4 days

I have four nights left in the U.S., craziness. Yesterday, Mom and i went out and got my luggage for the trip. Now I have a HUGE red suitcase. All i have left to do is get an outlet converter and the rest of my host presents.

I will be spending the rest of today and tomorrow getting ready for my open house on monday, 5-8 if you wanna stop by. Besides that, there isn´t any more news.

I'm almost done packing!

So i went from this:

TO This!
That's the majority of my clothing packing. I feel quite accomplished. five full days left in Minneapolis!

8 days until departure

EIGHT DAYS!

I finally did start packing. All the clothes I have ever looked at in the past two years are on my bedroom floor and bed. Nothing is even left in my dresser. Now I see why packing is just so frustrating. I can´t decide what to bring.

There isn´t much else to do in the way of preparation. I still need to find a suitcase to use.... and and need to buy a few more presents for my host family but besides that, i´m golden. Today I´m going to spend packing and getting my room ready for Panod, the Thai exchange student who will be living here while i´m in Chile. It feels so weird to be completely vacating my room but I´ll get over it.

I´m going to be pretty busy this last week. I´m getting calls from everyone wanting to hang out but i simply don´t have that much time left.

Thanks again for all the support!

12 days!

okay so I take off for chile in 12 days! Less than two weeks.
I did find out my school, colegio rauquen. I will go to school from about 8:30 to 12:00 and then I will go home for lunch. After lunch I will go back to school until 5:00. Pictures of my school are below.
I still am e-mailing my host sister, Fani, daily. She says they are in rapid preparation and right now they are designing my room! How exciting! I will be upstairs in my own room with my other host siblings nearby.

I still need to pack EVERYTHING. It's so weird because i havent even figured out which suitcase to use. I'm not in a rush though and i think it's because i still don't feel like i'm leaving. It'll be a rude awakening on the plane now won't it?

i just thought i'd update you all even though I don't quite know what else to say. It'll be a lot more exciting to read this page when i'm actually gone :). Thanks for all the support!

Host family details

Okay so I have been speaking to my host sister, fani, via e-mail. I have been reading and writing all the e-mails in spanish. Fani is making me write the next one in english to see if she can understand. She told me i will be going to a school near our home and probably biking with my host brother and her. My parents own a mini-market in the city. I'm super excited now. She seems so nice! Here is a picture of my new host family!



Left to right: My host father (Jaime), Paternal Grandmother, My host mom (Jorgelina), my host sister (Fani), on her lap my 3 year old host sister (constanza), my host brother (Simón), and on the ground, a family friend (maria).

It makes everyone feel so much better knowing where I will be going and who I will be staying with! Thanks for all your love and support. Less than three weeks and counting!

HOST FAMILY!

Okay folks,
So the update we have all been waiting for is here!

I will be living in Curico, Chile! I have two parents and three host siblings! I have a 17 year-old sister named Estefania, a 14-year old brother named Simon and a 3 year-old sister named Constanza. My host parents are named Jorgelina Bravo Rivero and Jaime Donoso Riqueros. All I know about them so far is that they live in Curico and own some sort of business. New updates to come!

I e-mailed them five minutes ago. It all is feeling so real now.

~Lura

Hey Everyone!

So this is my very first post to my exchange blog! I thought it would be nice to have a site so that I can keep everyone in the U.S. up to date on my adventures and experiences in Chile. I realize that while abroad it will be very difficult to reach me by phone. Although I do not yet know if my home will have a computer, i still am fairly sure i will be able to access one if i need it while abroad. This means I will be receiving e-mails and updating this blog.
While in Chile, my e-mail address will change to LuraEnChile@gmail.com. This will be the only e-mail address i will be using and accessing. So folks, you gotta change me in your address books. I will try to send out monthly newsletters but this all depends on my parents and if they are free enough to print out and address dozens of letters a month.
So, I leave for Chile in exactly one month today! It feels so strange because i do not yet have a host family. This does mean that I do not yet know where I will be living in Chile. Not the city, region, climate zone or anything. It's hard to be really excited about going when i have no idea what to prepare for. I still am excited though and don't be worried, I will be living with SOMEBODY. If, dare i say it?, i DON'T have a host family by the time i'm supposed to leave, I will still go to Chile in a month. From there I will stay with a temporary family until i can find a permanent one. I will let you all know if this situation changes and so you don't need to keep asking me :). It's hard for me to keep answering the same question because I'm trying not to worry about the situation. Everything will work out, no worries.
Outside from Chile things, I just got back from Mexico with my youth group! It was very fun and i did learn a good amount of Spanish. It got me even more comfortable with the language before i am going to leave for Chile. About 21 of us went to Miracle Ranch where we helped out at an Children's home. Pictures are below:

Painting a mural in the boys' dorms.
My friends Rachel, laurel and I with baby Jonathan (youngest boy at the ranch).


Me and Esteban











Our group from my Church





The Boys who live at the Ranch


View facing the ranch about a mile away