Hola a todos!

Let me start off by saying thanks for all the birthday wishes and other messages on the message board. Its so nice to know that there are so many people who are following my travels and especially thinking of me on birthday.

On Tuesday I turned 21! Overall it was a pretty good birthday considering I was thousands of miles away from my closest friends and family. But the people I was with made it very specail. I started off the day by treating myself to a pastry from the bakery on the corner of my street. It had my favorite Chilean treat, manjar, which is a carmel type spread that chileans put on everything. McDonalds here even has manjar flavored ice cream (which is fast becoming my favorite food.) It was a nice way to start my morning. Then unfortunately I had to spend 4 hours in classes :( When I got home my host mother greeted me and chided me for not having told her about my birthday sooner (I had left it in a note I wrote her that morning telling her my plans for the day) but told me that she was getting a cake and we would celebrate with my sister that night. But for lunch she made me spaghetti, because I told her Italian food was my favorite kind of food. It was very sweet how she tried to make my day extra special. Then for dinner they bought a delicious torta (cake) made of yogurt, with fruit and jam on it. It was really good. I especially like birthday meals in Chile because we started off with the cake and then moved to the rest of the food!

After celebrating with my family, I went out with most of the other students in my program to a restaurant called Margaritas. Another guy on my trip has the same birthday so we had a lot to celebrate. Above is a picture of us with our first "legal" drinks as 21 year olds. After Margaritas we got some ice cream which was also very good. Then there was a group of us who did not have classes on Wednesday, so we went to a night club to do some dancing. Unfortunately Tuesday nights are not exactly the night to go out, so the club was rather empty. They did, however, have Karaokee, so the 10 of us entertained ourselves with some singing. It was really fun! The people who I was with definately made the whole day very special.

Other then my birthday festivities my week has been rather uneventful. I did recieve one interesting surprise from my host family. On Monday evening they brought home their cat, which had been living with their grandmother because I am allergic to cats. Apparantly the cat was having issues living with the Grandma, and they wanted to try having it here. They didn't seem to understand the gravity of my allergy, and thought that I wouldn't really be bothered by the cat. Unfortunately I am. It has been an emotional rollercoaster trying to deal with this problem, because I know how much they love their cat and miss it when its not here. But it has been a good learning experience for me both in using my spanish and in being more assertive, something I often struggle with. These little challenges are what makes this experience both difficult and rewarding at the same time. Fortunately we have come to an agreement that the cat and I cannot live together, and they have agreed to find a new home for the cat.

Other then the cat issue, I like my host family a lot. They are so fun to talk to and are so excited to bring new people into their lives. They really do want me to be a part of the family, and its great to feel so welcome. Today I sat and talked with them for almost 2 hours! It was very challenging language wise, but was so interesting to hear their take on things. Culturally there are some huge differences between us, but we have a lot we can learn from each other. Each day here I am learning a little bit more about myself and about the South American lifestyle. It is such a joy to be immersed into this culture, and there is so much more to learn then what I do inside the classroom. Even though it is difficult being so far away, I am so glad that I am here. Each day I wake up excited about the challenges and adventures that I will have.

This weekend I am going to go visit Pomaire, a small town artisan town near Santiago. It is supposed to have a lot of cool history and artwork to see. And next week I am going to the Chile vs Columbia futbol game at the National Stadium in Santiago. I am very excited!

Thanks for all your love and support!

Katelyn