Day 14

Day 14:

The final day has arrived. I feel terribly sad but I’m also happy knowing I’ve made some fantastic friends and I have an endless amount of stories and memories from this trip. We woke up at a decent hour and Brendan, Josh, Karen, Alana and I took a trip to the beach to do some souvenir shopping. Unfortunately, many of the cute stands were not set up yet so our options were pretty limited. Still, we all had pesos to spend so we made the most of it. I found an awesome hat at a great deal and felt pretty content with my purchase. Our last meal of the trip was of course empanadas. We went to the cute little empanada place we had visited earlier and I went with the classic carne y queso (beef and cheese) this time. After our meal, we stopped into the bakery next door where I purchased a panqueque with raspberry in it. A few others bought pastries as well and we planned to have a pastry party once we got back to the hotel. We arrived back at 1:00 pm and had to be completely packed and in the lobby at 1:45. I quickly threw all my clothes in my suitcase and weighed it to make sure it was under 50 pounds, which it was thankfully. Then I enjoyed my pastry with Brendan and we had our last cup of Chilean instant coffee! We all met in the lobby and a few of the Chilean students met us there to say our final goodbyes. We boarded the bus and looked through pictures from a trip trying to relive some of our recent memories.

My roommate, Justine, and I after moving out of our room

Soon we arrived at the airport in Santiago. It was around 4 when we got there and our flight wasn’t until 8:45. It took us a while to get our bags checked and go through security so we didn’t reach our gate until around 5:30. A few of us looked in the gift shop for some last minute purchases but decided everything was way too overpriced. We found a  group of people who wanted a substantial meal for dinner and we ate at Ruby Tuesday’s. The burger I got was exactly what I was craving and even though it was expensive for a burger, it was totally worth it. I also stopped at Dunkin Donuts for some coffee and snacks for the long plane ride. Then we all took a group picture in our matching USM hoodies before we boarded our flight. On the plane I traded seats so I could sit between my fellow Philly girls, Karen and Alana.

I think the most interesting thing to think about for this trip is how quickly we all got to know each other. During the pre-departure sessions, none of us knew each other and we were all really quiet. Since a majority of the students in our group were in the engineering school, they would always talk about engineering during these sessions and I always felt left out and awkward being a business student. After being together for a few days though, we all started to open up with each other and it became really easy to make friends. It’s just crazy to think that two weeks ago I barely knew everyone’s name and now I’ve become so close with all of them. It’ll be weird not spending everyday with the people I’ve grown so accustomed to and I only hope that we all keep in touch and stay close throughout our time together at Pitt. This trip has definitely been the best two weeks of my life. I’ve learned so much and made so many great memories that I won’t ever forget.