"In order to understand the world...

... one has to turn away from it on occasion." - Albert Camus

In true Sarah style, I've started procrastinating quite a lot, specifically, with my blog posts; however, the other aspects of my life have also been affected, specifically, the tidiness of my bedroom. I have a whole lot to catch you up on... so I might be banging out a couple of these posts rapid fire in the next week. Why in the next week? Well, starting January 15, I'll be gallavanting around South America for a few weeks during my summer vacation. It's a rough life, folks, but I'm willing to bear this burden for all of us. Because of these travels, I'll be rather disconnected from the world until late February, at which point I'll spend time trying to update you again.

Where to begin? A few weeks after Thanksgiving, all of the members of ChACE here in Chile went on our annual retreat. The whole retreat was... well... unreal. We had the privilege of spending a weekend in some houses along the coast in Zapallar, Chile. Everything was just incredibly gorgeous. The houses were amazing. The sunsets were beautiful. And it was a great opportunity for all of us to spend one last weekend together before people started packing up and moving back to the United States.

The house where we spent most of our time was about a stone's throw away from the Pacific Ocean. The view of the house and the view from the house were breathtaking.

The house that where we spent most of our weekend.

View from said house.

The first day we took a walk along a stone path that skirted the coastline and led to a larger beach. Of course, we stopped along the way to take some photos and just kind of bathe in the overwhelming awe of the scenery.

Close up.

Far shot.

There are stray dogs EVERYWHERE in South America. Truth.

The rest of the weekend, we just spent time enjoying our surroundings and good company. Living in South America, I'm in an almost constant state of wondering how I ever got such good fortune to find myself drowning in all these blessings. One evening we all had a chance to go around in a circle and share anything we wanted to with the group. Almost everyone there was in the ACE Program through Notre Dame previous to participating in ChACE (an offshoot of ACE). On a basic level, at least, they all knew one another. They all had a previous life of community with one another in some fashion. Coming from the Magis Program at Creighton University. I was an outsider. Every person I've met since leaving Nebraska has been completely new to me. And it was something that I had a lot of anxiety about before coming to Chile. I was leaving years worth of communities in Nebraska, and I was leaving for the first time. Usually, when someone wants to move away from home for a while, they choose another city in their country. Not only did I choose a city in a different country, but I chose a city in a county half way around the world, and I chose to go there alone. But, as I've said before, I am not alone, not in the slightest. That day, I told the group that not only did I feel as though I had been welcomed into the ACE and the Notre Dame family, but also I feel as though I'm very much an integral part of that family. So, it's easy sometimes to feel a little displaced down here... because I painfully and ardently miss my life in the States, but it's also hard to feel sad when I'm surrounded by so much love. It's also hard to feel sad when I'm having the time of life. This type of thing doesn't happen to normal people.

Look at this ridiculous sunset.

This is me, watching said sunset.

So we went to Zapallar. It was pretty incredible. Everything is pretty incredible. In the next several days I plan to tell you a little bit about spending Christmas and New Years outside the United States. I'll also tell you about my six-day mission trip I went on with my school. Then I'll spend a month and half traipsing around Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. What is this life?

The whole group at Zapallar.