My First 10 Days in Chile

Hello friends!!!

Long time, no see! Unfortunately, I have not been active in the blogosphere lately but it is fortunately because I HAVE BEEN IN CHILE!

Yes, the trip that I have been talking about since forever has finally arrived and I am here to tell you about the emotional rollercoaster that has been my first 10 days.

Days 1-3

My first three days were like a dream. I arrived and I was immediately welcomed by two roommates! Being able to talk with them and join them on adventures made these three days surprisingly easy. The first night we went to the top of the Costanera Center, the tallest building in all of South America! Afterwards we saw Spider Man and grabbed dinner. The next day was spent going to a museum, attending a coffee fair, and spending the night dancing. On the third day one of my roommates left to go to school in a different city, so my other roommate and I spent the day relaxing, watching netflix, and attending church.

Days 4-7

The next four days were a little more stressful. On the fourth day I went and started my internship! Yep, I am here to work from 9-5! I was introduced to the office and the people I would be working with and my supervisor let me go home early. On Day 5 is when I started doing real work. Most of the time I help do research for a green highway project they are doing. While I am getting used to doing research and writing reports now, the first few days were very difficult to get used to. I have never worked a full length work day in an office and understanding a different language on top of that made it very tiring and stressful. Although I was stressed my supervisor said I was providing good research and reports, so I have that going for me!

Days 8-10

The first week of work I only really spent three whole days in the office. My first ¨day¨ was a half day, and I didn’t go to work on Friday because I had an excursion! My excursion was with my roommate (who is from the same university as me) and the director of the program from our univeristy. And we went to… THE ATACAMA DESERT! I know, going to the desert may not sound like the most fun thing to do but it was seriously one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever been. While we did a lot (I’ll safe that for another post) it was also a stressful weekend. My roommate was sick the first day and a half, so I was left alone with the director. While I admire her, I was very stressed because it was the first time I had ever really spent any time with her and I wanted to make a good first impression. Another very stressful factor for me was that my roommate and director know each other very well, so I was intimidated by their close relationship. All of this caused me so much anxiety that I basically called my mom crying Saturday night. And as if my social anxiety weren’t enough, I was waking up at 5 AM everyday that weekend for tours so I didn’t get much sleep.

Day 11

On Day 11, Monday, everything that had been bottling up from the previous 10 days exploded. While work went very well and I finally started having a good attitude about my work days, the evening went downhill a lot from there. I was texting my sister, telling her how tired I was from the weekend (remember I was waking up at 5 every morning) and how I just wanted to relax. Well, she called me a potato. And, well, I took that comment to heart and it basically caused all the stress I was bottling up to explode. All the emotions I had been having about getting used to a real job, feeling homesick, having culture shock, and more just came rushing out. In all seriousness, I cried for hours. I was just overwhelmed by everything that had happened the last 10 days, the good and the bad.

While I was crying I called my mom to talk about how I was feeling and how I was dealing with it. It was also during this conversation that we decided it would be best for me to see a therapist when I return to school. In the past I had used student counseling services, but my mom and I agree that it is time for some long term professional help instead.

The good news is that after getting some good rest I felt 100% myself again yesterday. I enjoyed work and I had a good evening of relaxing! And today my supervisor has no work for me to do in this morning, so I FINALLY have time to write on my blog and catch up on what I have missed.

I hope that now I am in a better groove and schedule that I’ll be able to stay updated on things going on the blogging world on the daily like I was able to before my trip began. I also can NOT wait to share everything I experience and learn as I explore our world!