Week 3 in Chile

Hey Everyone! I've been having an amazing time in Chile thus far, meeting so many cool people and doing so many interesting things. Immersing yourself in a new culture is quite difficult though and there have been sometimes when I wished I could just go home. Of course, leaving would defeat the purpose of my trip here to Chile, and I just need to remind myself that this is all a learning experience. I've only been here a little over two weeks and I already feel like I've learned so much. Anyhow, here's how my week went.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Today was my sixth day at Ecela, and the start of my final week there as well.  Because of how the school is set up, you are able to start any week of the year and take classes for one week or for as long as you want. So since it was a Monday, I had some new people in my class - Carol from Brazil, Amanda from the USA, and Olivia from the USA. The topic of this week's class was Problems in Latin America. For my morning class from 9-10:40, I had the same teacher as last week, Roxana. For the second class from 11:00-12:40, I had a new teacher named Gisele. There were some new people in that class as well - Olivia and Carol from my first class and Jenise from the USA. After classes ended, I was interviewed by a student named Valentina who is from Austria for her radio show. She is in Santiago for the summer interning for a radio company where she has a show and also writes some articles. Her show was all about how students from all of the world - namely Ecela students - love being in Chile and why they are here. After that, Juliette and I went on a lunch and shopping date to Parque Aranuco, which is a humongous mall and park. Chilean's take their shopping very seriously and consequently there are several upscale malls in the city, and one that specializes solely in upscale sporting goods. After the mall, I headed home for dinner and the night.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Today was my seventh day at Ecela. Today was no ordinary day though because my morning teacher had to leave due to a family emergency, so the school was down one teacher for the day. After a series of phone calls, a new teacher for the day was found for my class. His name was Juan Francisco and he's the director of Ecela. He led a very interesting class where we discussed the history of Chile and how the Pinochet dictatorship still has repercussions in Chile today, especially in terms of how Chile has developed. After class, a bunch of us headed to a cheap sushi place up the block from school with some of the new students from Ecela. The lunch group was comprised of Lindsey from the USA, (but she spent the past 2 years in Venezuela), Jamie from the USA, Laura from the USA, Sonya from Switzerland, and some old friends - Jess, Olivia, Juliette, and Nicole. After lunch, I head home for the night. I was able to Skype my uncle and grandparents as well. It was so great to talk to them. I love how technology makes it so easy to communicate with family and friends back home.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Today was my eighth day at Ecela, but unfortunately I was only able to go a half day because I had a meeting at work at 11am to sign my contract. Even so, I probably could have gone to class because Ramon, another new hire, and I had to wait for 2 hours before Guillermo from HR came and told us that the contracts weren't ready yet and that he was terribly sorry. So Guillermo took us out for lunch to El Corral, a burger joint nearby, and showed us around the neighborhood. After lunch, our contracts were finally ready to be signed. After we signed the contracts, I head home. Even so, our contracts were only the first steps in the process of getting our work permits. Thursday morning were to meet at 11:30 am at the Extranjería or the Foreign Ministry/immigration office in order to apply for our work permits. After that mission, I went home for a bit and then came back into town to go to an event with Ecela. We went to a salsa club for salsa lessons! It was super fun, but I am super uncoordinated and pretty bad. After that, a few of us headed to Bellavista, which is a neighborhood of Santiago that is full of clubs, bars, and pubs and seems to be the center of nightlife here. We stumbled upon an Irish pub with a karaoke night and decided that that was our spot for the night. After a group rendition of "Barbie Girl" by Aqua, I headed home.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Today was my ninth and second to last day at Ecela, and unfortunately I could only go for a half day again because I had to meet the HR people from work at the Extranjería to apply for my work permit. We met there at 11:30 and waited in line for about an hour until it was our turn. It was a much quicker process than I thought it would be, albeit it was rather disorganized. Things aren't the most efficient in Chile, but then again, it is a developing country. Like for example, you have to take a number for almost any sort of line, ranging from the Extranjería to the pharmacy check out to Entel, the cell phone store. Anyhow, the work permit takes a few days to process so I will have to come back Friday or Monday morning to pick up my work permit so that I can start working. 9th day at Ecela, but only went half day again. After, I headed home to help out with watching the kids, but shortly headed back out to the city for a BBQ at Los Buenos Muchachos with other students from Ecela. We had quite a feast at the restaurant, from steak to chorizo to chicken and wine and pisco and dessert. On top of the lovely dinner, there was a cultural show with music and dancing from all over the world as well as audience participations and a dance party turned Zumba work out at the end.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Today was my last day at Ecela. Sad face. But fortunately, I will be in Santiago until the middle of December and many of my friends are here until the end of the summer or until my study abroad program starts in late July. It was a good last day especially because I really enjoy the conversation days and Fridays are always all conversation. After class, I ran some errands and then went home. It was a very hectic afternoon for my host family because they are in the process of moving to an apartment in the city. They are more city people than suburb people, but they live in the suburbs. And on top of that, it's a really far out suburb and it takes almost an hour to get into Providencia. After helping out, I once again headed back into the city to meet up with my friends for yet another BBQ. From what I can gather, Chileans really like their BBQ and of course, they really like their meat. The BBQ was held at a student's hostal near to the school and also near to Bellavista, the nightlife area. So after the BBQ ended, we all headed to a club in Bellavista for the night. It was a super fun time! Santiago has a great nightlife scene and I've had so much fun here thus far.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Today was a very stressful and hectic day. After a lot of thinking and talking with my parents, I decided that it would be best for me to move closer into the city and out of the suburbs. Besides my family was doing the same thing, but didn't have room for me in their new apartment. So I spent the greater part of the day packing my bags and booking a hotel for the week in the city. The week will hopefully give me enough time to figure out a new housing situation. Worst comes to worse, I can stay in the hotel. It has a kitchen with a stove, oven, fridge, and microwave, so I actually could live here. It's also in a great location. It's a 10 minute walk from the metro and 3 blocks from a grocery store and a 20 minute walk to the Bellavista area. It's surrounded by great restaurants, parks and cultural things as well.

I had my friend Kris from the USA, who is working in Santiago for the summer and who also happens to be one of my boyfriend's best friends from high school, meet me at the hotel to help me unpack and get situated. It was also good to see a familiar and friendly face after a stressful and hectic morning. After I finished unpacking, we walked around and explored the neighborhood and stumbled upon a Colombian restaurant for dinner. We had a delicious dinner, and then went grocery shopping to help me get set up and ready for the week. Unfortunately, I do not have pots or pans in my kitchen, so my food options for the week are rather limited, especially because there are not a lot of microwave dinner options like in the United States. After grocery shopping, we decided to keep walking around and just hanging out. Kris is a really nice guy and I am glad that I have been able to become friends with him these past few weeks. He's definitely been a great person to have in my corner in Santiago.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

I had a great first night in the hotel. It's a great set up like I said and a great location. The bed is also super comfortable, so yay! I spent most of the day in the room, Skyping my parents and friends and beginning to search for new housing arrangements. It turns out that the office of my study abroad program is on the same street that I live on, so I am going to stop by there tomorrow to ask them for advice. Hopefully I can figure out something. Fortunately, I already have a few leads.


It was a crazy, stressful, and super fun last week at Ecela. I mad some tough decisions such as moving to the city, but in the end, I know I will be happier here. I start work tomorrow morning and am really looking to my first day at the office. I'll let you know how everything goes next week!

Best,
Lesley

P.S. Photos are on my Facebook page again.

Week 2

I apologize for not posting this yesterday as my computer charger was broken, so I couldn't really use my computer. Crisis averted though as a have a new charger that works now. Yay!

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This week was my first full week in Chile, but it feels like a lot longer. So far, I am loving the city and all the people that I have met through the Ecela School. Everyone is so cool and interesting; all with different life stories that have all brought them to Santiago, Chile. Anywho, here goes my week...

Monday, 6/10/13

Today was my first day of classes at Ecela. Last week, I stopped by Ecela to take the placement test. Today I learned that I was placed into the C1 group, which is the second highest level that the school offers. The C level focuses on various topics that affect Latin America. This week our conversations centered around politics of the world.  My first language class included me, Tatiyane, a woman from Brazil, and Kevin, a guy from South Korea who now works in Chile.  We spent time reading through our textbook and discussing different themes, such as women in politics and immigration. The first session lasted from 9-10:40, and then we broke for a 20 minute break. Following the break, I had class from 11-12:40. That class was more conversationally focused and included me, Tatiyane, Kevin, Edna from Brazil, Alice from Brazil, Bernard from Belgium, and Cristian, a guy born in Ecuador but now lives in New York. With this group of people, we continue to discuss many different political issues that affect our countries in various ways. Each day, we produced a very interesting and insightful conversation about political issues, completely and almost fluently in Spanish. It was amazing to see how much Spanish I actually knew and I was happy that I was able to somewhat articulate most of my ideas.

After class ended, we broke from lunch and orientation. For orientation, we met other students who were starting school that day and had some empanadas for lunch. Empanadas are a staple of the Chilean diet, along with rice, beans, meat and potatoes. It seems that no one really eats vegetables. There were only 3 other people in orientation - Clementine from France, Flaurent from France, and Clare from Long Island, NY. Everyone was so nice at lunch and we began chatting and getting to know each other. So far, everyone that I've met has been so kind, genuine and interesting.

After lunch, the people from orientation, Edna and Tatiyne (Brazil women in my class who are also friends), and the Buffalo group embarked on a city tour with some guides from Ecela. The Buffalo group is a group of about 25 students from SUNY Buffalo who are here on a school trip for 3 weeks. Half of the students are Education majors and half are Sociology majors. So anyhow, we embarked on a city tour and saw Santa Lucia, La Moneda (President Piñera's office) and the government district, the Ex Congreso Nacional and Plaza de Armas as well as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago.

After a long day in the city, I finally headed home. In order to get home I have to take the metro to the bus, which is called the Micro. I am starting to get the hang of it and am feeling like a regular Santiago girl, minus the blonde hair...

Tuesday, 6/11/13

Today was my second day at Ecela. Today's schedule was the same as yesterday's and will be the same for the rest of the week. The people in my classes also remain the same for the rest of the week. The first class is grammar focused for the lower levels, A and B, and topically focused for level C. The second class is a conversation class for people of all levels. I am grouped with people in B2, C1 and C2 levels for my conversation class.

After another day at school practicing spanish, I headed to a vegetarian restaurant around the corner from school with some of my new friends - Clementine from France, Juliette from England, and Alessandra who is Colombian, but lives in Buffalo and goes to SUNY Buffalo. Like I said before, everyone is so interesting and has so much to say, especially because we all only have such a finite amount of time together in Santiago everyone seems to want to say all the can because everyone wants to make new friends in this amazing country and to learn from others perspectives and experiences. This is something that I really enjoy.

After lunch, Juliette, who has been in Santiago for 2 months already, gave Clementine and me a tour of some of her favorite areas of the city. We walked through Plaza Italiana, which is the historic center of the city and where everyone gathers if something big happens such as a presidential election. We then walked through a beautiful park called Parque Balmeceda, which runs along the Mapocho River. The river is very dry because Santiago doesn't get much rain and thus the river is primarily made up of water from the mountains. It is named after the indigenous Chileans or the Mapochos. After walking for what seemed like forever, we arrived at a beautiful market called Mercado de la Vega. There were rows up rows of beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables, hearty slabs of meat and many different kids of seafood. It was a very amazing place to walk through, but it was also slightly unsettling because of all the cat calls. Chilean men really like foreign women and don't hesitate to show how much they do. They especially like blonde hair, light eyes and pale skin because it automatically signals to them that you are wealthy and are from the United States or Europe. So of course, my bright blonde hair has consistently brought me a lot of stares and unwanted attention  At first, I thought it was kind of funny, but now it makes me uncomfortable.  But alas, it is just something I have to deal with for the next 6 months.

After the market, we tried some jugo naturale (fruit smoothie) and some pumpkin break from a street vendor. Both were delicious. Sometimes food here surprises me, especially the plethora of beautifully large and colorful produce readily available each and everyday. Agriculture is still a big industry in Chile as well as copper mining. We then meandered back to Plaza de Armas, but this time we went inside the beautiful and ornate church. Chile is a very catholic and religious country.

Finally after a long day, I met up with some other friends at Casa Ecela, which is the house where some Ecela students live, and then we headed to a bar to watch the Chile vs. Bolivia soccer game with some other friends and Chileans. Chileans love their futbol/soccer, so I really enjoy watching games with them and hearing their cheers when Chile scores. Fortunately, Chile won again,! 3-1! Chi-chi-chi Le-le-le! Viva Chile! At the bar, I tried some very Chilean drinks - Pisco Sour and Piscola. Clearly, Pisco is a very popular liquor here. After the game, I headed home.

Wednesday, 6/12/13

Today was my third day at Ecela. Same people in my class and same class structure. The most interesting and infuriating thing that happened in class today was that the teacher went on a sort of "I hate America" rant. She tried to explain to several Americans and other students that she thought the 9/11 attacks were a conspiracy by the government to gain international attention because buildings don't fall down straight, but rather to the side. This whole rant was in Spanish, of course, but that was the gist of it. I was so furious and I just didn't know how to respond. How dare you tell me that the worst terrorist attack on my country was a hoax. I'm not coming into your country and telling you that the Pinochet dictatorship didn't happen and that it was just a conspiracy by your government. I left class feeling very angry. I guess I always knew that there were a lot of people that don't like the US, but I had never experienced something so ludicrous. But apparently, this is a fairly common viewpoint of many Chileans, and I guess the US is a lot less liked than I thought it was. So far, Chile is really opening my eyes to many new perspectives on politics, on the US and on worldwide problems of poverty and education.

After class, a group of us headed out to lunch at a Peruvian restaurant nearby. Chilean food is not that good, but Peruvian food is amazing, and fortunately there are a lot of Peruvian immigrants in Chile and thus a lot of wonderful Peruvian restaurants  I went to lunch with Nate from Massachusetts, Rachel from New York, Nicole from Arizona, Huw from England and Juliette. After a nice lunch of ceviche and shrimp risotto, my favorite lunch so far, I headed home to relax for a bit until venturing back out into the city.

Most people from Ecela are friends on Facebook, so we do a lot of evening planning via Facebook, which is super useful. Half of the group wanted to go to Miercoles, Po, which is a weekly party that happens on Wednesday nights for all of the exchange students in Chile as well as Chileans. The party is free for foreigners I believe. Unfortunately, the venue was far from school and even further from home, so a few other people and I opted for karaoke night at our new favorite bar, Mito.

Thursday, 6/13/13

Today was the fourth day at Ecela, and class continued as usual. Fortunately, the conversation today was a lot less politically charged. After class, I met up with Nicole for a quick lunch. There are a lot of interesting cafes around in the Providencia area, so we just picked one and tried it. It turned out being fairly decent, and it had vegetarian options for Nicole as well. Other than that, today was relatively uneventful. There was an interesting man on the bus home who was recounting the entire history of Chile. I could understand a portion of what he was saying, so I was happy about that. There are always interesting street performers on the bus, but not as many in the subway stations. So far on the bus, I have seen clowns, a beatboxer/rapper, a trio of spanish guitars and a panpipe, an accordion player, and a guy playing some sort of noisemaker. Santiago is a very interesting city to say the least.

Friday, 6/14/13

Today was the fifth day at Ecela, but it was also my friend Dec's last day at the school as he was headed back home to England on Saturday morning. So the entirety of Friday was a big celebration for his last day. So after class, 10 of us headed back to the Peruvian restaurant because it's Dec's favorite restaurant in Santiago. After lunch, I went back home, only to return to the city a few hours later for more festivities. Eduardo from Brazil and Huw from England had planned a huge BBQ for Friday night and had invited 20-30 people to come over to Casa Ecela for the meal. The boys grilled delicious steak and sausage as well as prepared various salsas and potatoes salads. All of the food was fantastic and it was such a lovely event. At the party that occurred after the BBQ, I got to now a lot new people who aren't in my class at Ecela or who used to go to Ecela but are still living in Santiago. All of the new people that I met were so fascinating and each and every conversation I head was super engaging, whether it be debating the US vs. British education system, arguing for and against US intervention in Syria with a Swiss girl, or discussing modern slavery and female trafficking   Everyone at the school is so passionate about such widely different topics. After we all had finished gorging ourselves on delicious meat from the Mercado de la Vega, we headed back to Mito for Dec's last night, and ended the week with a bang.

Saturday, 6/15/13

Today we went horseback riding in the Andes mountains. It was so much fun! Everyone met at the school around 11am and then we took a bus for about an hour until we arrived at a beautiful equestrian barn on the outskirts of the city. We had a wonderful Chilean BBQ with all different kinds of meats and salads. While we dined on our succulent food, we looked out over the vast Andes mountains at one of the most beautiful views ever. After lunch, everyone met their horse. Mine was a beautiful brown one named Chico. As soon as everyone learned the basics of steering a horse, such as left means left and right means right, we embarked on our adventure in the mountains. We spent 3 hours traversing up and down the mountains and were able to experience some of the most beautiful views. Each and every day that I have been in Chile so far, I have become more and more impressed with the beauty and culture of the country as well as the people. I'm loving Chile so much so far and I'm loving all of my adventures. I've only been here a week, but it feels like a lifetime.

Sunday, 6/16/13

Today was yet another lazy Sunday. I did end up leaving the house to meet Nicole at the mall in Manquehue. There are a lot of malls in Santiago, and Chileans are very serious about their shopping. Unfortunately  I am finding things to be quite expensive here because a lot of the goods are imported from the US and so they are just inherently more expensive.

After spending the afternoon shopping, I went home to Skype my family and to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day! I always love catching up with my family! Love them and miss them!


And so, that's a wrap of my first crazy fun and amazing week in Chile. I'm looking forward to the many more adventures to come! Lastly, the pictures that accompany this blog post can be found on my Facebook page. If you'd rather that I include pictures in the post, please let me know.

Best,
Lesley

Week One in Chile

I have decided to update my blog weekly, every Sunday. Each blog entry will detail what I did that wek and tell some funny stories of what I am learning and doing here. It will include lots of Spanish and some pictures as well. I hope you enjoy!

Besos,

Lesley

6/5/13

Today I arrived in Chile after a long flight from Cleveland. I flew Cleveland to Miami and then had a 3 hour layover and then flew Miami to Santiago, Chile. In total, travel took about 14 hours. After successfully navigated immigration and customs, I was in Santiago! I was picked up from the airport by a driver who took me to Larry and Amanda's house out in Lo Barnechea. Lo Barnechea is a suburb of Santiago that is higher up in the mountains with beautiful views, especially because it is above the smog.

View from Lo Barnechea

Upon my arrival at Larry and Amanda's house, I was greeted by two of their kids, Cadel (4) and Lucas (2) as well as their two Peruvian "nanas", Lily and Elizabeth. Nanas are like housekeepers and nannies and are very common in Chile. Later in the day, Amanda, my host mom for the time being, returned, and I finally got to meet her after exchanging so many emails. Next we went to pick up her oldest daughter, Abby (5), from the Chilean montessori school in the neighborhood. We went to the grocery store and then back home for some dinner and settling in. 

The three little kis speak great spanish, and are basically fluent in spanish. But since they are so young, I don't think the know yet how lucky they are to be being raised bilingual. The 2 year old seems to know more spanish than he does english.

6/6/13

Today was my first day at my internship in Chile. It was interesting. Chileans great each other with a "beso" (kiss) on the cheek, which was awkward for me. Americans have a very different idea of personal space than people in other countries do. Although some people gave me handshakes, which was a lot more normal for me.  I was introduced around the office and finally got to meet Larry, my host dad for the time being and my boss, as well as Ricardo. I am really excited to start work there!

After meeting a lot of people, I met with Jonathan, the HR guy that I have been talking to about my internship for the past couple months.  He took me to run some errands and get some papers that I need for my internship. He's really cool and speaks really great english, so the entire time we were walking around the  He took me to the Chilean IRS thing to get my RUT card which is like my numer here I guess. I don't get what it does but it's very important. We walked around Providencia, which is the business downtown area of Santiago, which is different from the actual downtown area which is the historic center of the city.  Whereas my internship is located in Los Condes.  Santiago is a lot more modern than I expected it to be. Very integrated public transportation system and lots of tall modern buildings.  Of course, there are still a lot of dingy apartment buildings and stuff that looks straight out of the 70s.  Even so, I was pleasantly surprised to see how developed it is here. Chile is considered to be the most developed country in Latin America.

After that adventure, I  I met with this other woman in HR named Javiara. She had me fill out these forms for my work permit, but she didn't speak any English. So that was difficult but I got it done. She then took me shopping to get a blow dryer at this very nice mall near my work.  She was such a nice person and such a help that day.  After she dropped be back off near work, I had a small mental breakdown because I didn't have anyones number to contact them about how I was getting home and I didn't know how to take the bus. So I called my dad crying in the middle of the sidewalk and was like "I can't speak spanish!!! and I'm lost!!!" #sillyamerican My dad emailed Larry to tell him to call me, and so he did. He picked me up from work and then we went back home for dinner. 

For my internship, I will be doing 2 weeks of language immersion at the Ecela school where Amanda goes. Then 3 weeks on a team that is all in spanish, so I need to be super fluent. Then 1 week on a project proposal team. Then orientation and school start for my CIEE program! Hopefully I can keep working at my internship during school, but who knows.

6/7/13

Today Amanda took me to Providencia to register for classes at the Ecela school where she takes spanish immersion classes. She drove me along the bus route, so that I would know how to get there come Monday morning when my classes start. At the school, they had me take a placement test to see what level I would be placed into.  The guy administering the test said I placed to a high level, so I am happy about that because it means I didn't forgot all of my spanish training from Tufts.  I had a really nice being at the school and was able to meet a lot of my future classmates who are all foreigners around my age.  I met some Americans, an Austrian and a Brazilian girl. I am really excited and really looking forward to making friends!

Later in the day we went to the Entel store to get my phone take care of. Entel is the biggest cell phone provider in Chile. Cell phones are relatively new here and were largely introduced by current president Sebastian Piñera, who I think owns the company. I first tried to buy a sim card for my iPhone, but that didn't work so I had to resort to a pay as you go Chilean phone. It crappy, but it works and that is what matters.

Friday night, I met up with one of my boyfriend's best friends from high school, Kris, who is also in Santiago for the summer. We met up in El Golf area and walked around until we found a bar where we could watch the Chilean soccer game. Soccer, or should I say futbol, is huge in Chile, and so we wanted to watch the game with some Chilenos to get the full experience. It was a fun time! Chile beat Paraguay, so everyone was really happy. I learned the Chile cheer which is "Chi-Chi-Chi Le-Le-Le! Viva Chile!" After the game ended, we wandered back to his place in Ñuñoa, which is a trendy neighborhood in Santiago.  I met one of his roommates, Maura. Kris lives with two Chilean girls who are also sisters. I talked to Maura for a while and she helped me with some spanish grammar issues that I was having and was in general very sweet. She said that I had an impressive vocabulary, but sound like a "gringo" or foreigner when I speak. So I will have to work on that. I decided to crash on their couch instead of going back to Lo Barnechea because it was late and it was far. It wouldn't have been safe for me to take the bus home and a cab would have cost like $50. So I let Amanda know the plan and stayed the night.

6/8/13

In the morning, we woke up and Kris made me a nice breakfast. He was pulling out all the stops to be nice to his friends girlfriend. But whatever, I appreciated his nice breakfast anyway.  After we talked to my boyfriend, James, on Facebook for a bit to catch up with him and since it was really random and funny that Kris and I were hanging out. Kris walked me to the bus stop and I eventually made my way back to Lo Barnechea. I had to take two buses and make a transfer, and then a shuttle to their house, but I did it! I'm like a regular Chilean city girl. I spent the rest of the day hanging out with the kids at home and Skyping my family back in the States. Always good to catch up with them and let them know that I am safe and doing well.

View of Santiago from Kris' apartment

Here is a tidbit of important Chilean slang that I definitely always need to remember. In Chile, the term for boyfriend is "pololo" not "novio" like in most other spanish speaking countries. Always gotta remember that haha. "Tengo pololo" = I have a boyfriend.

6/9/13

Today is just a lazy Sunday. Larry and the kids are out taking Amanda to the airport because she is going to Peru for the week to stay with a family and practice her spanish. The Ecela school set it up for her.  I hope to go to the gym later today and to go run some errands. I need to go get some groceries, recharge my Chilean phone, buy some notebooks and supplies for school tomorrow  and to go to the ATM. Unfortunately, I don't know how to call the shuttle for the neighborhood because it is very difficult to call Chilean numbers because there are lots of different combinations of numbers that have to go before the actual number. So I will just wait until Larry and the kids get back so they can help me.

That's all for now! So until next Sunday, adios!

Chile Bound

Hola Amigos,

Long time, no see. I'm back to blogging now because I am about to embark on my next life adventure. Three years ago, I ventured to the School for Ethics and Global Leadership in Washington, DC for a semester during my junior year of high school. That semester changed my life and helped me figure out what my passions are - specifically international relations. Through this discovery, I ended up at Tufts University in Medford, MA for my college years. Tufts has one of the world's best undergraduate and graduate programs in international relations, so naturally, Tufts is a perfect fit for me.  As an international relations major, it is almost required that you travel abroad for a semester during your college years, and so here we are now.

Today, I head way, way south to Santiago, Chile for 6 amazing months! I will be spending 6 weeks interning in Santiago. After, I will send 4 months studying at Pontíficia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago. I  can't wait! Hopefully, you all can join me on my travels via this blog where I will periodically post updates about my time abroad.

Gracias,
Lesley