Winter is almost over!!! Spring starts September 21st and I cannot wait. The days are starting to get warmer, last week the temperature got over 75 degrees Fahrenheit! I am learning more and more Spanish and making more and more Chilean friends!
Last weekend I traveled with my family to a summer house in the country! There we celebrated the birthday of three of their cousins who have birthdays in September. There is always an abundance of food which almost always includes grilled chicken and fresh vegetables. Their birthday cakes put every desert that I have ever eaten in the United States to shame! The taste is just as good as the presentation!
Last weekend I also visited the southern part of the city of Valparaiso. My families Nana took me on a tour of the hills of Valparaiso and showed me where her favorite soccer team plays! We watched the sunset from a place called Playa Ancha which was beautiful!
I am taking a class called Traditional Chilean Dances. My professor is very expressive as well as a good dance instructor. We are learning a dance called the Cueca which is the national dance of Chile. Everyone dances this during the celebration of their independence day which is the 18th of September. My family and Chilean friends are very excited for this celebration and almost everyone has had plans made for a month about what they are going do!
I have had almost all of my classes now and like them very much! Two are taught by instructors that specialize in Spanish as a second language. My writing class Professor explained to me that it is part of their culture to stare at people, so I have become accustomed to people looking at me. I am taking a Cognitive Psychology class, which I knew was going to be a challenge. I understand about 40% of what my professor says. After the first class I turned to the other exchange student in the class and asked her how much she understood. She is from Germany and Spanish is her third language and she only understood 10% so I think that together we should be able to comprehend 50% of the lectures!
I arrived in Chile on the 25th of July! My days have been full of getting to know my family, the cities of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar and my University! 
