The Ultimate Post...farewell Chile, mi amor

Una Noche "Full Circle"

The last week of the trip definitely had a different feel to it, but it was probably one of the best weeks I had in Chile. On Monday night, I went out for Una Noche "Full Circle" (full circle night), kinda like we did that first Monday night in Chile with my host sisters & cousins and Gannon. We went to Ston for a bit then headed over to Cafe Journal, where we met up with Luna & her friends. Afterward, we headed to Tuki (Luna's boyfriend's) apartment in Recreo, which was fun. At the end of the trip, especially that last week, I was really big into repeating the things we did early on the trip (full circle) for oldtime's sake.

At Beto's preparing the gifts

 On my last Tuesday morning, I went to the Hogar as usual, where we delivered Christmas gifts to the kids. The week before my last week in Chile, we had gone shopping at Jumbo (basically a gigantic Walmart or Target, including tons of groceries, clothes, toys, etc) for the Hogar & the Sanatorio, both which recieved $4000 from an anonymous donor to CSB/SJU. One night that week, I went to Beto's house to wrap the Hogar gifts. Oh so conveniently, his host dad used to work retail & is a pro-wrapper. It was great and we had a lot of fun! The kids LOVED the gifts. One of the gifts was Elefun, the game where butterflies come out of a plastic elefant's trunk. We opened it with the Hogar kids, and they went wild with all the butterflies, Pablito especially.

Us- "Pablito, cuantas cachaste?" (How many butterflies did you catch?)
 Him- "Muuuuchas, muchas." (Many, many!!)

Hogar kiddos playing with the Elephant game!!

316 class with our prof Veronica @ farewell dinner

It was adorable. On Tuesday night, the whole group got together at a restaurant in Valpo for our farewell dinner. I met Lauren at her house before the dinner (finally met her sweet family) and we met others to ride the metro together. We had SO many courses to our dinner- it was ridiculous but very yummy, especially the gigantic plate of fries! At one point on our trip, we all went to Alexis & Dustin's apartment for once. We all had to pose in their house for a picture and at the dinner we voted for the best. Our group (me, Gannon, Ellen, & Corey) ended up winning- a big surprise! There were a bunch of speeches at the dinner, and I started to feel really sad about being done. How crazy that our time had passed so quickly. After the dinner, a bunch of us went out in Valpo for one last time to Coyote Quemado & another place across the street. It was a lot of fun.

Bennie check! Our Mendoza group at the farewell dinner.

Surfing group! Hang loose :)

We had our last Wednesday in Chile off! A group of us girls ended up taking a bus to Maitencillo to see the beaches and go surfing. The bus ride was awfuuuul. The bus was full (packed actually) so we had to stand nearly the whole trip there (about an hour and a half). It was beautiful that morning in Vina, but it was cold and gloomy in Maintencillo. Surfing was challenging but a lot of fun. I just barely stood! After getting sub-par empanadas & missing the bus back, we headed back to Vina about an hour later, just in time to meet the Sanatorio group @ Alexis' apartment. We picked up the gifts we were going to deliver & headed off there. I left a little early to pick up a delicious pastry from the panaderia (bread store) next to the Sanatorio and shower before the get together at Alexis & Dustin's apartment that night, which was great fun! Nearly the whole group came. Afterward, me & Gannon walked Steph home (quite a venture, she lives so far away). It was a reminiscent time for us.

Me & Maggie with Bella :)

On Thursday night, I paid one last emotional visit to the Sanatorio. Throughout my time there, I had  bonded quite a bit with Bella's (one of the adorable little girls there) likely soon to be adoptive parents, Ignacio & Dalscen. They are amazing, and we are keeping in touch. On my last day there, they took photos of me with all of the kids & adults living there. I am so happy to have met them! It was so hard to say goodbye, especially to my special Rosita. We were really close throughout my time there, and she said more to me the last day than she had any of the other times. When I said "nos vemos" (see you) to her, she repeated it back to me for the first time, which touched my heart so much. She gave me the biggest smile. I miss her so much!!!

Me & Rosita <3

After the Sanatorio, I went to Cafe Journal with Brenna for the last time. Don't have any pictures, because by this time both of our cameras had been stolen. HA. We had a creeper that night- one guy couldn't keep his eyes off of us. I was ready to be done with that by the end of the trip. One day while walking down Alvarez with Shannon (the street I lived on), we got a full round of applause from a group of 50-60 construction workers on break. It was insane- it started off as comments, lead to whistles, which lead to clapping and cheering. That time was pretty hilarious but usually it was annoying.

On Friday, we had our last Grammar & Cine classes. Afterward, I said goodbye to quite a few people :( and headed home. I picked up some sunscreen on the way back & headed to the beach. I was waiting for Lauren and Simone, but I was in a different area of the beach as they were, so they never found me! As I waited, I switched off between napping, journaling, and listening to beach music. I enjoyed my time there immensely- it was a great time of solitude. I had no idea what time it was, since I had lost my cell phone, camera, and all other technologies by this point. As I left, I looked at the Reloj de Flores (giant flower clock in Vina!)- I had been at the beach alone for nearly four hours! I decided to take a micro (mini bus) home. As I got on, I tripped!! My money went flying everywhere & I hurt my toe big time. A really nice lady offered me a band aid and told me to clean my toe when I got home. It hurt a TON and combined with my emotions about leaving the next day, it was a lot to deal with. I ended up treating myself to an ice cream bar from a shop by my house - I thought I deserved it. :) That night, our family friends (Miriam, Jorge, & Pablo) came over for a big final dinner. They gave us cute little gifts & we conversed a ton in Spanish. After the dinner, Simone helped me copy my pictures from the family computer to DVD & we (me, Simone, and Lori) listened to lots of songs about goodbyes. The one that I will always remember with this night is "Sunrise." It was such a sad, quiet evening after the dinner. I didn't want to go to bed.

Here he is!

The next morning, we had to say goodbye to Simone because she was going to Santiago with friends. Lori, Lesley, & I went out into Vina one last time. We stopped at some cute shops & I got one last Mocha Frappucino at Starbucks. I said goodbye to my favorite employee I had come to know. We stopped at the beach before taking our last micro rides home. There, Lori & I packed and had our last lunch with Cesar and Gladys, who shared with us the "10 Stereotypical People of Chile" or something like that. She had told us about the article back in September & was finally sharing it with us. She is so cute and enthusiastic. Cesar & Glady sat silently on the couch together while we prepared our bags. I cried a bit as we drove out of Los Lagos for the final time, saying goodbye to my favorite Consierge. Gannon & I were going to ride with Lauren to the airport, so we all got to say goodbye together. Glady was really strong. I thought she would breakdown crying, but her and Cesar hugged us and stood there together until our bus pulled out. Goodbye Vina- it was amazing.

One of my favorite consierges at Los Lagos

Our travel adventures home were something else. Due to weather, we weren't able to get back until two days later. We changed our connection to Texas (instead of Atlanta) and ended up spending the night at LORI'S house :) after a full day on layover, trying to get on any flight to Minnesota. Gannon & I were number 2 & 3 on the list after not getting on 5 different flights. The night was a lot of fun, however, and the next morning we got Chic-Fil-A, a restaurant in TX Lori had told me sooo much about! After another 1 hour delay on Sunday morning, we got home to MN successfully. We were welcomed back by family & friends and a big welcome back poster. First stop? Chipotle. :)

My families :)

Part of our welcome home! :)

Despite really missing Chile (like a lot), I am glad to be home. I thank everyone who made my trip what it was - both the people in Chile AND at home. I thank all of the amazing people I encountered on my journey- whether it be my host family, my group members, a funny waiter, or a kind person I encountered on the metro on my way to school. This was SUCH a great experience, and it would have never been the same without you. So I conclude in the lovely words of Simone Olmos...ya fin besitos chau.