Every day is something new

Well here it is, the blog I'm sure you've all been waiting for, the one where I tell you about how I, Anna Marie Miller, tried to surf in the Pacific Ocean.

you're gonna have to wait a few paragraphs.

Friday, September 3rd, I woke up bright and early to head to Rabuco. A tiny farming village/area nestled in between the mountains of La Campana National Park. Most Chileans have not heard of this place even though it's only an hour away, so don't feel bad if you haven't either. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. The sun was out and it was actually warm, a new concept for the greater Valparaiso area. Our first stop was a blueberry (Arandono) farm run by an ex-navy man, Juan. His dad and grandfather were both in agriculture, so after 30 years in the Navy he also decided to give a go. There were acres upon acres of blueberry plants, just starting to bloom. The peak season here is November/December, which explains why blueberries are available year round. There are only 3 full time employees at the plantation, but Juan hires more during picking/packaging season. We got to see how the plants are fertilized and how the irrigation system works; Diane even dressed up in blueberry picking regalia to show us how it is done. Juan also has bee houses that he uses to help pollinate the blueberries and they are stationed all around the fields. We then went into the packaging station to see how the blueberries are sorted and packaged. The containers that they put the blueberries in say 'From Florida', when Marina asked about that Juan said 'es su engano, no mio.' 'it's their trick, not mine.' So heads up on purchasing 'USA grown' products. Also, he sells blueberries to Meijer, the Driscoll brand. As a farewell present we all got little pots of blueberry jam, I'm pretty excited about that.

After wards we piled back on the bus to head to a family's house for lunch. As we were barreling down the unpaven roads and I was looking at the shacks on either side of the road, I started thinking to myself 'How are 40 gringos going to fit in someone's house here? Slash why would they volunteer to do that to themselves?' The house we ended up at was more of a farming mansion than a house, gringo problem solved. The home owners, Estefanie and Ricardo, run a flower plantation that grows and distributes cut flowers to Jumbo, the grocery store here, and Mercado Central in Santiago. I got a tour of the greenhouses after the most amazing lunch of my life. I've literally never eaten better. This family made us empanadas, chicken, rice, potatoes, fresh tomatoes with avocado and corn, not to mention the fresh fruit juice; pear or banana/orange. Almost died with happiness slash gluttony.

The greenhouse tour was really interesting and reminded me a lot of a Spanish documentary I watched in class last winter (Amor, Mujeres y Flores), though a lot less depressing. Ricardo originally went to school for business and was one of the head managers of Lider, another grocery store here, so he traveled around a lot doing business deals for the company. He didn't like not being home to spend time with his family so he decided to try out 'floricultura' (agriculture of flowers, no idea what that is in English). He moved his family to Colombia to earn a post graduate degree in Floricultura, while leaving an Agronomy engineer in charge back on the farm. I didn't completely understand what happened, but basically this engineer screwed Ricardo over either by stealing money or ruining the flowers. Ricardo decided to move back to the farm and just do it himself. His family stayed in Colombia until they finished the school year and now they all live in Rabuco together. This all happened in the last two years, pretty crazy huh?

We also learned how to dance La Cueca, Chile's National dance, so I can officially claim Chilena status now....sort of. The couple that came and taught us were the representatives for la Quinta Region (where Valpo, Santiago are located) for the national dance competition in Puerta Arenas, meaning they're kind of a big deal. They're also pololeando (dating), which made the whole thing a lot cuter.

CIEE then decided it was time for us to let out our inner child and play some traditional Chilean games; such as sack races, carrying an egg on a spoon, three legged race and tug of war. Nice to know some things don't change from country to country. My team lost every single game, but we probably had the best time. There are some quality snapshots of our failures on facebook should any of you care to take a peek. After this we prepared to load back on the bus and were given mini apple pies, since we clearly hadn't eaten enough that day. Not nearly as good as my Mom's apple pie, but I guess I'll settle for it :) Final note about Rabuco: It is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life and whatever pictures I took in no way show how breathtaking the view was. I think I may live there and work on Juan's blueberry farm, just a heads up.

Saturday-The big day. I got to Vina promptly at 9:15 am (obviously couldn't be on time), and we left promptly at 10:45 to pick up another girl. This country is completely incapable of functioning on time, slash any sort of schedule. Once again had another beautiful day, which made being in the freezing water a lot better. I am absolutely in love with surfing, and plan to do it at least a dozen more times before leaving. I didn't successfully stand up, but the great thing about it was that even if you didn't stand up you could just ride the waves and take in the ocean (literally and figuratively). I was able to get up on my knees every time and ride the wave, so there is some hope for me yet. Mostly just being in the ocean and hanging out with a bunch of great people was all I could really ask for and completely made the experience. Also, if any of you were thinking that the fact that I snowboard would be helpful, think again. It's the exact opposite, so definitely threw me off for the first half an hour or so.
Here's a link to the pictures my instructor took while we were surfing-sorry I look like a goof in all of them...

http://picasaweb.google.com/escueladesurf/ClasesDeSurfSeptiembre2010ComienzoDeTemporada#5513610132010893010

All of Valpo is decked out for Independence day, September 18th, but the celebrations start on the 16th...typically Chilean. It's so cool to see the whole city getting so excited for the bicentennial of their country and everyone asking you what you're going to do for the big occasion. I am looking forward to spending time with my host family and stuffing my face for four days while trying to dance La Cueca (Gaby and I had been practicing in the living room, I'm definitely better at La Cueca than Salsa, practice makes perfect I suppose). I am going to Santiago again this weekend to do some hiking with Allyson and hopefully meet up with Pablo (the Brooks' exchange student) and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Santiago is preparing for the upcoming festivities.

So much love to you all!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057718&id=1357020163&l=3d4d56fdde
^This is a link to my first album on facebook, let me know if it works and I'll post the others.

Fotos: Rabuco; Blueberry Farm; Juan and Diane picking some blueberries; Ricardo talking about planting seeds; Carolina and pololo dancing la Cueca; Maddy and I getting ready to surf, plus our instructors being goofs.