Are we there yet?

Sunscreen? Check.
Amishy gifts for host families? Check.
Laptop? Camera? Check and check.
Required reading completed? .....getting there.

Besides a few odd jobs I left for the last minute, I am officially prepared to head south (on Monday, February 23rd). First stop: Santiago, Chile! And on the way, I'll make fourteen new friends. Well, that's the plan, anyway.

I'm ready to experience a new Spanish accent, a different political climate, some famous Chilean fish and wine, and of course learning in a new culture. Hence, "Aprender de la experiencia:" learn by experience.

Isabel Allende, a famous Chilean author I'll reference a lot, describes her people like this: "Being so far from everything gives us Chileans an insular mentality, and the majestic beauty of the land makes us take on airs. We believe we are the center of the world—in our view, Greenwich should have been set in Santiago—and we turn our backs on Latin America, always comparing ourselves instead to Europe. We are very self-centered: the rest of the universe exists only to consume our wines and produce soccer teams we can beat. My advice to the visitor is not to question the marvels he hears about my country, its wine, and its women, because the foreigner is not allowed to criticize—for that we have more than fifteen million natives who do that all the time." (That is from her book My Invented Country, which I highly recommend.)

So there you have it. Self-centered, wine- and soccer-loving people are waiting upon my arrival. I'll just have to see for myself if Allende was right.

As far as my contact information......that, you'll just have to wait for. All of those goodie-filled packages and love letters can sit around a few more weeks, I'm sure.

Please keep me updated on your lives in Richmond, Ephrata, Lancaster, Delaware, Philly, etc. etc. etc. and I'll try my best to do the same.

¡Que Dios te bendiga!
Jenna