An Unexpected Viaje

   As my time here is running out, I have been afraid I would not be able to find something to do this year that would really pop out to me. If someone were to ask me, "Katie, what was your favorite part of the exchange?" I would not know how to answer. So far this year, I haven't really done anything or gone anywhere here that makes me excited to tell everyone about. I thought the the next six weeks would pass by slowly and I would continue in school and see friends on the weekend. Then something I did not expect happened to me. Last Sunday my tia invited me over to her house to have once and bake cookies (Chocolate Chip) with the family. When I arrived, I was plesantly surprised to find several cousins and other relatives sitting around a table. I spent the afternoon talking with the family and having so much fun in the kitchen making cookies with my cousin and her friend. As the night wound down and most of the family went home, I sat down with my aunt's cuñada .We started talking about how I have hardly gone anywhere in Chile, and that I was about to go home in a month and a half. She quickly invited me to come stay with her in Coyhaique until the end of the month, and the only thing I had to pay for would be the plane ticket. I talked about it with my host family, and we started working on it right away. They are almost as excited as I am!

Month six

Cole, cole, y más cole

   I started school a few weeks back, and the excitement has defiently worn off. Actually, it usually does after the first day or so. This year, my teachers are a little harder on me because they know I understand what they're teaching. And because they often tell me I talk to much during class, they are now aware that I speak and understand... I can't give the "No... entender.. nada.. yo" excuse anymore. Which, by the way, can come in handy. I'm sort of afraid to have to go back and start college-- I'll actually have to work. It won't be a pretty transition, I'll tell you that much. Another thing that may be funny for other people to watch me go through is transitioning back into English. I speak Spanglish without even trying, and I've forgotten many words in English. Last week I had to write a few essays for a scholarship, and had to use my google translater for the words I wanted to use in English. Yes, it's that bad. Lately, I almost feel awkward when I speak my native language with people. For one, I hardly ever see other white people, and that's the way I like it. I feel uncomfortable when there are too many people around speaking English, is that weird?
   I set my date for coming home, and I will be on my way to the Rhinelander airport three months from tomorrow.  The last six months have just flown on by, I'll blink and all of the sudden my year abroad will be over.  I don't really want to think about that right now. I do know that time is moving exactly how it should right now. It's not too slow, and it's not too fast. I, Katie Lynn Demers, am satisfied.

I was also plesantly surprised to find this video on my facebook wall that a friend sent me. He told me it reminded him of me, so I'm taking the liberity on re-posting it. ¡Con mucho amor desde Chile!

Febuary, The Month of Love

Well, I guess it's been a while since I've written. Okay, about two months... so I apologize to the few people that actually keep up with me. After saying that, I will begin.
  I'll start with a quick update first; I have now switched families for the first time, and I am loving it. I have officially been here for three weeks, but was on vacation with my first family for a week of it. So I'm still just starting to make myself a home here. I fell into their routines right away, and found it suprisingly easy to fit right in and feel like I'm at home. I loved my last family, and I am so thankful they were my first, but to be honest, I feel more at home in the house. I felt completly at ease as soon as I walked in the door, and the feeling has stayed with me since. I feel like I can breathe here, and I love it.
  I didn't end up going to Easter Island as I had origanally hoped, but I'm dealing with it. I have two friends there now and I'm trying to contain my jealousy. I went on two occasions to the South of Chile-- first to a small town called Linares, and second to Tomé. Since none of you probably know where those are, I'll take the liberty of filling you in. Linares is about 4 hours south of Santiago, and towards the Eastern side of the country. I wasn't exactly in Linares, but about 45 minutes more into the middle of nowhere where I spent a week with my host family and another exchange student. It was beautiful country, and the stars at night were breath-taking. There, I certainly had my fill of chickens, flies, and and pan amasado. And to be clear, I wasn't actually eating the chickens or the flies.  A few weeks after my return, I headed down about 6 hours south Santiago to Tomé--a city very close to Concepción. As most of you know, Concepción is where the Earthquake hit last February. Tomé, was also affected. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the images I´ve seen won´t be easily erased from my memory. I also went to the beach that had been overtaken by the tsunami soon after the earthquake.
  Though I've been enjoying a long vacation, but I'm excited to start school again in about three weeks to get back into the swing of things. I've missed my friends a lot and I'll be happy to see them everyday now. I think the hardest thing will be going to bed on time, and getting up early. Since I've been out of school, I tend to go to be during the wee hours of the morning, and wake up sometime early afternoon. I know that won't go over well with my body. I know that this title doesn't make much sense, since I am just now publishing this at the end of March, but I really did write this more than a month ago.

Que Soy Floja!

I'll have photos and something gigantic up to read soon, I promise!! I'm sorry I'm so bad at keeping up with this thing!

Sunburn, hookie, and homemade fries

Today was so great. I went to my last day of school today (as it turns out, I had one more day than I thought), and was prepared to do absolutely nada. About an hour after doing nothing, my friends and I decided to play hookie instead. We waltzed out the front doors with the Inspector/ Principal man watching, and booked it to the corner. Then we realized we were missing someone... We then went to the Super market to buy potatoes and soda, and walked to a friend's house. We made homemade fries and had a delicious meal together! An hour or two later I was thrown in the pool because I'm a gringa, and therefore make good entertainment. I love my friends so much, I'm sure going to miss seeing them everyday. In the afternoon my friends Rachel, Niko, and Junior went to Rachel's house to swim in her pool. We spent the rest of the day tanning (I burned- even after applying sunscreen 3 times), swimming, and playing tennis. This was such a good day, and even though I'm burnt to crisp, I wouldn't have taken any of it back. It's days like these I live for, and a fantastical way to start off my Summer.

Holy Christmas, Batman!

    I've decided that maybe I should just post something big every month, because I hardly have time to write much! En verdad, I can't just just write every time something happens or changes in my life. I change every day, I feel. Maybe not change, but I find something new about myself, make mistakes, and I learn. For example, all my life I always thought it was wrong to cry in front of people. I was never able to do it, because I didn't want people to think I was a baby, or that I was weak. I guess that's just how I learned it, when I was around guys all the time. I realized yesterday that when ever I feel full of emotion, I instinctively walk away from the situation. Why? Because I don't want people to see me break and see right through me. I thought they would look down on me for crying, or showing that I was angry. But I recently realized that's not how it is. The first times that I broke down in front of my friends, or my host Mom and sister, I expected them to try and make me stop and escape from the sad white girl. I received comfort and love instead; they let me cry all I needed, and assured me that it was okay to do so.
   Now that I've finished talking about my silly emotions, I can tell you what I've been up to! It's almost Christmas! To be perfectly honest, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all. It's hot, there isn't any snow, and I hardly hear Christmas music. When I do, it seems so out of place! I'm happy to be with my host family here and I'm excited to have this experience. With The Holidays comes a whole new roll of emotions (Sorry, I said I was done talking about my emotions. I lied). I've never had a Christmas without snow, and I've never been away from my family. It's hard, I'll tell you that much. I thought it would be easy to spend just one Christmas with another family, but it really isn't. I miss the familiarity of being at home with the decorations around the house, the Christmas lights on the tree, and listening to my Mom's music as I sit in the living room drinking hot chocolate with her. It's things like that I miss the most.
   I have two days of school left until March, so go ahead and be jealous. I almost feel guilty for having so much time off of school! Almost. I switch families in about a month, and in January I'll be going to stay with a family on Easter Island (Go ahead, be jealous again). I'll be on the island for two weeks, and I already know that I'll be taking amazing pictures with this opportunity! I have tentative plans go learn how to surf, and get dreds in my hair.We'll see how things turn out, I guess! The island is really small, but it has so much culture. From what I've heard and seen, it is a lot like Hawaii. If you get the chance, look up pictures of it. It's so beautiful!
   I often catch myself thinking in Spanish, and then feel like a crazy person when it's hard to stop. I suppose that's a good thing. I started reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Spanish today! I probably miss a lot of the good details, but I know what's happening at least. I feel I'll probably have to re-read it in English later. Now that I believe I've made this a decent read, I think it's time for me to rock out of here. Thank you for reading, and keep up the prayers! I miss and love all of you. (: