My classes overall

Since my schedule is only monday through thursday, I have officially finished my first week of school! However, I have yet to start my history classes. I learned the hard way that the history classes do not start until next week. On wednesday I got up really early to travel to the history in Viña for my history class that was at 8:15. However, the only people that showed up were the extranjeros. We sat in the class for 40 minutes before realizing that we did not have class. Woops.

I like all of my classes so far and have even decided to add some different classes. I find that the classes that are for spanish as a second language are much easier. They talk much slower and with easier words. Thus, my grammar and writing (which I added) classes are very easy to follow and participate in. The conversation and culture class I have three days a week, and I really enjoy it. All we do is talk about our experiences and about Valpariso. It is a great way for us to practice our developing language skills. Each of these classes have less then 10 people in them, meaning we get a lot of interaction with the professor if we have any questions. All of the professors are very interactive and energetic. These classes I am going to keep :)

I decided that I wanted to take a chilean poetry class. It is really hard. The professor talks very fast and I have no idea most of the time what he is talking about. I do not really know anything about poetry in english, so it makes it that much harder to take it in another language. It seems really interesting, but I think I am going to drop the class and take traditional chilean dance classes instead. I am really excited for that class :) I may add in a PE class as well, they all sound really entertaining. I need to get in shape for my upcoming soccer season, so why not take el hombre y los juegos (man and games). They have no gym here so I have decided that I am just going to go for runs around the streets of this beautiful city.

I´ll report on how my history classes next week, when they actually occur. I think that all of the classes I am taking are for exchange students, which is a little disappointing. But it ensures that I will actually understand what they are talking about.

Last night, a group of friends and I tried a local sushi restaurant. It felt weird having sushi in Chile but it was delicious. We are right next to the ocean so all of the seafood is extremely fresh! Tonight my friends are coming over and we are cooking dinner and having a sleepover. They know I do not like staying alone in my house, so they are awesome enough to come stay with me!

This weekend I will probably spend at the beach or exploring. There is a huge asado (BBQ) for students at PUCV at the botanical gardens in Viña that I plan on going to!

NEW WORD: cachorro = puppy

Updates to come!