Inbound Orientation

On Saturday, I had my first Inbound Orientation for my Rotary District 4340, here in Chile! It was rather quick. My family drove south a bit to Rancagua, roughly 45 minutes or more away from my town, Talagante! The drive was beautiful because the Andes were directly alongside of us the entire time! When I arrived at the place where the orientation was being held, a beautiful and grand event building, I was so excited to see all of the Blazers because it meant I was finally with people who know exactly what I am going through...but they are also the best people ever! It began with everyone talking for about an hour just in random groups, and coincidentally we grouped up with who was from our country. Germans spoke German with each other, French spoke French with each other, and United States kids paired up with well, the United States kids. Then we went in to a huge room and sat for a bout an hour and listened to some lectures about Exchange. Then all of the exchange students migrated to another room in a building next to the one we were in and greeted each other, traded pins, went over rules, traded pin, laughed. I met so many hilarious, great people! And then, we seriously took about 1 million pictures that by the end of the day my mouth was sore and my eyes were permanently watering from the glare of the sun. But it was definitely worth it! We then went back to the original room we had started in, heard a little bit more lecturing, and then watched some dancers do the Cueca: the national dance of Chile! It is extremely fun to watch and I would recommend that you go on to YouTube and search "The Cueca". It is a huge part of the Chilean culture and is commonly done near the Day of the Chilean, which is tomorrow! And the 18th, Chilean Independence Day! September is the month of freedom and cultural pride, and I am definitely loving that! But back to the orientation, It finished at around 4 after a delicious "Almuerzo" or lunch which is generally the biggest meal of the day here. Once we arrived home, I was absolutely exhausted because I had woken up at 6 AM to leave the house around 8 and arrive before 9:30! I am loving my life here in Chile. I love my school, the people, the fun culture. I know it is not perfect and there are certain aspects of life that are still taking me some time to adjust, but I am very content and happy. There is not a day that I do not go without laughing so hard my stomach hurts! My language is definitely improving but it will and is taking time. As long as I can keep my patience with me I know I can accomplish anything. Understanding, speaking, and learning a language is absolutely exhausting, but I would not change a thing.