So I'm a bit behind on the group post, hehehe. When everyone posted, I was on vacation in Iquique (the sports capital of Chile, believe it or not).
At the age of 12 I got the travel bug, and I decided I was going to see the whole freaking world. One way to start seeing the world was to be an AFS student for a year. I decided to do this as a gap year before college. At 17, I was fed up with my little town and the snow and cold and tameness of it all, and decided to move my travels up a year or two and go for 6 months rather than a year. (I later regretted not choosing to stay the whole year.) I knew I would miss my friends, but I really wanted to travel. My heart was set on living in Puerto Rico for a semester where they couldn't possibly place me in a home far from the beach. Apparently I wasn't the only one who decided to go to the Reggaeton capital of the world, because by the time I applied, there weren't enough spots left in the program. All the families had been taken. :( So back to the drawing board. Brazil called my attention, but I wanted to learn Spanish and be somewhere warm and near the beach. That year there was a Chilean AFS student in my high school who I was friends with. She urged me to go to Chile telling me about Chilean carretes and how fun it is there, etc. So I gave up my dream of a year-round summer and chose to come to Chile, and I was off. It was a great time.
I came back to Chile for a month my sophomore year of college and visited my host fam. and traveled around Chile. My host father pointed out a masters program at the University he works at; it was a good program and inexpensive. I bore that in mind and came back in 2004 to do the program. After a year living in Valpo I met my husband. I finished school last year and we are currently waiting for me to be eligible to apply for permanencia definitiva so as to apply for V's immigrant visa to the US of A. We've got a while yet. Meanwhile, I'm teaching English.
Why we will leave: I want to go back to the States so V has a chance to live abroad, and get to know my country. I can't wait to travel vicariously through him and see my town, state and country through his eyes. Reverse cultural shock can be quite enriching! I also am excited to live near my family again for a while and watch my nephew and niece grow up and be a part of my family's lives again, beyond Skype. We are planning on installing ourselves in Minnesota, but you never know. Perhaps someday we'll move back to Chile. Or to Europe or Indonesia. Who knows?
I'm not against living in Chile, but I'm not a huge fan of Santiago. I like smaller towns and cities. I've liked living here however, I don't know how I'd feel if I knew I would be living here forever and ever.
To read the everyone else's posts, go to Kyle's post on the matter.
Reboot
1 month ago
6 comments:
that's an interesting comment at the end. i seriously think i wouldn't be (deep down) bothered by so many things that bother me here if i knew i would soon be leaving.
You probably wouldn't be as bothered by it if you knew you were leaving soon.
V and I are leaving in like a year to a year and a half. That's what I thought last year at this time too. hahahaha. Before the visa rules changed.
But my thoughts are that every place has its disadvantages. One of the things I most dislike about the States is the SUCKY mass transportation systems. Granted there are some cities that probably have good systems like NY and Boston. But going from downtown Minneapolis to a friend's house in Richfield took over an hour and included a stop at the mega mall. Puke. (This was three years ago.)
One time I tried to get from one side of Ft. Lauderdale to a university library on the other side of Ft. Lauderdale. I took three buses just to get to the bus terminal and it was going to take two more buses to get to the U. I'd already spent three hours commuting when I found out I had two more buses to go. So I called a cab. That cost like $50 and when the library closed I called another cab several times. It never picked me up and I ended up having to hitch a ride home from a random, after waiting for a cab that never showed, alone at night for like an hour and a half. (Fortunately I have a highly developed people filter. I asked this law student for a ride. He was helping with some kind of student conference or something.) I had to ask about 5 people for a ride before someone consented. It was a horrible experience. If only they had TransFtLauderdale. I swear to God, in the United States we are like 10 years behind Chile. ahhaahahhaha.
I would never do that again. Renting a car is the way to go in Ft. Lauderdale.
But each culture has its pros and cons.
I think what most would bother me about living in Santiago are:
1) the smog
2) being far away from my fam - (but one of us has to do this)
3) being/or feeling so far away from nature, I'd probably take up hiking if we were to live here for ever and ever
4) living in a big city. I'm not a fan. I prefer slower paced life and nature.
agreed. everyplace has its disadvantages... which makes it kinda funny that just about currently living and from the same place ...and the things that bother us about both are completely different.
well, i do miss my family, but otherwise.
i loved public transportation in MN, however I think it must've been complete luck that the places I lived and frequented had decent routes. (all my jobs, the U...my parents house was a max one transfer ride of about an hour and I got dropped off in walking distance of the house) PLUS i was a huge biker, and public transportation in MN is great for bikers cuz you can hook your bike on the front of a bus, etc...
however... aside from walking home from my bus stop from the U... i dont think i would be able to get anywhere else in their city easily with public transportation
and, your santiago downs mostly don't affect or bother me.
strange how that works.
oh good. I'm glad to hear you have had good experiences with Minneapolis mass transit. We might end up living in Minneapolis. The bike thing is excellent. Denver had this possibility too, for a max of two bikers.
yeah, its crazy how different our pros and cons can be.
As I was reading your post I forgot for a moment that you are from Minnesota. Yes, it would be very interesting to see his reaction to real cold and snowy winter. My boyfriend asked me if we have street food in Minneapolis (in the winter mind you). I said "No. They would die." His eyes got really big and popped out of his head a bit.
hahahaha. V came home for Christmas with me one year, but I swear that year the winter was "tropical" because it even rained one day just after Christmas. So that winter didn't count as a Minnesota winter. haha.
We had one extreme weather experience though. When the bar closed at 1am, the line for the only taxi in my town was waay too long so we decided to walk home. In the COLD wind. ugh.
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