5 weeks and counting...

It's Halloween today... I'm going to go to Casi's to watch movies and then we will hand out candy to whatever kids happen to come to her door. Hopefully we will see a lot of them. I'm not really celebrating because we celebrated early. On Thursday night all the gringos went to a costume party for all of the Bío Bío students. It was my first party here in Chillan and was pretty good. I dressed up as a pirate wench and went with Cenecienta (Cinderella aka Casi).
It was a pretty good party, but it was very strange to see all the people I am here with drinking. Some of them were muy baracho, very drunk, which was weird because I haven't seen a lot of drunk people in my life. It was all around enjoyable though, and I'm sure I will be attending more in the future.

This week was a lot less busy than last week, which was nice. Tuesday night Kenna came over to spend the night, and Skyped with all of the new Freshmen in her sorority back home. It was pretty entertaining listening to it, the whole conversation was so stereotypically sorority, which I was not expecting. It was almost like valley girl time, I quite enjoyed it. On the way home from the bus stop we stopped at the playground and played on the teeter totter and the swings. It was very fun, and I realized that I have never been on a teeter totter before that.
Wednesday was a strange day. On Tuesday night they told us we had no lab because the students were protesting, but to show up for Lengua and Cultura. We didn't really know what to expect when we got to school, but when we arrived there were painted signs up all over the gate, and the only two entrances were closed and basically being gaurded by small groups of students. At this time the school is in what they call Toma. It is where they keep the gates closed and only let students through. Everyone still comes to school, but the doors to the hallways with classrooms are closed, and most of the lights are off. They also had one set of doors in another building barricaded with school desks. It was basically everybody just hanging out at school. They moved the two ping pong tables inside the main building, but blocked most of the door with a table so that you had to squeeze by to get in. There were also students playing video games on the TVs upstairs. They had some meetings that happened randomly as well. It was very strange. Florencia talked to the head student though, and they said they would let the gringos and their teachers through because we can't extend the program to make up for lost days. But, apparently on Thursday they changed their minds, because we didn't have school. The protest is for lower tuition, because they raise tuition 10% every year. It could last for a week, up to a month. As far as we have heard, it is supposed to continue next week. And the level of protest could raise passed Toma into a full shut down of campus. Florencia said she will just rent another room somewhere else, so we will see what happens in this next week.

On Wednesday night we had another noche para las gringas. Not everyone showed up this time because they decided to stick around the school and see what was up with the protest. It was another fun night though. Everyone forgot to bring snacks, so we walked to a little mercado in Villa Emmanuel and got some ice cream and cookies. We just spent the time hanging out in my room and chatting and eating pizza and other junk food, yay! Haha. It was nice and relaxing.
It has been super nice weather this week. About 80 all week, but today it is a little cooler and cloudy. My dad told me that is average for spring here, and that it will get into the 100s in the future.

Because we had no school on Thursday Kenna, Casi, Jimmy, Matt, David and I met up downtown to try to find some last minute costume pieces for the boys, and to find entire costumes for us girls. David showed us to a little shop where you could rent costumes for 7,000 pesos a night, that's about 12 bucks, so it was pretty cheap. We also checked out a little mercado we hadn't been to by the post office. I bought myself some cool earrings, and also a sun dress at a store we walked by. It was a nice relaxing time. After, I headed over to Casi's to hang out and get ready, and spent the night at her house after the party.

On Friday Kenna met Casi and I downtown to return our costumes. They were closed for lunch, so we had to waste about an hour. We went to the mall and Kenna shopped, and Casi and I watched, haha. Then we went to the supermarket and bought some mac 'n cheese to make for lunch, and then had some coffee in a shop in the mall. After we returned the costumes and got home we had toast and mac 'n cheese while watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, then Kenna and I walked home. All in all it was a very strange, but enjoyable week.

I had a bit of a tough night last night. I was very tired of crowds from downtown, and all the whistles and stares and cat calls we gringas get. After being downtown three days in a row and walking a lot of places by myself I was very sick of it all. I was also incredibly homesick and ready to just be back. But, I'm still here and doing alright as of this moment. I'm sure it will get even better after spending more time with friends today.

Well, I think it is about time to wrap this novel up. I hope you are all doing well, and enjoying your Halloween week. I would still love to hear what is going on with you guys if you have the time to send me an e-mail (kaylirobison@canby.com). Talk to you all later, and see you in 5 weeks. Happy Halloween!! Chao.

Kayli

Half Way

Today marks the half way point of my trip! I have been here for 6 weeks and have 6 weeks left. It is a rainy, chilly day and I am sitting in my room listening to music and studying. This is what I do a lot at home during this time of year, so it's kinda making me miss home. A truck with 3 guys in it honked at me on my walk home from the bus today, and one of them blew me a kiss. It made me laugh so hard, and yet I kinda wanted to cry too. Strange days... this is what being a homesick girl does to me. Lol. We have been having quite the busy week. Had a test in Lab yesterday, and a speech in Lengua. I also just finished a test in Lengua and am preparing for one in Gramática. Plus, we had our normal pile of homework. I am definitely looking forward to the weekend, starting tomorrow.

Sounds like next weekend I will be going to Santiago with my family for sightseeing and to meet Yerko's sisters and such. I'm excited for that. Right now my mom is in Santiago for work again, and my dad will be meeting her there today or tomorrow. They will be traveling this weekend and will be back on Sunday. So it's just me, the boys, and the nannies this weekend. I am loving this family so much. On Tuesday, at dinner, my mom gave me a box of chocolates she bought me in Santiago, and told me there was also cake in the fridge for me. My little brother, Andrei, wanted me to watch him play Mario on his DS, so he sat on my lap for an hour explaining everything and asking me if it was the same in the games in the US. Then my dad gave us a pack of gum that he had bought for us to share. When I said I had to go study some more before bed Andrei whined "nooooooo" and put his head on my shoulder, but let me go. Then my dad gave me a kiss on the head and told me, "The chocolates are for energy to never give up. Because a Luksic (their last name) never gives up, and you are a Luksic now." My dad also told me last week that when he turns 50 he is having a big party, and hopes I can come back for it.

One thing I realized this week is that I'm actually tired of having nannies. Don't get me wrong, I love Mary and Mahry, but being waited on hand and foot is not the life for me. They do absolutely everything for me. I can't even just get a snack without them opening the cupboards for me. They are amazing, and sometimes I do enjoy not having to do my own dishes, but I am ready to go back to normal. I didn't realize how much I like to take care of others, and not the other way around. I want to make my own dinner, and clean my own room. I know... I'm nuts, lol. But, I am very ready to wash my own dishes, and not just leave them on the table.

So, that's pretty much what's up with me right now. But... I want to hear what's going on with everyone else. If you guys have the time you should leave me a short comment about what you are up to. Or if you can't figure that out, then just send me an e-mail (kaylirobison@canby.com). Still hope everyone is doing well, and still miss you all oh so much. See everybody in 6 weeks!

Chao,
Kayli

Five weeks down, seven to go...

Chile won the football game on Saturday while we were in Viña. It was quite an experience to be here in Chile when that happened. Before the game ended the city was completely deserted because everyone was watching the game. Two minutes after the game ended the streets were filled with cars stuffed with too many people. Everyone was honking their horns and waving flags and yelling. There was a square close to our hotel that everyone was running to, so we decided to go see what was up. There were about 300 people there all jumping up and down and cheering. Everyone was wearing red jerseys and waving Chilean flags. We joined in as much as possible yelling "Chi Chi Chi, Le Le Le, viva Chile!" It was an absolutely amazing experience. But a lot of the night was not so great for those that went out. Apparently they saw a teenage boy get killed after a policeman threw a cinder block at his back for running after trying to break down the doors to a McDonals. It was quite an interesting night.

On the way home we stopped in a cool little town that specialized in pottery. There were a ton of small tiendas down the main road with pottery plus so much more. I bought a gift for mom there. We didn't get home till 10 on Monday and then started another week of school. This week has been subjunctive and pronouns. It is very confusing, and I am not looking forward to the test tomorrow morning. Just hoping I don't fail after all this studying I've been doing. Chile won the game last night as well, so we are most definitely going to the World Cup now. Some of the students even got to go to this weeks game.

I have finally started running again, and am loving it. Didn't realized how much I missed and loved it. Fruit is in season here now and I get strawberries at home now, it's great. Mary now knows that I like them a lot and has been making sure my bowl is super full. This weekend I am just going to relax, catch up on homework and make sure I understand everything we have worked on so far. So not much exciting going on here at this moment.

I hope everyone is doing well, I miss you all so much and can't wait to come home. Half way through one week from today. Woot! Anyway, tienen una noche marvillosa. Chao, chao.

Kayli

Still here... still breathing...

This weekend I am in Valparaíso with todos los norteamericanos. The city is pretty, and I love being near the ocean. It is an absolutely gigantic city, but we are actually staying in Viña del Mar which is right next to it. Today we went to the city, rode a boat out a ways, and walked around a lot. I got to drive the boat with the help of Elias, our pilot, it was very fun. I decided my favorite thing about being here is all the awesome mercados with their super cheap, super cool stuff. Today I bought myself a little colorful mapish thing of Chile. It has all the names of the states on it, and a picture of something unique from a few of them. I think it is made of some sort of plastic, but it is made to look like metal. Moral of the story, it's hard to explain but me likey.

Had a hard night last night. Missing Danny especially, so Ben's mom keeps telling me I need tres pololos chileno (three chilean boyfriends). It has been quite hillarious. But even though I am missing home and those there I realized this week how much I love my Chilean family, and how much I am going to miss them when I leave. My chilean dad called me today just to check on me and ask how I was doing, and I think we are going to take a family trip to Santiago soon so they can show me around. I'm looking forward to it. My brothers here are awesome. Yerko junior is a sweetheart. Very mature for a 17 year old boy, and has been very fun to talk to. Andrei is hilariously hyper active, but amazingly sweet considering that fact. I love spending time with him, and sharing meals with him. I am a bit sad because I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with my mom yet, but I am looking to remedy that soon. My dad here is just a cherry on the top. He reminds me a lot of dad at home, and has been taking very good care of me. Don't worry dad, he could never, ever take your place, but he is doing very well for a stand in :).

I am super surprised at how much Spanish I have been able to understand lately, and speaking is a bit easier. I am, by no means, even close to being able to talk fluently or understand everything, but I am farther along than I thought I would be. The only thing I worry about now is how I will keep it up when I get home. I don't want to lose everything, language wise, that I learn from this experience. I have also learned so much about myself in the short time I have been here, mostly in the past week and can't wait to learn even more.

I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all more than I could ever express in words, and can't wait to see you in two months. Hasta luego, chao.

Kayli

Three weeks down, nine to go...

School has officially started. We have been in it for to weeks now, and I have already given a speech and taken an exam. I've got another speech on Monday and an exam on Tuesday, plus tons of other little odd jobs. Things are moving incredibly fast, and I love it. For once I'm not wishing we would just get on with things, I like fast paced classes. My lengua class is taught by our program director Florencia and I really like it. It is just the simple learning Spanish class. Our lab is super easy, just listening and answering questions. Our lab teacher, Guillermo, is awesome. He is around 60 years old and has a British accent after studying English somewhere in London or Britain. He speaks very intelligently and you can tell he is constantly trying to think of how to make it as easy as possible for us to understand. My culture class is interesting, but I don't really like it. The teacher is cool because you can tell he is really in to the material, but he is super hard to understand considering he speaks solely in español. He blabs on and on about "identidad chilena" and "la famila chilena" and almost the entire time we have no idea what he is saying. He hardly ever asks us if we understand, doesn't pause long enough for us to say something, and speaks in incredibly elevated language. It is rather frustrating, but we are figuring it out. My Gramática teacher makes me die every day from either laughter, boredom or a mix of both. She talks to us like we are in kindergarten, it is absolutely ridiculous. I have not learned anything new in that class, it's all stuff we have already gone over in Lengua. Hopefully it will get better later when things are more difficult.

I am getting along really well with my family. My dad, Yerko, and I have been doing a lot together and he treats me like his own daughter. I love it. I haven't gotten to know my mom, Loreto, very well yet because she is very busy with work. My 17 year old brother, Yerko (yes the same name as his dad), and I haven't talked a lot because he is with friends a lot. He is very nice though, and I hope to spend more time with him later. My 8 year old brother, Andrei, is hilarious. He loves me right now because I play piano for him, and he is just learning. He always wants me to play and sing for him, and he quizzes me on the names of everything in the kitchen when we eat dinner together. I also have two nannies, both named Mary but pronounced differently. One is the normal pronunciation, the other is pronounced like Mah-ry. They are incredibly nice to me, and I cannot believe how much they do for us. They do laundry every morning, and I don't get it back till it is washed, hung dry, ironed and folded perfectly. They do all the dishes, and make all my meals. I don't even have to get up during meals for anything, they bring and take away everything. When I wake up in the morning my cereal and bowl are ready and waiting, and they always make sure to give me a snack for school. Their constant questions are "Was the water in your shower hot enough?", "Do you have any dirty clothes for me?", "Would you like to eat something?", and my personal favorite "Would you like dessert?". My family is already treating me as one of their own, even the nannies are starting to call me "mi niñeta" (my little girl). I love spending time with them, and they are all making my stay here much better.

I haven't done much since the last time I wrote, other than school, tons of homework and some trips to downtown. We went to Concepción yesterday and got to meet the president of the school. We also went to lunch at the beach and ate tons of cheese empenadas and fish. I'm pretty sure they had to make around 70 empenadas for us. The beach has black sand so I am bringing home a water bottle full to go along with my bottle of New Jersey sand. I also bought a present for Kristin at the mercado there. This week I am having coffee with my compañera on Monday, and we go to Viña del Mar in Valparaiso this weekend. Should be a nice weekend, and I'm sure I will have a lot to write about after.

Well, I think that I have written enough to take up sufficient amounts of time from your busy schedules =). I hope you are all doing well, I miss each and every one of you so much and can't wait to come home. Talk to you in a few days, chao.

Kayli

P.S. If you would like to see pictures just head to my facebook. I have 80 some odd pictures there. Love you all.