It's all coming to an end...

So it's official... I suck at blogging! It takes literally no time to write a post, but I always find myself forgetting. Well a lot has happened since my last post. Parent came and went, we had a great time travelling a large part of Chile. Year Abroad Project came and went. Ish. The only academic work I've had to do this year is a project for back home, we're supposed to use the whole year to make it really good. I did a lot of reading around the topic and left all the writing to the last two months (I guess that's on excuse for not writing anything on this blog).

On a side note, physio is going really well. I went kayaking on flat water for the first time since my accident on Saturday and it went really well. My shoulders feel strong and I'm more motivated than ever to get back to where I was. My last water and teaching related activity that I'll be doing here in Conce was a presentation/workshop I gave at the technical university, DuoC, on Monday. I gave a lecture style presentation to a group of tourism students and firemen about whitewater rescue, followed by a 2hr practical workshop outside. I really enjoyed it and after all my work in the field this year, I have a lot of contacts to arrange future trips and courses in Chile.

Back to my YAP. I've been lucky in that the author of the novel I'm writing about, Diamela Eltit, has been really helpful in answering all my questions via email so I've had some input directly from the creator of the novel. I'm now writing this post having completed everything, packed everything, and organised everything at my flat in Conce. Why am I packing? Because it's time to go! Yup, 10.5 months have flown by. Time to go home now.

Well actually... I am going to make my way home, but very slowly. I have until the 26th July to get to Bogotá, Colombia where my flight leaves from. For those unfamiliar with South American geography, this will involve a mammoth overland journey passing through Northern Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. I've chosen to take on the journey by bus because it means I can stop wherever I want and take it all the famous attractions, but more importantly a lot of places off the beaten track that don't see so much tourism. Nonetheless, this mammoth 7500km journey is gonna involve a lot of uncomfortable bus journeys. I'm travelling alone, which will be great because I have no plan or itinerary and can just go with the flow and enjoy myself, meeting new people on the way. If there is anything that I've learnt in Chile, it's that you don't always have to have a plan. If you're vaguely streetwise, have a good grasp of Spanish, and not bothered about comfort, things will always be ok in the end.

On that note, I will tentatively say that I'll try to write at least one blog post per country, but with my new 'screw planning' attitude, anything could happen. Below are some picture of my workshop on Monday. If I don't post before I get back, I'll see you all in 2 months!!!