¡Empanadas!

I'm just loving it here--maybe because I'm still on vacation and my classes haven't started yet...but I'm mostly looking forward to that, too. I've had the chance to take the micro (bus) without help, which is empowering and makes me realize that I have a special place in my heart for sketchy public transportation; it's really fun when you have it figured out. It's one of the best ways to feel like a local.

My Chilean family makes me feel good about myself because they tell me I speak Spanish well, although I don't feel like I am most of the time. At the same time, I definitely am thinking in Spanish more and understanding better. I found out the my family speaks Spanish because they lived in Canada for many years before moving back to Chile 2 years ago, and Victoria, my 11-year old Chilean sister, was born in Canada. So, they all speak English (but they always speak Spanish to me). Which is a plus because they know how to help me with words I don't know. Also, their Spanish is more standard than most Chileans' because they lived outside the (¿mala?) influence of Chilean Spanish for so long.

Here's a picture of my room; I have a huge bed and a TV and a big window, so I'm being spoiled (regaloneada). But, I'm not used to how cold it gets at night because there's no central heating... only my nose gets really cold, though.









And here is a not-very-good picture of Valparaíso from Viña (I live in Viña and take classes in Valpo) (and I'll take a better picture sometime soon). Soooo yeah it's pretty awesome, it's a 10 min walk to the beach from where I live. And Valparaíso is one of the most interesting, least-American (U.S.) cities ever; we walked through at least half a mile of fruit/vegetable/fish market today in the middle of the city, dogs and cats wandering around, colorful buildings on the hills, a big white church, and we got cheese empanadas (me encantan). I heard that there's a store around the corner from my house that sells like 30 different kinds of empanadas!!