Ready and Thankful.

Well I'm down to ONE WEEK left in Santiago. My thoughts on this are the two words I used as the title of this entry: READY and THANKFUL.

Here’s why:

These two months have been everything from invigorating, frustrating, exhausting, and awe-inspiring. As I start to pack up my bags, say my goodbyes, and eat my last delicious Chilean avocados and clementines, I think I will continue to feel a sense of extreme gratitude for the gift of these two months that have allowed me to explore issues that I find deeply important. However, it is definitely time for me to get back home and start figuring out how it is that I’ll integrate this work and this experience into my life.

My parents came to visit last week (we spent a few days exploring Buenos Aires, Argentina and then came back to Santiago for the last 3 days of their trip) and this was wonderful and in many ways, an amazing way to start acclimating back to my US life again. I loved sharing pieces of my Chilean life here with them and it was really amazing to see some of these places through their eyes. I'm also excited to get back to Boston. Being away from Boston has helped me gain some clarity on the really amazing friendships and experiences that this past year has brought to my life and I have definitely found myself aching for the city that is slowly but truly becoming a home.

I'm also ready to wrap things up here because I do feel like these have, in many ways, been an exhausting couple of months where I have been brewing in new information, ideas, environments and trying to soak in everything here in the most present, sponge-like way possible. I know that this is an incredible gift but it is also downright exhausting!

I’m ready to start thinking about how I can support Con-spirando, their insightful visions, and the great work they do in a way that isn’t intrusive but genuinely supportive.

I’m ready to start thinking about the many ways that I have seen U.S. college students engage social justice and human rights work abroad and how this work can potentially change the world or unknowingly perpetrate the very abuses we seek to eliminate.

These two months have been an incredible gift where I’ve been able to continue thinking, experiencing, and soaking in some hugely important work. What will happen next? I’m READY to find out.