Exploring Providencia

The past 2 days have been a blur of sleeping, going to the grocery store, eating, sleeping, eating again, and just overall being exhausted! But, today I managed much better and I think I'm getting back in the swing of speaking Spanish all of the time, so yay! Just in time for me to start my orientation tomorrow. Where I am 90% sure I will bomb my Spanish diagnostic test because my grammar is terrible. So, we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, I've found I really get along with Claudia and we have had lots of long conversations over tea or wine or ice-cream. She loves to talk but also loves to listen. We've talked about everything from politics to her 5 month old grandson Raymundo, who I can't wait to meet! One of the most interesting things is her view on sex education: she's a practicing Catholic but, like many Catholics in the U.S.,  disagrees with the Church when it comes it's prohibition of birth control and its focus on abstinence. It's amazing to me that the US, a "secular" nation, faces the same debate as a Catholic nation like Chile.

Today, I went with another host mom, Sylvia, and another student, Laura, who goes to Wakeforest and is on the same program as me, to explore a little bit of Providencia and use the metro for the first time. It wasn't too overwhelming but I've been assured that come rush hour tomorrow, it will be crazy. 

Also of note: I've learned(ish) how to use the "encenador" which is the water heater. One of the things I take for granted at home is access to hot water. Here, Claudia usually leaves the hot water heater on during the day but turns it off at night or when she leaves the house, so I have to learn to do it too. I'm kind of afraid of matches/fire but after learning how to light a gas stove this summer I figured, "Okay, let's do this!" I got it on like, the fourth try and I'm still a little afraid of setting the entire house on fire, so we'll see how that goes. I'm also afraid to use my blowdryer because I might blow up the house or something? I don't really understand voltage. 

I haven't done anything really touristy yet so no pictures, but I promise, I'll get on that!

Ciao!