Bienvenidos!

I'm finally here in Chile! After 11 hours of Air Canada's "mood lighting" (yes, the lights literally changed colors every ten minutes to another dim (yet bright enough to be irritating) color and awkward sleeping positions, my feet are on Chilean soil. I don't know if anyone else has taken Air Canada before, but the international terminal of the Toronto airport was the most interesting place, with so many nationalities milling about, so many overheard foreign accents and conversations that serve to remind an American that she is about to embark on quite an adventure.
When I first boarded my (very late) plane,  I was filled with wishful joy when all I could see was the oddly Star-Trek-esque horizontal pod shaped first class individual little terminals...only to quickly have the curtain opened to the normal people area. Fortunately I sat next to an older woman from Argentina who talked with me a bit and even spilled red wine on me (don't worry, my pants were black!).
Now that I'm here I can look forward to what lies ahead.I'm going to be living in Viña del Mar with the family of Sonia Labra, an elementary teacher with 2 daughters, Paula, 33 and Marcela,36, and son Daniel, 24, who is studying psychology (don't get any marriage ideas yet, overeager friends). I don't get to meet them until they pick me up from my Orientation hotel on Saturday but I'm so excited to meet them and move into my new home and get unpacked and "nest".  So far I've seen the sunset over the Pacific from a gorgeous mile-long beach as well as the twinkling lights of the city in the little mountains accross the bay in Valparaíso. Truly blessed to be in the best of both worlds. (minus the pesky little fact that its winter...) I'll check in with pictures as soon as I can! Con amor,
Lauren