I’m making my way home now. It’s hard to believe that in about 24 hours, I’m going back to the “real world” It’s been an experience more than I could have imagined and it’s hard to believe that 3 weeks have gone by!
I did everything I set out to do: learn some Spanish, tour some wineries and paraglide (twice!) There has been plenty more I didn’t set out to do (celebrate American thanksgiving in Santiago, reach nearly to the peak of some of the Andes, hot springs, great dinners and meeting great people.
It seems that for most of us 2009 hasn’t been easy. After going thru the emotions of the divorce, going to Asia for work 3 times in 6 months and many other ups and downs this year has brought, I’m extremely grateful that I was able to close out (or nearly close out) 2009 on such a high note.
This trip was meant for me to celebrate the fact I’ve survived 2009. I not only survived it, but I thrived. And in order to make sure I’ll remember this great feeling, I got a tattoo. That’s right. 4 hours before my journey home, I went to a tattoo studio and got permanently engraved! There were a whole lot of charades involved (the extent of my Spanish doesn’t cover things like “needles” or “font”) and time was tight. But Mauro, the Argentinean tattoo artist did a great job and with minutes to spare I headed to the airport. What’s the tattoo? it’s the saying “What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.” it’s the motto I’ve lived by and will continue to live by. Pretty appropriate. And every time I look at it, I want to remember my great South American adventure and how relaxed and happy I was the day I got it!
What does not kill me, makes me stronger.
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