Rain, Rain, Go Away

So much rain! It's a little unfortunate and my house mom says it hardly rains. But, it seems like it's here to stay for a while. Speaking of my house mom, I love her! She is the sweetest thing on the planet! Her name is Gloria and she lives by herself in what would be considered uptown Santiago. Hopefully I can get a picture with her soon!

Anyway, central heating does not exist. Space heaters are where it's at! It's pretty darn cold inside and out. Even though I am sitting inside, I'm wearing pants, warm fuzzy socks, a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a scarf. With the heater pointed in my direction I'm comfortable :) Heating aside, I think Gloria is on the wealthier side of Santiago. I got really lucky with my house placement and I am super thankful for a mom that is extremely nice.

Today and yesterday I have been wandering the city just to see what's out there. The dreary weather makes everything gray. The skyscrapers just seem to blend into the misty clouds above. Luckily, gray became one of my favorite colors last year (Probably a product of Macie's passion for black, I just couldn't go that extreme) and I have found that I quite like it. I got a cell phone yesterday for local calls and texts... what an experience! It's prepaid, so I don't have a bill to worry about, but the poor man explaining the plans to me and my friend had to repeat himself about 5 times. I finally decided on a phone though and I now feel connected to the world again, even though my contact list if full of a staggering 5 numbers. I think the guy who sold me the phone took down my number. He said he was just kidding, but then never erased it haha. I haven't heard from him yet and I'm hoping I won't.

Today so far has consisted of meeting my mama chilean and her showing me around the neighborhood. It was pretty funny how everyone in the program was matched up. We were led to a church and all the students sat on one side of the aisle and the host families on the other. One by one they called a student and then a parent. As each stood up you just went, hugged, and then you were off with no further instruction.

My mom came with her sister because her sister was the only one with a car. At first I thought, "Wow, I have two mom's?? That's pretty radical for Chile", that was before I took a closer look at them and realized they were related. The sister would honk at every pedestrian and approaching car, even if there weren't in her way. I wanted to crack up, but the I thought that would probably be rude haha.

Coffee and sweets are typical to eat in the afternoon. Dear lord, is there such thing as the abroad 15? So far I'm liking it here, a lot. I keep forgetting that i am here for school. It still feels like a crazy vacation that I just decided to take. 

Sorry for the long entry, you're super cool if you read the whole thing. These first couple days are just filled with interesting stuff to share. That is sure to change once school starts. ¡Hasta luego!