The end is nigh...

So here we are - my last blog from Chile!

Saying goodbye to friends...

I'm currently sitting in a hostel in Valparaiso, having bid goodbye to everyone and left Cholchol for the very last time.

The week we were back in Cholchol was a hectic rush of trying to sort out our house - amazing the amount of stuff you can accumulate over a year! - and get it all into bags for our trip home.

At our despedida...

We were also invited to nearly everyone we know's houses which was lovely because we could chat to everyone and say proper goodbyes, whilst being force-fed ridiculous amounts of Chilean food. We also have several invites to peoples houses for when we come back to Chile to visit! Think I might
need to start saving for that one a bit first!

We were also thrown a lovely despedida by the Youth Group which involved a lot of icecream and karaoke!

at Los Ojos de Carbagua

During the week we ventured into Temuco for the last time, and to the towns of Villarica and Pucon with some friends - which was the perfect way to end our experience living in one of the most beautiful regions in Chile.

The last goodbyes were... horrendous. There are no words to describe it, but having the girls from the internado holding onto us and begging us not to go really does make me feel - well, firstly: why the hell am I leaving? But secondly: that I think I really have done something worthwhile with my year abroad, I've made some amazing connections here and I think I have made a bit of a difference to some of these kid's lives. They've certainly made a difference to mine.

Saying goodbye to the Ortiz family was, if possible, even worse. They took us to the bus terminal in Temuco and waved us off onto the bus. Let's just say many tears were shed by all.

And so here we are, after a couple of very interesting trips across Santiago on the metro with a lot of very heavy bags, and then of course the bus to Valpo and the trek up the hill to the hostel! But we made it and it is beautifully sunny outside and we are ready to make the most of our last weekend!

Thanks for your support and for reading my blogs throughout this year. I hope you've found them interesting. I'll do one more from England when I return, just to sum up the feelings and my last adventures. But then, I guess that's it!

Thanks again,
Hannah :)