Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Going Home

On Wednesday I'm leaving Chile; heading home to the USA with my fiance where two weeks away a wedding awaits us, and beyond that a new life together in a new country and a new language (for him), a new career, and new prospects we have yet to discover. I've been here for two and a half years now, and it's amazing when I realize how many memories I've collected during this time, and how much I've missed out on at home. There are always two sides to that coin, I suppose. You have to sacrifice something, either time with your family in order to explore new places, or the possibility of further adventures in order to go back to the ones you love. I don't regret any of the choices I've made. I've had amazing experiences here in Chile, met some great people (and some awful ones), seen fantastic places, met the man of my dreams, and lived a different life. I will always cherish the good times I've shared with friends here, but I am glad to be going back to my family as I prepare to start one of my own.

So, the questions I always get: First, What will you miss the most about Chile?

In homage to my friend Anna, let me say first that I will miss my dear friends!! I'll miss Sunday night dinners that always made me feel like home. I'll miss that easy schedule that allowed me to meet for coffee in the middle of the day. I'll miss my super-king sized bed, from which I have a clear view of the Andes that glisten with snow after it rains. I'll miss delicious and inexpensive wine, riding my bike along Andres Bello at 9:30 when the sun is out and warming up the morning, riding up San Cristobal above the smog where you can see everything, and even more, whizzing down San Cristobal with the wind in my face and singing some happy song. I'll miss the food! I'll miss having great, cheap Peruvian food a few blocks away. I'll miss empanadas, queso fresco, manjar, the combinado at La Vega, the strange toppings on hot dogs, choripan, and the art that is the Chilean sandwich. I'll miss some of my really great students, with whom teaching English felt more like hanging out with a friend, only I got paid for it! I think I'll really miss this time of my life, being young and in love in a foreign country, when everything is new and exciting, and the "hard responsibilities" of parenthood, home ownership and career are still just ideas we have for the future.

The other question I always get: What will you do first when you get home?

The boring answer is: hug my mom when I see her at the airport, go home and sleep. But assuming you want the fun answer, I'll go to my sister's house and visit her and my niece and nephews, who have grown up so much while I've been away. I'll introduce my fiance to the rest of my family who haven't met him, and I'll go grocery shopping!! Yes, I really, really miss shopping in a grocery store (not having to call it a supermarket), where you have aisle after aisle of delicious food options! Diet! Organic! Fair Trade! Local! Fruits and vegetables that aren't even in season!! (I know I shouldn't admit it, but it's hard only eating seasonal produce). Cheese!! Varieties of cheese!! Cheddar, Swiss, Provolone! And those overpriced healthy juices that come in single servings, like Naked! You can even buy cosmetics and medicine and magazines at the grocery store!! I will go to whatever bookstore is still in business and sit in the cushy chairs and smell all the books, and skim them, and maybe buy some of them because I can afford to. I will drive my car.

And then, I will get married. November 16th is the big day, but this is a travel blog not a wedding blog so that's all I'll say about that. Then it becomes what we will do. We will go away for a few days on a mini honeymoon, and then we will come home and eat a REAL Thanksgiving with a turkey, and cranberry sauce, and stuffing, and pumpkin pie, and family. We will visit Washington DC and Baltimore and New York. We will move to our own place and get jobs. We will have Christmas in the cold weather, drinking peppermint mochas and decorating a tree and listening to Christmas carols in our own place, with no roommates. We will skype with our friends here in Chile, who meanwhile will be sipping cocktails on the roof by the pool, and we will tell ourselves we prefer the winter.
*****

1 comment:

  1. LAURAAAAAAA I am so excited to see you! And so true, American grocery stores are heavenly. Well, except in NYC, for the crampedness, but still: "Diet! Organic! Fair Trade! Local! Fruits and vegetables that aren't even in season!! (I know I shouldn't admit it, but it's hard only eating seasonal produce). Cheese!! Varieties of cheese!!" ALL THE CHEESE. <3

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