Last night I had my first dream in Spanish

I can’t quite remember what it was about except that at one point I was getting directions and the end of the dream someone gave me a dog and I named her Lula – short for Talula. Weird right? When Spanish comes back into my dreams though, I get pretty excited because I know my brain is getting back into it even if I still have doubts while I’m awake. And the dog? … an extra bonus I guess.

I had my third day of classes at Escuela Bella Vista, which I am really enjoying. Its great to be a student again!! The school is full of people from all over the world, which is exciting. There are a couple other Americans (all from Northern Cali, I don’t get it) but it has a really neat international feel. There are students from Japan, Germany, Switzerland, France, Finland, Sweden, England, Italy, New Zealand, Turkey, and uh… Northern California - among other countries. The collective experience of traveling and living abroad is incredible; I’ve talked to people who have lived in Indonesia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Brazil, Peru, China, Japan, Thailand, all over Europe, and even Antarctica (for real). And now they’re in Chile. For many people Spanish is their 3rd or 4th language, which I think is SO COOL. I spend 4 hours a day in class and each afternoon there is an optional hour and a half with the professors and other students of conversation or a movie, and Friday nights a couple hours at the bar (its amazing how fluent we become after a few cervezas!). The class style is complete immersion and most of the students are dedicated to perfecting their skills so we all speak in Spanish regardless of how long it takes us to get the point across, and by the time I leave in the afternoon I’m starving (why does thinking make you hungry?) and exhausted. I've learned so much already and I look forward to class every morning which is a great feeling.

Oh… an update on the apartment situation! I went to meet Neva and her other potential roommate Carolina yesterday to go up to the flat in Lastarria. And shoot, as much as I LOVED the neighborhood, the apartment wasn’t really what I was looking for. Both girls are British and are in Santiago working for the British consulate. They don’t really speak Spanish at all and hang out with a lot of “Ex-pats” (as many foreigners refer to themselves here - i hate the word), which kind of turned me off. If I wanted to do that, I could have just stayed nice and comfortable in Jackson. Also, they were kind of pressuring me into signing a lease, which had to be done today and if they didn’t have a third person (me) they would lose the apartment. I don’t know… bad vibe. I backed out as nicely as I could, so I’m back in the housing game, but definitely more certain now of what it is I’m looking for.

I do still believe everything I wrote in my last posting though… you never know how good things find their way to you, sometimes it happens only AFTER what seems like a disappointment, so I’m still hopeful that something good in the housing department is on its way.