Captivated by the 'blessings' the Lord brings me...

Hellooo!  Yes, I'm back to updating regularly...summer. is. officially. over.

Here is my class schedule:
Monday: Music History 2        
              Spanish Grammar 3        
Tuesday: French Language and Culture 1         
Wednesday: Spanish Grammar 3
Thursday: Family as a Reality and Project
Friday: Ecology of Sea Communities   

As you can see, the only class that I have more than once a week is my Spanish Grammar class.  Which is one of my easiest classes, if not the easiest (thanks for being in Chile more than eight months now :O ).  I have a total of 15 credits which is a really light load for me.  Because this is my second semester here, I have to have a minimum of 15 credits instead of 16.  One credit makes the difference of one more class, so I'm really happy about that.  I explained in my last post about why I'm not taking a psychology class nor a gym class.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with my schedule (minus the fact that I have class on Monday and Friday at 8:15am...meaning I have to wake up at 6:30am...hahaha...but hey, brings me back to the good ol' days of high school. oh my. haha).

The rest of my week will consist of Bible studies, youth group, and volunteer jobs.  I'm not sure my volunteer job schedule, but I will be continuing to work at the girls' home this semester and probably working at a school or other program with special kids....I love them!

WOW!  It's March 22nd today!  That means...that in exactly 4 months from today I will be back at home in Warrenville, IL.  CRAAAZZIIINESSSSS!  I'm really not sure what to think about that.  I will be absolutely ecstatic to see all my family and friends back home...and that it will be summer (as I will be leaving winter here).  But, then, I try not to think about all the good bye's that I will have to say...oh boy...is that going to be hard or what!  Really, though, God has blessed me INCREDIBLY here.  I can't even describe it...I can only try.  He has given me everything I've ever imagined and SO MUCH MORE.  First off, He gave me an absolutely wonderful host family.  I feel so much at home...around ALL of them.  Also, God has blessed me with such amazing Chilean friends here.  I feel like I've known them for so long!  I feel like I'm never going to leave them...along with my host family...like I just live here and that they have always been apart of me.  Yes, I am living here right now, and maybe they always have been apart of me and I just never knew it. haha. Or maybe not.  But one thing for sure is that they WILL be always apart of me.  That's certain.  I don't know what I'm going to do when I leave them.  I'll drown myself in my own tears, but when I get home, my family and friends will be there to save me. :)  One of the very best parts of being here in Chile is realizing what I have back home waiting for me.  My family and my family of friends.  My parents.  Ohhhh...my parents are "DA BOMB" (I told them that in an email I wrote earlier today). haha!  But seriously, they are the best evvvaaaaa!  They love unconditionally, they are so different from each other, but together, they make the best team in the world.  I most definitely want to be just like them when I'm a parent.  I'm so thankful for such wonderful examples to follow...again, God just keeps on blessing me.

I'd say the worst thing that has happened to me here in Chile was last week.  Last week I went to the doctor's on Monday as I had this annoying cough for more than three weeks then.  The diagnosis: allergies.  What?!  So now I'm taking an allergy pill once a day at night and an inhaler (both for a total of 15 days).  The allergies should go away by then...I sure hope they do.  Then the next day, Tuesday, I slept most of the day and did just enough to go to class in the afternoon.  I thought that I wasn't feeling the best due to the medicine I was taking (as I never take medicine, so my body isn't used to it).  Then, that Wednesday, in class, I got the worst chills I've ever had...my skin and nails turned a purple color...I started shivering.  I looked around to see if it was cold in the room or if it was just me.  I saw everyone else in short sleeve shirts---yep, it was just me.  So I stuck out the class and right when it finished I got up slowly and headed home.  Going home isn't as simple as walking across campus.  I had to walk across busy streets, wait for the metro, take the crammed metro standing up as it was rush hour, walk up tons of stairs, walk across the busiest streets in Viña, and then I made it home.  On a normal day, that's a no biggie...but I was feeling so weak and dizzy.  The whole way home I prayed, "Lord, protect me...Lord, protect me...Lord, protect me..."  And, He did...as I knew He would. :)  I made it home just fine and then just as I got home I told my host parents that I thought I had a fever and wasn't feeling the best.  Sure enough I had a 101 F fever.  They took me to the Clinic (a private hospital, as the public hospitals here are really bad) and we had to wait over an hour to see a doctor.  My host dad was more impatient than I was...me being the sicky.  He would complain about the wait...get up and ask why it was taking so long...until I told him to be patient.  I told him, "I'm being patient and I'm the one that's not feeling good, so, you can be patient too. :)"  And I said it with a smile. hhehe  He laughed and settled down.  When we finally got to see the doctor.  They took my temp. and it was 102.9 F.  I didn't know how to say, "Codeine" (a medicine that I'm allergic to) in Spanish...so that made a scene.  Then a pretty strong tremor hit and the Clinic shook.  I was not feeling good at all, so when it hit, I was like, "T e m b l o r..." (most monotone voice ever with no emotion) and my host mom got a little worried but it passed in a couple seconds. [I've gotten so used to tremors here as they are very common.  I actually kind of like them--they're fun.  BUT, I've never experienced an earthquake, so I don't know what a tremor can become...which can be a good and bad thing.  But to make everyone back home okay feel okay: I do know what to do/where to go/etc. in case of an earthquake and tsunami.  So no worries.]  Back to my story:  Then they gave me ibuprofen for the fever and I started feeling better.  It wasn't a reaction to the medicine I was taking.  It was just a viral thing.  I had to stay home and rest all day Thursday and if I was feeling okay, I could go to class on Friday...which I did. :)  I was calm the whole time, besides a few tears of frustration and wanting my mommy.  God is sooo good though.  This is the first time I've been sick these whole eight months...so, I'd say I was on a roll up until now.  Haha.  I'm feeling a lot better today.  My cough is pretty much almost gone (Thank the LORD!).  I'm a little stuffy, but that passes quickly.  :)

 

God is good. All the time.  Todo el rato. jeje

I'm in this picture--I'm in the middle of this mob.  You can see a piece of my hair.  Behind the right shoulder of the guy in the striped shirt.

"Hospital" majors! haha! We have: Nurse, Pharmacist, Doctor, Psychologists (Andrés and me), Dentist, and Physical Therapist.

hahahaa!!  My Chilean 'niece' and I.  We rode in the trunk of their car to the train station. hahaha!

Vallenar, Copiapó, Huasco, La Serena, Coquimbo, El Valle de Elqui. EL NORTE DE CHILE (The north of Chile) plus other random business.

Would you check out that monster of a title! ^^

Random Business

Hi everybody!  It's been a while since I've written, as I have been really busy lately.  I was on vacation in northern Chile for two weeks with my host parents and other family, then I came back to Viña to greet the new study abroad kids, then I had a week to prepare for the new school semester, and then, well, classes started!  Last week was my first week of classes and I still don't know exactly what courses I will take.  This semester is really weird (as there is a new boss) and we are only allowed to drop classes, not add them.  Last semester we could do both.  So, I signed up for ten classes--yes, ten. And I know some other people who signed up for like twenty!  Anyways...it's no big deal as in the end I will end up with only five classes.  And three of them only meet once a week.  Surprisingly enough, I won't be taking any psychology or gym classes this semester (I took three gym classes and one psych class last semester).  I'm not taking a psych class as last semester I was disappointed with my psych class.  I didn't really learn anything--besides how to say things in Spanish...which is not a bad thing.  Also, I have to take other more difficult classes this semester (a science lab and an art history), so I didn't think I would have enough time to invest in the psych class--which I would have liked to do if I did take one.  Plus, I don't need to take a psych class, so, no worries.  About the gym classes...trust me, I wanted to take one or many gym classes, but they just didn't quite fit in my schedule.  Bummer, eh?  So....I won't tell you what class I have now, because I don't even know for sure.

The arrival of the new CIEE kids!  The second-semester bunch of American students studying abroad through the program, CIEE, arrived the week I got back from the north.  Because I've already done everything and know everything (well, almost), I helped out instead of participating in orientation.  It was so much fun to see how they all were...just like I was...picked up and plopped in a foreign country, culture, language, etc.  It was so much fun to talk to them and to answer ALL their questions!  I also got some fun questions myself.  Many had thought that I had already graduated and was working here in Chile for CIEE or that I was even Chilean!  Crazyyy!!  But it made me feel sooo good...so, it was appreciated!   

Vallenar, Copiapó, Huasco, La Serena, Coquimbo, El Valle de Elqui. EL NORTE DE CHILE (The north of Chile) , 

All the photos are on Facebook.  Go to my picture albums, and they are under three albums titled, "Viaje al Norte"

I stayed in Vallenar, a small town in el Norte Chico of Chile, for the first week of my vacation.  There is where my host parents raised their two daughters (my Chilean sisters, Ingrid and Sonita).  They also have lots of family there--so, naturally, we stayed and visited with them the whole time.  It was absolutely wonderful!  I stayed in the house of my host mom's niece (who has two super cute little boys) and my host parents stayed in the house of my host mom's brother.   While in Vallenar, we also went to Copiapó (the city where the 33 miners were) for a day.  We also went with the family to Huasco, which is like a mini-Valparaíso.  It was really interesting to see the difference between the north (and this isn't even that far north) of Chile and the south of Chile (Valdivia, which either isn't that far south).  They are so different!  The north is dry, the rivers (if they exist) are small, the green you see is very few,it's hot., the sun is really strong, etc.  The south is full of green, water, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, grass, rain, etc.   It was sad to leave as the time went by so fast and I really felt like family there.  Wilsito, the three year old little boy that I shared a room with (he called me Iliana as he couldn't pronounce, Diana...so cute!) bawled when we said good-bye and got on the bus.  He cried, because he didn't want me to go and was saying that he wanted to come with us!  Soooo cute!!

For the second week, we were in El Valle de Elqui (Elqui Valley), which is where my host mom was born and grew up.  This is also the land of the famous Chilean poet, Gabriela Mistral.  When we arrived in El Valle de Elqui, my jaw dropped and hung open practically the entire car ride.  The mountains, the fields, the agriculture, the valley, the sky, the everything was simply incredible.  I've never seen such a thing in my life!  We stayed in a house of a family there which was located in Pisco Elqui, a small town in the Valley.  The house, just so happened to be located, smack dab in the valley!  I would walk out the front door and see a huge mountain in front of me, behind me, and the valley to my right and left!  At night, uuuufffff, it was so beautiful!  I also met one of my very close little friends there, Josefa.  My host mom is her great aunt.  Making her my second cousin?  Right?  Anyway...that's what we said we were...cousins! haha!  She's nine years old and for about three days we were inseparable!  She was more like a little sister...the little sister I always wanted!  She would ask me sooo many questions about me, the USA, and English.  She was so fascinated!  When it was time to say good-bye, she started crying--and of course, so did I!  I really don't like good-byes...I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to leave Chile in July!  I'll probably bawl my eyes out until I go blind or something.  Anyways, Josefa and I are going to be pen pals and write letters to each other!  I received my first letter (she made me a book!) from her just two days after I arrived back in Viña.  I sent her a letter last week. :)

  

Highlights of the trip: 

-Seeing Julio!!!  He had gone to the north about a month before we did as he had a job there.  It was so good to finally see him again! 

-Meeting more family!  I felt so much at home my whole time I was in the north, just like I do when I'm in Viña.  In fact, I'm going to try and go back to the north by myself to visit the family one more time before I head back to the states.  Oh, also, Mom and Dad, I've already invited them all to come and stay in our house in Warrenville....hehhee...I hope that's okay! :)  Josefa really wants to come!  Mom, I know you won't have a problem with that....Dad...you'll be fine too, as you've had tons of practice already. 

-Seeing the contrast of scenery...between the north and south of Chile.

-Seeing where both of my host parents grew up/were raised/and where they raised their daughters (before moving to Valparaíso). 

-Being in el Valle de Elqui.  Seriously, I could live there.  I HIGHLY recommend going there if you ever get a chance some day!

-Trying new fruits!  I ate: copao (a cactus fruit that is kind of like the kiwi), sweet cucumber, natural figs (not dried and not Fig Newtons..haha), peaches, pears, and grapes picked straight from the tree/vine, and there was something else I tried, but I don't remember.

Vallenar

The ''river'' in Copiapó

Copiapó

Huasco

La Sererna (It's known for it's Colonial architecture)

The beach in La Serena (it's also know for its coast line) and across the water is Coquimbo.  La Serena and Coquimbo :: Viña del Mar and Valparaíso

Horcon, el Valle de Elqui, almost on the border of Argentina.

Josefa and me in Pisco Elqui!  (Look what the sun has done to my hair!...really, the sun is a lot stronger here, thanks to the depleted ozone layer above Chile).

Copao!!!

Natural figs! picked right off the tree!