Thank You Chile

While I am here in Chile on this great American holiday, mourning my lack of stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and other delicious Thanksgiving foods, I was suddenly hit with this thought: "Hey! Look at the bright side! You won't be feeling guilty about the size of your ginormous stomach afterwards! And, there are so many wonderful things here to be thankful for too." And that got me thinking, there really are so many things! In fact, I decided to make a list. While in no particular order, I'd like to say thank you to Chile for:

1. Empanadas.
2. The delicious panadería on the corner of my street.
3. Pisco Mango.
4. Watching "Los Tres Chiflados" (The Three Stooges) with Mamá as she cries laughing so hard.
5. Cooking with my host sister Leslie.
6. Seasons 1-7 of Dexter.
7. Skype and WhatsApp.
8. Sunny days at the beach, and living only 15 minutes away from it.
9. Finally being able to understand Chilean slang po. Cachai?
10. Being able to see the desert, beach, mountains, lakes, and glaciers all in the same country.
11. Good wine.
12. Cheap public transportation.
13. Friends who have turned into family down here (Laura, Rachel, Geneva, Lindsey, Katherine, Kassi, Nolan, Nathan, Katie, Karina... to name a few).
14. The openness and caring attitudes of the Chilean people.
15. Llama/Alpaca sweaters.
16. Flor de Chile.
17. Finding the bagel shop on 7 Norte.
18. Thursday morning coffee dates with Rachel and Geneva.
19. Bros like Nolan, Nathan, and Laura.
20. A host family that loves me.
21. ISA.
22. The old woman who found my wallet back after it was stolen.
23. A wonderful family back home who are so supportive and caring.
24. DU for having such a great abroad program and the Cherrington Global Scholar Program.
25. My grandparents for sending me cards with frogs that hug you.
26. Sunscreen.
27. Morning runs on the beach.
28. Warm showers.
29. The coconut cookies that Mamá buys.
30. Mint tea at once.
31. Pazookie and movie nights.
32. Friends from Steamboat and DU always there for me.
33. Orbit gum.
34. Peanut butter.
35. Earplugs.
36. Chorrillana, even thought it's a giant plate of grease and occasionally undercooked meat.
37. Only being able to talk in Spanish with my host family.
38. Discotecas (Bar Arena, Oasis, Ovo, etc.)
39. The colors in Valparaíso.
40. Llamas.

Well, there you have it. There are so many more than 40, but this is what I came up with for now. And yes I ended the list with Llamas. Duh. They're awesome. I can only hope everyone else has as many things to be thankful for as I do today... Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends currently abroad and everyone back home too!