Familia

I've been settling into my new home and host family, and they are fantastic. I have four brothers, Diego (6 years old), Joaquin (15), Maximo (19), and Felipe (21). My host parents are a blast, and already my host mom treats me like one of her own sons. One thing that will take getting used to is the hours they are active. So far, everyone, parents included, stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, and everyone sleeps past 10:00. I think that this will change once school starts and things go back to normal, but they still keep late hours. Last night, another family came over to visit at 11:00! Also, they have two dogs (Robby and John Lennon) and a Guinea Pig (Alvin). They know more about American bands and musicians than I do (admittedly not too difficult a feat), and they spent an hour last night teaching me all of the Chilean slang (some of which my host mom told me I wasn't allowed to repeat). My house is right next to an undeveloped scrubby forest with eucalyptus trees, and we have a great view of the ocean and Valparaiso. Today, I'm going to go to the beach. The ozone layer is much thinner here, and so I'm glad I brought the SPF 50. Here's a picture of the view from my window.