It's The Final Countdown

Dream team Joey Tempest and John Norum once said,"it's the final countdown, we're leaving together, the final countdown, we'll all miss [Chile] so, it's the final countdown..." This dream team is also known as Europe. Well my avid readers, it really is the final countdown. Not counting the time it takes to get to the airport, my time at the airport, or my time in the air, I only have two and a half days left of being in this beautiful country you all know as Chile. I guess I know it as Chile too, but it's probably not the same Chile that you are all familiar with. For instance, you might not know the familiarity of seeing the same stray yellow lab with a limp hobbling up and down the sidewalks near the metro station almost every day. Or the familiar faces on the metro. And so, as each second turns into a minute and each minute turns into an hour and each hour turns into a day, I grow sadder and sadder. Sad to leave the familiarities and afraid to forget them. Then again, I've always been someone with an immense amount of fear--especially when it comes to my basement. In the dark. Where there are definitely monsters lurking in the corners near the furnace. My grandma sent me an email a few weeks ago saying something along the lines of the same girl who was (and still is) afraid to go in the basement without another person (i.e: Stephanie) is thousands of miles away. Strange how that fear seems to disappear when it comes to a life changing adventure. An adventure that brings two completely different cultures together. Especially when it comes to sharing recipes...


Lydia and I made chili for her family on Tuesday night. Surprisingly, chili is not a known dish in Chile. And so, eating chili in Chile when it was chilly outside was a perfect way to spend the night. Her family is incredible and will definitely be missed. Her mom has so much love to offer and the first thing she told me when I met her after dropping Lydia off on day 1 was, "If you don't like your family, you can come stay with us for the six weeks!". For a stranger to say that to another stranger with such sincerity, is incredible.

Last night, Claudia took Lydia, Anna, and I out for margaritas to celebrate her last day of radiotherapy.(In case you didn't know, she had breast cancer in November and has had chemo or radio everyday since then.) It was a great day for her and am so happy that she's okay now! She is such an inspiration and acts as if nothing had happened--her heart is filled with immense amounts of joy, she's always smiling or laughing, and always making sure I'm okay.

It was a good night and got back around one. I would have liked to stay out later with her and sing more karaoke, but I naturally procrastinated the two presentations I had to work on. So, I was up until 3:30 working on homework. Come on profes, we're in Chile! It's our last week. And we have presentations.

I'm just glad class for today is over. After two presentations, I'm exhausted (Spanish still overwhelms me sometimes) and I don't have these giant projects hanging over me and constantly battling with the little devil on my shoulder playing bad cop and telling me that it's okay to be social, grades don't matter. Well, kids. They do. But I'm pretty sure both presentations went pretty well. Did I stumble across my words as if I was drunk the majority of the time? Yes. But that's because my brain is thinking in Spanish way faster than I can actually speak it, so I have double the Spanish happening which is double the confusion which leads to me sounding like a drunk. But I promise, I wasn't.

Oh, and my one presentation with Hope that had to be an hour and a half long, was about the education system in Chile. Is it another sign? Possibly. Am I confused? More than ever. Do I want to cry about my chaotic foggy life? Absolutely. I might have even told my professor about my internal debate and my life story. What did he say? Teach in Chile.

LIFFEEEEEEEE. 

awkward selfie of how distraught i'm feeling