Bienvenidos

I've now been in Santiago for over a week and have seen various shades of living, the first weekend I was in a hostel in Bellavista where I met some cool travelers. I liked the hostel because everyone we met knew about the same amount of spanish and could easily converse with each other, and they were on vacation and just wanted to make the most out of their time in Santiago. Being my first weekend it was a fun way to get used to the city and a great way to start off the trip. The following Monday I met my host family, a little overwhelming considering my program doesn't give you any information about your family prior to meeting them so I was a little anxious who I was going to be living with. Fortunately I lucked out and am living these two abuelitos, a couple of grandparents who couldn't be more caring. The mom, Lucky, is somehow always trying to make my life easier by either always having a place setting for me before I get up or re-making my bed if I didn't do it how she liked it, just with she would leave a mint on my pillow. The father, Ivan, is a classic latin character, always making jokes and trying to make everyone at ease. They live in an apartment in a part of Santiago called ñuñoa right across the street from a little neighborhood park and a mico stop (which they call the buses). There have been a lot of things that I've had to get used to pretty quickly, obviously speaking spanish in order to get around or simply have a conversation but the constant stares from strangers. Chilean, from what I've been told and have experienced, like making direct eye contact, especially when trying to get to know someone for the first time. Either way I have been having fun learning the culture and getting used to my new city and am looking forward to what's next.

Oh, the yellow building is my school (the school shield is on the top) and the last picture is the view from my room, and yes those are the andes : )