Comeback

Hola!

So it's been about two months since my last post... But seriously now I'm gonna be more active, especially because school's about to end here. I'll keep this one short...

One of the most important things that have happened since my last post is my school's "Alianza". Basically it was a celebration of the school's anniversary, so for that whole week, there were activities. These activities included making choreographed dances, skits, dress-ups, etc. There were three teams or alianzas, Red, Blue, and Black, and these three teams have to work to win the most points from all the activities. My team was the blue alianza and we ended up winning! But definitely, it was one of the coolest things I've done here.

The other big event that happened was the YFU 50th anniversary party. If you don't know yet, YFU is my exchange program, and they were celebrating 50 years of existence. The party was really nice because all the other current exchange students who live near came with their families and Chilean exchange students from the past 50 years also came.

So really those are the two important things that have happened, and now I really will be more involved with this blog. Me and some other exchange students are going to Vina del Mar next week, so I'll definitely post about that. And I still don't have the right cable for my camera so I can't upload photos yet! Hopefully soon!!

And lastly Happy Thanksgiving to all you lucky Americans!

Chao

Owen

Remember When I Said I Would Update Soon?

Nope, neither do I, hahahaha.

Seriously I know there's been a lot of neglect going on in this blog, but I really have been busy, I promise. First of all, I have my camera and I took a lot of photos but my charger wasn't sent with the camera so I can't upload the photos. But otherwise, it's been an interesting month and a half.

So, I started off the month feeling a bit homesick, but I overcame it. Then, we had September 11, which is obviously a terrible day in the US, but it is here also. Basically, what happened was on September 11, 1973, the American CIA backed a military coup that ended with Chile and Latin America's first democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, dead. He was replaced with Augusto Pinochet, who was a notoriously harsh dictator, and he ruled Chile until 1990. Anyway  this year was the 40th anniversary and we got out of school early because it was dangerous to be out later because of things like this.

Fast-forward to the Independence Week. Here, September 18 is Independence Day, but unlike the US, Chileans give themselves the week off. So my family and I went off to my uncle's house in a place called Quillota, which was very fun. My 18th consisted of empanadas, anticuchos, and trying something called terremotos, which is literally a gift from Heaven. On the 18th, the president and military march through Santiago accompanied by fighter jets. No fireworks though. That Friday, my uncle, two cousins, brothers, and a friend of my brothers spent the day along the coast. We visited Valparaiso which is a blast of colors, art, hills, and history. That happens to also be where the Chilean Congress is located. We also visited Viña Del Mar, which is like Heaven on Earth. It's so cool, and it really looks so awesome. The beach is amazing, and we were there for the sunset also which was beautiful.

September 24 was my 2 month anniversary in Chile! Seems like a really long time to be away hahaha.

That weekend, my class and I danced samba for my school's festival, and that was pretty cool. Our dance had a Brazillian theme(Our dance was to a song called Ey Macalena) and we even incorporated elements of Capoeira. My 18 year old brother danced the national dance, cueca, and merengue.

Last week was another kind of hard week because of some things happening at home with friends, and a small throat infection, but I truly had a lot of fun on Saturday. YFU held an event at the office to celebrate the 18th and I got to reunite with some of the other exchangers, including Reid, who is the other American here. That was awesome.

So yeah, that's what's been happening for the past few weeks. Oh, and also I now have an Instagram where I upload quickly taken photos from school when the teacher's not looking :D hahaha. Follow it here www.instagram.com/cashmoneyowen. So I guess I really will update sooner and yeah, See you guys later!

Chao,

Owen

School and a Month's Worth of Updates

So wow, it's been exactly a month since I last updated... Sorry about that, but I've been very busy and lazy-hahaha. But that also means, I've been in Chile for over a month! How time flies.....

Anyways, I'll start where I left off-with school. I'm in Segundo Medio, which is 10th grade, which puts me half a year ahead of my classmates in the US. School is pretty different here than the States. Here, everyone stays in the same room and the teachers come to you. I live in a town called Huechuraba (pop. 74,000), which is kind of like the Long Island or Westchester of Santiago, and it seems like all my classmates know every other kid in the town. Also school is from 8-4:30, which is an hour more than what I'm used to. Every period is about 1hr and a half, which just worsens what's already bad, which is my Spanish... Seriously, it's very hard to sit in a classroom for that long a period of time and only hear Spanish the whole time. And everything is super loud, and Chileans talk REALLY fast. So this is usually what I take away from school every day.

But I've managed to make a fair amount of friends which is pretty awesome. I've also met A LOT of people in my colegio (high school). People usually come up to me and ask me who I am and where I'm from, because it's super obvious I'm not Chilean. Either that, or screaming "Hi Owen!" So school wise, everything is good, but it's now getting really hard to wake myself up in the morning knowing I'm in for 8 and a half hours of confusion, so I've tried to pull the sick card already a few times, hahaha.

My host family is very awesome and they help me a lot, especially my brothers. They've shown me Chilean music(the band is Argentinian, but the song is super popular here) and we play Xbox and joke around. However, my family was in Punta Cana the whole of last week on vacation, so I stayed with a classmate of mine. Her family was also super nice and helpful.

It's winter here, but today and definitely yesterday have been hotter than New York is at the moment. Which is bad timing, since my winter jacket arrived this week from the US after a month of transport.... 

I'm gonna wrap up this post now, since its been pretty long. I will say, photos will come soon, but I only just got my camera since it arrived in the same package as my jacket. 

Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll update soon!

Chau,

Owen

Finally in Chile

Hola ustedes!

I'm writing to you from Santiago de Chile!! Thats still so crazy to say! I really can't believe it. I'll start from the beginning I guess.
So-
Last Wednesday, July 23, I stepped on the plane from New York to Dallas. In Dallas, I met up with the other two Americans going to Chile, Reid and Claire. We were originally supposed to take about 9hrs and 45 minutes to Santiago, but they forgot luggage so we had to return to the gate. So all in all,after 12 hours, we arrived in Chile. We met all the other exchange students from around the world and we all headed to an orientation in Olmue, about 2 hours from Santiago.After three pretty awesome days, we all returned to Santiago where I met my host family. They're so awesome and nice, and they've taken me out into Santiago a few times. I guess thats all I have for now. Oh,and its freezing here and I start school tomorrow. Nervous, but exciting.


Until next time-
Chau,
Owen

Less than 24 hours

Hey everyone,

So....tomorrow's the day! Less than 24 hours and I'll be on my way to Santiago, Chile. I've got all my stuff together and said all the goodbyes (for the most part.) I think its just starting to set in that I'll be gone for a year. Really scary to think about, but I'm really excited, even though I know it'll be the hardest time of my life so far. I'm really looking forward to it though, especially cause my host family is so awesome. To everyone who's been asking, yes I do have Facebook in Chile, and I'm getting a new phone number, so we can stay in contact.

I'll update when I'm in Chile I guess....
Till next time everyone-
-Owen

The Start

So, this is the creation of this blog that's gonna document my life when I go to Santiago, Chile as an exchange student for a year next month!
Basic Points to Know
-I'm Owen
-I'm 15
-I'm from New York City
-I'm going to Santiago, Chile
-I'm going with the Youth for Understanding Program- yfuusa.org

I'm gonna try and update as much as I can, so until next time-
Adios,
Owen