Sketch: Allende's Tomb

by Spencer Richardson 

Here is a sketch of Allende's tomb at the General Cemetery. He is a member of the Bussi family and several other members of his family are buried there. His tomb is prominent among them and is the easiest to read when looking in the door.

Sketch: Valle de Elqui

by Seth Lykins

This is a reflective sketch I did of the night sky that we saw in Valle de Elqui. It was truly breathtaking and this does not do it justice.

Sketch: Universidad Alberto Hurtado

by Rachel Lowry

This is a sketch I did at UAH one day during our lunch break. I am usually not a doodler, but I challenged myself to this that afternoon before class and hoped I would enjoy the memory more than a simple photograph. While sketching, I was so relaxed and actually kind of enjoyed it and ended up creating a memory that really is more enjoyable to look at than a picture.

Sketch: Patagonia

by Ibeth Nuñez

I started drawing this at the airport on our way to Patagonia. I didn't think I would draw much on this page: it just started by finding a place for my donuts sticker because it said Patagonia. Since I had time on my hands I started to draw some random things on the page, and as we traveled for 9 days in Patagonia, this is what I came up with.  

Sketch: General Cemetery

by Anna McRay

 

This is a sketch of a scene at the General Cemetery or the Cementerio General in Santiago. Our entire group spent an afternoon here after we took a tour of Villa Grimaldi, one of the centers for torture during the dictatorship from 1973-1990. I really enjoyed visiting this cemetery because it was interesting to see how it was divided based on social status. The cemetery holds about 5 million people and is so large that it contains several streets and city-size blocks. Each street indicated a section of economic status. The people of high class are buried near the front, closer to the chapel. The poor people are buried in graves (like the one pictured) near the outskirts. 

Sketch: Where is home?

by Emily Riddle

I don't really draw. Ask my friends. I wish I was an artist and I try to be, but it usually fails or ends up with me being frustrated... I mean, "fascinated." Throughout my journal, whenever a quote would come up or something would happen that would stick in my head, it would usually take up an entire page. This is one of them. At the time that I wrote/drew this, I was thinking of home as my house in Tennessee with my family. It has now grown to mean something completely different. I now consider myself to have 3 homes. My home in Franklin, my home at Lipscomb, and my home in Santiago. It doesn't matter if my home is a literal building anymore. I have come to learn that my home is the people surrounding me.

From Strangers to Family

by Bethany Hertrick

Yesterday was our last day of re-entry classes at Lipscomb. It was a bittersweet moment because, on one hand, we're finished with our school work for another semester, but on the other hand, we're closing an important chapter in our lives and saying goodbye to each other for the entire summer. As we sat in Ezell 363 yesterday, I couldn't help but think about when our group was in the same room three months ago for orientation.

At that time, we were all a bit timid and perhaps apprehensive about what the semester might hold. We all made sure to sit by the people we felt most comfortable around, but none of us really talked much in between lectures. When lunch time rolled around, the majority of us met up with other friends to eat. We acknowledged other team members when we saw them on campus, but it was never more than a simple smile or a wave. Most of us would say that we didn't really know each other before boarding the plane to leave, so it makes sense that we would act the way we did. We were strangers. But yesterday, as we all held hands in a circle and prayed one final prayer together, we were anything but strangers.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Williams and Señora Zelnik led an activity where we all shared our favorite memories from the trip. Specifically, we talked about our favorite restaurants, quotes from the trip, bloopers, places to go in Santiago, and personal excursions. Our laughter was uncontrollable as we shared inside jokes and unforgettable stories from the trip. At lunch time, a group of about ten of us flooded the student center to eat one final meal together. We all crammed into a single booth and enjoyed the privilege of being “loud Americans” again. Since we got back, seeing one another on campus is like seeing long-lost deeply loved relatives. We usually give each other big hugs or wave frantically and ridiculously from across the room. It hasn't been unusual to see a group of us hanging out in Starbucks, sharing life and “real” coffee together. It's crazy to think that even though we spent three months living together, we're still not sick of each other. Sure, we get annoyed sometimes and we have our disagreements, but doesn't every family?

I guess that's the best way I can describe our group. We are no longer strangers, but a family. We have the caring, motherly figures, the protective and knowledgeable father figures, the obedient daughters, the mischievous sons, and just about everything in between. Although I was incredibly glad to see my real family in the Nashville airport, I was also sad to say goodbye to my Chile family. We've grown so close over the past three months, and each one of them has positively impacted my life in one way or another. I wouldn't trade this study abroad experience for the world, and I feel so blessed to have shared it with such wonderful people. ¡Viva Chile!