Sweet and Bitter

"Algún día en cualquier parte, en cualquier lugar indefectiblemente te encontrarás a ti mismo, y ésa, sólo ésa, puede ser la más feliz o la más amarga de tus horas." --Pablo Neruda

 Before I left for Chile I spent lots of time talking to professors and mulling over exactly what my thesis would be and what I was trying to do. The best advice I received on how to go about it was from a professor who told me, "Just go." He told me that when I was here and was surrounded by a different culture that only then would I be able to understand what my thesis would be and what I was supposed to write about.

Yesterday I went to Pablo Neruda's favorite house at Isla Negra. It was the only house that I haven't visited and it definitely was one of those you save the best for last experiences. I get the opportunity to visit the house again later in the semester for my literature class--thank God because one time was not enough. Everything about the house was breathtaking....the view, the way the waves crashed against the rocks, the placement of all of the furniture (that was still original to the house), seeing the resting place of the great poet--it was all too real.

Yo creía que la ruta pasaba por el hombre, y que de allí tenía que salir el destino.

La risa es el lenguaje del alma.

Hoy es hoy, y ayer se fue. No hay duda.

We also went to this little town called Pomaire--it reminded me of a little mountain town in New Mexico. I didn't have to buy lunch there because Mama had made me a sandwich with homemade pan amasado one of my favorite breads here--so good. Today it's pretty chilly and dreary outside--hopefully the sun will come out sometime this week. I definitely am missing the Austin heat. I know some people hate it because it is so hot--I'm just the opposite, I love love love it.

I've been talking with a couple of friends about making a trip to Argentina in the next couple of weeks--depending on cost, it sounds like I might be taking a bus across the border. Today I'm just catching up on my homework and writing--definitely taking a nap sometime this afternoon I'm sure.

Have a great Sunday.