The power of BS

The power of bullshit.

I made friends through cards. I'm school for the first two weeks, I, along with many of the other students, found ourselves with much free time. One day, I remembered that I had a deck of cards stashed in my bag since the plane ride over to Chile and decided that it was high time that I put it to good use. So, during one of theses extended periods of emptiness, I pulled out my deck. What started out as a game of cards between Alex, an exchange student from Switzerland and I grew to encompass almost the entire class. It didn't matter that our spanish was poor or that they could barely say hello in English we were all able to build friendship over laughter.  I have played more games of bullshit and spoons in the past month than I have in my entire life. This I found to be the perfect bridge over all problems. It was extremely funny to watch kids win and lose and reactions caused by this. I now have amazing friends, both chilean and other exchangers and I have cards to thank for that.

What to expect, that you are not expecting

For future exchange students hoping to travel to Chile, I write this for you.

10 Things you should know about Chile:

1. Dogs: There are so many stray dogs here that wonder around the streets. Some are nice, and some are not so be careful!
2. Bread: Chileans eat an incredible amount of bread, so now you will too. (and the bread tastes really good)
3. Hellos and Goodbyes: They take an extremely long time because you have to beso and abrazo EVERYONE, so plan accordingly.
4. Bring markers and a coloring book to school, this will save your life, or at least your sanity.
5. Milk is kept in a box on the shelf, not in the fridge, do not freak out, it will not kill you.
6. BRING SLIPPERS!!! Because if you do not wear shoes in the house your host mom will think you are going to die from getting a cold, same goes for having wet hair.
7. Chileans are late to everything, by at least a half an hour, so the notion of being early is ridiculous.
8. Avocado cures everything. You will eat it everyday at every meal, with bread of course.
9. Chilean Spanish is an entirely different language. There is so much slang and almost every word ends in "ito".
10. Once you arrive, you will never want to leave.

Sensations

My first few days in chile is difficult to explain in words, but I will say that this is a place of sensations. Touch being the most major one. Every time you see someone, no matter if you have known them your entire life or as a passing acquaintance of your friend’s friends you hug and kiss them on the cheek. A concept at first seems off to a teenage girl that has resided in the open yet simultaneously close minded world of the USA, where touch is a bond formed after an extended period of time. But as the hours and days passed, I began to yearn for this touch. This reestablishment of physical communication. Not a vague hello, or a hand shaken from multiple feet away, but close enough to feel the heat of someone else's body and the exhale of their breaths as the word “Hola” falls from their lips. It sounds romantic and in some ways it is, but as aforementioned, chile is a place of sensations and a place of kindness. 
On the second day I was in school, I found myself at a park slacklining with a new friend, but of course, he spoke no English and my spanish was horrible, so I wandered off to explore the park. It was like being a little kid again, I swung on a swing and climbed a tree, but struck me while I was laying in bed that night was that, I loved the sensations. The wind in my hair as my body surged toward the sky on the swing and the rough bark beneath my fingers while I grappled in the tree. In the states, I take all theses small things for granted, but here I try to treasure every single one of them, because I have a time limit. I have a limit on how many chilean breaths I take, a limit on school days, a limit on how many new friends I can make. And that is what scares me the most. The fact that I must leave because even now I know how hard it will be.

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.