Saludo desde Chile!

Here I am, safe and sound in Santiago. Sorry I've been incommunicada, but I actually had no way to communicate. The family I'm staying with has wireless internet but the connection was broken this weekend. They only just got it fixed today and I have been DYING (judge me as you will, but it's scary to be unable to contact anyone in a foreign country).
The trip has gone pretty well so far, although it hasn’t been very long. The plane ride was long (9.5 hours) but not too bad. Each seat had its own touch screen so you could pick what movies or TV shows you wanted to watch. I watched The Duchess (good but sad and too long) and a couple episodes of Friends. There was also a map that showed where the plane was. I got a breathtaking view of the Andes as we flew over Chile.
In classic Kelsey style, when I emerged from customs I walked right past the people holding the sign for me and proceeded to wander around the airport for about 10 minutes before someone helped me find them. Of course, they hadn’t recognized me because of the hair. María and Nelson are my host parents and they are incredibly nice. And patient—my Spanish is rustier than I thought. It’s coming back to me quickly, but as soon as I got some alone time I grabbed my dictionary and looked up words I had trouble with.
I’m living in Las Condes, one of the more moneyed neighborhoods of Santiago. The house I’m staying in is nicer than the one in Memphis. Nelson is an architect so they are pretty well off. There is a lovely garden with a bunch of trees, a small rock fountain, and a hammock. Excellent. Two of their children, María José and Nelsito, will be staying here when school starts but for the next week or so it is just me. I have my own bedroom and bathroom. The shower curtain says “laundry” in English in a bunch of different fonts. Haven’t figured that one out yet.
The first thing María told me when I arrived was that I needed sunscreen. Apparently the ozone layer above Chile is patchy so I’ll need to wear it whenever I’m outside. I also had (read: got to) go to the largest mall in Santiago right off the bat since I forgot a crucial part of my wardrobe.
María and I also went to the bodega down the street to buy lunch. She gets all her produce fresh, I love it. When we first got to the house she offered me fruit juice and promptly filled the blender with strawberries. The eating schedule is: sleep in, late breakfast, large lunch at 2:30 or 3, and bread with spreads such as peanut butter (!)(I don’t even care that it’s crunchy)(it turns out crunchy isn’t so bad) for dinner at 9:30ish. Ironically, this was exactly my eating schedule for the past 6 weeks while I was working at Bola Pasta, so it’s not much of an adjustment. María says peanut butter is very expensive but she loves it so much that she buys it anyway. I think we will get along. As a thanks-for-letting-me-live-with-you-for-four-months gift I bought them an Elvis CD. I was unsure if it would be enough but Nelson loves it, he’s a huge Elvis fan (props to Mom on that one).
Orientation started today. It wasn't anything too exciting, but it was nice to see people I know and SPEAK ENGLISH. I had my first empanada today, fue muy rica (en Chile they say "rico" instead of "delicioso." and they do say "piscina."). Orientation continues for the next two weeks with some vague "activities" listed on the schedule. Should be interesting. I'm also probably going to Viña this weekend to see my boo. Sorry about the length of this one. More about culture, etc. later. Ciao!