NEW BLOG!

Hello again, blogging universe! I know I bid you all farewell in my last entry -- and it is true that this particular blog has to come to an end now that I'm back in the States. HOWEVER, I've been missing updating this blog so much since my return from Chile, I decided to extend my blogging to los Estados Unidos. That's right, get excited.

Check out my ongoing adventures (admittedly less foreign, but still entertaining!) at http://tarakims.blogspot.com/. I'm really glad that so many of you followed my blog while I was in South America, so I hope I can continue to hold your interest even now that I'm back in the Northern hemisphere :)

the end.

Well blogging universe, this is it. I am back in Lancaster. I have hugged all of my family members, eaten some Mexican food, and briefly considered unpacking my suitcases. I'm really home.

I'm trying to prepare myself for a lot of processing in the upcoming days, weeks, maybe even months. At the risk of getting too clichéd, Chile is a part of me now and I won't be the same again. That's one of the amazing things about having the opportunity to study abroad for a whole semester, or even a whole year -- spending that amount of time in another place can't help but leave a lasting impact. Instead of just being a tourist who visits a faraway country and snaps some photos, you get to really live there, breathe in the air, walk the streets, use the public transportation, get to know the people, absorb the history, observe the current attitudes and styles and slang, feel the city's ebb and flow of day-to-day life. The first month gives you the very unique opportunity to get a real glimpse into another place, and the following months offer you a chance to make that place mean something to you, to find where you fit amidst so much that is foreign.

I could go on and on about what an amazing semester this was, what my favorite parts were, what I'll always remember, how it changed me, what I learned -- but I would rather talk about those things with each of you in person now that I'm back in the States. I know this will make you all terribly sad, but I guess this blog has reached its end now that I don't have any more South American adventures to report on. I'm definitely glad that I chose to document my semester in this way; it's nice to know that a piece of my time in Chile will continue to exist, floating somewhere out there on the internet, if I ever want to go back and look it up. I like records. I hope you do too, and I hope you enjoyed following my adventures as much as I enjoyed telling you about them!

Chao.

first u.s. transaction

I bought a Cosmo (go ahead and judge me) and it cost $5.13. What?!?? I only had a five with me, so I had to embarrassingly leave my magazine on the counter and run back to my seat to get more change. I'm trying not to think about the fact that this amount of money could have bought me lunch every day for a week in Santiago.

bienvenidos a... the united states?

I'm sitting in the Miami airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Baltimore and trying to comprehend the fact that I'm really back in the States.

As I went through customs, all of the airport officials greeted me with "Welcome home" -- and it's crazy to think that they're right, I'm an American, I'm returning to the country that I call my home. After four months in Chile, I've gotten used to being an obvious foreigner. I'm used to people staring at me because I don't fit in, I'm used to having to work a little bit harder to make myself understood, I'm used to being slightly unsure about how things work. It's strange to belong again all of a sudden. No one looks twice at my blonde hair here, and no one expects me to have any trouble communicating with them.

I've only been here for about an hour, so the reality hasn't fully set in yet. I keep having to make the conscious choice to address people in English instead of automatically speaking to everyone in Spanish. When I fish through my wallet, it's filled with pesos. My computer is set to Santiago time and Santiago weather. This is going to take some adjusting.

MY ENTIRE SEMESTER HAS JUST BEEN JUSTIFIED

My host mom: There are some gringos who are very, very gringo. Some of my host students have a hard time here in Chile because they are just so gringo.

My host sister: Like Tara?

My host mom: Oh no, not Tara. Tara may be a gringa, but she's not very gringa.

YESSSSS

back to the beginning.

I'm back here again, and I'm trying to remember how I fit everything into my two suitcases the first time around. I'm starting to suspect I must have defied some laws of physics. I'm usually the kind of person who starts packing days in advance...but lately I've been a little bit in denial about the fact that I'm actually leaving, so I made the unwise choice to put it off as long as possible. Now I need to get this tornado of clothing, toiletries, books, scarves, and Chilean Christmas presents (that's right, get excited) under control before 8 pm. WISH ME LUCK.

starting to say goodbye

Things I'm going to miss about this place

• living in my own casita
• Chilean slang
• never having to wait for the metro
• the exchange rate
• the Chilean food I have come to appreciate: completos, manjar, alfajores, paila, palta, chirimoya
• Cerro Santa Lucía
• clubs that play nothing but reggaeton and cumbia
• street vendors
• the awesome views of the Andes
• my cute host parents
• the current summer weather -- I'm dreading the temperature shock that awaits me
• all the people and places that have become familiar to me
• being surrounded by the beautiful Spanish language all of the time

Things I'm not going to miss about this place

• the crazy cats who think they own my casita
• the lack of consistent hot water
• sticking out like a sore thumb because of my blonde hair
• having such a long commute to my university and my friends' houses
• performers on the bus who drown out the sounds of my iPod
• machismo
• the Chilean food I am sick of: cazuela, pino empanadas, lentils, rice, everything that is bland
• paying for bottled water
• being so far away from the people I love