Day 2

When I left you all I was fixing to be picked up from the airport, so let's start there. Around 8:30 six women come up to me in the coffee shop and introduce themselves with a big hug and kiss on the cheek, the customary Chilean greeting. From there we exchanged currency at the airport. A US dollar is worth about 500 pesos, I am working on adjusting to the money--it's definitely taking a minute. A nice man named Ramon took us to our apartmento (hotel) in Santiago. There were six of us who had arrived much earlier than most of the other kids and we couldn't check into our rooms yet so the directors let us hangout in theirs--I took the best nap of my life...no really.

At one-thirty (more like two, Chileans are always late) we all went to lunch together. I had chicken and rice and bottled water...nothing too crazy on the menu for food options yet. After lunch we took the subway to this place:

It is a hill overlooking the entire city--it is also the location that the city was first founded upon. Conveniently, Charles Darwin had left his John Hancock in one of the rocks....

All of the people I am with are very nice, but most of them are pretty fluent, which definitely challenges me to communicate consistently--blessing in disguise. There are also stray dogs everywhere and my heart absolutely melts every time I see one, which is like all the time....

The city of Santiago is very hilly, my calves are burning from all the hiking we have been doing...I mean it's in the city, but believe me it's definitely a hike. At the top of the hill we hiked today, I could see all around the city, the Andes are absolutely majestic...one of the girls I became friends with today and I agreed that we couldn't wait until they were covered in snow.

Tonight we have the night off, so the girls that I am rooming with have decided to rest for a bit then go out for dinner and drinks a little later. Tomorrow is a jam packed day for sure....I am so ready for bed, but I am staying up so I can adjust to the time difference more quickly. I also plan on taking a number of pictures tomorrow because we are going to one of Pablo Neruda's homes I believe. I will probably post a couple on here but the majority I will make available on Facebook. I am super excited to see his home! Sunday I get to meet my host family.

Anyways, the city is awesome so far, and I couldn't be happier with my decision to come. I know there are struggles that lie ahead of me, and I definitely miss home and my people, but God sure had something beautiful in mind when sending me to this place.