Orientation!

Leaving was treacherous.

From the many exchange students I have spoken to, I think it's fair to introduce a reoccurring theme.  Often, the initial idea of leaving for an exchange year is initiated because they are trying to get away from something, or they feel as though there is nothing holding them back at home.  Maybe they come from a broken family, or feel lonely at school.  However, I am lucky enough to not have to face this problem.

I left the United States to benefit my future and fulfill a dream of mine.  My family consists of my best friends.  My sisters have been by my side since birth, and my parents always have been there for me in my happiness and sadness.  My brothers are firey balls of joy, and I can't even imagine how different I would be if I didn't have them in my life.  The same goes for my friends at school.  I have known most of them since kindergarten, thus the relationships I have formed make goodbyes SO HARD!

Saying goodbye to my sister Vienna
(as she left two weeks before I did for a Christian retreat)

I sobbed saying goodbye to each member of my giant family (two sisters had individual goodbyes and are not included in the family photo).  I don't  mean to make this post all sad and such- but looking at my little three year old brother brought on the tears for me.  I know he is going to change so fast this next year, and I'm not going to be by his side to see him prospering :( depressing... I know



But not to be discouraged! Everything went perfectly smoothly through security and my takeoff and travel plans! HA that was funny....The moment I put my bag through the machine, it was pulled off to be hand checked.  I have traveled so much in my life, I don't know how I managed to put my toothpaste in the carry on.  But there goes my only supply!

My dearest, dearest family who I miss dearly

I sprinted to my gate in time to get on the plane, but once finally seated, I recieved quite the urgent call from my parents, telling me to "GET OFF THE PLANE!" Now that's what I call a smooth start to a journey, huh.  It turned out that my connection flight was probably going to be delayed, meaning I would have to sleep in the airport alone, and my third connection flight would be boarding right after I get off of my second flight!!!

That seemed like enough of a reason to get onto a different flight to lead to Florida instead of Atlanta, right? Well, being officially on my own, I decided it was my job to think it through.  I realized that if I were to change the one flight I was on, it would mean I would have to reprint tickets for each of my four connection flights, including the ones in Chile.  In the Boston airport, I already had faced the problem of an employee telling me I was too young to travel alone, thus I was not aloud to board the plane... I had to show her all of my paperwork, and luckily I convinced her to let me leave, but that process would be a lot more difficult to face when the documents are in English and I am speaking with Spanish workers.

Thus, my first big choice was to stay on the plane.  Later, I heard from my mom who told me that I absolutely made the right choice, as the connection flight from Florida was moved as well! That was a confidence boost I needed!

Polaroid that Austin took of me, Joy, and Peter

All was well on the flight, and upon arriving in Atlanta, I found out that two other exchange students, Joy and Peter, from the United States were also going to Chile on the same delayed flight.  I got ahold of their numbers and we set a place to meet up.

In the meantime, I asked an employee about the gate that our flight would depart from (as it changed with the delay), and I once again received the speech about how it was unacceptable for me to be traveling alone.  But this time, the speech was even worst due to the fact that I was going overseas.  The poor lady was freaking out about the fact that I was going overseas, and I knew that showing her paperwork was not going to change her mind.  So in a panic, I turned to her and said, "there's me reason to worry, ma'am.  That whole group over there (insert me, pointing at a random group of teenagers and chaperones) is traveling with me to Chile.  Thank you for your help."  I then walked over to the random group of teenegers and plopped myself in the middle of them, as the employee was still watching me closely.  They all looked really really confused, so I introduced myself and told them what happened! We got a good laugh out of it :)

It turns out that the group was indeed going to Santiago on the same flight as me, as they were a skiing group from Boston!  Among the group, I found an old friend of mine named Austin who moved schools last year! I went to school with him since first grade! What a coincidence!

We ended up catching up for a while before I left to go find Joy and Peter.

Joy's luggage was lost on the first flight, so we spent a few hours searching the airport security and belt systems to see if we could find it, but to no avail.

Waiting for the connection flight!

Therefore, we spent the rest of the night with our bags huddled in the middle of a circle of chairs we constructed to protect them, eating McDonalds, and watching Friends on Peter's I pad.

Okay, no need for me to go through every detail of the flight, but basically, we made it to Chile, and managed to find the other two exchange students for our final connection flight.  Yes, indeed we were lacking sleep, but it also felt so good to know that we were finally going to see beds... after the two hour bus ride:)

Ethan and Katie with the group

Mountains of Chile!

Bus snacks! Water (con gas)
which Ethan referred to
as "spicy water" :)

We were taken to a campsite that was freezing, but absolutely stunning!  I opened many incredibly sweet cards that my family and friends wrote me titled "Open when you arrive in Chile", including a present from my little brother AJ that was a penguin that has my family's voice recorded saying "te queremos, love Papa, Mama, Vienna, Hayleigh, Leia, Aj, Isaiah, Natalia!"  May have shed a tear or two, not going to lie.

The next day, all of the exchange students in the south of Chile officially got to exchange pins and get to know each other in person! 

2017-18 Chilean Rotary Exchange Students

We got to take a tour around the site we were staying at, which turned out to be a mini version of a Chilean Niagra Falls! It was very beautiful and all of us got to take some good photos together.

I became very good friends with a girl Mickey from the United States, who shared my same desires to use this year as a tool to grow her language, but also to prepare herself to say no in the college culture she will face right after returning home.

The beautiful site we stayed at! 

At the orientation, we were taught the national dance of Chile, the Cueca! It consists of a male and female, dancing around each other to a very Spanish-sounding song.  Ultimately, it represents the girl playing hard to get, and the man chasing after her.  If she takes his arm at the final part of the dance, he has won her approval!

My instructor told me that I was the best one there HAHA:) that made me feel good about the dancing, but it won't feel right until I have the dress and shoes and pañuelo.

The next morning is when we would be picked up by our host families!

But that will have to wait for another post!

Toodles!
Sarah Rachel