It’s funny, the closer I get to leaving, the more I realize that I am going to miss all of it, even the things about which I said over and over again I am not going to miss that…
I was walking with a friend during rush hour the other day and suddenly blurted out, that, that is something I will not miss, all of the horns. Just as I said it, I became prematurely nostalgic for them.
Because it’s a part of it, like it makes sense here, and I won’t be able to miss Santiago without also missing its city-noise.
And it really is composed of all those small things. My friend who just came to visit asked me what my favorite experience here has been so far. Wide-eyed and and overwhelmed, the first thing that came to mind was when I stopped at the fruit and veggie market that I walk past every day to and from school. I forgot I didn’t have much cash on me that day and was short when I went to go pay. Todo bien, the man said, maรฑana. Confused, I told him again that I didn’t have enough money, and again he told me it was fine, that I could bring the what I owed tomorrow.
I walked out of there with a melting heart, while all around me the city seemed to perk up, seemed to stand up straight, empowered, smiling back at me.
Well, this last week has been comprised of big things and small things. Some friends came to visit, which was so lovely, and we went to San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile, known as one of the driest deserts in the world. Gorgeousness.
I spent the weekend before doing all the things in Santiago that I wanted to do before I left, like going on the ferris wheel and playing games at the arcade next to my apartment
and seeing the inside of the church that I look at from my balcony every day
and drinking terremotos at the oldest bar in Santiago while watching a soccer game.
These next ones are from my last days of class. I am going to miss everyone so much.
Well, tomorrow morning bright and early, I fly to Uruguay. I return to the words of a friend back home when I say that this has been nothing less than a permanent head change. I am so grateful, and I am going to miss Chile and all of the friends I have made here tremendously. Tremendously. I feel more open. I feel changed.
<3
Jenna