I moved to Villa Alemana!

So, the 4 of us volunteers got on a bus Saturday afternoon. We were sad to leave Papa Hugo, but we won't forget him.


Kristy moved to Vina Del Mar (waiting for a school right now), Roman went to a town near Pena Blanca, and Melissa and I are in Villa Alemana. The 2 of us along with 3 other female volunteers are part of a HUGE extended family! Thanks to Elizabeth (helps coordinate Ministry housing/school placements in the 5th region) who quickly responded to our unmet needs for housing in Calle Larga/Los Andes put us up with many of her family members.


View of Vina Del Mar from vista point that Papa took me to after he picked up from the bus.


I ended up living in a large yellow house with:
Mama Angelica
Cachito Emilio (a more endearing term for Uncle, but I also call him Papa),
un hermano (one 21-year-old brother)
una hermana (27-year-old sister)
5 dogs (2 small indoor dogs, 3 large outdoor dogs)
1 gata (1 female cat that is usually hiding outside)
6-7 pajarros (canaries and finch)

Flo(?) is 1 of 2 indoor dogs. He can be quite yappy. He looks like Toto from Wizard of Oz so I am secretly calling him that for now.

Behind our house lives 5 relatives who had suffered damages to their home after the large earthquake in Chile in March. Next door lives Papa's parents.

So I went from a house of 3 in the US to a large family with a HUGE extended family that comes over every day. Mama has 4 kids and she babysits her grandchildren after they are done with school until her daughters can pick them up after school.

Mama Angie was indeed frantically clearing out a room for me. She was still repainting my room when I arrived with lilac colored walls. Mama loves art. She makes her own jewlery, loves to cook, takes art classes 3 times a week, and does yoga twice a week. I showed her my Jillian Michaels yoga DVD in my computer so we're hoping to do yoga at home sometime. The house is filled with all her framed masterpieces using oil pastels. I really appreciate them. She also quickly went to buy me pan integral (wheat bread) and more avena (oatmeal) when I told her I liked more wheat and multi-grains.

Mama was still painting my room when I arrived.
Papa and other family members carried my bedframe and mattress back into my room after the paint dried. Papa is very good with his hands and does lots of carpentry.


My ROOM! I love my colorful duvet cover and all the cabinets and dressers. I put up the Chilean flag that Allyson gave me as a prize during orientation for having the best lesson in our small groups.
My closet with lots of extra room considering I brought only a backpack and 1 mid-sized suitcase.

Over the weekend, we had 2 large family gatherings which apparently happens quite often. I don't think I'll ever learn all their names. I'll be lucky if I can remember some of the kids and the immediate family members and their significant others. In addition, Mama speaks NO ENGLISH. Papa speaks very little. Most of the other relatives speak very little English as well. However, there are a couple of English speakers who are in their 20s or 30s.

Last Sunday was Dia de Los Ninos (Children's Day). There is a small park with a basketball court across from our house so I saw many children play games and dance to music from my room. (See above- Grandchildren enjoyed face painting, balloons, candy, etc.)

Even "Toto" was watching from window from my room.

Elizabeth, Hannah, and I peel and chopped the papas (potatoes). We wondered why they don't use a chopping board which they had one, but now I can do without one... with some more practice.

(Outdoor feast with family- Elizabeth, Papa, and Mama)

Even the dogs were feasting. They are so well behaved. Behind are the bird cages for their numerous birds.

(All the females helped out with the cooking this weekend. I now know how to make mayo which is SUPER easy! See above for all ingredients- 2 eggs mixed in with half cup oil then add salt, pepper, lemon juice)

Some common items, but with Spanish labels like "Lay's Corte Americano", "Quaker Avena Instantena", "Crackelet", "Natura" oil, "Integral Light" wheat bread.

There are teachers (including a special education teacher, physical education, regular teacher) in our family.
Papa sometimes works 6 days/week as an industrial(?) engineer.
Mama stays at home to take care of everyone and the house.
Sebastian (mi hermano) is studying in Valpo to become a chemical engineer.
Karina (mi hermana)- Don't know. I haven't seen her much as she just got back from Brazil.


After our big family gathering we all went to the sand dunes in Con Con on Sunday. The kids rented sandboards/sleds to ride down the sand dunes. I borrowed a sled a couple times and had lots of fun!!! I was a little scared to go too fast so had to stop myself while having eaten sand. Perhaps next time I will get the courage to stand up on them, but they just don't look as sturdy as the one that I tried in Oregon.

Relatives helping each other go down the sand dune.

I hike up the sand dune with the other kids with my board.

What an awesome view of Vina and Valpo from the top. I LOVE the beach and the views.

Hannah and I enjoyed the company of the grandchildren. We loved the sunset in Vina!

So did the kids!
Kids and their moms playing soccer at the beach. GO ELIZABETH! (She looks like she's trying to take out her sister.)

UPDATE: It's been 3 days since I've moved in and I still find more stuff in my room (i.e. a heater, an extra nighstand, a lamp). The maid and mama also reorganized my stuff which I kind of anticipated from reading previous volunteer blogs. I'm a little afraid of reorganizing my stuff as Mama seems to be someone who wants things organized and done her way. For example, my bed was made when I got home even thought I THOUGHT I did make it already.. but the maid is expected to do everyone's beds every day. I think Mama was almost upset when I said the maid really didn't have to do my bed. Elizabeth said just let it go.

Our house is very close to a metro stop so I can take it all the way to Valpo if I want to, close to a micro stop which goes to nearby towns (Quilpue, Pena Blanca) as well as my school, the centro of Villa Alemana for shops and restaurants, and I have a supermarket 5 minutes from me. I can even walk to my school in 15 minutes.