It was after watching the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries," about Che Guevara's life changing journey through South America that I decided to study in Chile. I watched the movie again on my laptop a few nights ago to celebrate the fact that I made it here safe and sound. It was amazing to watch it here because I could already notice how much better I was understanding the language (it's completely in Spanish with English subtitles). I was even able to distinguish the Chilean accent from an Argentinian one. When I was watching the scenes filmed in Chile, I recognized the Valdivian newspaper building. Even though they don't specifically name Valdivia as a location, it's in the movie! I asked my host dad later to be sure and he said the Che and Ernesto passed through Valdivia on their journey. It was so fun to figure out that some of the scenes took place in Valdivia by recognizing buildings and the fish market. I want to watch it again when I arrive in Buenos Aires because that is the location of the opening scene. Plus, it's a great way to track my improvement and see how much more of the Spanish I understand each time I watch it. 

For the next month there will be another Chilean student living in my house. I've only known him for about 4 hours but already I can tell that he is a great guy. Thanks to him, when I came home from a little shopping spree this afternoon the internet was up and working on my computer!