FAMILIA

Hey everyone! Sorry its been so long! I just got done with spending a week with the fam in CHile. It was SO SO good to have the OPPORTUNITY to see them and show them around. I didn't realize how much i worry here about saying and doing the right thing at the right time until i spent time with them and remembered what it feels like to completely at ease and at home with people . Not that I am uncomfortable in this house, but Its difficult sometimes to think of things to say and always wonder if you are doing the right things. ANYWAYS, I left at 4:30 AM to pick them up from the airport on Saturday. There are glass windows in the airport where you can watch all the people go through customs and get their luggage. I stood there bursting with excitement for about an hour before they came through...looking like they had just spent the night on the airplane...haha. Anyways, we went to the hotel and later walked to San Cristobol to look at the statue of Mary that overlooks the city. That night mark and I went to a jazz club about 15 min away. We got there at 9:30 thinking that would give us enough time to eat something before the jazz started. Little did we know that the club didn't even open until 11pm. The music was great though and I'm glad he got to see a bit of the CHilean night life. The next day we drove to Vina and got settled in the hotel . That night we went to my host home to have snacks and chat. My host mom went on about how young my dad looks and how my mom looks like a "lola" or young....maybe they should come here more often. The next day we went to ....drum roll please....the HOSPITAL! yes, exciting i know. Dad ended up with a sinus infection (I'm sure you love that I am sharing you medical history with everyone) and we spent about 4 hours there just to get a few prescriptions written. For the second half of the week we went to Pucon, a city south of here. WE took an overnight bus and the seats folded out into beds to make sleeping a bit easier. The next day mark and i got up to climb the volcano but the wind was too strong and the trip was canceled. Instead we all went to explore around the parks. We got a tiny car that barely made it up the mountains...quite an adventure. I'll post pictures tomorrow. The next day mark and I actually got to go most of the way up the volcano before the wind kicked up. We made it up part of the snow and then the guide had us turn around. the fun part was sledding down with ice picks. What a rush. Last night we took the bus back to santiago and spent the day walking around and planning what i'm going to do with the rest of my life....question of the week...haha....defiantly open to ideas...
Well i suppose thats all! Happy Easter!!!
Cristina