So as you may be able to tell we are on our way home now. Our travel day started with an hour long journey out of Santiago. The atmosphere on the bus was happy and fun with people playing music and everyone giving speeches and making jokes about what had happened over the past two weeks. Some even got emotional (yes I'm talking to you Professor Gomez) thinking about how our amazing journey had come to an end. I am sure everyone whether they showed it or not was getting emotional about the trip being over.
Once we got to Arturo Merino Benitez Airport, we had to wait for about an hour until we could start to check in. During that time, Professor Berdiev showed us on of his many hidden talents, card tricks. I do not know about everyone else but my mind was blown. Andrew even got in on the action with showing his own card trick. We did not have any problems getting through baggage and security, other than these backpackers in high school that kept trying to get in front of us in line.
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| (Berdiev doing card tricks) |
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(Andrew doing a card trick)
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Our flight was not scheduled to take off until 11:30, so to pass the time away, people found other things to do. After everyone got dinner, we all gathered near our terminal and enjoyed a musical performance from Ailene and Tyler. Ailene had bought a traditional instrument in Chile and they both took turns putting on a show for everyone in the airport. At this point our flight had also been delayed 30 minutes so it helped lighten up the mood.
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| (Tyler putting on a show for the airport) |
Once we boarded the plane for the dreaded nine hour flight we were all about to face, people tried to fall asleep as fast as possible. For the most part, we all sat together, but some people had interesting conversations with the strangers they were next to. for example, Kayla said "I sat next to a man from Colorado who use to own a business but sold it and is just chillin now". Nick had a less interesting man next to him, he said "I sat next to a man who did not make a single body movement during the entire flight and at one point I checked his pulse to make sure he was good". Most people slept through the whole flight and did not think it was as bad as the one from Houston to Argentina.
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| (Colby ready for the 10 hour flight) |
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| (Me, Jay, and Diana excited for our flight) |
Our legs were sore and bodies tired, but everyone made it off the plane. Now it was tine to face the dreaded six hour layover in Houston. many people just laid down by our gate, but some chose to play cards. Me, Arnav, and Aleks chose to watch the premiere league soccer that was on. This time also gave us a chance to look back on the photos and videos of our whitewater rafting adventure (Berdiev's favorite part). The layover flew by and in no time we were on our way back home.
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| (Many people playing cards during the layover) |
It was a great feeling coming off the last plane and seeing all the parents waiting for us by baggage claim. coming off that last plane really signified that these two amazing weeks was over. Many people reminisced on their time over the last two weeks. Bridget said "It was a really long and sad day, I am sad to leave everyone but I know we will keep in touch at school". Alexander also said "leaving South America has made me realize how great of an experience we were all fortunate enough to have. I am thankful for all the fantastic memories and friends I was able to make on the trip". Many students shared this same opinion. South America was some of the best times of our lives and it would not have been possible without all the fantastic people that made it that way. I know for a fact we will all keep in touch and will stay friends far beyond this trip. I will leave this blog with a quote from one of the best shows ever created that sums up the trip perfectly. "I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you left them" -Andy Bernard, The Office
peace out from the greatest SIE Argentina Chile group on record (actual Gomez quote)
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