Mi familia

Now having lived with them for a week, I feel knowledgeable enough to write about my host family. As is common in most Latin American countries, most Chileans live with their parents until the last possible moment before venturing off into the real world of being married with kids and having a job. This seems to be quite intelligent given the fact that usually parents have more money than the average college student and job seeking graduate....not to mention that Chilean mothers are pretty darn good cooks. This being the case, it's not very strange that my 26 year old host sister, Carolina, still lives in the house. She works as a Nutritionist in a suburb of Valparaíso about an hour commute north. I also have a 29 year old sister named Patricia (hey, Mom, that's your name!) who has since moved out of the house, is married, and has a rather adorable 2 1/2 year old daughter, Josefina. The youngest of my siblings, Javiera, is 19 and goes to a University in Viña del Mar (the city I'm living in, right next to Valparaíso) and also studies voice at the Conservatory in Viña. She seems like she is cool, but she doesn't really go out of her way to interact in any shape or form with yours truly...I'll have to work on breaking the ice there. Now, my parents, Patricio and Julia, are a cool bunch. Julia works at home and does everything from washing clothes to making meals to cleaning my room...I know, I live a tough life. But most importantly, she's the more talkative of the bunch and we have some good conversations. A note to myself, however, is to listen intently to what she has to say because sometimes she gives me directions that will help me later in the day. Por ejemplo, yesterday I wasn't going to be home in time for lunch so she told me to look in the microwave for my food. Now, I just heard "microwave" so I assumed that I would be the one putting the food in there. When I arrived home to eat, all I saw was a salad and some fruit (hardly a very satisfying lunch, usually the biggest meal of the day for Chileans). I was slightly confused so I took the meager rations up to my room only to have Javiera remind me to look IN the microwave (needless to say, I felt stupid...though I did interact with Javiera...which was good I guess. We had a good laugh). Sure enough, there was my grande plate of pasta waiting for me eat. Now to figure out how to work a Chilean microwave...... My dad, Patricio, is usually working most of the day as a commercial engineer (don't ask what that means...I tried to have him explain it but all I got was that he works in a court room, but behind the scenes...yeah, it's still a mystery). Because he works late, I don't see him much except during the weekends. We've taken some good "father" "son" strolls around town where he lends me his wisdom of Chile. So, basically, my family's pretty sweet, I think some adjusting is still in order, but hey, it's only been a week. I just have to somehow figure out how to connect with the sis...we both play guitar!...I'll try starting there.