Hello hello! Happy end of April! For some, this means graduation is quickly approaching, summer and relief from class for a few months is so close we can taste it (for Phoenicians, you’re already sweating and can already taste the heat), summer study abroad sessions to Spain and Italy are just around the corner (woo Brittany, Lindsey, Sol, and Frankie!!), and it means that I will be home in just a few short days. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this yet, but more on that later.

The last three weeks have been a blast! It’s been an intense mixture of attempting my hand at an insane coctail of studying for finals, writing and editing the 6 papers I had to complete (1 left, now!), spending as much time with both my Chilean friends and my gringo friends who come from all over the US, soaking up Gina, my host mom, and trying to see as much of the city as possible and binging myself on Latin American and Chilean culture, checking out places I didn’t have the chance to see in Santiago, and revisiting my favorite spots in the city one last time. Needless to say, my head has been spinning, I’m tired of studying, I have been extremely emotional (this is also amplified by an insane lack of sleep), and most of all, my heart is conflicted. Of course I am dying to see Alex, my family, my friends, my dogs, and the places I’ve known as home for my whole life, but it’s complicated.

Okay let’s talk about something a bit more upbeat so I can forget about this impending mushroomcloud doom of emotions to come, at least for just a minute.

Week 14 of school, 3 weeks ago: some highlights
-Watched the sunset and shared some wine, treats, and incredible conversation in a park on a hill at the foot of the Andes that was perched up high enough for us to see the whole of Santiago’s skyline, with the loveliest of people

-Went to a chilean friend of mine’s apartment for a carrete (slang for party) with some of my closest chilean and gringo friends

-Experienced my first pub crawl with my pololas Jean-Claire and Hannah and had a great time. I had a beet sour (made with pisco) and it was magic! I’ve always been a fan of drinks with snacks (smoothies, sangria, ice tea with fruit, EXCLUDING mote con huesillos aka squeeky teeth) and this is a new one for the list.

-Went to Museo de la Memoria (talking about the dictatorship and violations of human rights from 73-90 in Chile) with Brenda, the BEST, most intelligent professor ever, for the fourth time and then had class in the park.

Week 14 of school, 2 weeks ago: more highlights!

-Went to see a french film called “Amour” in my favorite independent single-screening room theatre with Gina. “Amour” talks about death and dying from the perspective of an elderly couple in the midst of dealing with the wife on bedrest for paralysis. It is a gorgeous film and I highly recommend it, and Gina and I shared some very interesting, inspiring, and emotional conversations about it afterward.

-Went to see a delightful concert with Gina and her cousins by a Turkish pianist who knew her stuff. I wasn’t really into the Turkish experimental/contemporary pieces she played, but it was interesting to hear a taste of!

-Wrote my big research paper for Brenda’s class. I chose my topic to be about contemporary Latin America and its move toward its own identity, focusing on indigenous ideology, and how it is distancing itself from western culture and US ideals. I focused on historical events (post US economic crisis, mostly) to explain how they’ve swung back and fourth between the two ideologies many times, and how I believe we’re experiencing another shift. If you read Spanish and are interested, I can certainly send it to you!

-Visited Villa Grimaldi,which,  located about a 30 minute bus ride from my house, was used as a sequestered torture location for the desaparecidos during the Coup de Etat (73-90). Unfortunately, most of it was lost due to the DINA bombing it at the end of the regime in attempts of covering up evidence, but it was still very powerful, and some of the locations around the park-like museum had been reconstructed for better understanding. For example, there were bricks laid in the shape of the individual cells, to give the impression of the amount of space prisoners had, and planted in the middle of the lawn and each brick outlining, was a tree, representing the lives of the people affected. There was an old watertower, reconstructed, and it was located about 60 paces from a swimming pool. The watertower had 4 floors that were incredibly small, and small cells were constructed with enough room for once person to squat, but would force 4 or 5 individuals in there, leaving them to rotate uncomfortable positions so that they might each experience a turn of rest. They lived in complete darkness, amongst sickness, feces, urine, and insects, and meanwhile, families of the DINA would visit the pool and play as if nothing was going on at all. This for me, was the most impactful. There were also houses surrounding the vacinity, which goes to show how well the operations were conducted, and how well people were able to keep themselves ignorant of the horrors of the dictatorship.

-Little Lore, my love from El Hogar, came back for her monthly checkup and I was delighted to see her once more before I left. I was the only USAC volunteer that day, and had my hands full with 8 small children climbing all over me while Lore played with my hair and made me sleepy. A dangerous combination, indeed!

-I went out with some friends for terremotos and then to ExTantra, a gay club in Santiago, and had a great time. It was awesome to see so many people expressing themselves and having a good time freely, without fear of being discriminated against or experiencing violent reprocussions.

-I had a really nice family lunch at Gina’s sister’s house that lasted 5 hours. We also watched a video of a concert conducted by Andre Reiu, a famous dutch violinst. The music was awesome and everyone in the audience was dancing and having a great time, even though it was a formal concert. They even dropped hundreds of balloons at the end on the audience. That evening, I went to Brenda’s (my professor and USAC director) apartment with two other students and another professor that she invited for dinner with her family. Her daughters Leonor (4) and Elena (2.5) look like mini Brendas and were very sweet, as was her husband. We had a great evening!

-I had a cultural day with a good friend, Jean-Claire, taking advantage of the bi-annual free circuit of museums and activities in a sector of the city center. We saw a few films, went to the planetarium and had our minds blown learning about light and space from the IMAX film on the ceiling of the room, and saw a really interesting contemporary dance piece inspired by Violetta Parra, chilean musician/activist extroadinaire.

Week 16 of school, this week!

-Alex’s birthday was Monday! Woooo for turning 23! 🙂

-I took Gina to Hare Krishna, an awesome restaurant near school where for $4 USD you get a massive plate of yummy REAL salad, some sort of rice dish, a stew or pasta, whole grain bread, delicious ginger infused tea, and a dessert, AND IT’S ALL VEGETARIAN. Shazzing for me! It’s popular amongst the USAC crowd, and Gina’s always wanted to go since last semester, so we finally went. Brenda and Jorge (two of the three directors) came with us, and we had a nice time, laughing and talking about the massive, red cocroaches in Brazil that Brenda saw.

-We had a goodbye/thank you once at El Hogar with the children, their moms, and a few volunteers. It was really nice to go for one last time and sit with everyone together, leaving on a happy note. I’m going to really miss going there each week and the little ones that I’ve gotten to know throughout the year. I’m happy to say that little Sara is doing well, too, and gets to go home soon!

-I gave a talk with a friend of mine, Sisi, to a bunch of chilean students at my university who are studying English. We presented about sex education and from a sex positive perspective, which the idea that proposes that we should not be ashamed of our bodies or our sexualities, nor should we oppress others for expressing themselves, even though the media and popular culture teach us to do so, and that sexuality is to be looked at from a binary, heteronormative perspective. It well, and although there were a few women who told me they really disliked the presentation afterward, I was happy that the majority had positive thoughts and really appreciated us opening the conversation for such an important topic.

-I took two tests this week and killed them. I haven’t gotten my scores back yet, but I studied hard and felt confident going into and then leaving the exams. Woo woo!

-I was also busy this week planning for and compiling money for gifts for our directors and nominations for USAC peer awards for our “cena despedida” (goodbye dinner) Thursday evening. We all had a good laugh about the nominations, guessing which belonged to each of us, and enjoyed a lovely dinner together. I had some really great conversations with a few of my friends, particularly those who’ve also been here for both semesters, about how we’re feeling about leaving in just a few days, which we concluded as being “a hot mess” and “very confused” and “all over the place”. It’s comforting to know there are others who are going through the same thing I am right now. Although it was our final closing banquet, it didn’t feel like it; it just felt like we all got together to hang out and have a good time. I am in serious denial half of the time, and the other half, I just cry alot, haha. After the dinner, a few of us went out to a bar and kept the good times a rollin’. I am very much going to miss these people.

-Last night, I went salsa dancing! I went with my dance teacher and the assistants from last semester, and two of my peers who are currently in the class. We had so much fun dancing the night away, and I found I remembered everything well after a few months of not practicing. I’m glad I got to go once again to end my 9 months in Latin America with such a cliché flair. 🙂

-Today, Gina and I went to a different feria to try and sell my bike, which didn’t happen. Going to try again tomorrow! We made lunch and long story short, I stuck a spoon in a still spinning blender of pureed cauliflower and it went flying all over the kitchen/onto Gina’s face. It was hilarious and we laughed and laughed and laughed. After a great lunch, I met up with friends at the French bakery and café near my house for chai and conversation. This evening, Gina and I will be going to see Anna Karenina in the theatre. I love our dates!

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