The Family

Of course, it'd be silly of me not to post pictures of my host family!  So, here we go!

My two host brothers and myself.

Above are my two host brothers, Giorgio (23, left) and Renzo (20, right).  In fact, this picture was taken at Renzo's 20th birthday party.  As someone who doesn't drink alcohol, I finally got the chance to exercise all those "don't fall to peer pressure" lessons from my younger days.  It got rather raucous at times, but I stood my ground the whole time.  But enough about that.  Giorgio has been quite helpful; as I mentioned in an earlier post, he speaks English much better than I speak Spanish.  As such, if I'm really not getting something (or, more often, if I'm unable to communicate in Spanish what I want to convey) at home, he's able to field my concerns in English.  I've also gotten his perspective on some of the broader concepts in Chile, like history, education, etc.  I always feel a bit more at ease when he's at home.  Of course, this isn't to say that Renzo isn't kind or generous.  I just have that good of a host family.  ^_^  Next up is my host mom, Alicia.  I don't actually have a picture of her that I took, so I cheated and grabbed one from her Facebook profile:

She is very loving and absolutely adorable sometimes.  She's easily startled, at least by me, because I operate so quietly when I move around.  Basically, she'll be in the kitchen doing something, and then when she turns around, I'm suddenly there (because I just walked in quietly), and she jumps.  I feel bad, but it's still a little funny.

The last members of the apartment are the two woofs.  According to the info I got, they're Fox Terriers.  Either way, they're portly, spoiled (but still sweet), and PRECIOUS.  Here are a handful of pictures of them, because one or two just isn't enough!

This one's Charlie.  I personally think he's cuter.  He was adopted from an animal shelter in the States when my host mom was there one time.  I forgot the exact city, but it was one I knew.

Isn't his little doggy sweater cute?

This one's Coca.  She generally seems a bit more reserved, but put your face close to hers and she'll go for kisses.

If I leave my door open, this is generally what happens.

So there you have it!  Probably the only thing that makes me a bit remorseful is that my family is rather independent.  That is to say, each person just kinda does their own thing.  My two brothers are each going to their own universities, and my mom works both here in Viña and in Santiago.  Santiago's about an hour and a half commute both ways (kind of reminds me of you, Dad!), but she only has to make that trip once a week.  Family meals, even lunch (which is the big family meal here in Chile), rarely happen.  The lack of familial interaction does put a bit of a damper on my opportunities to practice my Spanish, given that I only have class with two Chileans total (in one class; the rest of the students in that class and all my other classes are other exchange students, largely other Saint John's/St. Ben's students).  Thankfully, the service project I'm in will be starting soon, so that should give me some opportunities.  Plus, the student my family hosted last year is back now and is going to live here indefinitely (largely because she'd gotten a Chilean boyfriend, incidentally).  She knows the best ways to increase opportunities, so I'll be seeking advice from her.  I've still got three months left, so I'm not too worried.  In any case, I'm rambling now.  On to the next post!