HACE FRIO...

For those of you that don't know spanish, "Hace Frio" means It's cold...

SO, life is definitely different alright...  If you've spoke to me via facebook or skype already I'm sure I've already told you all about it.. but for those of you who are complaining of the heat up there in summer.....

Climate:
Araucanía is in the south of Chile (reminder, south=cold aka closer to Antarctica)
Currently, of the 5 days I've been here it's rained 4 of them.  And judging by the rain pounding down on the roof right now as if the end of the world is near... it doesn't sound like it'll let up any time soon.  One of the days the wind was so strong that you couldn't even have a conversation--indoors--because it was so loud.  (I'm exaggerating of course, but you get the picture) It started to get borderline violent outside, but when I expressed my concern, my host mom replied--THIS?! Ohhh nooooooo! THIS is nothing.. just wait until next month when the wind REALLY starts---great. Can't wait.

Temperature:
As far as temperature, it's not actually as cold as I initially thought it would be, or every day before I step out of the house for the first time.. it usually varies from 40-50 degrees each day (20-30 at night).  However, its the lack of central heating that really gets ya!!  Every morning I wake up and somehow manage to drag myself out of bed and get dressed. By the time I brush my teeth, use the bathroom and make my way to the kitchen I have already lost feeling in my fingers and toes.  Then finally when I go to leave the house I take a big deep breath, open the door and take a step outside, just to be relieved when I realize its the EXACT SAME TEMPERATURE OUTSIDE.  I never knew something to be so relieving and heartbreaking at the same time. Then again... mornings are the worst... it warms up SOOO much more durring the day, thank god!!

Heating:
Heating is only used at lunch and in the evening when everyone is in the house.  My family has two wooden stoves to warm the house.  (This meaning that first, my host dad must go outside to chop firewood, make a fire in the stove, and then let it burn long enough to begin to finally radiate heat--makes your really appreciate what's keeping you warm) The first, above, is in the doorway of the house and close to three of the bedrooms.  We use this to heat the bedrooms and dry our clothing after it comes out of the washing machine--no dryers, eco-friendly :). The second one, to the right, is the main one located in the kitchen.  This is the one that works the best and radiates the most heat so naturally everyone hangs out in the kitchen at night to get a part of the action.  The big white thing above is what heats the water in the house.  So that in addition to a water heater in the bathroom, must both be lit before taking a shower.
As far as sleeping goes, my room is on the far corner of the house and two of its walls are huge bay windows... so naturally its the coldest room.  BUT I have a system... (created by my host mom of course) One of the windows have a huge wooden board against it meant to keep out the cold air.  In the daytime, I open the long drapes and shades to let the sunlight enter and warm the room.  Then when the sun starts to go down I draw the shades and close the drapes.  *Very important: keep the door closed at all times* Then at night, I shower RIGHT before going to bed so I can regain a bit of my body heat... then I get under about 10 pounds of blankets (literally, I'm so weighed down under these covers, I can't even move, just the way I like it).  The last and possibly most crucial detail of all.... That sexy guy you see me posing with to the left, his name is Wilson.  He has become my best friend here in Perquenco and I curl up nice and close to him every night.  We snuggle, big time-- sorry Preston.
The first word I learned when I got here was "ladrillo".  That's Spanish for "brick".  Apparently the popular way to keep warm at night under your covers is to take a brick that has been heating in the stove all day, wrap it up in linen and curl up around it in bed... so this brings us to Wilson, MY ladrillo. He's the best friend a girl could ever have. 
So that's that. Trust me, there are plenty of other new and interesting tid bits about Chilean life, but I'll save that for another day.  For now, all you get is me crying over the cold.  I'm a baby, I know.  Till next time folks!

Oh yeah, and this is Wilson heating up in the oven... isn't he cute?!