Ahhhhh! I can't believe we are in December. Time is flying. 4 months complete!!
My cousin here had her birthday 3 sundays ago. This birthday was very important because it is her 15th. (It's like our version of sweet 16). The family ate together with us and sang happy birthday.
It seems that music class here has 2 aspects. 1) A little bit of material, like this time was artists of the rock, jazz, and barroc period. 2) The other is like a "jam session" where there are one or two people playing guitar, one on the drum set, and the others sing songs from a book.
In the start the the semana, there was a lot of wind. (2 weeks ago) We lost lights for a few seconds. The nights are chilly and the days, hot. But it isn't humid! =]
On Tuesday I went to a Rotary Meeting. My first time... finally!! It was like the meeting of my club in the US. They also sang a son. Each of the two students and I spoke of our experiences and we all ate dinner. It finished very late and we arrived at the house at 12am, midnight.
On wednesday, we had a meeting about going to Quirhue in January. It is a missions trip and I am very excited to go. It was greatly affect by the earthquake and there, we are going to help and speak to the people.
Additionally, on Wednesday, I took the Lenguaje final. It was interesting...haha. It was a multiple choice test. Here, I always do better with tests that have essays because I can write and defend my thesis. But, I recieved an 82% (about). I answered 17 correct of 40, but becuase I don't understand everything yet, it was multiplied by 2 and then I got 34 correct. Thanks professor =]
ALl day Thursday we did nothing. All the classes with the exception of math had finished. We played cards, watched movies and talked.
On friday (03 of December) I got an 84% on my math final with only 4 wrong. That finsihed this year in school for me. Summmerrrrrr =]
My Grades:
Music: 100%
Biology: 99%
English: 99% (becuase of a Scarlett Letter quiz =P)
Biology Elective: 95%
Math: 92%
Philosophy: 90%
Chem: 82%
Spanish LA: 81%
History: 60%
Averagy: 89% =]
On Saturday, the 4th of December, I saw Harry Potter. Finally! =] It was completly Spanish but I understood almost everything. I didn't like the absence of some details in parts but they stopped the movie in a good spot. Overall, I really liked it.
Sunday: We left for the South at 6:30am from the airport. We arrived later and took a bus to a view point of Punta Arenas. The wind there goes from the Pacific to the Atlantic and the average of the wind speed is 30-50 mph. Because of the wind, we had a sketchy landing on the plane but all went well. We visited a famous statue of Magellans. On SUndays, they have a flag parade. We saw the last part. The same day we went to see the penguins. I don't know what it is, maybe it's how they walk but they are special =] That night we explored Punta Arenas on foot.
It was really cold!!! every day (and it's summer here)
Monday:
Breakfast this day was very good. It was like breakfast in the US with scambled eggs and bacon. It was delicious. First stop was Fuerte Bulnes and we also saw where the Spanish landed. We drove to Puerto Natales. During this, at one point, we were 3 km from Argentina. A friend and I wanted to visit for one moment to put a foot in Argentina but no. We continued to Puerto Natales and the Fijord of Last Hope.
Tuesday:
We went to "La Cueva del Milodon." Many many years ago there was an animal that was a mix of horse and bear, the Milodon. And this the place where it lived. We then passed through more scenery till Torres del Paine. The hotel was awesome as was the view. We had a lovely hotel and each had a double sized bed for ourselves.
Wednesday:
First, we left for a hike called Mirador Condor. We climbed walking and in some parts it was very steep. But we arrived to an incredible view with a LOT of wind. After lunch, we went to Grey Lake to go on a ship to see Glacier Grey. It was very blue. We crossed a brigde on the way to the boat that had a capacity of only 6 people at once. How scary haha more coldness...
Thursday:
I got up to see the mountians with fresh snow. How prettyyy! We rode horseback in 3 groups of 11. When it was flat, we ran super fast! THe fastest the horse could go. It was so much fun! My horse named Pajarito (aka Little bird) was very good. We returned to Puerto Natales in the afternoon. It was light untill 11 pm! Very late.
Friday:
We left for a trip on a boat for the day. THe boat left from Puerto Natales and we went to see diffent places and things. This included waterfalls, glaciers, condors (type of bird), sea lions,and beautiful mountains. We had a good time. After we returned to the airport for our flight at 11:30pm and we arrived in Santiago at 2:30am Saturday.
This trip was absolutly incredible and awesome. I was able to get to know the exchange students better and I also saw more of the world. =D
Today, Sunday, we went to a very special District Rotary meeting. The counselors obtained photos of us and our family in the home place and made posters. We also recieved letters from our family. It was very special and this is with the theme of the month of the family.
I have learned a lot here but one big thing for me is that I have gained a lot more confidence in myself. I have learned things about respect. And in respect to respect (haha) that you don't need to do everything that others are doing to be accepted and have friends. Be yourself, adapt to the culture but always have the same or better values.
More photos of the trip: Part 1, Part 2
No comments:
Post a Comment