Santiago, Chile: Week One

My family here is really great and the house is pretty nice. There is the mother, Paulina, her daughter, Ximena, who is my age and studies graphic design at another university, and another exchange student from Harvard named Rebecca, who leaves in a few weeks. They also have 3 dogs, Sol, her daughter Lackey, and a 19 year old dog named Bon-Bon.


Bon-Bon sleeping in the laundry room.

Chile is a lot colder than I thought it would be. In reality, it's not that much colder than Washington in the winter, but due to the lack of central heating systems, the inside of a house can often be colder than outside! My bed has 8 layers of sheets, blankets, and comforters on it. It is almost too heavy to sleep under, but the cold would be too harsh without it!


My bed and all its blankets!

Last Thursday I went to a contemporary dance recital with Rebecca and a few of her friends from her program. It only cost about $4, and in the USA it would have cost at least $20, it's crazy how cheap art is here! It was really interesting and it was fun doing something different. I used a public bathroom there for the first time in Chile and thank goodness I went with people! Turns out, they don't have individual toilet paper dispensers inside the stalls. There is just one big dispenser when you walk in and you are just supposed to take what you need beforehand. I'm not sure why, but I really hope I don't forget in the future...


The toilet paper dispenser outside of the stalls.