It's about the half way mark of my time here in Chile which at times is really hard to believe. We've been here since the end of July and it's already October? So here are a few general reflections I have or questions I get asked often....
Are you homesick?!
No. Honestly I've never had a time when I've been homesick here. When I left home and went to DU I knew I wouldn't be back in Utah for more than a few weeks at a time. I love my family, but I was ready. (Mom and Dad I'm sure you're just laughing at this). I think because I've lived in New York, spent 2 weeks in a homestay in Costa Rica and have lived in Denver for 2 years I've had lots of preparation. I'm thankful for skype, viber, facetime, facebook, email and instagram though so I can keep in touch. I'm thankful that I have parents who can work technology quite well too.
What do you miss?!
FALL. The colors, the smells, the leaves falling, the food/drinks. There is no such thing as pumpkin here. Starbucks does not offer any sort of pumpkin drinks so every time I get those snapchats of friends from around the world getting pumpkin spice lattes just know that they don't exist here. I miss the mountains being so close to home, but I've lived with that since being in Denver. I really would love to play in the leaves and then come inside and smell cranberry or apple candles. Or maybe some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. Other than that I don't miss much at all. I know it sounds cheesy but I miss soft carpet and being able to just lay on the floor. I mean I love my family, but I've been away from them for this long before and like I said thanks to technology it's like they're almost here.
Do you like your homestay?!
Short answer yes! I have a 14 year old sister, 27 year old sister and a mom and dad whom I refer to as mama and papa. They are very loving people and love to laugh at me. They are patient with my spanish and are good with looking up words in the dictionary. They love to include me in their daily lives. Mama always makes sure I have enough food and one time she thought I forgot my lunch and she called me 4 times to make sure I had enough food for the day. Mama hems clothes that need to be fixed and does laundry every day. She buys me big liters of bottled water instead of drinking from the tap. Papa makes sure I know what channels american football and baseball are on, and loves to speak the few english phrases he knows. At times it's hard to adjust living with a family and having them concerned of my whereabouts and having to ask to have friends come over, but that's the culture. I would recommend homestays to people if you want the true experience of being enveloped in the culture of any country. Just know it won't be perfect and it'll have it's ups and downs.
Have you experienced culture shock?
hmmm nope. I mean adjusting to the lackadaisical approach to time has been different. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the amount of accepted PDA here by people of all ages. The food is growing on me and I think I've just gotten used to it. My host mom is a good cook which helps. Don't get me wrong I'll love a good Cafe Rio meal or In-N-Out burger milkshake when I get home.
The amount of dogs in the streets is now just common. People dress kind of like how we dressed in middle school like loving to wear sweatshirts with "American Eagle or Gap" written boldly on them. They also love scrunchies.
What has been your favorite part?
Really enjoying conversations with people of all different backgrounds has been my favorite part. I've loved making new friends and just seeing where the days take us. I loved our crazy night in the Atacama desert and both times skiing.
What has been your least favorite part?
Probably being at clubs or jut walking down the street hearing guys say "que bonita" or "mi amor, amor". Ummm excuse me no you do not love me. Thanks for calling me beautiful, but the honking, whistling and kissing noises were not necessary. I'll be with 2 girls at a club and have guys just stare at us or come up really close to us and want to grab our hands. I'm not really hunting for that. Here dancing at clubs is more like sucking one anothers face off as you dance facing each other. It's quite bizarre. I stick to dance with my girlfriends and pulling out the stereotypical disco, or the peace signs over the eyes move, maybe a sprinkler here and there.
I've loved my last 2 months here and am excited for the next 2. I love the incredible sunsets over the ocean, the street vendors selling chocolate and flowers, the happiness that everyone seems to feel towards one another. I'm off to Bolivia and Peru for a week. That'll be a good blog to read when we get home. Logan, Rob and I are off to see what fun we can have!
Chao!
"I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things."-Christopher McCandless, Into the Wild
Are you homesick?!
No. Honestly I've never had a time when I've been homesick here. When I left home and went to DU I knew I wouldn't be back in Utah for more than a few weeks at a time. I love my family, but I was ready. (Mom and Dad I'm sure you're just laughing at this). I think because I've lived in New York, spent 2 weeks in a homestay in Costa Rica and have lived in Denver for 2 years I've had lots of preparation. I'm thankful for skype, viber, facetime, facebook, email and instagram though so I can keep in touch. I'm thankful that I have parents who can work technology quite well too.
What do you miss?!
FALL. The colors, the smells, the leaves falling, the food/drinks. There is no such thing as pumpkin here. Starbucks does not offer any sort of pumpkin drinks so every time I get those snapchats of friends from around the world getting pumpkin spice lattes just know that they don't exist here. I miss the mountains being so close to home, but I've lived with that since being in Denver. I really would love to play in the leaves and then come inside and smell cranberry or apple candles. Or maybe some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. Other than that I don't miss much at all. I know it sounds cheesy but I miss soft carpet and being able to just lay on the floor. I mean I love my family, but I've been away from them for this long before and like I said thanks to technology it's like they're almost here.
Do you like your homestay?!
Short answer yes! I have a 14 year old sister, 27 year old sister and a mom and dad whom I refer to as mama and papa. They are very loving people and love to laugh at me. They are patient with my spanish and are good with looking up words in the dictionary. They love to include me in their daily lives. Mama always makes sure I have enough food and one time she thought I forgot my lunch and she called me 4 times to make sure I had enough food for the day. Mama hems clothes that need to be fixed and does laundry every day. She buys me big liters of bottled water instead of drinking from the tap. Papa makes sure I know what channels american football and baseball are on, and loves to speak the few english phrases he knows. At times it's hard to adjust living with a family and having them concerned of my whereabouts and having to ask to have friends come over, but that's the culture. I would recommend homestays to people if you want the true experience of being enveloped in the culture of any country. Just know it won't be perfect and it'll have it's ups and downs.
Have you experienced culture shock?
hmmm nope. I mean adjusting to the lackadaisical approach to time has been different. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the amount of accepted PDA here by people of all ages. The food is growing on me and I think I've just gotten used to it. My host mom is a good cook which helps. Don't get me wrong I'll love a good Cafe Rio meal or In-N-Out burger milkshake when I get home.
The amount of dogs in the streets is now just common. People dress kind of like how we dressed in middle school like loving to wear sweatshirts with "American Eagle or Gap" written boldly on them. They also love scrunchies.
What has been your favorite part?
Really enjoying conversations with people of all different backgrounds has been my favorite part. I've loved making new friends and just seeing where the days take us. I loved our crazy night in the Atacama desert and both times skiing.
What has been your least favorite part?
Probably being at clubs or jut walking down the street hearing guys say "que bonita" or "mi amor, amor". Ummm excuse me no you do not love me. Thanks for calling me beautiful, but the honking, whistling and kissing noises were not necessary. I'll be with 2 girls at a club and have guys just stare at us or come up really close to us and want to grab our hands. I'm not really hunting for that. Here dancing at clubs is more like sucking one anothers face off as you dance facing each other. It's quite bizarre. I stick to dance with my girlfriends and pulling out the stereotypical disco, or the peace signs over the eyes move, maybe a sprinkler here and there.
I've loved my last 2 months here and am excited for the next 2. I love the incredible sunsets over the ocean, the street vendors selling chocolate and flowers, the happiness that everyone seems to feel towards one another. I'm off to Bolivia and Peru for a week. That'll be a good blog to read when we get home. Logan, Rob and I are off to see what fun we can have!
Chao!
"I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things."-Christopher McCandless, Into the Wild
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Hola Erin!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I came across your blog and love reading your posts! I read how you studied abroad twice, once in Vina del Mar and the other in Florence. I actually just did a semester abroad in Florence, Italy and it was the best experience I ever had, so I am planning on studying abroad again... but this time, Vina Del Mar! I wanted to reach out to you and ask you some questions about your time abroad in Chile. I couldn't find your email anywhere but mine is kristyn.laviola@gmail.com. As of now, I do not have a blog, so I'm not really sure how this whole thing works (hopefully you will receive my comment)! It would mean so much to me if you could shoot me a quick email to answer a few of my questions and curiosities about Chile.
Hope to hear from you,
Kristyn