travelling...restlessness, and the first touch of homesickness (viernes, 24 septiembre)

However, sometimes we spend our whole lives trying to get far away from where we first started, only to end up in the same exact place after all. While not physically in the same place, the mind starts to draw parallels and see connections, and you realize that some things remain constant no matter what. I realized no matter where I am, I will always have the overwhelming desire to travel, and I will always feel slightly saddened by the idea that even if you spend your whole life travelling, it´s impossible to see the entire world. I´m restless by nature and don´t like staying in one place too long, but maybe it´s relative. Since I came back from Perú I have tried to slow down and truly enjoy the present moment, because perhaps that´s all we´ll ever have. Maybe they were right, that the present moment is all that exists and the past is just an illusion, a far-behind memory that only exists thanks to the lingering memories we hold onto.

Part of me wishes I could relax and enjoy Iquique (where I am right now) without always seeming to wonder ´what next?´or making up plans for the future. I already have a long list of places I want to go and things I want to do. I don´t know why I can´t just be happy to be here right now because the present moment is a miracle, without my mind filling itself up with thoughts of future adventures.

Travelling is contagious. Once you go to just one place, it opens up doors. You learn about other places you never knew existed. You want to try new things and experience the most you can. You meet people who change your life in various ways--some are subtle and others are so important that you can barely conceive of your life had you not met those people, even if the time you spent with them was brief.

I also feel homesick after my experiences in Perú because while I was there, I felt like the only real thing in life is love, and I´m 5,000 some miles away from the guy I love and who loves me. Sure, I am surrounded by things I love, such as the beauty of the ocean, the splendid rays of sunlight, being able to run, write, sing, etc. But the one person I know I´m meant to be with is back in Illinois and at the end of the day I often feel lonely because no one here understands me and gets me the way Kyle does. Today is his birthday so I especially missed him, but it was good hearing his voice again on the phone.

Today has been a lot of ups and downs, but at least it ended on a good note and I´m feeling pretty happy now. The government still hasn´t sorted out our visa situations. They have my passport and I´m supposed to get it back, as well as receive my visa, on Monday. As long as I get it back before I go to Bolivia in a week and a half, and as long as they don´t lose it, I´m okay with it...but knowing the Chilean government, you never know. The only unpleasant thing was having to wait around the regional government building for a few hours.

After that I ate lunch at my regional coordinator´s house and met her husband and mother-in-law from Argentina. We talked for a while and then I had to go to the post office to send Kyle´s birthday present home. That was an interesting experience. I had to get everything inspected by the customs people and the whole thing took almost an hour. One of the guys working there was super nice, but the other one treated me so rudely I almost felt like crying. It was worse because the whole conversation was in Spanish which was slightly frustrating. Although my Spanish is improving, there are still moments when I feel like I don´t understand anything at all, which is really upsetting since I´ve tried so hard to learn. Anyway, they said that anything that is made from a tree cannot be sent through the mail, so I wasn´t able to send any of the artwork (which was made of wood) in the mail. Part of me felt like asking why they allowed me to leave all the things made of paper in the box, and why I could send it all in a cardboard box since those are made from a tree too, but I didn´t think being a smart ass would get me anywhere, and I really didn´t want them to confiscate anything.

I wandered around part of the centro I hadn´t been to before and found a few interesting little markets and shops. When I got back home, the electricity was out, so that wasn´t much fun, especially since I was planning on doing my Spanish homework online.

At 7:30 I was supposed to meet some co-workers at a Chinese restaurant. The school was going to treat everyone to dinner, but when I got there I was informed that they had either changed the time to 9:30 or accidentally told me the wrong time. I ended up not eating at the Chinese restaurant because I had plans to meet a friend and I wanted to call Kyle since today was his birthday. After meeting up with Víctor to go over ideas for the tattoo I´m getting tomorrow (I´m going to get a half-sleeve on my left arm, but in three different sessions), I found a cheap call center I could call from. It was good hearing his voice again and getting to talk for a bit, and by the time I got home I was in a pretty good mood.

written by  Sara Florecita on September 24, 2010 from Iquique, Chile
from the travel blog: año de dos inviernos (Chile 2010)
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