Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I´m still down here in northern patagonia, been here for about 2 or 3 weeks. The house is full of life and people again! Right now in the house it is the two parents, Mery and Mauricio, my two new hermanos chilenos, and me. We were laughing the other day cause I told them I´ve only ever had brothers ( Garrett and my Chilean brother in Santiago) and I´m finding that they are all pretty much the same! We´ve had some guests here at the Ecolodge and it was busy and a lot of work, but very fun and entertaining. The whole property here we are living on is actually owned my an American man who has several properties in Patagonia and dedicates them to conservation of the environment. The family I´m living with has lived here now for 14 years, taking care of the land, and just about 5 years ago started accepting tourists in their cabanas on the beach. It is definitely a family run buisness, with Mery and Mauricio doing all the cooking, and the sons doing the kayaking, hiking, fishing, and horseback riding excursions. I´ve been fitting in great here and help out wherever I can. They have had volunteers before and actually weren´t going to have another this year, denying about 10 people until they got to me and I reminded them of a girl that they had 2 years ago, last year it was her brother who came to help. So now I answer in the house to Lauren and every once in a while, Emily, the girl who was here before. haha. I spent Christmas here with the family which was hard because I missed my family alot, but they made me feel very welcome here and part of their family. On Christmas Eve we made a big dinner and had some of their traditional foods and drinks. They house was decorated (still is) and we had a little Christmas Tree in the living room. After dinner we opened the presents under the tree. Mery was so sweet and bought me a scarf and ring. On Christmas Day we ended up having 4 French guests for lunch so we made their lunch and once they left had another nice dinner together. On the 26th 2 American couples came to stay in the cabanas for about 5 days. I got to help out alot with them making them feel comfortable and welcome. It is a lot easier without the language barrier. I did a lot of translating during the week and got to do a lot of the excursions because I was able to talk to them in English. After we were all dead tired, but it went very well. On New Years Eve they had some friends over, made empanadas, which were delicious, and rang in the New Year with Champaigne hugs and kisses. It ended up to be a great night! Our next guests come the 3rd so we´ve been resting alot getting ready for the next group. I´ve been getting to ride the horses about every night which is like a dream. They hadn´t been ridden in about 7 months when we got here so we´ve been trying to break some bad habits but its been great. There are also two young horses that have never been ridden so we are working on  making them more comfortable with being around people. I love them, they are so sweet. Last night we rode the others down the beach as the sun was setting and it was so quiet and beautiful. Its absolutely amazing here and I´m having an amazing time. It was a little more difficult through the holidays not being around my family, but I´m so lucky to have this experience. Also my Dad will be coming in a little over a month for my 21st birthday which I am looking forward to so much! I´m officially over the 6 month hump of my trip and am still as excited to be here as I was when I first came, especially now that school is out and I´m finally getting some summer sunshine. Just like everyone says, `No one studies abroad to actually study`!! I´ve been taking lots of pictures and will up load them as soon as I get to Santiago. Until Later. <3 Lauren

P.S. Small Chilean News Update: In southern Chilean Patagonia they had a horrible forest fire, started by a tourist in their National Park of Torres del Paine. Right now is their peak season and they had to close the park for all of January. So far it has burned about 12,000 hectors. I´m so bummed I didn´t make it down there before the fire, because it is supposed to be absolutely amazing and one of the most beautiful places in Chile. A lot of wildlife have fled the area without homes. The fire is now officially under control but I´m not quite sure if its been completely put out.