So it came! a couple of days ago I hit the 4 week mark. It’s encouraging and motivating at the same time. Before this point I was feeling unmotivated to do things, lost in my spanish, accomplishing nothing in my classes, and not doing nearly everything that I wanted to do. But somehow that 4 week point is nice, don’t know why, but life got more positive. lol.

some highlights of this week:

• I got most of my homework done! I wrote two three page papers for my literature class and I need to write one more for my poetry class. I’ve realized that 3 pages in spanish is a lot. lol. but it’s doable.
• I’ve been running more! yay! that always improves my mood.
• I got to church on Sunday. Sort of. I didn’t make the service. It said on the website it had a service at 11:30, but apparently since it’s summer there’s only one service and it’s a 10:30. But now I know where it is and if I can manage to get off my buses in the right place I should be able to make it on time.
• The bus system has a bit of a learning curve. You have to actually know where you want to get off beforehand, because you have to press a button so the bus driver will actually stop at your stop. And I’ve found that the Transantiago website has different names for the stops than they have in real life…so have to figure that out. I was 30 min later than I meant to arrive at church, because I got off the bus late. and then I couldn’t figure out how to get the next bus to stop for me. You have to physically wave it down. It’s not enough to stand there and look hopeful. lol. But I’m learning and once I get the route to and from church I should be good.
• I also had a slightly epic experience last night trying to get home from Tertulia Lite (this is the weekly  meeting of El oasis, a group like Intervarsity or Campus Crusade for Christ except that it’s through Global Scope and has sister campuses in places like Thailand). The group was really fun and I’m hoping to continue going and make some good christian and chilean friends. I’ve been challenged by a lack of Christians in my program so this will be nice to have some fun activities that I feel comfortable participating in. Again. Figuring out the bus systems will be nice.
• I made myself a schedule and I’m going to try to stick with it these next few weeks. This is to make sure I actually do all my homework, read my bible, pray, run, do things around the city and talk with my family and friends back home. I think it will be handy to be a little more organized especially with quiet time and homework.
• I’ve gotten to a point where I can take the metro (subway) to school and back on auto pilot. I don’t really even have to think about where I’m going. I just have to figure out what time to leave every day so I’m not late and the subway isn’t jam packed with ppl. Some days around 8:45Am each car (?) is like a can of sardines. I definitely never thought that many people could fit into such a small space. The benefit of going when it’s tightly packed is that you don’t have to worry about falling over during jerky starts and stops. Everyone will just hold you up. Ok, maybe not. But my small town self definitely likes the metro better when it’s emptier and there’s a little more fresh air so I don’t have to worry about being the only one certified to resuscitate people (sometimes it is that stiflingly hot and unventilated). So far so good, everyone here seems used to it for the most part.
• I’m spending less on transportation here. It comes to about $10-15 dollars a week depending on how many places I decide to go besides school. Apparently that’s a lot for the people who are used to living on campus, but for me it’s about  $60-80/month cheaper…lol.
• I’ve started my list of things to see while I’m here. I didn’t really start that until now at my 4 week point. I just wasn’t that excited about being here. I think it has also hit me that I will be leaving eventually and there are definitely a ton of things to do and see still. Now to start doing them!
• Oh and the Pablo Neruda’s House in Isla Negra is really really cool. It’s filled with a lot of interesting things and I love how it’s all decorated. Very interesting if you ever get the chance to go. Pomaire was also really fun. I need to go back to get a better taste of all the handicrafts they sell there ( we didn’t have a whole lot of time there last weekend).
• Oh and also I’m having the hardest time getting all my homework done. I start on it. And than start thinking of all the things I want to do. And I start researching and googling and just distracting myself in general.
• Resolution: Learn how to get all my homework done on time and how to do all the things I want to do.
• I think I might need a few more hours in the day. but we’ll see how it goes.

So yeah, that is a very mixed up list of randomness of thoughts at the 4 week mark.