Being abroad is a big, fat melting pot of every
emotion you could ever imagine. From A-Z, this is an all-inclusive, anti-discriminatory
category. Some days you feel so many differing emotions that you wonder if it
is actually possible to feel so much yet fail to be cognizant of what you
really just emotionally experienced. Language, accommodations, city, people,
lifestyle, customs, and culture: all foreign to you, yet you’re the foreigner—a
backwards and stomach-lurching feeling that is all too real. Ok, truth, but
that is the thrilling excitement of existing in a place in which you’ve never
been previously exposed to before. It challenges the mind to remember what
independence and confidence is, making you realize that, oh yeah, I really can
do more than I believed to be true, or even thought possible. Exiting the
comfort zone only helps you grow from the inside out, and taking risks and
seizing opportunities is only advantageous to you as a whole person.
...
A month and a half after arriving in Santiago, Chile
and I promise you that this metropolitan region has been navigated, cursed,
loved, praised, and become a home to this first-time visitor. In this short
chunk of life, I have hiked multiple hills, or ‘cerros’, that have allowed me
to panoramically view the smog-ridden, yet still beautiful, city skyline; I
have attended family barbeques, or ‘asados’, in my own backyard in which, I kid
you not, I have not understood one word of the supposed Spanish that has been
thrown around—Chilean colloquial Spanish, take mercy on my soul (and yes, I was just standing there like an awkward
extranjero looking at my big brothers with doggy eyes of confusion until they
explained things to me in what the rest of the world knows as actual Spanish). I have visited all
three houses of the lovely poet and Nobel Prize of Literature awardee, Pablo
Nerudo; I have eaten the best veggie burger my taste buds have ever
encountered; I have attended a Santiago meet-up for locals and gringos alike, where
I met two of my now good Chilean friends; I have skied the slopes of the Andes
mountain range with a Reggaetone lovin’ crew; and I have danced the night away
(eh, until 3am—early for these locals) at a Chilean wedding. I have watched the
Chilean news and local Chilean soap operas (Teletrece, Sres. Papis, and Pobre
Gallo, if anyone is interested) with my host brothers almost every night since
being here; I have learned how to TRULY eat an artichoke; and I have tried
these Chilean fried things called sopaipillas (street food: aka buy on the
street…it’s called street food for a reason) and I haven’t turned back since. I
have had a picnic in the park with friends and $1.50 wine to celebrate a 21st
birthday; I have been told to “Have a wonderful day” every morning by a
jolly old man when on my daily commute to school; I have come to fit into all
of my jeans much better (sorry USA, your food is toxic); and I have met
students and friends from France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Holland, Colombia,
Mexico, Chile, etc. I have been off-road biking in the Chilean countryside,
totaling anywhere between 25 to 35 kilometers; I have seen Saturn, Mars, the
Milky Way, and a star cluster through a gigantic telescope at an observatory in
Chile’s northern desert terrain; I have gone to a market where anything and
everything was free, a true ‘take-only-what-you-need’ mentality; I have been
jipped $11,000 Chilean pesos in change at a restaurant until it was kindly
demanded back by us gringos J; I have attended a Chilean
middle school fundraising Bingo night to watch my girl Ellie Kust do her thing
and perform her musical talent on stage (yes, you are now highly encouraged to
check her out on SoundCloud); I have been taught how to dance by a Chilean in a
rooftop bar too small for dancing; and I have attended a Chilean vegan festival
with a very, very happy heart (and a stomach full of mango juice, a sushi
burrito, chocolate peanut butter cake, and an endless amount of samples).
...
I can say that I’ve had my wallet stolen at a bus
terminal only to have it returned by an anonymous and kind (or maybe just karma
conscious) individual; I can say I lived with three amazing Chilean big
brothers only to have them leave Chile for a big European trip; I can say that
I’m one of the seemingly few vegans (I know, there’s gotta be more of them than
I realize) living in this big city, yet my host family and like-minded
restaurant owners have made this situation adaptable, comfortable, and easy to
maintain; I can say that I’ve already experienced strep throat, yet my dentist
host brother personally prescribed me antibiotics, saving me a trunk of Chilean
pesos, an insurance headache, and a lot of my time; I can say that my computer
completely died on me for 4 days straight (legit black screen of death), yet my
REAL big brother who is 4,918 miles away magically fixed it for me; I can say
that my local Jesuit university was seized and taken over by the reform-seeking
students, yet through it I have thoroughly learned about Chile’s educational,
social, and political history; and finally, I can say that I arrived at school
for my first day of class only to find out that the class (and many others,
mind you) didn’t actually exist, yet very patient advisors took the time to sit
down with me and inform me of other similar courses that are available and, to my knowledge, existent.
...
There are inevitable obstacles, challenges, highs,
and lows to juggling life as an American and native English speaker in a South
American city and Spanish-speaking community. What I have found, though, is
that it is empowering. Figuring out how to survive life in a different hemisphere
isn’t an easy task for everyone, and no matter who you are, I believe it comes
with adjustment. Yet, with the city at your fingertips and a plethora of others
who are along for the ride, navigating the world doesn’t seem like such a scary
thing. I entered this country not knowing a soul, and I have already had the
blessing of meeting remarkable humans from around the globe, all here on a
similar journey. Many times since being here I have humbly paused upon the
thought of how much different my life would be if I had never chosen to stress
myself out in order to get processed and approved to enter this country. The
experiences I have had, the humans I have met, the sights that I have seen…none
of them would exist if I had never taken a leap of faith upon myself. And for
that, cheers.
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