Greetings family, friends and lovers (¡shout-out to the desert Quee(r)n!).
After almost of two weeks of traveling, I have safely arrived in Valparaíso, Chile, where I will spend the next ten months studying at the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso.
Some highlights of the last two weeks:
The lovely letters my family sequestered in my luggage.
The three year old in the Guatemala City airport who fell in love with me.
Eating cow heart in Lima and loving it.
Seeing my 12 year old friend Lily surfin’ some rad waves.
Finding myself, after four days in Lima, taking the streets with a student march to support the mayor, who’s facing recall (my picture appeared in the paper).
The view of Lima from the top of the Cerro de San Cristóbal.
Ocean waves in the darkness of Arica, Chile, and the tacos I ate that night.
The fact that everyone says I sound Mexican and that I look 15.
Galloping through a Vineyard outside of Santiago on horseback with my couchsurfer host, Ignacia. (Was that actually real???).
Eating plums off the tree in el campo and drinking box wine with a shirtless grandpa.
Dancing the traditional dance, Cueca, last night, in Santiago, until 5 am.
Riding the metro and micro-buses in Santiago.
Learning chilean slang, which appears in pretty much every sentence, “po.”
My room in Valparaíso with a view of the ocean (is THIS real?).
The fact that I now have an 18 year old brother, Javier, and had a fairly heated political conversation at dinner with my host family.
It’s going to be a very interesting year.