Un Mes en Santiago – A Month in Santiago

This past weekend brought forth a milestone in my journey toward adulthood here in Santiago, as now a complete month has past since we first arrived here in Chile. Along the way, I have experienced life as a child (un niño), seemingly landing as an infant incapable of the smallest of normal life tasks and have grown into an adolescent (un joven), complete with false bravado and without a true sense of accountability and responsibility. I have also tried to make my way out of that painful period, it was hard enough going through life as a teenager the first time, and establish myself as an adult and contribute to the well being of my fellow citizens of Santiago (los Santiaguinos).

Yet, I am still in many ways stuck in a period of young adulthood n my personal growth here in Chile. While I can contribute to conversations and participate in both social and professional events, I am still lacking in my overall ability to communicate effectively, especially when I speak. Like in the United States, my accent gives me away, although it is not the Southern Drawl of Virginia that people pick up on here, it is the lack of the way I roll my Rs or my RRs, sounding at times like a gringo from North America (un Norte Americano) or at best, a visitor from Brazil. I am not completely independent nor can I contribute in any real and substantial way in regular conversations and interactions, seemingly gangly and awkward, all arms and legs, with no real sense of self or overall direction. Whatever the reasons, I am not a local, I am not a grown up, and I still have a long way to go and a short time to get there.

Yet, upon reflection, this is not a moment to be cause for alarm or to be overtly critical of my seeming lack of progress, as there have been a number of relatively great accomplishments that I must take stock in and see as a foundation from which to build my future growth. For example, this past weekend on Saturday, I was able to make my way, along with Sarah, to the bus and then to the Metro station, get on the correct line to the downtown (el centro) and make my way across the beautiful Plaza de Armas and find the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. I paid our fees and understood the directions to the exhibits and read the accounts in Spanish and enjoyed the wonderful artifacts from throughout native history.

We then took a leisurely stroll down Paseo Huérfanos and found a nice spot for lunch (un almuerzo), just like the locals we saw on the street. Afterwards, we found our way back to the Metro without asking for directions, made it to the correct bus, got off at the supermarket, got money out of the ATM (Cajero Automático), bought groceries, and walked directly back to our apartment without getting lost or needing assistance. In many ways, this is a lot of progress, and does demonstrate some substantial growth towards independence, in an intrinsic and personal sense.

Although this journey is about contributing to an educational project, it is as much about understanding the perspective of others and using this experience in order to grown and in fact to transform into something new. This is often much harder as we grown older, but with the innocence of a child, the confidence of an adolescent, the work ethic of a young adult and the wisdom of a lifetime of experiences already pursued, this might be the very foundation from which to build on for the future. In that sense, I am more excited today about what is still to come.