This morning at noon I went to Coty's pre-communion ceremony at her elementary school where all the kids got their first cross and their parents put it around their neck and give them tons of kisses and hugs. Coty's elementary school is high up on the hill with huge windows with a beautiful view of Valparaiso and a modern look. It is completely made of concrete which make for very cold feet, but it also reminds of la Cite Scholaire Internacional where I went to school in Lyon when we were living in France. I had mixed feelings about the place but being in that kind of structure brought back memories of that time of my life, good and bad. There was a wide open space in the middle where the kids played basketball and futbol. What is crazy to me is the fact that there is absolutely no central heating in any of the buildings, houses, stores or restaurants. As we speak I am wearing my newly bought fleece pajamas, heavy wool socks, gloves, and a bout five layers of blankets and I can barely feel my toes and my face is freezing and i'm thinking about putting another fleece on top of these pajamas. I think it's customary for homes to have space heaters but mi familia does not. At all!
 Anyways, the ceremony was all in Spanish, obviously, but I did not understand a thing. The music however was beautiful and everyone knew the words and sang along. There were probably 250 people in that room and despite the fact that it was a religious event, it was super loud. There was a constant murmur but there were the occasional outbursts from younger brothers and sisters who were at the event. After Coty and all her classmates were given their crosses, we went to their classrooms and had homemade empenadas.
After the event we went home and had a big lunch of rice, meat, some kind of potato balls, and soup. Coty and I then went on a two hour walk around the neighborhood. I've been itching to explore the last couple days because I can tell that my neighborhood is exactly what I wanted, expected, and was hoping for. Colorful houses, tiny little boutiques, restaurants and deli shops. The kicker is that once you go down, you have to come up, and these hills are monstrous. Someone told me that by the end of the trip I will have buns of steel from climbing up the hills so much. We got lost trying to find Cerro Concepcion and we asked an old man for help but me nor Coty understood exactly what he said so we just pretended and went in the direction he pointed. We finally found our way and it was worth it! On our way home we followed the spray painted ants on the ground until we got to the dulceria (sweets shop) and I got Coty a little box of sweets (she has a major sweet tooth that makes me proud to be her sister). After this we both got into my bed, cuddle to keep warm and watched the spanish disney channel until we fell asleep. She is the little sibling I always wanted growing up! She is such a kid but she is also very mature and wise for a ten year old. She's also taller than all the boys in her class which is very similar to me. I already know we will be close and that we will have a lot of good times together.
After our nap we drove to the store and I got my cheap phone that was actually not that cheap. But maybe that just the college student in me talking. We also went and bought these fleece pajamas and some more long underwear type clothes because it is absolutely freezing.My favorite part of the day though was my hour long discussion with mi mami y Coti about all sorts of things ranging from partying, to our childhood memories. Ximena is a great host mother, but also a friend who I know I will be able to tell all my excitements, doubts, fears, and joys with.

Here are some pictures from today:

Coty's (Costanza) ceremony, Ximena and Claudio

 street art:

 I even found a store that Julien would feel comfortable in:

 I'm gonna attempt to sleep so tomorrow I will be ready to get my chilean ID!! YAY I'M GONNA BE CHILEAN!