Ramblings, Reminiscing, and Risas (Laughter)

hola chiquillos! (hey everyone)
whelp, i am past the half way point of being here in chile and less than 2 months and counting until i touch back down in the united states...back to reality. and lets be honest, thats scary. i know i say this every time i write but seriously, i cannot believe how fast time is going. to think back and look at my pictures from when i first arrived, to remember how i felt seeing people and places for the first time that are now so familiar, its crazy. Chile feels normal to me now. like home (almost). dont worry, im coming home and i cant wait but really, Chile feels like a second home. or a third home i guess if we count Noblesville, Butler, and now, Chile. my heart keeps leaving itself in places but i guess that is the life of a traveler. and for now, i am good with that. leaving little pieces of myself wherever i go, bringing smiles to the faces of those i meet.

there are so many things about home that i miss. and each day i am realizing how many things about chile i will miss. but the thing is, i still have 7 or 8 weeks or so and for that reason, i am determined to make the very most of each day that i possibly can! and enjoy those who i am with and all the things we see and do. not that i havent been before but it seems like everyone here has suddenly just realized that the end is coming. studying abroad in chile will end. before it just seemed like this huge long indeterminable time but now it is as if we are all filled with a fervor to rather than put off going to see such and such place tomorrow, to go today, and live in today rather than in tomorrow. so enough of the rambling, back to refocus.

the longer i stay in chile and frequent the places that i enjoy, i am starting to be recognized by shop owners and even though we dont know each others names, we share a little bit of life in those fleeting minutes when i arrive to buy a little pastry or some dinner on the go. we chat and share a smile and then i am on my way. the smiles of these owners is something a bit difficult to describe but its kind of exciting. when they recognize me and remember the last time i visited. its pretty neat.

so. events. my MOM came and visited for 5 or 6 days last week. we had beautiful, sunny, warm weather each day she was here. it was a whirlwind of activity as i played tour guide and showed her all over Viña and Valpo, we even took a couple short trips to a vineyard and another coastal town farther north, Cachagua, where the Humboldt penguins reside on a little island. it was SO beautiful there, the beach was deserted, the water a deep blue, and the penguins small and so cute. we couldnt see them too well but close enough to know they were penguins. super sweet. it was incredible to see her, i hadnt realized how much i had missed her. seeing my mom was kind of like seeing the rest of my family as well, and i definitely miss them. being away from family and friends for this long, in completely new and foreign surroundings has really made me realize not only how much i am loved, but how blessed i really am. i know some amazing people and really truly appreciate and love all of your letters, notes, pictures, random shout-outs. i wish you could see how excited i get and the huge smile that spreads across my face when i see something waiting for me.

so anyway, i played tour guide and showed my mom my Chile. i had her try almost all of my favorite foods here: lúcuma ice cream, maicena, churrascos and completos, empanadas, mil hojas...all sorts of the delicious things Chile has to offer. it was fun to just be with her and show her my life here as well as meet my host family and friends that i have made here. its always interesting showing your life to someone else and seeing what they think of everything, re-seeing things that are super normal to you but through their eyes. not knowing much Spanish but still trying to understand and doing a pretty good job communicating with my host family, i played translator most of the time which helped my bilingualism somewhat and increased my confidence as we maneuvered through the bus and metro system among other things. we rented bikes and rode along the coast, stopping to explore some tide pools where we found some sea anemones clinging to giant kelp covered rocks and even saw a dead sun star. the penguin colony visit was most definitely the highlight of the week though it was a long 2 hour bus ride into uncharted territory..they never really tell you when you arrive to a city so we had to guess when we arrived to the city we wanted and ended up getting off on the side of the highway and hiking alongside the ocean until we finally found the path we needed. such is the life of a traveler. we cooked for my host family (chicken divan and apple crisp mmmm) and spent our last day together in Santiago, exploring around there. i ate really well the week she was here and before we both knew it, it was time for her to get back on the plane and fly back to the states. my dad comes in december to go travel south with me so that will be exciting as well though it is still far off for now...it will come fast.

we also recently sprung forward and are enjoying daylight til almost 8pm now which is glorious. i love daylight savings time and once it stays consistently warm and sunny i hope to really make the most of the longer hours of daylight.

classes here are not really that hard and i am realizing that i get a lot of pity points simply for being not from Chile or natively speaking Spanish. i've gotten a couple tests back recently where i received much higher scores than i definitely deserved, some of which i didnt even really answer the question being asked but i guess my effort got more points than actual content or maybe i did write what they were looking for. either way, the days of study are few and far between and with the onset of some gorgeous weather i find it difficult to sit inside and study anyway so i suppose it all works out. as i have told some, i am not really here to study though that is part of the experience..being in Chilean classrooms and seeing how university classes are conducted here and learning a bit. i am more here for the experience and learning the culture and the language. and with the latter goal i believe i am succeeding to the full. as i said at the start of this entry, Chile holds a piece of my heart and i consider myself extremely blessed to be able to be here, in this particular country, meeting the particular people i have, seeing so many places and truly discovering the true meaning of -living life...in its most purest form-.

if you are still reading, i applaud you for slogging through my ramblings with little focus. why focus when i can just write what is on my mind? thats the most raw anyway, what i really feel rather than some organized, neatly written, organized piece about the experiences i am having. thats not really who i am either. i am messy, all over the place and i like to ramble. (much to the chagrin of my host mom in regards to the messes i make..i dont mean to, they just happen. she is extremely concerned about me staining stuff..its a good thing i am 20 and not 2 otherwise she might really wig out)

In the spirit of previews, I will be traveling to Argentina with Kelan and Luke next Wednesday, consequently Halloween which we shall celebrate on the bus as we travel through the Andes. So look forward to some Argentine tales!

i hope you too are truly enjoying life and living it to the fullest. there will always be work to be done but not always life to be lived. with that in mind, i send my love and wish you the best. thanks for all your love and support and cyber hugs! God is good.

love,
katie :)