Lost in Santiago de Chile
Leaving my small town of Hilo, to live in Santiago de Chile in South America was a pretty big culture shock for me. Although I was caught up in my classes and learning to navigate a city in a foreign language, I was always in a trance when it came to all the people who surrounded me on my daily commute to downtown. I enjoy people watching, but this took it to a whole new level. Every day I was surrounded by thousands of people. Living in the capital city of Chile with a population of about six million people was a bit of shell shock for this small town girl. But, I thrived in the anonymity. I loved that I didn’t know them. I could stare and they would never remember me. From the balcony of my apartment, I had a clear view of Plaza Italia and the entrance to the metro. I was always shocked how protests would always spring up at different times of the year. If it wasn’t due to elections, …