El viaje al hogar...

Well, I've been back in Scottsdale for a couple of weeks now, and I am HOMESICK.  Never thought I could say "homesick" for a place that wasn't actually home, but I'm not really sure what other term I could use.  Very simply, I miss Chile.

Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to be home with my family and friends, it's been wonderful seeing them all again, but I can't help but feel... I don't know, a deep feeling of loss.  I had really started to feel at home (and happy!) in Chile, and now... well, it's very strange to be back.  The first week home I felt myself repeating the same conversation: "Yes, I am so glad to be home... but I've never felt two opposing emotions so strongly-- I am EXTREMELY happy, relieved, and excited to be home, but at the same time I am completely and totally distraught over leaving."  And that's pretty much how it goes.  I miss my friends, the Spanish, the people... I don't miss the food, the metro, or the winter.  I still (after two weeks...!) feel like I should be going back any day now.  Like I'm not in the real world, I'm just kind of waiting to get back to "normal."  Who would've thought that Chile would become the norm; I can't tell you how many months I spent thinking that going back to the States would be going back to "normal!"  It's funny how these things work sometimes.

Anyways,  I'm in Scottsdale for a few weeks, and then I head back to school in Portland, Oregon.  I'll be there for one semester (hopefully!), after which I'm *hoping* to return back to Chile.  I've sent e-mails to the overseas department at my college, I'm just waiting to hear back from them.  If returning isn't possible, well... I'm not really sure what I'll do.  I would like to come back to Phoenix and spend the semester at ASU, but I'm starting to get the impression that returning to LC would be the only option.  Again, it all depends on the administration, and what the board decides to allow me to do. (It's my money, right? I feel like I should have a little more of a say in this process, but unfortunately, it's all up to the all-knowing "board," whoever they are).  Cross your fingers for me; I'm just hoping that the best option, the option that will do the most for me in the long-term and from which I will learn and grow the most, is the one that emerges from the administrative shuffle.

I have some pictures I never posted; I'll put them up now in remembrance of my times en el fin del mundo.

My host parents with el porotito, Jean Luc.

                                                                                                          ©Kaitlin King

The CIEE group at San Pedro.

                                                                                               ©Marianne Aberbook

Part of the group in Mendoza!

A few friends.  Jose (in the grey) and his cousin Pancho (in the red) became two of my favorite Chilenos!   

 And there they are again! The two stooges.  I miss them too. much.  Seriously.

So there we go.  I should be moving into my new house in Portland around the 20th of August, so I'll try to keep you all posted on that (and my returning-to-Chile petition!).  I'm just wondering how I'm going to feel about returning to Portland instead of to Chile... solamente han pasado dos semanas y lo extraño más que la cresta! (only two weeks and I miss it so much!)  The difficult thing will be moving on to "normal," while still keeping all that I learned (not just linguistically...!) in mind (especially if I'm going to go back... 6 months is a looong time between worlds).  Let's just hope for the best, whatever that is. :)

Que les vaya bien... ♥

Buenas

Ok, so I've fallen behind. Again.  I know, I know.

But seriously, the month has flown by.  I've been out of town for the past five weekends: Las Cabras with Techo para Chile, Mendoza, San Pedro de Atacama, Pichidangui for the 21st (my birthday and, coincidentally, a national holiday), and Viña del Mar (again).  It's been exhausting, but (mostly) awesome.  There have been some ups and downs (sickness, etc.), but I'll get into that in a second.


So first, some pictures from San Pedro de Atacama.   The top three places the nature shows tell you to visit in Chile are Torres del Paine/Patagonia, Isla de Pascua, and San Pedro; I can see why.  The landscape is absolutely SURREAL.

When we got off the plane, we went to see a copper mine (Chile is the world's greatest producer of copper, and there are hella mines in the north where we were).  I could not BELIEVE the size of those man-made canyons.

Ridiculous.  Later, we went on a bike tour through this beautiful area in San Pedro.  I was feeling sick all weekend, so I was really happy to hear that I could still go on the tour and skip the bike part (I was allowed to follow behind in the truck that followed the group).  Beautiful sights/ancient indigenous sites.

We stopped by some ruins, and found a sweet spirit circle:

And then we climbed a giant sand hill, which was kind of impossible? But worth the effort.

View from the top:

My friends Martin and Julie on the way down the sand hill.

Next stop: el Salar de Atacama.  It's the largest salt flat in Chile; salt, salt, salt, as far as the eye can see:

So that was San Pedro.  Gorgeous.  I'll try to write a little more in the next couple of days and catch you all up.  ¡Que les vaya bien! ♥