To Chiloe!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Chilean geography (which I'm guessing is the majority of you), Chiloe is an island in the far south of Chile. Chile is a long long country, so traveling always takes a while when you want to get to see the really cool parts. This last week my family gave me the opportunity join them on their winter vacation to Chiloe during my last week in Chile, and of course I said yes! The only thing was that they had plans to return on the 26th and my plane to the Us departs the  22nd so I had to return to Rancagua a few days early in bus. I was sooo excited to get to travel more in Chile! My first family didn't really like to leave the house much, but my second family had taken Alex on a 3 week long tour down into the south of Chile and she loved it. Now my host family tells me that they wish they had invited me along with Alex during the summer hahaha. That would have been nice, but I think it's even sweeter that they were planning another trip just so I could see a bit of the south before I left! 

We left Rancagua at like 10am on Wednesday and began the very long journey down to Chiloe. We stopped in Talca and had a nice lunch with our grandparents, and then continued south for many hours. At about 7pm one of the tires blew out as we sped along the freeway. I got very scared because Monse wasn't using a seatbelt and grabbed onto her with my life and she didn't even wake up hahaha. We got out of the car and fixed the tire. It took about an hour and a half, and my family wasn't even upset. They laughed and said they always had bad luck like this and I called it an adventure. 

After that little incident, I tried to sleep in the car. Cristobal and I were squashed into the back seat and it was kind of hilarious. We were soooo tired and we tried laying in like every position possible to mankind and just kept laughing because we couldn't feel our limbs and it was pathetic. We ended up just talking and after hours and hours of trying to sleep we finally did at like 6am. Two hours later we were woken up and told we had arrived. 

The place we stayed was called Curaco de Villes and it was a quiet little town with lots of sheep. It was rainy outside so I spent most of the four days cuddled up with my siblings and enjoying my last moments with them. My mom was down stairs cooking typical Chilote foods and laughing with the other moms. It was a mellow little half of a week, and I had a good time. I felt at home while hanging out with my family. My dad took me to see really old and famous churches on the island and then to a artisanal farmers market to buy a few things for my family in the US. 

This church is called the Iglesia de Achao and is made completely out of wood! It's hundreds of years old and very impressive. 

This one we saw at night and I just thought it was so lovely to look at all lit up with lights!

This is my host mommy and I being adorable. 

Family meal time!

On the way to drop me off at the bus station, we all cuddled up to eachother as close as we could. Everything felt still to me because I didn't feel like I could actually be saying goodbye to them. When we got out of the car, Monse wouldn't let go of me and hugged me as hard as she could. My entire family passed me letters they had written me to read on the plane. When the bus came and it was time to say goodbye, I felt sad because I wasn't crying. People always comfort so bees by saying "it's okay to cry it's nothing to be ashamed of", but that isn't my problem at all. When all I feel like doing is pouring out all the tears I have inside, I can't seem to shed a single one. I feel bad because I know it means a lot to other people to see you cry. It shows you care. I care about this family more than I care about almost anyone on my exchange, but I didn't cry until I was on the bus, and even then barely at all. Maybe I just feel lucky to meet them, or maybe my tears are saving themselves for another time and they really will eventually pour out of me. I don't know. All I know is this:

This family has done something to my heart that I hope will never ever be undone. They have truly shown me what it feels like to be accepted and loved in another country for everything I am, and to feel like I am worth all the love they have to give me. I feel at home with my three crazy siblings and I will miss our ticke fights and pillow wars. I feel like I have a mom who would fight for me through anything and who unconditionally loves me as one of her own. I feel like I have a father who knows so many things about the world and who works so hard and who is always eager to learn new things about me. I know I have a family here who will open their house to me and my future family even if it means sleeping with four people in a twin sized bed, and that they would be thrilled to do it. I love this family with everything I am, and I have always felt loved back, and that means a lot to someone like me. 

The bus ride to Rancagua was 17 hours long and I spent the first 6 hours of it reading "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" in SPANISH. I am proud of that because I downloaded it on my iPad months ago and tried to read it but it was too hard and now I understand every word! I have improved! :D

I tried sleeping but I can never sleep in buses. I tossed and turned for about to hours and then just gave up sleeping completely. I turned and realized my dad was awake in the seat next to me, and he smiled and said we only had a half hour left! WHAT?! Apparently my two hours was 8 hours. I was happy but still so sleepy. There was no comfortable way to sleep so I just sat back and waited out the next half hour feeling like a big lump of worn-out-ness. When we arrived in Rancagua, we walked the few blocks to our house and then I climbed into bed and fell asleep for a few hours and my host dad went to work. 

I am now off to the center to buy my last empanada and some Chilean candy for Stella. It's going to be a good day!