Hello everyone from the Prep community!  I write you now from a land of 90 degree afternoons, endless sunshine, green trees, and the good feelings that come with those things.  It is has definitely reached the full swing of summer here, and my Chilean classmates are all winding down their school year and getting ready for their exams.  It's a strange feeling - I feel like I'm just getting started with school, and they are all going into vacations!  Their exams work largely in the same way as Prep, except that it is a two-week ordeal instead of 3 days or so.  I am interested to see how it will play out. 

Probably the biggest single thing that has happened to me since my last update was the visit of my family!  It was absolutely wonderful to see them, especially down here in this beautiful country.  We rented a car and took a good old fashioned South American road trip, and visited many places.  One Chilean city we visited was Valparaiso: a historic port city on the Pacific built steep into the mountainside, filled with fresh seafood, brightly colored houses, historic churches, sandy beaches, and the house of Pablo Neruda.  That was a great time.  Another cool place was Mendoza, Argentina, which you arrive at after a breathtaking 8-hour trek through the Andes.  In Mendoza we did things like rent horses, tour rustic vineyards, and eat some great Argentinian beef - something the country is famous for.

Finally, we made our way back to Santiago, and stayed with my host family for a few days.  It was great to see my real family laughing and sharing together with my host family I have come to love so much.  They got along great.  My sister accompanied me to a day of Chilean school, which went very interestingly for her!  She was by far the most popular girl in school that day.  The differences between the Latin American classroom and the Minnesotan are great, and she found it to be a good learning experience.  Anyhow, after a very good and meaningful time together, my family went off, and I settled back into the routine here.

I have about 4 weeks left here, and have thus entered into the last leg of my Chilean journey.  I have been occupying myself in a variety of ways - exploring things like church community groups and service, and of course studying.  I have improved a great deal acedemically!  In the beginning, I was barely passing due to the language, but now I am getting the Chilean equivalents of A's and B's!  I would consider myself functionaly fluent at Spanish at this point, and can well express myself in mostly any situation.  Sometimes it gets tough when there are many speakers or loud ambient noises, but that's life, I guess.  The Chilean dialect is considered to be one of the most difficult in the world, and it definitely gave me some problems at first.

From what I hear, Prep has been doing well!  I am getting excited to get back behind the Pine Curtain, take walks in the woods, check out the new Refectory, and see all the people I love.  Thank you everyone for your interest in my experience in the great country of Chile!

Peace and love,
John Davis

John (Jack) Davis, a junior at Saint John's Prep, is studying in Chile during the 1st semester.  Below are his thoughts and observations.

Check back often, as updates will be added.

Greetings from beneath the big mountain skies!  Everything is starting to bloom and turn into Spring here, and as I look, I can see all sorts of colors scattered about the trees.  It's beautiful.  Obviously, my time here has been going great!  I'm now a little bit more than two months into my journey, making it about halfway, and I can say that even if I were to go home tomorrow, I would be changed. 

Thus, I have entered into what I feel to be the second stage in my time here, where I am getting around more to see more of the country and diving deeper into culture.  Awhile ago, I spent a good few days on the Chilean coast with my host family!  I found the Pacific beautiful, as it was my first time seeing it.  Nice sunny white beaches, interesting seafood, and good time off of school.  Just the other day I went high up in the Andes for the first time, snowboarding!  Chile is pretty famous for it's alpine opportunities, and I can see why.  The views were beautiful, the snowboarding was great, and it was good to see snow again.  Chile is truly great; in some places, you can literally ski the morning, go to the beach in the afternoon, then eat out in Santiago at night.

These past few days have basically been in anticipation of my family coming down to visit me!  I haven't missed them too terribly, but it will obviously be great to see them.  We are going to spend about a week seeing more of Chile: Valpraiso, Vina del Mar, La Serena, Mendoza (though that's Argentina), then finally spend some days with my host family, visiting, seeing the school, and more.  I will write all about the great things we see!

Other than those things, I have pretty much settled into the Latin routine here: long school days with much studying and reading during the week, then lots of time with friends and family on the weekends.  School is going well!  My grades are decent when compared to my classmates, which I think makes them pretty good for an exchange kid in a second language.  On the weekends, Chileans like to have huge gatherings.  An attendance of 200 is not uncommon, and everyone is included.  I'll definitely have some knowledge to bring back to the States.

I have heard that Prep's Homecoming was a success, as always!  I somewhat wish I could have gotten in on it, but I an definitely occupied as it stands here.  I'm glad that there will still be a vibrant community to come back to.

Peace and love,
John (Jack) Davis

Hola,
My time here has been, if not the best in my life, then certainly at least the most interesting.  Living in a foreign country is the best way to learn about the world, and about yourself as well.  I'm sure some of you have heard a bit about what I have been up to - school in a foreign language, intense Chilean soccer matches, family gatherings, parties and gatherings with my friends - all things contributing to my total immersion in a completely different way of life.

School is going great!  It's a lot different than American schools, the way it is scheduled and the whole uniform business, but I am liking it and learning a lot.  Understanding my classes was hard at first, but my Spanish has improved a great deal.  My host family says I am now on par with my professora who came down with me!  It's tough, writing essays and such in Spanish, but I enjoy learning, so it is a good thing.  My classmates are pretty cool.  There is a group of them who are into music and play instruments and everything, and I went and jammed with them one weekend.  Just like USA!

My family is really great!  They remind me a lot of my family, in the way that they are all about loud exclaimations and grand gestures.  Very Italian.  My main host brother is Franco, who is 18, and he is a good guy and we spend lots of time together, playing soccer and stuff in the afternoons, and he shows me around with his friends and stuff.  Next weekend, we have a week off of school, so we as a family are going to a beach for a couple days!  I'm very excited.  Anyways, they are all very nice and considerate, and a lot of fun as well.

Like I said before, just being here and observing has made me see so many things differently.  They do some things really great here - like having really close family relationships and not being so materialistic - but being here also makes me appreciate some things about USA - out appreciation of individuality and freedom.  Also, the Andes are beautiful!

However, it does feel strange not being at Prep to see the beautiful fall colors I love so much!  I miss the community sometimes, but I am ever thankful for my opportunity to experience Chile!  Thank you all!

Peace and love,
John (Jack) Davis