We Are Family

by Emily Riddle

I'm not going to lie: I thought that our final Synthesis Mind Map presentations were going to be very stupid... boy was I wrong. Everyone had to explain how they changed over the course of the trip. Many people, including myself, had things happening before the trip that affected how we changed over the three month period  we spent in Chile. One main thing that everyone talked about was how we have become a family. A Chilean family. Looking back at our first picture as a group in the airport in Nashville before leaving, we look so awkward and you could tell that we didn't know each other that well. Now, looking at our last group picture in Lima, we are close and hugging and happy (not that we weren't happy before). I didn't know anyone very well before going on this trip. I knew their names, but that was about it. These people have seen my “orange concentrate” and we have bonded in a way that I do not have with anyone else. I cannot express how much I love each and every one of my Chilean family members. Without them, I would not have made it these three months abroad. I am going to miss them this summer. How am I going to live without seeing them every day?!