The Unexpected

Sometimes during exchange there's things that happen in which you would have never bargained for when you left your normal and comfortable life in your home country. Things that you never even thought would happen, never crossed your mind about a "what if" when your not in your own country. I know I wrote earlier that I didn't want to write about the sad things but it's truly just another part of exchange. The last 2 weeks have been extremely difficult for me especially being out of Canada. I have had to deal with the death of a very close and beloved Uncle in which no one had expected to happen. Also going along with the passing was Thanksgiving, a big family holiday back home. These last couple of weeks have truly made myself stronger as I have had to deal with the grief and flood of different emotions along with the regular exchange frustrations/emotions. But life also goes on here in Chile, and having to deal with other frustrations and difficulties/situations here as well has sure kept my mind occupied for a couple of weeks and restless nights. But like one of my exchange student friends told me, "life still happens, no matter where you are, life things still happen." It's so true and you truly can't do much about things back home other than staying in contact with those who you love and can help you. I've also been lucky enough to have great exchange friends here, Chilean friends, and other supporters who have helped me to deal with an unexpected occurrence or have been sympathetic to my situation. The other problem is that I feel like my Spanish hasn't progressed within the last few weeks which is not a good sign, and adds more stress and pressure to my situation... but that's just a short fall-back.

That being said you have to continue on with your new life, new people, new surroundings, and new culture because you truly can't stay preoccupied for to long or else you'll be wasting all your energy and thoughts on things that you can't fix. The other day I got a library card for this cute library/cultural center here in Las Condes (don't know how useful it'll be once I switch houses.) There's a lot of green-space which is nice in the city, so I've taken advantage of the children's books and I have the opportunity to sit under a tree, read or listen to music when I need some alone time not in my room. It's a hopeful thought that I'll be able to understand the books soon without my dictionary... it'll come in time!

On a good note this past Saturday I went to Fantasilandia with a group of exchange students. Fantasilandia is like Canada's Wonderland - but much smaller with a lot of flaites and english names used for all of the rides... weird. It was a good day and I even managed to get soaked on the second last ride!

The Gang: Me, Emily, Rachel, Billy, Katie, Ayrton, Jo-Ellen (missing Stephen and Sam)

I've also been here in Chile now for 2 months! I can honestly say that I really like Chile, I'm still finding my life here but I truly do enjoy living here and would not go back to Canada right now even if you shoved a one-way ticket in my face.