Hello Hope College y Queridos Lectores,
Yes, I am alive. Sorry I haven’t gotten back to pretty much all of you, especially those close who have been awaiting updates from me. Undoubtedly, it has been a tumultuous and invigorating last 5 weeks since my arrival in late February. I arrived with doubts, fear, and much regret because I was leaving behind those who I truly loved. Luckily I was able to see some of my family and friends before I left but many of my goodbyes were rushed and left with many loose and some fallen ends. I would state that before I arrived to Chile, I told myself that I would never be hit by the pangs of FOMO, but as the week of my flight had arrived, I had already began regretting studying abroad. I say all this not to scare those who are planning on going, but this should be all the reason more why to. Reason being is that it made me uncomfortable, extremely uncomfortable.
Personally, not because I was away from home in a culture unfamiliar to me, but that I was emotionally uncomfortable in that I had to recreate or find a community in another country. Detaching myself from my family and friends was something that I needed to do to truly take advantage of the first few weeks of my program. But the first few weeks were wondrous. I have definitely grown fond of my host family and the city. Luckily I had two weeks free of classes to explore and get accustomed to Santiago and was able to visit Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. The video below showcases a little bit of that experience and my beginning workings of my documentary in progress. Right now I am without a camera as my phone was recently stolen, but that is a story for another post! Please stay tuned, I will catch you up to speed!