The day draws near...

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Hello all! I have never blogged before, but I figure since I will be abroad for 5 months, now is a good time to learn/start. I am writing this two days before my flight leaves from the cities. I will fly from Minneapolis to Dallas and then on to Santiago, Chile. This is sure to be a wonderful and eye-opening adventure! I will be living in Viña de Mar and attending school at the Catholic University in Valaparaiso, called Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. During the five months I will live with a host family, go to school, and learn what life is like in the Chilean culture.

I have spent the last few weeks leading up to this trip seeing and visiting family and preparing to depart. It has been a special time for me to reflect on my past, enjoy my present, and look forward to the future. I feel extremely blessed to have many great friends and family that I have been able to see over the last few weeks.

Though I am nervous, much of my nervousness has turned into excitement! I have emailed with the family I will be staying with (they live in Viña del Mar, which is right next to Valparaíso). They seem like wonderful people and I look forward to meeting them in a few days!

I plan to embrace this experience and learn everything I can about the culture, language, food, people, and more . I feel so lucky to have this opportunity and to be able to write about it and share my thoughts on here. A huge thanks to all (and there are many of you) who have helped prepare me for this adventure, your words and actions have meant so much, and have helped me to feel confident and happy as I ready myself to go! If all goes according to plan, my next entry on here will be from Chile!

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Comments

[Patti Neal]

Well...er...have fun!