I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks, but there are already a couple of experiences that stand out in my mind as “this is why I’m here” moments – otherwise known as times when “I had a lot of thoughts and a lot of feels.” Hiking at Cajon del Maipo was the first, and celebrating the birthday of a friend’s mom last night was another.
Yesterday Natascha, a Chilean friend who has been helping us out with orientation and the first few weeks of school, invited my friend Veroneque and I to her house for her mom’s birthday dinner. I had planned on doing some homework after class, but I jumped at the opportunity to see her house and meet her mom (oh the joys of having 3-day weekends to catch up on homework…) Veroneque and I took the metro and met her in La Reina, a community not too far from where we live. We walked around 20 minutes to get to her house in a beautiful part of the city right at the food of the mountains of la cordillera. She lives in an adorable house with her mom, and while they don’t have any students staying with them this semester, they have had many international students stay with them in the past.
I had such a wonderful time having dinner with Naty and her mom, Anita, who are both so nice and welcoming. She asked us about our host families and seemed so genuinely interested in how we were like our experiences in Chile. Some of her friends trickled in throughout the night and they were all so welcoming and friendly. They all wanted to know what we were studying and where we were from and how we were like our new city. When two of her friends first arrived, they asked if we understood Spanish, and I replied that I can understand a lot but am working on trying to speak more. With that, Anita tried speaking Spanish in American accent and it was so perfect that I started crying of laughter – I still have to work on losing that American accent when I speak Spanish…
Yesterday Natascha, a Chilean friend who has been helping us out with orientation and the first few weeks of school, invited my friend Veroneque and I to her house for her mom’s birthday dinner. I had planned on doing some homework after class, but I jumped at the opportunity to see her house and meet her mom (oh the joys of having 3-day weekends to catch up on homework…) Veroneque and I took the metro and met her in La Reina, a community not too far from where we live. We walked around 20 minutes to get to her house in a beautiful part of the city right at the food of the mountains of la cordillera. She lives in an adorable house with her mom, and while they don’t have any students staying with them this semester, they have had many international students stay with them in the past.
I had such a wonderful time having dinner with Naty and her mom, Anita, who are both so nice and welcoming. She asked us about our host families and seemed so genuinely interested in how we were like our experiences in Chile. Some of her friends trickled in throughout the night and they were all so welcoming and friendly. They all wanted to know what we were studying and where we were from and how we were like our new city. When two of her friends first arrived, they asked if we understood Spanish, and I replied that I can understand a lot but am working on trying to speak more. With that, Anita tried speaking Spanish in American accent and it was so perfect that I started crying of laughter – I still have to work on losing that American accent when I speak Spanish…
We had to leave a bit early to walk back to the metro before it closed, and I was so sad to leave. All I could think about during the evening was how wonderful it was to be sitting in a new Chilean friend’s home with a new American friend, speaking Spanish and celebrating the birthday of such a welcoming woman. We walked out of her house to see the stars shining in the sky and the mountains in the background and it was just a wonderful experience. I also saw so much improvement in my Spanish – Naty actually picked us up from the airport and drove us to our home stays on the first day and I can remember barely being able to understand her. Now I can not only understand almost everything she says but I can also respond with some clarity :)
To more experiences like this in the future!
To more experiences like this in the future!