Finally a Part of a Chilean Family

Santiago turned out to be a really great time. Valentina, Nina, and I spent many days shopping downtown-can't exactly complain. I fell in love with Chilean bread.

The picture on the left is the group of kids who were the last to go to their host families due to damage from the earthquake. Two AFS volunteers took us on a tour of Santiago on the last day I was there. You can see more pictures of that on my Facebook. The picture posted here is of the view of Santiago from the top of this big hill. We took an escalator type thing up to the top, where there was a giant statue of the Virgin Mary, and I could ALL of Santiago and the Andes Mountains. It was an amazing sight.

I was able to go to my host family in Parral on Wednesday the 10th. Two students from Thailand and I took a bus North, along with two AFS volunteers. We were all dropped off in different places. I happened to be dropped off on the side of the road where my host parents were waiting for me...? We first went to my mother's work-she owns a company that exports blueberries. Then I got to go to my new home! I met my 4 siblings-Kippy (14), Paula (11), and the twins Magdalena and Raul (10). I was really homesick the first night because I was finally in a family, and it wasn't the family I'm used to. It's gotten better each day, and i'm starting to feel like a part of a Chilean family now. My mother, Kippy, and I have gone out a couple times to do some shopping, and otherwise we hang out at home with the housekeepers/nanny while both my parents work.

School was supposed to start on March 3rd, but because of the damage, it's not starting until April 5th. Kinda good, kinda bad. I'll have more time to get better at Spanish before school starts, but going to school will keep me occupied and that's where I'm going to meet friends. I'm excited but nervous too! My Spanish is much worse than I thought...I've accepted the fact that I'm not going to know what's going on most of the time. It gets better everyday though, and my family is very helpful and supportive.

I'll try to keep everyone posted. Thanks for reading!

Chao

Steph

Camp/Santiago pics

USA group

TERREMOTO

Ok soo much to say about this...

There were 70 kids from all over the world in Rancagua, Chile. About an hour and a half south of Santiago. The earthquake hit at about 3:30 Saturday morning. I woke up because the whole cabin was shaking really hard back and forth, and the beds were creaking and i though the walls were going to cave in or the bunk bed on top of me was going to fall and kill me. Brutal i know, but its the truth. the shaking lasted for about 30 seconds and it kept getting worse and worse. after it stopped, some AFS volunteers came into the cabin and made sure that we were ok and told us that we had just gone through a really severe earthquake, which happened to be the worst earthquake Chile has seen in almost 100 years. How convienient that it happens the first night that im in Chile. So we slept outside for the rest of the night on the grass, with each othger and some blankets to keep us warm. We couldnt have the orientation that we were supposed to have the next day, which was the whole point of being there, because some structures that covered the main area had fallen down and it wasnt safe to walk under them. So we just hung out under the hot sun all day, and were able to go to the pool as well. it wasnt that bad though because we had each other and we got to know one another pretty well. i made a lot of friends that i wouldnt have made otherwise.

We were quickly running out of food, and we didnt have electricity or running water. sooo we left sunday morning by bus, which took us to santiago, to the national AFS office. all 70 of us crowded into the tiny office until some of us were taken to temporary host families in santiago, or in the other case, some were taken to their real host families if they lived nearby. i am living with a temporary host family because it was not safe to travel to parral, because many of the roads and bridges had been destroyed from the earthquake. i am with another girl from austria, named nina, in an apartment in a suburb of santiago, with a 22 year old girl named valentina, who is going to law school here, and her mother. We are having a great time! we shopped in santiago yesterday, and its great because everything is so cheap.

AFS called earlier today to update us on our families and it turns out the school im supposed to go to isnt working because of damage from the earthquake. my family and house are fine though, and the roads are even good enough now to get me there. so im just waiting for the school to be working so i can go to my family, which i guess could take up to a couple of weeks, but hopefully not. thanks for thinking of me and i love you all

chao

steph

Host Family

I have just heard news of my permanent placement with a Chilean family! I live in Parral, Chile, about 200 miles south of Santiago. I have 5 siblings; four sisters and a brother. Alejandra is 16, but is on foreign exchange in the USA, so we're kind of switching places! However, she is placed in Massachusettes. Trinidad is 13, Paula is 11, and the twins, Magdalena and Raul are 10. I live in a big house surrounded by farmland. My host father, Raul, is an agronomist, and my host mother, Queni, is a teacher, among other things. I will go to a school in Parral called Colegio Concepcion, which is a small school of about 300 students.

Thank you again to everyone who made this possible-I wouldn't have been able to do this without all of your love and support.

CURRENT TOTAL: $6,936

THANK YOU TO ALL

I am very grateful for the generous contributions I have received over the past few months. I just wanted to thank everyone for helping me to achieve my goal. Thank you to: GRANDMA & PAPA, MARY & JIM SPERLAZZA, SUSAN HOEFFEL, LISA HIEBERT, RYNE JOHNSON, AUNT CORLISS & UNCLE CHUCK, THE GODIL FAMILY, AND THE SCHONDEL FAMILY. Without all of you, I wouldn't be able to go on this adventure.