My first day with the Borquez Family

Hola! So I made it through my first whole day in Santiago. After orientation today, I didn't have to take the Espanol placement test, so I took a short nap and then we waited for our host families to pick us up. We were all incredibly nervous to finally meet these people who we will live with for the next few months. I dragged my heavy bags from room 109 to the lobby and as I entered, one of my classmates mouths to me: She is here for you! I turn the corner and there is a tiny woman whose face lights up as I see her. Brenda, the USAC coordinator, introduces us and that was it. I was in the hands of Cecilia. We take my bags outside to meet her husband Carlos with the car. It wasn't a very long drive to Providencia, the area where they live. Santiago is broken down into neighborhoods with different names. Mine is quite close I'm told to the Universidad. I have to tell you about driving in Santiago. People drive very fast, the roads are very curvy, everyone tailgates, and they use their horn a lot. The Borquez car needs new brakes and it makes this horrible screeching sound when they stop. Not a squeak, but a 'oh my god, will it stop in time?' sound.

The apartment is on the 4th floor of the building and there are no elevators. The stairs are outside which is fine because it was 85 degrees today. No air conditioning but it is breezy so I am in heaven. I love the warmth. The apartment is very small but it accommodates everyone very well. Their living room has two couches that are 6 inches from the small coffee table between them. It is more of a reading room, because there is no TV. The TVs are in everyone's bedroom. Opposite the living room is the dining room and kitchen. Then down the hall are three bedrooms. Francesca and Maria Jose live in one, Cecilia and Carlos, in another, and then mine is next to the bathroom. Actually everything is next to everything, because the apartment is small. I took some pictures and as you can see my room is small but it has everything that I will need.

They have given me a pretty much anything that I could ask for. They also feed me like crazy. Big meals and oh... yes we had tea time at 6pm. Cecilia gave me juice (which she calls ooss) and three(!) pieces of bread with tons of fresh avocado mash on top. It was delicioso, but filling. Three hours after that we had dinner. I will have to work on my ability to only ask for a little. Cecilia and Carlos know a lot of English, however their accents are so thick that I am having trouble understanding them no matter what language they are speaking. Also, Chileans have their own way of speaking. They typically do not say the ends of words and they combine a lot of them. So for instance instead of saying "Como estas?" which is how are you? They say something like "Comtoy?" I have a lot of work ahead of me.

So after I arrived and before tea time we went shopping for me. I exchanged my American dollars to Chilean pesos. Then I needed to get a cell phone which I did. It took a while to get it. People in Chile take their time with customer service. I picked out the phone, paid for it, and then we waited for them to bring and activate the phone for like 20 minutes. My number is 85859328. I don't know the codes you dial from America. And here you have to dial different numbers before land lines, cellphones, and depending on which way you are calling. Eh, you don't have to call me on that number, just email me. Then I bought a watch because I didn't have one. Again, with the waiting to receive the actual purchase. The last thing we did was to buy a Bip! card so that I can ride the metro and buses. It is called the bip card, because when you scan it, the scanner goes beep! and in espanol - its spelled bip.

Mom - the family loved the gifts. Cecilia was crazy about the candles and the girls loved the necklaces. Carlos was bragging about his Vikings sweatshirt. It was great. They were surprised.

Anyway I leave you all with the best part of my room. The view.