I’m halfway through my study abroad program. Can you believe it? I can’t. More so, I don’t want to believe it. The reason being that I don’t feel like I’m getting enough time in Chile. I mean, how can I possibly feel like I have enough time in a country that’s over two thousand six hundred miles long when I only have four months? I think anyone would easily understand this.
Not to say that I’m going to every corner of the country, but I still have yet to get to know some of the places here. So far, I have gone to a couple of surrounding areas in Santiago, and Pucón, which is 10 hours south of Santiago (I will write a blog on all the trip I took and how they happened in the future). It doesn’t sound like a lot, but I also enjoy spending time in the city to build relationships with locals. Anyway, I just wish I had more time because I’ve met so many lovely people and I wish I could keep making great memories with them.
During the second weekend I spent in Chile, USAC took us on a field trip to Valparaíso. It’s a lovely artsy town near the ocean, only one hour northwest of Santiago. Nine of my friends and I decided that we wanted to spend the weekend there, so we stayed at an Airbnb in a neighboring town, Viña Del Mar, where we spent all weekend playing cards, talking for hours about everything and nothing, and we became closer than any of us would’ve expected.
some of my friends and me in Valparaíso
I’m trying to hold onto memories like this as closely as I can, but they keep slipping out of my hands every time I blink and it’s so saddening that it’s really not within my control and I have to face the fact that this period of my life is already halfway over.
I realize that having half of the time still left ahead of me is good. I’m glad I still have seven weeks left of this program, but it’s weird because every time I reflect on my time here, I feel like I just got here and I’m already too attached to my study abroad friends to leave so soon.
I tell myself to live in the present and stop thinking about all the sad things, and I am. I am trying my hardest to do so, but every time I’m laughing or having another great moment with my newly-found friends, I can’t help but be saddened to know that it won’t last for much longer. It sucks. I’m living in a continuous cycle of bittersweet memories.
With this being said, I’ll end this post by sharing some pictures of some of the great people I’ve met during my time in Chile:
before a hike, with one of my friends
hiking with some of my friends
Dinner with one of my friend’s host family.
Thank you for keeping up with me,
J