It's not goodbye, it's see ya later!

While sitting here thinking about the last 3 weeks in Concepcion, there are all kinds of emotions running through my head. Every person I came into contact with made me feel as if I was at home. The school personnel were amazing with everything they did. They made sure that we got on the right buses when we were running around confused as to where we needed to be going. The administrators even took the time on the last day to show us many things about Chile that we did not know before. They prepared an authentic Chilean day of festivities including lots of yummy food and entertainment. We were able to see the Cueca, which is the national dance of Chile. It was nice to spend time with all of the administrators as well as our fellow LSU students and teachers. 

Jaclyn, Maddie, Mrs. Denny, Jordan, and myself at the lunch with the administrators

I couldn't have asked for a better host family. They included me in every family activity as their own including dinner at home and even running errands as a family. It didn't hit me how much I would actually miss my family until the cocktail hour with our families on Thursday night. My family repeatedly told me multiple times how I was welcome back into their home anytime I wanted. My parents also told me how I would always be their child, and my sister told me I was the sister that she never had. My family will always hold a small piece of my heart. 

My hipster sister and I

My amazing host family

My teachers were also amazing. Miss Fabiola and Miss Carolina took me under their wings and I was able to learn many things from them. Miss Fabiola is an English teacher so it was interesting to be able to compare English classes in the United States to what the English classes consist of here.  Miss Fabiola had me read many books to the students so that they could hear what a native English speaker sounds like. I can definitely say I saw improvement in the students reading throughout the 3 weeks. 

Maddie, Miss Fabiola, and myself

I left Concepcion on Saturday and will be in Santiago with a new host family and a new school. But everybody I met in Concepcion will always be in my heart. So I will leave you with this, it's not Goodbye Concepcion, it is see ya later!!

Can't Believe It's Over By: Allison Bohn

I’m sitting here in the Dallas airport waiting for the last leg of flight back home and I still can’t believe this trip is over. It has been an amazing three weeks. Although I am excited to see my friends and family, I am not quite ready for my trip to be over.

My amazing family!

I had such an amazing family and I cannot thank them enough for making me feel as though I was a part of their family. It will be weird to go home to just my mom and dad and not five other people. It will definitely be much quieter without Pablo singing and Ian playing guitar.  I really hope that I will get to see them again some day.

Some of the LSU students.

Before the trip I was told that I would make a strong connection with my host family but I didn’t realize that I would become good friends with the other LSU students on the trip. I am definitely going to miss all the laughs we shared throughout the past three weeks.

My math teacher Fabiola and me with my engraved mug she gave me.

            Telling my fifth grade class goodbye was very hard. The kids latched onto me and did not want me to leave. I will miss my wonderful teachers who opened up their classrooms and made me feel very welcome in the school.

Playing musical chairs with the school's principal. 

This week was very busy and filled with lots of events. We had a wonderful dinner with our host teachers and translators. The school had an English Song Festival where students from numerous schools came and competed against one another. My brother Pablo sang in the concert and did an excellent job. Ivania also performed with the dance class and did a great job as well. On Friday we spent the day playing several different games with students from the school, which was tons of fun.

I am really going to miss Chile and all the people I met while I was there. I wish time had gone by slower, but I guess it is true that time flies when you’re having fun!

The Beauty of Santiago by Jai Jackson

The capital city of Santiago, Chile is absolutely beautiful. The architecture is very beautiful and it doesn't hurt to have the backdrop of the Andes present to only make things better.

Museum of Classical Art

Hill of San Sebastian

Santiago (Only a small part of the city)

 Santiago is such a beautiful city and very big. Six million people living in the shadow of two mountain ranges. 

More Santiago

 Look mom, I'm in Chile!!!

Look... I'm actually here!

 If I only had a good camera, I'd show you all of Santiago but hey, work with me.

Santiago, Chile

Some of my host family enjoying the view

The World Is Not Flat by Jai Jackson

My time in Concepcion has come to an end and I hate to see it go. In the three weeks that I've had the pleasure of falling in love with this beautiful city and it's residents, I've grown closer to becoming a truly global citizen. The world is only as large as you choose to live and the tiny slice that I've experienced has opened my eyes. The world is far from flat and is absolutely beautiful. 

The Andes Mountains

In my 2+ decades on this world I have yet to truly have a hard time saying goodbye. On this morning I had to say my farewells to what has become my family. My two brothers (Diego and Clemente), and my mama and papa (Johanna and Rodrigo) have taught me so much over the last three weeks. They've been patient with my language issues, fed me well (I gained weight!), and taught me so much about Chile and it's amazing heritage and traditions.  

Rodrigo, Me, and Diego at the Airport (CCP)

 If I could break into a Boys to Men montage right now, it would be perfect. I spent the morning singing, "It's so hard to say goodbye" and I may have dropped a couple tears. I'm off to the next journey in Santiago where I will tackle second grade! But don't worry... I'll be back.

It's time to go-go

 As always, Diego is eating. Here we're in Tacahuano visiting the Sea Lions on the pier as well as the famed ship captured from Peru, The Huascar. 

Talchahuano, Chile

 This is the capsule that aided in saving the trapped Chilean miners. It was created by the Chilean Navy.

The Capsule used to save the trapped Chilean Miners

Clemente wearing the buff I bought him

A Little Piece of Santiago by Maddie Laiche

Leaving Concepcion was extremely hard because of the strong bond I had with my host family, but with that came an opportunity to create another long-lasting bond with my family in Santiago! I was in love with Santiago from the moment that I laid my eyes on those Andes! Maybe it is because I miss the mountains in Colorado, but see the Andes made me feel right at home. My family was very generous and took me on a tour of Santiago. We went up to the one of the largest national parks in South America. The views were amazing!!

The tallest building in Chile

We then proceeded to downtown Santiago, where we took a short tour of the Chilean government building. There I saw the "orange patio" and two cannons that were named "Furious" and "Lightening" that were built in the 1700s. 

I already am in love with this city and cannot wait to see what this week has to offer!

Week 3, Not ready to leave-By Morgan Walker

This final week has been a blast! I'm not ready to leave my family but this is not a "goodbye" but an "until next time". On Tuesday we had a farewell dinner with our teachers and translators. The venue and food were awesome. It was nice to relax and enjoy a meal with our teachers and translators as well as bitter sweet because it was the last week we were going to see each other.

Our Incredible Meal

My teacher Macarena and I at the farewell dinner

On Thursday of this week we the school threw us a farewell party as well. We were invited to the schools masonry house. Inside the house was really cool. There were different artifacts on hanging one the walls and pictures of all the members and school administrators. We really didn't know why we were there but we soon figured out that we were having a Chilean celebratory meal named Asado I think. The showed us the national dance Cueca. Then it was our turn to learn the dances. That was really fun for me especially because I love to dance and the dance teacher was amazing. 

Dancing Cueca for us at the lunch

The food at this lunchtime celebration was really good from Chilean chorizo sausage, to steak and chicken, empanadas, and cake we ate extremely well. After the celebration we headed to back to the school for the English song competition. I enjoyed the competition especially the traditional dancing done by the students they were very good. 

After the competition we were invited to a a reception where the school presented us with dolls that were wearing the school uniform and a certificate to give to the families. We were asked to come speak briefly about our experience with the families. Of course I had all this great material in my head before on what I was going to say when it was by turn, but that didn't happen. Oh well, I think my family really understands how much I appreciated them for taking me in as part of their family. 

Friday was our last day to see the students and teachers. We played field day games like dodge ball and kick ball with the students. The last game we played was a version of dodge ball with only one ball that you pass around to the people surrounding the playing field on your team. Even though the students kicked our butt twice, I had fun. there was a lot of running in this game because your enemy is surrounding you, so to avoid being tagged out you have to run away from whoever has the ball. Anyway it was a really fun game. After we played the last game Amaris and I taught a few Zumba songs before were went around to say our goodbyes. 

Chilean hot dogs

The week before we made thank you cards and posters for each grade level in the school. James and I made a poster for 8th grade because we both taught lessons in that class. So we delivered the poster to the class that was with his at the time teacher because my teacher was teaching 12th grade on Friday. The students in the Math class prepared a surprise celebration complete with balloons and Chilean hot dogs. The hot doges were HUGE! They included 2 hot dogs, tomato, mayo, and guacamole. They were pretty good and I don't like mayo at all. But lucky the guacamole overpowered the taste of the mayo. 

Our 8th graders!

When I got back to the house I ate lunch and then slowly began to pack my suitcases. It was Juan Pablo's (the oldest son) Birthday on Friday. He and his wife came over to the house to celebrate and to send me off. We had pizza from the Deli House, which is a pizza and empanada restaurant in the neighborhood, Pisco Sours one of the most popular adult beverages in Chile, as well as cheese and crackers, chips and nuts. For dessert I showed the family how to make S'mores. They were a big hit. We made them on the kitchen table using the Fondue burners. Alejandro made a slide show for me of the pictures he took during our three weeks together. After we finished eating we went upstairs to watch it. 

It was hard leaving everyone because of the special relationships I built with each person in the family. I'm going to miss paying Lego's with Maxi and the after dinner conversations with Lucas. I'm also going to miss painting nails with Ximena and Alejandro's humor. Everyone in the family was so warm and inviting I always felt at home. I'm so happy I decided to go on this trip this was defiantly a great experience and I'm looking forward to the next!

It's Not Goodbye; It's I Will See You Later by Jaclyn Tregle

My time in Concepcion came to an end. It was very difficult to say goodbye to all of the wonderful people I have met here, especially my family. In the beginning of the week, we had a dinner to honor all of the teachers and staff  and translators that graciously took us under their wing by letting us participate in school lessons and activities. The translators sacrifice their own time to be with us to increase our ability to communicate with the teachers who did not speak any English.  On the last day of school, we had a small field day. We played games in the gym such as, kickball and dodgeball. We also had another Zumba session! It was a lot of fun playing and dancing with the students. I could not thank everybody at the Colegio de Concepcion San Pedro and the translators enough! I am very grateful for my experience in Concepcion. 

My translator, Jasna, and one of my teachers, Monica.

Kickball with the dean!

 Throughout my three weeks in Concepcion I was blessed with a very special host family. My mom, dad, and brother made me feel at home from the second they picked me up from the airport three weeks ago. I could not have had a better matched family. When I got sick with a cold, I was cured within a day. My mom made sure I was taken care of properly, and she made me hot water with herbs and honey to cure my sore throat. They also took the time to show me the beautiful sights of Concepcion, such as Desembucadora, Chilan, Talcahuano, the ferias, and many more. Also, they had to sacrifice time, too, to pick me up from school events that lasted into the night.  These people have truly impacted my life. I've always wanted a brother and now I can honestly say I have one. Felipe is the coolest brother any girl could ask for. We shared many laughs together, and always had a fun time. It will definitely not be the last time I see my family. It's not goodbye. It's I will see you later. I love this family as my own, because they are my family.

Last dinner at a Peruvian restaurant...yummy yummy :)

Mi Familia

Until next time, Concepcion!