Saturday the 30th
Well I'm sitting here eating Guittard's chocolate cortesty of Gody Kris and reflecting on the past few days, which have been great. First of all, I got the VISA business taken care of. Though I had to go to Santiago and back two days in a row--4 hours and 10 dollars a trip--it turned out to be more of an adventure than a hassle. In Valparaíso, I get lots of stares and people are always curious about what I'm doing there, which is both nice and annoying. Santiago on the other hand has a really anonymous feel, and it was fun to wander around a bit, go shopping, and run my errand knowing that absolutely no one thought twice about me.
I got back to the program yesterday afternoon in time for the talk on extra curricular activities. It was strange being back around my CIEE friends, who were making all kinds of plans to take the bus to the Andes, to Southern Chile, to Arengtina, etc. Having spent four hours on the bus that morning, I was in no mood to do more of that.
I've been having a really good, satisfying, relaxing time around here though. The awkwardness around my host family that I was feeling a few days ago is mostly gone and time goes quickly with both Marjorie and Christian in the house--they're hilarious together.
Yesterday I made a budget for this academic year. Though I've bought loads of things here, everything is cheap, and I've only spent about $10-15 a week. That includes the expensive trips to Santiago and the food and metro tickets I had to buy there. I've also bought some food things that I like but I feel like my host family wouldn't buy if it weren't for me. Obviously through CIEE I've already paid for my 'room and board' here, but I think money is a little short here and my host family appreciates me buying some of my food.
I met this really nice girl who just finished doing the CIEE program and is friends with my host family. She seemed pretty worn out though, negative about a lot of things, and anxious to get back to the US. My time here is going so fast. I wonder what I'll feel like come around December. I'm guessing great, because it will be summer, my parents will be here, and we'll be travelling comfortably. But who knows, maybe I'll be burned out too.
I got back to the program yesterday afternoon in time for the talk on extra curricular activities. It was strange being back around my CIEE friends, who were making all kinds of plans to take the bus to the Andes, to Southern Chile, to Arengtina, etc. Having spent four hours on the bus that morning, I was in no mood to do more of that.
I've been having a really good, satisfying, relaxing time around here though. The awkwardness around my host family that I was feeling a few days ago is mostly gone and time goes quickly with both Marjorie and Christian in the house--they're hilarious together.
Yesterday I made a budget for this academic year. Though I've bought loads of things here, everything is cheap, and I've only spent about $10-15 a week. That includes the expensive trips to Santiago and the food and metro tickets I had to buy there. I've also bought some food things that I like but I feel like my host family wouldn't buy if it weren't for me. Obviously through CIEE I've already paid for my 'room and board' here, but I think money is a little short here and my host family appreciates me buying some of my food.
I met this really nice girl who just finished doing the CIEE program and is friends with my host family. She seemed pretty worn out though, negative about a lot of things, and anxious to get back to the US. My time here is going so fast. I wonder what I'll feel like come around December. I'm guessing great, because it will be summer, my parents will be here, and we'll be travelling comfortably. But who knows, maybe I'll be burned out too.
posted by Julia | 10:33 AM
4 Comments:
Only you would call a ten dollar bus ticket expensive : ) I mean hell we sell soy cheese pizza that almost costs that much. - Dylan.
...and you're going to be paying way more than that to get your precious soy cheese pizza tokyo : )
I just spent 10.00 shopping for itunes. It feels terribly expensive because if you were here, I'd get them for free!
Auntie Margie, did you get Iphoto on your new computer yet? iPhoto 5 is at home if you want it. Playing with pictures is so much fun. I've taken so many here, and I just love it, as you can tell from how many I've posted on here.
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