After five flight delays, an overnight stay in Miami, and 45 hours of traveling later, I’ve officially arrived in Puerto Natales, Chile! I had originally planned to get here on the 9^th, but American Airlines had a few other plans for me, and I instead finally got to the small mountain town on the morning of the 10^th. It’s winter here, so wearing flannels and a heavy coat has been an adjustment for me after spending this summer working in Costa Rica. My 22 classmates and I are all living together in a converted community-style hostel here in town, and we’ve spent the last 4 days getting to know each other and going through an intense orientation process. What’s exciting is that we come from all corners of the United States and although we share the same passion for the environment, many of us represent different cultural backgrounds and experiences that have influenced why we are all here. 

As most college students would agree, community living can be difficult. What may be even more difficult in my situation is that we not only live in the same spaces and have multiple roommates, we also eat together, attend class together, and travel together. For safety reasons, we are not allowed to leave the Center without a buddy, so there is never much of an opportunity to be alone. While this could be overwhelming and maybe even an invasion of privacy, I’ve been able to reflect on the positive aspects of what it means to be a part of such a tightly-knit community.

One of these aspects is the rapidity of bonds that have already begun to form. Living in such close quarters requires you to get comfortable with people at a much faster pace than if you were to just see them in class or on the campus quad. This also means that throughout the semester, we will see each other at the best and worst of times. When one person is down, it’ll be the responsibility of everybody else as a family to bring them back up. Strong bonds will be made, and they will hopefully last for much longer than this one semester abroad. 

Another positive aspect of this experience is the opportunity to practice patience and selflessness. There will be many times that I’ll have to put others before myself, especially when sharing a room with three other people. Even just waiting in line for food or adjusting my schedule for when I’d like to shower will be something to think about. Also, living with so many people in such a small space requires teamwork to maintain organization. Random acts of kindness like cleaning somebody else’s coffee mug along with your own can go such a long way for both your friendship with that person as well as maintaining community tidiness. 

Overall, I’m extremely excited about what these next few months have in store for me. I’m in one of the most naturally beautiful places in the world and although there will be times that may be frustrating or uncomfortable, I’m ready to tackle those challenges head-on. My classmates and I are all in this together, and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of the inaugural group to represent SFS Chile!