This morning, after figuring out my schedule for school, Kira, Michaela, Shivani, and I decided to explore a little more of the Valparaíso that we had not yet seen. As we were walking around, admiring graffiti while trying to figure out where we were with our handy dandy map, a small group of high school students were walking towards us. As they were getting closer, they knew automatically that we were not Chilean natives based on the facts that we looked different, we were speaking English, and we were staring at a map quite quizzically. As the students walked closer, one of the guys had mustered up the courage to stop for a second and speak to us in English. As the guy got closer, he stopped and looked at me dead on and stuttered out the word, "Hi." As the friendly human being that I am, I gave him a big smile with lit up eyes, and responded with a "Hey." As he and his friends began to walk towards wherever they were headed, his friends mocked him for getting the American salutation "incorrect" by saying, "Ohhh it isn't 'hi,' it's 'hey,' stupid!" As they said it, the group, including the courageous boy, began to laugh, but looked back at us for some sort of acknowledgement. In return, we reassured the kid that both salutations are fine. As we began to walk away, the group laughed and told us goodbye in English, yet again, as if talking to American tourists was some sort of comedic pass time. As we continued to walk away, the four of us kind of talked about it and laughed it off. No matter what it meant to those kids, it was adorable to see someone attempt to converse with us 'gringas' in our own language.
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