Amigos, familia, discos, y piscola...Chile es un lugar maravilloso :)

The title in English...
Friends, family, clubs, and piscola...Chile is a wonderful place :)

Hola a todos! (Hello everyone!)

I hope you are all doing well. I am great, and Arica is amazing. We have done SO much in just a few days, and we have already learned a lot by being here. Ok, once again this blog post might get a teeny bit long...there is just so much to write about :)

Ok, so last time I talked with you all, we had met our primos ("cousins"-our conversation partners), and we had walked in el centro (downtown). The weather is wonderful here, but if you ask the Chileans, they think it is cold :) Honestly, it's really similar to a summer day for us, but at night time, it does get a little chilly, and we need a light jacket.

Ok... so Friday we all gathered and had a fiesta (party) at one of the other host homes. It was us, our moms, some siblings, the dad of the house, some of the "primos" and our coordinator from Chile-Pochy. (I'm really struggling with words today...I wrote Chilly instead of Chile haha. I just woke up from my siesta,so please forgive me for my mistakes haha). At the fiesta, we had some pizza, and there was also cervesa (beer) and pop to try. The pizza is really different. There really isn't any sauce or cheese, but there are a lot of vegetables on it. It was actually pretty great! (It's pictured below) Also, in my opinion, the cervesa isn't really that great haha. But after we were done eating, our moms left, and all of the younger people went up to the room of the brother of the house, and we all tried piscola. Pisco is a type of alcohol that you can add to pop; we added it to cola sooo pisco+cola=piscola :) It was actually really good! This drink can only be found in Peru and Chile, but I have been told that the two taste different, and the two countries argue that theirs is the best :) Ok, so after mingling in the brothers room for a little bit, we went to the club..or here they call it "el disco."

El disco was SO much fun! We arrived there around 11:30 or 12ish, but honestly, we were early! We were the first group of people to start dancing at the club. The people of Chile don't go out until usually 1ish or 2ish and then then stay out until around 5 or 6 am. Holy cow!?! haha. It was funny, because we were the only ones dancing, and EVERYONE was staring at us. I'm starting to get used to that though. It's just not common to see Americans here. El disco had latino and american music, and by the time we left (around 4ish...and yes AM) the whole place was packed, and everyone was dancing (yes-guys too). It was amazing! Pretty much a scene out of a movie. There is just so much life here! It's addicting :) There were many guys that were quite persistent and wanted to dance with us girls, but we just say no thank you (although it might take some time to get them to leave. It's nice to have Phil-the only guy on our trip- around just in case we have problems with guys. When we were ready to leave, we took a taxi, something I'm not used to, but we do it quite often. Rachel (my roommate) and I had a little bit of trouble opening the gate in front of our hose though...and we had a panic moment, but in the end we figured it out! Oofta ;) It was really one of the best nights of my life-just feeling the latnio music and moving to the beat with some awesome people :) There's a picture below at el disco with mis amigas (my friends) me, Jonna, Allison, Emily (in back) and Rachel to the right.

Yesterday (Saturday..I think), we had a BBQ at our university-the photo that has a building and says bienvenidos with me is the front of my university here. The BBQ was with the other foreign exchange students and the people that help out in the language area at the school (some of my new friends are pictured with me at the BBQ below). It was SO great! We had more piscola. (there's a picture of me below with the pisco and the cola...wanted to be able to show you what it looked like...don't worry-It sounds like I'm drinking a lot here haha but really we are just trying the different drinks that are common here). Also we talked, danced the salsa (so cool! but I was terrible at it! But I can move my hips pretty well haha), and played musical chairs. There is a guy from New York here that teaches English, and was really helpful. He told us many places to visit and what to do while we are here. I hope to get together with this group of people again. So much laughter, liveliness, and happiness at the BBQ. There are many stray dogs that live here, but most of them are typically nice (but don't worry we don't pet them or anything) and follow us from the university to home, and vice versa. This happened yesterday for Rachel and I, the cutest little black and gray dog followed us from the University hehe I even took a picture of him haha :)

Last night Rachel and I went to church with Ligia. It was very open (everything is here-some places don't even have doors because it never rains here). The service was actually really similar to home, but one difference is not everyone kneels when we usually do at home...oh and it was all in Spanish ;) There were a couple older ladies that sang some beautiful songs, and it was so nice to be someplace that felt like home, even though the service was in a different language.

After church, some of the group went to a little pub, and Allison (my UNI friend) and I tried a pisco sour...Holy cow! It was too strong, and we probably won't be getting that again! (That's her pictured with me with a yellow kind of drink...trust me our faces were not that happy after that first sip-too strong and sour haha). Anyway, we just sat around and mingled with one another. I love everyone that came on this trip! They really are awesome :) And I love everyone that I have met from Chile as well! I'm just so happy to be here; it truly is amazing! I'm not sure if I have told you, but I live with Ligia and her daughter (Claudia) and Claudia's daughter (Valentina) and Rachel (a UNI girl). They are all so sweet :)

Ok, I'm going to write another post for what we all saw today...this is ridiculously long already :) Hope you're all well...and your eyes aren't all blurred from reading too much ;) Miss you and love you all!

Adios de Chile! (Goodbye from Chile) Besos! (kisses)--> this reminds me...the way they greet here is by kissing each other on the cheek with a little hug! It's so cute! I love it :)