Rengo

I met my host grandparents yesterday. Now I know why Lily is so warm and welcoming. Here, they use the word "amoroso" ("loving") a lot to describe certain people. That is exactly what Pepe and Lily Sr. are. (Since Lily's mom's name is Lily, they call my Lily "ita." Isn't that perfect? I guess it's like calling someone "Jr.")

Pedro and Magda (my host sister and brother-in law) picked me up around 11:15 Saturday morning and we drove south about an hour and a half to the small town of Rengo, where Lily grew up. We stopped by Lily's sister-in-law's house to pick her up because she had gone down the night before. I was nervous to meet so many new people, but everyone was really nice. Magda's cousin Ale(jandro) is seven and reminded me of Nicco. So cute.

Then the four of us went over to Lily's parents house for lunch. Her older brother stopped by. They are all incredibly nice and charming. To top off the amazing company, the food was sososososososososoooooo delicious. We had fried cheese empanadas and mango liquor before the meal; the first course of lunch was avocado halves with a chicken filling; and the main course was mashed potatoes with strips of beef in some yummy sauce. Lily's brother told me they only make good food when Lily comes for lunch, hahahaha. After lunch, we went for a drive around Rengo. It was a lot different than Santiago. There were some really big houses and some really run-down ones. Lily's parents' house didn't look like much from the outside but inside it was muy linda. After the drive we sat in the living room in front of the fireplace for a few hours talking and looking at photos from Magda's wedding and their trip all around Europe.

Pepe and Lily reminded me a lot of my great aunt and uncle Dick and Jody. Allllways bickering and making everyone else laugh. When we left, they said I could come back any time and Lily assured me that they meant it. I was overwhelmed by how amoroso they were, really.

Today is Sunday and on Sundays here everything shuts down. There is practically no one on the streets and no businesses open. As if Sundays aren't depressing enough! Haha. But actually I think Magda and Pablo are coming to pick me up pretty soon. SCORRRRRE. Oh! Pablo taught me something funny yesterday: small-sided games of soccer are called "fútbolito" here. Isn't that great?! Another useful piece of vocab is "pucha" which is like "damnit" only not as vulgar. I'll probably have to use "pucha" a lot while playing (aka getting my ass kicked in) fútbolito with chileans, so good to know both of those words.

I was going to get up early and go to (FREE!) yoga at Cerro San Cristobal this morning but it's overcast outside, and I want my first experience with outdoor yoga at el Cerro to be perfect, so I'm waiting until another day. Ciao!