2 weeks

Wow - I just looked back on my post that I wrote when I had only been in Chile for 2 weeks and here I am... with only 2 weeks left in my exchange. I know I say this a lot but really my exchange went by way to fast. Re-looking at some of my first photos here in Chile I see and know that there has been such a big change since those first few days, weeks, months here. Especially looking at photos of the kids in my class. When I first took those photos with them I had no clue who they were, what their personalities were like, what their life was like. But now they're my family who I unfortunately have to say hasta luego to in a short time.

I've made some of my best friends here, and in such a short span of time we've become so close. I have my best Chilean amigo, amiga, and gringa... they all know who they are, and I couldn't imagine my time here without them. It' amazing how you can travel so far away from your homeland and find people who feel like you've known them all your life. People who you tell them things you may have never told your best friends back home. It's things like this that make it seem impossible to get on that plane back home.

It's only 14 days until I'm on that plane and I'm already starting to turn into an emotional wreck. Sometimes I feel like I could cry instantly - it's the mix of being so excited to go home and see my family, friends, and my familiar world... and then the unimaginable reality that I will no longer be in Chile and never sure of when I can come back. Sometimes exchange feels to unfair in that aspect... I've finally made my life here and your telling me I have to leave?!

As for life lately I've been trying to keep busy busy! On friday I had my last day of school. The night before I had made a cake (delicious Lyndsay-style) for my class. The day was actually quite boring as my classmates had to actually work in their classes. But I was able to get one of my uniform shirts signed by mostly everyone while I was anxiously awaiting to do my Rotary presentation for my class - but I never ended up doing it! For our last class of the day they had organized a goodbye party and ordered sushi and pizza for everyone! After devouring our food and my cake I made a little speech/nervous blab about how much I love my class and that I'll miss them - which is the truth! They've really become my family here, and I can't thank them enough.

Friday night was the birthday party of one of my good exchange friends. A lot of the exchange students came and we made the most out of night dancing and laughing until the sun rose. Unfortunately it was also the last time that us Santiago kids would have the opportunity to see the exchange students who live further south like Curico and Talca. So early in the morning with 3 hours of sleep we had to say our goodbye's and part our ways. The goodbye's don't seem real, I don't know if they ever will. Then on Saturday night I went out with my Chilean friends to celebrate the 18th birthday of one of my friends. It's going to be hard going home and not being able to go and dance in a club, it's so normal now, but the music wouldn't be as good anyways! Oh course my Sunday I'm dead from little sleep but I'm trying to make the most out of the little time I have left, spending one weekend night with exchange students and the other with my Chileans.

a mix of Canada, USA, France and Germany!

So that's where I am, not quite sure what I'll do in my next two weeks but hopefully exploring parts of Santiago, last shopping trips, and hopefully if we get some rain/snow I'll have the chance to go skiing (but that's a big hopefully).

41 days...

It's official, I now know when I'll be heading back to to the Great-White North, and it's coming faster than I want it to. I'll be leaving Chile on June 12th and arriving in Toronto on June 13th bright and early. That only gives me six more weeks in this beautiful country... not enough time, not enough.

These last two months especially I've really felt at home here. Like I've really fit in, and found my place here in this big city. I've also gotten so much closer with my Chilean friends which was a huge challenge in the beginning, but now I don't know how I can leave them now. There are going to be a lot of difficult goodbye's coming at me soon. As much as I don't like going to school I love the time that I have with my classmates. Even if I'm sitting with people and not talking, just listening I enjoy every minute of it and the atmosphere that I'm surrounded in - even though my school looks quite feo.

There's so much that I'll know that I will miss about living here. But there's also that feeling inside of me that knows, "Yep... I could go back home now." Sometimes I feel like I've exhausted this city, gone so many places, made a lot of memories, met a lot of people, and so much more. You can only live in the dream-world of exchange for so long, and then it's back to reality. But don't get me wrong, I am truly excited to see my family, friends, house, eat my favourite foods, drive, have my own family rules, and have my small-town life again.

But while I'm reflecting on the little time I have left here I'm also gearing up to head to Easter Island/Isla de Pascua/Rapa Nui on Wednesday on my third and final Rotary trip! Also tomorrow I'll be meeting two girls at the airport, who were my bosses when I did Ontario Rangers and now we'll be co-workers this summer, as their traveling and volunteering here. Maybe I'll be lucky and do the "Santiago tour" once again - hmmmm 4 times now??

And on a side note - finally I'm 18 and can vote in elections, but yet I miss the Federal Election!

Photos from the past week's birthday activities of Cony and David

The Gringa has arrived!

I have finally been in Chile for over 24 hours. I don't know why but it has felt like at least a few days.
My flight was quite good, I flew out late Tuesday night and arrived mid-morning in Chile. Since the flight was overnight I had approx 3-4 hours of sleep on-and-off, and when the flight attendants served dinner at 3 am lets just say it didn't help with my inability to sleep. I sat beside a lovely Argentinian lady who spoke little English, a glimpse into my immediate future life in Chile, but we were able to have some conversation with the little bit of each language that we knew.

Clad in my Rotary jacket I only ran into one Rebound while waiting at immigrations. I got through security and customs easy enough (I guess you have to declare maple syrup? Well I didn't!) and there was mi mama Chileana, Alexia, and two other ladies waiting for me. With a hug and a kiss on the cheek (usual greeting) we were off. The one lady is a mother of a boy in my class, she speaks fluent English which was a help for those first culture shocked moments.

First sight of the Andes from the ground - WOW!! I think I have a thing for mountains, they are just so big, and everywhere! We drove through downtown Santiago, Provindencia and then Las Condes ( the comuna de Santiago that I will be staying in). I can't quite compare Santiago, it somewhat reminds me of Los Angeles and a bit of Toronto.. but not really at all, it's just Santiago!

Once we got to the house something that I most definably noticed were the gates. A gate to enter into the one area in which 3-4 houses are, and then a gate at my house, and then bars on my windows - I feel safe... I guess. Mi casa is very modest, quite small which is understandable in a city, very different from my house in Canada. As I have told some people before there is no central heating. So it might feel nice outside but inside is freezing, but I have found a spot on my bed where the sun shines in and is quite warm!

Can you guess a Canadian lives there?

I spent the day trying to have conversations with Alexia. We tried our best with my limited Spanish and lets just say my English-Spanish dictionary has been put to good use! I showed her my photobooks from my life in Canada along with a map of Ontario and Canada and explained to her where my family lives and where I have travelled. I arrived in time for lunch, and then around 5-6 pm we had "once", which is like crackers, cookies, tea, and coffee. Alexia knew that I was looking quite tired but I managed to stay up until 8 pm then headed to bed. I guess in that time my host-dad came home and I missed seeing him!

After about 9 hours of sleep I was ready for my first full day in Chile. I had breakfast with Alexia - tea/instant coffee(i opted out of the instant stuff), cereal but with yogurt, and some hard bread with turkey... different. After a freezing shower I gave Alexia her Canadian gifts - I don't think she knows what to do with the maple syrup!

Then she helped me learn numbers and how to count. I counted up to 131 all by myself before i got to tired of counting. Then we headed to the supermarket to pick up a few things
Differences:
-eggs are in cartons on regular shelves, not refrigerated
-pan (bread) and fruit is picked, put into bags, and then weighed by clerks and given a sticker according to weight
-cereal boxes are obnoxiously covered with graphics, I'm talking Shrek staring you down, futbal players kicking a massive soccer ball at you, way to much for the eyes
-booze is in a massive aisle as if you were buying rice or other food
-milk was no where in sight... maybe I didn't notice it or we didn't go down the aisle

Once back to the house we had lunch and I was so tired from translating and using my brain a lot so I went for a siesta. After maybe 10 minutes my cell phone started to ring. I answered it not knowing what to say and it was my friend Cristobal the past Chilean Inbound who was in Waterloo last year! Getting him to talk to my host-mom we were able to meet-up just down the main street at the one mall. It was so crazy to see him, knowing that to me he is like Canada, but now... I am in his country! We took the metro (subway) and it was so nice. Toronto subway looks so run down and disgusting, they should take a hint from the Chileans! We went to his grandparents apartment in Las Condes in a really nice part. His grandma spoke quite good English so she would ask things in English and I would reply the best I could in Spanish and fill in the blanks with English. After some conversation we had "té" which like once was milk, tea, cookies, and bread with avocado - mmmmm! We had to leave around 5:30 pm because it was getting dark, and you don't travel in the dark in Santiago. Went back through the metro and were early before my host mom came to pick me up so we went into the mall. Many different stores, but Cristobal helped me to try and convert the prices so I should know how much I am paying.

Cristobal y yo

After coming back to the house we talked some more and had a phone call from Mia Tere (Maria the lady who speaks English), she helped to translate as I have to figure out information for my school trip in November. My host-dad arrived home around 9 pm and I finally got to meet him. Teo is the president of my host Rotary club. I was finally able to give him his gifts, he loves the tie... maybe. We then had what seemed like another té, I haven't figured out meals yet! We then spent the night trying to communicate, fighting over what a moose is called in Spanish (he thinks its a donkey or a bull... no it's just... a Canadian moose!), and I showed him my maps and then helped him with an English insurance form for my host brother on exchange in Kentucky.

So pretty much my life in a nutshell is a lot of Spanglish, smiling, nodding, and laughing because I can't understand and it's pretty funny right now because I'm horrible at Spanish. I'm sorry if my grammar is getting a lot worse already, or I'm missing words. I am so tempted to write the Spanish words that I know because that is how I am talking, and I am so tired/my head hurts from thinking and having to translate so much.

Much love from South of the equator
Lynn-say (as the Chileans call me)

One week!

One week. Seven days. Siete dias.
It's hard to imagine that these last few days left in Canada have finally arrived. It's been about nine months since I was accepted into RYE and the last few months have flown by. I've spent my summer working, seeing old and new friends, family vacations and getting prepared for my exchange. I've finally started the dreaded task of packing, ok not really, so far I've only managed to put all my Canadian loot into one suitcase, which is now half full! My friends and family know that I'm not a very good packer, or that I tend to forget things (like my whole entire suitcase) but I'm determined to pack as light as I possibly can!

Some of the 4340 Inbounds have already started to arrive in Chile and I'm sure ready to join them! Also the 7080 group of Outbounds is slowly starting to dwindle in numbers as we're all slowly taking our turn to depart to our host countries and turn into those crazy Inbounds!

I'm lucky enough to have a host mom who loves to chat and also a host brother who has now arrived in the US on his exchange. It's great being able to talk with them every other day or so, even though I am still translating pretty much all of the Spanish, but I'm working on my Spanglish! I also found out about a month ago that I will be traveling with my class on their school trip to a bit of the South of Chile and Argentina!! Although this means another trip to the consulate to have a form signed so that I can exit and re-enter Chile. It's really too bad that my birthday is only a few days after the trip, or else being 18 I wouldn't need the form. Todo esto está bien!

I've also been busy trying to get things that I will need for my school uniform, after 13 years of public school I finally have to wear a uniform! Since I'll be arriving in winter I was told by my host mom that I need to have a navy blue parka. I don't think the Chilean version of a parka is the same as a Canadian version because I am not headed to the Arctic, or the Antarctic! But still, it's VERY difficult to find a winter coat in the middle of summer! I really can't wait to wear my ugly uniform, this will be funny!

As my days are numbered in Canada it seems as if I'm starting to have some "lasts", but really I'll be back in 11-12 months, I can go without driving, real maple syrup, my dog, spring-rolls from Red Basil or Tim Horton's for a year! It's just the simple comforts of home and Canada that I know I will slowly start to miss while I'm abroad.

Having only seven days left it doesn't seem real, packing for a whole year doesn't seem real, and the day of my departure will probably not seem real, more like a dream that I've had many times but this time it will be in real life and I'll be ready to start my adventure!

My special little piece of Canada, Georgian Bay

Departure Date: August 17th, 2010!

Yep, I finally booked my flight and have an official date that I'll arrive in Chile! That means I only have 54 more days in Canada before I leave! I have to try and fit in so much before I leave, family vacation, seeing the Inbounds before they leave, family time, hanging out with friends, getting everything prepared, saying goodbye... it's going to come so fast!

Last week I had to say goodbye (at least for a month) to Mickey and Karla, the Inbounds in Cambridge. They`re on an amazing Cross-Canada Trip starting in New Brunswick all the way to Vancouver, I don`t think many Canadians can say that they`ve done that!

Mickey, Myself, and Karla at a Rotary meeting a while ago

Today I have officially finished high school! Well at least Canadian high school because I'll be going right into my new Chilean high school when I arrive in August. But my class did not go out without a bang, we pulled a Senior Prank last Friday and played a big game of road hockey in our student parking lot... it was amazing!

Erica, Laura and I ready for some road hockey!


GOAAAAL!

Chile Pride!

In the meantime I've been trying to get as much stuff ready as I can. I now have all my forms to get my visa, but due to the craziness in Toronto I'll have to wait until next week when the G8 and G20 summits are over. I've also been busy trying to get pins to give away while I'm down in Chile but its pretty hard to find inexpensive ones, not to mention the federal government likes to give out the really tiny ones!

Yesterday I also raided the dollar store and got a lot of Canadian loot! One of the best finds - a Canada flag that plays the national anthem.... haha I had to get it! I don't know how I'm going to bring everything down with me! Then when we were driving we saw a sign that said "Chile Soccer Tees Here" so we obviously had to go in. It was weird that there was actually a place around where I live that sells Chile stuff, I've only seen one other vehicle besides my own that has Chilean flag on it! The lady in the store was so sweet, she was from the South of Chile and asked if I needed references or anything when I went, and then she went on to warn me about how cold it will be when I get there (there is no central heating). So sweet!

Chile vs. Spain on Friday.... VIVA CHILE!