Halfway Mark (more or less)

So I know it has been forever since I posted...like over a month, but I kinda have been slacking at remembering to keep this updated. Well lets see....I went to prom, well two actually. It was pretty awesome, nothing like a prom in the USA. I also finished school so now I am on summer break until March. December was a pretty hard month for me with the holidays and all. Christmas was nothing like the USA! In the USA Christmas starts the day after Thanksgiving and lasts until after New Years. But here it is like nothing. Christmas Eve with the family and opening presents is about it. Nothing on Christmas Day. No Christmas music playing all day in the house or nights of watching Christmas movies with the family. It was pretty hard to get through. I pretty much feel like I just skipped Christmas altogether this year, especially since my Christmas package from home NEVER arrived and I am still waiting for that. I had a pretty blue Christmas in the end. New Years was a little better. I didn't get to go to one of the amazing parties which is suppose to be the highlight of the new year here but I had a good time with my family. Oh yeah...unfortunately I had to switch families. That has been really tough. I loved my first family and they will always be my Chilean Family no matter what. Only good thing about me changing families is that my first family let me have a carrete (house party) with my friends as like a going away present. They left for the night and me and my friends got the house =) Pretty awesome time. Well right now I am just enjoying summer. Going to the beach and hanging out with friends. 4 months to go...

prom

Beach Trip with Friends

at the Bar

Licenciatura =)

So I graduated this past week! Well not officially, but I recieved the diploma of my brother who is in the USA. That means I get to graduate twice! Woot woot! It was pretty cool to experience a different cultures´ graduation ceremony. Of course I didn´t undestand it all since it was in spanish, but I got the basic point. I am so lucky that I get to go through all thses different senior experiences here since I am missing my senior year in the USA. It makes the whole being away from home thing a lot easier. I think it helps my host mom here too since I am taking the place of here son she doesn´t have to miss out on all the senior events. All in all it was a pretty amazing week. Life is good =)

   

Amigos!

Mi madre <3

Class of 2011

¡Dos Meses en Chile!

Oh my goodness, I have been living in Chile for two months now!!!!!!!!!! Time is just flying by. I feel as if this is my life now and it always has been. I have my daily routine going and it is like I am at home, and I am, my Chilean home =) I had my last official week of school with the Senior Class I have been with. It has been a bittersweet past few weeks knowing that soon I will be starting with a new class. But, I made the best of the last days with them and I will still hang out with them outside of school. On Thursday we had senior picture day and friday we went to school in costumes. Then I had a busy weekend! I went with most of my class to the club Murano for a kind of senior celebration night. Saturday I went with my family to a friend of my host parents. Sunday was my day of rest lol. But then I spent the night with my girl friends and stayed up all night watching scary movies....and woke up and went to school the next day. Fortunately this week we only have practice for the graduation ceremony  from 8 a.m to 11a.m so I can go home and take a nice siesta afterwards. Coming up on my agenda...ahem...Thursday at 7pm is  the first part of the graduation ceremony that is a church service. Then on Friday at 7pm is the recieving the diploma part of the ceremony. I will be recieving host familys son Matias diploma since he is currently studying as an exchange student in the USA. Friday after the ceremony the kids in my class may throw a party, but it just depends. I just stay happy and go with the flow =D

My class: Cuatro Medio B

I love generation 2011!

Pre-Club 

Costume Day!

El mejor :)

Well I had a pretty busy weekend. I finally went to Valdivia with my family! It was such a beautiful city. I got to see wild Sea Lions for the first time. It was pretty neat. There was a market by the river and the guys skinned and gutted the fish and the Sea Lions came up right behind the for the scraps. Also, I took a boat tour of Valdivia which went around the city and by all these historic site (only the speaker talked in spanish so I have no idea what the places are important hahaha). So Sunday I was in Valdivia allll day. Monday I went to a Halloween Party at my friend Cata's house. Had a great time with my friends! I love them so much :) of course I was a superhero, only this year I was Flash :D Hmmmm, nothing else really new, but I will post when I do more exciting stuff, so probably soon lol. I have been in Chile for Almost two months now!!!!!

Senior going away party at school  =(

Halloween Party!

Valdivia with my family

Me at school =) Happy Happy Katy!

*Suerte*

Man do I love life right now  (aka my tittle of this post Suerte = Lucky). Well, I sang with my friend at school and I havento say it was pretty awesome. I forgot to record us though. But I am going to record it when we are hanging out sometime because I want to make sure I have memories like that to take with me back to the US. My class is stilll awesome, but unfortunately I don´t have much time left with them at school. Like in the US, the seniors here finish before the other grades, only the finish like a month early. Since I have to go back to school in March with the new seniors, they are making stay at school the last month to get to know my new class in stead of letting me finish early. I just got so close to my class and now they are leaving me =( But fortunately most of them are attending college here in Temuco so I will still get to see them and hang out with them after school and on weekends. But it is still kinda sad. Well coming up on my agenda...ahem...I have: going to Valdivia with my family tomorrow, a Halloween costume party Monday (of course I am a super hero as always, this year FLASH!), graduation with my senior class here November 11, and Prom December 1st. So I am sure I will have a ton of pictures and things to talk about in the next few weeks. But right now, things are mostly just laid back and I am enjoying my time here with my friends and family =)

Me gusta!!!

Well  I am in love...with Chile! I have never been more happier in my life. The people here are amazing and I am so at ease here. I have already come out of my shell and can just be me here. My friends here are great. School is the highlight of my day just becaus I get to be with them. The weekends are still number one though! I love to go out with friends at night and hang out with my family during the day. I have had no problem finding my place here. I feel like I was meant to be here. I am so glad that everyone encouraged me to still go to Chile even when I was having my doubts. I can´t imagine being anywhere else right now! This week in English class I have to give a powerpoint presentation on myself, thankfully in English! I also am singing a song in Spanish with a classmate ¨Suerte¨ aka Lucky by Jason Mraz. I am so excited! It is my favorite song and I am actually decent at singing in Spanish! My friend who is singing with me is also very good and he is playing the guitar to the song. I will try to post a video of us singing it...wish me luck!

One Month...

I can´t believe I have been living in Chile for one month already! Time has just flown by. I have been going to school for two weeks at Colegio Santa Cruz and I love it. My classmates are so awesome and welcoming. I am already making so many new friends. High school is very different here, but in a good way. I am in class IV °B (senior), and I am fitting in very well. Of course, the classes are all in español except for English class, so I am being challenged to learn the language quickly. Last friday, I went to my first carrete, party, at my friend Cata´s house. It was awesome! I had so much fun with my friends. This weekend, I am going to Valdivia chich is another city in southern Chile. So I will probably have more pics and another post soon!

Week 1...

So I can hardly believe I have been in Chile for over a week ALREADY! Every morning I wake up amazed that I am really in a new country and it´s not just some wild dream of mine. My first week was needless to say incredible! Everyone is so nice and I love my host family. I was honestly worried that it would be hard for me to adapt into a new family. Boy was I wrong! My family here reminds me of my own back home. They are very warm and friendly andknow how to joke around with each other. So I am glad to say I am pretty darn satisfied =) This past weekend, my family took me to their 2nd home in Pucon, Chile which is about an hour south of Temuco. It was a beautiful little tourist town under the shadow of the enormous active volcanoe Mt.Villarrica. I also got to swim in some hot springs and mud pools (sounds gross but it was actually super fun). Best of ALL, I fufilled one of my to do´s on my list while I´m in Chile...I met a llama!!! I know it´s weird but it was pretty awesome and I was pumped that I got to see one so early. Luckily, he is right down the street from my family´s 2nd home where I will be all summer (SCORE!). All in all, week one in Chile has been a 100% success!

 Llamma!!!

 Mud Pools!

My family and Mt.Villarricca =)

¡Adios Estados Unidos, Hola Chile!

I have safely arrived in Temuco, Chile! It was a very wonderfuly flight despite the mayhem in the airports. I miss my family and friends back home so much, but I am so glad I decided to follow through with the exchange. i can not really understand a lot, but I smile, nod, and say "si"  a lot. Chile is such a beautiful country, and I will try to make sure I post a lot of pictures. Chaoooo!

One Week!!!!

I leave one week from today for Chile! I am so excited. I can't wait to meet my new family and explore my new city. I will arrive in Temuco on the 11th which so happens to be Chile's Independence Day! It has been over a year since I began my journey to become an Exchange Student, and I can't believe the time for me to leave is actually here! It is so crazy. I will miss all my family and friends in canton so much, but remember, I will be back =) I will have this blog and facebook still and you will be able to reach me at cheshiregurl@gmail.com or my skype account katy.valentin15. I will keep in touch!

My family and city!!!

The day has come!After weeks of waiting, I know where I will be living in Chile. I will be in the beautiful city of Temuco in the province of Cautin! It is in the Araucania Region in Sothern Chile. It is surrounded by lakes and is the cultural center of the Mapuche Indians.  Lucky for me, Temuco is also a big shopping town...so I will fit in perfectly! It has a population of around 250,000 people, so it will be a huge difference from little old Canton, Illinois.


I have also found out who my first host family will be (yay!). My host father's name is Fernando, my mother is Ana, and I will have a host brother named Nicolas. I will be attending Colegio Santa Cruz while I am in Chile. Well time for me to go e-mail my host family!!!!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temuco

Hola Amigos!

So these past seven months I have been going to Fun Weekends with some awesome Inbound Exchange Students and Outbounds. I have really come to love these guys and I know we will always be friends. Our time together is almost over,but i know we will always stay in contact and mantain our friendships. I have not found out what city i will be living in yet =( or my host family's name. Hopefully I find out soon this month. I will make sure to keep you all updated!