Finalmente, estamos en CHILE! :)

Hola desde Arica! (hello from Arica)

Title translation: Finally, we're in Chile! :)

Sometimes plans just don't work out how you want them to, but maybe this happens for a reason...let me just say that's what happened during our trip to Chile. We met everyone at Des Moines around 11:30 am Wednesday, and we began our big adventure. It was great meeting the majority of the parents and loved ones of all of the students before leaving. I could sense the excitement, nerves, and the tiny bit of heartbreak of a son or daughter leaving. I can't believe that it has only been a year since I was in the students' same place. We got an awesome group picture, and then we said our tearful goodbyes with that one last look at our parents with a little wave. For me, this was a lot easier this year to say bye to mom and dad. Being in Arica is like a second home for me, and knowing that I had my family, friends, and my old bedroom was extra comforting :)

 My good lookin' group ;)

Front row from the left: Coral, me, Shelby, Megan.

Second row from the left: Kelsey, Riley, Kristin, Erin.

Third row from the left: Nehemiah, Colton, Dawn, Justine, David, heather, Joseph, Evan.

 Two of the most amazing people in the world...my parents :) They have been so amazing these past few weeks helping getting me prepared for this trip. Thank you, mom and dad, for everything! :)

So we said our goodbyes and headed on our way to Chile. The majority of the trip went really well...that being said, we could have had a couple more things go well for us...Our plane from Chicago to Miami decided to have some troubles-something with the AC, and so we were delayed a little while for this flight. Then, while flying into Miami there were some thunderstorms (I think from the current tropical storms in the area), so this took us a little while to; however, it was beautiful flying into Miami! We got to our gate, or at least what we thought was our gate. See, there are 2 flights from Miami to Lima, both at 11:55, and one is operated by LAN and the other is operated by American Airlines for LAN, last but not least the flight numbers were extremely close 2111 and 2115 (ours didn't have either of these main ones, but a different one because we were flying with LAN-but the plane was American Airlines. This was extremely confusing, and when we asked if we could get our tickets for this leg of our trip the man told me that we were at the wrong gate. WHAT? I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure we were at the correct one because the screen with everything said the other number that we had with the other flight number. The man even told me that if it is at the other one, that we would never make it. That was just exactly what I wanted to hear :( Anyway, the man then asked another worker if we were at the correct gate, and the man said yes. Oofta! That was a close call, and my adrenaline started pumping. Lastly, no one was coming to help with the flight. I don't know if the worker forgot our what, but many of us needed to get our tickets printed out. Finally, we all got our tickets printed out, and Evan and I were the last ones on the flight. With all of this, we once again had a delay-this didn't make me feel any better knowing that we originally only had 1 hour and 25 minutes in the Lima airport to go through customs, get our bags, print our tickets etc. I was thinking of all the scenarios possible, which I'm glad I did because once we got to Lima and got off the plan...we RAN! I was sweating up a storm by the time we finally did all of the things we needed to do, and we finally made it to the ticket line to be told that the flight was closed, as I'm hearing my name on the loudspeaker (Kathleen, one of the students was already in Lima and was trying to hold the flight for us). I was so disappointed to be told we didn't make it after my group had been so awesome and had hurried as fast as possible with me to get through Lima.

Anyway, we ended up spending a good 12 hours in the Lima airport, and with this, I got some good photos of the group ;) During our long time at the airport, I was at Starbucks checking in with my Chilean coordinator, Pochy, and all of a sudden I heard this siren. I thought it was the police or something, but I wasn't too concerned. All of a sudden one of my students that was at our "camp" in the cafeteria was telling me that they were evacuating everyone. Oh goodness, so we all had to go outside while some of our items were still in the cafeteria. I ran frantically in there to see if I could get my bags, and luckily I did, but there was a man telling me to leave. I told him that our groups stuff was there, and he told me hesitantly that one person could stay in to watch it. However, I just had a feeling that we should all get out of there. Turns out, there was actually an earthquake and this was the reason why they evacuated everyone.  None of us felt it, but we definitely knew something weird was going on, although the man originally told me it was just a simulation (I found out later he tried telling the other students it was an earthquake, however, they didn't know this word yet. We finally made it to Tacna airport after all the craziness. Some pictures from the flights and in Lima...

Colton, Evan, and David enjoying their time at the Lima airport (this was only within the first or second hour of being there... there faces looked a little different after 12 hours)

 Kristin discovering how comfortable the chairs are in the Lima airport are.

 Colton...with his sleeping blindfold...made from the outside part of his pillow he got on the plane. :)

Pochy and our bus driver Nelson picked us up from the Tacna airport, and we headed on our way to ARICA :) We luckily had a van to carry all of our suitcases this time instead of packing them into our mini bus. That helped a lot, and the students got to experience what it's like to cross the border from Peru to Chile. As we got closer to Arica, I just couldn't stop smiling. I was (and still am) SO happy to be in Chile again. We drove in at night (11 pm our time back home), and the lights from the city were just fantastic! It was a great way to see Arica for the first time for the students. The students were super excited and nervous to meet their host families, and we were all a little sleep deprived...so we were a little bit goofy too ;) 

The students in the mini bus...on their way to meet their families!

Finally, after 36 hours of traveling, we made it to Arica!!!!

Once we got into Arica, we pulled up to where the host families were waiting. Right away I saw my host mom's car :) Then, I saw Carolina and Tiare (two friends and helpers of the program), and started waving like crazy. As soon as the bus stopped, I was out of my seat running out the door to give them big hugs! It was amazing :) Then, there was Ligia who came around the bus to greet me with all kinds of big hugs and a kiss on the cheek :) The students were all so happy to meet their host families, and we all were ready to hit the hay! It was so cool to get in the car with my mom and to be speaking Spanish and understanding everything! This time is definitely a little different than my first time here ;) It's amazing how much my Spanish improved last summer. She made some tea for me and a pancake with manjar (the pancakes here are very different from home), and it was delicious! I got a quick shower, and then drifted off to sleep...

We have been super busy the past few days. Friday, we met at the centro (downtown) in order to exchange money, buy any items we still needed, and to get to know the city a little bit better. That night we met up with the primos (conversation partners, students learning English at the university), and we all went our separate ways for a few hours. I head to jalapeños-the only Mexican restaurant in town. Thank goodness there is some kind of Mexican food here! Speaking all of this Spanish make me super hungry for it :) We then met up with everyone at McDonalds in order to get taxis and go to my favorite place...DRAKE in order to dance the night away :) I was impressed that the majority of the students stayed until 3:30ish or 4:30ish. 

Saturday, I headed to the centro with Dawn and Shelby after sleeping in, and I got a few items I still needed. As we were walking in the centro there was a little television outside one of the stores that two men were sitting and watching the fútbol (soccer) game-Chile vs Bolivia. It was down to the last 10 minutes, and it was 1-0, Chile winning! :) I was getting super into it with all of the Chileans, and all of a sudden we scored a...goaaaaaal! You could hear everyone yelling with excitement with the chant Chi-chi-chi le-le-le-VIVA CHILE!

I'm afraid I will have to finish my Saturday and the rest of the weekend tomorrow. The traveling and Chilean lifestyle has made me real tired, and the students start classes tomorrow, so I have to get rested up to help show them around. Hope all is well...wherever you may be :)

Besos y abrazos (kisses and hugs),

Katie :)