Happenings

Just a small peak at what I've been up to this month :)

Driving to the beach San Antonio with my host sister Anais

My host grandparents have a small house/cabin close to the beach, we went there every weekend to spend time with the extended family and chill out. This Friday my host parents start their vacations and we'll be spending 3 weeks there. 

my host dad Daniel

an awesome cove right by the beach cabin where we go swimming

boogie boarding with my host cousin Diego and my host mom Eli

At the airport saying goodbye to my good friend Sophie from Australia :(

It was really hard saying goodbye to such a great friend, not knowing when I'll be able to see her again. And it just reminded me that exchange is not infinite and that sooner than I know it will be my itme to go home. 

Climbing Cerro San Cristobal in Santiago with my friend Ulrik (Sweden)

It's a tourist hotspot, it takes about 40 minutes to climb it on foot and you can see most of the city (if the smog isn't too bad)

My good friend Fran invited me to the beach Mirasol for a week where her family rented a beach house. It was an awesome time just hanging out, tanning, eating a ton of food, and hanging out. 

We also managed to get into San Alfonso del Mar- the biggest swimming pool in the world right next to the ocean. Its 1 km in length and people kayak and paddleboat on it. You have to own an apartment there to enter but we managed to sweet talk the security guards into letting us in. 

Hanging out with other exchange students in a park in Santiago.

Making chocolate peanut butter cookies with my friend Sophie (USA/France)

My friend Nico invited me to his house in the countryside which is absolutely gorgeous. We went to a river and found a bunch of wild horses.

We then attempted to go fishing, which needless to say did not work out very well...but it was fun anyway!

My host grandmom making empanadas at the beach

Celebrating my host great grandmother's 85th birthday with all of the family at the beach.

This summer break has been amazing. I absolutely love my new host family- they make me feel so comfortable and like a part of the family. My host parents are really relaxed and give me a lot of freedom to go out with friends. They really want my exchange to be amazing and are always telling me to take every opportunity and do everything I can. I feel so much better with this family and all of my homesickness has basically disappeared. Hopefully my next and last month of summer vacation will be just as great. :)

Feliz Año Nuevo!

Happy New Year!

I began my new year's celebration by taking my host sister to the hospital (which took 2 hours) because she had a 102º fever but nothing was wrong with her. Then we went to Santiago for a get together with the extended family from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m. It was a little boring because I've only met the extended family a few times so it's not like I really know them and there wasn't much to do, but none the less it was ok. I ate 12 grapes at midnight to bring me good luck for every month of the new year. And there was a really spectacular fireworks show. We got back home at 3:30 a.m. and then I went to a really big party in the countryside with my classmates. It was pretty amazing dancing to reggaeton at sunrise in Chile to celebrate the new year :) I finally got home at 7:30, completely exhausted. 

So far summer has been incredible- since I dont have to work and have no real responsibilites I have all of the time in the world to do whatever I want. Lots of just hanging out with friends, exploring Santiago, and going to parties.

going away party for the Kiwis and Aussie

 I also changed my host family! As part of Rotary Chile, every person has 2 host families to see different ways of life in Chile and just to mix it up. I now have my host mom Eli, host dad Daniel, host brother Dani (21), and a host sister Anais (11). My host parents work in one of the plants of the company Carozzi which makes pastas and cookies and some other stuff. As part of the plant theres a mini-subdivision where some of the people who work there live, which is where my new house is. Its really cute and the best part is it is right behind the factory that makes cookies, so there is always the aroma of fresh baked cookies which is just plain awesome.

my new house

my host family's puppy cuky! cutest puppy I have ever seen

my nice manly room

my host sister Anais!

I'm really really happy here. I'm now the 4th exchange student this family has had so they know the ropes or dealing with exchange students and are extremely welcoming. My host parents and my host brother have to work during the day so unless I'm out with friends I chill with my host sister who is ridiculously nice- she helped me unpack all of my things, gave me her old pink cell phone (I had to leave my other cell phone with my first host family), put all of my contacts in my new phone, and is always game for playing Wii and watching T.V. Today we're going to the beach San Antonio to visit family which should be cool.

Best wishes!
Casey

¡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!

PATAGONIA

Last week I had my first Rotary trip to Patagonia for one week with a ton of other exchange students in my district. It was one of the best experiences in my life and was one of my favorite weeks in Chile.

We hiked a total of over 42 kilometers (a little over 26 miles), 18 km without backpacks and 24 km with the backpacks. Considering none of us have done any physical activity since being in Chile it was a bit of a challenge but still amazing. We stayed in cabins for 4 nights, tents for 2, and a hotel for 1. It was a pretty sweet backpacking trip considering we always had hot showers and real food.

It was a big week, on November 21st I completed my 3rd month in Chile with 5 other exchange students who I flew with. Also celebrated Thanksgiving by hiking in Patagonia and then eating a bunch of Snyder's Honey Mustard & Onion Pretzels and crackers with peanut butter. It was really nice to spend it with all of the other exchange students and a bunch of Americas, it definitely prevented horrible homesickness.

Patagonia is so amazing people come from ALL over the world just to backpack it. We met people from Germany, France, Holland, USA, Canada, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and Spain.

Its impossible to describe how beautiful Patagonia is, even the pictures don't do it justice but here are a few to try to show it. :)

Patagonia

hiking to the torres

The Torres de Paine

U.S.A.

first day of backpacking

swimming in freezing glacial water = epic

hiking to a waterfall

the Chilean flag and the Patagonian flag

Punta Arenas

cemetery in Punta Arenas

mausoleums

with a bunch of firefighters in Punta Arenas

kissing the foot! means you'll return to Patagonia

matching alpaca sweaters

the bros

It was truly an incredible week. Even though it was only 8 days we've all become so bonded. When we arrived back in Santiago and had to part ways it was pretty sad, especially because some of the students live 3 hours away so its difficult for us all to hang out. Just being able to speak in English (even though we weren't supposed to) and not having to think about every single thing was just plain awesome. And its a universal rule that all exchange students love other exchange students. It was amazing to make so many amazing new friends while being able to travel to the end of the world. I love my life.