¿Donde Estoy? – Where Am I?

Dawn (La madrugada) breaks, the birds are chirping, dogs (los perros) are barking and the gentle beginnings to the day are at hand. The sounds that I hear seem hauntingly familiar, as I lay semi-awake in bed, and drift away from Chile and back to El Paso, and begin to think to myself, “Where am I?  (¿Donde Estoy?) Am I here or there?” This transitional scene is broken with clarity when a car alarm goes off and I remember with distinction amidst the distraction that I am actually still in Santiago, Chile.

 Yet, with Sarah asleep beside me and the clock (el reloj) slowly moving and ticking its tick, tock, tick tock, I do feel at home and the barriers and trials of days past seem to be presented within a new sense (un ambiente nuevo) of familiarity and calm.  The days do begin the same and the tasks of the days surround our lives (nuestras vidas), those of work, those of play, those of struggle, those of achievement, those of challenges, those of admiration, and those of humility (la humildad).

Recently, I went to the airport and actually drove myself in a car, making my way along the freeways (las autopistas) and streets within and round Santiago.  Upon arrival at the airport, I parked, made my way inside the terminal and looked for our friends to arrive.  I looked over the faces of the people exiting the gates (las puertas) and tried to figure out where people were coming from. I would ask selected travelers “¿De donde viene?” and the blank stares, the transfixed eyes, the avoidance of glances all looking past me as a part of the foreign crowd, a face (una cara) speaking a foreign language in a foreign country.

Somehow, I have changed positions and moved to the other side (el otro lado), to a different level within a transformation in a personal sense.  I am not a babe in the woods, nor an adolescent looking for an identity (una identidad), but an adult, still with a lot to learn, but able to function independently and without too much support. In some ways, I am starting to resemble the man I left in El Paso, but now in Santiago as a functioning Spanish-speaking member of society (la sociedad).  I have moved from the person looking for reception and aid to the person in the crowd looking for others.  Perhaps this is a transition (una transición) that will lead me from student and mentee to a place where I can be a better teacher and a true mentor.