Week 6

July 18th - July 23rd

This was the last week in Chile. I returned to the United States today and I'm sad this awesome trip is over with. This week we prepared for our farewell presentation for our host families as well as finish up classes with final exams. The presentation with the families was Wednesday night, we performed a theater skit, sang, and danced what we have been practicing throughout the 6 weeks here. It was a lot of fun and a nice celebration. We also got our smartphones back that night and that was obviously a big deal to us teens who have been without one for 6 weeks. Thursday was free time with  our families. Cecilia and I went to La Sebastiana, the house of Pablo Neruda in Valparaiso. It was cool just like Isla Negra. I believe Pablo Neruda has three houses in Chile, one in Valparaiso, one in Isla Negra, and one in Santiago, and now I have seen two of the three. Later that night I walked along the beach in Valparaiso with my German host brother Alex, we simply talked and watched the sunset. That night my family and I ate hamburgers in honor of the United States. Friday the students and instructors met at the church/school at 2:30 to use a bus to get to the airport in Santiago. I said goodbye to Ben and Alex in the house and Cecilia and I went to church together. It was a bit emotional saying goodbye but for me it was more of a time to reflect on the trip and be happy that it happened. The plane left Santiago around 8pm.and arrived in Atlanta at 5am. We later left for Indiana at 9am and arrived in Indiana at 11am. My mom picked me up and it wasn't fun saying goodbye to the awesome people who did this trip with me. This trip has been awesome and I wish it didn't have to end. Hanging out with other students in the city or eating dinner with my host family are things I will definitely miss. Many more great experiences and memories as well but now I have to start thinking about school and senor year.

Week 5

July 12 - July 17th

I can't believe we only have 5 more days here in Chile! This week we made our class magazine for the trip. We started on Tuesday and finished Thursday. It has a lot of information on it and it was a lot of work. I was an editor so myself and 6 other editors overlooked and helped out whenever needed. On Wednsday I ran in the morning and the weather was much more intense than usual. The waves were giant and it was windy and rainy. I prepared for school but when I called another student, she said that class was cancelled for the day. I was surprised because I didn't think that weather was that extremely bad. So instead on Wednesday, after lunch I went to the beach with Ricky. I took pictures of the waves and the overflown beach. After that we met up with Jonathon. We headed to the mall. At the mall we ate frozen yogurt. We also decided to go the movie theater at the mall. We decided on the Conjuring 2. I usually don't like horror movies but watching this movie in the theater with 2 other friends was actually a lot of fun. Thiursday we had a linguistics and grammar quiz and worked the rest of the day on the magazine, we skipped our Thursday suprise because we needed to finish the magazine. Friday we had an excursion to Isla Negra and Pomaire. One of the homes of Pablo Neruda is in Isla Negra, his home was very cool and the weather that day was perfect, After that we went to Pomaire. Pomaire is famous for its ceramics and emapanadas. After a small tour of the town we had some freetime and for dinner we went to the house of the tourguides. Their family prepared empanadas and soup for all of us in their house and it was as usual very good. Saturday for lunch a group of students and I ate sushi. After that we walked around Vina and Recreo. I bought a few items in central Vina. Today I did my homework and for lunch family came over like every week. We had an asado like usual, and like usual, it was amazing. I said goodbye to them for the last time when they left because I won't be here the next Sunday. For dinner I went back the same sushi resteraunt as usual with 2 other friends. When I returned home my family and I ate crepes with manjar inside and I think it was definitely one of the best things I've eaten here. This trip will be over very soon. Although I am looking forward to seeing my friends and family, I will definitely miss not having to worry about school, applications, future, and other tedious things.