Halloween in Chile

hey everyone! Just an update about how last week went. Last week my school had alianzas which i guess you can describe it like a competition between grades. My school is all ages starting from kinder. My class was in the white group and we had to do a musical- Chicago. We also danced a cheerleading dance like i mentioned before...it went really bad but we all had fun doing it. The little girls also had to dance and they danced to a song from camp rock 2. The older girls also danced to to katy perry and the older guys danced like Watchiturros. It was really fun and the musical "Chicago" went really well and we won third place. So obviously we were upset because everyone knew that it went REALLY GOOD! So like the rebellious teenagers that we are we all decided to come to school the next day in black clothes, as a way to protest and to show "mourning" because white is a happy color and no one was happy so we wore black instead. Thinking back on it now it was just a silly competition but it was serious at the time. Haha. I thought the wearing of the black clothes was funny, plus it didn't hurt anybody so it was fine. My friends are awesome.
Also Halloween weekend  I went to Rancagua, which is about an hour away from Santiago. I stayed with my friend Lucy who is an exchange student from Oregon. How do I know her? well I met her at a Rotary Orientation and we were immediately friends. This just goes to show how you can immediately become friends with another exchange student. I went on Friday and we went to a Halloween party. Man! It was so fun. More people looked at me wierd because not only am I blonde, but Lucy is blonde as well and two blonde girls, together in a small town in Chile look like tourists. I guess in Santiago it is more common to seen light haired people. I felt like it was my first week again because everyone was looking/staring at me and I didn't know anyone. The party was really fun though! I stayed until monday ( which we had off of school for halloween) which I though was pretty neat because we dont get halloween off in the States. hahahaa. We saw the movie "Contagio" which i guess in English is Contagion?

I am at a point in my exchange where I can understand everything..minus the slang ( Chile has cool slang but sooo much of it) and I can speak when necessary. Also being with Lucy this past weekend and then skyping friends and family back home I have discovered that not only is it hard to speak spanish, it is equally as hard to speak my native language as well. It is hard to switch from english to spanish over and over. It is hard to explain.

Things I miss from home; Obviously my family and friends!
- Free refills
-free water
- being able to drive where ever
- my bed
- spicy food
- fuzzy's tacos
- bible class at PR
- oddly enough, babysitting
- leadership class-
- not having to say "sin gas" when i order water ( first time got me..haha)
-salad dressing
- costco hotdogs
- the smell of my house
- the quietness of my neighborhood
-cheap clothes
- cheap shoes

Things I love about Chile;
- My family
-My friends
- the GINOURMOUS MALLS!!!!
- the shopping (dont worry mom and dad I just look ;)
- the hustle and bustle of Santiago and all the strange/ interesting people I see everyday
- EMPENADAS!! :D
- waking up and looking out my window at the beautiful Andes mountains
- how it is cold in the morning and cold at night

I feel like my first list was longer and I feel it shouldn't be that way but i really do love it here. I have a family friend who just arrived from Texas today and he is here in Santiago on business and he has a suitcase full of things from home for me. I get to see him tomorrow and I think seeing him will make me feel more at home and also when he returns home he can reassure my parents that I am doing fine here.  I am excited. My dad put Stride gum in there. :) anyways..that wasnt about halloween at all but honestly I couldnt think of a title.