estoy aquiiii

Hey everybody, sorry it took me so long to wite a post, but it´s been pretty crazy, with being in a new country and having a big earthquake and all...

So, I think I´ll start in Boston. Leaving my parents was horrible. I cried so hard. I´m sure I looked like a fool, but I coudn´t stop. I fell asleep on the plane to Charlotte, where I had a layover before Miami. I had a slice of pizza and went to my gate, where they had just started boarding. When I got on and sat down, I was talking to a really friendly man, who wasn´t able to sit with his adorable son, but was next to me. And when I told him I was an AFSer to Chile via a Miami orientation, th girl sitting in the row in front of me turned around and talked to me. Her name was Tanna and she was going to the same orientation, and then to Brazil for a year. I talked to her before taking off. And when we landed, wewalked together to baggage and found the AFS representative. After a while, we found our bags and headed to the hotel within Miama International Airporttt.
We signed in and went to our rooms. I met my roommate, Emily, and another girl from Minnesota, Maddy, who´s also going to Viña del Mar. They were both really nice. I freshened up and went to the begining of the orientation with Tanna, who had come to my room.
We had name tags and all introduced ourselves toeach other. We were all from the US. 11 of us going to Chile, 9 girls and 2 boys. And 3 to Brazil, 2 girls and 1 boy. All of us, except Tanna, are going for one semester. The orientation was kinda tedious, but only because we were all so tired from traveling. But the woman leading it was really good. And we had two speakers, one woman from Brazil, and one from Mexico who had lived in Chile on an exchange. They were both really helpful and interesting. We had time for dinner and a bit of free time and whatnot before our 11 pm curfew.
In the morning, we had breakfast and again, had more orientation. With sleep, it was much more interesting =). We learned a ton, about rules, AFS history, how to be a good AFSer, what our goals are, and what to expect. Overall, it was really helpfull.
At about 5, we said bye to the Brazilians, since their flight was about 3 hours earlier than ours. It was sad, because all three were super nice. But we only had a couple hhours left before we had to leave. And we ate dinner and had an interbational scavenger hunt to do in the airport, and we all played cards and stuff. It was more fun than I thought was possible in an airport! At 8 we all got our bags and went to check them. We had to wander foreverrrr to finally check them at the third place. What a hassle, but as my mom says, there are people who have real problems. Which was definately proven this week...
Anyway, we got through security and everything, and went to the gate, which was all pretty easy, since it was a red eye flight at 11:45. But, it was delayed to 12:30. We walked around, played cardds, read magazines, etc. Not too bad, we were in good company.
When we boarded the plane, I was next to Maddy, and we ate dinner, which they gave us on the plane, niceeee. And everone took sleeping pills, but I didn,t want to, because they make me feel really gross and groggy when I wake up. So me and the only other kid who didn,t take them, Raleigh, sat next to each other. We were soooooo xcited. I slept off and on through the night, but not much. We landed at 8:30, two hours earlier than we were supposed to.
We all had to get through customs and then baggage claim, and then to immigration, which was scary. I had to speak in Spanish, and it was really important information, so I was super nervous. But I made it! We walked out of immigration, to the outer part of the airport, where therewas a unch of AFS volunteers, and kids from Thailand, Austria, Japan, France, and eventuallyFinland and Switzerland (at the camp there were also kids from Austrailia, NewZealand, Norway, Germany annnd I think that´s it). We all took a bus about half an hour away, to our orientation camp.
The ride was pretty fun, looking at all the billboards and stores and neighborhoods. I couldn´t believe that I was actually here, in Chile. It´s been so surreal.
The camp was beautifulllll. It had avineyard to the edge of it, and fields, and rooms with bunkbeds, and 3 small pools, and tennis courts, and i big dining hall, and two meeting rooms, and outdor patios. When we arrived we were allowed to swim, which was great, since it was about 80 fahrenheit. Then, we had a meeting with all the volunteers and we met the president of AFS Chile, which was really interesting. We were told we needed to prepare something for a talent show. So us, the Americans, decidedto teach everyone the song Waddly Acha..ha I have no idea how to spell it!
So then, we had another meeting, and we all wrote down our fears about the coming months on papers and put them in our pockets. And, we watched two of the AFS Chile volunteers dance the cueca, the national Chilean folkdance. Then, they asked if anyone wanted to try to learn it. My friends from the US knew that I dance, so they decided to tell me to. So I decided what the heck, why not make a fool out of myself, try somethng new, and have fun!! Ha, it was really hard, beccause I "learned" the dance by dancing it and trying to follow. It´s really cool. Irecmend trying to watch it on youtube or something...it imitates mating chickens. =)
Then, it was time for dinner. The vegetaian dishes have been surprisingly yummy. After dinner, which was around 8:30, I think, we all put on warm clothes. Then, we went far out into a frield, where some people were building a bonfire. We were told that we shouldn´t have fears, and that this experience would be great. Then, everyone, with the other kids from thier countries, went up and threw the papers from earlier into the fire, with a scream. Ha embarassing, but fun.
Then, we went back to the patio and had the talent show. It was halarioussss. We all had dances or songs or other typical things from our countries. Afterwards, the Chileans put on music and we dancedddd, which was soooo fun. Our curfew was midnight, so at midnight, we stopped and went to bed.
And then, at 3:30 in the morning, I woke up to noises which I thought was a bulldozer (I don´t know, I was half asleep), and then the room strted shaking. And my trombone fell over with a huge thud. And I looked around, and the sheets to my be looked like they were rippling. It felt like it lasted forever (later, my host mom told me it was amost 3 minutes!). As soon as it finished, one of the volunteers walked into our room, saying it was an earthquake, and we all needed to quickly put on warm clothes and get outside. We did as we were told and gathered with our own countries. We were told we needed to sleep outside, because of the probable aftershock tremors. They brought out tons of blankets and we all cuddled up, trying to get to sleep. I swear, we looked like refugees, it was so scary.
At about 8 in the morning, the sun started to rise. We were able to eat some bread and yoghurt and juice. There was no electricity. We were finally able to see the extent of the damage at our camp, which wasn´t nearly as bad as the epicenter´s. Craziness. The wooden lttice at the patio was completely collapsed. And there was broken glass and no water for showers etc...
During the day, we all tried to get some peace of mind, even thought we barely had any access to the outside world.We, the students, couldn´t call or email or anything, but many of the volunteers could call their families, almost all of whom, I think, were safe. But it was all pretty confusing. During the day we all sat and napped and talked and played futbol and swam and read etc. And it went by pretty slow. It was pretty nerveracking.
Anyway, I realllly need to go to sleep right now, but I promise to write more and put up photos tomorow.
Love always,
Sally

I´m safe.

Hey everyone, I´m safe. I promise Ill wite moer abuot my first couple days later, but I´m about to go out with my sister. =)

My first real post. Placement. School. Conversation with mama!

I've been e-mailing my Chilean family, the Poblete Merinos, for the last couple weeks. As soon as I found out who I was placed with, I contacted them right away. I have a younger sister, Gabriela, who is 14, an older brother, Camilo, who is 18 and an older sister, Melisa, who is 17. However, Camilo is on an AFS exchange to Norway this year. And Melisa is away on AFS to New Zealand. So I will be Gabriela's unica hija, her only sister, for this semester.

My family lives in the small town of Vina Del Mar (sorry I can't figure out how to use accents or tildes on this computer, sorry!), which is right outside of Valparaiso. I only realized that I'm not in the city of Valparaiso, when speaking to my host mom. But Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar seem absolutely beautiful. Valparaiso is the biggest port city. It means "Paradise Valley". And althhough Santiago is the capital city of Chile, Valparaiso is where the national government meets. And Chile just elected a new president, who's a big change from their most recent president. So I'll be there to witness that! It's also a really historic city. And Vina del Mar is right outside it.

I've been chatting with Gabriela over facebook and she says that she's looking forward to me arriving, but she doesn't want to go back to "colegio", highschool. The school looks really cool to me. I've looked at the website. I even get a uniform, complete with blazer, plaid skirt, and knee socks! And the philosophy of the school seems really progressive. I'm so nervous about having to learn and be graded in classes taught in Spanish. At some point, I'm sure I'll get better, But from other AFSers, I've heard that the first two weeks are pretty bad in terms of the language.

I've been meaning to call my host family, but I kept coming up with excuses because I've been so nervous about actually speaking, not typing, in Spanish. However, since my Chilean family told me they'll be leaving for vacation at a lake in the South of Chile tomorow, I figured it was now or never.

So, I called. I dialed and was insanely nervous. And then, I heard "Hola?". And I just started to talk. At first, I was terrified. But Berta, mi mama, told me to be "tranquilo" and we just talked. She answered a bunch of my questions and was really helpful. And she seems really sweet. She kind of reminded me of my own mom, just being caring and helpful. And I'm sure my Spanish wasn't nearly perfect. But hey, I tried.

I'm so excited, but still so nervous!!! I only have a little less than a month before I leave for Miami. And there's still so much to do! That's all for now...

P.S. My school is "Colegio Alborada de Curauma"...my computer doesn't want me to post the link, but there's a great website.

Trying this website?

Right now I'm sitting in the DHS library during one of my free blocks. I have 3 full weeks of school left, and it's the begining of a new term. So instead of putting me in two random classes for two weeks, I have this time in the library. I can study, work on my blog, or anything else. But mostly, I'll be using the time to get ready for Chile. I'm not qute sure how this website works and I've never done a blog before.... but here it goes...