Goodbyes

Well it has been a busy last few days and now I am finally beginning to relax in the beautiful Santiago sun (it is HOT here!) Our group trip to Algorrobo for oral presentations and re-entry orientation was great. The presentations were amazing, I was sure I was going to be bored listening to 14 different oral presentations each taking at least 20 minutes...but I was really surprised. Everyone worked so hard this past month during our ISP and it was amazing to see how much people improved. I was really excited when people in my group were really impressed by how much my spanish had improved! I also think people were fairly interested in what I was talking about. I thought about posting some of my paper up here but it is all in Spanish so it would probably be worthless for most people. But I am officaly on winter break...well I have been since Monday! One girl in my group was so relieved when she was done that she took a swig from her flask in front of everyone...it was pretty funny. I was relieved, but not that relieved. Monday night SIT treated us to an amazing dinner, a great slideshow of the semester, and a cool t-shirt with a group photo on the the back! I also spent all Monday afternoon at the beach and although I got a little burnt it was so beautiful and totally worth it! A bunch of us also went banana boating which was really fun too!

It was a perfect weekend! The last night we had a big dance party all together and it was really bittersweet!

We got back on Tuesday afternoon and most people headed home to pack and get organized, I just headed home to relax and breathe. It was great! On Wednesday I went over to my friends homestay house and we sat by the pool, but out of the sun, we were still recovering from the sun burn. It was a nice way to end the program. I was able to jump on the shuttle that was going to the airport with everyone and I spent about 2 hours there with 2 other girls who weren't leaving either. I was really glad that I could come to the airport and say goodbye to everyone at once. It was sad watching everyone leave. There are some people from my program who I am sure I will see over the summer but some who live far away and I am not sure the next time I will see them. It is weird how people can just walk into your lives and then share this amazing experience with them and then they just walk right back out 3 months later. It is a little crazy. These last few days I have been relaxing, spending a lot of time with my little brother and sister...I am teaching them english (they are learning a little but they are only 2 and 4).

Sunday morning I leave for Buenos Aires to meet up with my dad!!!! I am SOOOOO excited! My mom and brother come on the 20th and my dad and I will be meeting them in Peru. I think I am going to keep posting when I can to update people on my post-program travel. My dad and I have lots of plans for our week in Bs.As., one of them including Iguazu Falls (I AM SO EXCITED)

Sending lots of holiday love,

Ana