Going home tomorrow...

Things I will miss about Chile:
1. Being able to go anywhere I want for less than $1 on the Metro.
2. $290 peso conos.
3. Hearing Spanish on the streets.
4. Chilean Spanish accents.
5. Echaurren 44 lunch restaurant.
6. Very good, very small biology classes with amazing teachers.
7. Kichan >.>
8. Party nights that start at 12 and end at 6.
9. Having a group of people to go to a bar with.
10. Seeing the Andes in the spaces between the skyscrapers.
11. Nuts 4 Nuts.
12. Constitucion.
13. Walking around downtown.
14. Walking around at night or on Sunday afternoon when it's quiet and there's no one on the street.
15. How nice everyone is here.

Things I will not miss about Chile:
1. Lack of heat - indoors, outdoors, and water =(
2. Lack of stable internet.
3. Dirty air and resulting sore throat / headaches.
4. Mayonnaise.

I guess the balance of the two lists shows how I feel about going home. I love Santiago, and Chile in general. I want to go back to every place I've visited while here, and there's more parts of the country that I still want to see. This trip has also made me want to travel more to other countries or parts of the US that I still haven't been. I may have even found some travel companions for some of these adventures, so we'll just have to see what the future brings in that respect. The only sure things I know are that I am taking more Spanish classes over the next few years, and trying to be more adventurous about food and going out even when I'm back at home.

Last night was a really good night. We had a fancy farewell dinner that involved many seafood-related apetizers and empanadas. I had Chilean sea bass with crab sauce as a main dish, and a giant pyramid of solid chocolate for dessert. We were at the restaurant for about 3 hours, and people were taking pictures literally the entire time. It was a really friendly-feeling evening; as much as people complained about the group as a whole, or certain people, we all really came together in a friendly way to enjoy the last night here. I didn't bring my camera but I should be able to steal a sufficient number of photos from peoples' facebooks to add to my trip album. I will try to get a final batch of pictures up sometime in the next few days, so look for my updated album in a little while.