While studying abroad here in Viña del Mar, I am living with a host family. The family consists of my host mother and father and their children, Rodrigo and Fernanda, who are 26 and 23 years old. Both Rodrigo and Fernanda are students and live at home but are often out of the house.
I have felt very welcomed by the family as they are very kind and accommodating. This isn’t their first time with exchange students as they have someone living in their extra bedroom every semester, every year. As such, they are pretty accustomed to the busy lives of intercambio students. We live in a nice apartment in a central location near the beach and not far from the university.
We have most meals together which is a nice time to catch up on what I have been up to and what I am planning to do. My host family doesn’t speak much English, so these are good opportunities to practice my Spanish.
Meeting students in my group has been very easy as we have had classes together for a week now as well as the pre-arranged orientation activities. There are students from all over the United States as well as many from Germany, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, and elsewhere in Europe. Everyone is very nice and eager to do activities exploring the city.
