When English Isn't Sufficient

Erlebnisse: (noun) the experiences, positive or negative, that we feel most deeply, and through which we truly live, not mere experiences, but Experiences. [German]

As a writer, I am always looking for inspiration. I can find it in almost anything, from my daily life to an article I read in a magazine. I recently discovered a blog (otherwordly.tumblr.com), which essentially takes words from other languages with no direct translations to English, and attempts to decipher them. While scrolling through the words, I stumbled upon one beautiful German term, erlebnisse, which I have defined above.

I can definitely say (or at least write, because I am not so confident in my German accent) that my past eight months have been filled with erlebnisse, and I am deeply lamenting the fact that my time here is so quickly concluding. Although the end of my exchange isn't that close to being over, with less than three months remaining it sure feels like I am coming down the home stretch. I have met an abundance of new people, achieved so many personal goals, become well versed in Español, and discovered sides to me that I never even knew existed.

Some of the moments that I have experienced here have affected me so profoundly that I know I will never forget them. For example, seeing the extreme poverty in Bolivia and Peru moved me deeply, and gave me an immeasurable amount of gratitude for all that I have been given. I will always remember the first day I attended my small, close-knit school here with almost no ability to speak the language. I was left with a feeling of solitude and loneliness, but also with a new appreciation for all my friends back home and a newfound motivation to improve my interpersonal skills. While I struggled for months with the language barrier, I slowly learned the virtue of patience, and that everything good takes time.

These are just a couple of instances that I feel have changed the manner in which I live my life today and how I will continue to live when I return home. I could go on and on with examples, but I would rather keep it concise. The point is, whether you are an exchange student or not, we all encounter experiences that change the way we go about our lives. This is how we learn and grow. While many events in our lives will pass by unnoticed, there are a handful that will always stand out, and will slowly shape us into who we are meant to be. The Germans so eloquently tied all of these ideas into one simple word: erlebnisse.

Who Needs Luxury, Anyways?

A couple of nights ago, I returned home from a month-long backpacking trip to the north of Chile, up to Bolivia and ending in Peru. The details of the trip don't contribute loads of value towards what I'd like to make this post about, but I will quickly explain the outline of it. I travelled with five guys; a Chilean, a Fin, and three Germans. We started in La Serena and worked our way north. We spent a week in San Pedro, Chile followed by two weeks in Bolivia, exploring different cities and seeing all of the beautiful things the country has to offer. We kept heading west until we wound up in Cusco, Peru. From there, we took a tour to the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu before beginning to head back home to La Serena. We stayed in hostels and took buses to all of our destinations.

It was not a luxurious, relaxing, sitting-by-the-pool-sipping-lemonade type of trip. More often than not, we were wearing dirty clothes, eating bread for dinner, and complaining about how badly we needed a hot shower. We were in a constant state of hunger, and always running on a lack of sleep. There were plenty of times when the only thing I wanted was to be back home in my bed. But despite the hard times, this was the best trip of my life.

This expedition taught me lessons far more valuable than anything I could have learned while staying in ritzy hotels and eating at five-star restaurants. At some point while biking through a desert, hiking through a thunderstorm, climbing thousands of stairs at five in the morning to see ancient ruins, or spending ten consecutive hours on a bus, I realized that it didn't matter how my hair looked. I realized that there was no point in doing my make-up if I was just going to sweat it off in less time than it took to apply it. I realized that I could care less if there was WiFi while standing at the top of Machu Picchu. I realized that in the end, the brands of the shoes on my feet and the clothes on back are of no significance whatsoever. I realized that every material thing that I had once considered so imperative was truly just superfluous.

While traveling, I met people who had been living this nomadic lifestyle for months, and some even for years. Just camping or working in hostels, surviving off of bread or ramen noodles, hitchhiking and winding up where ever the cars take them. They have no real destination in mind, and no time limit to return home. When you ask them where they come from, they just kind of smile and give a half-answer, because in reality they cannot name one exclusive place. These people are some of the happiest people I have met in my life. They see every day as an adventure, and they seize every opportunity they are given. They have chosen a life without luxuries, and they have discovered where true bliss comes from.

They taught me that happiness comes from the earth; it comes from everything that Mother Nature has given to us. It comes from interacting with other human beings, sharing stories, dancing, and laughing. It comes from learning about the world and seeing how other people live. True happiness can't be found in something tangible. The real paradise isn't on a cruise through the Mediterranean, or at a hotel in the Bahamas. True paradise is sitting at the top of a hill, laughing with your friends, while eating bread and jelly for the third time that day. There are no buildings in sight, no internet connections, no highways. Just the sound of some rain off in the distance.

I envy the people that live this type of life. I'm still young, but I hope one day to reach the level of euphoria and rapture that those nomads must feel. Before I went on this trip, I didn't even know that such a deep level of joy could exist, but now that I know it's out there, I will spend the rest of my life striving to achieve it. This journey has changed me forever. It has offered me a taste of that freedom and joy, and has opened my eyes to see the world in a different light. Traveling is so important, and I feel blessed to have these opportunities at such a young age. As the saying goes, "life is a book, and those who don't travel have only opened one page."

Remembering 2014

It's crazy to think about how different my life was at the beginning of this whirlwind of a year. I had a broken arm (thanks to a snowboarding accident), a broken heart (the kind every teenager experiences after their first real break-up), and not the slightest idea of what country I would be living in for my year abroad. A couple months, two Rotary orientations, one surgery, and a school dance later, all of that had changed. My arm had healed, my heart had begun to move on, and Rotary had assigned me to the country of my dreams... Chile. As Winter started to melt into Spring, life was feeling pretty good. I surrounded myself with a big group of friends and kept my grades up in school.

As the summer approached, I could feel exchange beginning to take over my life, but I didn't mind one bit. Text conversations between my friends were exchanged for facebook conversations between my future host siblings, and all my alternative indie songs on my phone were replaced with Spanish music. My idea of a "good read" was a travel guide to Chile or a book on how to be a successful exchange student. Instead of going out shopping or taking day trips to the beach like a normal high school student would do in the summer, I stayed home to fill out forms for my student visa. And yet, for some reason, all of my friends stuck by me through this period of craziness and withdrawl. And when August finally rolled around, every last one of them came to say goodbye and good luck.

It's weird how something can seem so far in the future, but then when it finally arrives, you feel like you had only been waiting for a matter of minutes. Time is funny like that. When the big day came for me to board the plane to Chile, my head was spinning with thoughts and emotions. I was joyful, nervous, ecstatic, and sad all at the same time. But over everything, I was excited. My dream was actually coming true.

Upon landing in Chile, my life had completely changed. Everything was new. My family, friends, school, language, and culture, all at once had disappeared. For the last almost-5 months, I have been challenged and pushed so far out of my comfort zone, to limits that I didn't even know existed. I have made some of the most incredible memories and met some of the most amazing people of my life.

This year has been the craziest one yet. I've gone from heartbroken to living on cloud-9. I have been homesick, lonely, and confused more times than I can count, but I have also experienced some of the happiest moments of my life. I am a completely different person than I was when 2014 started, and I just hope that I can continue this trend throughout the next year.

Happy New Years Eve to all.

Feliz Navidad

When I originally created this blog, I intended for it to be a bit of a play-by-play on what I have been up to in Chile. The idea was that I would be able to look back on it and remember all of the good times I had while on exchange, and at the same time it would serve as a way to let my friends and family back home know what my life is like here, While it is undeniable that I am doing many exciting, "blog-worthy" things with my time here (for example, a trip to Brazil with my school), I find it much more enjoyable and important to write about my thoughts and feelings about exchange. Yes, I am writing this blog for my family, friends, other exchange students, and anyone else interested in what it is like to live in Chile, but I am also writing it for myself. We have social media outlets like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where I can upload photos and share anecdotes of my crazy life, but for now I would like to keep my blog on the more "profound" side of exchange.

My last two posts are a good example of what you can expect to see from me in the future. I am aspiring to be a journalist, and I think this blog is a good place for me to practice my writing skills. Hopefully I will find time to blog more frequently, although it seems unlikely because I will be traveling for most of the summer. To keep up with my life, you can find me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/kira.mcneil.1), Instagram (@kiramcneil) and I have also made a few Vlogs on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrOd8kISoz-shMbn6R9U2rg). 

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

The Sure-Cure for Homesickness

There comes a time in every exchange student's year when their days start to feel longer, their friends back home start to feel like more of a memory, and they begin to question that perhaps they are doing something wrong. I've had my fair share of these days, especially recently, as the original "pizzazz" of exchange has worn off. Through talking to my other exchange friends, I have discovered that a lot of us are in a similar position. We (of course) are very content in Chile, and have no intention of going home, but at the same time we can't help but wonder what we are missing. Sometimes, it is easy to get so caught up in thinking about what we are missing at home, that we start to become blind to all the beauty right in front of us.

Thus, I have discovered the absolute cure (or at least an effective way to suppress) homesickness or sadness. Drumrole please... Photography! And no, that doesn't mean you need to go out and buy an incredibly expensive camera, download editing programs, or rent out a darkroom. All you need is a camera on your cell phone or disposable camera, and you are ready to go! In the end, it doesn't matter how beautiful the photo turns out. Going around your neighborhood or town with the intention of taking photos will encourage you to pay much closer attention to the small and unique details that you would've otherwise missed. I find photography extremely therapeutic and it always cheers me up to just get out of the house and walk around.

When I go out, I like to focus on one thing that I wouldn't be able to find in my home town. For example, as it is Spring here in Chile right now, I like to take photos of all the bright and tropical flowers. It is also incredible to just go to a heavily-populated part of the city and take photos of the locals as they go throughout their day. It is eye-opening, entertaining, and a great way to spend a few hours.

Whether you're an exchange student, a college student, or just someone who is feeling a little blue, photography can be a great pick-me-up. You can go out shooting with your friends, or alone with your thoughts. Either way, you are guarenteed to feel a little bit better after taking some time to slow down and enjoy the little beauties of the enchanting life that surrounds you.

Enjoy some of my photos from my most recent walk around my neighborhood!

The thing about being an exchange student...

"Exchange is not a year in a life. It is a life in a year." I find myself thinking about this quote a lot. An international exchange is so much more than just a year-long vacation. I've heard that one of the most common questions that students are asked after returning home is "how was your trip?". On exchange, you go a year without your family. A year without your best friends. A year without your native language. A year without your bed. A year without everything that you have known as normal for your whole life. Calling it a "trip" could not be more inaccurate. This is not a vacation; it is life. And every life has its ups and downs.

Let's face it. EVERY exchange student carefully selects which photos to put online and which stories to tell their friends and family back home. We have mastered the art of illusion. We make it look like every day we have on exchange is a spectacular adventure. But that is just unrealistic. Yes, we are living in a foreign country, but we are still students. We go to school. We live with families. Sometimes life on exchange is flat-out boring. And sometimes it's sad, frustrating, or difficult. But that is just part of life, no matter what country you are in! The bad days are what help us remember and charish the good ones. And let me tell you, there are SO many good (and GREAT) days. 

Although not every day is outstanding, every single day of exchange is a day in which I grow and I learn. Every time I mess up my Spanish and have to be corrected, I know I am one step closer to fluency. Every time I miss something from the United States, I learn the importance of something that I had always just taken for granted. Every time I talk to a classmate or another exchange student, I am building a closer friendship that could potentially last a lifetime. 

Exchange is such an incredible opportunity. I feel so lucky to be here in Chile. Every day, my eyes are opened to something new and I am sure that when I return home in July I will not be the same person I was when I left. Yes, it is hard. But it is hard in the best kind of way. As the saying goes, good things don't come easily. 

It's been a while...

Okay, admittedly, I have not been updating my blog as religiously as I (and everyone back home) had hoped. But that's because I've just been so busy! (And perhaps slightly lazy...). Anyways, so much has been going on that I don't know how I am going to pack it all into this blog post... but I will try!

In this past (almost) month since my last update, I have travelled to Santiago twice (which is about a 7-hour ride on the bus). The first time was to go to the Miley Cyrus concert with some other exchange student friends! We just spent one night in Santiago, but we had a blast. Although I don't really listen to her music, she is a great performer and I loved spending time with some other girls on exchange. The second time I travelled to Santiago was for a 2-day electronic music festival called Ultra. I went with my host brother and his friends, and we stayed in the apartment of his friend, who is currently in university in Santiago. Once I was at the festival, I spent most of the time with other exchange student friends (specifically, a few German boys, a German girl, and two other girls from the USA). I had a blast dancing all day and all night, and a highlight was actually getting to the front row with two of the German boys to watch the final DJ perform. It was so incredible and I will never forget that weekend.

I just want to take a few sentences to talk about how awesome and inexpensive it is to travel in Chile. For a round trip bus trip from La Serena to Santiago and back (about 14 hours in total), it only costs about $20 US. And the buses are very clean, comfortable, and reliable. I wish we had the same system in the United States! Thanks to such low fares, I am planning on doing lots of travelling this summer to visit my exchange student friends who are living in other parts of Chile.

I have also gotten much closer with my classmates, as well as the students in the classes directly below and above me. I joined a contemporary dance class at my school that meets once a week, and it is mostly just girls in the class below me. This is a really fun experience because it has given me the opportunity to meet people beyond just the people in my curso (grade). I actually should be in the grade below the one I am in because my 16th birthday was in July, which is the middle of the school year here (darn Southern Hemisphere), but because my host sister is older than me I just took her place in 3° Medio (the third year in high school) when she left on exchange rather than going to 2° Medio. Anyways, it is a lot of fun getting to know the students in other classes!

To keep myself busy (and from gaining excessive amounts of weight), I have been running a lot as well as surfing almost every weekend. I LOVE SURFING. I think I have found my passion. It is one of the most incredible and undescribable feelings in the world. It took me three times of going before I was able to even stand for a second, but I just went surfing today and was able to ride the wave for a good 5 seconds, which I am pretty proud of!

Spanish is getting easier by the day. In fact, last night I realized while talking to my mom over Whastapp that I was actually translating in my head from Spanish to English. And I find myself thinking in Spanish more often than not. Although I still make TONS of mistakes and I have a long way to go, I am extremely happy with my ability to talk and understand the language.

Well, because I don't want this update to turn into a novel, I will finish this update off with a few photos from this past month. Enjoy!

The Miley Cyrus concert!

Pre-Miley!

With my lovely exchange student friends at Ultra.

Ultra!

Kayaking (in a pool) with some classmates!

Happy first day of Spring!

It´s been almost a month since my last update (much to my mother´s dismay), so I thought now would be a good time to fill everyone in on what I have been up to and how things are going. I am settled in to life here in Chile, and things are actually starting to feel (relatively) normal. I have a pretty typical routine with school, friends, and family. September has been a great month because it is all about celebrating Chile´s Independence (Fiestas Patrias is the name of the actual holiday, on September 18th). I did so many cultural things, from dancing a traditional Chilean dance with my class in front of the whole school, to going to festivals, to eating empanadas and asado (barbecue) almost every day. Two weekends ago, I travelled to Viña del Mar for a Rotary weekend. It was so great seeing all of the other exchange students and sharing each others´ experiences. This past week, I had a week off from school which was really nice (but unfortunately I will return to class tomorrow...). In this week, I spent a lot of time with my family as well as with my friends. I spent Wednesday night camping in an incredible place called Valle de Elqui (I strongly encourage you to look up pictures on google images) with my host brother and his friends. It was so cold at night time, but it was still a lot of fun. The night was so clear, I could see every star in the sky. On Friday morning I went surfing with my cousin, in the afternoon I went to an asado at my grandmother´s house, and in the evening I went to Pampilla, which is Chile´s largest Fiestas Patrias festival. That was lots of fun as well! Today, I went to a small beach town called Guanaqueros with my family (because they own a house there) for lunch. I had the best empanada of my life!! It was stuffed with fresh seafood and I think if I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be this empanada.

My spanish is improving every day, although it´s still far from perfect. I am proud of the progress I am making, and I am sure that soon I will be fluent. School seems to be getting easier, and I´ve made lots of friends which is great. Speaking of school, I have it tomorrow, which means I have to wake up early so it is time for me to wrap up this post. I hope this gave some insight about what I have been doing down here in Chile!

Happy first day of Spring (or Fall, for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere!).

The Rotary weekend in Viña! (There I am, in the middle!)

Asado with the familia on Friday!

One week later...

Here I am again on a Sunday night updated my blog. Maybe this will become a sort of ritual, because, lets face it, I have nothing else to do on my Sunday nights. I don´t have to do any last minute homework, which is pretty nice! Anyways, about my week...

School is pretty boring (I know you´re shocked by this profound statement). For the most part, I only understand what´s going on when the teacher directly is talking to me. After the first minute of class, I just begin to tune everything out (so I guess Chilean school isn´t too different after all!). I understand more and more every day, but it is much harder than I expected to pick up the language. Then again, I´ve only been here for two weeks. I´ll get it eventually!

This weekend was a lot of fun! On Friday night I went over to a classmate´s house along with some other kids from my curso. On Saturday morning I visited La Cruz de Coquimbo (see pictures below) with my family, and then later that evening I went to the birthday party of another exchange student in La Serena from Czech Republic. After the birthday party, I experienced my first "discoteca" with my host brother and some of his friends. Today (Sunday), I slept in and then just hung out with my host family until around 4pm, when I went out with my cousin to learn how to surf!! Although I never quite got the hang of it, I had a lot of fun and I´m sure that in a year I´ll be much better if I stick with it (although sticking with things has never been my strong suit).

Anyways, I´m off to bed. I am having a great time here in Chile. Please enjoy the following photos! :)

A family photo before saying goodbye to Anto last weekend!

(The view of La Serena/Coquimbo from La Cruz)

La Cruz was built in 2000 to celebrate the 2000th birthday of Christ. It´s really REALLY tall.

First day of school!

Surfing!

 

Just a check in (to ease my family´s fear)

Tomorrow evening will mark one week since I´ve been here in my home in La Serena. I have had a great time this past week meeting so many new people. Last Tuesday, I visited my school (Colegio Santo Tomas) for the first time and met all of my classmates. There are 25 students in my class. Luckily, because I have a host sister (who is now on her own exchange in Illinois, USA) I got to meet her friends and now I am able to call them my friends as well. Everyone here is so nice and excited to meet me. On Friday morning, we left La Serena to drive for about 5 hours to Viña del Mar. There, we stayed at my host mom´s mother´s house so I got to meet my abuelos (grandparents), my tios (aunt and uncle), and my primo (cousin). I also got to spend more time with my host sister before we brought her to the Santiago airport on Saturday night so that she could begin her exchange. We spent most of today driving back to La Serena, and then this evening I went out to dinner with my host brother and a few of his friends. So far, the food here is not that different than what I eat back home. Lots of sushi, beef, chicken, and potatoes. I am definitely going to come home a little heavier! I am having so much fun here and I am excited to start school tomorrow so I can really start living life like a Chilena. The language barrier is definitely difficult, but my friends and family are all patient with me and I know enough to get by. I am learning LOTS of slang, which is a very big part of what makes Chilean one of the hardest dialects of Spanish.

Well, I should be going to bed right about now. I have a big day tomorrow! (Luckily, my first class is English.)

Adios!