Word of the Day: ser harina de otro costal- to be irrelevant, come out of nowhere. Sort of how I feel about my birthday.
Life goes on whether you are there or not. For every amazing moment I’ve had from my study abroad experience, there are so many moments I’m missing. With my family, with my friends at Tufts, with older friends and acquaintances...For everything we gain, we lose a little.
My birthday here was little bittersweet for that reason. I realized today how truly far I am from home. And sometimes, our digital replacements aren’t enough to simulate real togetherness, moreso when internet connections are non-functioning. There is still nothing that can simulate real eye contact, physical presence or touch, the importance of which I’ve come to appreciate more this semester.
My Dad sent me a really beautiful and sweet email this morning, which combined with a few other factors led me to start bawling in the Tufts in Chile office. Thank god the program assistant Loreto was there to comfort me. After a teary attempt at learning about Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in law class, things were finally righted with a run for ice cream from Emporio La Rosa with my friend Regina.
If you’d told me a year or 2 ago I’d be spending my 21st birthday in a Chilean población I probably would have asked what a población is (basically a catch all term for a poor area) and why on earth I would be there on my birthday. But, since this week is the anniversary celebration at El Trampolin, where my internship is, I went in to help decorate the center for a celebration. No reason not to go really. Unfortunately, it took forever to get there after my salsa class so I missed the actual decorating, but arrived in time for the giant gathering of children from the community for music and games. Also unfortunate, I happened to be wearing a white tee shirt, which was good for looking non-descript, but not appropriate for a water balloon fight. (The thermometer reached around 32 C today...) Luckily, I managed to at least keep the front of my shirt from being soaked.
I got to talk and play with a lot of the kids, which was really great on a personal level and eye-opening as to the nature of the challenges of the community on a more academic level.
I finally got home from Maipu 2 hours later and had a frustrated attempt at communicating with my real family via various electronic media. Then, I had a nice dinner and cake with my host family and some friends of theirs who happened to be in town.
After, I met up with fellow Tufts in Chile-ers Molly and Judy and headed to Maestra Vida, an amazingly awesome salsa club in Bellavista, the night district, where Chico Trujillo, an AWESOME cumbia band was playing. It was just a really really good time.
Two things were really great about today, that wouldn’t have been so had I been stateside:
I didn’t recieve any presents. What I did recieve were many hugs and kisses, and beautiful wishes of well-being which were much more wonderful.
I only consumed one alcoholic drink today. Turning 21 in the US has turned into such a ridiculous ritual but since I’ve already been consuming some excellent alcohol over the last few months, there was no need. My host family doesn’t drink, so there was nothing at dinner. Just got a Corona at the bar and that was it, nice and refreshing.
It’s weird to “officially” be an adult though, since my living arrangements are less than independent nor am I financially independent. Not having barriers anymore is sort of scary. I guess I still can’t rent cars or drive stick shift, so that’s a few limits. Thank Goodness.
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