I Officially Have a New Favorite TV Show

The day I got to Santiago was extremely low-key and exactly what I needed: I got to my home away from home after what felt like the longest day ever and mi madre anfitriona (host mom) was amazing enough to let me rest and unpack instead of having plans of exploring the city. Don't get me wrong: exploring Santiago is on the top of my list of things to do, but after a ten-hour flight with no sleep the last thing I wanted to do was...well, move around at all. There are two other students living here, one is an IES student from South Carolina, Lydia, and one is a Chilean student who goes to high school in Santiago, Stanley. Lydia is really nice and she walked to and from the IES center with me on the first day, which was really helpful. She's been here since February so she knows her way around. Stanley (who wants to be a singer and was the runner-up on the X Factor Chile) is mostly just hilarious. He's very sweet and naive and loves going to the gym "para tonificar" (to tone up) because he thinks it'll give him a better chance at catching the attention of someone who can make him famous. My room is wonderful, it's big and it has a huge window, even though the view is nothing special. I have my own bathroom, also great because if I had to share with Stanley I would cry.

We also have a kitty named Kitty McLaren and Neva's son's dog, Calí who's 18 years old and beautiful.

I. Love. My. Madre Anfitriona. Neva is old, tiny, sweet, and she makes all my meals. Even though I was told that the food here would be pretty bad, I've only had great experiences so far. I think it's because the continuous onslaught of mayonnaise that everyone's warned me about hasn't started yet. I have to say that my most favorite thing we've eaten so far is the dessert we had on Wednesday after la cena (dinner). Layers of different flavors of ice cream separated by condensed milk called postre helado...the portion was the perfect size considering how sweet the dessert was and apparently condensed milk is the most amazing thing to put on ice cream ever. 

Postre helado

My little family and I have already fallen into a nighttime routine, which I love. During dinner, we watch a telenovela (soap opera) called Pobre Rico, which is full of good-looking people doing ridiculous things. Honestly, the story wasn't that difficult to catch on to...basically, a rich boy and a poor boy switch positions and hilarity ensues between their dysfunctional families and crazy girlfriends. I love it. 

I'm not going to promise that I'll update this very often...buuuut I'm gonna try really hard!