School and Uniform =)

 School Uniform

Colegio Manquecura

birthday in Chile.

today is my birthday. it has been wonderful. today is also the first day i have been able to say that it is hot outside. its nice to be able to wear shorts and a tshirt. =)

uniform =(

This is a picture of my friend Sonia and I at school. (mom and dad this picture is the closest you will get to seeing me in my uniform) =)

Pelusa!!

This is my new dog.

mi barrio

Adios Estados Unidos. =)

The day i left for chile. =)

bbq in the snow. =)

Snow

Last weekend i went up to the snow with my host family and had a bbq.

i have been in chile for around a week now. i have nothing too significant to complain about. the occasional homesickness. but no big deal. i walk to and from school everyday. i have different classes each day. the teachers and people are nice. well so far.  it has been a great first week. and i am blessed to have been given this experience. =)

i´m here

i´m finally in Chile. Its so different as expected. There are mountains filled with snow surrounding Santiago. The city is so busy and interesting. It´s very cold but thankfully their Spring begins in September. I start school on monday=).

Youth Exchange Creed

"this is my experience. Many have been here before and many will follow, but this time is mine. My journey will present numerous doors to unlimited opportunities. Some of these doors will be open, some will be closed. but one thing i  know for certain: They key to all doors lies within.

Today

It's 3:32 in the morning. I leave today. yay! :) It's weird thinking I won't be here for a year and I will be experiencing new things by myself without my family or friends.

Yay!!! :)

ONLY A FEW MORE DAYS!

Valle lo Campino

This is the neighborhood where I will be living.

away from homeaway from home

I just spent the last week in tahoe with my family. It was only a week and I was ready to go home by the end of the week. This makes me a little nervous for my trip. How am I going to spend ten months away from home when I get homesick after a week in tahoe?

Santiago, Chile

For my time in Chile, i will be living in Santiago, the capital. Chile's population is around 17million and is twice the size of California(in width). The population of Santiago is just under 5 million.

How it all started.

Around three years ago or so my older brother decided to go on an exchange to the South American country of Ecuador, out of all places. While he was gone of course I missed him, he is my big bro. When he returned though he had stories that would make you wish you were right there with him experiencing the events he had.
Being an exchange students is one of those little ideas I held in the back of mind for a while. Until the opportunity became a possibility for me and that's when all the orientations and packets of paper began flowing towards my family and I. Of course I had no clue of where I wanted to spend my time abroad. I knew I wanted South America though, so I could become fluent in Spanish. On my application I listed countries like: Peru, Colombia, and Chile. If you had asked me to point out those countries on a map to you at the time, I wouldn't of been able to. That just proved to me that I  knew I wanted to get away and I didn't care where!!
Now that the plan for my trip was circling through our minds. I would always get asked the typical "W" questions: What? When? Where? and most importantly Why?? The "why" question was always the toughest to explain to people, especially to most of my peers. I would always reply with something like, "Well why not??" or "Because Ventura is boring and I need to get away" or "Because I want to, why do you care??!!". Honestly, none of those answers are legit. I would say those types of things because asking me that at a passing period, or in the middle of class, or being surrounded by a group of people wasn't really the most ideal time for me. And I would say those things because, deep down most people just wanted conversation, not a logical answer. Now the real answer to the "why" question would be something like this:

• I'm going because I want to be immersed in another culture
• Thanks to my parents they have turned me into a travel nut
• I want to take chances and experience things that not every other kid will experience as a teenager
• I want a challenge and an adventure
• I need to take this chance, for me, so i can become a more open minded and more independent person
• I need to be surrounded by new people

• And of course...I want to become fluent in Spanish! 

So three years have gone by and now its my turn to take an adventure. I hope to be leaving sometime around the 16th of August. I've been planning this so long that its one of those things that you know is going to happen but it doesn't seem like it's real. At this time I feel READY! I feel I have the right balance of happiness, anxiousness, eagerness, sadness, and all the other emotions. Chile here I come. :)