SGI-Chile

I'm pretty sure everyone knows this, but fyi: I'm a buddhist!(Still not really sure who all reads this blog...)
Obviously I chant and study buddhism wherever I go, but I find it so valuable to meet up with other buddhists at buddhist activities, hear people's experiences, encourage each other, and even just chant together. Chanting by yourself for weeks to a little omomori gohonzon can get boring/difficult; there's just something about chanting loudly in unison with a roomful of people that is so energizing.
Anyway, so whenever I travel I try to find the nearest Buddhist community center and meet with members/attend a meeting. I've done this in Spain, Italy, and Brazil and had wonderful experiences each time. I found online that the one SGI community center is located in Santiago, and had my host sister help me plot a course there from my house. 2 crosstown buses and 45 minutes later, I found it! I went on Saturday at around 5:30pm when the young guy I spoke with on the phone said there would be activities. It turned out they were showing President Ikeda's video at 6pm, so I spent a while chanting as loudly as I wanted in an empty gohonzon room. Since I still chant pretty quietly in my room to not disturb/freak out my family- although I'm sure they wouldn't care, its more that I'm not quite ready to call that much attention to myself yet-having the room to myself was a plus. Afterwards I watched PI's video which was of course very encouraging, though I'd already seen it. However, since it was a video I didn't really get to meet anyone, and my naturally shy nature took over and I couldn't bring myself to just start talking with people after the video. As I was leaving though, I did reintroduce myself to the guy at the front desk, Paolo, and ask if there were other meetings soon. He said there was a youth meeting the next day, so I responded "Great! I'll be there" (except in spanish...)

So, I came back the next day, and it turned out the youth meeting, which was packed btw-at least 50youth division- was actually a talk about Buddhism and the Environment! Seriously. It turns out they have talks once a month about Buddhism and some non-religious topic, similar to how Los Angeles has the Peace talks once a month. Of course I really enjoyed hearing them talk about science, global warming, the oneness of self and environment, and our responsibilities towards the earth. Plus of the two presenters, one was the student division leader and the other was a 23 year old marine biology student! They were both very smart, well-spoken and confident in their knowledge of Buddhism and it really was a pleasure to hear their presentation-plus their power point was amazing, I've seen so many terrible powerpoints...
Anyway, so afterwards I determined to talk to at least a few people, and I ended up talking with the Student Division leader, who was sooo nice and once he learned I was a Buddhist from the US gave me a huge hug and took my contact info, so now I'm officially on a list!!! HURRAY!! Then I also approached the marine bio student to congratulate her on the talk and asked her about enviro orgs in Chile dealing with ocean conservation. She was super nice too and we exchanged email info. After that I was sort of schmoozed-out and couldn't bring myself to go up to anyone else, but I left very satisfied and walked to the bus stop flanked by the most gorgeous hotpink and orange sunset.