It’s a strange thing to leave a place to which you are nearly certain you will never return. Up until this trip, I haven’t really had that experience. Everywhere I’ve gone had either been close enough that I wouldn’t rule out returning at some point (it is, as I’m often reminded, a long life) or significant enough that I’m sure I’ll be back (Oaxaca might not be the stuff of an impulsive road trip or a family vacation, but I will be back, and if I’ll be living in Oaxaca then it’s safe to assume I’ll have a chance to do a spot of traveling around Mexico). Southern Chile is different. As I got on the plane in the city of Temuco today, I did so knowing that I would probably never return to the beautiful region. It was a wonderful experience, but I left thinking that while I was so lucky to get to see this corner of the world, it’s a big planet, and if I ever get to be on the other side of the world from home again, it will likely be another other side.
I’ll never forget my host family, or the adventures in Puerto Saaaaaaaaaaavedra with Alvaro, Felipe the mayor’s son, and the dueña of our cabana who was both clearly crazy and clearly an alcoholic (ask me about it sometime, it’s a good story…) Nor will I forget the fight of the Mapuche, the tension in which they live, fighting to both preserve the culture and live in the 21st century. I won’t soon forget having class in a Ruka (something like a round, straw roofed hut with a campfire in the middle, used for meeting, cooking, and smoking meat) or sipping mate with my host family, or making fun of the mean anthropologist we christened Tobias Bluth and I’m so lucky that I got to have these experiences. I’m overwhelming grateful for the chance I had to be exposed to the culture, but it’s so strange to leave.
It’s strange to think that I’ll never know what my host sisters will grow up to be, or if the family ends up getting a house in the city so their kids don’t have to go to a boarding high school. It’s weird that I won’t know if Tobias Bluth ever really gets with our other trip leader, or how life turns out for that kid who stole a bottle of wine from his grandmother’s funeral and got kicked out of the eighth grade or what ends up happening to the region in the next few decades. I mean, I’ll be able to read broad news on the internet, but my host family lacked even a post office box; there is nowhere to send letters, emails, or phone calls. My world is all about instant, constant contact, the world of rural southern Chile, not so much.
So I’ll give thanks for what I learned and bear witness to what I saw and remember who I met as I turn forward for the next leg of my adventure, the reason I’m sitting in a café in the the Santiago airport, eating overprices cheesecake and sweating the fact that I will be spending the night here with over a thousand dollars of cash in my backpack… that’s right chicos y chicas (or, as all the cool kids write, chic@s), I’m headed to Arica!
The way my study abroad program is structured, the first six and a half weeks are dedicated to intensive language instruction as well as a seminar about justice issues in Chile. Then we had nearly three weeks of excursion in either the north (Arica and up into the Andes) or South (Temuco and surrounding campo, where I went). In the final month of the program, we are all turned loose to go wherever we want and study essentially whatever we want (during language school we submit a proposal and get an advisor as well as advice and direction, but we can really make what we want of the project. Some of my classmates are studying the ecological impacts of a thermoelectric project, another is directing a play, another is studying the politics of Paublo Neruda; everyone is doing something unique and crazy interesting to them. I played with a lot of ideas, all sort of around oppressed groups and modes of resistance, and I landed on a topic that I’m really excited about, but also incredibly nervous. I’m going to be in northern Chile studying the differences in community responses to sexual violence in different communities in the area, and hopefully using some fancy shmancy sociology to explain these differences. Right now, I’m not exactly sure what groups I’ll be looking at, but the area contains Chileans, Peruvian immigrants (Peruvians are sort of the Mexicans of Chile), as well as a local indigenous population, so I should have lots of options. I’ll know more when I sit down with my advisor, but I’m incredibly nervous to do justice to a topic that I’m so passionate about.
This is also something of a test for me, since I feel as though I’m called (or whatever you want to call it) to work with survivors of sexual violence in Latin America, especially among indigenous populations. This will be a sort of trial-by-fire way to see what I’m made of. Those of you who pray, I’d appreciate your prayers.
As I start this final chunk of my study abroad experience, I feel so grateful for the chance I’ve had to study here in Chile. Although I’ve had my share of issues with the program, even though I have a rant about gender and public space nearly every day, I’m so lucky and I’m so glad I’ve gotten to see everything I’ve seen so far. I can’t wait to see everyone back home, I miss you all terribly!
Peace.
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