Emailed from Lachlan...
Buenas Tardes Rotary, espero ustedes esta bien y saludable!This month has been a real rollercoaster, most significantly impacted by COVID-19 and the quarantine that we find ourselves in now. Although, despite this rather negative end to the month, March has been pretty great!
My month started while I was in Santiago for another band rehearsal. I spent the night with Roberto Silvia, the district governor here in Chile, and accompanied him to a rotary dinner in a golf club somewhere south of Santiago. I became good friends with his daughter 'Lulu' and spend most of the night talking with Rotarians and breaking it down on the dance floor. Just your standard Chilean club celebration! I also started school this month and had a really great time. I was a little nervous, naturally, but I ended up making some great friends and became really comfortable in my class. I had plenty of time to get to know everyone since here in Chile instead of students changing classrooms your classroom changes teachers. Spending all day in one room gives you plenty of time to meet people.
Another big event of this month was that my host brother Diego, who was on exchange in Germany, returned home. Because he was quarantined at home on arrival, I ended up staying at my councillor Analia's house for a few days. I became good friends with Analia's daughter Cami and ended up having another very hectic Santiago adventure that involved driving past Plaza Italia, hunting down the district governor's house for an hour and being a special guest at a rotary club meeting. The last part was the most fun since I ended up meeting a lot of other exchange students and catching up with some that I knew earlier. All the exchange students were surprised to see me and it was, all in all, a great night.
Other than that: I also had my first meeting with my host club, a few delicious Asados with my host family and spent some quality time practicing my Spanish during the quarantine. This month has definitely been a bumpy one, with many of my exchange friends having to return home and the quarantine cancelling a lot of my future trips and plans. Despite all that though, I'm still optimistic about the future and have lots of plans on how to stay productive during this quarantine!
Thank you rotary for your continued support during this rough patch!
I wouldn't trade this time here on exchange for the world and I'm grateful for all the time and experiences I get here. If I can help in any way back home, I'm only a message away!
Un abrazo y hablar pronto
Lachlan