One of my greatest accomplishments on this trip was a solo 17.5km hike in Parque Natural Aguas de Ramón, located east of the city by La Reina Alta. The views were breathtaking, from the glimmering snow up in the Andes and the cacti that were taller than me, to the 25m Apoquindo Waterfall at the far end of the trail. At every turn, I’d say to myself “¡Ay, que lindo!” After being in Chile for several weeks I finally found myself regularly thinking in Spanish (with many Chilean colloquialisms and pronunciations), something I consider an important sign of improving fluency. I also found that when I thought and spoke in English I tended to adopt a Chilean accent here as well – I was really able to immerse myself linguistically here. I’m also thankful for my unique cultural immersion – there truly is no better way to understand a culture than traveling there and experiencing it. You can read the poetry of Gabriela Mistral from home, but it’s much more special when you see exactly what inspired her in Valle de Elqui. You can learn about sustainability issues of Chile on the news, but it’s more impactful when you travel all over the country learning about these problems from the people working to fix them on the ground. You can read about all the wonderful food of each region and Chile’s beautiful nature, but there is nothing like taking a swig of crystal clear water from the streams coming from the Andes in the middle of a long solo hike and looking forward to the charquicán in the fridge once you return. This trip was very special to me and I am thankful for this opportunity to travel abroad and immerse myself in Chile more than I could have ever imagined.
