This was supposed to be posted yesterday!

new note: tried posting this yesterday, but was unable to get access. i'm now with my host family and will update more about them later tonight. everything is really peachy though!


Here I am sitting in hot springs at the top of a mountain in the Andes.

We stayed at this most unbelievable bed and breakfast, in the middle of farmlands. The house was an old white home, it kind of looked like an italian villa. The views of the mountains were everywhere, and it was just a really relaxing place. The owner, Mary, was so kind to us and spoiled us with excellent food! We visited a winery on saturday, my very first time. and that was a lot of fun! We sampled some reds and whites and even though I don't quite have a pallet(sp?) for wine yet, it was very nice. Sunday, however, was my favoirte day. We drove up through part of the andes to see some of the most incredible views. We saw several glacier topped mountains, which is a new thing for me! The view honestly took my breath away. They cause you to think only in the present moment, which was very nice for me. We finally made it through a 20 mile unpaved road to these incredible hot springs. There were about 5 different pools with beautiul views of the andes. We bathed in a few of them, and even covered ourselves in mud. This is the tradition for the people, apparently the mud has healing qualities so we soaked ourselves in mud as well. All in all, it was a wonderful adventure.

Monday morning we got up early and drove to the Santiago Airport (we had a lot of problems getting there, but this gracious man ended up driving to the airpoort while we followed behind. I honestly don't think we would have gotten there without him. I was so impressed with his generosity. I said my goodbyes to Sherry and my dad and met up with the other kids on the program. Everyone was spread out across the floor on one area of the airport, so it was really intimidating to just go up and talk to people. But i felt really confident that morning, so I gained up some energy and started introducing myself around. All in all, the people here are so impressive. They each have incredible tales and so far, have been very open to expressing themselves. We had to randomly choose two other roommates to stay with these next couple of days, so I am staying with some girls i met on the bus. They are very nice and good to talk to. I can see myself becoming closer friends with a lot of these people, but at this point it is hard to really form strong bonds. It will happen sooner rather than later I am sure.

Today we have just been having an orientation, which we will be having many more orientations in the days to come. Later today I will find out who my host family is, and I will meet them and move in with them tomorrow afternoon. I am a little anxious about it, but I trust that this future family will be wonderful.

Sorry for all of the writing, if you made it this far, thanks for reading :)

I've been able to have internet access here, which has been really great. So drop me a line, cause I'm able to see it!

May you find happiness today in life's simple pleasures, that is my goal as well.

Sending love from Chile,

Nessa