Hola a todos! I am so sorry that I haven't posted in so long. Life has really taken off here :) Classes are in full swing as is my social schedule! The first couple of weeks were especially hard for me because I had not found a good group of friends yet. I was very blessed last week when I met a girl named Jessie who is the "hija" of my Chilean mom's best friend. Not only did I meet Jessie but I also met Pam and Jocelyn we have all been hanging out a lot and going to Church together. I was really concerned at first that I was not going to find a group of down to earth people like me because at first it seemed like almost all of the students just really wanted to go out and party. While I enjoy going out with friends I do not like doing it every night or going crazy like the other students enjoy doing. Jessie, Pam, and Jocelyn are really nice down to earth Christian girls who like to have fun but for us to have fun we do not neccesarily need to go out and do something or have alcohol involved! The past couple of days we have gone to our Church's youth group and hung out with some Chilean university students, hung out at the beach, and watched movies together. We are already starting to plan trips together also which is amazing!

Life in general has been getting easier here. I am getting to be a lot more comfortable with the language so I am more adventurous about going out and doing things on my own or talking with Chileans. I think this weekend I might go to Santiago with Jocelyn since my last class on Friday is cancelled!

Talking about classes, my classes are going very well. I am really enjoying my different topics. I am taking Literatura Espanola 2 which is Antigua Espanol literature such as Don Quixote. This is going to be my hardest class I think since the books are written in old spanish. Another one of my classes is a Latin American and Chilean short story class which is really really interesting. We read short stories and them analyze them from a historic and literary viewpoint. I have a grammar class which is pretty interesting even though I am not a huge fan of grammar. My teacher is pretty awesome, think Jack Black in School of Rock. I am taking two history classes, one is History of America Latina in Siglo XX which will be a lot of work but fun. My other class is a history and film class where we watch film clips and then look at them from a historical standpoint. So cool!

The university system here is definitely different then in the US. Classes are much more relaxed here, professors arrive 15-20 minutes late and if a student arrives late it doesn't matter. There is not much homework (at least so far) the most homework that I have is reading for my literature classes. Grades are not based on class participation, homework, essays, and exams such as in the US. Instead, we have 2-4 opportunities to pass the test. Some of my classes have two exams, others have a project and an exam, and some of my others have 4 exams. It makes it a little more stressful for me since I am not awesome at test taking but I think I will be able to pass :)

All in all I am really starting to feel at home here! It is hard to believe that I have been here for almost a month! I am off to have lunch with my mom now and then two more classes this afternoon before I hang out with Pam, Jessie, and Jocelyn!





PS: The picture at the top is of the river and the ocean connecting. We have been stuck between two storm fronts the pass couple of days so the waves have been crazy! The couple in the picture is my mom and dad, Rossy and Freddy. The picture of me and a girl is my sister Francisca and I. The final picture is of Jocelyn, Jessie, and myself! More pictures can be seen on my facebook page :)