Viña de Moda: Final thoughts

It's 8:45am and I'll be on a plane home less than 12 hours from now. So, final thoughts are appropriate. My last couple months have been wonderful, more than anything. But all of it, of course, has been an invaluable experience, and unforgettable to say the least. I've learned a language. I've seen things my eyes never thought they would. I met this woman and formed a real great friendship with her. I've made friends. I've been an outsider. I've been lonely and frustrated. I've been euphoric. And a traveler. And made fully aware how darn good I have it.

To bring it back to my last few weeks, the only negative I can share is how I went through finals and felt the real, real frigid cold come creeping in. But, vacation started. While my plans to go south to see some national parks fell through (most of the parks are closed due to the cold and rain), I made the best of it and filled my days here in Valparaiso with walks, bike rides and "last time fors." I've been seeing Dan for a couple months, from Massachusetts. So we were make-the-most-of-it travel buddies. We did end up heading about 6 hours north to Valle de Elqui and La Serena--Valle de Elqui is a desert like area, known for its star gazing. When we tried to stargaze, the sky was covered in clouds. And La Serena is a pretty city--small buildings, beautiful architecture, and on the beach like Viña. We went to a "feria indigena" and toured as many churches as we could. Really beautiful. I even FINALLY got to a mass! I'd been meaning to do that all year.

My last day was wonderful, yesterday. I woke up, said goodbye to the professor that helped me with thesis ideas, had lunch with Dennise and then tea with my host mom and sister from last semester. I had some pictures printed and while waiting had a short conversation with a Chilean man that very soon was explaining the dependence of Chile and South America on the U.S. It wasn't so much a critique or condescending vent, so much as it was him just sharing an observation. He agreed it was too bad it was that way, but, it was interesting to see him present it with this fact of the matter attitude. I went to a dance class for the last time, and then had Jeanie and Billy over to share some wine and such. I was happy to spend that whole day, up until Billy and Jeanie arrived, talking in Spanish. Unfortunately, I've realized this past month I haven't been speaking much Spanish, or at least, every day had a lot of english in it. It gets me down so I won't dwell over it, but with the date of departure creeping up on me I've found myself lamenting over that. I'm happy with the spanish I've got, I'm confident to talk about pretty much anything, but grammatical errors still persist, talking and writing, and I wish that could have been cleaned up.

Last night confession: some alfajors (a delicious cookie I bought as gifts) were in my bag, and I decided that what better way to finish out my last night in Chile by going crazy and eating more than one of 'em. That would make it a chilean wine and chilean alfajor celebration. Como manjar. I knew it was crazy to be pigging out late, but luckily no stomache problems ensued. I'm going to embrace my last day with gluttony. Plus, it's SO COLD. And eating feels good for it.

So aside from posting some pictures below, I guess I always imagined ending the blog by listing a what I will and won't miss. Obviously, I'm limited to what I think of right now. Maybe I'll keep coming back to this list. But here are some lingering thoughts (note: not in any order):

WHAT I'LL MISS ABOUT CHILE

-Palta (avocado)
-The bread and the smell of those bakerys
-The wine
-The micros (when i have a seat)
-The micro drivers, especially when they do weird things like feel through all the coins with their fingers for fun.
-The commute from Viña to Valparaiso
-LIVING BY THE OCEAN.
-My home and lifestyle here with Susana
-Es decir, SUSANA
-Dennise
-Crackers, cheese, instant soups.
-Alfajors
-Instant coffee and its unidentified foamy top layer that forms.
-SOPROLE natural yogurt and my breakfasts with it.
-Dance classes with Arturo
-Standing out, being the foriegner and not speaking the language perfectly making up a large part of my identity
-Living in a city that is an art museum in itself
-Living in a city where the mentality is, "Well, the neighbors painted their house bright yellow. How about we paint ours a bright blue?"
-Jogging along the ocean
-Matias, Billy, and Kyle
-Relaxed schedules, arriving late being normal.
-The trucks of gas that clink-clink as they go by letting people know gas for their homes is ready for purchase right then and there.
-The crazy fashion
-Speaking in spanish
-Sunsets here
-The traveling spirit of being an exchange student
-Being so close to amazing and aweing parts of the world
-Spontaneous friendships

WHAT I WON'T MISS
-The bread, o sea, the temptation of the bread.
-Instant soups
-Wondering what negative effects speaking in english is having
-Not understanding the norms and rules of school. Not understanding wHAT is going on in school in general.
-The sight of US influence everywhere
-Earthquakes...
-Tremors that might turn into earthquakes..
-Tsunami threats
-Living right next to a mall
-Seeing yankees hats everywhere.
-The food
-Being so far from friends and family
-Instant coffee
-The milk
-The juice
-The whistling men
-Feeling, always, like an outsider

And so for now, that's the list. I like the idea that I'll add to it.