Epilogue

The flights home were thankfully uneventful and all three were actually a little early, which is a nice change.  The last day in Santiago was really a strange feeling.  While we were more than ready to get home, a piece wanted to stay.  Chile is a special place and as the hours waned the reality that Chile would soon be a memory made for a strange feeling.  The last goodbyes and the last 'last' things in some cases felt like going through the motions as mentally I had already said goodbye.

We had a few things like some ham in the refrigerator that we fed to one of the many stray dogs that Erin more or less adopted.  One dog in particular seemed to be the focus. Initially we called him 'tiny', because he was bigger than most of the dogs and pretty buff.  He always seemed to spend time at one of the little markets just down the street, where they'd give him an occasional hot dog.  One day when we had some scraps from a restaurant meal, we walked past there looking for him   They referred to him as sombra, so his name became pequeña sombra (tiny shadow).  I guess we also could have called him orejas pequeñas because he had such small ears.

We also fed a half loaf of bread to the pigeons and then went back to the apartment to check out. Following that we went to Coasta Verde, our favorite Peruvian restaurant for one final meal in Chile and one final Peruvian Pisco Sour.  The taxi ride from the airport to the apartment in July seemed to take forever, so we factored in double the time in case there were issues.  Rather than taking well over an hour, it took 15 minutes.  We were too early to check in and had to wait a couple hours.  Didn't know you can actually get to the airport too soon.

Three flights and 22 hours of travel time gives you ample opportunity to reflect.  In many ways, the whole Fulbright was almost a story book experience. We had only positives occur with only mild irritants such as the chaos of trying to register with the Civil Registry. The people of Chile are generally reserved, and when you tell them you loved Chile it brings a smile to their face almost like they weren't sure you would like it. The Universidad de Chile and the students there, as well as my time with the Policía de Investigaciones were definite highlights. The people at Fulbright were fantastic!  The only thing that could have made the trip better would have been to be able to bring my whole family.  That would have changed it from a story book experience to a fairy tail experience.  But at the same time, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and as you can see by our greeting at the airport, there is an extreme amount of fondness.

Even the lady in the background started crying, and we have no idea who she is!

Now comes the challenge of assuming my former life and routines.  There are a lot of subtle things that have already struck me.  Remembering which light switch turns on the right light.  The strange way familiar places appear to you after not seeing them for a number of months.  The toilet seat is about 3 inches higher at home than at the apartment in Chile.  I didn't use a cell phone in three months and didn't miss it a bit - I'm going to ditch the smart phone.  I lost 12 pounds with all the running up Cerro San Cristobal, and I wasn't on a diet. Of course, part of the weight loss was also due to a lack of good cooking skills on my part.  You can only eat salmon, spaghetti, and tacos so many times.  And the snack foods that I have an affinity for were not available in Santiago (chocolate milkshake every night...Hudsonville chocolate ice cream, milk, and a banana).

Of course, the weather change was something I knew was going to happen, but it still was a bit surprising. (view out my living room window)

I hope you enjoyed my adventures in Chile as much as I did sharing them with you.  In my best Pablo Neruda impression,  yo podría escribir los versos más felices esta noche!  (I could write the happiest lines tonight!)

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