Today was a super-leisurely day since I didn't have class and I stayed out a little late last night. Later in the day I met up with two girls from my program and we all hung out with a few guys that they met through American Corners at the university. The guys were all very nice and spoke much clearer and slower than they probably would normally, which makes a BIG difference in how much I can understand. One of them bought ice cream and french fries for us all and we talked for an hour or so. I was able to ask them a few Spanish grammar questions that had been on my mind and they kindly answered them for me : ) 

Tonight I am taking it easy and trying to get some homework done. I know it's a Friday night but I went out last night and I will be going out tomorrow...three nights in a row would be a little much for me I think. I have been loving Skype and how it has made me feel so connected to people thousands of miles away. Tonight I thought it would be fun to stage an intersection between my life here and in the US by "introducing" my parents and aunt to my host parents via my computer screen. Since my aunt is fluent in Spanish, she was able to have a little chat with them and talk about how great I was, which I didn't mind one bit...

I think all of the food that I ate today combined with my slight nervousness about tutoring tomorrow is giving me heartburn. I can't help it, but the idea of tutoring students who have better Spanish than me is intimidating. Luckily I'll be helping a kid with math and English, which I think I can handle. However, I just looked at the math book and I had to look up a few words in some of the story problems...not good. Plus, thinking about math in another language adds another step that makes my brain a little resentful. We will see how this goes. I'd like to think that all of this comfort zone stretching will make me a more capable person eventually. Tonight I've been watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in Spanish on the Disney (pronounced "Dis-nay" here) and was able to follow it pretty well. Animated films are awesome to watch because they are dubbed in actual sound studios and it matches up reasonably well. I always joke about how coming to Chile has made me feel like I am a 5 year old again. I go from living on my own and being somewhat independent to having my mom make my bed and do my laundry. I figure my language skills are probably about equivalent, plus when I hang out with Chileans they walk me places so that I don't get lost. I always try to let them know how much I appreciate it and that I will tutor them in English if they ever want my help. Anyway, I suppose it is appropriate that I watch the Disney channel on a regular basis now.