Dinner with Exchange Students
During the orientation in Vina del Mar with Rotary during my first days here, all the exchange students had the pleasure of eating lunch, which is Chile's main meal, together. On the last day, all of us ate in the hotel restaurant. As I had learned at the previous meals, it that teenagers from the United States lack proper table manners. I mean, we have the basics down, (hopefully) like not chew with your mouth open and use a napkin, but when it comes to the difference between a salad fork and a regular fork, if it is even called that, I have no idea. Luckily, I found my self sitting next to Sampo, a student from Finland, that was able to guide me while simultaneously rolling his eyes. My table consisted of Alexander from Switzereland, Sampo from Finland, Peik from Finland, Berengere from Belgium, Daniel from the USA, Amanda from the USA, and Caitlin from the USA. Now apart all of are interesting people, but together it was a ticking time bomb of humor. It all started with the salad.
With the meal being multiple courses, the salad was first to arrive. When it was put in front of us, Amanda, Berengere, Caitlin, Alex and I happily dug in. However,  Sampo and Peik were a little put out and I quote them with,
"This is rabbit food. We need man food. Where is the meat?"
This had Amanda, Caitlin, Berengere and I in stiches. To further our laughter, Daniel just had to add a riveting tidbit to the conversation of
"You, know guys, there are somethings I want in my throat, and lettuce isn't one of them."
And from there it continued to get worse. Alex and I got into an altercation over whose bread he was eating, whether it was mine or his. When the discovery was made that it was indeed his bread, he then asked me,
"Do you even want to eat your bread?", which I in turn responded with,
"Not really"
That so wonderfully earned me a mutter of "Women" from under Alex's breath.
Things continued to deteriorate when the main course was served, Peik and Sampo received there man food, and Daniel contributed the golden line of conversation, completely out of the blue with,
"Remember, beauty on the inside doesn't buy you free drinks".
And any shred of control that we had over our laughter at the table was demolished. Tears streamed down faces and bodies shook from silent laughter. I can't help but wonder, if this was only the first orientation, what will come next.

Writing this blog is much harder than I thought it would be. Not because things here are bad or that I am unhappy, but because things are too good. Everyday so far I have woken up, a bit groggy, but overjoyed. I love Chile. I love Los Andes. I love every person I have met here whether through Rotary, school, or family.  I won't make this a blog about brushing my teeth or concentrating on keeping my eyes open, sometimes  with my hands in attempt not to fall asleep. However, I will create moments. I will recount experiences or people that I found interesting or have impacted me in a way that I am so blessed to be able to share with you.