Today in clinical observation we went a rather different route and went to Hogar de Santa Clara (Home of Santa Clara). This place houses up to 17 children living with HIV/AIDS who have been neglected the proper care from their parents. They live here for typically 6 months to a year, with ages ranging from 2 months to 15 years, while they work with the family to teach them proper care or to find a new family for the child. We played with 2-month-old babies, helped organize and clean the building, and ate lunch with some of the children. I'm so thankful for my family and their ability and willingness to take care of me when I was sick or injured. I'm so thankful that the worst health problems I've had to deal with are minor broken bones and asthma. I'm so thankful I could witness the children's instincts to show sheer joy with the simplest things in their lives.
The day after, I celebrated thanksgiving with my host family and some friends. My host family had no idea what Thanksgiving meant and how it originated, so it was finally my turn to share a concrete piece of my home culture. We had a huge dinner, with food cooked from scratch from each person who came. So many salads (Chilean definition of salad: one or two vegetables mixed together with a mixture of oil, lemon juice, and salt as dressing), the cranberries I'm always able to successfully make (in whatever country now), coleslaw (the Chileans thought it was SO weird to put mayo, sugar, and apple cider vinegar on cabbage, but they still thought it was good) and my grandma's stuffing recipe, with rosemary instead of sage. Sage just didn't appear in any of the stores I ran to.
I said goodbye to my host sister's boyfriend, David, who served as a wonderful guide to Chile's sights and offered so many unique perspectives on current events and Chilean youth culture. I didn't know that would be the start of a long string of many goodbyes I would go through in the last few weeks of my stay here. I'm so thankful for all the time I got to spend with the people I met here. I'm so thankful for the conversations we had around the Thanksgiving table. I'm so thankful that I could feel so much happiness and love from people who were complete strangers 4 months ago.
I said goodbye to my host sister's boyfriend, David, who served as a wonderful guide to Chile's sights and offered so many unique perspectives on current events and Chilean youth culture. I didn't know that would be the start of a long string of many goodbyes I would go through in the last few weeks of my stay here. I'm so thankful for all the time I got to spend with the people I met here. I'm so thankful for the conversations we had around the Thanksgiving table. I'm so thankful that I could feel so much happiness and love from people who were complete strangers 4 months ago.