Dear Friends and Family,
There’s really no way to talk about 2016 as a single continuum. There’s the 10 months before the U.S. presidential election and there’s the two months that followed. On November 8th, we all walked through a looking glass and entered a strange – and frequently terrifying – new dimension.
For the four of us, there’s a special irony, since the preceding ten months had brought a new and welcome familiarity. Jobs solidified. Dylan and Adela were no longer the “new kids” at school. Friendships deepened. Language became more comprehensible. We bumped into people we knew. In short, things got less strange…
From Jeannette: Discrete moments signaled that we were settling in to life in Chile. When I could read the number on a public bus and know where it was headed. When I became part of a carpool with wonderful women who have become my friends. When someone contacted me through someone else I had met. When I joined a committee at Santiago Community Church and organized a volunteer event at a local school. When we welcomed family and friends from the U.S. with authentic Chilean meals – including a legit “asado” (typical Chilean-style BBQ) with tasty pisco sours.
After the election I was completely UNSETTLED, and dozens of Chileans asked me how Trump could win the election – especially without winning the popular vote. While I could explain the Electoral College in Spanish, and how some voters had latched on to a deceptive notion of what makes America “great,” I needed space to mourn and regroup.
Fortunately 2016 had brought me expanded opportunities to work with teachers, students and school leaders –with fabulous colleagues at Fundación Chile and other innovative educational organizations. Travelling to the U.S. for work in May also allowed me to visit friends and family and celebrate my parents 50th Anniversary and “Pop-Pop’s” 75th birthday. I’m particularly grateful this year for friends here in Chile who have been so kind and generous, brought me laughter and hugs, and offered me immeasurable support.
From Dylan: This year, we got to visit and experience some very magical places as a family. We started the year off with a bang, taking a vacation to the Lake District in southern Chile. There we visited a wonderful glacier named the Ventisquero Colgante which gets its name from the fact that it hangs over a mountain rock face. As it melts off, icy water falls like raindrops into the lake below. On that same trip, we camped in a very beautiful national park named Parque Pumalín where my parents cycled 16 years ago on their honeymoon. But even before that, my dad and I got to go rafting on the Futaleufú River with class five rapids. This river is very famous throughout the world of professional rafting and is the training ground for many pros who hail from the northern hemisphere, looking to stay in shape between October and March. This was a truly unique experience for me. While I’m a very sporty person, rafting was a totally different kind of fun. The other magical place we got to visit in 2016 was Machu Picchu. While most people either hike the old Inca Trail or take the train up to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the ruins, we hiked the Salkantay trail. After two days of a steep climb, we reached the Salkantay pass and from there it was mostly downhill through the small towns of Colpapampa and Santa Teresa until we made our final climb into Aguas Calientes. After that long trek we got up at 4am to catch one of the first buses to the historic site of Machu Picchu. Once we were there, our guide led us through part of the ruins, explained the history behind some of it, and then left us at the base of Huayna Picchu. From there, we were on our own to climb it and further explore the rest of the ancient city.
In February, a week into our family vacation, I returned to Santiago alone to resume my soccer. While the rest of my family was enjoying a stay with some family friends in Valdivia, I was training hard everyday with my team, La Católica. In addition to training hard for the upcoming season, I was also hoping day in and day out that my player pass would finally arrive from FIFA so I could fully join the team and play in competitive matches. About a week into the season, we received news that my pass was complete, and that Saturday morning I was walking onto the pitch wearing the jersey I had longed to wear for eight months.
I was deeply moved by all of these experiences. Being somewhere you might never see again gives you a sense of appreciation towards the place and towards those who helped get you there. And as for soccer, I have a deep appreciation for being on a terrific team doing the thing I love.
From Matt: I’ve particularly enjoyed some new and renewed friendships this year. Getting to spend time outside of the city at the getaway homes of Paula Leighton and Gonzalo Argandoña (friends from my traveling days) and getting to know their terrific families. Playing regular Wednesday night soccer with a group of guys who have been friends since elementary school (!) but were happy to let me in. Spending time showing my brother, sister, mom and dad our adopted home. These have been the most rewarding experiences. And I have been so impressed by the caliber of the professionals I have had the chance to meet, at the Ministry of Education and its partner agencies, at local universities, and at non-profits. The desire for positive change is palpable here, and it’s infectious. I remain excited about engaging in the ambitious effort to re-design the educational system here and to strip away the legacy of dictatorship, piece by piece.
From Adela: I have had amazing experiences in 2016. Each of these experiences has a special meaning to me, which is why I want to share them with you.
- Summer Camp: Connect to nature and the people around me and help me grow and learn
- Trip to the South of Chile: Learn about the culture, traditions, nature and people that I am surrounded by but that is clouded by the “city smog”
- School: Starting a new stage in my life (middle school) with new friends and teachers and learning even more about Spanish, history and science
- Swimming: Exploring a new-found love for a sport I had never before taken very seriously, and meeting new people along the way
- Model UN: Engaging with other students from all over Santiago and gaining new knowledge about countries and cities all over the world
- Volunteer Work: Helping people and animals not for my benefit but for the world’s benefit
- Music and Theater: Improving my singing and theater and doing something that I really love
Everything that I have done this year has taught me something new, and it has helped me grow and mature. Maybe this year has not been the best for some people (especially those affected by the actions of the man occupying the White House at this moment). But I have learned that we are stronger together, and we have to stand strong, because every person counts. This year, I saw a movie that greatly inspired me. It said that the meaning of life is partly to be happy, but also to live now, and I hope that people will live their lives, not dwell on the past or worry about the future. I now want to share with you three quotes (because I could not decide which one was best) that mean a lot to me. They are all spoken by Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, my favorite books. Enjoy…
“It is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
“We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.”
I hope you all have a wonderful 2017 😉
2016 by the numbers:
0 – number of Copa América titles Chile won before we moved here
2 – number of Copa América titles Chile’s won since we’ve lived here
2 – countries Adela represented in Model United Nations conferences (India, Mexico)
6, 9, 10 – jersey numbers Dylan wore during his 28 games for La Católica this season
14 – day in June when Gigi Hébert was born and Felix became a big brother!
27 – officially bad smog days in Santiago
30 – family and friends who came to visit us (much more enjoyable than the smog!)
50 – special wedding anniversary for Kary and Nanette LaFors on June 17
100+ – hours spent to get official residency status
4,600 – the altitude (in meters) of the Salkantay Pass (that’s 15,200 feet) where we were on Day 2 of our 5-day trek to Machu Picchu
10,000 – round-trip miles Matt and Adela flew to celebrate Michael & Kristin’s wedding
1,000,000,000+ – number of leaf cutter ants we saw doing chores in the Peruvian Amazon
About 500 miles south our home in Santiago, just outside of the city of Valdivia, tucked away in dense woods of a temperate rain forest, stand a few of the world’s remaining alerce andino trees. They’re quite magnificent. Wide, tall, gnarled, magical. Back in February, we stood before the oldest of them – a tree that might be 3,000 years old – and thought about endurance. This tree stood before Homer wrote Odysseus, before the births of Buddha, Confucius and Jesus. It had been around for at least a millennium when the Mayans built Chichen Itza. It has withstood countless earthquakes and deluges and (just barely) human logging. With a minimal amount of caution by humans going forward, who knows how long it might endure? 2016 showed us that bonds endure and it showed us that it will take sustained work to ensure that our values endure as well.
Peace and love to you all. Adela, Dylan, Jeannette and Matt