6 de enero: Primero trip to the beach, visit to the supermarket, & Chilean fiesta con mi familia :)

Today (Jan 6th) was really fun!! Obviously I'm writing later than yesterday...only because I just got back from a Chilean party with my fam.  This morning I had class as usual and it was pretty fun.  We're learning about Chilean culture and that encorporates into our grammar sessions.  After class, we walked to Cafe Journal to meet Rayen, the girl in charge of my group for volunteering.  She walked us to El Hogar de Ninos which is a local orphanage.  We met the owner and she is extremely nice!  We waited for the kids to wake up from their naps so we could feed them milk then play with them outside but they were very tired and were sleeping much longer than normal so the director said we could leave and start next Tuesday. 

Next, we walked back to our homes and Laura Kate and I planned to go to the beach.  I came back home to see if Fernanda wanted to go with us but she was studying at her university so I just watched some good ole Dr. Oz with Mama while I ate ice cream and told her about my day.  Then LK and I decided to go to the beach even though it was freezing and I skyped Mom while I got my things together.  LK and I went to the beach with Sophie, the granddaughter of her host mom.  We stayed for about an hour and we just sat on the beach and talked to Sophie and people watched...it was pretty relaxing.  Once I got back home I ate my dinner that was actually my lunch because Mama packed me a small lunch that I ate while at school but in Chile lunch is the biggest meal of the day and it lassts for 1+ hours...it was zuchini full of meat and cheese, potatoes, and salad & it was soooo good.  After I ate I went with Mama to buy bread at a specific bread store where you get a basket that has a bread tool attached that you use to pick up the bread and when you get to the counter you weigh the bread to pay.  We also went to the supermarket and bought meat, juice, gum (que es chicla en Chile), and cleaning supplies.

I cleaned my room and then Señor Luis got home for the weekend and I got to meet him for the first time!  I sat in Fernanda's room and distracted her from her homework by talking to her while I painted my nails :)  Mama asked us if we wanted to go with them to a gathering at their friend's house so we decided to go.  We drove for a little while to the next city called Reñaca.  In the car ride I talked about how we had such great family spirit and I took pictures of the fam while we stopped to get gas...they probably think I'm really weird haha but Fernanda and I are bffs now...even closer than before.   We arrived at the party at 10:30 and left at 2:45.  It was so fun!  We went to my fam's best friend's house and since they weren't able to be together for New Year's, they had a second New Year's party complete with barbeaue, cheeses, and crackers.  Also, it just happened to be the birthday of Senora Caroline's daughter, Fernanda's, boyfriend, Rodrigo (Jan 7) so at midnight we celebrated his bday and the New New Year's which is what they called it since they were re-celebrating.  We just hung out for a few hours and I was able to talk to lots of different people there, especially Senora Caroline's daughter and her friend who are both in high school.  We all agreed that we like Selena Gomez and I learned from them that there's a Selena Gomez concert in Santiago in January...I will definitely be looking into that haha.  At 2:00 am we ate cake for Robrigo's birthday.  My fam left after cake because Fernanda has class at 8:30 tomorrow morning and I have a tour at 10 am.  Tomorrow Mama's brother and his family are coming over for a barbeque so I'm excited about that!  I'm so glad I was able to go to the party tonight...I was able to see the true heart of Chilean families...they are so close and kind to each other and they love celebrating life.