Reflections

Meeting penguins at the end of the world

I held off on this post for awhile partly because life was busy but also because I wanted to really settle in back home and come to terms with the fact that I am no longer in Chile. Scrolling back through my posts during the semester, I realized that this page has turned into a travel blog, where I was really only writing when we traveled outside Santiago (as if being in Santiago wasn't travel enough). While I'll admit our trips outside Santiago were pretty frequent, I think I became so complacent with my life in Santiago that it didn't occur to me to continue documenting what my day-to-day life looked like. So, in an attempt to convey what my "typical" days in the city were like, below is a brief overview of what went on when we weren't travelling around.

School and classes - Believe it or not, I was in classes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (with the exception of our numerous days off). The overall workload was much lighter that what I was used to at AU, however I was taking fewer credits than other semesters and when finals rolled around we certainly had our hands full. Taking classes entirely in Spanish didn't turn out to be as difficult as I had initially thought, but for the most part our professors spoke slower and more clearly than the average Chilean (especially my Chilean classmates) so that helped us out significantly. It was also a change to go from AU's centralized campus to an urban campus in the middle of downtown, and though that and the 1 hour commute weren't my favorite, it was all part of the abroad experience.

Interning with Fulbright Chile - Tuesdays and Thursdays when I was not in class, I was fortunate enough to work in Fulbright Chile's small office with around 8 full time staff members and one other girl from my AU program. We mostly did document translations (Spanish to English and vice-versa) and applicant profile summaries. It was an interesting experience since everyone in the office was bilingual, and they would often switch back and forth between Spanish and English within a single conversation (or sentence).

Fulbright interns with US Ambassador to Chile Carol Perez on US election night

Mi español - If I went to Chile with one goal, it was to finally nail down my Spanish and gain some level of fluency. While we all struggled with Chilean Spanish throughout the entire semester (¿otra vez, por favor?) I came back from Chile with a new confidence in my Spanish as well as a new appreciation of the importance of immersion in gaining language skills. Though I certainly would not say I'm fluent, I'm happy with the fact that I could easily carry on a conversation in Spanish even without understanding every single word.

Amigos Chilenos - Though unfortunately I didn't get to play a whole lot throughout the semester, the friends I made through the university's soccer team were without a doubt the most wonderful Chileans I got to know. They took us around Santiago on the weekends, introduced us to chorillana and terremotos - Chile's finest culinary creations - (pictured below), traveled with us, and taught us more about Spanish and Chilean culture than we could have ever hoped to learn in a classroom. I miss them a lot.

Terremoto? Terremoto! 

Out with our Chilean friends in Santiago

A modest serving of chorillana

With the Chileans at our hostel on the Pichilemu surf trip

Last night with Chilean friends before leaving :(

Feelings about Santiago - The best part about being in Santiago this semester was that we were in a central location that allowed us to do a significant amount of travelling outside of Santiago (e.g., the majority of this blog page). Don't get me wrong - Santiago is an incredible city and it's proximity to the Andes made for spectacular views daily, however it was outside of my time in Santiago that I fell in love with Chile. Will I go back? Of course. Would I plan to spend a long-term amount of time in the city? Probably not, but I count on being back in Latin America and visiting Chile in the years to come.

End of the semester travels!

I was lucky enough to have some family come and visit at the end of my time abroad. Below are pictures from our winery visit outside Santiago (2nd largest in the world!), our visit to Puerto Varas and kayaking adventure (thanks mom!:)), our walk with penguins in the southern most part of Chile (and practically the world minus Antarctica), and our time in Torres del Paine, Patagonia. It was a blissful 10 days and a perfect way to say goodbye to my time in Chile.

Concha y Toro Winery

Wine tasting

Exploring Santiago

Saltos de Petrohue in Puerto Varas

Kayaking

Penguin friends!

Really wanted to take one home

Vicuñas (like llamas/alpacas) in Patagonia

Patagonia

I had never seen an iceberg before

Glacier Grey

Glacier up close

So, for the past 3 weeks now, I've been holding my breath and waiting for the feared reverse culture shock to take effect and wipe me off my feet. While I do miss Chile and the friends I made so incredibly much, I expected to have a much tougher transition back to the US. Don't get me wrong, leaving was indescribably hard and settling back into a home routine, while familiar, wasn't easy either. I think having transitioned between my life in NM and my life in DC over the past two years certainly helped, though, and seeing family and friends was a warm welcome. I couldn't hope to convey how inexplicably unique and rewarding this semester was to anyone outside of those in my program who were able to experience the semester with me, but I hope it's clear that I would jump right back to the start of the semester in a heartbeat if it meant I could do it all over again. Though I now get to look forward to my upcoming semester in Rome, Italy, Chile will certainly hold a special place in my memories. With that being said and all of these nostalgic feelings aside, stay tuned for posts to come about my next adventure in Europe!

¡Nos vemos muy pronto, Chile!