August 9, 2009

So much has happened in the last few days that I don't even know where to begin. On Thursday night I started my application to Carolina. I felt so relieved after looking over the application because it was not half as bad as I had originally expected it to be. The deadline for early applicants is November 2, so I probably won't work much on the application until October. Friday was my first day at Colegio Coya - my school in Chile. I didn't have to wear a uniform because it was colors day - everybody was allowed to wear whatever they liked. The school is very nice, but there is no heat (just like in every other building in pretty much all of Chile) so I nearly froze to death. School is so much different here than in the United States: nobody pays any attention to the teachers and some kids pick up their cellphones in class or walk out of the classroom randomly. The teachers have literally no control over the students whatsoever haha. I am in the fourth grade here which basically means that I am a senior at Coya. I was glad to discover that school for seniors at Coya ends sometime around the first week of November because of the university entry tests that seniors are required to take. The principal, who speaks english, met with me in her office to discuss my time at school here. She was very nice and ensured me that if I needed anything I could go directly to her office. On Friday, Ricardo, the oldest host brother, came home from college for the weekend (he is in med school in Santiago) and it was very nice to meet him. On Saturday morning my host father took me into the "centro commercial de Rancagua" which was exactly like a mall to buy my uniform for school. I was shocked at how nice the mall was and how cheap the clothes here are. I had my first Chilean empanada for lunch on Saturday - the empanadas here are delicious - people choose what they want in their empanada and then pick the empanada up or have it delivered, almost like pizza in the US. On Saturday night I went to my first Chilean party, which began at 11:00 pm. The parties here all start very late and end very early the next morning. I had a great time at the party but because it was held outdoors, I was freezing cold and was exhausted by the time we got back to my host family's house (4:30 am). When I woke up (around noon) I started reading The Catcher and The Rye, which is and awesome book and will probably end up being one of my favorites. Today my Chilean host aunt came to visit and ended up inviting Elisa, my host sister, and I to her house. She is a dentist and lives in el campo, the countryside, in a beautiful house. They have a pool, which will be nice to have access to in the summer, and they had quite a few pets (birds, dogs, and a Chin Chilla). I will try to post something new within the next week, but it will probably be next weekend before I actually sit down and write something.