A mis amigos Chilenos ojalá q tengan un día divertido y seguro por las Fiestas Patrias. Pásalo bien - toma un pisco, disfruta el asado, y baila la cueca.
Ten years ago today, I was privileged to experience and enjoy Chilean Independence Day with a group of amazing people. Tín, Sandra, Caro, and Benja trying to show me how to dance the Cueca....hours and hours of playing Uno with the fastest paced and craziest set of house rules that you'll ever imagine...a delicious asado cooked up in the back yard....pisco sours.....watching the sun come up before going home for the "night."
The thing that I remember and hold most dear to me is the time with friends. I think of that time and those friends often. These are not ordinary friends. They were what made my time in Chile one of the most amazing and wonderful experiences of my life. When I first met them, it didn't matter to them that I couldn't understand anything that anyone was saying (no amount of classroom time can prepare you for the Chilean dialect and accent) or that they had to repeat themselves and sometimes translate for me. They were patient and never made fun of me while I tried to speak, and they graciously corrected my grammar and (occasionally embarrassing) translation errors. They made sure that I knew what time to be where (and how to adjust for "tiempo Chileno") and that I got safely back to my house since the buses don't run all night. Most importantly, they made me feel included.
To all of my favorite Chilenitos, I can not begin to thank you enough for the blessing that you have been in my life. Doy gracias al Señor por amigos como ustedes. Q Dios bendiga su día y su vida.
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