Week 7

The end of Spring Break has started all of us thinking how little time we have left here in Santiago. On a positive note we have as much time as we did in Buenos Aires, but time here flies so quickly that we can not take one day for granted. For my break, I traveled to Bahia Inglesa and had an amazing and tranquilo time laying on white sand beaches and swimming in the clear blue waters for a week. We have been talking in our class a lot about landscape and coming back to Santiago after being away has really made me realize what a beautiful city this is. I cannot get over looking up at the snow-covered mountains and being able to walk three blocks to go from being in a bustling city to a quiet park along the river. Right now we are reading works by Gabriela Mistral and discussing how she incorporates landscape into her works. We are all excited to visit her house and hometown this weekend when we go to La Serena, and have a lecture on site! Learning the political history of dictatorship in the country has helped me understand why the culture here is so conservative. At the same time, I am very thankful that I live with a host mother who is very open-minded. It is hard for me to imagine what it will be like returning to the United States and conforming back to our liberal lifestyle in California; without people constantly staring at our group everywhere we go like we are from another planet, and being in a constant state of confusion. Words cannot describe how great it is to experience another way of life and I know all of us will appreciate our freedom a lot more when we return to the States.