Thursday, July 31, 2008

It's official - home for Christmas!

This post is an adaptation of an email that was sent to close family and friends. After consideration and in response to my excitement, I decided to post the information on the blog as well.

Well, the flight has been booked and I am already excited to come home!!

Here is the information:

Day Date Flight City Time
--- ----- --------------- ------ -----
Sun 14DEC DELTA 146 SANTIAGO 1030P AR ATLANTA 615AM
Mon 15DEC DELTA 1758 ATLANTA 745A AR KANSAS CITY 848A

Wed 14JAN DELTA 871 KANSAS CITY 325P AR ATLANTA 625P
Wed 14JAN DELTA 147 ATLANTA 910P AR SANTIAGO 840A

As you can see, although my 27-month contract with Holy Cross Associates is officially fulfilled with my return to the United States this December, I will be travel back to Santiago on January 14. This is so I can travel to the United States with the Chilean exchange students who will go to Washington, DC with me, leaving Santiago on January 17. I will be in Washington, DC until the 21st, in which all the students will go to their respective schools around the U.S. Just as last year, I will stay for a few days visting friends in DC, then return to Santiago (this return trip is paid for by the school, a round-trip ticket from Santiago to the U.S. is actually cheaper than one way - I think it is a way to secure that one will not stay in the U.S.)

The plan from there is that I will travel for two or three weeks, going back to Bolivia to see my Bolivian family for a week or so (now that I can understand everything they say :-) ), as well as making my way to Peru to hike and see Macchu Picchu. Plus, staying in the United States would mean two straight winters. I want to enjoy the Chilean summer sun, being with friends, the beach and the ocean.

I have been offered a job here in Santiago from February to May, allowing me to work until mid-May and save some money in order to start graduate school in the Fall (the living expenses here are very low, so much that I am certain a good amount of money can be saved...more than what I would make with a job in the U.S. at that time. And that would be if I found a job in the U.S. that would only hire me until I leave for graduate school a few months later.) I also feel that this time will allow me to tie-up loose ends and put a full closure on my time here, particularly all the projects I have, including a few new projects I just started just this week. It is funny, realizing that I need these four months to truly feel complete in my experience - with those four months, I will complete two years of work in Santiago, exactly the amount of time that an Associate spends in one place if they do not move and change locations, as I did several times throughout my experience.

I am very much looking forward to returning home, particularly for Christmas - Christmas Eve is my second most favorite holiday of the year (with my birthday being my favorite of course!) This Christmas Eve will be particularly special because I will be in the United States, after having been in Chile for the last two, and I will have a new neice or nephew to share it with!

That being said, 4 months and 16 days until I will be back in the United States! Until then, the work and daily Chilean life continues....

A hug to all,

M

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home