A week later.

I've been in Vina for all of one week, and I still think it's a beautiful city. There have been some parts that have been really tremendously difficult, but that's why God invented Google phone- so I can call my mommy for free. No wonder they used to make missionaries in the jungles be married in the days before calling one's mommy was so easy. Anyway, apparently adjusting to Mexico was this tough for me, but I don't remember that either, so I guess I'll probably forget the tough parts of this. Mom said to write it down so I could better prepare myself for the next time I go somewhere.,

Despite some challenges, I'm having an amazing time. Yesterday, I met my host family and they're fabulous. I live with my host mother, Amanda, and my host brother, David. Amanda is an actress and Theatre professor and David just graduated from college. He's a filmmaker and is just finishing a project, so he isn't home much, but that should change relatively soon.

Amanda is a wonderful woman who seems to have friends everywhere; we're always going to someone's house for delicious Chilean food or kissing people on the streets or something. She also spends a lot of time talking to me and is a very patient teacher. In Chile, breakfast and dinner each takes about an hour (lunch takes much longer) because you sit and talk for a long time. Tonight, she started talking about solidarity in Chile and about Pinochet. I had read that a lot of Chileans don't like to talk about this ever, so I feel very lucky that Amanda was willing to share so much with me so early.

It's very late here, but stay tuned to hear all about graffiti culture, communist concerts, and ChileVision!

Peace