Sentimientos Encontrados

Sentimientos encontrados. That's the Spanish way of saying, "mixed feelings." However, this is one of the many times that I have found the translation to fall short. The direct translation of "sentimientos encontrados" is "feelings that are against each other." I find this more suitable because "mixed feelings" implies that several feelings are coexisting. But what I am feeling hurts. Of course I am excited to return home...to the familiarity of my native country, culture, and language. I am looking forward to seeing friends and family and taking on the next phase of my life. That said, I am also leaving a big part of me here. And the polarization of these two sentiments is more than I could attempt to articulate.

It is my last day in Chile. I am sitting in the courtyard of a hostel in Santiago, the same hostel that I stayed at when I first arrived. It certainly seems appropriate that this is the spot where I will write my last blog entry. Reflecting back on my past few months that I have spent in this country is, to say the least, overwhelming. Upon arriving, I had planned to utilize my time here to focus on personal growth, contributing to a worthwhile cause, and improving my Spanish. By immersing myself in a foreign culture,  teaching English, and exploring the sites, I had hoped to accomplish my goals. The end results were indeed achieved, although through different means. In my final weeks here, it was blatant that by far, the relationships that were forged here far superseded all other aspects of my Chilean adventure. 

People matter. And these people matter a lot to me. Before I embarked for South of the Equator, if someone were to have asked me if I would like to return to Chile again one day, my answer would have been a flat "No." Simply put, if I were lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel again, why would I waste it on a place and a culture that I am already familiar with? Nepal was a wonderful country with breathtaking views and a beautiful culture. Would I go back? Probably not. There are uncharted lands yet to be discovered! I'd opt to trade out my ticket for a trip to Greece, or Tanzania, or Australia! Here and now, ask me the same question about Chile. Would I go back? In a heartbeat. 

What is the difference between Nepal and Chile? Again, it's the people. Granted, it helped that I could communicate with my host family this time around (Gesturing doesn't count.). Although the time that I have spent here was relatively short in the grand scheme of things, it was more than enough for me to become part of a family. My host sister Ivanna is one of the most special people that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Saying goodbye was the hardest thing that I have ever had to do. I am honored to have lived and shared with such exceptional people. For this reason, I hope and plan to one day return again to see my Chilean family. Not next year, probably not in five years, and perhaps not even in ten. But when I do make it back again, they will be waiting with open arms, doble besitos, and (most likely) a mountain of food. And I will be one happy Gringa.

So there you have it. My year of post-graduation (productive?) procrastination has come to an end. I have surfaced a much more grateful, (arguably) wiser, and significantly poorer, still unemployed post-graduate. Time for the next chapter to begin. Thanks for all of your love and support throughout all of my globe-trotting. And most of all, thanks for reading!

Con amor, 

Kelsey

...To Another

I spent the final week of my stay in Chile in the Atacama Desert with some friends from the program. I went from one extreme to another in every way possible. Lakes, ski lodges, swanky apartments with central heating, hot prepared meals to budget traveling, hostels, and sand dunes in the driest desert on the face of the planet (there’s your Fun Fact for the day!). My credit cards had stopped working about two months into my stay here (apparently you have to call and tell them that you are still out of the country every few weeks so they don’t shut them off). Anyhow, this meant that I had a fixed amount of cash and had to make it stretch through my last week. All of us were in the same boat. We stayed at a hostel that was run entirely on solar power. The water was solar-heated, there was recycling of every type, and a giant compost pile for organic waste. Very energy-efficient and therefore very cost-efficient. Conveniently, there was also a small kitchen available for travelers to use. In order to save money, we cooked in for every meal and had strict rations. Unfortunately, this meant that we survived off of lentils and egg sandwiches for an entire week. We almost cried for joy one morning when we walked into the kitchen to find that some generous traveler had left behind a surplus package of cookies. They were mediocre…and were consumed in a matter of seconds.

Again, I am running out of writing steam. Instead, I will outline the week’s events with pictures and some explanatory captions when needed.  

The Calama Airport in the middle of the desert. Slightly daunting.

Lagos Antiplánicos:

It was FREEZING.

A herd of vicuñas (relative of the llama). They're hard to spot but I suppose that's the point.

Yep...apparently there are flamingos in the middle of the desert...who knew?

This cactus is (scientifically) named "El asiento de la suegra" or "The Mother-In-Law's Seat"

The second day there, we rented mountain bikes ($6!). I was under the impression that it would be a nice leisurely way to see the sights. How wrong I was. Turns out, I signed up for THE most physically exhausting day of my life. We started off biking on the highway out of town. It was a little hilly…nothing to complain about just yet. We had asked a local where we could bike to. He had given us some vague directions that included veering off the highway, shooting between some canyons, and “stumbling” upon a highway on the other side. After an hour or so, we found what looked to be a path forking off from the road, we starting fighting the uphill battles over sand dunes and through the canyons. The only thing more physically exhausting than trekking up sand dunes with backpacks is pushing/dragging/fighting a bike at the same time. MISERABLE. Furthermore, we had each already blown through over half (about a liter) of our water supplies. Oops. 

On the bright side (pun?), the views were stunning. And there was literally no one within miles of us…that is, until we happened upon a man sitting in his car in the middle of nowhere. He had been stuck in the desert for 7 hours. He was a photographer and wanted to capture the sunrise. We spent the next hour and a half scooping out sand from underneath his car, lugging rocks over to shove under the tires for traction, and then pushing the car back down the incline. We finally got his car back down. Our good deed for the day. The man was extremely grateful and gave us some water. As if we weren’t exhausted already. We decided it was time for lunch. After that, I suggested we turn back the way we came due to our limited water supply. I was overruled and we pressed on hoping that we would be dumped back out on the highway. Two hours later, I heard the most beautiful sound that I have ever heard…a car engine. We found a road! Did we take this road back to the town? Nope. To my horror, my companions decided to seek out a spot we had heard about from the owner of the hostel to watch the sunset. This location happened to be 14 kilometers in the opposite direction. Oy vey. The next day, I could barely walk because I was so sore but the panoramic sunset was unbeatable. 

No picture could ever do this sunset justice...but I attempted it anyhow.

Natural rock formations....

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil...in front of the Monkey rock formation. Aren't we clever?

Our humble hostel:

Trying to hike off the biking soreness:

Sand-boarding on the last day...think snow-boarding but on sand. Painful and exhausting.

One Extreme...

After my busy week with the press (I just love saying that), I was ready for some family vacation. Of course you all must be used to this by now, but I need to go into a little back story for you to set the scene. Whenever I spent the weekend at Tía Gloria's in Concepción, it was not unusual for Gloria to slip out "to chat with the neighbor." I quickly learned that this was code for, "I'm hitting up the casino with my lady friends." And so it came to be that whenever 9pm rolled around and Gloria announced that she was "off to chat with the neighbor," I would say, "Buena suerte!" (Good luck!). I would hear her tiptoeing in circa 6am (no exaggeration there, folks!).

A few weeks back, I was setting the table for breakfast when Gloria emerged from her bedroom with last night's make-up and a silly grin. I ventured a guess, "You won again, eh?" 

She turned on her heel and went back to her room. I heard her rummaging through her closet. She emerged with a coffee tin. She popped it open and it was STUFFED with wadded peso bills. In response to the surprised look on my face, she informed me that since I had arrived, she had simply not lost. Every time that she went to the casino, apparently she made a killing on the slot machines. She continued, saying that she wanted to invite me (her good luck charm) to go skiing in Pucón with her, my host sister Ivanna, Dani, and Dani's boyfriend. How could I turn down an offer like that? After all, I was the reason that she won all that money to begin with [insert skeptical look here].

And that's how I won my free ski trip to Pucón...dirty casino money winnings. I'll take it!

We stayed for a week in Pucón and went skiing on an active volcano. Very bizarre. While we were skiing on the snow-covered slopes, smoke was fuming from the top. At night, the snow reflected the moonlight but you could still see a red glow from the lava within the volcano. Quite a sight!

After just learning to ski this past winter (Stateside, that is), I was extremely impressed that I only fell once…and it was off a ski lift so that doesn’t even really count.

They say that pictures speak a thousand words, so I’ll let them do the rest of the talking:

Chilean roadtrips are much the same as those in America...singalongs (ugh), junk food, and no personal space:

A view of one of the many lakes:

On the way up the volcano:

Us by the lake (I think that might be the best caption that I have ever written):

Our humble abode for the week:

Ivanna and I:

Breaking for lunch!

We went to some natural hot springs one day...we stripped down and waded in despite the fact that there was ice on the ground.

A view from the entrance to the thermals:

We stopped in a market on the way home. I was told to sit next to the wooden statue and smile for the camera. Seba did the heavy lifting and out popped a surprise. Who knew the natives were so perverted?

I'm teaching you all the Chilean virtue of PATIENCE...

More posts are on the way, I promise. This past week that I spent in the middle of the desert impeded my blogging and picture-uploading.

Stick with me...we're almost home!!!!!!