Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Today (well last night I suppose considering it is about 4 am) I went to a despedida (going away party) for Katie, one of last year`s Rotary scholars. She is returning to her small town of Homer, Alaska to work for the re-election campaign of one of the State Representatives. So in order to bid her goodbye, we went to Peñaflor, a small town outside of Santiago where her boyfriend`s family lives.Like climatized gringos we arrived only about two hours late- they were just finishing dinner (at 11 pm). But we were served some good meat hot off the grill (except for Adrien since she is vegetarian) and fresh, home-made bread from an adobe-brick oven. The guests were mainly Matias´(her boyfriends´) family and me, Adrien, Jorge (my Australian-Chilean friend- more about him later), and his friend Jóse (yes, that is an accent on the first part of the name).
After dinner, the family began dancing the cueca (the national Chilean dance) in pairs. I think that it is a requirement for anyone from a small town to be able to dance it, because everyone (but the gringas) knew how. But we definitely did get a lesson. I was able to hang prety well- it actually isn`t that difficult: each person in the pair dances with a white hankercheif that is twirled in the hand in a flirtatious manner with three basic steps in varying half-moon or twirl movements. I think I need one or two more lessons and I will be a pro... :-)
Then came the goodbyes...boo. Kaite is a very talented, smart girl with amazing Spanish that I am incredibly jealous of. I can only hope to have my language skills be half of what hers are when I leave. I told her that I have to read her thesis (studying the postion and role of women in power in Chile) when she finishes it- hello!?! she got to interview Chile´s Minister of Defense (yes, a woman)!
But tomorrow she goes on to a new chapter of life...it is a bit scary to think that I am almost half-way through this year and I will be saying my goodbyes in a short while to my friend... pero así es la vida- here today, gone tomorrow.
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