Moving in with My Family

Well on Saturday, I moved in with my family and it was an interesting experience to say the least.

I got to get all of my stuff unpacked, which was probably the nicest feeling of all. I have a closet where I can put all my clothes, a dresser for things I can organize, a desk for my books, and a night stand. I put my pictures up of my Remington, my friends, family, and Carrie as well. It always makes me feel a little closer to the people I love with their pictures staring at me. (That sounds awkward, but really it is a nice thing.) I will have to put up pictures of my room and the house so you can see it.

I have an interesting "chandelier" in my room that has beads and features different shades of blue... it is really quite... interesting is the best word. My favorite part of the entire room is the map of the world that is on the world. I adore maps. This last year, I spent $100 (way to much) for a huge poster sized map of the world that is very detailed. I hung it up in my room at college right by my bed. It was fun to stare up on the wall and see places in the world that I wished to learn more about or visit. If you are ever looking for a gift for me and you don't know what to get books and maps of any sort are great bets. I love them both. Someday, I hope that I can be the owner of a huge globe, just because the fascinate me so much. (Well that was quite a tangent... sorry about that.)

My family invited their friends over for a BBQ, which I was very excited about. I thought that it was going to be for lunch, but it didn't. Instead in the afternoon we went to the mall to pick up new shirts and pants for my host dad, who was starting a new job on Monday. It was neat to see the malls here in Chile. To be totally honest they are much like our malls in the United States, but with palm trees, and better ice cream stores. While Jaime was trying to find a pair of pants and shoes, I was going crazy looking at the amazing tie collection that they had. The ties were a bargain $14 bucks for 2 and for good brands. I almost bought two, and I may even go back... especially since I have plans to go to some cool events here in Santiago (more on that later), but we will see.

After the mall, probably around 8 or 9, we went to the grocery store. We probably spent about an hour in the grocery store, leaving around 10pm?? Not really sure, but we picked up the meat for the BBQ. We got back to the house and the family's friends came over a little later. Just like in the United States the men went out side to shoot the shit while the meat was cooking on the BBQ, while the women clucked like hens inside. :)

It was interesting, I kept going back and forth between the two, eventually talking about politics with the guys and trying the meat as it cooked. It was interesting to see the similarities however between the way they acted and the way my family would act if we had friends over for a BBQ. It was the exact same.

By the time had come to eat, it was 2am... not something I am use too. We ate dinner, which was absolutely wonderful by the way, but I was so exhausted that when the meal had ended and they started offering me drinks, I had to decline and go to bed. My host parents ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning, probably explaining why we were late for church the next morning (read more about this in the Church in Santiago blog above).

The first night in the bed was fine, but very cold. The house here doesn't have heat, so the blankets are all you have, Most of the time the blankets work fine, but you have to position yourself just correctly enough so that you can have your entire body covered. I also pulled out my sleeping bag that I brought all the way from the United States (which was a huge pain) and I am so glad that I have it here now because it really helps in the cold nights! It was a good investment. Next I need a sleeping bag that weighs less and can be scrunched up into a very small container for backpacking.... now my sleeping bag takes up a lot of space in my bag. Does anyone know where a good one of these would be and for a good price? Just wondering.

Well, the first night was good overall. I ended up waking up around 8am, but my family slept very late, so I chilled in my room playing solitaire. Good for reasoning probably, I should be doing logic games and sudoku's to help prepare me for the LSAT huh? Read more about that adventure in future blogs! :)