I made it!

NOTE: This was originally written Tuesday, 2/5 but, again, the South American internet connection issue...

As promised, I am now writing from Chile! I had an overnight flight so I arrived here around 10 this morning. After about an hour in customs and coughing up a $131 “reciprocity fee” to get into the country (I am presuming that by “reciprocity”, they mean that if they ever come to Lititz, I will get my money back), I stepped outside into warm, sunny Santiago. Aaaaaaaaah. Warm weather rocks.

I then was brought straight to the home of my host family, Edgar and Maria Fernandez. After so many years working at AHLI, it’s so funny to be on this end of things. But from what I can see so far, it seems like an ideal situation for me. They are an older couple (I’m guessing early 70s?) who live in a very nice section of Santiago; I have the entire upstairs with my own bathroom to myself so it’s nice to be able to “spread out” my stuff and not have to worry about it being in someone’s way. The picture I have posted here is the view of the mountains I see from my bedroom window. Not bad, eh?

What I loved most about South American culture last year when I was in Colombia came back to me immediately. Life here is ALL about the people. Between the time I got here around noon and 9 this evening, three different times people just showed up at the door to stop in for a visit. There is no planning ahead, no worrying about if the house is clean, no concern over if you look okay or not (in fact, one of the times, Maria greeted her guests with one random roller in her hair… and left it there the whole time), just genuine happiness at having friends drop in and spend time chatting and having some tea. Oh, and kissing. The kiss on the cheek is alive and well here in Chile, both when you greet someone and when you are leaving someone. I DIG that. It somehow creates an immediate sense of familiarity and warmth. I’ve been in this home less than 12 hours and I already feel completely welcome and at home here.

The meal customs are similar to Europe, which I also totally dig. The main meal of the day is around 2 and all of the family comes home to eat together and they take their time. A minimum of an hour, anything less would be considered sacrilege. Then around 5 or 6, you have tea or coffee. Which I took to mean just tea or coffee. I was wrong. It means tea or coffee plus all sorts of food things. Then dinner is around 9 pm. And of course all meals include Chilean wine. Always wine. So far, so good…..