#24

~~ HOME !! ~~

The last ring of the school bell and tears started to flow.



The girls got as many e-mail addresses and last-minute photos that they could from their new friends.













At the airport it was just families, and once our flight was called, tears again. Sad to leave our new families and friends behind us. Last sight of Santiago was just a blur of nighttime lights.

There were tears off and on well into the flight … which was very very long. About 18 hours in all.

Our first sight of Portland was sun and clear skies and the ocean shore. At the terminal it was a quick group-hug “see ya later” then off to find our families. Tears again, of joy and “so glad to be home!”

Maine. A perfect, beautiful summer day. A perfect welcome home.

During our trip home we talked about many mixed feelings. Realizing that part of each of us will always now be in Santiago, and part of Santiago will always be in us. We are now forever slightly different from those around us, changed, subliminally unique. Enriched.

Our next step is to organize the accounts our journey in order to share it with others. Hopefully this will create a ripple effect of experiences so that others will catch the vision and be moved to become involved as well.

Here are some of the girls comments after a few days at home in Maine.

LEO:
So yesterday we came into portland at 12:30. As we were landing, i could see a familiar place that did not look so familiar anymore. I had made a new home in a new country with new friends and a new family...I was not ready to leave all that but i had no choice. I got off the plane, saw my dad and was thankful to have made it home. But it was very weird hearing only english in the airport.

The first thing i did was i went to subway. When the guy asked if american cheese is what i wanted i say “Sí” (with the accent but we dont have it here). Also on my new cell phone that i got right after, i changed the set up for my date to the way they do it in chile on the food products. dd, mm, yy....:( to remind me of my other home). I kept saying ‘cómo’, ‘qué’ and ‘sí’ yesterday when i hung out with my friends.

When i stepped into my house, it felt a little weird. The heat was getting to me. It must have seemed like it was 100 because coming back from a cold climate makes the weather seem hotter than it actually is. I went into my room and saw everything basically the way i left it. I showed my dad the gifts my family had gotten him and my mom...

i KEPT and still, call my chilean parents mom and dad, too, because i feel like they are. I miss them all very much, all my pictures are hanging in my room. It feels so weird being home, i wish i could have stayed longer...They are my other family that i love...

I received an email from my little brother today, and it almost made my cry because he told me how sometimes he sees people that remind him of me and images me there...

well i am home and i will have to face reality now, but in my car i only listen to reggaton and right now i am watching “Ray” in spanish..
Exchange student number 1, Chile summer of 05'
...first crew to go..right girls? lol


NAT:
Being home and going to Wendys was great. Seeing my family and my friends was also soo fantastic, but i find myself having Chile withdrawal. Showering in my shower, sleeping in my bed an typing on an english-speaking keyboard felt completely new.

I'm getting back into my routine and it feels good to have my own life back. But I have cried a lot since yesterday because I tried to explain to my mom, about all of my friends and inside jokes. I have gone to Wal Mart to develop pictures and i think that I ordered 350!!!.

I still wish I was back in Chile, I miss my friends and I miss school so much. I think about going back to McAuley on Thursday, and I wish that i went to Colegio de los Andes.

I love and Miss you all, (thats another thing, i miss seeing all of us Gringas everyday) and i will see you soon!!!!
xo MUAH xo, ciao,
Natalie



MARISSA:

Yeah, it's still a little bit weird for me. I drove for the first time today, and it was so strange. Ha. But it's nice to be back and breathe in fresh air! And it's odd to go from wearing layers and my winter coat to shorts and a T-shirt!

We drove by McAuley and I'm amazed at how the Field of Dreams is coming along. And how looking at McAuley makes me forget I've been 5,000 miles away from it and everything I call home. But, it is good to be back and catch up on everything I missed here. I have enjoyed educating my friends and family about the politics, culture, and lifestyle that is Chile.