Belonging

This weekend was a realization, however humble, of my expectations I had for Chile. Honestly, it's not that exciting, but as a result, I feel renewed and energetic after many weeks of feeling frustrated with Chilean culture, rain, my location, etc.

Starting post-lunch yesterday, I headed into the centro with quizzes in tow and the intention of finding a café and grading. But Amy called and invited me over for a mid-rainy afternoon movie. Movie over grading--obvio! I hopped off at the next stop and went into a grocery store. After drooling over the pastries and cakes, I decided on peanut butter, crackers and the closest thing to a latte: a Nescafé Café Latte (definitely NOT the same). Spending money on this small snack, with the idea that I was going to eat what I wanted, was extremely liberating! Again, I'm focusing on the small victories here...

The other girls were at Amy's after eating Chinese food for lunch. I made my "latte" and settled in for the movie. We watched "The Apartment" (circa 1960) with Shirley MacLain and Jack Lemmon. It was a nice, cozy, rainy afternoon in Concepción. I was content a) not being in my square at home and b) eating peanut butter. After the movie we got to talking about cheese.

Cheese is a tricky topic here. Pretty much because cheese is just cheese. Queso, no más. No variety whatsoever. I happen to be a lover of cheese--squeaky cheese curds, cheddar, mozzarella, brie, what have you. Here the queso is just not the same. No flava'! Anyway, we talked and talked about this cheese plate at the UniMarc grocery store about 10 blocks away. After talking long enough about how good it'd be, Jen made the executive decision to get and go buy cheese.. "Let's just go get the cheese." We donned our rain gear in search of good cheese.

Needless to say, within the hour we no only have 5 types of cheese but also 2 baguettes and 3 bottles of wine. Wine is definitely a selling point of Chilean cuisine. Delicious. And cheap. We had a great conversation and left with bellies full of wine and cheese. Great evening.

Sara cutting the cheese.

It only gets better from here! This morning I woke up feeling less than 100%. Sore throat, cough... I had planned on running an 8k race at 11 at INACAP (Duoc's competitor!). Despite my body telling me otherwise, I made myself get up, eat breakfast and go to the race. ("Take advantage of every opportunity.") After signing up, I tried to look busy among all the Chileans- a very common past time for me here--and all of a sudden I was greeted by Kati, a teacher I met while volunteering at San Agustín. She's incredibly sweet and cariñosa (kind/generous/good character) and introduced me to her running team, the "WildRunners."

After a round of besos (kisses on the cheek) from all 10+ members, they gave me a shirt and told me to pose for the photo! La foto! La foto! I am now a member of team "WildRunners." Easy as that. No questions asked, I was immediately accepted as part of the group. Everyone was laughing and joking, dancing to the "warm-up" music. This is what I'd been waiting for! People to hang out with, go out with...friends!

It is incredibly hard to make friends with Chileans. I mean my students are great and all but...no. Not quite the same. And my host brothers are sweet and fun but they have a hard time tearing their eyes from the computer screens...very common here.

During the race itself everyone ran at his or her own pace, no pressure. We'd pass each other and yell "vamos, po! vamos!!" giving the peace sign or a thumbs up. My friend Kati was taking pictures of us and cheered us into the finish line.

I guess it just feels good to be a part of a group. Belong. Everyone wants/seeks this. Buy when you travel to a foreign country with (very) different cultural norms, the challenge of figuring out where you fit is amplified. It takes awhile. It's also extremely easy to stay attached to other foreigners. In fact, had I gone to the race with one of the gringas, I wouldn't have met the "WildRunners." I learned that sometimes it's worth putting yourself out there because chances are you'll still find somewhere to belong.

This is the Chile I imagined.