I’ve officially made it to England safe and sound. Arrived in London last Friday, spent a good couple days getting to know the Cardiff girls and exploring the city, then on Monday I moved into Durdham Hall in Bristol! Phew. It certainly has been a whirlwind of a week.

Since I’m a little bit behind on blogging here’s a brief overview of the fantastic time I had in London with five girls who are studying through IFSA-Butler in Cardiff, Wales for the semester:

Day 1: Arrived around 7am, explored the neighborhood, met Lynne and Oran at the London office, explored some more (including Portobello Road Market, where I struggled not to buy any thing – I’m a sucker for flea markets), met the Cardiff girls, get settled in my hotel room, dinner with Oran at Wagamama (I’ve found one in Bristol – very exciting!), drinks at the Windsor Castle and the Prince Edward pubs (at the second one we ran into the IFSA-Butler students studying at City University in London and had a good time getting to know them all), sleep.

Here’s a photo of one of the cool shops I discovered nearby the Portobello Road Market while I was exploring. I don’t remember its name, but it’s an edgy clothing store and any open space is COVERED with stacks of antique sewing machines. It was so cool!

Day 2: Group and individual orientation with Oran, Cambria, Andrew, and Charlotte – we learned all about academics, student life, and travel. I was most excited to hear about all of the fun trips IFSA-Butler has planned for us throughout the semester. The Weekend Adventure in Wales sounds like it will be a blast! Afterwards… lunch, saw an interesting play called The Pitman Painters, dinner, sleep.

Day 3: All day long we traveled around London on the Big Bus Tour, which allowed us to see a TON of landmarks, including:

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace

And then on the river tour, which was included with the Big Bus Tour, we saw the landmarks at night, which was AMAZING! Here’s a composite of some cool long-exposure shots I took while on the river tour:

Then we get to Monday, when Cambria and I took the 2-ish hour train to Bristol to move me in! I’ve only just finished unpacking and getting myself acquainted with the area, but so far I am loving it! My flatmates are super nice, and the city is wonderful. Pictures and perhaps a video as well will be up soon. Cheers!

 

On the flight home, I was really excited to see my family and to be home.  When I landed in America, my phone started exploding with texts and calls from family and friends who were excited for my arrival.  It was an amazing feeling to know that people were genuinely excited to see me, and that I had a functioning iPhone with a phonebook full of contacts.  Unlimited texting and data, and access to mobile facebook and email were also great things about touching down in the states.  My parents picked me up at the airport in Indianapolis at midnight and we made the 2.5-hour journey home.  The stars were breath taking; after being in London for so long, I had forgotten how beautiful they are.  We went to our house and I put my bags down in my room.  I looked around my room and actually felt like I lived in a department store.  Seeing the full closet of brands I was familiar with, and having more than three pair of pants… and it was all my size! The moment of looking around at the perfume bottles and dresser of makeup actually felt like a glimpse of Heaven.  After living off of one suitcase for three months, I finally understood how privileged I am.  My mom had put a Tiffany & Co. decorated Christmas tree in my room with presents underneath, and I got to open welcome home/pre-Christmas gifts.  It was great to by with my parents again; it literally took the entire winter break for my mom and I to catch up.

After the initial surge of happiness, I started to feel pretty sad about leaving my friends.  All of the kids who studied in London agreed that it was the best time of our lives and we have made closer friends there than we have at school or at home; as the days went on, we Skyped each other and texted, but it was not comparable to living next door.  After meeting the students who studied in London, there was a definite disconnect with my friends from home.  I was hopeful that we would pick up where we left off right away, but the transition was rougher than I had anticipated.  I matured a lot while I was away, and it was hard to get used to the lifestyle my friends live.

I have started my final semester at Butler, and it is definitely different than the U.K.   I had forgotten how demanding American University is, and have had a hard time adjusting to the workload.  The hardest part is transitioning back into the social sphere.  I have been away from school for a whole year, first to move to New Jersey for an internship, then to study in London.  I started to feel really isolated because I could not share my experiences, and my friends all had spent the past year together creating memories that I was not a part of.  I also really miss the freedom and activity that London provides.  We had the chance to explore whatever we wished, but the options are rather limited in Indianapolis.  I have the “travel bug” in hopes of seeing the world again as I did while abroad.  Some of the students from London and I have discussed a reunion, and some loose plans have been made. So far, the transition into this semester has been much more difficult than I anticipated, but I am viewing it as a time to cherish my friends and family and rekindle old friendships.  This is the time that will strengthen long-time friendships and will prepare me to begin a career in Rhode Island this summer.  Overall, I would not have changed a single thing about the study abroad experience. I am so blessed to have met wonderful people, traveled the world, and gained insight on different cultures; I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Hello! I’ve been in Costa Rica for about four days and it is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! It is so green and there are beautiful flowers everywhere!! When we were flying over the country, we could see volcanoes and the beautiful beaches. The water is also very, very blue! ¡Que hermosa!

The first night, we stayed at the Hotel Bougainvillea. It is known for its amazing gardens and plant life. Each student was assigned a room with 2-3 other students. It was a great way to meet everyone! Most of the students arrived in the morning or afternoon so by dinner time, almost every one was there. We ate dinner in true pura vida style because it lasted over three hours! We were served three courses and each were very delicious. I think the hotel was trying to provide us with food that we would typically eat in America because I had ravioli for my first Costa Rican meal! It was still better than any ravioli I had in the US. The next morning we met up with the rest of the students who arrived late in the night and began our first day of orientation. We ate breakfast at the hotel which consisted of gallo pinto (rice and beans) which is a very common breakfast here. It was delicious! Afterwards, we met our resident directors who will be with us for the rest of orientation and spent some time going over the in’s and out’s of Costa Rica. Around 2, we left for Monteverde which was a four hour bus ride up into the mountains.

There are no words that can appropriately describe Monteverde because it is absolutely beautiful! There is a view of the gulf in some parts and many different plant species. We are taking an intensive Spanish course at the Insituto de Monteverde and other orientation classes. We also have latin dance classes which are very fun but very tiring! It’s like a zumba class but a million times harder! Also at the institute there are so many dogs running around. They are pets of the workers here and they are always coming in and out of our classroom to visit. They are probably one of my favorite parts of orientation so far! Tomorrow we have a night tour of Monteverde where we can see the animals that come out at night. I’m excited but also a little nervous so I’m definitely bringing bug spray! On Friday we have a tour through another forest in the morning. It’s also one of the girls 21st birthdays so we are going to Santa Elena to celebrate. We went there last night and it was a lot of fun! There are many places to dance so we all practiced our Merengue and Salsa!

While in Monteverde, we stay with families. It was hard at first to get used to living in another family’s  home but they are very welcoming for the most part. It’s definitely awkward at times when I can’t understand everything my host mom is saying because she talks very fast. In my family there is a girl who’s about my age and can speak a little English so when I can’t understand what’s going on she can explain it to me much slower. She also has a newborn baby and he is adorable! The grandmother lives with us at well and she is very sweet. On Saturday, we get to make a typical Costa Rican dessert with our host mothers and then present them to the rest of the program. I’m very excited to see what we make and what the other students make as well.

As for the food here, it’s very, very good but very rich. They also eat all the time! Luckily we do a lot of walking so I’m hungry often but I feel bad when I can’t finish my dinner because there is enough food on my plate to feed an army! All of my meals so far in Monteverde have consisted of rice and beans, and sometimes with meat or vegetables mixed in. Like I said, it’s very good but very rich!

Getting accustomed to life in Costa Rica is definitely a challenge and I know that I have a long semester ahead of me. The people here are very nice and willing to help anyone who needs it. I’m excited to get to Heredia because I hear the lifestyle there is very different than the lifestyle in Monteverde. Right now I’m taking it day by day and looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead!

This week was the start of classes at Leeds and I’ve been to all mine at least once. Most of my classes just meet several times a week in normal lectures like I’m used to. Well, normal in the fact that the professors stand at the front of the room and….lecture. Not normal in the fact that all of them are in lecture halls with 60-100 people. I’ve never been in a math class larger than 30, and that was just one. Almost all the rest of mine have been somewhere between 8 and 15. I only know of two actual “lecture halls” at Butler. All of the classes I’m in here in Leeds are in lecture halls like you see in the movies. We sit in theater seating and the professors use large projectors and movable white boards to teach. The funny thing is that in the building I’m in, the lecture halls are situated on the front and back of the building along 4 different staircases. You enter the room through skinny doors along the stairs that go strait into the different rows. It is possible to go in the bottom door and walk across the front, then go up the stairs on the other side of the room and pick a row then, but I usually just sit in row B or C and enter from the stairs. Next week we start having workshops, which are smaller group meetings where we can talk about homework problems and ask questions. Today is my free day, which I’m taking full advantage of. I cannot wait for a day to relax and catch up on some reading :0)

Oh dear! It’s been three weeks since I last blogged about my pre-departure jitters and attempts to squeeze five months of life into two suitcases. Well, I succeeded in that endeavor (sort of) and made it to London oozing with excitement and even more jitters about living abroad. Upon arriving in the pouring rain (that all of the locals assured me was uncommon) and working on little sleep from the overnight flight, I explored Bloomsbury section of London where our IFSA orientation hotel was located. Right in the heart of the city, this area touches upon the West End theatre district (the Queen musical We Will Rock You was showing down the block) and I wandered through the shops with some fellow students, mainly in search of a cheap, simple phone to use for these few months. I learned two things on this first day: I am horribly addicted to my Blackberry in the U.S. (and instant connections to email and social media) and more important- keep left.

Pretty much everyone knows that vehicles in Britain drive on the left side of the street, opposite to our right-sided ways in America. This makes crossing the street a dangerous mission at times, compounded by one-ways and no entry roadways that are numerous in London. Thankfully, most street corners include directions on which way to look for traffic before venturing into the street. It’s a bit confusing for someone used to the checkerboard patterns of Philadelphia and New York, but three weeks in, I am amazingly getting the hang of it. However, when walking on the pavement (or sidewalk as we say in the States, again setting up a potentially dangerous miscommunication), keeping to the left is seemingly arbitrary. Most of the time, especially in the central part of the city, people move so quickly darting in and out and around that it seems there must be an intuitive system to it all. I haven’t gotten it yet. To further complicate matters, on Underground escalators, the rule is to keep right to stand and left to walk, much like the D.C. Metro. So-keep left, most of the time.

I’ve spent the majority of my first few weeks here doing touristy things and you’ll see a few pictures in this blog of those experiences. One of the best things to do in London is simply to walk around and enjoy it. Exploring the Southwark area of London in the southeast section (where my residence hall is located), you can stumble upon the Borough Market, which is a fantastic Saturday afternoon adventure when many goods go down in price. Located near the Southwark Cathedral and London Bridge and only a short walk from the Globe Theater, the Borough Market will certainly be a regular part of my Saturdays while here.

I also loved my day-long adventure into Westminster. Beginning at Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery (which is great for multiple visits), venturing into St. James Park and the chance to see the Horse Guards at the Palace of Whitehall, you can stroll leisurely up The Mall toward the East Front of Buckingham Palace and watch the Changing of the Guard. In the winter, however, the guards wear gray coats, rather than their famous red ones, so I’m holding onto those pictures for later in the year. After the Palace, it’s a short walk to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.  The Abbey has probably been my favorite tourist part so far. A truly beautiful building, I spent nearly three hours just exploring the different areas, including the tombs of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots and Poets’ Corner, before staying for the weekday Evensong service to hear the Abbey Choir. And a small part of me definitely enjoyed the fact that I walked the same path that Kate Middleton did on her way to becoming the Duchess of Cambridge. Okay…a large part of me enjoyed it.

If you’ve stuck with the blog this long, I congratulate you! It’s hard to fit three weeks of amazing experiences into a short blog posting. However, I’d like to leave you with a few of my favorite moments of the last few weeks.

1. Even Londoners check Tube and road maps. Roads tend to change names often and the Tube is always undergoing improvements with the upcoming Olympic Games. Looking for an adrenaline rush for under £2? Ride the trademark double-decker red London bus on the top floor at the very front as it weaves through the narrow London streets. Just remember not to panic when it looks like you’re going to hit something.

2. Take time to listen to the sounds of the city, especially if you’ve never lived in a city before. Even then, the vibe in London, with its different neighborhoods and different cultures, is completely removed from any city in America. It’s fantastic to capture the old buildings like  the Houses of Parliament next to today’s technology and soak up the culture of nation both traditional and moving forward. Taking it a step further, create a London-themed playlist and watch the city against a backdrop of songs from British artists. Perhaps my favorite experience was having lunch on a bench in St. James Park with a view of Buckingham Palace beyond the trees while listening to Mumford and Sons (first introduced to me by their number-one fan, my U.S. roommate Sarah).

3. Pantos are one of the best British traditions ever. Usually shown around Christmas, pantos (pantomines) are zany, family shows with popular songs set to fairy tales and filled with double entendres for parents, crazy dance and joke routines for kids and generally, an all around great night out. I was so fortunate that IFSA took us to see Dick Whittington at the New Wimbeldon Theatre and it’s an experience that I would repeat again in a heartbeat.

4. London is gorgeous at night. Truly beautiful. My camera is not nearly good enough to do the images justice, so you’ll have to take my word for it. But exiting the National Gallery and looking out over Trafalgar Square to see Big Ben in the distance gave me one of those “Oh my Gosh, I’m in London” moments that have happened quite often these last weeks.

5. No one says awesome here. While awesome is likely the most widely and overly used adjective in America (and in my vocabulary), it’s very rare here. A few of my new British friends have chuckled, even though it’s becoming more used in the younger generations. Therefore, I will be focusing on replacing my use of awesome with lovely and fantastic. We’ll see how well this works.

So that’s it from me for now! I’ll see you in a couple weeks with adventures outside of London and maybe even a bit on my studies thus far. Maybe. Just to keep Mom and Dad happy. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures!

I didn’t realize until after I had published my last post that I’m not able to go back and add pictures…so instead, I’m adding them separately to this post.

Friday & Saturday
Pictures from when we arrived in Leeds and then traveled by train to London

Sunday
Pictures from the one day I spent exploring London with my mom before she went back to the states

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London is a bustling city that has many events going on everyday.  The website Timeout.com has a whole calendar of different happenings going on in different areas.  While in London we did many awesome things, so I decided to make a list of my top 10 favorite events.

Top 10 Favorite Events:

1. Warehouse Party— We went to a concert that had seven different DJs, including Jaime XX.  The show was incredible- we got to the very front of the stage and were in many of the pictures from the show!
2. Calvin Harris Concert—Calvin Harris came to London and we ventured all the way to zone 6 to see the show (we lived in zone 1). It took us about an hour to get there but the show was crazy!  People were packed so tightly into once space that we could hardly move.  The music and lights were great and it was great that our entire group went together.
3. O’Neil’s in China town—O’Niel’s is a chain of Irish pubs.  One Thursday we went to the one in China town that had three floors and had two live bands.  They played songs like Blink 182 and the place was packed with dancers.
4. Winter Wonderland—This was a theme park for all ages. My parents visited me while I was abroad and we went to Winter Wonderland together.  There were rides, foods from all different countries, games and live music.  They served mulled wine and beer which was very different than theme parks in the US.  There was even a Carousel Bar, made from a real carousel.
5. Rugby and Soccer Games— We had the chance to go to an all-day soccer tournament and also a rugby match.  It was great to get a glimpse of British culture and see why people love the sports so much!
6. Ice Bar—We went to the Ice Bar in London, which was made completely of ice!  We had to wear coats and gloves and could only stay in for 20 minutes, but it was so fun!
7. Markets—London is known for having many different markets and we had the opportunity to visit a different market every weekend, including Brick Lane and Camden.
8. Afternoon Tea at Harrods—Some of us enjoyed a nice cup of English tea with finger sandwiches and scones at Harrods.  The store was decorated for Christmas and there were giant teddy bears throughout.  A very English tradition!
9. Sherlock Holmes Movie—The new Sherlock Holmes movie came out while were in London.  We lived on Baker Street, so it was awesome to see the movie on the street where it was set.
10. Hampton Court Palace and Ice-Skating—Hampton Court Palace had a winter carnival.  We walked through the hedge maze, saw the amazing gardens and went ice-skating while we watched the sun set on the palace.

We did many other fun events besides those listed above, but those were the ones that my friends and I have the most lasting memories from.  London has something for everyone and it was awesome to experience a little bit from many different cultures.  Growing up in Indiana, I haven’t had exposure to much diversity but I love being surrounded by so many different walks of life!

 

 

 

After Halloween, we thought Thanksgiving might bring about homesickness for the Americans.  To avoid longing for our families, seven of us embarked on a four-day trip to Marrakesh, Morocco. The trip was with an organization called, Sun or Sand, which has many trips for students.

On Thanksgiving Thursday, we landed in Marrakesh and could not believe we had made it to Africa!  We went through customs and exchanged our pounds for durham, the local currency.  We rode a bus to our trip leader, Mohammad.  When we met Mohammad in the town square we went to a restaurant that served chicken targine and mint tea, both of which are Moroccan specialties. Cats are everywhere in Morocco, even in the restaurant where we ate.   We then walked around the town square, and saw the Koutoubia Mosque, which is the largest in Morocco.  There were very large speakers on the Mosque, and our leader said that Muslims are called to pray 5 times a day through chants over the loud speaker. Visitors were not allowed into the mosque, so we could only see the outside.  After that we went to the markets.  The markets were huge with brightly colored scarves and tassels.  There was thick tar-looking black soap that was at many of the shops, as well as, toy wooden snakes.  At the market, Snow or Sand bought us classic Moroccan hats and my friend Rani and I bought matching coats.  We shopped in the markets for a bit and heckled with the workers for lower prices.  It was very fun to see if you could get something for a lower price. Everything cost much less than in the US; at the time, one American dollar was seven durham.  To get an idea, a scarf at a market would be 200 durham (before heckling).  The market also had iguanas, which many of us held.  After the markets, we enjoyed a glass of orange juice from a restaurant.  There were many street vendors selling orange juice and sweets, but we were discouraged from eating street food because it could have made us sick.  Also, the water was not drinkable; we even had to brush our teeth with bottled water.  In the evening, we had a Moroccan feast!  We sat at a long table, and there were unlimited plates of traditional Moroccan foods, such as couscous and skewers of meat.  It was so appropriate since it was Thanksgiving!

Friday was a fun-filled day.  To start the day, we visited a place where African women make aragon oil.  This oil can be used for cooking or in soaps and beauty products.  We saw the process of getting the oil and bought some of the products.  Our tour guide bought us tangerines and bananas that were so delicious!  We then headed up a mountain, where we rode camels!  Next, we walked up a mountain, to eat with a local.   On our way up the mountain it started to hail on us.  We had an adrenaline rush from climbing the mountain and the hail made it a truly surreal experience.  We got to the top of the mountain, where there was a tiny village.  Our guide took us to a house of a local man who cooked us lunch.  We had couscous and targine and he taught us some African words and phrases.  The restroom in a traditional Moroccan house is simply a hole in the floor.  On the way down the mountain, we saw a shepherd with a heard of baby sheep!  The sheep were so cute; they looked like puppies!  We boarded the bus and traveled down the mountain.  The landscape was breathtaking.  When we arrived to the center of town, we went to our Riad, which had incredible architecture.  There were intricate carvings all over the ceilings and walls and beautiful tile in the bathroom.  There were five other girls on the Snow or Sand trip that stayed in our Riad, and all seven of my friends got to stay in the same room. There were enough beds for all of us, and in the evenings we spent time catching up on “girl talk”.  The seven of us really bonded over this trip; we spent every day with each other and never had any misunderstandings.

In the evening, we went to a shisha bar that was decorated in bright colors.  Our guide went with us, and insisted that we come home before 10:00pm, because after that it was not safe for us to be out.  We wanted snacks after and he took us to a Moroccan version of a convenience store.  The store was literally a glass window on the sidewalk that you had to peer through to see what was offered and request what you would like.  We walked back to our Riad for the night through the town square, which was alive for the night.  There were street vendors selling DVDs, sunglasses, sweets, glow sticks and any other trinkets you could think of.  The streets are  dirt and concrete and the city has many tiny allies; it looked exactly like a scene from Aladdin.  The traffic is ciaos; to cross the street, you have to go in a large group and start walking in the middle of traffic and hope no one hits you.  There are horse buggies and the streets reek of horse dropping and there are motorized bicycles everywhere.

On Saturday morning, we went to a museum that housed artifacts about local culture, such as handmade rugs and plates.  Then, we went to an herb store, where we learned about natural healing powers of different kinds of herbs and teas and had the opportunity to buy some of the products.  One girl bought so much stuff she literally had to have it shipped home in a new suitcase!  Next, we walked through the city to the Jardin Majorelles.  On our way to the gardens, we saw a stork in its nest perched on top of a building.  In the garden we saw many exotic cacti and flowers.  The gardens were beautiful and definitely one of the highlights of the trip!  We rode a horse and carriage back to the town square and had a classic lunch of couscous and dried fruit.

After lunch we met Mohammad at the town square for an opportunity to take a picture with monkeys and snakes.  We did that and then went back to our Riad and changed into our swimsuits for a hammam bath.  None of us knew exactly what a hammam bath was before going, so we weren’t sure what to expect.  We were soon to find out that it was one of the most awkward experiences of our life.  Basically, a hammam bath is a full-body scrub, where they use an exfoliating mitt and black soap to remove all of your body’s dead skin.  We each had to be exfoliated in front of each other, and to say the least… it was a bonding experience.  Although the hammam bath was both embarrassing and unsanitary, it made your skin feel wonderful afterwards!  We showered and began to get ready for our big night!  On Saturday night, we went to dinner and saw a traditional belly dancing show.  The dancers were awesome!

Sunday was the final day of our trip.  For breakfast we had Moroccan Mint Tea, which is poured into cups in streams of about two feet and sugared bread that was very similar to a pancake.  After breakfast, we visited the markets for a final chance to grab souvenirs, and then took a bus to the airport.

Morocco was my favorite place to visit the whole semester.   The customs were totally different than that of the US.  The countryside was beautiful and it was awesome to understand Moroccan lifestyles.  It help put into perspective how fortunate I am and how much opportunity is in the US.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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(Part 2 of my post-study-abroad entry.)

2. Things Aren’t So Bad Here After All.

Yes, I did (and still do) have a pretty bad case of reverse culture shock. But I’m getting over it. Really, I am.

Strategy number 1: Let your friends drag you to your old usual haunts. This is what I did all winter break–the month in San Francisco between my return from Chile and my return to Barnard. I saw my friends (and sister) almost every day and we went to classically San Franciscan places like the beach (did I mention yet that global warming has led to a beautiful December and January for us this winter?) and the top of the hill with the best view of the entire city. We ate good Mexican taqueria food, which I really missed while abroad and always miss when I’m in New York, and we drank bubble tea, and we did everything we used to do. The only difference this time around was the earful my friends got about Chile. I’m sure that if they have to hear “In Chile…” one more time they are going to cry.

Strategy number 2: Talk about your experiences, whether people want to hear about it or not. It is best if your listener actually wants to be listening to you babble on about how amazing Chilean folklore music is, but it’s OK if they don’t care. Not everyone will, but you still must share your stories. And what I still have yet to do is go to the one place where I am guaranteed that my study abroad stories will be considered fascinating and important on my campus: the study abroad office. It’s definitely on the agenda.

Strategy number 3: Speak in Spanish. There are more Spanish speakers in the Bay Area and the New York City area than I could meet even if I spent every second of my days meeting new Spanish speakers. There is no excuse. There is no excuse. I can maintain my Spanish fluency, so now I must.

IFSA-Butler has given many other great suggestions for making a successful transition back to U.S. life and I plan to give the ideas a try. Volunteering, for example. I think I’ll also pursue that Spanish minor now and look for ways that I can return to, if not Chile specifically, at least to Latin America.

So, here’s to moving forward but keeping Chile with me as I go. Thank you for reading about my experiences. Que les vaya muy bien.

Anjie

I’m back in the USA and have been for a little over a month. Does that mean I’ve readjusted to life here? Yes, but not completely. I’ve been stumbling through my transition back to both my home in San Francisco and my U.S. college in New York City. Here is part 1 of the story.

1. Reverse Culture Shock is Real.

There have been many, many moments since I left Chile in which I didn’t really leave Chile. Not emotionally, at least. These are some of the most note-worthy moments.

Reverse-culture shock moment number 1: For a good couple of weeks I kept saying “permiso” in crowded areas in place of “excuse me.” Woops. The funny thing is, though, that I probably could have said “hippopotamus” and the slightly insane people of San Francisco would have understood me anyway and proceeded to move out of my path and say “you’re welcome.”

Reverse culture shock moment number 2: Is that what you readers thought whenever I used the word “gringa” in my earlier posts? You assumed I was trying to crack a joke? Weird! Because now whenever I talk about the gringa experience in Chile with my friends here in the United States, I get laughs and giggles. It’s the weirdest thing. In Chile, the words “gringo” and “gringa” are neutral. It’s like saying “U.S. citizen” or “person of European descent.” There is nothing especially funny about the word gringo in Chile, unless you’re actually making a joke about gringos in Chile. Hence, I’ve been using the word just as casually here, too, because I’m having a hard time remembering that “gringo” sounds funny to U.S. citizens. Even though that’s what we are. Gringo. Gringa. Gringo. Gringa. Why are you chuckling? Why? WHY!?

Reverse culture shock moment number 3: What? You mean I have to wait TWENTY MINUTES for this bus? That’s ridiculous! The Errazurriz bus in Valparaiso runs every twenty seconds!

Reverse culture shock moment number 4: I forgot that I used to wear two pairs of socks on cold days in New York. A friend had to remind me that that is something people do. Not even the central-heating-deprived chilly coastal winter of Vina del Mar and Valparaiso compares to this cold. How did I already survive two New York winters before?

Reverse culture shock moment number 5: My Spanish-speaking friends in the U.S. either don’t understand or don’t like my Chilean dialect. The awesomeness of the meaningless word “po” is lost on them.

Reverse culture shock moment number 6: I insecurely double-track through the New York neighborhood I used to know by heart. When one friend asks me “Do you want to stop at Westside?” I cannot help but reply, “What is Westside?” Westside is not just an Upper West Side grocery store; it is an Upper West Side landmark. When you have forgotten all your college landmarks you are doomed.

Keep reading on to part 2.