big family and orientation

Yesterday, an interesting and car ride filled day was my first day of class with CIEE (the program I'm studying through). We learned all the different regions (there are 15!), their names, climates, and importance. I learned that Chile is tricontinental with it's mainland in South America, Easter Island in Oceania and part of Patagonia in Antarctica. Also, every region has a distinct subculture, and trade/economic importance in the Chilean economy. In each region, the landscape is completely varied and different ranging from the huge Andes mountains to the desert sand dunes in the North. It's all something that we know and say, "Chile is so long and it has all kinds of climates" but when you sit down and really look at pictures, diagrams etc. it is incredible to see how varied the geography actually is.
After class mami Ximena picked me up and we drove and picked up Andres after school and waited around until his doctors appointment arrived. While waiting we bought a coconut macaroon type thing but better! It is something that I know mommy Vero will be all over when she gets here in December. After the doctor we all drove to papi Claudio's sisters apartment to celebrate her birthday! We had a cake that was called mil ojas or a thousand papers similar to mille feuille, the cake my grandma used to make in France. I remember that her mille feuille cake was stupendous and it was her specialty and the cake I had last night was no where close to as good as her cake. However, it was delicious. Did I mention they like sweets here? My family LOOOOOOVES cookies, cakes and candy; basically anything sweet. It's gonna be tough to burn all those calories but I've found a stair case that I think I'm going to try and run up in the mornings that is right by my house. The birthday party was fun and crowded with family members that were super welcoming and nice as they kept trying to shove food down my throat (in a kindly manner). They all tried to include me in conversation and ask me questions and it was overall a very sweet time.
Before we went to this birthday party, we went to a pet store and bought a hamster for Coty. Apparently her and two of her friends are sharing ownership of a hamster that they called Alfonsina. Each of them are purchasing something; Coty bought the hamster, her friend bought the cage, and another the food. Funny enough, the hamster last night chewed through the cardboard box it was staying in and escaped somewhere in the house! Thankfully, they found it this evening down in the kitchen and is now safely in a metal cage.
This morning I woke up to an unreal sunrise but after a few seconds of taking pictures I realized that I had set the alarm off and so I sprinted downstairs to turn it off. That sure woke me up!

Sunrise:

We had a day of orientation run by la Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso where we didn't do a whole lot except each some avocado sandwiches and take a Spanish placement test which made me realize I have no idea how to write in spanish. After taking the micro (bus) home with a girl who lives close, I had lunch with mami Ximena in bed watching a telenovela. My life is ridiculously good.  We then went to a debate/conference regarding the city of Valparaiso. There were two speakers with completely opposite approaches to how the city should be seen. The woman who presented was a strong advocate for "cleaning" the city by removing graffiti, putting all the stray dogs in a special place, and doing a whole bunch of other stuff to restore the city to it's previous splendor. She showed pictures of the city and she was saying how ugly all the graffiti is, even the beautiful murals that are actually wonderful. She was a little ridiculous to say the least, but her message was clear.

After going out and getting completos (hot dogs in a bread bun with ketchup, mayo, and mushed avocado; que rico!) with a group of CIEE kids, I called my mami to see if she could pick me up at the cerro concepcion which is a 10 minute walk from the house but I was told by her and Claudio that I should never walk alone up to the house at night. We agreed on a place and we hung up, but my phone had already died and I had no way of reaching her! She had thought that I was going to call her when I got the place and I was under the impression that she was leaving once we hung up! I had no way of reaching her and so I ended up just running/walking home only to be told when I got home that it was completely safe to walk back alone at night that way!! I waited for probably half an hour for her to come pick me up and she never came!!! I'm sure only the first of many miscommunications between me and my mami but it was a nerve-racking adventure. Anyways, that's about it for now,  nothing too huge, just trying to find my way in Valparaiso :)