My family and other very friendly people

As soon as I can I will post some pictures of Chile and the people I have been getting to know. But for now, you'll have to settle for a description.

Originally I wasn't supposed to live where I live now. I was supposed to live with the English teacher who took me to Viña, but her daughter and son-in-law came back from Spain suddenly, and she didn't feel like she could attend adequately to everyone. Thank goodness, really. Because I have a really great host mom. Her name is Edith, and she is the secretary at the school I teach at. She's tiny and "trigueña", as they call people with her coloring here--dark hair and eyes with a lighter skin tone. She's taken care of me from the first day, making sure that I'm as comfortable and as healthy as possible. She cooks all our meals except lunch at school, even dinner sometimes because she knows that in the U.S. we eat big dinners instead of big lunches like they do here. She sings to herself, and has the most endearing habit of repeating a word about ten times: "Que hace frío...¡frío, frío, frío, frío, frío, frío, frío, frío, frío, frío!" Her husband...well, let's just say that he's gone, and that's a good thing. Divorce was just legalized in Chile a couple years ago (true!), and she is now in the process of officially divorcing him. (Until now, married couples just separated. That was all they could do.) She has a boyfriend named Luis who treats her so well, and when she talks about him she gets really happy. She calls him her "gordo" (fatty--a term of endearment). He comes over for desayuno in the morning before work and drives us the 4 blocks to school.

Edith has two daughters, but I've only met one in person. Alejandra is my host sister attending university in Viña. She's studying law. She comes home on the weekends to visit, so we get to hang out a little bit. She's funny and sooooo dramatic. Her English is really good--she has a gift for languages and picks up English almost without trying. I am, of course, teaching her all the important English slang so that she can stay current. We have a lot of fun, including dancing to random disco songs playing on the radio in the back of Luis' car. She has yet to let me take a picture of her to post on my blog, but I will get her, sooner or later...

Don Walter is the school's director (principal). They just passed a law in Chile that states a director can only be a director at a school for 5 years, then he or she has to move on, either to another school or another position. He's just completed his first year here at Liceo Dario Salas. He's strict, but wants the school to be good and for the students to succeed. To me he is exceptionally kind, making sure I have everything possible to teach my classes and be personally comfortable. He wants to invite me to "onces" (tea) at his house with his family, but because he has one of the only cars in the country with automatic transmission and it's been broken for the last two months (it takes a lot to fix an automatic transmission in a small town in Chile), he hasn't been able to follow through on the invitation. He's facinated by my iPod and the speakers I brought to teach English with music while I'm here. Music is very important for most Chilenos, and he is no exception.

Church members have also been very warm and welcoming. Last Sunday I met Claudia, a 20-year-old who is also studying law, but at a university in San Felipe. I took "onces" at her house later after church, and found out we have a lot in common. She loves studying the scriptures in-depth, never tires of it. And she hates that Relief Society activities consist of sewing circles and cooking lessons. She considers these things less-pertinent to her faith; she prefers to delve into scriptures and books and live and talk about the gospel. I also met her 16-year-old brother Danilo who wants me to find him a blonde girlfriend in the U.S. He's actually a very funny kid and I'll see if I can find him a e-pal to chat with him online.

The thing that I love most about hispanic culture and that I'm going to miss profoundly when I'm gone from Chile is the warmth of the people--the kiss on the cheek to say hello and goodbye, the easy and sincere invitations to be with them and get to know their families and friends, there anxiousness to make sure that you are comfortable and have everything you need. If I bring anything back from this country, if I acquire anything from the language and culture, I hope it is the sincerity and friendliness that I have been treated with here.