From the Inside Out: Sarah in Chile

I know, I know, it's been ages. That's because I was busy entertaining my bff who came all the way to the south of Chile to visit me! Basically, it was great. I loved having her here, and I admit I have been suffering from the slightest depression since she left on Sunday. It was just so nice and comforting having someone here with me who has known me since I was twelve. And I liked being able to share some of my life here with her.

Some highlights:

1. Sarah came into school with me a few times when I did workshops. The first time she came, it was literally as if I had brought Justin Beiber or Miley Cyrus to school. Of course the kids noticed my bleached blonde gringa friend immediately. Within the first few minutes ofour arrival, slowly a curious few came up to me, asking who my "beautiful friend" was. By the time we were upstairs en route to the classroom, the mad rush began. Now as you probably know, it is custom here to saludar or greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek. Some of the kids regularly saludar me, others don't. But EVERYONE wanted to greet Sarah. Quickly they all started crowding around her. It happened so fast, I looked up and it seemed like suddenly there were at least, no joke, 50 kids crowding around waiting for their chance to kiss Sarah on the cheek. I really wish we had taken a picture. I think it was a bit surreal for Sarah, having to kiss so many children. She told me one of them was really sweaty.

2. The first weekend we went to Puerto Varas where we stayed in a pretty nice hotel for very cheap. On Saturday we went to Los Saltos de Petrohue, one of the beautiful spots I went to with my parents. The next day we visited the always lovely Frutillar and had lunch at the market in Angélmo of Puerto Montt. Sarah braved through her phobia of shell fish to try curanto, a typical dish of meat, seafood, and potatoes. I did have to help her remove some of the creatures, but I was really proud of her because I know that years ago she would not have had the courage to try such a meal. The weekend a lot of time was spent being gently rocked to sleep on many a warm bus.

3. One day we went to Valdivia because I had a meeting and even though it was quite cold we walked around a bit. Sarah tried sopapillas, and this time when we had lunch at the market there, she stayed away from the shellfish.

4. We walked around a lot in La Unión, discovering places I had never been to on my own. My favorite was a cemetery which is built onto some hills. It is probably one of the most disorganized cemeteries I've ever seen, with tombstones and graves of all kinds, colors, designs. I loved it. We also discovered a cute little coffee shop that I had walked by many times but never noticed. It was great, offering me the greatest variety of tea I have found in any place in South America.

5. Last weekend we went back to Valdivia and from there took a collective to a coastal town, Niebla. It started to rain, so we stayed just long enough to greet the ocean, the we headed to a brewery called Salzburg. After enjoying some beer, we walked to another brewery. It was a beautiful walk, even though it was along a road that I don't think it meant for walking. It was also a bit longer than I thought, but worth it, because we were feeling happy from the beer and scenery around us was gorgeous.

After Sarah left, her absence was felt. Luckily I will see her again in just less than two months.