A Chilean Adventure
Nichole Schmidt - January 2007
Four weeks!
Just four short weeks until I travel from 43° north lattitude to 39° 46′ south lattitude. I’ve always daydreamed about studying abroad and now it’s crazy that I’ll be living in Chile for 5 1/2 months. I’ll be fully immersed in their culture, taking all classes in Spanish with the rest of the students.
It’s been a process though and I just hope everything is in line when we leave. The biggest question right now is when our student visas are done. With the estimate that is given, they’ll be ready sometime between Jan. 29-Feb. 4. We have to actually drive to Chicago to get them from the Chilean Consulate because we have to sign them in front of the officials.
It’s also a rollercoaster of emotions. One minute I am really excited at the idea that I’ll live and pay rent in another country, and the next minute I’m ready to cry because it’s hard to imagine leaving my family and friends and boyfriend for such a long time. I’m trying to keep the happy excited feeling more, and to do so I’ve started learning random things each day about Chile to try to get psyched up about the whole thing. I’ve only been doing it for three days now, but I really think it’s working.
A new outlook
I met with a UW/AWA alum today. She will be volunteering in Chile with WorldTeach from May-December. We looked at a map and estimate that it will probably be about a 4-hour drive from Valdivia to her location. How exciting!
We also talked a lot about Chile in general, what to expect and what we’re both doing to prepare. She’s already been to Chile for a week-long trip, so she had a lot of insight and brought pictures to share. It was so cool to have feedback and information that is based off of real first-hand experience. It’s making the whole thing come into perspective more.
I think we both shared things with each other that we probably wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. I definitely got some good ideas: take comfort things (food, pictures, trinkets, etc.) that will help me feel better when things get tough, a parting gift idea for Mike and/or my family, and other things that I wish I would have written while we were talking, but I’m sure they’re in my memory and I’ll remember things when I need to.
The conversation really changed my outlook a lot. I left thinking, “Will 5 1/2 months be long enough to feel comfortable with the language and to get a full understanding of the culture?” It will have to be, but now I’m ready to make the most of my time there.
Visitors!
Time keeps ticking away, but I’m glad that I can still just feel normal and enjoy my last few weeks in the U.S. I traveled home for the long weekend and had a nice time with the whole family. Saturday we painted the dining room in our house, and the next day Mom and I baked some cream rolls. Great bonding.
I also got some great news Friday night. Mom said, “Well, your dad tells me I should go and apply for a passport.” She kind of seemed interested in visiting at one point, but a lot of times those decisions linger out there and nothing happens. Not this time! She and Kayla are planning to visit the week before Easter. It’s going to be some great mother-daughter(s) bonding time. I’m really excited that hopefully I can show them a good time on their first international experience.
I haven’t heard from Danielle for some time. I left a message Friday, but I need to try to call her again soon. It’s probably good for us to communicate our plans…
Less than two weeks!
Less than two weeks away! I still have some stuff to do before I leave (not all of it is related to me leaving), but I’m sure I’ll get it done. Starting next Wednesday I’ll be at home without a lot of things to do during the day. I don’t really have much to buy before I go because I went shopping last weekend and got most of the things I needed. I actually didn’t need a lot-some Drammamine, Pepto Bismol, and Advil to help with any ailments, a few notebooks (I hear the quality isn’t as good for notebooks down there), and some Dove chocolates to help me get through any homesick spells. I also got a couple of outlet adapters because the voltage is different and the sockets are a different size. I hope I don’t blow anything up when I’m there.
It seems like communication back to the U.S. won’t be too difficult while I’m there. Cell phones are cheap and they have pay-as-you-go plans so I don’t a long-term contract like you do in the U.S. There’s also an international internet-based communication program, Skype, that’s free to use. We (Mom, Mike, and I) bought webcams so we can actually do video chat and see one-another. The speed depends on the internet connect, but even if the video chat isn’t very good, at least we can do live voice chat for free. It sure beats snail mail…although real letters are nice to receive also.
The last big hurdle - getting my visa.
After nearly 10 hours in a car, I have my visa and I’m back at home for a little while. The visa was really the last big hurdle before leaving and I’m relieved that I have it now. Actually, the only dream that I’ve had about Chile was that Danielle and I were at the airport and we didn’t have our visas yet. No need to worry about that anymore.
We had to travel to downtown Chicago to obtain them from the Consulado General de Chile, which was inside the John Hancock building. The first appointment was at 9:00, so we left home at 4:00 a.m. It was a looooong day! We had to sign a couple of sheets and they put our thumbprint on them. It seemed kind of excessive, but we are lucky that Madison isn’t too far from Chicago. They only have consulate offices in regions of the country, so people from all over the midwest have to go to Chicago to get their visa. We were lucky that the drive was only about 3 hours.
The office was kind of exciting. There were some pictures of Chile up, a picture of the (female!) president of Chile, and some Chillean-American magazines that were in Spanish.
Once I got back from Chicago I packed up everything from my uncle’s apartment (it only took 1/2 hour!) and headed back to Gresham to spend a few days at home.
A week from today we’ll be back in Chicago to head to Chile!