We’ve been here in Chile for nearly four months now and I know everyone says this, but this last semester has passed more quickly than I imagined it could. To be honest, in the couple weeks leading up to my departure to Chile when I was nervous about going, I would tell myself it’s only four and a half months. I could do four and a half months, and I would be home before I knew it. And now that my time is here and that we only have two weeks left in Chile I wish I could go back to the beginning.
My friends here always ask me what I’ve liked most about Chile, and they always expect me to tell them a type of food or a trip I’ve taken but every time I say it’s been the people. The people I’ve met here in Chillán- my tutors, my classmates, my teachers, my host family(ies)- have given me a second home. I never thought it was possible to feel so at home so far away from everything I know.
The little things I’ve experienced here have been my favorites. Today after class a couple of us sat on old bleachers under the trees and just talked for two hours. My cheeks quite literally hurt from smiling and laughing so much, which I didn’t think was actually possible.
My parents and sister flew out to visit me for Thanksgiving week to bring a little U.S. tradition to my host family and a lot of joy to me. We traveled, feasted, spend some unanticipated time in the hospital, drank Chilean wine and spoke as much Spanish as we could.
Having my family and my new family around the same table for Thanksgiving dinner was a feeling I’ll never forget. I heard what everyone was grateful for in English, Spanish or a mix of the two, watched my sister Anna joke around with my host brother Gabriel, saw my Mom sitting next to Florencia and Claudia, and laughed at my dad trying to teach my host dad Pablo how to “bro hug.”
These little moments are some of the most profound and unique I have experienced in my life and I know they’ll always reside close to my heart. This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for my ever-growing family and everything they have done for me.
So here I still am, with a heart more full than I ever imagined. I’m about to start saying a lot of goodbyes, but I have no doubt in my mind they’ll be temporary. I’ll be back to Chile, and I’ll visit my international friends in Basque Country, Spain and France. My last two weeks of the semester aren’t going to be spent traveling to see a new part of Chile. I’m going to spend them laughing with my family and friends as much as I can because in the end, that’s what’s brought me the most bliss this semester.