Wow, hello! It's been a while!
This is the first time in the past month that I've actually gotten a chance to sit and breathe and reflect. This moment comes both because it is our spring break and because I am yet again sick. There's nothing quite like being sick to make you actually sit down and think about things. So, here it is! The highlights of my past month:
I began working at El Sembrador (nursery and community center mentioned in my last post) on August 23, and I ADORE it. At this moment, my day-to-day work includes cuddling, playing with, and getting to know 10 kiddos between the ages of 1 and 2. For those of you who know me well, you know this is basically a type of dream for me where I would wake up crying of happiness. The kids are fantastic and each have their own personality--Ignacia is mischievous, Javier is a charmer, Violeta is shy but loving, Rafaela is the princess, etc. I end up exhausted at the end of each week (working there takes a lot out of me, plus the 1.5 hour commute each way...) but it is hands down one of my favorite parts of this study abroad experience. It is truly, truly amazing.
Otherwise, classes are going fine. They feel super slow-paced compared to Carleton, but that's giving me time to focus on other things here like my work at the nursery and my friends and host family. Plus, I'm pretty sure a train car headed down a cliff would feel slow-paced compared to Carleton, so...
That same week, I went on a hike to Aguas de Ramón with Steph and my friend Silvia. Aguas de Ramón is BeAUUUtiful, and reachable by public transportation. Check it out!
The next week, my family arrived! My parents came Wednesday the 31st, and Abby came September 2nd. They then went to San Pedro de Atacama up north (more on ths later) for a few days, then came back for a few days, and then jetted off home. We did a lot of fun things--we went to a museum on pre-Pinochet history, went to Los Dominicos (artisenal market in Santiago), went to the Visual Arts museum, walked around comuna Bella Vista, and ate a lot of good food/ice cream. Dad also got to see Danielle for the first time in 30 years, so that was fun! Here are some pictures from their visit (specifically, the day we went to Valparaíso, as the rest of the pictures I currently have are terrible family selfies. I will update with better family pictures when I have them).
After my family left, on September 10th, I jetted off to San Pedro de Atacama myself! I went with the majority of the kids from my program, and had an absolutely lovely time despite getting very sick very early on (classic!). San Pedro is in the driest desert in the world, and has some of the most breathtaking and bizzare landscapes I have ever seen. Here are a few pictures of the 1,000,000 that I took.
All of these photos were taken on the first full day after I got there, on an all-day tour with an amazing guide named Fabiola. We were at around 14,000 feet for most of the day, and wouldn't you know that I came down with both altitude sickness and some sort of virus. A special thanks to Uncle Peter, who gave me fantastic medical advice and talked my mom down from demanding I go to the emergency room at once.
The rest of my time in San Pedro was spent hanging out in hammocks and my bed at the hostel, with the amazing humans from my program bringing me gatorade and crackers. Seriously, they are the best.
If you ever come to Chile, I would definitely recommend making San Pedro a stop. It is beautiful and bizarre and one of a kind.
As I type this, I have returned to Santiago and have been in my bed for several days. Tomorrow I go to the doctor. Adventures galore here!
This week is the "Semana de Patrias" or "Fiesta de Patrias" or "Día de Patrias" which is basically an undistinguished amount of time (A week? Two days? A day? No one really knows.) in which Chileans get really drunk and have cookouts and celebrate Chilean independence. It's like a drawn-out, Chilean-style 4th of July. Providing my body agrees, I'll probably spend the next few days going to the National Arena to celebrate, dancing in the streets, spending time with friends' host families as they have asados (cookouts) and frantically trying to finish my homework. I will report back with pictures of the festivities (and hopefully this time it won't take me a month!).
Time is flying by. Sending big hugs, especially to my freinds going back to school! Take care of yourselves, and take care of others (did I just plagerize from the GSC? I feel like I did. All credit to the GSC).
Un abrazo,
Nina
