Friends

Making friends from all over the world has probably been one of my most favorite things about this trip. I have met people as close as Kennesaw, Georgia and North Carolina, to people from Norway. Making new friends in a situation like this is almost refreshing because nothing but the present matter. It takes a certain kind of person to take on an experience like this, and that is what has brought us all together. Even though I have only been here for two weeks, I have already made friendships that will last a life time. It's a swell group of people that we have here in Chile. We are all so weird and fun that we get along so easily without any effort.

Since friends are so important to me, I want to tell you a bit about some of the friends that are/have been posted about in my blog:

Ruby: I met Ruby because we have a couple of classes together. I met her on Monday night in my Chilean Communications class because we sat right next to one another. Ruby is a Scottish girl with an English accent who dresses classy, and has a rocking personality. From the moment we began talking, we instantly clicked as friends. And now, we do almost everything together. Just this weekend, I went to a party with her, helped her move, and have laughed so hard that my sides hurt. She's a wise gal; wise beyond our age and has been great fun.

Otisa: I met Otisa last weekend when I went to Viña for the first time with a bunch of people I already knew. Once we arrived to Viña, we went to a restaurant, where I ended up sitting right next to her. We talked about a lot of interesting things, and entertained the waiter to the point of where he was laughing at us. Otisa is from the good ole' state of Kentucky and is one of the funniest people I have met. The three of us, Ruby, Otis and I, are a dangerous trio. We all get along so well and already know each other so well because we are all so much alike. Otisa will tell you like it is, ain't no shame. She is wise and courageous like Aslan from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," and I cannot wait to see what these next few months brings this powerful trio of ours.

Kira, Shivani, and Michaela: The three of these girls are so intelligent and quirky that it works. We have a lot of fun exploring the city together. I met these girls the first day of orientation because they were in group 13 with me. These girls are go-getters, and will definitely be very successful here. They are so funny and so fun to be with.

And then there are the guys: Marco, Jamie, Niall are three of the most interesting people you will meet. Marco is from Norway, and is just the sweetest, most gentlemanly guy you will ever meet. He is such a genuinely good guy, which is a unique feature to have in today's society. Jamie is from Scotland and is just so interesting and weird like the rest of us. Niall is from Ireland and is just this stand up guy. He has a great sense of humor, and is just this silly ball of human. I haven't hung out with them too much, but from what I have encountered, we will become great friends.

I am so relieved to have such a close community already and it is only week number two. I did leave out a lot of people that are in this extranjero community, but these are the few that I hang out with quite frequently. I cannot wait to get to know them more than I already have, and am so excited to see what next is for us in this great big adventure of studying abroad.