Don't worry: I thought of you while I soaked up the sun poolside.

¡Hola, familia y amigos!

You may think that I am basking in the summer sun and working on my tan without so much as a thought for all of you freezing in the Midwest. I want you to know that I did, in fact, think of you while I applied sunscreen and soaked up the sun poolside today, and I am genuinely sorry that you’re slowly transforming into ice sculptures. I’ll confess that I complain about the heat here—it’s dry, which I’m not used to, and it’s intense, like the hottest summer days in Wisconsin—but I hereby grant you every right to curse at me and tell me that I should stop whining. I hear it’s been snowing a lot at home, and I have not forgotten the way my teeth chatter on the way to class at Marquette or the way my car slides around Westhaven Circle. Please know that you’re all in my thoughts. And I expect you to think of me while you ice skate and huddle under blankets and sip hot chocolate.

That being said, it sure did feel nice to catch some rays today, and I wish each of you had been there. I had my second day of the Intensive Spanish class today, and afterwards almost all of us estadounidenses (people from the U.S.) got on the Metro and went to the free pool at Colegio San Ignacio, a high school in the upper middle-class neighborhood of Providencia, where a lot of the other students in my program live. The water was pretty cold, but it felt nice to escape the scorching Santiago air. The pool wasn’t very busy since it’s summer, so that was nice too. We spent most of the time lying out and chatting, which was really nice. I’ve been worried, as a college freshman worries on his/her fifth day of school, that everyone else is already best friends and I don’t know anyone and I’m going to be lonely for six months. As it turns out, although a few people seem to stick together a bit more, everyone’s really friendly and conversational. There’s a range of personalities in the group, and I enjoyed talking to people today and getting to know them a bit better. We all fell into speaking English, which felt stranger to me than I thought it would, and although I felt a bit guilty for abandoning my Spanish practice, it was nice to have intelligent conversation for awhile and to just relax.

Most people decided to head home after the pool closed (at 6pm) to hang out with their families, take a nap, take a shower, get going on the homework, and so forth. I followed suit, especially since Gladis has worked the past two nights and I hadn’t seen her much. Carolina asked me if I’d like to have an once (remember, that’s the “snack” between lunch and dinner here), and I said absolutely, since I’d worked up a hunger at the pool. She was almost finished fixing me up some bread with cheese and another piece with marmalade when Gladis walked in with a bag from the market. In Spanish, she explained that someone else would have to eat that bread (standard white bread) because she had purchased “Chilean bread” for me. We all had a good laugh about that but we surrendered to her wishes and Kena and Carolina each ate some of the inferior bread while I feasted on what seemed like half the loaf of the delicious bread from Gladis. After my “snack” (which was really like dinner), I took a shower and sat around for awhile. I don’t know where the time goes—now it’s already 9:30 and I need to do this and my homework still. Hopefully I don’t crash before then. I’m pretty sure everyone already thinks it’s ridiculous that I go to bed before 2am; I can’t imagine what they’d think if I fell asleep on my keyboard before 10.

The Spanish class is really good so far. I tested into the second section, though I have no idea if that’s good or bad or means nothing. The best Spanish speaker here is in my section though, so I’m hoping that means I didn’t totally bomb the pre-test. Class goes by pretty quickly and gives me a chance to interact with the other students, which I’ve been waiting for. In addition, the professors are fantastic. They’ve been working with students from the U.S. through this program for a few years, it seems, because they definitely know how to teach Spanish to foreigners. They talk more clearly and slowly and are very animated and genuinely interested in helping us improve. The class is divided into three parts: Cultural Expression, Grammar and Poetry, and Latin American Short Stories. On Mondays, I have class from 10am-3:30pm, but I get out earlier (1:30 or 2) the rest of the week. It’s just our group right now, so it’s a good time to put all of our strengths and weaknesses out there and improve before the real semester starts in March and we have to try to survive in a class with native speakers. I enjoy reading the short stories, I definitely need the grammar review, and I think Cultural Expression will be fun—we take “field trips” around town and test traditional foods and learn slang and stuff. It’s good.

I would have written yesterday, after my first day of class, but I felt terrible. I’d had a bit of a sore throat the night before (Sunday) and had been a bit congested, but I figured it was just allergies or my body being confused about the change in temperature. But yesterday I felt like I hit a wall; I had no energy, and I woke up with a stuffy nose and a sore throat and spent the whole morning coughing and sneezing in class. Then a fever was added into the mix and I decided I was for sure coming down with something. It was not good timing, as it was the first day of class and I’d hoped to hang out with people afterwards, but I had to make sure I took care of myself (who wants to be sick in a foreign country?!), so I headed home right after class. As it turns out, I didn’t miss much. People tried to find the pool yesterday but after wandering around for two hours and finally stumbling upon it, it was closed anyway. I went to the pharmacy (Stephanie went with me—what a sweetie) and tried to find something like DayQuil. They had no such remedy and I was sent off with something called Nastizol. I explained my symptoms to the pharmacist and asked for something for a cold and that’s what she gave me, so I trusted her and took it. I think it has helped, though I have no idea what it is. When I got home, I felt like crap, and Gladis and Carolina both noticed that I was pretty down. I took a nap and a shower and had a small dinner when I woke up, but I was still out of it.

Then, last evening, I Skyped with my mom. Being sick had made my homesickness worse and had made me even more emotional than I’ve been, and I just felt that I had to talk to someone. I wasn’t sure if it would help or hurt me, but as it turns out, it was a really good thing for me. Knowing that my family is doing well helps me calm down, and I went to bed exhausted and feeling like crap but still a bit uplifted. I woke today feeling significantly better about being here. I know I’m going to have ups and downs, and I know that other people are probably going through the same thing to a certain extent even if I feel like I’m the only one feeling this way. But all of the messages from people at home are really helpful and talking to my mom—even though the Skype connection wasn’t perfect and we got cut off three times—was like getting an injection of Encouragement. In the last few days I’ve also heard that Zak is safe and doing OK at his pre-deployment training (thanks, Kell), and I talked to Diesel on AIM. I got emails from Katharine and Molly and Lindsey and my parents and received Facebook messages from Catí and my sister. All of it is so helpful. Thank you.

I’m still not sure if I’m sick with a cold or if I have allergies or if I’m just not used to all of this sun or what. I had a really busy day on Sunday and maybe that contributed to it too. But it was so much fun! Andrea and I went to Mass at the church down the street in the morning, which I had said I needed to do. I love that, no matter where I am, I can find a church and can cling to something that doesn’t change. I didn’t understand a lot of what was said at Mass but just being there brought me a certain amount of peace. Things are mostly the same, though people here don’t line up for Communion. If they’re going to receive, they just go up when they’re ready. I was a bit thrown off by that (I’d seen it in Guatemala but had forgotten), but other than that, things were the same. Although I did think it was a bit strange that, while Mass was in process, people were receiving Reconciliation in the booth on the side of the church. The whole time, people went in and out of the booth, sometimes missing big chunks of the service. Anyway, I need to get a book with the Mass parts in Spanish so I can participate. It was weird because I knew what was going on, having been to countless Masses in English, but I couldn’t be a part of it— except in my head, where I recited all of the responses and prayers in English.

After Mass, Andrea and I bought empanadas, a very traditional Chilean food, at a cute little bakery a few blocks away. We enjoyed them at home and relaxed for a little while (the sun, even after a little while, takes a lot out of a person). Stephanie called and asked what I was up to and I told her that I was going to go exploring with Andrea and she could join if she’d like to. She accepted the invitation and, after lunch, Andrea and I walked to Stephanie’s (she lives quite close) and picked her up.

We began our adventure by walking to the Palacio de la Moneda, the equivalent of the White House here in Chile. Although the President, Michelle Bachelet, doesn’t live in La Moneda (she lives in the upscale neighborhood of Las Condes), it is the official Presidential headquarters. I’d seen it before from the outside, but on Sunday we got to walk through the first floor, which is open to visitors (a guard checked our bags first), unlike most government headquarters. It was enjoyable, though I want to return at 10am some day to witness the Changing of the Guard.We wandered around the area, exploring the courtyards for awhile, and then headed to the museum below La Moneda. We didn’t see all of the exhibits, but I enjoyed what we did see, much of which related to the native Mapuche people. My class is visiting the museum together very soon, so I’ll be able to see everything again and see the thigns I wasn’t able to see this time. La Moneda is surrounded by a huge plaza, known as La Plaza Constitución, and there are numerous statues of past Presidents (and a huge star, put in place after Bachelet’s election if I understood Andrea correctly), so there’s a lot to look at, and it’s quite the sight.

After that, we left the area and walked to the famous Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. I thought of Zak and Rob a lot here because the main exhibit was about the ancient coastal peoples (AKA fishermen) of Chile. There were many artifacts on display, some from as old as 100 A.D., and I enjoyed looking at all of that. But I was really fascinated by the mummification process these people practiced. When someone died, they would totally dismember and gut out the body. Then, they would fill the skull with plant matter and soil, reinforce the bones with sticks, and tie all of the bones back together. A box was built around the torso and filled with soil and plant matter, and many of the mummies wore masks, so the bodies look a bit odd, but we could still see the work that had been done. What an incredible and unbelievable practice! Andrea was totally fascinated and I practically had to drag her out of the mummy room.

Our next stop was the Plaza de Armas, which is basically a huge plaza surrounded by old, beautiful buildings, many of which are government-related and one of which is an amazing cathedral. The plaza was founded in 1541 by Pedro de Valdivia, who conquered Chile for Spain, and it was meant to be the civic center of the country. It’s surrounded by a Central Post Office, a giant cathedral, and a Natural History Museum, though I only ducked in to the cathedral. It was definitely worth a visit, though—I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a huge church (of course, I haven’t been to Europe), and I was pretty amazed by the many altars and statues and murals. There was an altar for Alberto Hurtado, who founded the University I attend and was a pretty cool dude during his life (he helped the poor and the young and was a Jesuit, so he’s basically, as Katharine would say, “certified” at life). There was another altar made entirely of silver. Basically, it was neat.

We left the plaza and walked through what I think was the lovely neighborhood of Santa Lucía. There’s a beautiful park there, and there are many things to see in this park, but we were on a mission to get to Bellavista, the happening bohemian quarter, for some R&R. We stopped at a small fair along the way and I made my first non-essential purchase: two pairs of lovely earrings for a total of about US$4—not bad, I’d say. We met up with Andrea’s friend, Claudio, who is super nice, and on the way to Bellavista we found another of her friends, though I can’t remember his name. We all decided we’d like to sit and enjoy a snack, so we purchased crepés from Andrea’s favorite spot in the brand new, and beautiful, Patio Bellavista. There are many shops that I definitely need to pay another visit to, but I was mostly interested in my delicious crepé, which contained bananas, strawberries, whipped cream, and Nutella. Pretty dang good.

I figured that snack would hold us until much later, but when we turned the corner, Andrea pointed out another fabulous place to purchase and enjoy empanadas, and who could pass that up? So, Andrea, Stephanie, Claudio, the other guy (oops), and I ordered empanadas and drinks and sat at a table outside. The sidewalks here are lined with tables and chairs and the environment is so relaxing. People walk by and play their instruments for money and the music from the nearby clubs fills in any silences in conversation. It was the perfect summer afternoon, and I have officially entered into an intense love affair with empanadas. Although, when I later told Gladis that Andrea had fed me two in one day, she looked like she was going to put me on some sort of Detox diet for a week. After enjoying ourselves for awhile in Bellavista, we began the long walk back to a Metro. The unnamed man had to leave, but the four of us went to Claudio’s apartment and enjoyed some delicious Chilean red wine. It was a relaxing evening, but I turned in fairly early due to the long day of class the next day.

In conclusion, Sunday was wonderful, Monday was not so wonderful, and today was pretty good. I now need to start my homework and sleep off all of the sun I got today. I might also enjoy “The Notebook” with Kena. I’m pretty sure she watches it in English with Spanish subtitles, but even if it’s in Spanish, at least it’s something I’ll understand. I think people will start thinking I’m a big loser for not going out every single night, but I don’t really want to spend all of my money on drinks and I don’t want to get sicker due to lack of sleep, either. Perhaps this weekend people will go out and I’ll go with them, but tonight everyone’s turning in early so I don’t feel so lame. I’m still not accustomed to the vampire’s schedule kept by the Chileans, though some of my classmates are pretty excited about it. I’ll have to find a balance between going out with them and taking care of myself. I’m glad to be feeling better today as yesterday was no fun. I hope this message finds YOU happy and healthy. I think of you all often and love you very much.

Besos!

Amanda