Week 24

Wow. I can’t believe that I’m leaving Chile. Arrived on a Monday, leaving on a Sunday evening, 24 weeks later. It’s been an amazing 6 months, and the experiences have been life-changing. However, read my conclusions post for more about that-for now I’ll summarize my week!

Noe’s town in Argentina is what I would consider to be the most stereotypically Latino that you can get these days. Everyone knows and supports everyone else in the town, and the sense of community is extremely strong. There is a very strong Catholic presence, and siestas are a must. (The streets are literally abandoned during the siesta, something I had always heard about, but never experienced.) Horses roam the streets as carefree as moped drivers, and life just slows down. That being said, I spent my next days with Noe just relaxing and enjoying life. She taught me the Argentine way to eat a grapefruit (it’s very amusing to watch) and that frozen peaches with dulce de leche is an amazing afternoon desert. We visited with her friends to just sit and chat, as well as cook some typical meals. It was a great break from the stresses of traveling in big cities, and I had a really wonderful time in Presidencia la Plaza.

Wednesday night I took a bus back to Cordoba, to spend a day before heading back to Chile. I decided to check out the Museo de Bellas Artes there, which turned out to be a good pick, as it was free that day! (I still don’t know what the occasion was, but no complaints!) While I’m not a huge fan of art, one of the exhibits did catch my eye: an artist had saved up $1000 and decided to systematically shred and re-construct it into a mural. The mural was pretty cool, and his diary fairly insightful, but I still have no idea what kind of political statement he had intended with it.

 

Thursday brought me back to Chile and the familiarity of Santiago. The director of my program invited me to a lunch, where we dined on a delicious pot roast accompanied by a special smoothie, bright orange from the carrot juice used in it. She was wonderful company, and I very much enjoyed my lunch. That night I headed over to the Teatro Municipal for the opera. A German opera, Tannhauser, was playing for the night. I have never seen an opera before, so it was a very unique experience. Luckily all the text was translated on a large screen into Spanish so I had half a clue what was going on!

Friday I went to Patronato to do some shopping (clothes are pretty cheap there) before meeting up with a Chilean friend for lunch. The night brought a fun carrete, although it meant a lack of sleep for me! Saturday I met another friend for lunch (this one from my IES program) and we shared stories of our travels over the break period. That evening I went to visit my host family for the last time, which was really sad, as I will miss them terribly. Sunday I woke up early to head to church, with the intention of surprising another Chilean friend of mine. When she spotted me after the service, her face was totally worth the hour-long sermon about sheep, as the look was of utter surprise! We were able to grab lunch together before I had to gather my stuff and head on off to the airport to go back home. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to say good-bye to all the amazing people I met here, but I know that with the amazing power of the internet we’ll be able to stay in touch, and who knows if our paths will cross in the future!