Day 14 Reflections from Michael F.

Pablo and I decided to wake up earlier than usual today so that we could pack as much as possible into our final full day.  We had a long drive back to Santiago in front of us, as Pablo took me to his beach house at Viña del Mar for the night. I took in one last view of the beautiful Viña Del Mar beach before we left.  Mr. Toledo took us on a scenic route back home, and I got to see some sea lions playing on the rocks and a white wine vineyard. When we arrived back in Santiago, we decided to visit the SportsMall. This is a regular-sized mall, but it is filled only with sports stores. On top of the sports stores, there are also many different sports activities at the mall including a skating rink, a surfing simulator, a ropes course, and a rock climbing wall. I usually find malls boring, but I had a blast walking around SportsMall. After the mall, we went to a lunch barbecue at Tati’s house. Hotdogs and hamburgers were grilled while we enjoyed the beautiful weather by playing soccer, jumping on the trampoline, and talking. It was warm enough outside that you could take off your sweatshirt and still be comfortable.  This was the first time during the trip that I could say this.When we got home from the lunch barbecue, I enjoyed my last dinner with the family. We reflected on all of the unforgettable memories that I made during the last two weeks. After dinner, I began packing my suitcase. While casually putting my belongings back in my suitcase, the room suddenly shook for a few seconds. Startled, I left my room to go find Pablo. He explained to me that I had just experienced an earth tremor, a common occurrence in Chile.  We learned that Chile has approximately 200 tremors per year, so I was surprised that this was the first one that I felt during my two week stay. When I finished packing, I decided that I was going to stay up until midnight because the next day was Pablo’s birthday. During this extra time that I had, Pablo was able to finish teaching me how to fully solve a Rubix cube. We counted down the time until his birthday and at exactly midnight I began singing “Feliz Cumpleaños” to him.  Exhausted, I fell asleep shortly after.

 

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