Never hit the back button in order to return to the original draft. It will all disappear along with your sanity.
Packing is a nightmare. I started with four piles:
pile 1)"I must have or I will NEVER survive (right)"
pile 2) "I probably need but will never even get close to smell the suitcase because the 'must have' pile is already so gigantic"
pile 3) " I don't really need it, but I bet I could roll it up into a tight cylinder and stick into one of my shoes" [my stationary was in this pile for a while]
pile 4) "I'm not even sure why this pile exists except that I guess I might need my red and white striped knee-high waldo socks for some occasion" seriously?
after laboriously going through the " I must have or I will NEVER survive (right)" pile and reducing it around four times, I jumped up and down on both of my suitcases and finally got them zipped.
Alas,
I still think my large suitcase will exceed the 50 lbs limit, and I will have to pay a small fee or cry in order to get it onto the airplane.
Which will not start me out on a good foot for my resolution to attempt smart and frugal budgeting. stop laughing mom. it's not funny. really
I should take this opportunity to emphasize how thankful I am to the Rotary! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I am about to embark on a one year ambassadorial Rotary scholarship in Concepcion (haven't figured out how to do the accent marks in the blog-sorry), Chile studying Latin-American literature. These scholarships are really an amazing opportunity for students acting as good will ambassadors because they are symbols of peace and friendship and really foster cultural exchange. The rotary requires scholars to give presentations on their home at at least 10 different rotary clubs during their year, and then to also give presentations to the sponsor club when they return.
Since I returned from my very first Service-Learning interim during the January of 2004, I have hoped that I might get to return to Chile. I know that this year will be very different and new, and i hope that I get to see and experience as much of Chile as I can, in addition to maybe reliving some of my umbrella tree, upside down Orion, spanish stick shift driving, fresh fruitillas, raisin empanadas, and amazing new friendships.
I am such a mix of emotions right now-terrified and ecstatic to think that in less than 48 hours I will be living and breathing chilean spanish- a little terrified that I will blank on every random vocabulary word I've learned in the past eight years studying spanish (it sounds like a long time-but I really have soooo much more to learn). I mean, how do you say toilet paper again? just kidding. no really. just kidding.
anyways,
I am excited to meet my family in Santiago. I leave tomorrow evening from the Pensacola airport, fly an hour and a half to Atlanta (yes, I know that's the wrong direction)-then I have an hour and a half layover (where I will do a mad dash to try and exchange some currency)-then it's nine and half hours to Santiago, where my lovely family will be waiting with a card that has my name on it.They really are lovely. I feel really lucky to be living with them. I have received several emails from Berti, the mom, and she seems so warm and kind. I will write more about them after I meet them. Here's their picture:
Don't they look so nice? First on the left is Claudia (23, journalist, lives in the home); then Berti (mom, works in the bank, writes really nice letters); Gianni (27, engineering student, lives in the home); Enzo (32, commercial engineer, lives in Miami); and Antonella (30, works in Public Relations). I can't wait to meet them.Lastly, I have a funny story. Like I said Berti and I have been emailing back and forth. They asked me to send a picture of myself. So, I sent this picture of webb and I in San Francisco because I think it's a good picture:
see? it's cute, right?
and I swear when I sent it Sara, I titled it "me and my friend Webb"
So, in my latest email from Berti, the first line goes something like- I know this is a really hard time for you since you have to say good bye to your family and your pololo. I already knew that in Chile they call boyfriends pololos instead of novios, but she explained that they call them pololos because novio means fiance and although she is sure that I care deeply for my pololo (aka Webb) she is sure that he is not my novio because I am much too young and have so much more life to live an enjoy. Ha! But no worries--I quickly replied to make sure that she knew that I was definitely entering Chile soltera and that Webb just a good friend.
Alright, back to packing. I will try to update on Wednesday after I arrive.
til then. . .
una aurora
(sorry-I couldn't find the english version. I'll try to post the english when I can)
But for kicks and comparisons-Here's Cummings
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