Hello loyal readers,
If there is still anyone out there that is. I greatly appreciate you if you've taken time to keep up with the blog. The last month has been a little sporadic but now that I am back in an official routine, I hope to return to my previous format of giving a weekly update.
As the title of this blog post suggests, I have returned to Chilean school. I feel like at this point I'm a super senior about 3 times over, but who's counting. This past week was really fun, so let's get into some of the details.
For starters, last Friday (as in two Friday's ago now because I really am that backed up on posting *insert a very apologetic face here*) I went with Seba to our mutual friend Anto's house (this is Anto Casteñeda who is NOT the sister of Isi when I refer to "Isi and Anto" collectively. This is in fact a different Anto) to hang out. I rode along with Seba and Ornella and when we got there one of Anto's close friends Marti was there too.
Both Anto and Marti are in my class at school so it was really nice to see them again, because I didn't get to spend any time at all with them over the summer. We ate sushi on the patio and chatted a whole bunch, especially about college and the PAES which is the mandatory entrance exam that Chilean students have to take in order to enroll.
Obviously, this topic didn't apply to me a whole lot, but I pitched in with questions every now and then and offered some elder sisterly advice because I've been in their shoes before, even if it's not exactly the same.
After that we went into the house and decided to watch a horror movie. Not my personal favorite, (I have an overactive imagination okay and I'm not a big fan of nightmares) but I have discovered a life hack.
Just watch horror movies in a different language. It makes it a lot less scary. Firstly, because you can't understand everything that is happening and secondly, because there is a bit more emotional distance between you and the events occurring.
This is a theory I've seen on the internet about people who speak multiple languages, but to me so far it's held true. Essentially, operating in a language that is NOT the one you grew up in, sometimes dampens your ability to feel as deeply as if the words were in your native language. Kinda neat, and handy in situations such as these.
Anyway, enough of that side rant.
It was lovely to hang out with my friends and I realized that I feel so much more comfortable with them now. I don't feel awkward or excluded, and although I don't always understand everything that is happening, they've taken me in as their own and for that I'm so grateful.
Okay, another side tangent but this is a good thought that I've been meaning to write down and it's basically that I will forever belong to this generation of students that I am going to school with here in Chile.
What I mean is that they will always look back on their high school career, and when they really get digging into the memories, they will remember a brown haired, blue eyed girl, who hopefully was kind and made them smile. They will talk to their friends and say "Hey, remember that girl from the U.S.? How do you think she's been?". Maybe they will even remember bits and pieces of the stories I shared about growing up in upstate New York, something goofy that I said wrong in Spanish, or a brief moment where we shared an interaction.
Basically my thought is that as much as this exchange is mine, and I have grown and learned, there is also a part of it that belongs to the students I spend time with in school and I think that is pretty freaking awesome. I hope they know that I am so proud to be their foreign exchange student.
Okay, pulling ourselves out of the second rabbit hole.
Let's recap this past school week.
For starters, it was quite exhausting. The return to a full day in Spanish, full throttle, every second, at a thousand miles an hour, definitely took its toll.
Monday's are my least favorite day of classes because I don't get to spend a lot of time with Seba, Orne, Isi, Trini or Javi. Also because I have two hours straight of math, English, and linguistics which is painful. Gonzy ended up picking me up from school though, and we went on a run which was really nice. 5 kilometers in just about 30 minutes. Pretty good if you ask me.
Wednesday though might be my favorite day. I have almost every class with my friends and in the afternoon I have band rehearsal with Ornella, Anto, and Isi as well as Magda and Vicki. I just love hanging out with those girls and I love participating/watching them make music.
Last week we worked on a song called "Buen Soldado" by Francisca Valenzuela and I genuinely love it. Ornella sounds so amazing when she sings, Anto kills it every time on the drums, Magda has an epic electric guitar solo, Isi dazzles us all on the keyboard, and Vicki keeps us straight with her bass guitar. The only thing I really bring to the table are good vibes and I can sing in English, but the girls don't seem to mind so I'm not going to complain because I love hanging with them.
On Thursday I had a study date with Ornella and Isi. We went to Ornella's house and ate lunch with her mom and step-dad before settling down to study for our upcoming English test.
Now, I'll be honest, I'm not sure how helpful I was. I tried my best to explain things simply so they could understand the vocabulary, verb conjugations, and tenses, but we did our fair share of messing around.
Personally, I don't mind. Sharing laughs and goofy moments with these girls is exactly how I want to be spending my last few weeks in Chile. (That's a crazy thought that we will unpack in the next blog post)
I ate dinner with Orne, Isi, and Orne's family too before heading home around 8pm.
Friday night after school, I went with Seba and Ornella to Javi's house for a little get together.
We played ping pong, danced to girly pop music because Javi has a disco light, played cards, ate potato chips, all of your standard teenager activities. I know I've said it a million times, but gosh darn I am so lucky to have such a great Chilean friend group. I will hold them in my heart for the rest of my life. I sincerely hope that after this exchange we are able to come together again.
This past weekend went by pretty quick. I did a lot of sleeping because I was so whooped from the eventful week. On Sunday afternoon though I went out with Seba to eat sandwiches and drink some coffee in Quillota. His family went to their lake house in the south, so he was home alone and wanted some company. I'm not a girl who is ever going to turn down a food mission, so off we went.
We had a really good chat about being independent and what post-high school life looks like, in Chile and in the U.S.
Seba is dead set on traveling. Of all of my Chilean friends, I think he is the one I am most likely to see within the next couple of years.
I know this may have not been my most intellectual blog post, but I hope you enjoyed the little life update. More to come soon. In the meantime, please enjoy the false spring that I hear has descended upon New York.
Take time to notice the green that is creeping back into the corners of the landscape.
Breath in that fresh, damp, spring air. The kind that proves to you that your lungs really are like sponges.
If you're feeling extra whimsical, put on some muck boots and go play in a puddle.
It's making me smile right now to think of anyone stopping around the mud.
That's all I've got for now. This New Yorker turned Chilean is going to head to bed.
Much love always,
Anna
