First days in O-O-O-sorno

And I thought last week was a rollercoaster of a week in Santiago. Sunday night as we were all saying our good-bye’s and heading to the bus station, everyone found themselves wondering, “what in the world are we doing?”

After a week of orientation with all English speaking college graduates, the real world of Chile hits you in the face like an unexpected snowball. We were all dispersing our own ways and felt completely vulnerable to the things around us. The conductor asked me where I was going and I hesitated because I forgot what was going on. It was an incredible feeling of confusion but I managed to say, “Osorno”. Then I said my goodbyes to the EOD intern and boarded the bus.

The bussing system in Chile is well known because since the country is so long many people bus up and down the country taking in the sights. I had a chair that reclined about 140 degrees and a TV in my face where I had no choice but to take in two John Travolta flicks, Face-off and Old Dogs. Old Dogs might be worse than the second most recent Robin Williams flick, RV. I could have done without both but whose complaining. After sleeping on and off throughout the night, I awoke to people exiting the bus in the city of Rio Bueno. I am glad that was not my stop, bottom-line.

Anyways, when the bus attendant told me that Osorno was five minutes away, my heart started jumping out of my chest. I had a mixed emotion of readiness to meet my host family and nervousness that my Spanish was about as useful as wet toilet paper. Well my Spanish was awful but my family did not care. I greeted them with a big “abrazo” and they were all smiles. They told me that they are rarely serious and like to be funny and have a good time. My host mom Veronica said I was an “American David Beckham” and she did not recognize me because the picture I sent was much different than my present self. I guess the freckles can be passed for beauty here in Chile.

I am beyond thrilled to have this family. She said that I can come and go as I please, that she will do my laundry whenever necessary, and wants me to feel at home with the family. She prepared some eggs, bread, and Nescafe (I drink four cups a day now). When I got home and I feel very welcome into this household. Daniella, the 16-year old daughter showed me around the town and I spoke more Spanish in one day than I have in a very long time.

It felt great to immerse myself in the culture and sit with the family at dinner. Dani said that they live in a rich neighborhood but are not rich themselves. I have a nice bedroom with a twin bed, wireless internet (although I will use sparingly and hope to turn-off the iPhone in the next week or so), and my own bathroom! I was not prepared to have this nice of a home and family but am very grateful nonetheless. After going to the supermercado to buy some dinner items, we ate, talked about my family and home, and then went to meet some of their family friends. They were all very welcoming and I can safely say I understand the general idea of conversation but not the smaller words.


Much more to come tomorrow and with photos.

Attached are some pictures from my weekend excursion to Cajon de Maipu. Sweet stuff..