How I got here, and where I'm going

Almost a month ago I went out for a 5 minute break in the middle of my Latin American History class when after all of that talk about Latin America it suddenly hit me; "I'm going to Latin America in two months!" Utter excitement mixed with a little bit of fear washed over me. Now I'm down to just over a month, and it almost seems less real. But in a few weeks it will hit me again and I will attempting to maintain my excitement and anxiety!

This all started when I went to Europe just after my junior year of high school, visiting Italy, France, Switzerland, and Germany (in the airport only, but still there!). International travel became my new best friend. Therefore study abroad while at the university became a must. What impacted me the most on my Europe trip was watching a fellow student use her French to by some chocolate in a shop in Annecy, France. The sounds coming out of her mouth sounded like smooth gibberish to me, but I knew there was some sort of hidden meaning behind it. This transformed my life. I saw foreign language outside the classroom, and saw how cool it is to be able to use it. "I want to be able to do that," I thought to myself. Since I had already studied Spanish for 2 years, I figured I would stick with it, and learn it well. Hence my decision to minor in Spanish.

Originally I was planning to study abroad in Australia, a dream that came to me in October of my sophomore year of high school when my family was traveling to New York City. We were sitting in LAX when a Qantas 747 pulled up on the other side of the terminal, with the large Kangaroo on the tail fin, and the logo "Spirit of Australia" written on the side of the plane.

My jaw dropped on the floor. I practically drooled all over myself. "I want to go there!!!" My dream to travel down under has only grown stronger over the past 5 years, but I realized that if I wanted to speak Spanish fluently, I needed to study in a Spanish-speaking country. So with a little research on the SOU study abroad website, Chile became my destination. Australia will wait for now. (Though hopefully only 2 more years!)

For those of you who don't know where exactly I am going, here is some info on Valdivia, which is where I will live for 4 months. Below is a map of where Valdivia lies in South America, the town itself (also featured as the background of this blog), and a map with my own additions.

El Centro

I will likely be living on Isla Teja (red) which is where La Universidad Austral de Chile (which basically translates to Southern University of Chile) is located. It will definitely be a little scary trying to adapt to a new culture, a new language, and even the cold winter weather during those first few weeks. However, just like the old saying goes, "no pain no gain!"

I want to give a out a big thanks for those of you who will be praying for me, and for all of your support. Please follow my blog throughout the end of the year. I will be updating it regularly throughout my semester with stories, experiences, and things I have learned. You can sign up to get it in your email inbox to the right if you like. Thanks!