I'm here! In Chile!

I have been in Chile for about two days now, shortly going to be embarking on my third. It's already been a whirlwind of things going on so I'm glad to now have a little time to relax and make an update on my life now that I am here! I've found out a little bit about my family, there's a mom and a dad, they have a 29 year old daughter and a 30 year old friend of the family that lives with them. I will be meeting them today in just over an hour and can't tell you how nervous and excited I am to meet them.

More about that later after I meet them though. First things first are the last two days. We landed here Friday morning while looking off to the gorgeous Andes Mountains that were on the right side of the plane when we landed (I picked a great seat!) and drove just under two hours to Viña del Mar where we've stayed at a hotel that's just a few blocks away from the beach and ocean. Right away we had part of our orientation that is pretty much ongoing for the next few weeks in different forms and lectures but we've also done some fun things around the city walking around. We of course had to go to the beach, even though it's a tid bit chilly, nothing that a Minnesotan girl like me can't handle :) but too chilly to jump in nonetheless. We went and had a beer at a bar nearby and practiced our Spanish with some of the people that live around here.

Amazingly haven't really had any typical traditional Chilean food yet, our first night we had a HUGE sushi dinner with about eight courses (which we were full after course four or five!) and Italian last night. It's kind of surreal eating Japanese food in a different country like Chile, definitely not something I expected and it hadn't felt like I had left home at all. I'm not sure it's really hit me yet that I'm here. I'm excited to get these first weeks out of the way to rid myself of the nervousness of being 'alone' here without anyone that I know and am close to. I'm glad that there are people here that are in the same boat as me. Speaking of which we have an amazing group of people that we're here with, everyone is laid back and seems to like each other which I am excited about. We all wish that while we are excited to meet and live with our families that we could have a little more time together in the hotel as a group. But we'll have more chances to come together for trips and the like in the future.

I feel like there's so much to say right now about where I'm at and how I feel but no way to express it all and I can't even remember it all! I hope everyone is doing alright back home, I miss you all very much and can't wait to share more with you.

~De