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!