sock salesmen and salads

Okay, let´s see if this baby works.

It´s Sunday, November 18th and I´m writing from the bedroom of my two brand new host brothers, Francisco and Benjamin. There´s a lovely breeze and the sun is super bright (don´t worry mom, I´m putting on sunscreen!)

So last Austin saw of me, I was near tears saying goodbye to my mom, pops and little sis (who was sad to see me go, but not sad enough to resist trying on all the clothes I left in my closet, according to mom). Luckily, fate intervened to cheer me up in the form of a 30-something surfer dude named Joaquin, my seatmate on the flight to Dallas. The one thing I forgot to buy before departure was athletic socks, and who do I sit next to but a sock entrepeneur ( performance toe-socks to be exact: http://www.injinji.com/)! I think that was a sign of some sort.

Saturday morning I arrived to the apartment of my new host family, la familia Barros. I found out I am their 38th student, which means that I can do very little to surprise them. They live in a neighborhood of Santiago called Las Condes that is very ritzy- everybody has new cars and cellphones: plus the fact that I´m typing this on my family´s home computer says a lot! Yesterday I took two naps, ate a great lunch of chicken, rice (with raisins, my least favorite food ever, but I gulped em down like a pro if I do say so myself), and about 15 thousand different ensaladas- carrots, tomatos, lettuce and avocado, all in separate bowls, all very yummy. Ooh, and this salsa called pebre that was deliciosa. In the afternoon Francisco, el padre, took me to change my money and get a bip! card for the bus system. So here´s the dish, so far, on the family:

Dad, Francisco: Very kind older guy. Last night we got into politics a bit which was really interesting. I guess it´s a common gringo assumption that most Chileans didn´t like Pinochet, but as far as I can tell Francisco is a supporter, at least of his economic policies. When I mentioned human rights violations, Francisco pointed out that my dear madre patria has commited more of those than anybody. Point taken.
Mom, Bernadita: So cute! Met her in her pajamas. A sweet, hard-workin lady.
Sons, Francisco and Benjamin (28 and 26): Both of these guys are super welcoming and kind. Blondies with rosy cheeks and mustaches, Francisco is a chef and Benja a banker who works with agriculture (still trying to figure this one out).
Bueno. I´m going to have to figure out how much to include in this thinger- I don´t want to be boring or repeat myself in emails, and I definitely don´t want to spend too much time writing because there will be nothing to write about! Doing a blog definitely feels really one-sided and naval-gazing, so I think I´m still going to do much more emails and calls then this stuff.

So for now, I´m going to go have some lunch and then head out into the Santiago day (the familia´s at a family lunch). Tomorrow I´ll go to the language school, and hopefully meet up with my hermanastra Amy!

Hasta luego, mis amigos!