I'm so grateful for my time here because
every day I learn something new about
Chile, the world, or myself.
As I sit here listening to una cancion columbiana que escuche hoy en clase, I can't help but think about my Lee Lee. Banny, I hope you know that a great percentage of the reason that I keep up with this blog is for YOU!! I salute you for not having a facebook or a myspace and thus I am going to try to get you (and everyone else of course) the details of my adventures, life lessons, ups and downs, and epiphanies. Mom and Lee Lee, I think about you ladies ALL THE TIME. I told mom that I was on a tiny bus coming back from horseback riding and Mercy by Duffy came on! I have so many songs to share with you from my class, Lee Lee. I can't wait till you are in Brasil or France or Italy having your own international experience. I wanted to express through this entry (as best I can) the changes taking place in myself that I have noticed. Like I said, it is hard to consciously note all the things you find out about yourself when you are living in another country. I even had a hard time expressing it to Megan over a glass of wine in Bellavista two nights ago. By the way, having your best friend with you while you are in a foreign country is pretty much amazing. So let's see...I am still the same Rose that is very dedicated to school, a friend to all, punctual and polite, strong-willed, adaptable and flexible, and always joking. However, when you are expressing yourself in another language, it is difficult to show people who you truly are. Imagine having to think about every word that you say. I know that I am blessed to have a slight advantage with the language because I know that all the knowledge is in my brain...somewhere...but all the same let it be said that it is VERY difficult to express all of your stories, wants, and problems in another language. I am almost finished with my first month in Chile and because we have been meeting the other people in our program and taking the ILP course, it isn't like I have been only speaking Spanish. Actually, I speak very little Spanish throughout the day because I walk about 6 blocks to the bus stop at 8 AM, take the bus to school, sit in class for 4 hours (where I speak a little but mainly learn and listen), and then hang out with friends or go back to my house. Talking with Maggie is always great practice, but I look forward to starting school at Universidad de Chile because then I will really be immersed in the language. Megan and I are also going to meet up every week at a coffee shop of our choice to speak Spanish and do some language studying. There's nothing like speaking Spanish with someone who you feel totally comfortable with. It's amazing what comes out of my mouth when I really get going with speaking.
Life is a crazy, crazy thing. I don't even know how to express it...the days pass by so quickly and I am just trying to run to keep up with the passing of time. Of course, these past 4 weeks have been NON-STOP! My average day for the past month has been waking up at 6:30 AM...hopefully showering but usually doing homework...going to school and then having to do something after school like meet a friend or go to a museum with my group. And then I wouldn't get home till like 9 or 10. Then I would usually talk with Maggie about some profoundly deep topic (Hoyos Negros was our topic last night! haha) And I won't get to my room until like 11 or 12 midnight. Then I'd do my homework?! So I'm sure yall can all agree that I felt like time was passing by at the speed of light. But I look forward to life as a Chilean student which I will get to experience in a week. I want to actually feel like I am in a foreign country instead of always surrounding myself with Americans. This is easier said than done because I have met so many amazing people studying abroad here as well. But I think it is a balance that every person needs to find in order to not feel super lonely but also to challenge themselves to live like a Chilean would.
In other news, I think I may have sprained my ankle. haha not really that funny because I can't really walk without feeling immense pain but it's going to be fine. Mama, PLEASE don't worry! It's actually a funny/stupid story. I tried to climb a fence because Tony said that the gate to his house wasn't going to open because Tom had put the lock in the wrong position. We were reviewing for our presentation and we'd gone to get some snacks. So hearing that, I decided to try to climb the fence. I'll save you the gory details...but I must have inverted my ankle in the fall. Now I'm sitting here with a bag of ice on it hoping that it gets better before I have to walk to school again on Friday. The funny thing is that when I got home today I feel asleep for 6 hours and when I woke up, I went out to use the bathroom and Maggie was like: "Hijita, que te ocurrio? Te duele en el pie?" I was like: "Quien te ha dicho?" haha She claimed it was a pajarito but it turned out to be some people in my group from the presentation. So she got me an ice bag and served me dinner on a tray in the living room while we watched a Chilean telenovela. She explained the twisted stories of the characters as I ate my alcacofa (artichoke!) y pasta. I am just praying with enough sleep and icing, my ankle will get better. But the reason I even decided to include all of this in the blog is because there is a silver lining! I think that this was a sign from God pretty much telling me that I need to take it easy. I have not been taking ANY time for myself, and even tonight as I limped away from school, I got like 3 invites to go dancing or watch movies etc. It is so flattering but a girl can only do so much. Even my host brother wanted to see if Meg and I wanted to go out tonight and Megan had been calling today to see if I wanted to come over. Like I said, I am always flattered but I think it is just comical that it took a sprained ankle to make me able to say NO. Lord knows that I would have donned my cutest outfit and hit the town dolled up tonight to go salsa dance or watch Harry Potter o solamente carretear. But I am much happier watching incredibly convuluted telenovelas with Maggie and updating my blog for all of my favorite people.
Thanks for reading all the latest news! Much love to you all! From Chile this is Rose Linehan saying good night y mantenganse con estilo mis amigos! :)
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