uh oh

I am rather glad I have finally managed to make my way to this blog. Mario, I appreciate the kudos in ur last blog post. I don't know if I set out to channel the spirit of dukeengage, but it's nice to know u don't see me as crazy.

Anyways, to backtrack on the past 3 1/2 weeks in Chile (craziness!). The first week was definitely a little intense, with a whole new climate, language and food to adjust to. (all the completos!) I was a little nervous on our first day in AE, since we had only been in the country for 2 days and I wasn't sure if I had gotten adjusted to the Chilean accent (still am not), but it was really a fun experience. They had an awesome breakfast for us (which I actually thought they did every day, so I was rather sad to realize they don't) and got to understand that palta was going to be a mainstay in anything I ate in the country. I actually get sad when I don't have palta every day.

The AE people have only gotten better with time and after a week, it was easy to see how Antonio said that the office has an incredible energy about it. Priyanka, Katie, and I often talk about what our favorite AE office is (there's 4: one on Ramon Carnicer, an office in Santiago Central, one in Puente Alto, and a new one in Valparaiso). All the offices have something really cool, but we all seem to be in acuerdo that the one in Puente Alto is our favorite. (although it's definitely the coldest one too...) It's just fun being around the microentrepreneurs that AE is helping and it is a different environment than any other part of Santiago. Plus, it also has the best and cheapest lunch in Santiago! (And now that we go every day, the lady who owns it is definitely getting fonder of the 'gringas')

What else about my first 3 weeks? It has definitely not been an easy transition to the cold here. I absolutely love Chile,j the food (manjar and palta!!!!) and the mountains and the people, but right as you're getting out of bed in the morning, it's really hard to remember all that. However, after those 10-30 minutes, everything's usually great again. Especially when you're outside and the sun is shining (as it was our first week and a half here), I feel like I'm seeing Chile at its best. And even when I'm not seeing Santiago at its best, I can only imagine how much more beautiful it is in the spring and summer!

So, now, Priyanka and I are very excitedly planning any possible way to go to Isla de Pascua in July. That would be amazing! I remember seeing pictures when I was ridiculously young and thinking that those statues look amazing but I'll probably never go there... so it would be fairly incredible to actually get to do that.

Anyways, I know this has no rhyme or reason, but hopefully future posts will (since I'm not having to backtrack a few weeks...)