Well my semester started off a little more thrilling than expected. I had my first class on Monday morning and let's just say I'm a little scarred. I arrived to class early because I didn't know where it was located. I found it easier than expected so I ended up being the first person there. Little did I know that all the classes were pushed back 15 minutes so I was REALLY early. I took a seat in the front row and waited for what I thought would be a full class. It turns out that there were only about 20 people and everyone else sat in the last 3 rows. So at this point in time I am the only gringa in the class so it is pretty obvious how to spot the blonde girl sitting alone in the front row. The first fifteen minutes consisted of my professor spewing out all our homework, of which I didn't understand any of it because he was practically yelling in Spanish. All I got out of it was it was all group work, so my group consisted of me. After, my professor had us present ourselves to the entire class. Because I was in the front row I was lucky number one, and he had me come to the front of the class. After some terrible Spanish and some laughter from the back row I returned to my seat to find out that he made no one else come to the front of the class. Everyone else got to say there name at their seats.

The next hour and half consisted of him literally yelling the entire class and calling me out numerous times (of which I had no idea what was going on). I was so flustered after class that I couldn't remember where Elena (our ISA director)'s office was and walked around aimlessly for 15 minutes. I ended up in the sports department and this woman made a ton of phone calls trying to figure out where I needed to go. She was on the phone and I heard her say, "I have a lost gringa here and she doesn't know where to go." I should probably mention here that the university is very small, so it's rather difficult to get lost. They instructed me to go sit in the plaza and that Elena would come find me. If that doesn't make a girl feel stupid I don't know what does.

I ended up taking a different class the same day which one of my other friends is taking as well. So… I most definitely dropped that class. As for the rest of the week, my Thursday class was cancelled and I missed my two Friday classes because we went to Pucón. So in the end it turned out to be a great first week of class!

On Thursday night we left for Pucón, which is in the southern part of Chile. It's a small tourist town that reminded me of Ouray or Estes Park, with lots of cabin buildings, outdoor activities and cute tourist shops. We left from Viña around 10pm and took a 10 hour bus ride to Pucón. It was absolutely pouring down rain when we arrived. And not the kind of 20 minute rain you would expect in Colorado; it poured all day long. We first headed out to get our gear for our climb up Villarrica volcano and then went to the grocery store to buy food to cook in our cabañas for the weekend. At around 11:00am we started our full day tour of the town. We visited many different waterfalls and then went to a Mapuche (Indians of Chile) hut and ate sopapillas and hot tea. It was great to get out of the rain for a little while and hang out around the fire. We all took off our shoes and socks and put them by the fire to warm up. We ended the tour at the hot springs. There were like six different hot springs that ranged in temperatures. We ended up spending almost two hours there. We all returned to our cabañas, wet and tired, and made a huge Mexican feast! We ate fajitas and I don't think we have all ever been so full. That night there was a tsunami warning in Viña from the earthquake in Japan and some of the town even got evacuated, so we spent the night hanging out by the fire, playing uno and watching the news.

The next morning Hallie and I went on adventures downtown Pucón. We walked all around and found a super cute coffee shop where we stayed and drank delicious mochas. At 3:00pm we left for our canopy tour. There were 11 different zip lines that stretched across rivers and through all the trees. It was a little unnerving because there were times when I came far too close to some branches. But it was a total blast and we all felt like we were Tarzan… well maybe more of Jane. Haha. That night the boys cooked and we all hung out in their cabin. Some of the boys brought ukuleles and even a harmonic so we sat around the fire and listened to them. We even turned on the radio and all sang random songs ranging from Ke$ha to Bob Dylan. It was absolutely hilarious. That night we went out to a bar that had really cool couches and a fireplace. It was a fun atmosphere and even some of the ISA directors were there so we ended up starting a dance party and everyone joined. We went back to our cabañas that morning around 1:30pm, just enough time to catch a nap before our hike up a volcano the next morning!

We woke up around 6:00 am to start our journey to the top of Villarrica volcano. Villarrica is the most active and dangerous volcano in Chile. Its last eruption was in 1971 (I think) and they said that it is long overdue, yikes! We had full on gear; I mean backpacks, boots, helmets, gloves, ice picks, crampons (spikes for your boots), full body suites, the whole works! All geared up we headed for the top! In total it took us about 5 hours to climb from the bottom to the top. We stopped about half way through to put on our crampons because the top half was by far the hardest. It was pretty much a vertical drop covered in ice. I thought I was going to die! Crampons are soo heavy and the hardest part was that my boots were giving me the most horrible blisters. We zigzagged our way slowly up to the top where there is a crater of lava. The volcano is always smoking at the top and you can even see that from downtown. After taking massive amounts of photos and eating a bit of lunch we headed back down. But not on foot! There was a man-made path that you slid on all the way down the volcano! It was really fun except I almost hit myself in the head with my ice pick while trying to stop, haha. We got back to town at about 6:00 pm, so in total the whole trip took about 12 hours. We were all extremely exhausted and had to get on the bus to take the 10 hour trip back to Viña at 7:30pm. I was so exhausted I don't think I woke up once the whole bus ride. Surprisingly my body wasn't sore the next morning, but my feel were ridiculously swollen. But it was all well worth the trip.

This week so far I have only had class on Monday again, but I also started by ELAP program.I am working at CONIN, an orphanage in the hills of Valpo. My first day (yesterday, March 15th) I met all the staff and got a tour of the center. Everyone was so kind and helped me feel comfortable. It's a pretty small place; the main floor is circular that has different colored rooms for different ages and states of health. Each room only has cribs for about 7 kiddos. In the center there is a big play pen where most of the kids spend their time. Everyone eats in this area as well and they just bring out a small table. The oldest kids eat first at around 11 am. There are around 40 kids that live there, most of which has developmental disabilities stemming from malnutrition or parental drug use. The kids range from ages of newborn to around 4 years. I am planning on working Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 10am-2pm. So my schedule will be as follows:

Monday- class at 4pm

Tuesday- none!

Wednesday- 10am-2pm ELAP

Thursday- 10am-2pm ELAP, class at 4pm

Friday- class at 8pm and 12:30pm

Today (March 16th) I actually started working at CONIN. I will only be working with the babies ages 0-7 months. I individually take the babies out of their cribs to another room where they do all kinds of therapy, depending on the needs of each child. I first worked with a little boy named Elias Rivas. He is 4 months old and has been at the center since he was 7 days old. His birth mom was addicted to cocaine and therefore he has limited hand functions. His hands are always closed, in a fist. So we work with him to start to open his hands and grab different toys. We use all different textures of toys and massages to try to get him to be less tense and open his palms. We spend out 20 minutes with each baby. Next was Katherine Flores who is six months old. She has slowed development and cannot hold two toys at the same time; when one hand is closed the other is open and vice versa. So with her we played with different toys and helped her start to crawl and roll onto her back. The next little girl is Fernanda (4 months), who is in good health but was dropped off because her parents couldn't take care of her. She is very quiet, but hates to lie on her stomach. It's funny because she will be smiling one moment and then if you put her on her back she will start to throw a fit. So for her the goal is to get her to crawl and be on her stomach more. She is also in the process of getting adopted. The last was Jaime, 4 months old. He can't move his head from side to side and has trouble grabbing onto things. With him we worked a lot with him on his stomach so he could start to lift his head and look around. He is a very happy baby and always has a smile on his face. It was a great first day because I started to understand each baby and their stories.

After lunch I went and held one little girl, Hatia, for about an hour because she was fussing while the rest of the babies were sleeping. Most of the babies have delayed development not only from the affects of drugs, but also because they lack relationships with their moms. I didn't realize that being held and subtle touches were so vital to the health of the baby. So I held her as a long as I could until I had to leave.

I can already tell that this is going to be an experience of a lifetime, but a difficult one at that. I am excited to help in whatever ways that I can, but each story breaks my heart…. I'm not quite sure what I'm in for yet…