Tengo Que Estar Donde Debo Estar

"I have to be where I am supposed to be" (Translation of Title)

At  the end of a long and emotional day, I definitely feel the need to write and express my feelings. I want to begin by saying that I am so happy to be here in Osorno, Chile and I couldn’t dream of a better opportunity. I love the people that I’m meeting and getting to know as well. On the other hand, today I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I began the day with my first video chat with one of my best friends, Katie, and my nephew, Sage. He is now almost 7 months and almost 17 pounds! He’s grown so much!! Also, his personality is definitely developing and he’s learning a lot. I loved seeing his smiling face. Not being able to see Katie for about 3 months is awful considering the fact that I basically lived at her house while I was in Simi.

Next, I got to talk to my sister. We get to talk more often than I had expected, but it still feels like forever when we can’t talk for more than a few minutes for a week. Unfortunately, Skype wasn’t working, so the phone had to do, but it was great to catch up and talk a little bit. I really miss hanging out with her and just being together as sisters. She definitely is one person who knows me better than most.

A few hours later, to my very happy surprise, I got to Skype with my cousin, Riley. She was getting ready to go to the mall with our other cousin, Heather, so we caught up a little bit while she did her makeup. Before I left, I had the privilege of spending a lot of time with her and developing a very special friendship. I loved hearing about her plans for high school and how well her last semester of jr. high is going. Just before she left, Heather arrived at her house and popped on the screen to say hello. She’s another one of my cousins that might as well be my little sister. Having the chance to see them and talk to them, even for a very short time, made me miss home more than I could bare and the tears began to flow.

After trying to clean myself up, I went to talk to Nati, knowing that she was possibly leaving to find out what was going to happen. Then, to add to pain of the day, I found out that she only had a few more hours before she had to leave Osorno to go back to Santiago. To some it may seem silly to be so sad about saying goodbye to someone I’ve known for only one week, but I’ve learned that when you’re traveling and you meet incredible people that you click with, you develop special bonds very quickly. So we went for a walk in the countryside and hung out with the cows and talked about leaving and how much it sucks to say goodbye. She was also saying goodbye to her aunt, uncle, and cousin whom she is very close with so she was crying too.

In conclusion, like I said before, I am so beyond thankful for my choice to come to Chile and live abroad, but I am also more thankful than ever before for my amazing relationships with very special people back home in California. I very much look forward to the adventures ahead of me here in Chile and all of the adventures to be lived when I return home. <3