Gone Fishin'

The Weekend Sept 21-22:

Day 1: 

My family told me we were going to our field house to go fishing, FINALLY! I was so excited. I could finally try out my flyfishing rod they got me for my birthday. At 1 o clock we piled into the car to go to the field house which I thought was right outside the city. It turns out that it is an hour and a half dirt road drive into Patagonia with the most amazing views you can think of. I brought my book to read in the car and the entire time I was just sitting there looking out the window at the mountains it was incredible. When we arrived we were greeted by a very nice white house which is owned by my family. The first thing we id was all drank a quick cup of coffee to get our heads in the right place and then my brother and I geared up to fish. The walk to the river was through thickets of bamboo, this was really cool. We spurted out into a river overlooked by a giant mountain and a party cloudy sky. It wasn't scenery to die for but it was still beautiful and it was time. Rods ready. First cast. Total humiliation. My brother was laughing so hard. I had forgotten all the things that Ian and Coach Shehadi had taught me. However, I got the hang of it over the course of the day. Unfortunately I fell into the water passed my boot line about 10 minutes into fishing and the water was really freezing. The pain didn't last for long because surely enough I lost feeling in my feet rather quickly! The next three hours were spent enjoying the cool breeze and fishing. My brother even got a little bugger at the end of everything! It was so great to spend this time with my brother and bond over the peacefulness of the river and nature. There is literally no one where we were it was very relaxing. The whole fishing thing was just a bonus. When we headed back my uncle and dad had chicken prepared and waiting for us. It was delicious and just what I needed to replenish. My brother and I went back out to spin fish off a ledge by the house after we finished but there was nothing biting. On that note we packed everything up and started our long trek home in the dark. I was so burnt out. I slept a lot of the way home. Good day, 'twas a good day. 

Day 2:

So Sunday I had set to be my day to work on everything I never had the chance to work on during the week. I had contacting the US and family to catch up on, blogging, homework for school, and I really wanted to spend it relaxing. My dad had asked me if I wanted to go fishing again today and I said no because I felt like it would really put me back in everything. I thought that when I said no, that meant that the family would not be going. It turns out everyone was still going and when they said goodbye to me and I looked outside at the 55 degree-clear-blue sky I yelled wait for me! I ran to my room, got dressed and within two minutes was in the car ready for another round. I cannot tell you how happy I was to make that decision. Rotary says, never say no in regards of trying something new and going places and it could not have been more applicable to me last week. 

The drive over was absolutely stellar, in respect to the views. The mental part of the drive wasn't great but I'l touch on that a in a bit. It was the same drive as the day before but Saturday was rather chilly and quite cloudy. Sunday, was perfect. I cannot describe my view and that is why there are 600+ photos in the album. You are going to have to check at least some of them out because there just aren't words to describe Patagonia. Right before our Cabana we took a right up a giant hill. Today we were going to go to a lake that was in a different location than our house. We drove 5 minutes up hill before following it with a 5 minute steep downhill. We then arrive at what appeared to be a section of the forrest that was either cleared down or burned down but it was much thinner than the rest. But I could see the lake clearly and it was calling my name! However, something wasn't right in my head. The whole car ride, when I should have been soaking in the beauty surrounding me, I had a bunch of negative thoughts in my head. I have realized on this journey that my mind is definitely my worst enemy. I seemed to discovered a way to have every negative thought possible swirl through my undersize 18 year old cranium. This timing was terrible. 

I still felt like the day good be salvaged so I got ready and grabbed my favorite cereal that I have become addicted to and my brother and i headed to the lake. There was a little shore for us to fish on that at first glanced appeared to be a completely normal pile of sand. What we soon found out was that it was like quick sand. There were dry spots but it all appeared to be the same. Very funny trying to figure out which parts were dry, and which parts would make you die. However, the bonus was, when you stepped onto the shore all the scenery around you just unfolds and becomes the most beautiful panorama I had ever seen. Not a cloud in the sky. For a few moments my thoughts disappeared, then I began to fish. 

I have always been a been a fairly competitive person with very little patience. I'm not a huge fan of golf because I mentally can't handle the frustration when I don't play well. Sometimes to enjoy something I have to relatively succeed. Well let's just say I did not succeed at fishing, fly fishing that is. nothing could go right for me. The wind was blowing my line every which way. My fly kept getting caught in the reeds in front of me and behind me. I didn't even care if I caught something I just wanted a stress free and relaxing experience like the day before. I had a bunch of frustrating emotions boiled up when I just decided it was better to put the rod down for a little while and breath. That was when my brother yelled that he was stuck. For the next hour my dad, uncle, mom, and I worked on trying to relieve my brother my depths of the quick sand. It was very inconvenient at the time but eventually it just became comical. This was something that I needed. After that my brother was ready to start fishing again and I just thought that maybe I should stop and just look around me instead of worry about fishing. To clear my head. So I grabbed my box of quaker oats cereal and began to munch, and finally not thing. With the silence of nature around me and the sun setting in front of me. I had an amazingly cleansing hour. It was exactly what I needed. Finally I felt ready to fish. 

My brother had begun spin fishing because it appeared that there was nothing biting the flies. I casted a few times and as just enjoying what was happening around me when I felt a little tug. I haven't caught a fish since I was 7 years old on a ship in florida when I caught 4 and no one knows how or why. I began to reel in and think maybe it was a rock or something when a big momma fish landed on the shore. Immediately my family said that we were going to take that home for dinner. We took some pics and put her into my empty cereal box. I felt so happy and so accomplished after that. My brother caught two small ones that we put back right after that. The sun set that followed was so incredible. Once the sun settled behind the Andes it became rather cold and we packed up to head back. Like the day before the car ride home was spent mostly sleeping. 

At the house my uncle filleted my fish. 2 kilos and 1 kilo of fillet! Woohoo! It looked delicious. The next day I ate it for lunch. Oh. My. God. It was so good. I wanted another one right after. Best fish I've ever eaten. 

This whole experience proved the Rotary saying, "never say no". This long blog post wouldn't have happened if I had stayed home and said no. I would have missed out on an unforgettable experience where I had a great time and grew mentally. 

PHOTOS:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98473393@N04/sets/72157636028898855/

Independence Week

Sunday, Sept. 15: 

So the day that I posted my last post my family had a big celebration for my nana's birthday. She is like the family grandma that isn't actually blog related. I woke up at 1 o'clock like a usual Chilean Sunday and RAN to my nana's house because my dad told me they were starting lunch at 1. I felt so badly. Turns out I had forgotten the fact that in Chile, especially with my family, when a time is given it will never actually be that time. Add an hour or two or sometimes three and you will still be on time. When I arrived at the house at 1:10 my two cousins visiting my nana were still sleeping and the food was from from ready. This was a relief. 

The whole place decorated very nicely for my nana. There were balloons everywhere, there were streamers and signs and noise makers and everything. Plus we got to reveal the plasma screen TV that my dad purchased on Saturday for her along with a blanket that my brother and I bought. Now fast forward to the food. We ate slow cook pig ribs over a bonfire. It was absolutely outstanding. I cannot express enough how good it was. That is one of the biggest differences from the US. The people cook so incredibly well and the meat is just unbelievable. I have been to very nice restaurants that cannot tough the meat here. I just couldn't stop eating it was incredible. The rest of the day was just relaxing with my two girl cousins, Vicky and Laura, and my brother, Jere. It was a very nice testament to a wonderful woman, along with great food and lots of memories. Now my week off for the independence of Chile could begin. 

     









  

Monday:

As I went out for an afternoon run to try to cut out some of the thousands of pounds of meat I had engulfed the day before, I ran into (literally ran into him, didn't see him and we collided) a member of my basketball team. He quickly stopped me and asked if I wanted to go to his house tonight for a barbecue with some friends. When I came back from my run I got showered and in a couple hours I was on my way to the supermarket to help buy the goods. In the US, you know how there are baskets of fruit you buy by the pound? Those exist in Chile. But they also have the same thing with fresh bread--except here you buy it by the kilo. The bread here is just so good and there is SO much of it. I have so much bread every day. When I get back to Manchester I am going to miss the meat and bread. Sara Lee turkey and Shaws white bread loafs are not going to cut it. When we got to my friend Marcello's house we started the BBQ. My stomach was turning from emptiness and it was killing me that I was a half hour from food. However, this wait was worth it. We had beef and hotdogs with bread and it was perfect. Every time I eat here I feel like I am at a restaurant and this was made by a 17 year old! We had a great time laughing, eating, and finishing off the night playing a FIFA tourney that I did not take part in. It's like my brain physically can't play video games. But it's never been something that I have been capable of. I just played guitar in the background and tried to sing in Spanish. Midnight. Time for Weston to go home. Good food, good night. 

Tuesday: 

Tuesday night there was another party at my friends house. Just like the last, I danced and danced and danced from 11-4 in the morning. And once again, it was awesome. This one had a crowd from a different school which for me was almost more fun because of all the people I got to meet. Along with the dancing I had some really good conversations with new friends about life and past exchangers and everything. It was a great night. Plus we hired a fairly legit DJ with a sweet set up for 50 dollars for the whole night, really good price. The sound was tight, the night was long, and my legs were hurting by the end. I had set myself up for missing the first half of Wednesday in my bed. But part of what makes sleeping so late worth it is the people I get to meet. Because I was part of set up and clean up crew for both parties I got to know the host's (Oscar) cousin fairly well who was visiting for the week. His name is Rolando and went to Rhode Island last year for a Rotary exchange. I got to talk to him about my experience and everything and it was a great connection to make he also lives in a different city which just gives me an excuse to hop on a plane with Oscar and get to know a different part of Chile. 

Wednesday September 18:

Today is the independence of Chile. This means that I was just going to eat even more food. I was so excited. We went to my aunt and uncle's house and immediately were greeted by the national food empanadas, after eating three giant empanadas we were led to a long table where piles and piles of different meat, salad, and bread was waiting. I ate so much that it actually really hurt. The food is just so amazing this was also the first time I got to spend time with my other cousin Ingrid and her boyfriend. After the food, Ingrid her boyfriend dropped me off at my friends house and we all met up to clean up the party. Although it was very dusty and I was starting to fade from tiredness, we all piled into Roli's car and went to a "Fonda" which is like a Chilean fair for the independence. There was dancing, food, venders, and it was very cultural. We only went for 30 minutes (because the city is fairly dangerous when the sun goes down. In fact three people were killed at the fonda in the night after we left) but it was still enough to get the feel of the festivities. We then replied into the car and headed to a soccer bar where we watched an important (I think, I am not really sure what the game was for) soccer game. This restaurant had megasandwhiches and Roli, Oscar, and I all ordered one despite the ridiculous price of 17 buckeroos. It was HUGE, I obviously ate every single part. It was had a soccer field grilled into it. The bar only had about 20 people there but everyone was so into the game and so passionate about the team it was awesome to watch. That passion slowly faded as they lost 4-0. After we left we spent the next few hours together doing loser laps which ended with me getting dropped off at 1.

Taking a Different Writing Route

TUESDAY:

So on Tuesday I had a conversation with my optimistic friend in Sally Rohan currently living in Rancagua, Chile. This conversation was totally game changing. Her blog (dontforgetaboutsally.blogspot.com) is always to happy and full of energy and so I decided to ask her if she was really this happy all the time and really felt this amazing about Chile. Because even though I am having the best experience of my life, I do feel homesick sometimes and get frustrated with my broken Spanish speaking and comprehension. Her response was incredible. She told me to forget about every thing else, because why be upset one second when I one year here and am eventually going to return to the United States. She said that my exchange re-starts tomorrow and everyday I have a new exchange. This way I have a new exchange to look forward to every day. This also means that I want to take advantage of every exchange because once the day concludes I have lost a full exchange. She also told me to write things in my blog that are more specific and less vague. Like about things that when they happened, I really wanted to tell someone. So this is what I am going to start doing. This was a very good way to end my night.

WEDNESDAY: 

Today was my English experiment. If you want to read about this in detail please read my previous post. Today was also my second chorus performance! At 6 we all piled into a warmup room at the Culture House in Coyhaique (La Casa de Cultura). For the next hour or so we warmed up, practiced our songs, and got outfitted to wait for another hour and a half since we were the last performers. During the hour and a half break, other than drinking our little pineapple juice boxes, I talked with one of my fellow chorus mates about random stuff and with my chorus mate/friend Michele; Michele went to Germany last year for a Rotary Exchange. We talked about exchange stuff, saving my money, traveling, our plans for the weekend, and a bunch of other insightful stuff. 

The theater that we performed in was actually very nice. I have no idea how the acoustics were because I wasn't in the audience but the seats were really nice and the whole presentation was very professional. We sang our songs to a 70 percent packed house and it was really fun. I really enjoy being in the choir. Like the performing arts at BBA, by joining choir I have now met 20 people I really would have never met outside of choir. 

After choir I ran to my grandma's house because a miracle happened, the Sox were on a Chilean ESPN channel, and SHE HAS CABLE! I got there for the bottom half of the 3rd inning. This was plenty of time because game went 10 innings and was 4 hours 15 minutes. It was an incredibly exciting game with a top of the 10th grand slam to win it. This was a pretty awesome 4 hours me because not only did I get to watch the Red Sox for the first time in 2 months but I also got to share baseball with my family. Baseball more or less doesn't exist in Chile. My family knew close to nothing about sport because of this. It was interesting explaining baseball at the most basic level. I had never encountered someone who literally had no understanding of the sport. It is pretty wacky when you start thinking about it.

               
            

                      Getting Ready to Sing!

The Sox Game

THURSDAY:

Thursday was a completely normal day, except something amazing happened. I understood what people were saying. In my classes, with my friends, I understood almost everything. What was a tired morning and struggle to get out of bed for school, turned into one of my favorite days at school to date. The only difference was comprehension. I have no idea if it has something to do with the fact that I didn't use English Wednesday but it inspired me to continue my weekly Wednesday non-englishness. There was one thing about this day that was really special, and it made me realize that some of the moments I am going to remember from this year are going to come in the simplest of forms. In my first class, after dragging my groggy gringo butt to school, I had the equivalent of English class in the US "Lenguaje" (language). After already being on top of the world from understanding the first 45 minutes--discussion portion--of class my teacher started the lesson. She pieced together a great lesson talking about narration and breaking it down into the simplest forms. She then asked a question about a verb. She put the the verb "to pass" on the board and asked the class, in what form is this verb. The answer was obviously the infinitive form so I answered immediately and with a very surprised and happy look on my teachers face she responded, very good Weston. People cheered and laughed and it was all good fun. But this was a special moment for me. I was so excited inside and so proud of myself that the feeling carried through the rest of the day and I told every one of my friends and family members. No one else knew the answer, yet it seemed so obvious to me. When I learned Spanish, this is exactly how I learned it. In forms and structure. My friends learned Spanish by living in a Spanish country. They don't know why they say things, they just say it. My teacher commented on my work that day and told me I understand grammar--thank you Mr. Nolan, Ms. Bove, and Mrs. Ritchie--than her students. During dinner my mother was explaining something in Spanish assuming that I did not understand it but in reality its something that I learned as RULE in Spanish one. When I arrived this whole language was a group of rules and structures, almost like math. Now, I am starting to realize that it's becoming natural and loose and normal, like speaking in English. I am finding the most insightful reflections in the simplest of things.

FRIDAY:

Friday was a day that was spent celebrating the upcoming vacation instead of regular classes. From Saturday to the following Monday we have off for the equivalent of July 4th here. The difference with Chile and the US is there are a lot of classic things, clothes, food, music, etc. that are brought forth during this period to celebrate. I had one class to start the day and then my vacation began! My second class was spent eating empanadas (classic Chilean food) with my classmates. I also had the opportunity to dance (attempt to dance as a joke) the national dance "La Cueca" with my teacher. She was actually really bad. In fact she knew less than me. La Cueca is in my opinion a beautiful dance and for me is incredibly hard, kind of like every other dance. I do not really know the origin to be truth full but basically its like old school flirting while turning around each other in figure 8s. That's about the loosest description I can give. The last portion of my school day was spent in the gym for a presentation of fellow classmates dancing La Cueca. Before the dancing everyone sang the Chilean National Anthem. I obviously do not know it so I tried singing it by reading the lips of people around me. That didn't work. The presentation started with 4 pairs of the best dancers in the school. It was so great. I don't know how they do it. Then it followed like this: a pair from each class was represented (four classes per grade). The 7-8th graders were together, Freshman-Sophomores, and Juniors-Seniors. Each group of grades were dancing not only for presentation but also for 3 judges. My class won! It was so great to watch and listen to the music. 

After school I went home to eat lunch cooked by my mom which was stellar as usual. Afterwards, because it was SUCH a nice day out today (it was finally in the mid-50s and clear blue sky) I climbed onto our roof and took some pictures. I loved it up there so much that I decided to bring my maté kit, my Harry Potter book and went up there to hang out for a little while. This little while turned into 3-6:30--I left twice to pee. It was honestly amazing. For the first two hours I sat there and people watched/whistled. It was so cool because no one thought to look up on a roof so no one noticed I was up there. Also, because I live in the middle of everything I got to stalk a LOT of people--including people I knew. I saw one of my classmates and yelled down to here and talked for a little which was pretty funny. People also would look around when I was whistling but couldn't locate the noise. Aside from the fact it was comical to watch people, I had 2 hours to myself without internet or any interaction. Just chilling on a roof drinking maté. Talk about a natural high. The last hour was sick as well. I decided why not bring my guitar up there. For the first fifteen minutes no one even turned their head, and I thought I was singing loud. Then people started to notice. One by one people turned their heads and took a picture or laughed. I pretended like I didn't notice until three girls a little bit younger than me stopped and listened. Then when I was done, they yelled up to me: requests, chanting one more, small talk, etc. It was pretty neat. Then a teacher walked by and took a picture. The whole thing was just kind of surreal. It was a moment in Coyhaique. Remember when the gringo play guitar on the roof in the middle of the city? That was pretty cool. After that experience I was inspire to finally purchase my own maté kit. It's beautiful. I love maté. 

The National Dance

Drinking Maté on my roof

SATURDAY:

Saturday I spent lounging around for most of the day. It was a very relaxing day just because I got to spend it with my brother and my two cousins. The one thing I can say about my two cousins and my brother is that they are incredibly close. When I am with them I really feel like I am with three best friends. It's very cute and it is inspiring me to reach out to my cousins more when I am back in the states. 

Today was the start of the independence week festivities. I have this entire week of from school which is the equivalent of July 4th week in the US. I am super excited to spend it all with my friends and family. The 4 cousins (including me) spend the late afternoon walking around and buying stuff related to the week ahead as well as did some general shopping. A lot of laughs were had. Saturday night I was to go to my first Chilean party! I was so excited. At about 7:30 my friend Oscar called me and said it was time to go set up and by snacks and decorations for the "Quincho" (kind of like a second house but it's really just a room to have parties and eat). At about 10:30 people started arriving and it was just such a great time. Parties in Chile are way different than the United States. We had a DJ and everything. It was like I was at a dance outside of school. The difference is the dancing isn't grinding for 3 hours. There are a bunch of different dances and they are more personable and in my opinion way for fun. I helped everybody clean up and with that hit the bed at 6 in the morning. This was a very full week and I am looking forward to many more to come.         

Fellow Rotarians Oscar and Michele

                                                 

       

A Day Without English; Un Día Sin Inglés

So yesterday, Wednesday, I decided to try a little experiment. The goal of this experiment: not use English for a whole day. No writing in English, no reading in English, no music in English, no TV in English, no conversing in English. In theory idea was pretty strong. I am in another country trying to learn the language and the best way to do this is to fully immerse myself. However, even though I am in a different country, this feat presented itself as almost impossible. Before I continue let me just say, I failed for sure. However, it wasn't a failure of temptation. I didn't give in and check my Facebook, or read ESPN, or talk to my friends on my phone, or Skype my family--it was just just impossible to not stumble upon English when the United States have so much influence on everything down here. 

There's an interesting dynamic with the people here and I that goes like this--they translate words that they know into English for me and words that they don't know they don't do anything with. Which seems pretty normal. Except the fact that the stuff I know how to say is the stuff they are translating for me and the things I need help with I am not getting any help with. For example someone will come up to me and ask me where I am from in Spanish and then translate it into English. I may not be fluent but I am fairly decent with my Spanish…I can understand that. My first failure of the English experiment came when my gym teacher translated our simple conversations that I understood perfectly into English. I tried to explain to him that I did not want help with the translations but I think it was just fun for him so he continued to do it. 

My second failure came in two different parts of the day, and this failure was the music. They only listen to English music here and I do not understand why. For me it's a real turn off when I can't understand what I am listening to, trust me…it sucks. However, not only do people love listening to music they can't understand but they are incredibly good at memorizing lyrics. They know the lyrics and not the context, its very fascinating. Staying on this subject, I went to the gym for an hour after morning classes and I forgot my iPod--big mistake. The music that was on the speakers was only English music, it was horrible! I almost made a request to change it but then I realized how ridiculous of a request that was. For an hour I was only exposed to English music, a noiseless replay of Nadal's poundage on Djokovic, and pain in my shoulders. The second part of the music failure came in the night time. At 7 I had a chorus performance at a theater in town for the Anniversary of a local university. We were the last performers so there we had two hours to wait in a warmup room in our little chorus outfits. During this time of course everybody sang popular songs acapella together. And of course every song was in English. Then, a chorus member started playing Adele's Someone Like You on the piano in my key. How am I supposed to pass up on that? Next it was performance time! Two of our songs were in English, crap. 

Failure number three was a pretty obvious one, English class. I actually considered skipping class but I realized that was just pushing it and going to class was not going to harm my Spanish dramatically. 

At the end of the day I did some reflection on what I thought about this experiment. At first I really looked at it as a failure. I didn't use my phone or computer like I said and I did my very best to stay away from my origins but it was darned near impossible. Although, I think it is very telling that the United States has pretty much influenced every aspect of life down here. So with this day finished and ready to be put to sleep I basically said that its not even worth trying again because of the English every where I go. Waking up this morning, I felt the complete opposite. I went to school today and had one of the best days of school yet. I understood almost all my classes. When I say I understood my classes, I am talking contributing and really engaged in almost everything. It was the first time I have felt this way. Then there was the talking, I was talking MUCH better today than I was in the past. It was like a whole week had past. I have no idea if this was coincidence but I couldn't be happier right now so in reality, I don't really care. From this point on, once a week I will leave English in the US and disconnect from my native language completely--or I will at least try. 

(Written on Thursday, Sept. 12)

Life

I am writing this blog post with the feeling that I shouldn't even bother writing a blog post. However, this feeling is the exact reason I am going to write a post. Talk about confusing. The feelings I am referring too I mentioned briefly a while back. In a prior blog post I referred to my life starting to feel normal. Every week I have less to talk about in my blogs because, for example--at home I don't have a lot to blog about because it's just my routine life--it's becoming so routine that I don't know what to blog about. I went to school again this week, I ate dinner every day, I am living in Chile. On the other hand, with this overwhelming sense of normal I have a little bit to update you on. The notable event of the week was a dinner at my friend's house Saturday night. We cooked meat and let me tell you it was meat seemed much better than meat cooked by a bunch of 16-18 year olds. We listened to music and talked and ate until about 2 in the morning when his dad drove me home.  

This entire week I was sick with what the rest of the school had, a little sniffle and sneezing with a sore throat. Although that kept me from exercising during pretty much the entire week it gave me a chance to rest and have a week of just focusing on Spanish. On this subject I am definitely improving. Every day I have more confidence in everything that I am doing. Of course everyday I get frustrated at some point but these moments are getting fewer and fewer ever day. As I start to understand more the days are flying by faster and faster. I feel like it was yesterday when I wrote my last blog post. It's a scary feeling when the days start flying and you know your time is limited. On that note, until next week y'all. 

A Month in Review

So just like that, a new adventure, a new life, a new language, and a new country has become the norm and I have spent my first month in this grand country, Chile. One month ago today I said goodbye to my family, my friends, and my country. Although I miss all three of those things tremendously, I have had a great month down south. In reality I am a little sad because I can feel the days getting faster and faster and I know that my time here eventually will come to an end. This blog post will be a recap of my month here in Chile plus some new photos. 

I arrived with an orientation in Los Ángeles with the rest of the kids in my district. That was the best way for me to start my exchange. I had two days to speak English AND Spanish as well as have 14 friends off the bat automatically. I also got to meet Rotary resources who I know consider friends and Chilean mentors up north near Santiago. Whenever I have a problem I can contact them. I also got really close to several of my exchange mates and now am really looking forward to our October orientation where I will get to spend another weekend with them. 

This summer I spent hours and hours listening to Spanish music, talking to my teachers, and doing anything I could to practice my Spanish. I wish I had spent about 5 times as much time, and in reality there is nothing you can do to prepare for exchange. Once you are officially within the language and you don't have English to reach out to it is a completely different world. For the the first few days I was always searching for the words and realized I just did not know them. This handicap disappears with time...lots of time. During this first week I got to meet and start to get to know my family. I have a mother (Marietta), father (Julin), brother (Jeremias), and sister (Valentina). My brother is Taylor's age and my sister is my age. Everyone in my family is great. They do anything they can to make me feel welcome and treat me like their own son. 

Next came the start of school. I was incredibly nervous and very timid when I first arrived. I had no idea how I would be received or if I would be able to make friends with my lack of language skills. However, I quickly made friends and people at my school love me! Every single day I make new acquaintances. In fact, on my second day of school, I was picked to be the "Rey" of my fourth of the school. At the time I had not idea what that meant so I accepted. For more details about this experience scroll down to my post about the Aniversario. 

Within a few days came my birthday! That was an interesting experience. During my exchange, like most people, I have been very tired very quickly. Especially during the first two weeks. At about 9 o'clock on Friday night August 9th, my birthday, I was mentally ready to collapse and go to sleep. However, as I have learned over this first month, in Chile everything is much later. My birthday gathering/party started at about 10 and ended at about 5 in the morning. We had family members, a few friends, and lots of Spanish conversation, card games, food, cake, the whole shabang. Unfortunately. I started to collapse at about 2 and went to bed at about 2:30. The next day friend's of Vale had a little party for my birthday and the soon-to-be-departure of my sister to France. It was very comforting to think that five days into my stay in Coyhaique I had people that were willing to make me a cake and celebrate my birthday within just days of knowing me. 

                                                         

That Sunday I went skiing for the first time in Chile. The ride up was a steep dirt road with a ton of ice and snow, it reminded me of over the mountain roads in Vermont. Except this one had the Andes as the background instead of the Green Mountains. The views from the skiing were ridiculous. Although the snow was sub-par for skiing and the equipment I rented was quite old. I enjoyed my time just looking at the mountains and talking with my sister. 

Photos from Skiing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98473393@N04/sets/72157635240612719/

The next week I was the Rey (king) and there were lots of festivities regarding this. It was quite the show. I was involved in so many things and it could not have come at a better time. I got to know so many people and made so many friends from this. I became very well known at my school and was no longer a foreigner. I high suggest reading the Aniversario post, I will not recap everything right now from there. It's all down below. I also had to say goodbye to my sister this week. That was hard for me but exciting for her at the same time. I wish her lots of luck with her trip!

The next two weeks flew by in a blur. I am on the basketball team and in the schools choir. For choir we had a performance for the Aniversario that was really fun. We wore these cool little outfits that weren't so fashionable. For basketball I have practice for my school twice a week and had my first tournament this weekend. I am also on the regional team for region 11 in Chile. We have practice 3 times a week and a game every Saturday. We also will be traveling to Argentina in November for a whole week! What a great opportunity with a group of really nice kids. Other highlights in the last two weeks was a dinner with the my sister's friends. They have now adopted me as a part of their group and I could not be more thankful. I feel very welcome with them and very included. After the week of the Aniversario the whole school voted on the best king and queen out of the for nominations. My queen and I won! Next week I believe we will be crowned in front of the school. I also had a Rotary reunion where there the students that just returned gave presentations and all the rotarians watched over a great meal and lots of conversation. I even got to see my fellow Coyhaique student, Max! I am also in a group that works with small kids every week, playing games and teaching them English!

              

This weekend though was a huge highlight for me. We had our first basketball tournament! (and I talked to a fellow exchange student on Skype, follow her experience at dontforgetaboutsally.blogspot.com). We had a game Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. To start, the crowd was AMAZING. Thank you to all the fans that came. Although smaller than the crowds in the US they were incredibly supportive and passionate and words can't describe how great I felt after those games. During the games there is not a quiet moment. They are CONSTANTLY screaming and singing. VIVA CHILE! Oh and another thing that was great about the tournament was we WON! We won the first game 98-25. I had about 20-25 points in 20 minutes of play. The other team was not comparable to ours. On Saturday we won 70-30 (approximately) and I had 20-25 points in 25 minutes of play. Once again, the other team wasn't comparable. Sunday was the challenge for us. We were to play a team that flew in from Temuco, Chile. They were taller than us, and beat the other teams by about the same amount of points. With a very lively crowd awaiting and the girls team having just won their tourney, we tipped off. It was a heated game from the start. At the half we were down but 1 or 2. I had 9-11 first half points (don't remember well) and we were playing decent. I was getting facegaurded like I've never experienced. Chilean referees really let the games go. Because of this, I was getting fouled like crazy on the perimeter but nothing was getting called. We went down 30-22 after a cold second half start, when our point gaurd, Marcello, went on a 6 straight point tear. Down by 3 with the fourth quarter underway, I scored 4 straight to give us the lead. We never looked back. Marcello and a couple others chipped in to give us a lead as high as 11 and we finished with a score of 54-48 (I think). I finished with about 15 points in 40 minutes of play. It was hard to get the ball but I was so happy that we won. The fans stormed the court and we went crazy. This weekend may have been the highlight of my exchange thus far. 

I am looking forward to what the next month has to offer me and please continue to follow my weekly posts!

Photos from Working with Kids + Generic Pictures from this week:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98473393@N04/sets/72157635335874031/

Photos from the BBALL tourney: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98473393@N04/sets/72157635343619722/