With great sadness . . .

. . . I write this post.

This morning, the ISA group gathered at the Teatro Municipal in Central Vina to go a tour and excursion around Vina, Renaca, and ConCon. As we walked around Vina, one topic kept coming up in conversation - the disappearance of Michaela while on a hike with five other ISA students on Friday. Although we did pass some interesting historic parts of Vina, most of the time we spent felt as if it was on the Micro Bus to Renaca to see the sand dunes.

When we arrived at the sand dunes, half of the group had already arrived and was already boarding down the dunes. It was like snowboarding and sledding down the giant dunes, and it was fun.

But when we were called together right before we were to leave, Lorna from ISA delivered unbearably shocking and horrifying news, that left everyone speechless. The police had found Michaela this morning, after she had fallen off a cliff and died. The details are unknown to me and how I am feeling is too much to write about right now. It is a tragedy beyond proportion that she had to leave us before our experience had even really begun and although I did not know her well, I will miss her.