Happy Winter Break and Mundial Mania!

Hello Hello!

Let me tell you a little something about the world cup in a South American country: IT'S CRAZY! These past 2 weeks have been a blast intermittent between finals and papers because the World Cup is in full swing and Chileans take it VERY seriously. It is the first time in a while that they have qualified for the tournament and just today, they moved on to the second phase. Every day that there is a Chile game, the city goes NUTS. Today, I stood in line in the grocery store for half an hour since it was right before the game and everyone was stalking up. After the games, there are always GIANT gatherings of celebrations (sometimes too much) and today, when Lindsey and I left Karen and Jon's after the game there was literally a parade of people waving flags and blowing horns down the main street of Santiago. People honk their horns, wave flag out of cars, yell, run, and celebrate in every way possible. It's even fun watching the US play in a country where everyone takes soccer so seriously. I will really miss this when I have to finish watching the World Cup in the US where it is not nearly as big of a deal next week. I am so glad I've been down here while Chile and the US have been doing so well, it is awesome to experience! For now, go team USA tomorrow against Ghana, I'll be watching no question about it!

This is what the streets of Santiago look like after Chile LOSES a game. Celebrating because they're moving on!


So it is official, I am done with the semester of school and officially a senior in college. Now that is a sentence that came way too fast, I feel like I was just the little freshman at band camp who didn't know what she was doing or anyone at all, and now I am days away from returning to the incredible people I grew close to in these past 3 years as well as my dear friends from back home and family. A friend asked me if these past 6 months have flown by for me as they had for him and my answer is short and simple. YES, like a blink of an eye this incredible, literally life changing and effecting experience, has come and gone.

I'm pretty sure I finished out the semester with strong grades, but won;t be sure until later in July or maybe even August. I felt strongly about all my finals and escaped having to take a cummulative oral final because my average in the class was high enough. WOOHOO! After 16 weeks of classes in Spanish in a foreign country, I really have learned a lot. I think one of the biggest differences between education here in Chile and that of UCLA back home is the evaluations. It seems like the primary form of evaluation in Chile is regurgitation of facts, and thus simple memorization of material whereas at home I feel like I learn about an idea or concept and then the evaluation involves the application of that concept and putting it to use in real situations. Obviously, classroom education was not my primary goal for studying abroad seeing as UCLA is a world class university that could not be matched by most other institutions in the world, and I must admit it will be nice to return to classes at UCLA in August.

Nevertheless, I have learned things here in Chile that I never in 1 million billion years would have learned had I remained at UCLA this year. Things that have changed my view of the world, my appreciation of life, and the way I will think, learn, live, and travel for the rest of my life. Things impossible to learn in any way except life experiences. Not to mention my Spanish language skills have reached a level unachievable by any way besides immersing oneself in the language. Yesterday, I busted out a 3 page research paper in Spanish in 1 hour. When people speak to me in Spanish, I now react naturally and without previous formation of what I will say in my head.


As far as what else I've been doing, it has thus far mainly been focused around World Cup viewing and finishing up the semester, in addition to an outing to see Toy Story 3 and an incredibly gorgeous hike in the snowy Andes last Saturday with Karen and Jon. Every morning now for the past few weeks I have woken up to incredibly clear, close, snowy Andes. It is an awesome thing to wake up to that I will really miss.

I have now officially come to my final week here in Chile. It's so strange leaving someplace and not knowing when, or even if, you will ever return. I hope I get back here someday with the people closest to me, to show them this foreign, far off part of my life that has had such an impact on me. The end really became real when my roommate and one of my best friends from down here, Gina, left last night. While it was a sad goodbye in Chile, I know I will see her very soon and it is so nice to know that all of us friends down here will always have this experience in common, regardless of where we are in the world.

So, my plans for the upcoming 5ish days before I hop on that plane to the good old USA and say adios to Chile involve 2 days of World Cup action, some artisan market gift shopping, lots of time spent with friends, and of course some bound to be entertaining packing. I may throw in a 10K in the mix on Sunday, and hopefully even some extra fútbol assuming one of my two teams advances further (knock on wood!). It should be a great week, and I'm so glad I have this chill week in Santiago to slowly say goodbye and get things together (including myself emotionally and physically) to return home to my former life that is beckoning.

Time to eat as much pastel de choclo, watch as much fútbol, and savor as much as Chile as possible for the next 5 days!