Where's Gringa?

One week from today I’ll be killing time at the Atlanta airport for seven hours before my flight home. It’s hard to believe how fast this time has gone and it breaks my heart to think that I’ll be back in the States. BUT I still have one week left here and I’m going to seize every opportunity that I have! Anyways, here’s an update on my life:

Wednesday morning Sean and I were sitting in the little coffee shop area on campus, when a girl asked Sean if she could sit by us. In the process, she spilled her soda, and Sean helped her clean it up. Meanwhile, I was waiting for my queso caliente and was super confused by what was going on. But when I got back to the table, Sean and her had started a conversation and I joined in. She later asked us if we wanted to get lunch with her. We ended up going to a little restaurant above the market and walked around Valparaíso.

One thing I admire about the Chilean culture is that they are always so friendly and not afraid to start a conversation with a random stranger, or in this case, two gringos. Everywhere I go, people are extremely open to talking—on the metro, standing in line, etc. Probably because I’m a gringa... But it’s all so genuine.

Part of our group left this past Saturday, and so to say good-bye to them we all went out for Chinese food Wednesday night. Eating Chinese food in South America felt a little bit weird...but it was still delicious. When I got home, Claudia and I stayed up for an hour avoiding homework and work solely talking about the Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, and other musicals.

Then Thursday night I went with Anna to a church service downtown and it was an interesting experience. Only because on our way down there, she decided she had to go to the bathroom. And so, we couldn’t find the bathroom in the church, so we left and went to a different building. Here we asked the guy at the desk if we could use the bathroom and he asked us why. Well, why else would someone be asking to use the bathroom? He let her in. Meanwhile, I spent time talking to him about life as an exchange student. When Anna was done, we still carried on conversation.  Once he found out we were single, he asked us for our phone numbers and if we wanted to go get a beer with him sometime before we left. For any girl, this is probably an ideal situation: single, guy wanting your phone number, and an invite to go get a beer. However, ladies, imagine being in this situation and the guy being well over 60...

After church that night, I headed back to Anna’s house and spent time with her family. Her mom talks pretty fast, but somehow, she was really easy to understand. Friday morning we (Anna, her brother (Diego) and I) woke up early for a full day of hiking. It was much more successful than our hiking adventure in Bolivia. Except for the few hundred times we almost died on the way down... When we got to the top, we found a cave and decided to walk through it. It was probably the home of a puma. And we probably could have ended up being dinner. But, YOICO (you’re only in Chile once)! The risk was definitely worth it. There was another group of Chilenos who were hiking as well, and we decided to become friends when we explored the cave. It might have had something to do with the fact that they had a headlamp... 

our friends we made in the cave.

just hangin' out with some plants.

hiking crew.

Later that night, our ‘once’ was four hours long. I was up until midnight or so talking with my mom about life and it was wonderful. I loved every single second of it. Saturday morning I woke up early to head over to the farmer’s market with my parents. Everything there is really cheap and incredibly fresh. If only fruit and vegetables in the States could be that cheap. We then took a rode trip to the North and had a picnic. 

my new family and i

claudia and i

Sunday Lorena, Osvaldo, Darrio, and Emilia all came over for lunch. I really admire their sense of family. Every weekend they get together for lunch—even if it’s just an hour—and are always so happy about it. Their sense of family and community is incredible. It makes me sad to think that I don’t even see my immediate family that often because of school. We talked over drinks and of course lunch. When my mom thinks I don’t understand something, which is very rare at this point, she repeats it a lot at a very high volume. Osvaldo then told her that I may be a gringa, but I’m not deaf.

With each passing day, I feel more and more comfortable here in the Chilean culture and less like a gringa. However, I am looking forward to not being the tallest one anywhere I go. Or the one with the fairest skin or lightest hair. It’ll be nice to blend in once again and not be a walking “Where’s Waldo?”