Saludos de CHILE!

Hey! Hola!! A big hug and many greetings from South America - I'm here at last! There is so much to tell that I don't even know where to begin...but let me tell you a few "highlights" from the past days... :)

Tuesday: I said goodbye to Charlie and Tali, my siblings, in the morning, and finished up the last few packing details. I left my house at around 12 pm, and stopped by the Schoenstatt Center in Waukesha for a few hours to say goodbye to my friends and the Blessed Mother in the Shrine. I was kind of sad to say goodbye, but it's only for a few months anyway, and then I'll be back! :) (Picture: me, Monika, Nancy & Father :))

After this, my grandma drove my mom and I (my mom is down here with me until next Tuesday) to the airport in Milwaukee, where we found out our plane to Dallas, TX was delayed and we would probably miss the flight to Chile. We decided to risk it, and so we flew. We arrived in Dallas at 9:25pm and our flight was to leave at 9:50pm, so we literally ran across the airport and purely by the grace of God, made our flight. A real miracle. Childlike trust in Divine Providence is the only way to go, I tell ya. 

 (look who had her own seat next to me on the way to Dallas!)

Wednesday: we arrived in Chile!! My chilean parents :) picked us up at the airport and took us home. There I met Macarena (Maca), my 19 year old host sister who is still on winter break until Monday. Yes, being southern hemisphere and all, it's winter. So this week it is pouring rain and around 55°F, but it is the first time it is raining all year, and it's not supposed to stop until Monday. What luck I bring, right? :P Ok, so after we arrived (and were visited by my friend Daphnne!) and ate some breakfast (at like 10am), we visited the school, which is on our block. It is called Colegio Mariano de Schoenstatt (like Marian Schoenstatt school), and is from kindergarten through 12th grade. I haven't actually started there yet, so more on there later. But my first impression was pretty great. Right when you walk in the front door there is an MTA picture and a picture of Father in Milwaukee, so I felt right at home. 

There are MTA pictures everywhere!! which is basically the best thing ever. The shrine is also like a part of the school kind of. I'll post again about that when I actually visit it, as I've not had an opportunity yet, which is rather unfortunate. After visiting the school, my mom rested and I went with Maca (host sister) and mi mama chilena :) to purchase my uniform. The rest of the day was not super eventful, just a nap and driving around Santiago to drop something off with mi papa chileno and Maca.

Today (Thursday): Today I decided not to go to school yet, to spend some time with my mom and to do the necessary processes to legalize my stay and such. It was really pouring rain, but Maca and I walked to the bus stop, rode it to the metro, and met my mom where we continued to the "Registro Civil" (civil register) to try to get my Chilean Identity Card. Eventually Maca and I ended up running to the other side of the city to get another form, then back, then waiting...eventually we got home and ate lunch at around 3pm. Which is normal here, also normal for lunch to be the main meal. Here they are always asking if I need more food, and trying to get me to eat more. I'm not really sure why. I guess some things never change no matter which country you are in ;). After, I took a nap (I don't know why I've been so tired!!) and spent some time getting to know the family better. I also gave them some "American" gifts. :)

Here is a picture of us. Sonia, the mom, is super sweet, a real mom type, and doesn't speak any English. José, called "Pepi", the dad, is very nice and interested in talking to me and learning more about how things are in the USA, which is great. He doesn't speak English either, and both he and the mom are some sort of engineers. Maca and I have already become good friends. She is 19 and studying medicine in the university, and does speak pretty good English, but we still usually speak in Spanish. Tomasso is 15, and really liked the American Football I gave him. I don't really know him at all yet. He also makes good popcorn, and speaks some English I think. Antonella, called Anto, is 7, and super adorable. As you can see I'm sure. She also goes to my school, and was showing off her card game, dolls, German, English, and telling Maca and I all about the drama at school among the first graders. :D 

There will be much more to come, I'm sure, about all that I've experienced so far, but it's far too much for now. However, here are a few pictures of interesting things from the past two days :) Enjoy and God bless!

First picture I took of Chile from the plane!

Santiago!

Rain, rain, rain...

"Caracol" shopping place, because it spirals like a snail shell. In one of the stores there was just an MTA picture casually amidst other religious articles for sale. I was so excited and mi mama chilena was surprised that I was surprised. #schoenstattcultureshock

Street vendors are everywhere. Today everyone was selling umbrellas especially.

Riding the bus...

My room. Antonella wanted to let me sleep in hers for these months, so I am, hence the pink and princess things :) She's very generous. <3

My room shrine!

Mi familia chilena's home shrine. I'll post the name another time because I forgot it. It was dedicated on Nov. 18, 2013, exactly 50 years after the foundation of the home shrine! #milwaukeelegacy ;)