchange student who has to do so). I live in San Bernardo and have to live with other families in San Bernardo, but my current school is in Buin, a city farther south that is about 20 minutes away. Because its so far I have to change to a school closer to my next host family. I'm pretty upset with Rotary in Chile, its extremely disorganized and does a very poor job of taking care of their exchange students, unlike Rotary in the US which is absolutely amazing. But I'll just have to make the best of the situation. I'll get to see two very distinct ways of Chilean life, go to two extremely different schools, and make twice as many Chilean friends. Its all about the way you look at it. 

Normal Life

My Chilean life now just feels so normal. After my amazing trip to Patagonia I'm back to my "normal life," which is still pretty awesome. I've kept on helping out with the English classes in the girl's school. They are all so incredibly enthusiastic- when I enter the classroom they all start shouting out "CASEY CASEY CASEY!"

Two girls gave me a necklace and a pair of earrings (I tried to not accept them but they didn't give me a choice) and I have a whole new collection of drawings which all consist of saying "I love you" and a picture of me with one of the girls. I only have less than a month of the classes for this year because their school ends in late December and then we have summer break, but when the new school year starts in March I'll continue helping out. 

Next week is my last week of school then I have a 2 and a 1/2 month summer vacation (yeah, be jealous). Its been pretty weird. Back home its snowing and everything is all about the holiday spirit. Here its in the upper 80's and its almost summer break. This Friday there was a big cookout with the majority of people in my class to celebrate the end of the school year. There was a pool so we all got thrown in (without bathing suits)- its a Chilean obsession; if theres a pool somehow you will get thrown in. Saturday I hung out with two friends and made sushi (with avocado and sushi- interesting combination that is actually really good) then went to a party. 

Its been really nice to start having a routine and feeling normal- getting closer with all of my classmates is amazing. Its a lot easier now that my Spanish is a WHOLE lot better and I can keep up with most conversations (although they still constantly make fun of my American accent and language mistakes obviously). I definitely feel a lot more comfortable here. Now I only have a few days left of school then its summer break!