Chau chau, Arica y hola, Iowa!

Title in English: Bye bye, Arica and hello, Iowa!

Holaaaa!

Well, I guess I survived Chile! I'm back in the U.S.A. It's hard to believe that I'm already back and my South American adventure is over. Here is just a QUICK recap (I promise!) of what happened the last few days and just a few things about arriving back in the U.S.

Well, pretty much most of us went dancing the last few days at The Previa, which is connected to Dimango on the beach and also at The End, and of course Drake. Each night was fantastic, and I danced my little heart out haha. I'm going to miss the Chilean life style of staying up late and dancing until 5 am...It's still hard for me to believe that I actually was able to make it until 5 am, which was my goal, and I actually did it more than once :D haha.

Friday, we had a little ceremony with family members, professors, assistants, "primos"/friends, and the heads of the university. It was quite an important event, and it was very special! We even received certificates for completing the program, and the heads of the university gave us a very official looking pen, key chain, history book about Arica, and even a nice little Universidad de Tarapacá bag! We took many photos that day, and it was a little tearful...well at least for the cryers, Rachel and I :) Phil did a nice job of speaking and represented the group well, and he even ended it with "And as Professor Gomez would say, it is what it is"-->however, this was all in Spanish, which makes it sound even better.

I stayed extremely busy those last few days!! Between dancing, seeing old friends and meeting new friends and the family of my good friend Cynthia, going to a Chilean school where the teach in Spanish/English,spending time with family, and seeing my favorite places for the "last" time (I'll be back someday! I promise!) the days were quite emotional, but worth every moment! It was SO difficult for me to say "see you soon" to everyone that I have come to love so much. Arica has a very special place in my heart, and I miss it so much already! Not only does it have beautiful scenery, but the most welcoming, inviting, and lively people. I miss you all so much already (you all know who you are!...if you are able to read this..hehe)!!!

My last day in Arica, Rachel and I made Chili while chilling on a chilly day in Chile :D We also made cornbread, and brownies with mom's homemade frosting! Our family loved every bit of it :) Then for my last night in Arica, Rachel and I went to church (yes, it's in Spanish!), and then many of us went to a little pub called Canta Verdi and I had my "last" piscola :) It was nice to get together with everyone and just soak in the last few moments. Then most of us headed to Drake to have a good night of dancing...and it was not good...it was amazing! :) I stayed out until 5 am for the last time for awhile, and then went home, went to sleep about 6..and then I woke up about 2 hours later! haha..well, actually Rachel woke me up. It was finally time to pack up all my things, which was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do in my life. We had a lovely meal with our host family-Ligia, Claudia, Valentina, and Claudia's friend who was quite funny :) I almost teared up at the table because that was the last time we would all be together as a family...maybe?

We then walked to say goodbye to some of our friends, and Rachel and I ended up walking with them to Dimango in order to have our last ice cream, but they were closed! I couldn't believe it, and I was a little heartbroken. Anywho, we said our goodbyes to them, which was very difficult, and then we returned to say our very tearful goodbyes to our dear family. It was probably quite a funny scene for outsiders to see...Rachel and I in the back of the car bawling our eyes out like little babies with our friend Cynthia, our mom driving, and all of our suitcases PACKED in the car. Our mom kept reassuring us that we will return and we will see each other again soon :) When we arrived at the taxi terminal, we said bye to Carolina, Pochy, and Helen along with Cynthia and our host mom. It was terrible...Rachel and I went in the taxi and then we were gone...turned around in our seats staring back at our city that has all of the people, places, and memories that we love so much. Let me tell you, it was the most beautiful sky! The sun had just set, and the pinks and blues in the sky were absolutely breathtaking, and the lights of the city had just turned on. It was a scene out of a movie...both of us turned around staring at our beautiful city while bawling our eyes out. I still feel bad for the taxi driver :)

We had to stay over night in Tacna, Peru that night because the border closed that night and didn't open until too late the next morning. We stayed at a really nice hotel and enjoyed our last night in a foreign country together. Javier and Sebastian came, so we hadn't said goodbye to all of our Chileans yet. It was so nice to spend time with them! :) The next morning we headed to the airport...of course everyone in my taxi, including me, got screwed over for the price, and worse yet the last 5 in line at the airport, including me again, was told that we weren't able to get on the plane, and that we would have to wait until a flight that night. WHAT?! Of course this would happen! Haha I wasn't too worried about it, and I was actually kind of happy that we would be able to spend the day in Tacna looking around instead of staying in the airport for 15 hours..All of us girls were going the bathroom before we went out of the airport so we'd be ready to shop, and all of a sudden Javier shouted to us that we could go on the plane..so we all started running and the man in charge of our flight said we could, and then we couldn't..and finally, we could! We grabbed our bags, said some real sad goodbyes, and RAN! Literally, we ran on the tarmac in order to catch the plane. It was crazy! And that's when it hit me...we're leaving. It's all over. and the tears began :( ¡Que triste! jaja

We then spent a huge long day in the Lima airport, and finally we made it all the way back to the U.S. When we made it to the Cedar Rapids airport, and I saw dad and mom, I started running and gave them huge hugs :) It was so good to have them in my arms! Olga and Marta (my dear Polish friends) were there as well! And what a wonderful surprise, Grandma and Grandpa came too! :) And of course, after thinking and wishing for Famous Dave's for over a month and a half, I was able to enjoy a great American meal with my family and friends there :D One of the coolest things ever was that I had just gotten into the car with my family, and my phone had started to ring..it was a Skype call?! What??? I answered and asked who it was, and the person replied to be in Spanish. I figured it was one of my friends, but I couldn't understand and couldn't figure out who it was...Finally, it hit me! It was my host mom, Ligia!!! I was SO happy to talk to her! She just wanted to know if I had made it back safely :) How sweet!!! It was so nice of her to do that, and it was good to hear her. It was very strange and exciting for my family and friends to hear me speak in Spanish so fluently for the first time :P

It's been a little strange being back. Many people ask me if it feels good to be back on U.S. soil, and well to be honest, I hesitate and then go on to say that it's just kind of strange and that I miss Chile, but it's nice to be back as well. I love both countries and the people in both places. I feel like I have two homes on this world, one in the U.S. and one in Chile! A piece of my heart is definitely still in Chile and always will be!! As of now I would really like to go back and study for a semester, so I'm hoping that will work out!!!

Not too much else has happened here though. I have spent a lot of time with my family and friends since I've gotten back. If you learn anything from this blog it would be the following things:
1. Go to Arica. It's beautiful and the people are amazing!!
2. Learn a different language (specifically Spanish). It's a wonderful feeling to be able to communicate with people from a different part of the world and learn about their culture, and Spanish is just a really beautiful language.
3. Study abroad! You will meet friends that you would never have met unless you studied abroad! Friends from the foreign country and friends from UNI :) I'm so excited to head back to school and spend time with everyone from the trip, and talk about how awesome Chile is in Spanish :)
4. Don't carry a HUGE bag pack when you travel...mine was probably half the size of me, and well, I now have some type of tendinitis in my knees (and I've been home 2 weeks and it has just started to bother me!), and it's not fun at all! I'm walking like a 70 year old woman!
5. You learned you are able to read blogs that are similar to novels ;) hehe.

PICTURES BELOW in order
1)my friend Cynthia, her family, Rachel, and I
2)Rachel and I in front of Ortega, the place where we had our classes once the university went on strike
3)Bri, Rachel, our professor Jamie Gomez, me, and Emily with our certificates!
4)Rachel, our mom (Ligia), and I after our great ceremony meal! A very special time!
5)Jonna, Cynthia, and I during one of our many nights of dancing :)
6)Ligia and our Chili packet that we used to make our amazing Chili soup in Chile! :)
7)Rachel and I at the centro...it was dead that day! And Dimango is closed in the background :(
8)Our family!!! Claudia's friend, Claudia, Valentina, me, Ligia, and Rachel. I miss them sooo much!
9)The most gorgeous sky and our city as we drove away...

I hope you all enjoyed my blog posts because I sure have enjoyed writing them and taking you all along with me to Chile! Take care everyone! It's been real. It's been good. It's been real good ;) I love you all so very much!!!

Until our next adventure,

MUCHOS besos y abrazos!!!!!!

Katie~