Oh, today.
School.....eh. You know how school is. I took a math test(although, I'm not sure if the teacher is counting it....hopefully...no?). I'm starting to almost grasp what he's talking about. One day, all his symbols just made sense. If only I understood his reasoning. Everything I've learned about math means nothing here, the order of solving problems that's been forever engraved in my brain is wrong here. It's utterly confusing. But! I'm starting to figure out his messed up way of solving problems that make little to no sense, so....I suppose that's a very good thing!
The gym teacher wasn't here today, so it was proclaimed that we had no gym class. Entonces....we got to leave school early. 90 minutes early. Mamá was out shopping, and had given me the key anyway, so I walked home, partially with Freja. We didn't get as many looks. That's why I like wearing my uniform in public. It's like saying Look at me! I belong here! Anyhoo. I crossed the street all by myself, which always terrifies me. It's four lanes of traffic, haha. Buttt...I waited for the red light, and made it safely across. Go me! Was home alone for about two hours. Answered the phone for the first time!!! yesss! Although....it still terrifies me. Thankfully today it was just Freja asking if I wanted to go to the movies. Phew.
We did go to the movies. We saw La Dama en El Agua...I forgot the translation....Lady of the Water? Something of the sort. It was okay....kind of....strange. But still good. We took a collectivo. Note to self, always sit in the front seat. Freja talked to the driver the whole time, while I was crammed against the window next to a strange bearded man. The driver was quite interested in the exchange student thing....which was pretty cool. I did get to talk to him a little, but not much.
In the line for popcorn(which has carmel type stuff on it, not butter. ¡Que extraño!), there were two blonde people in front of us. And my gringo radar went off. They spoke slow Spanish, that didn't sound like gringo Spanish. I leaned over to Freja and whispered "Foreignors!" as they always slightly amaze me, and the man turned around and smiled. I asked where they were from, in English. Germany. They were very nice. We talked about La Serena a bit, and what movies we were seeing(they were seeing Click). They came from Peru and Bolivia and are travelling down Chile. I told them to make sure to check out Valparaiso. All in all, it was slightly exciting. They even had blue eyes!!!!
The movie was subtitled. Thankfully. Freja and I both decided we would cry if it wasn't, haha. Afterwards we talked about what we would keep with us when we go back home. Saying "Chao!" instead of goodbye, eating french fries with a fork, saying "ya po!" "sí po" y "Que onda?". Eating ketchup with most things. Forgetting to wear seatbelts(they're not even in most cars!), using slang. That kind of thing. It's funny to think about how accustomed to things here we've gotten. Even speaking Chilean English. I've started directly translating things into English with Freja now("We have 16 years" "I have tired") It's funny.
The language has started seeping into my brain, and it's both confusing and entertaining. When i think, it's a mixture of English and Spanish. I can read and understand Spanish now. I sat down to write an email to a Rotarian here earlier, and at first I was slightly panicked at the idea of doing it in Spanish, but the words just came. I was actually able to do it with little difficulty. When I speak English, Spanish words just slip out. It happened with the Germans today(and afterwards, when they left, Freja and I just kept speaking Spanish to each other). And there are things that just make more sense in Spanish. Which Freja agreed with too....I'm sooo glad to have someone else understand! When I write home to people, I just can't help but use Spanish words and phrases because it just seems right. It just fits better than English. It's crazy.
Anyhoo. I think I've pretty much written a novel. So.....the end? El fin. Sí. Pero.....some comments would be nice! It's kind of a strange feeling to know that people read this, but have no idea who those people are(and yes, okay padres, you are exempt from the comments, if you email me, haha). Anyhoo. Un besito, chao.
Kelsey