I made it!

Hola friends and family!

So I made it to Chile! The flight wasn´t too bad, i met up with my dad and sherry in Atlanta, Georgia and then took a 9 hour flight to Santiago. I took a sleeping pill and pretty much watched a few TV episodes on the the airplane and then fell asleep. It wasn´t exactly the most comfortable sleep because my my neck was all stiff but it worked out.

We got into Santiago at 9am and it was sort of overwhelming, but overall it was a very orderly airport. we found our bags, no problem, and took a cab to our hotel. the roads were exceptionally nice and from the taxi you could see mountains in every direction and a lot of lush green. we checked into our hotel and immediately went out walking the city. Santiago is huge, wayyyy bigger than any other city i´ve ever been to. but it is very clean and has a lot of natural life. to be honest, within the first few hours I had already fallen in love with the city.

we took a bus tour around santiago later that day and saw all sorts of things, it is hard to describe them all really. it is similar to europe in ways, but it has its very distinct local flavor. that night we went out for wine (local from a neearby vineyard) and then to a seafeood restaurant for dinner. i had the chilean sea bass, and it was the most incredible fish i have ever had in my life. i couldn´t believe how good it was!

Tuesday was another busy day, we used the metro (subway) and went to a big mountain thing, we took a funicular which is sort of like a cable car up. That was really scary because it went straight up the mountain! then we took a gondola over the city. after, we explored the city a lot more on foot. It is seriously one of my favorite places i´ve ever been.

we had dinner at a pizza place and went to bed early so that we could drive to Vina del mar (the place where i´´ll be living) this morning.

All in all, this has been a wonderful time. I haven´t felt too much culture shock yet because i have been with my dad and sherry and i have felt very welcomed by the people. i have been speaking spanish at every place, and have been complimented several times which helps me to raise my confidence and speak even more.

today when we got into vina, i was a little worried because our hotel was in a unique part of town. after walking the beach for awhile, i decided this is definietely a place i could live. it is so strange to think about the fact that i will actually be living here everyday for the next 6 months. i have really high hopes for it though, and thus far i have no negative remarks.

we layed on the beach today for most of the afternoon and are now in the hotel cleaning up before going out for dinner. i downloaded most of my pictures onto my computer yesterday, so i just need to find a place with wireless in order to post them. (right now i am on the free computer in the hotel) anyway, i´ve been taking a billion pictures and i really can´t wait to show them to you.

i really thank you for reading my blog, and for all of the comments. it feels so grea to know that you are out there supporting me. i hope all is well with you!

all of my love,

vanessa.

p.s you know how we have crossguards, people dressed in yellow that stop traffic with flags... well here all of the crossguards are young girls, and then twirl their flags like buttons. it is so cool to see, almost like they are puttng on a show. haha, just a little side note about one of the many many many unique things here.