¡Temblor!

Tremor! (For those of you who don't know that's basically a mini-earthquake). Today I finally felt my first temblor, they happen a lot here because Chile is on a huge fault line, however this was the first time I felt one. The temblor today which happened at around 8:00 p.m. was huge, in the epicenter was an 8.0 on the richter scale and in Santiago it was a 5.8. It was awesome- everything just started shaking and you could see everything rocking. My host brother ran into my room to make sure I know it was officially a temblor and we went outside to watch- you could even see the cars rocking back and forth. There was a threat of having a tsunami along the coast however it never happened.

I, along with my fellow exchange students in Chile, was extremely excited to finally experience my first temblor because 1. I'm in Chile, I have to experience at least one before I go and 2. it is a really cool feeling to have the ground moving under your feet. However most Chileans get really scared during temblors. In 2010 there was a HUGE earthquake here that destroyed tons of houses and had a death toll of around 525 people. For them it just brings back bad memories and fright because they've seen what happens when there is a real earthquakes.

But for us exchange students who are just living in this almost fantasy world without any true worries or responsibilities, it was bakan (Chilean slang for awesome).

¡VIAJE AL NORTE! NORTH TRIP!

This blog post is a little delayed due to internet issues but here is my blog post about my recent Rotary trip to the north of Chile from February 26th to March 5th. 9 days on a bus (including two overnights) with 42 exchange students from the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, France, Denmark, and Holland from Santiago to Iquique (a city 2 and a 1/2 hours south of Peru). It was simply wonderful. We all became one huge international family of exchange students traveling through the driest desert in the world, and that is pretty epic. 

I could go into every detail but I’m frankly too lazy so here is a picture summary. 

the group! a small offroading bus (didn't know there was such a thing) that we took to go to the border of  Chile and Bolivia to see llamas and beautiful mountains

LLAMA!! we had a big of a llama obsession on the trip. some of them (like this one) are decorated with colorful tassels attached to their ears for a local festival

with Mayella (Holland), Carmen (Holland, and Anna (Germany) swimming in the Isla Dama where we saw penguins, pelicans, sea lions, and dolphins

in a small village (population 250) located in the middle of the desert to donate personal hygiene products to a nun

with my best friend Macie represting the U.S. 

'swimming' in an olympic sized pool in Humberstone- an old mining village that was abandoned in the 60's

at the geysers of taito! altitude 4,200 meters

at the geysers, freezing at 7:00 a.m. (the coldest part of the day and when the most water leaves the geysers) 

swimming in a natural thermal pool

with my friends Macie (USA) and Mayella (Holland) in the Valley de la Luna at sunset

what we drove by for 9 days

the group!

in the desert town of San Pedro de la Atacama at a famous church with Ida (Denmark) and Macie

walking through Valley de la Luna with Robin (Germany) and Stuart (Canada). white stuff is salt, it usually isn't there but due to recent rain its been extracted to the surface

in the salt flats seeing flamingos

Valley de la Luna

our last night party- theme of switching genders

kissing llamas!

I can’t really explain it but Rotary trips are simply the best- exchange students rock. Spending 9 days in a bus driving through the desert could have the potential to be pretty boring and claustrophobic, however with exchange students this was not the case. Time spent on the bus was just as fun as the well welcomed time off. On the trip we were joined by exchange students in Chile’s northern and southern Rotary districts (I’m in the central district). Even though we had never met them until this trip, by the end of the week it seemed as if we had all been lifelong friends. We had so many crazy adventures and sleepless nights filled with power naps on the bus to keep us going. I learned so many jokes, stories, riddles, foreign slang, and random things which will just barely tide me over until the next (and last) Rotary trip in April to Easter Island. 

End of Summer

My incredible two and a half months of Chilean summer must finally come to an end, and tomorrow I start my (last) first day of high school at my new school. I know I’ve been slacking on the blog but its my fault, there are just so many better things to do than to be on the internet. I spent the entire month of February at the beach with my awesome host family eating some of the best Chilean food I have ever had, celebrating my 18th birthday at the beach (way better than spending it in a cold, rainy Indiana), playing lots of cards, getting a killer tan, and visiting lots and lots of beaches.

Special shout out to my awesome host family- they have made these last two months the best of my exchange. So much of exchange depends on the host family: if you have living with people who don’t welcome you into their family you will never feel comfortable, which becomes incredibly exhausting. My current host family has such an amazing outlook on life and they are so relaxed. They really make me feel like a part of the family and because of that I feel so comfortable around them. I’ve become so blessed with my current host family, they are the best! I’m so glad I get to spend my last months of exchange with them.

The last 2 months have absolutely FLOWN by which scares me. I’ve now reached the golden part of my exchange: I can speak Spanish, I know Chile, I have friends here, and I have the best host family in the world. At this point life seriously can not get any better.   I officially have my return date of June 30th, meaning I have a little less than 4 months left. When I first came here my exchange seemed infinite, but now the harsh reality that sometime I will have to leave Chile has hit me. Now all I can do is make the most of the little time i have left :)

Oh and I just spent 9 days on a bus in the driest desert in the world with 40 exchange students. No big deal.