Kyle

Next week marks the official halfway point of my semester in Chile. I clearly remember my halfway point in Spain: it was during a week long trip over Fall Break through Paris and Nice, France and Cinque Terre, Italy. I had a lot of great adventures in Europe but I also had some really difficult times and felt quite a few periods of homesickness. I remember thinking “Okay, I can get through this. I’m halfway done. I’ll be home before I know it.” But now, after being here, the thought of “I’ll be home before I know it” has an opposite effect. I miss my friends and family more than anything but I’ve just felt so happy and relaxed here and so intrigued by anything and everything that the thought of having to leave is a bitter thought. I have the love and support of my parents to thank for my being here in the first place, but I want to take a moment to recognize someone who has also supported me and has physically been by my side from start to finish for this entire experience.

            Kyle and I met during first semester of our sophomore year at an info meeting about our study abroad options. We had a sociology class together that semester as well but had never spoken before. During the info session we sat awkwardly across the table from each other waiting our turns to discuss our degree audits with Jessica Wassel, the director of our programs of interest (Spanish-speaking countries). We were both made aware of the option to study abroad for a full year, in two separate programs, pending our ability to maintain full course loads for both semesters and depending on the amount of applicants per program. The next couple months consisted of awkward run-ins between the two of us never expanding past “So have you thought anymore about studying abroad?” By the time second semester rolled around we had both committed to going abroad for the full year, planning to spend Fall semester in Alcala de Henares, Spain and Spring semester in Santiago, Chile. Midway through the semester we began to date officially and have been traveling the world together ever since! We've turned out to be truly perfect travel companions for each other.

            I’m the planner. We brainstorm ideas about where we want to go and what we want to see and I spend hours on end scouring the internet looking for how to get there, where to stay and what to do. Kyle, as a global studies major and one of the smartest people I know in general, knows all about the history of these places as well as their current culture. He knows the financial and political situations of almost everywhere, he knows the cultural norms and he also has his own ideas about what we should do and see. He has a massive amount of common sense and knows the importance of thinking things through. I, on the other hand, tend to sometimes get carried away. Kyle brings me back down to earth when I, for example, come up with an extravagant plan to spend a week traveling to Machu Picchu and decide that we need to jump on it and do it NOW. Kyle reminds me that it’s almost $900 out of our budget and not to worry because we will definitely be back. He reminds me of all the amazing places we have already seen and tells me we need something to look forward to in the future.

            Both of us are in total agreement that our semester in Chile has surpassed our semester in Spain by a mile. It's funny because during a particularly rough period in Spain, I was set on backing out of Chile. I had cried to my parents and I had cried to Kyle saying there is no way I could do this and I needed to spend the next semester closer to home. Kyle listened to my rants and made logical arguments against them. He reminded me that there was a time when I really, really wanted this, that I could do it and that if I backed out, I'd spend the whole semester at Loyola wishing I didn't. He told me I was just sweating the small stuff and once we got here, I would realize that. And after taking a few steps back and a few deep breathes, he was right. I can't IMAGINE not being here this semester and I have Kyle to thank for reminding me my reasons for wanting to come here in the first place. And with his support, I haven't had a single bout (knock on wood) of homesickness since I've been here.

 As I've said before, we really did enjoy quite a few things about Spain and Europe but looking at a black and white pro-con list, Chile just has offered us so much more. In comparison to Spain, we prefer the people here, we prefer the city of Santiago itself vs the cities of Madrid or Alcalá, we prefer the university we attend here, in addition to plenty of other factors. For Kyle, the activities and trips we've done so far here have stood out the most. Kyle was born and raised in Maine and LOVES anything outdoorsy or active. He snowboards, he runs, he hikes, he sails, you name it and he's done it or at is willing to try it. A major difference between South America and where we traveled in Europe is that all of things are at his finger tips here. He has enjoyed our trips so far much more than he did traveling from major city to major city in Europe. He likes being able to breathe fresh air and see volcanoes and mountains and waterfalls. I agree with that mentality, especially since we are living in bustling Santiago, being able to escape somewhere nature-y for our trips is a refreshing change.

            The only thing Kyle has struggled with here is his homestay. He lives with a lovely older woman and her husband. The husband is unfortunately suffering from some form of dementia at a rapid pace. He needs to be locked in the apartment from the inside so he doesn’t get out and wander and get lost. He doesn't know who anyone in (including his wife or Kyle), he touches everyone’s food at the dinner table, he can’t formulate his thoughts properly to speak and on top of the front door being locked, Kyle has to keep his bedroom door consistently locked or his host dad wanders in and takes things. It is a devastating disease which I personally have had experience with in my family but it would still be hard for me to live with it 24/7 so for Kyle, who has never had any experience with it before, I completely understand his struggle. But he loves his location and he loves his host mom so even at my suggestion of looking for somewhere else, he refuses. He's really flexible and understanding like that. He has the biggest heart and says he would feel to bad leaving her (his host mom) all alone.

            Kyle has been my counterpart in 3 continents, 9 countries and I cant’t even begin to count the cities and towns. I sincerely would not have been able to make it through a full year away from my family, my friends and my home had it not been for him. I know that I’ve mentioned him a lot in my earlier posts so it makes me happy to allow other people to see just a sliver of how great he is.