Obama, oddities about Chile, and where's my snow?

So, because EVERYONE likes Obama, our third class was cancelled today so that we could come home and watch the inauguration. My Chilean mom was so great about it, because she knew I wanted to watch it, even though it was lunchtime, and so she set up this little number:

So sweet! After the rest of my family ate lunch, my mom turned on CNN and was watching the inauguration. She already told me she doesn't really like politics that much, but every time the people at the inauguration would cheer, I would hear a big "WOOOOO!" from her room..too funny..

Other than that, I have two strange (maybe we're the strange ones, I'm not sure?) things about Chile to share.

1) Unless you are in an apartment or a condo and you hate hot water, you're going to want to know about this one. Every house has a box where you light a pilot light for the gas and then you turn the gas on to get hot water:

2) Chileans don't use dryers unless they absolutely have to, but my family doesn't even have a dryer. So, I've learned to like jeans that feel like cardboard:


Also, here's some pictures from my new host family!
My room:

And my bathroom:

And our sweet view of Viña from the living room:


I assure you though, the walk up that hill after school is everything but sweet.

And, in closing, please talk to the snow fairies and make sure that they return sometime after January 30th. I'd appreciate that! :)