<p>While some Americans com "home" to the States, I've moved back to a place where every day I convince myself that I'm not in fact on vacation and going "home" to Chile. I was born in Richmond Virginia, but my parents moved to South America, Chile, when I was but two months old. Since the age of two I have lived in the same rambling wood German-style home sitting over the Bay of Reloncavi in Puerto Montt Chile. I spent my childhood boating around southern islands, climbing over the Andes, traveling to different cities for performances with my ballet school, and rowing along the canal in front of our house with the local rowing club.</p>
<p>Now I'm sitting in my college in Lancaster Pennsylvania, and I feel like a fish out of water. It was a physical shock when I left the bright summery Santiago Chile and entered Philadelphia PA's gray-and-white winter. 'Twas an emotional shock to come permanently to the place of only fleeting past travels. For days I could not get over the barns and silos, cows feeding in the fields, Amish buggies sharing the road with vehicles, and the fact that now I was part of the scenery. The utter absence of water and boats invoked a slight sense of clautrophobia. Previously a location for occasional trips with my family and postcard scenes, now I am "home". For the first time I'm living relatively alone; I do eat supper with my tenants and their four children, but they cannot take the place of my own parents and siblings, and nothing can replace our dining table view in Chile of the canal and all its activity. </p>
<p>I have known that I would be coming back to the States for college forever and now its here. In my case, prolonged expectation has gone a long way as far as promoting good emotional health. Instead of focusing on the fact that I am a fish out of water, I should just remember that I'm living in an ex-vacation spot! Now what's so hard about that? </p>
elzh
2010-01-14T09:30:43Z
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Home? The last place I spent the night
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2010-03-10T15:35:15Z
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