I remember first arriving to the airport of Concepcion three weeks ago and asking myself, how will this experience turn out? How will my Chilean family react when they see me? What kind of food will I eat and what will my experience be like at the school? ... three weeks later I find myself sitting on a plane to Santiago realizing I am no longer the same person I was three weeks ago. Challenging me in many ways, I was amazed at the process my body went through to adjust to both the climate and food here in Chile. Let's just say my clothes had found a new way to snuggle slightly closer to me than usual -I was in for the most white flour treats I had ever had in my life. Coming from a no bread or rice diet, I found myself eating more white flour items in Chile including these round "zepolis" looking fluffy bundle of joys that are usually eaten with "palta" and tomatoes or "manjar" called Sopa y Pillas. My Chilean Pop managed to makes several dozens as a going away dinner item for me and yes I managed to absolutely stuff my face with 4 of those yummy bundles of joy known as Sopa y Pillas. After four I thought no more can fit seriously (HA) while my Chilean parents were asking me to have more and I'm thinking where the heck am I going to fit this 5th one... and I didn't. Heres a photo of this gorgeous little guy below... Enjoy the mouthwatery scenery indeed...
Dinner during my last evening here allowed me to relive a mouthwatering experience as it had been when my Chilean folks decided to visit the countryside of Santa Clara to visit Grandma. We left in the morning hours to start a journey I thought would be a short distance from San Pedro. As it turned out, the ride became a long 1 hour and a half ride to the country side. We mad a pitstop to the "cascadas" or waterfalls nearby and took severals stunning photos of the waterfalls. Shortly after we kept on driving a few dirt roads until we arrived at a tightly locked gate. There were two homes and a huge outdoor underground pool in between both. The land seemed spread out without any TV dishes or other internet like items around. I braced myself for what would be a day of peace and quiet, of conversations about Chilean history and upbringings with my Chilean Pops' Mother of 70 years-old, and meeting more family members. Turns out it was one of the most peaceful days of the entire trip. I love history and love meeting older folks who have undergone different decades and love sharing what their "tiempo" was like during their youth. After a few nescafes, chicken soup, pasta, sopa y pillas, palta, queso fresco, tomatoes, and laughs, I was beyond happy to have visited the beautiful peaceful countryside of Chile. Below is yet another mouthwatering photo of our dinner as well as beautiful scenery of the falls with a bit of my smiles of course...
I have to say my entire trip has been filled with lots of Chilean love and hugs. As I stood by my family today at the airport, had a few convos, and they dropped me off, I realized that three weeks after their hospitality, Chilean food, and learning of Chilenismos including "cachai," "si po," "no po," "sopaipas" (sopa y pillas shortened), "polola/o," among others, I was going to miss Chile! I was going to miss my family, my new amazing amiga Consuelo -an awesome English tutor and neighbor who welcomed me to Chile and came to visit me any chance she got to ensure I was okay and enjoyed my time in Chile- another sister I leave behind in Chile. I was going to miss all of it including my time with my favorite classes at Colegio de Concepcion- 4 Medio A, 2 Medio C, 4 Medio D, among others. I made a really special connection with all of these students during my presentations on Caribbean Indigenous and Empowering Legacies. I was hoping to connect with one or five in hopes that they learned something from me, and my ancestral lineage. I noticed during my time at the school that students were also very affectionate. So much so that after many selfies with students I also received several hugs saying I had impacted their life in some way. They also held a going away party for me in my history class for teaching them a bit more on Caribbean history. This truly made the trip beyond amazing and unique for me! The love in Chile is real and very much out there!
Chilenos are beyond carinosos and I was happy to have been welcomed both as a Gringa and a Dominicana with ancestry from the Caribbean Islands-- roots I am beyond proud of and certainly assisted me in communicating with my Chilean family. I was also excited to help my fellow tigers with translation or "interprete" abilities to help facilitate conversations as the "bilingue" of the group. I send a huge shout to my Chilean family Denny, Flavio, Benjamin, Flavio, and Nico for opening your home to me and showing me the utmost Chilean love!!!! Now on the plane, I am reminded of the upcoming soccer game at the World Cup, Telenovelas like La Guerrera, and U.S. movies I never had a chance to see but appreciated with my Chilean family. As I travel north, I move my hands swiftly in a fist like manner and say "CHI CHI CHI, LE LE LE, VI VA, Chile!!!!!! Chao....and or how we say in Dominican dialecto- Adio no senore, No vemo depue senore!
No comments:
Post a Comment