As most of you, dear readers, know I will be spending this up coming semester in Valparaiso, Chile. What you may not know is that I leave for this grand adventure in four days!!!!! (side note: I use an excessive amount of exclamation points! Get used to it!)
How do you prepare to spend an entire semester in South America? Well I am about to tell you, get excited!
First, you read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Spanish. This was a great idea because I got to re-live my childhood and use some brain cells! So now I know how to say wand and owl and cupboard in Spanish. These words should be incredibly useful when I arrive J In addition I’ve also been listening to lots of Shakira and watching the occasional telenovela!
Second, you wear your awesome new hiking boots everywhere in order to break them in and not get blisters and look silly when you trek across South America. I’m sure my hiking boots becoming my newest fashion statement didn’t embarrass my family one bit!
Third, you must be successful in acquiring your student visa. This means you become besties with the people who work for FBI customer service while they process your background check (side note: I have their number saved in my phone because of this.)
Fourth, you go to Target to buy everything imaginable! I just did this as my first step in the packing process and have that feeling that I must have forgotten something! Hopefully it wasn’t important!
A few more things before I leave,
1. Vive el Idioma (Live the Language) is what I intend to do in Chile. The question I get asked most often when I tell people I’m studying abroad is “What will you be doing?” Living the language, that is what I will be doing.
2. I sign up for classes once I get there, so I have no idea what classes I’ll be taking. And there is a strike in Chile so the classes I take at the Chilean University (not through my program) may not start on time. More play time for me!
3. Shout out to Jessie Burch, Morgan Dudley and Paul Byars, who answered my many questions about Chile and packing and traveling! Y’all are the best!
On a more serious note I am finally realizing that this is not just a short little vacation, I will be in Chile until December. This is so strange to me and I don’t think I’ll fully wrap my head around it until I arrive and get settled. Don’t get me wrong I’m incredibly excited for this new adventure and slightly nervous, which I think is a perfect mixture of emotions at this point in time.
Well that’s all for now! Let me know if you like my blog and I will keep posting. Hopefully once I get there I will have some crazy/awesome/funny stories to entertain my devoted readers!
Besos y Abrazos (hugs and kisses),
Gaby
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