Planting my Roots

The past few days have been all about getting to know the city and the people here. Monday I was able to sleep in for a bit and then make a trip to the grocery story and do some more unpacking to get settled into my new life. It felt really nice to get things in order and start establishing myself at home. Adjusting to life here has been surprisingly easy for me! I think living in Spain definitely prepared me for living in another country and has made my transition to Chilean life a lot easier. I love the convenience of living in the city and being able to walk to everything I need. I love having my own space and being able to call this city my home, even if it's just for a short period. I can't wait to see how my life here develops :)

Here's some pictures of my new place!

I have an extra bed in my room so if anyone wants to come hang out with me in Chile, you've got a place to stay :)

Got to have my pictures!

Our living room

I also found a really great running route along the main street that runs by the beach, which is a beautiful path, and offers some ideal people watching. These pictures were taken on the last nice day that we had before the weather turned chilly and cloudy. No rain yet, though so that's a plus! And I bought a little space heater that is next to me constantly, so no worries, I'm staying perfectly warm :)

Not a bad place to go for a run!

My Spanish class started up this week, so it's nice to have a formal refresher course to brush up on some grammar and such. It's been a long time since I've thought about the subjunctive. Ugh. But everyone at the International Center, where my class is, is really friendly and helpful. It's nice to have somewhere to turn for questions about the city and things.

My afternoons are free to run, explore, eat empanadas, sit on the beach, watch 100 Latinos Dijeron ("100 Latinos Said aka the Chilean version of Family Feud) and just get used to life here. The other day, I sat on the beach that's about a block and a half from my apartment and ate a delicious cheese empanada from the little stand right on the beach, and made a dog friend who sat with me for about an hour and we enjoyed the beautiful day together. There are lots of stray dogs here, but they're all quite friendly. They're all dogs that used to be owned by families, but they got too big and ate too much and cost the family too much money, so they were released into the streets. Don't worry though, people take care of them. Some of them wear dog sweaters and there are dog houses in parks that people have built or donated. Here's my friend from the other day!

The group of other American interns that are here are very cohesive but inclusive bunch, and it was nice to immediately be accepted into their activities. Everyone is here for different lengths of time, doing different internships in different sectors, but everyone still manages to get together for potlucks and to plan trips. We are actually headed to Mendoza, Argentina this weekend to go watch the Argentina v Germany World Cup game there. Although I don't know how Argentina will fare against Germany, it will be such a fun cultural experience to be in the country with all of the patriotism and pride that goes along with making it this far into the World Cup. Vamos Argentina!! And maybe I'll find Messi along the way :)

Besos!