Figs & Frappucinos

They took me hiking and showed me all sorts of trail-side berries that I've never seen before. Spoiler: they were all delicious. And wild plums MAY be my favorite fruit. Along with fresh figs.

Andrea (the mom), Marcello (the dad), and their two boys—Facu and Leon—who are 5 and 8, made my summer (it’s fall here now) really special. 

Whether it's Andrea bringing homemade Frappuccinos to my room, the grandma sharing figs from her garden, or the grandpa playing all sorts of tricks on me—I could write a 10 page essay, easily, about all my lovely memories with this family. So many simple signs of love. They even taught me how to play guitar. One day Andrea and I were laying on the floor of the living room, exhausted, staring at the ceiling and just talking for an hour.

Their cabin in the mountains—where we spent the nights singing around a campfire and the afternoons chatting over tea and cookies.

And their lil mischief: switching stuffed animals, stealing our chargers, clogging toilet with tp.

Annnnnd the boys. We spent our days building rock towers, filling my sketchbooks full of pac-man and Minecraft drawings, and playing silly little computer games. They would hug/attack/strangle me at any given moment, and/or bring me little snacks and gifts for no reason (including Chocolate eggs, Pokemon cards, and Playdough figurines). I. Adore. Them.Stupidly complicated pac-man card game. Swimming up the rapids with Facu. Iron-man Leon.

Also, my feet were never safe from this monstrosity (a.k.a. a remote-controlled car).

Additionally, like a perfect cupcake, the family came with a cherry on top. 

The Cherry: Lisa, my German roommate, and one of my favorite people in Chile.

Lisa and I shared a host family, a house, and a room, and it was an absolute dream. 

You might recognize her from all of our Torres del Paine selfies.

It couldn't have been more perfect* (she even showers in the morning?!?!).

*Note: for a while I was sleeping on an inflatable mattress that had a hole in it, so I had to manually inflate it every night, and every morning I woke up basically on the floor. 

We did everything together (baking, movies, gym, shopping, etc.). We even have a joint bucket list.

I wish I could've taken her with me to my new family :)

Lil Stories: 

• Once we went grocery shopping together and thought we might as well check some things off the family grocery list (sweet, right?), only to find out afterwards that the “grocery list” was a list of Facu’s FOOD ALLERGIES.

Lisa and I even added stuff  🫠

• Another surprise: I came home from the gym and Lisa told me that Andrea said there was some leftover pancake batter in the blender. So I started up the stove, splashed a bit of oil in the pan, and poured in the batter. The kitchen erupted with the smell of coconut. It was no leftover pancake batter. It was a non-alcoholic piña colada. Though the language barrier has mostly collapsed, it rebuilds itself in the strangest moments. 
• When the family went camping in Siete Tazas National Park, Lisa and I woke up before everyone else to go swimming in the FRIGID water at first light. To be honest, we got there too early and the sun really wasn’t as magical as we’d hoped—it was more sparkly during the day—however, I don’t regret it one bit. We laughed loudly and often, shrieking as we swam through the am-I-going-to-get-hypothermia (?) water, and climbing/swimming up the rapids. A couple hours later, we splayed out on the smooth, sun-warmed rocks to take a niiiiice and long nap.

Simply lovely.