A Thought on Thinking

Yesterday was my second anniversary of being in Santiago for a week. I didn't do anything special for it, unless you count napping for 3 hours. I only intended to nap for 40 minutes, 30 because that is supposed to be the golden amount of time one needs in order to feel refreshed without feeling drowsy, and 10 just in case it took me a little longer than expected to fall asleep. Indeed, it did not. I woke up to my alarm 40 minutes later and decided, really without my own knowing it because I'm pretty sure that the state I was in could still qualify as being asleep, that I needed 30 more minutes. Since I was starting from sleep, the extra 10 would have been unnecessary this time. And I can only assume reason told me that 30 was not sufficient either because when I awoke two hours later, someone had turned my alarm off completely.

I did, however, go to Santa Lucia again. After class we ended up passing by it and although it was a smoggy day and you couldn't see the mountains from street level, which meant you couldn't see them much better from Santa Lucia level, it was breezy and the sun was somewhere between its highest point and sunset. The stairs and inclined switchbacks seemed much more difficult this time than that day my host dad took me up, but once we reached the top it was all worth it. The breeze felt better than I had imagined it would, and although the mountains were not clearly visible, it was still a view in its own right. When you can see all the mountains all the time you come to have expectations of them, but when you throw in an opacifier like smog, you realize that to see the Andes is not a right, and you will be more appreciative of a clear view on the next smog-less or fog-less day.

Santa Lucia is a perfect place for thinking, except for the fact that the very top, the reason you come to Santa Lucia, is an area with a radius of 4 to 5 feet. It gets a little crowded, and when one is thinking, one needs a little more personal space than normal. Sometimes you can fudge that personal space by escaping into your own head, like on the metro or in a classroom. But when you go to a specific location, because of its location, you simply can't go into mind exile because that would negate the very stimuli you walked up so many stairs to get to. The trick is to prethink what you want to ponder and get a jump start on the process of meditation and contemplation; don't waste your time. You skip right to the good part, the meat of your musing, and before you can become annoyed with the dozens of lovesick couples and loud tourists, you have wrapped up your rumination and can be on your way.



I've said this before, and I'll probably say it again: it feels like I've been here for more than two weeks. I'm not sure what that means yet, whether its a comfort level or a very good fit or that this is actually a very long, realistic dream, but 5 months feels like years away. I know its not. I know that once classes really start and my Spanish picks up, time is going to fly. I am very lucky to be here and I want to take in as much as I can because there is so much to see and experience. Ok, well I think that's probablyenough for today. :) Chao todos.