Well here I am, again. It's all very strange and familiar to be back in Valparaiso, a place I left about 6 months ago after undergoing what can only be described, albeit cliche, 'life-changing experience'. After about two days of traveling I made it to Valpo, only minor hiccups along the way, apparently they now fumigate the cargo hold of the plane 'standard procedure'... I spent a day in Santiago with Allyson and her boyfriend Seba, it was so nice to see them and kind of get on my feet before moving into my Valpo apartment. Allyson reminded me of things like, don't flush the toilet paper as I was watching it go down the drain. Seba reminded me that Chileans do not approve of wet hair as I tried to go to sleep right after my shower.
After a bus mishap in which I ended up in Vina and then tried to walk three blocks with two non-rolling suitcases, I made it to the house that I will call home for the next six weeks. I have four housemates, I think, am now remembering how vague Chileans can be. Three out of four of them are musicians, which is awesome because they love to sing and listen to music, and terrible because I don't know anything about 'good' music (Which I'm sure Dan, Max and Marina can attest to). Perhaps I will learn. The fourth is an exchange student from Mexico who is here studying architecture and shares the same dislike for salt as me, as well as being equally tone deaf. We also have a resident cat who is about the cutest thing you ever saw. His name is 'Sambo' short for something no doubt, and is pretty much insane, but will also calm down and cuddle with you (after destroying your sweater of course).
I went and saw my host family last night. My host dad is up north working but my host mom, sister and aunt were all there. It was interesting to see the subtle things that have changed around the house, a painting, a vase, etc. Gaby is now in high school and has braces, my host mom joked that she let her borrow hers (my host mom had them when I was here last year). I had a nice 'once' with them, met the new gringa that's staying with them, and then came back to my house for 'una cena de bienvenida', a welcome dinner, that my housemates made for me. It was really cute. I also feel like I'm at my first day of high school again, trying to make friends and assure people that I am in fact really cool. A little stressful, but mostly awesome. It's been a lot easier getting back into Spanish than I anticipated, but it's still really hard in groups. One on one is really easy now, but it's hard when a bunch of friends get together and are using colloquialisms and inside jokes to really follow what is going on. I'll get there.
The biggest thing that's going on right now, not sure if it's made news stateside yet, is the nationwide protest of public education. People are demanding free education all the way up through university, leaning towards something that resembles the system in Argentina and Bolivia. The government has been pretty non responsive even after a month or so of protests and strikes. After talking to students it's apparent that at this point they can't really stop until they get something, otherwise they'll have achieved nothing and be in school straight through December and January (when they normally have summer vacation). One of my housemates, Jorge, was saying that it's more important for the parents to get out and join the protests and strikes since they are the ones initially paying for their child's education. I thought that was an interesting point, though it may result in a nationwide strike of all municipalities, which has already started in some regions. No one is really sure what is going to happen, and it's going to affect the incoming exchange students (as well as the whole country) a lot. If the first semester isn't finished by the time the second set of students get here they'll have nothing to do for a month or more, compromising the integrity of the program as well as making for a mediocre experience. Yoyi was saying that this is similar to what happened a few years back with the 'Pinguinos' which was a student movement for free education that sort of died out. Last year I saw a bit of it at the beginning of the term, but that was it. Things got really violent then, and might now too. I saw lots of fires and tear gas today, as well as riot police. I, of course, am supporting the cause from a distance and taking in what it all means.
Tomorrow I'm going to get to work on my thesis, I'm here to work remember :)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
To the end of the world and back
This will be a short post, definitely not up to the depth it deserves, but due to circumstances of shitty internet and bus schedules I can´t be on too long.
Well, it is safe to say that I will never start out a new year as well as I did this one. I said goodbye to 2010 standing on the balcony of Marina´s host aunt´s apartment that had a spectacular view of the entire bay of Valparaíso, drinking champagne with Allyson and her pololo, Marina and taking in the 40 minute fireworks display that spayed from Laguna Verde all the way down to Con-Con. As Marina´s host mom would say "impresionante". The night proceeded with us partying on the streets of Valpo with the 1 million extra people who had migrated there for the night. Pretty spectacular.
January 2nd I said goodbye to my host family and Valpo and left for Punta Arenas, at the very southern tip of Chile. It was really hard to say goodbye to them, but the chaos of packing and barely making my bus to Santiago sort of prolonged all of that settling in.
Allyson and I arrived in Punta Arenas around 10pm, and the sun was still shining. It sets around 11pm down there, pretty wild. Her friend, Mauri, kindly picked us up at the airport and let us crash at his house, where he lives with his parents (love Chile). His mom and dad were so ecstatic to meet us, it was great. My friend Pablo says that people from the South show their affection with food (similar to the states) and I have first hand evidence that this is true. Mauri´s mom cooked us salmon for dinner, with rice and vegetables and tiramisu for desert. Then upon finding out we had never had centolla, King Crab more or less, she made us that for lunch the next day, as an appetizer...Just the nicest.
We spent January 3rd exploring Punta Arenas with Mauri and went to see penguins at Otoway!! It was the more economic and viable option since we had to get to Puerto Natales that night. These penguins are Magallenic penguins and are just the cutest thing ever. There were so many of them waddling around returning to their burrows from a long, 8 hr day of fishing. There were adolescent penguins that were still furry, so that was pretty great. I must say though that the creators of Happy Feet definitely never heard a penguin squak before they made that movie about their beautiful penguin songs. While totally adorable their call sounds like a dying cow. The park was really cool because not only did we see penguins, but also flamingos, ostrich like creatures, coyotes and sheep (!!!). I was over the moon.
January 4th we spent getting ready fo trek the W circuit in Torres del Paine, the national park that people come from all over the world to see. I had done so much research and talked to so many people about the best way to do it, but ultimately we did our own thing. I went and heard the "3pm talk" at the Base Camp which works with the hostel Erratic Rock, and that cleared up a lot of my doubts about the trek. As in, your raincover will NOT work because the winds get up to 180km/hr in the park. Nobody had told me that before, go figure. We used a lot of trash bags. We stayed at a different hostel called Kewskar "the backpackers shall inherit the earth" run by this ultra hippie Omar, who was just the sassiest, but greatest. I highly recommend this hostel. We were also fortunate to meet really wonderful people at the hostel, most of whom were starting the W at the same time as us. Our two favorite were Marc and Asaf. Marc is from Andora and has been traveling for 15 months. He spent 13 in Africa and started his South American adventure 2 months ago. He was really kind and funny and told me something that really stuck with me. After I said something at breakfast like " Oh man, I dont want to go back to real life" He said " I hate when people say that. This is real life, this is my life. If you are not living your real life right now, what are you doing? Living a fake life?" I think that is really true. Asaf is from Israel and just got done with his 3 year army service and is taking a year to travel before going back ot University in Telaviv. The two of them together were a dynamic duo like none other and I am so glad we got to spend time with them.
January 5th we started our trek and ended up doing it the opposite way most people do. We started at Administration, the west side of the park, intending to end with the Torres, the east side of the park. The 3pm talk guy had suggested this because you get a great view of the park as you come in, as opposed to leaving that way, desperate for a shower and only looking out at flat plains. I am SO GLAD we chose to go this way. It was a sunny, clear day so we could see everything, including the Torres, which made the extremely windy, long hike in a lot more enjoyable since we got a glimpse of what was to come in the next five days. As it turns out CONAF, environmental agency here more or less, are devious little planners and put all of the free camping sites really far apart. It is possible to get to all of them, but not worth the pain you will put yourself through. As such Allyson and I stayed at a refugio next to Lago Pehoé our first night, not too expensive, but not free either. As we start setting up our tent we realize we have no stakes to keep the tent from flying off into the distance (thanks for that Padre). So as we put on what I´m sure was a very entertaining show for all of our neighbors trying to hold down the tent and tie it to twigs and shrubs, we begin to realize we are totally screwed. Allyson finally goes and asks if they have stakes we can use, and all of the workers are sitting around lauging at us and tell us yes, they have stakes but we need to move the tent closer to the mountain so it is less windy. Gringa point number one.
January 6th we realize we are terrible at waking up in the morning and start hiking at 11am, needless to say the campsite was completely empty. We headed up towards Glacier Grey, which may have been my favorite part of the park. It was so incredible to see bits of ice floating in the lake and then look up and see this vast expanse of ice. We had another sunny and clear day, so the view was incredible. We spent the night at Refugio Grey, since we were sure we would die trying to get to Los Guardas, and contented ourselves with hiking around the mirador, which was not settling by any means. I have never felt more at peace in my life than I did during this trip, but especially looking out at this glacier. For some reason it was really awe inspiring for me.
January 7th we head to Campamento Italiano, which was a pretty long hike, but by no means unreasonable. We were graced with another sunny day (just so you know this happened every day) and during our stop at the refugio to go to the bathroom we met Gregorio and Shane. Both of them are from Valpo/Viña del Mar even though Shane is American, he went to high school there. He just recently moved ot Concepción with his family, from Texas, and is working for an NGO called "Compassion ....." and they work rebuilding homes and cities that have suffered natural disasters, obviously Concepción was a candidate. He used to work in oil, so it was kind of nice to see such a shift in activities and priorities.
January 8th we went up Valle Francés, which was really beautiful and it was nice ot have a day without our backpacks. We even got to see some of the glacier falling down, which was pretty damn cool. That night we met three Chileans who were siblings and hiking together, made me miss my family, and a couple from Philidelphia that came prepared with a bottle of Jack Daniels...
January 9th was an EXTREMELY long day, 11 hrs to be precise, to arrive at Campamento Torres, even with the short cut. For those thinking about doing the W this way I highly recommend not spending two nights at Campamento Italiano, but rather moving on the second night to refugio los cuernos, cutting off about two hours the next day. Although we were struggling it was a beautiful hike. The whole trek I kept having ot stop and catch my breath, not due to being out of shape, but just to appreciate the beauty of this place, the tranquility, the power. The color of the lakes was turquiose, I mean how many places do you see that? The short cut took us through the part of the park that had been burnt down a few years ago by some idiot who lit an open fire in the park. About 1/15th of the park was destroyed. Another challenge of this day was the wind, it was so freaking strong. The girl behind us faceplanted, with her backpack on, and I was having a hard time staying on the trail with the wind pushing me this way and that. But we made it! (We also stopped and bought much needed beers at Refugio Chileno to celebrate with at the top)
January 10th we once again prove we are terrible at getting up in the morning and did not get up to see the sunrise over the Torres, which is supposedly a life changing experience. Luckily, we had our own. At 8am we scrammbled up the 45 min walk to the mirador, and the clouds peeled back revealing the Torres in all their glory. It was just the best way to end the trip. Then to continue with the nickname the secretary at my mom´s office gave me of "naked girl" Allyson and I decided to take pictures completely naked behind a Chilean and Patagonia flag. Mind you, it was damn cold, and windy of course. We were the only people so we had planned on using the timer to take the picture. I went down to change and then I hear Allyson say "Anna, there are people coming!" So she comes running down to join me behind this huge rock and we are dying of laughter, and hypothermia. These people come up and have NO idea they are not alone, and I so hated to ruin their moment with the Torres right then. So we wait a minute or two and then I man up and come out from behind the rock and ask if they will take a picture of us. I wish I could have captured their faces, priceless. They took one with our camera, and then one with theirs. Made me think of my adventure to Laguna Curauma with my mom "If you´re going to get naked in public, you have to accept that other people will take pictures". Thanks mom.
That night we stayed at Erratic Rock and I am more and more convinced of my need to be in the woods. This guy from Oregon just moved down here and started this gear rental and hostel, and the first recycling program in Puerto Natales. They recycle the gas cans everyone uses while trekking, it was just so great to hear his story.
Other highlights include: Izac, a Spanish guy who sold everything is travelling indefinitely. Meeting someone who works in Shanghai, but is originally from NYC, and I went to high school with his cousin. Last lunch with Mauri´s family.
To come: Pictures, story about the strike in Punta Arenas and their identity crisis, our arrival in Peru.
Off to Cusco tonight! Here´s hoping I don´t get altitude sickness.
Well, it is safe to say that I will never start out a new year as well as I did this one. I said goodbye to 2010 standing on the balcony of Marina´s host aunt´s apartment that had a spectacular view of the entire bay of Valparaíso, drinking champagne with Allyson and her pololo, Marina and taking in the 40 minute fireworks display that spayed from Laguna Verde all the way down to Con-Con. As Marina´s host mom would say "impresionante". The night proceeded with us partying on the streets of Valpo with the 1 million extra people who had migrated there for the night. Pretty spectacular.
January 2nd I said goodbye to my host family and Valpo and left for Punta Arenas, at the very southern tip of Chile. It was really hard to say goodbye to them, but the chaos of packing and barely making my bus to Santiago sort of prolonged all of that settling in.
Allyson and I arrived in Punta Arenas around 10pm, and the sun was still shining. It sets around 11pm down there, pretty wild. Her friend, Mauri, kindly picked us up at the airport and let us crash at his house, where he lives with his parents (love Chile). His mom and dad were so ecstatic to meet us, it was great. My friend Pablo says that people from the South show their affection with food (similar to the states) and I have first hand evidence that this is true. Mauri´s mom cooked us salmon for dinner, with rice and vegetables and tiramisu for desert. Then upon finding out we had never had centolla, King Crab more or less, she made us that for lunch the next day, as an appetizer...Just the nicest.
We spent January 3rd exploring Punta Arenas with Mauri and went to see penguins at Otoway!! It was the more economic and viable option since we had to get to Puerto Natales that night. These penguins are Magallenic penguins and are just the cutest thing ever. There were so many of them waddling around returning to their burrows from a long, 8 hr day of fishing. There were adolescent penguins that were still furry, so that was pretty great. I must say though that the creators of Happy Feet definitely never heard a penguin squak before they made that movie about their beautiful penguin songs. While totally adorable their call sounds like a dying cow. The park was really cool because not only did we see penguins, but also flamingos, ostrich like creatures, coyotes and sheep (!!!). I was over the moon.
January 4th we spent getting ready fo trek the W circuit in Torres del Paine, the national park that people come from all over the world to see. I had done so much research and talked to so many people about the best way to do it, but ultimately we did our own thing. I went and heard the "3pm talk" at the Base Camp which works with the hostel Erratic Rock, and that cleared up a lot of my doubts about the trek. As in, your raincover will NOT work because the winds get up to 180km/hr in the park. Nobody had told me that before, go figure. We used a lot of trash bags. We stayed at a different hostel called Kewskar "the backpackers shall inherit the earth" run by this ultra hippie Omar, who was just the sassiest, but greatest. I highly recommend this hostel. We were also fortunate to meet really wonderful people at the hostel, most of whom were starting the W at the same time as us. Our two favorite were Marc and Asaf. Marc is from Andora and has been traveling for 15 months. He spent 13 in Africa and started his South American adventure 2 months ago. He was really kind and funny and told me something that really stuck with me. After I said something at breakfast like " Oh man, I dont want to go back to real life" He said " I hate when people say that. This is real life, this is my life. If you are not living your real life right now, what are you doing? Living a fake life?" I think that is really true. Asaf is from Israel and just got done with his 3 year army service and is taking a year to travel before going back ot University in Telaviv. The two of them together were a dynamic duo like none other and I am so glad we got to spend time with them.
January 5th we started our trek and ended up doing it the opposite way most people do. We started at Administration, the west side of the park, intending to end with the Torres, the east side of the park. The 3pm talk guy had suggested this because you get a great view of the park as you come in, as opposed to leaving that way, desperate for a shower and only looking out at flat plains. I am SO GLAD we chose to go this way. It was a sunny, clear day so we could see everything, including the Torres, which made the extremely windy, long hike in a lot more enjoyable since we got a glimpse of what was to come in the next five days. As it turns out CONAF, environmental agency here more or less, are devious little planners and put all of the free camping sites really far apart. It is possible to get to all of them, but not worth the pain you will put yourself through. As such Allyson and I stayed at a refugio next to Lago Pehoé our first night, not too expensive, but not free either. As we start setting up our tent we realize we have no stakes to keep the tent from flying off into the distance (thanks for that Padre). So as we put on what I´m sure was a very entertaining show for all of our neighbors trying to hold down the tent and tie it to twigs and shrubs, we begin to realize we are totally screwed. Allyson finally goes and asks if they have stakes we can use, and all of the workers are sitting around lauging at us and tell us yes, they have stakes but we need to move the tent closer to the mountain so it is less windy. Gringa point number one.
January 6th we realize we are terrible at waking up in the morning and start hiking at 11am, needless to say the campsite was completely empty. We headed up towards Glacier Grey, which may have been my favorite part of the park. It was so incredible to see bits of ice floating in the lake and then look up and see this vast expanse of ice. We had another sunny and clear day, so the view was incredible. We spent the night at Refugio Grey, since we were sure we would die trying to get to Los Guardas, and contented ourselves with hiking around the mirador, which was not settling by any means. I have never felt more at peace in my life than I did during this trip, but especially looking out at this glacier. For some reason it was really awe inspiring for me.
January 7th we head to Campamento Italiano, which was a pretty long hike, but by no means unreasonable. We were graced with another sunny day (just so you know this happened every day) and during our stop at the refugio to go to the bathroom we met Gregorio and Shane. Both of them are from Valpo/Viña del Mar even though Shane is American, he went to high school there. He just recently moved ot Concepción with his family, from Texas, and is working for an NGO called "Compassion ....." and they work rebuilding homes and cities that have suffered natural disasters, obviously Concepción was a candidate. He used to work in oil, so it was kind of nice to see such a shift in activities and priorities.
January 8th we went up Valle Francés, which was really beautiful and it was nice ot have a day without our backpacks. We even got to see some of the glacier falling down, which was pretty damn cool. That night we met three Chileans who were siblings and hiking together, made me miss my family, and a couple from Philidelphia that came prepared with a bottle of Jack Daniels...
January 9th was an EXTREMELY long day, 11 hrs to be precise, to arrive at Campamento Torres, even with the short cut. For those thinking about doing the W this way I highly recommend not spending two nights at Campamento Italiano, but rather moving on the second night to refugio los cuernos, cutting off about two hours the next day. Although we were struggling it was a beautiful hike. The whole trek I kept having ot stop and catch my breath, not due to being out of shape, but just to appreciate the beauty of this place, the tranquility, the power. The color of the lakes was turquiose, I mean how many places do you see that? The short cut took us through the part of the park that had been burnt down a few years ago by some idiot who lit an open fire in the park. About 1/15th of the park was destroyed. Another challenge of this day was the wind, it was so freaking strong. The girl behind us faceplanted, with her backpack on, and I was having a hard time staying on the trail with the wind pushing me this way and that. But we made it! (We also stopped and bought much needed beers at Refugio Chileno to celebrate with at the top)
January 10th we once again prove we are terrible at getting up in the morning and did not get up to see the sunrise over the Torres, which is supposedly a life changing experience. Luckily, we had our own. At 8am we scrammbled up the 45 min walk to the mirador, and the clouds peeled back revealing the Torres in all their glory. It was just the best way to end the trip. Then to continue with the nickname the secretary at my mom´s office gave me of "naked girl" Allyson and I decided to take pictures completely naked behind a Chilean and Patagonia flag. Mind you, it was damn cold, and windy of course. We were the only people so we had planned on using the timer to take the picture. I went down to change and then I hear Allyson say "Anna, there are people coming!" So she comes running down to join me behind this huge rock and we are dying of laughter, and hypothermia. These people come up and have NO idea they are not alone, and I so hated to ruin their moment with the Torres right then. So we wait a minute or two and then I man up and come out from behind the rock and ask if they will take a picture of us. I wish I could have captured their faces, priceless. They took one with our camera, and then one with theirs. Made me think of my adventure to Laguna Curauma with my mom "If you´re going to get naked in public, you have to accept that other people will take pictures". Thanks mom.
That night we stayed at Erratic Rock and I am more and more convinced of my need to be in the woods. This guy from Oregon just moved down here and started this gear rental and hostel, and the first recycling program in Puerto Natales. They recycle the gas cans everyone uses while trekking, it was just so great to hear his story.
Other highlights include: Izac, a Spanish guy who sold everything is travelling indefinitely. Meeting someone who works in Shanghai, but is originally from NYC, and I went to high school with his cousin. Last lunch with Mauri´s family.
To come: Pictures, story about the strike in Punta Arenas and their identity crisis, our arrival in Peru.
Off to Cusco tonight! Here´s hoping I don´t get altitude sickness.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Long awaited pictures, and a happy new year to all!
Caves in Valle de la Luna featuring Dan Miller
Caves part two, Marina and Max
Max, Marina and Dan climbing
Happy Halloween from Valle de la Luna!
Valle de la Luna
Camping in the Calama airport part one
The morning after.Looking back on 2010 it could be a hard year to top. As always there are ups and downs, but thankfully the last 5 months have been one large up. I realized today that I will never be able to have a better start to a New Year than I will in 2011. Tonight I am celebrating alongside millions of Chileans, wearing shorts for the first time on New Years and staying up to watch the sunrise. After which on January 2nd, Allyson and I start our three week adventure down to Torres del Paine and then up to Peru. If this doesn't sound like a good start, then I'm not sure what does. I am so grateful for all the opportunities presented to me, to all of the lessons I've learned this year, for the people I've met who have changed my life forever even if I may not see them again, and for the people who I know will be in my life forever, whether they like it or not.
Happy New Year everyone, que le pases filete!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Continuation of previous post
Sorry for the abrupt ending.
I was distracted by the news that my host familys cat was murdered by our neighbors dog. I was informed by 7 small children all talking at once and pointing to the grave they had constructed, while they recounted the heroic death of la Flor. Needless to say all very traumatic for my host mom and host sister, a vigil was held for the cat. Part of me just doesnt believe it, but there you have it.
Anyways, I left off recounting our kayaking adventure in Chepu. Here are some photos that Fernando, the owner, took and gave to us.
from left to right: My dad, George (Allysons dad), me, Allyson, Eleanor (Allysons mom) and my mommy.
Allyson!
Mom and Dad, at least one of them looks like they are having fun
I survived!
After Chepu we headed south to Castro, the quintessential Chiloe town. Chiloe is famous for its wooden churches, and they are a UNESCO world heritage sites, just like Valparaiso. The one in downtown Castro was gorgeous. Smooth, curved wood, arching ceilings. Incredible to think these were built long before power tools came into existence, and are still standing today. Most of the churches have one bell tower, but this one has two. There is one on one of the little islands that has three, and large blue stars on the front. We went to another church in Dalcahue, which was not as beautiful as the one in Castro but is home to relics used back when the church was a more prominent feature of society.
here is more information for those who are curious:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/971
In honor of the Christmas holiday we had a Charlie Brown christmas tree with seashells as ornaments. We used dental floss to hang the shells. It added a homey touch to the whole affair. In traditional Chilean style we celebrated on Christmas Eve, for us it was more of a time issue the next day since we had a flight to catch. Allyson and I made some unexpectedly potent pisco sours for our parents leaving my mom "so sloshed". The next morning we made French toast sandwhiches with dark chocolate filling, good way to start the trip back.
To conclude this trip was amazing. The people we met were so kind hearted and caring and it really made me think more about the benefits of farm life and learning how to live with the environment. Cochamo is so untouched by human life and I sincerely hope it stays that way for a very long time. I told my mom that I am going to live on a farm in southern Chile when I grow up, she said that was fine as long as I came home sometimes. I will probably have to hire someone to slaughter my pig for me. Marina suggested I just live off chickens instead, she said theyll get so annoying youll want to kill them anyways...food for thought.
But seriously. In the near future you may get a letter from from the depths of Chile telling you I successfully tilled my own crops.
I was distracted by the news that my host familys cat was murdered by our neighbors dog. I was informed by 7 small children all talking at once and pointing to the grave they had constructed, while they recounted the heroic death of la Flor. Needless to say all very traumatic for my host mom and host sister, a vigil was held for the cat. Part of me just doesnt believe it, but there you have it.
Anyways, I left off recounting our kayaking adventure in Chepu. Here are some photos that Fernando, the owner, took and gave to us.
from left to right: My dad, George (Allysons dad), me, Allyson, Eleanor (Allysons mom) and my mommy.
Allyson!
Mom and Dad, at least one of them looks like they are having fun
I survived!After Chepu we headed south to Castro, the quintessential Chiloe town. Chiloe is famous for its wooden churches, and they are a UNESCO world heritage sites, just like Valparaiso. The one in downtown Castro was gorgeous. Smooth, curved wood, arching ceilings. Incredible to think these were built long before power tools came into existence, and are still standing today. Most of the churches have one bell tower, but this one has two. There is one on one of the little islands that has three, and large blue stars on the front. We went to another church in Dalcahue, which was not as beautiful as the one in Castro but is home to relics used back when the church was a more prominent feature of society.
here is more information for those who are curious:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/971
In honor of the Christmas holiday we had a Charlie Brown christmas tree with seashells as ornaments. We used dental floss to hang the shells. It added a homey touch to the whole affair. In traditional Chilean style we celebrated on Christmas Eve, for us it was more of a time issue the next day since we had a flight to catch. Allyson and I made some unexpectedly potent pisco sours for our parents leaving my mom "so sloshed". The next morning we made French toast sandwhiches with dark chocolate filling, good way to start the trip back.
To conclude this trip was amazing. The people we met were so kind hearted and caring and it really made me think more about the benefits of farm life and learning how to live with the environment. Cochamo is so untouched by human life and I sincerely hope it stays that way for a very long time. I told my mom that I am going to live on a farm in southern Chile when I grow up, she said that was fine as long as I came home sometimes. I will probably have to hire someone to slaughter my pig for me. Marina suggested I just live off chickens instead, she said theyll get so annoying youll want to kill them anyways...food for thought.
But seriously. In the near future you may get a letter from from the depths of Chile telling you I successfully tilled my own crops.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Recent Adventures and new life goals
Hello to all, I hope you all had a wonderful, merry and cold Christmas. I never realized how important cold weather for Christmas was for me until this year, when I spent it wearing a t-shirt. At the root of it all being with your family and friends is really the most important, and I was fortunate enough to have that for the most part. My parents came down to visit and spend a week traveling down South with me and my friend Allysons family. Being down South felt more appropriate for the season since it is cooler, and we lucked out with sunshine and warmth for the most part, very unusual.
We started our trip out in Puerto Varas staying a lovely inn called the Guest House, it looked just like a bed and breakfast that you would find in the Northeast. The next day we took a chairlift ride up Volcan Osorno; just so you know the hike takes all day and cost about 250 USD, we decided the chairlift was a nice compromise at a mere 12 luca. The view from the top of the second lift was breathtaking. You could see all of Lago Llanquihue, which is a gigantic lake. To celebrate the season we built a snowman with pieces of volcanic rock for eyes, nose and buttons. Pictures to come later.
The next day we woke up early to meet the Howes at the rafting place. I did a good job of getting my parents on "Chilean time" and we were a timely fifteen minutes late. Unfortunately, the tour agencies tend to be one time since they are catering to cultures that value being on time...que lastima. We then rafted down the Petrohue river with a nice couple from Boston who designed and own a software programing company that does work for political campaigns, mostly determining voter demographic and initiating voter contact. I stand by my earlier statement that rafting down a river is by far the best way to see the countryside in a short amount of time, especially in the south of Chile where it rains a lot. Youre going to get wet either way rafting, might as well be in the rain. My mom used her safety skills learned during the brief orientation when she fell out of the boat, almost dragging Eleanor, Allysons mom, down with her. Let the gringo adventure begin.
We then started the drive down to Cochamo. let me tell you. This place is literally, literally the most beautiful place I have ever seen and I sincerely hope it stays as untouched by human hands as it is right now. Very few people in Chile have heard of it, which was a little surprising to me, though not extremely unusual. We stayed with Campo Aventura that is run by a couple that lived in Johannesburg for 11 years working for the Boston Globe and decided to buy this place and move to Chile. We rode on horseback into the centre of the valley the next morning, led by a funny German guy named Daniel. As I was bumping along on the dirt road in the middle of pure farm land and I realized that at some point in my life, for a least a little while, I want to live like this. To live off the land, live in silence, away from technology. To live in a place that people take a 45 minute horse ride just to say hello to their neighbor. Where the value of human relations is high and wealth is not. Of course, I say this all on my online blog with my electricity. But its something to consider.
We emerged into the valley mid afternoon surrounded by huge, granite mountains, the sun beating down on our backs. We were greated by a Chilean couple who owns the lodge/farm we stayed at and our new friend, Steve. Steve was our hiking guide for the trip and is a straight from the wilderness of Michigan man. After some onces he successfully convinced me to slide down a rock slide-waterfull made from glacial run off in order to celebrate my birthday. Being a year older and not any wiser I agreed. Fortunately I dragged Allyson down with me. The water was just as numbing as expected, but well worth the ride down. I finally convinced my father, with the assurance I would revive his frozen body, to take a slide down as well.
The next day we hiked up a "cerro" called Trinidad, by cerro they meant to say tiny Everest. However, the view was incredible and the trek was well worth the mud slopes we braved. It was really nice to be able to see the valley from up above, and feel like you were standing with giants at the top of a granite ocean.
After riding horses back out of the valley, we put our bruised deriers in the cars and headed down to the island of Chiloe. First stop, Chepu. We stayed at this really cool place run by a couple from Santiago who decided that they were tired of the city life, and after both getting fired from their jobs heading to Chepu to build their own, sustainable home, without spending a single peso. One day, when they had finished the house they wanted to go kayaking, but found that carrying the kayaks down the hill from their house was more effort than they wanted. So they built a smaller house down at the bottom of the hill to store the kayaks. After meeting a French guy on the move, who ended up staying with them for 6 months they started to expand their new property and began renting kayaks. Everything they have built has been from suggestions of passers by and it is all green energy. It was really interesting to hear their story.
Allyson, my parents and I then embarked on an unexpectedly long kayak ride down the river. Bursting with energy and enthusiasm we paddled quickly downstream with the wind at our backs. 1 hour later we decided to turn around, now heading into the current and voracious wind. It took about 2 hours to get back to the cabañas. However, it was a nice paddle and we saw some lovely egrets and it was nice to be outside on a such a beautiful day. our paddles even had little mitts on them to keep your fingers warm, which mom really appreciated.
TERRIBLE UPDATE THE CAT DIED! this is not good.
We started our trip out in Puerto Varas staying a lovely inn called the Guest House, it looked just like a bed and breakfast that you would find in the Northeast. The next day we took a chairlift ride up Volcan Osorno; just so you know the hike takes all day and cost about 250 USD, we decided the chairlift was a nice compromise at a mere 12 luca. The view from the top of the second lift was breathtaking. You could see all of Lago Llanquihue, which is a gigantic lake. To celebrate the season we built a snowman with pieces of volcanic rock for eyes, nose and buttons. Pictures to come later.
The next day we woke up early to meet the Howes at the rafting place. I did a good job of getting my parents on "Chilean time" and we were a timely fifteen minutes late. Unfortunately, the tour agencies tend to be one time since they are catering to cultures that value being on time...que lastima. We then rafted down the Petrohue river with a nice couple from Boston who designed and own a software programing company that does work for political campaigns, mostly determining voter demographic and initiating voter contact. I stand by my earlier statement that rafting down a river is by far the best way to see the countryside in a short amount of time, especially in the south of Chile where it rains a lot. Youre going to get wet either way rafting, might as well be in the rain. My mom used her safety skills learned during the brief orientation when she fell out of the boat, almost dragging Eleanor, Allysons mom, down with her. Let the gringo adventure begin.
We then started the drive down to Cochamo. let me tell you. This place is literally, literally the most beautiful place I have ever seen and I sincerely hope it stays as untouched by human hands as it is right now. Very few people in Chile have heard of it, which was a little surprising to me, though not extremely unusual. We stayed with Campo Aventura that is run by a couple that lived in Johannesburg for 11 years working for the Boston Globe and decided to buy this place and move to Chile. We rode on horseback into the centre of the valley the next morning, led by a funny German guy named Daniel. As I was bumping along on the dirt road in the middle of pure farm land and I realized that at some point in my life, for a least a little while, I want to live like this. To live off the land, live in silence, away from technology. To live in a place that people take a 45 minute horse ride just to say hello to their neighbor. Where the value of human relations is high and wealth is not. Of course, I say this all on my online blog with my electricity. But its something to consider.
We emerged into the valley mid afternoon surrounded by huge, granite mountains, the sun beating down on our backs. We were greated by a Chilean couple who owns the lodge/farm we stayed at and our new friend, Steve. Steve was our hiking guide for the trip and is a straight from the wilderness of Michigan man. After some onces he successfully convinced me to slide down a rock slide-waterfull made from glacial run off in order to celebrate my birthday. Being a year older and not any wiser I agreed. Fortunately I dragged Allyson down with me. The water was just as numbing as expected, but well worth the ride down. I finally convinced my father, with the assurance I would revive his frozen body, to take a slide down as well.
The next day we hiked up a "cerro" called Trinidad, by cerro they meant to say tiny Everest. However, the view was incredible and the trek was well worth the mud slopes we braved. It was really nice to be able to see the valley from up above, and feel like you were standing with giants at the top of a granite ocean.
After riding horses back out of the valley, we put our bruised deriers in the cars and headed down to the island of Chiloe. First stop, Chepu. We stayed at this really cool place run by a couple from Santiago who decided that they were tired of the city life, and after both getting fired from their jobs heading to Chepu to build their own, sustainable home, without spending a single peso. One day, when they had finished the house they wanted to go kayaking, but found that carrying the kayaks down the hill from their house was more effort than they wanted. So they built a smaller house down at the bottom of the hill to store the kayaks. After meeting a French guy on the move, who ended up staying with them for 6 months they started to expand their new property and began renting kayaks. Everything they have built has been from suggestions of passers by and it is all green energy. It was really interesting to hear their story.
Allyson, my parents and I then embarked on an unexpectedly long kayak ride down the river. Bursting with energy and enthusiasm we paddled quickly downstream with the wind at our backs. 1 hour later we decided to turn around, now heading into the current and voracious wind. It took about 2 hours to get back to the cabañas. However, it was a nice paddle and we saw some lovely egrets and it was nice to be outside on a such a beautiful day. our paddles even had little mitts on them to keep your fingers warm, which mom really appreciated.
TERRIBLE UPDATE THE CAT DIED! this is not good.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Gringo invasion
Zak, my boyfriend, recently came to visit me in Valparaiso. It was so wonderful to see him and we had such a great trip together. I took him to all my favorite haunts and had him eat as much "typical" Chilean food as his stomach could handle.We also checked out some new places and did some things I hadn't done yet including a boat tour of Valparaiso's bay and a day trip to Laguna Verde with Rachel and her pololo. My host parents took an immediate liking to him, despite the language barrier, and on his last night here my host dad and Zak took shots together at the dinner table...a moment to remember always.
On our last night together we went to Santiago so that I could pick my mom up early in the airport. Then the three of us, plus Allyson, spent the day wandering around Santiago. Highlights include: Cerro Santa Lucia, Plaza de Armas and Parque O'Higgins (I think). That night we dropped Zak off at the airport for his flight back to the states, and he ended up being on the same flight as a lot of people in my program so I got to say goodbye to them as well.
The next afternoon my mom and I jetted off to San Juan, Argentina so she could meet my host family there. Another advent
ure due to the language barrier, but so wonderful at the same time. She hasn't met my host family here in Chile yet, but I'm not worried at all.here are some pictures from mine and Zak's trip and our day in Santiago.
fotos: Zak with mariscos a la parillada; me and Zak at Plaza 21 de Mayo; Laguna Verde; Zak, me and my mom at the top of Cerro Santa Lucia
p.s. currently running really late, per usual, to meet my mom...
love to all!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Giving Thanks in a foreign setting
I never really thought about Thanksgiving and it's meaning until yesterday. Yes, I know I've lived through 19 Thanksgivings and perhaps should have given this some more thought before now, but I think that being confronted with a culture that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, or understand it, really made me reflect on why I missed having it and why it's important to American culture. My whole life I kind of just joked about how it was all about food and just another excuse for Americans to eat, that or celebrate the conquest of the Native Americans by giving them small pox, either way, nothing serious. But now after spending a month's worth of Sundays with my entire Chilean host family doing nothing but eating, I've come to realize something about the importance of Thanksgiving. In American society where independence is so highly valued the family unit sort of gets pushed aside, people seem to take their family members for granted. I was really lucky growing up having most of my family so close by and having occasional dinners besides just Christmas and Thanksgiving. However, I'm completely addicted to family gatherings now. I spent every week here looking forward to Sunday, never planned anything with anyone else on Sundays because that was family day. Similarly, I never plan anything on Thanksgiving because it's a day to be with family, and close friends. When a Chilean girl asked me today to explain Thanksgiving I told her it was like a big Chilean Sunday, and it was a time for everyone to get together and think about everything they have to be thankful for, religion and beliefs aside. I didn't really understand that until today, when I wasn't even in the same country as my family on Thanksgiving and was celebrating it in a hotel. My friends and I, before we ate, went around and all said something we were grateful for, and it was a really heartwarming experience for me, since this is probably the last time we will, for the most part, all be together as a program. So, on this day, a truly American holiday, I want to share with you all what I'm most grateful for:
I am extremely grateful for my huge family. The brothers and sisters I have that aren't related to me by blood, and of course the one that is. The three sets of parents I've had the privilege to have. The single mom in France who made my short experience there beautiful. The siblings that are under the category of 'friends', but know me just as well as if we shared the same blood. The many aunts and uncles I have trouble explaining to people outside of the Elk herd. The 5 grandparents I've been so lucky to spend summers and ski trips with. My second moms that have raised me and been there for my mom when she needed help I couldn't give, as well as supportive of me as I trek through life. My Michigan family, two moms and a dad a boyfriend and a brother, that have taken me in and loved me like I love their own children.
Thank you to you all. I've never been happier than I have been with you. Happy Thanksgiving from Chile!
I am extremely grateful for my huge family. The brothers and sisters I have that aren't related to me by blood, and of course the one that is. The three sets of parents I've had the privilege to have. The single mom in France who made my short experience there beautiful. The siblings that are under the category of 'friends', but know me just as well as if we shared the same blood. The many aunts and uncles I have trouble explaining to people outside of the Elk herd. The 5 grandparents I've been so lucky to spend summers and ski trips with. My second moms that have raised me and been there for my mom when she needed help I couldn't give, as well as supportive of me as I trek through life. My Michigan family, two moms and a dad a boyfriend and a brother, that have taken me in and loved me like I love their own children.
Thank you to you all. I've never been happier than I have been with you. Happy Thanksgiving from Chile!
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