Segunda Semana

Aye!
Chile is as lindo as ever, especially now as I learn more and more Spanish. I forget how long it´s been since I updated this blog, but to me it feels like no time at all. The days pass like a whirlwind. They told us when we arrived that we would be in love with everything and everyone for the first two months, so increíble y verdad!

I can´t count how many times I´ve confirmed that mis compañeros, mi familia, mi casa, etc son muy simpaticos... I´m known for saying two things: ¨todo esta perfecto!¨ y ¨no puedo comer mas! Porqué mi estomago es chiquito!¨

I realized today what Chiquita Banana means... And learned this week what nos vamos is, the basic steps to the cueca (the national dance), how to play cueca music on the guitar, how to play ¨Paint it Black¨ on the guitar, how to talk to someone who speaks no English, how to understand someone who wants to practice their English, tutor someone who diesn´t want to learn English, and so so so much more. I´m just never bored here. There´s so much to do and see and find out. After school every day I go exploring with Alex, another estudiante intercambio. Yesterday I got gellato and completos (enormous and well-filled hotdog type deals), found a lady who sells 7 spring rolls for 100 pesos (25 cents), and met Alex´s host mom and dad who run stores that sell knockoff name-brand shoes for 2.000 pesos (four dollars a pair). Not to mention all that I´ve done today...

Now I´m sitting en la casa de mi abuela, surrounded by half my family. Mi hermanita who is older than me but about 5 inches smaller and has toddler-sized hands and feet, whose boyfriend broke up with her two days ago, who fainted in school yesterday, who dances the cueca and squeals when we play rummy (I´m demonstrating the impossibility of describing a person I know so well that you don´t)... My cousin Connie, who loves anime and is my rolly-polly kissing huggy cousin.... In the back room are my abuela, who kisses for about 10 seconds with her little old-lady lips and says ¨Liiiinnda linda!!¨, mi mamá, who is serious and sweet and always busy, mi papá, who can´t win rummy, my brother (who can), my little cousin Carlitos, who is absolutely wild and too loud... And Saske, the kitty who has learned to sit on my shoulders and likes to hang out on top of the tree outside the house (The trees here have a huge thick trunk, are about five feet tall, and have a few tiny branched coming out of the tops since it´s winter... They´re ideal sitting-spots for cats since they´re dog-safe)...

We had onces about an hour ago, which consisted of tea (with a LIQUID synthetic sweetener which I´m infatuated with) and bread with a) egg and b) blackberry jam (asflkhlñll delicioso)... Not much is happening. I´d watch TV with everyone else but the TV here is ridiculous... It´s all dumb blonde girls in bikinis governing grease-sliding competitions (I kid you not).

Saturday I went to a fiesta! Mi primera! It started at 10 and I left around 130 while it was still booming. I tasted and didn´t like the alcoholic drink here, the name of which slips my mind... Lots of dancing, food, and a couple really drunk kids. Way more fun than parties in the States though!

Aiiiee the food here is really boring! Send me some hot sauce!

But I still love it! Perfecto, increíble, I love everything and everyone. Verdad, no miento.

Chao, nos vamos, cuidate mucho!
Emilia

PS
The best part of being here: Being known as the most beautiful girl in the school. Why? I´m blonde.
I´ve had several items given to me (hat, Vamos Chilenos bracelet, phone numbers...) , about five boys following me around, and twenty more watching my every move.
One of my more common phrases is, ¨Ahh, no quiero un pololo aqui!¨ (I don´t want a boyfriend here) and the response to the ineveitable WHY NOT???!, ¨demaciado difícil!
So tell gamommy not to worry about the little brown babies. Snarkfle.