It has been a pretty hectic couple of weeks here in Valparaiso, Chile! I have already learned so much about the city and the culture and the way things are done. It has been an adventure, to say the least, and I have a long way to go before I will be a master of this city.
Our group (there are 38 of us) arrived in the Santiago airport on the morning of July 17th. I am the only one from Hope; other students are here from all over the United States. Chile is in the same time zone as Michigan, so I did not have to adjust my internal clock. We spent our first three days in a hotel for our orientation, in order to get accustomed to the city and the program and the idea of being abroad. It was a lot of information, but I like everybody in the program, so that makes everything easier.
That Saturday we met our host families. I live with a couple slightly older than my parents and their daughter, who is married and has kids. The house is a two-story house, and the daughter’s family lives on the first floor, and the parents and I on the second. We always have at least one meal together during the day, either lunch or dinner. I have no problem with being in a big family because I am the middle child of five kids. I am very used to being around little ones and having people around all the time.
The meal times are a bit different here, with breakfast when you wake up, lunch around 2 pm, and dinner around 8 pm. The life here is just later, too. My host dad does not leave for work until 8:15 or so, and my host mom likes to sleep until 11.
There has been a lot to do and figure out, like public transportation and school and the dialect they use. It has been a difficult couple of weeks, but I am sure that in a month I will have it all down. I cannot believe how much I have already learned, and I look forward to having even more adventures!