Vamos trekking! (and other adventures in the south of Chile)

I finished my last class of the semester last Tuesday. Afterwards, I ran home, grabbed my suitcases, battled my way through the rush hour on the metro, and met my friends at the bus terminal for our final big trip of the semester. We boarded with hopes that the 16 hour bus ride to Castro, Chiloé would be worth it.

After driving all night, we arrived at the ferry that would take us to the big island of Chiloé. Chiloé is actually an archipelago of islands right off the coast of Chile, and it is known for being rainy, remote, and beautiful. Sure enough, it was all of those things. Our hostel was located in the capital city of the region, Castro. Our hostel was actually a palafito (house built on stilts) that is typical of the region. The tides cause drastic changes in the water levels, so this type of house permits the best utilization of space and safety. Because of the waterfront location, we were treated to serene views throughout our stay. Additionally, because it isn´t quite tourist season yet, we got what I felt was a pretty authentic experience of life in Castro.

View from the hostel

Palafitos

One of our main activities on the island, other than enjoying the delicious seafood that is available there, was a visit to the national park on the west side of the island (ocean side). To get there, we boarded a local bus and were treated to a tour of the rest of the island during the hour and a half drive. I enjoyed seeing how the people of Chiloé live. It was very rural, and other than the people who live in the small towns, most live on farms. When we arrived at the national park, we got some information about the hiking trails available and set off. What impressed me most about the hike was the diversity of climates and ecosystems that all seemed to exist in such a small place. Some areas were thick forests with ferns and trees, others were more like humid jungles, and yet others were sandy and beachy.

After two and a half days on the peaceful island, it was time to move on to our next destination. So we got on the bus again to head to Puerto Varas, a little to the north. After a very crowded bus ride of four hours, we arrived. Puerto Varas is right on lake Llanquihue and from the shore, you can see two incredible volcanoes, Osorno and Calbuco. After settling in to the hostel (this time a huge colonial house) and eating some more seafood, we made our plans to head to the national park the next day for some more hiking.

When we arrived at the national park I was awed by the aqua blue color of the lake Todos los Santos (All Saints), as well as the mountains and volcanoes that surrounded it. After a few unintended detours, we set out hiking. The hike was long (about 6 hours total), a little frustrating (the trails were not well marked and we made several erroneous decisions about which way to go), and at times downright terrible (at one point we were attacked by swarms of bees for about 45 minutes nonstop), but it offered incredible views. I could have skipped the part with the bees, but everything else was completely worth it.

Volcán Osorno

Our final major activity of the trip was a day trip to the town of Frutillar, also along the same lake. Frutillar has had a great deal of German immigrants, and that can be seen in the architecture and cuisine. It was a very quaint little town, and we enjoyed two pieces of kuchen, a German pastry, each before departing.

Raspberry kuchen

Apple kuchen

All in all, it was a great trip. I am glad to have seen even more of this beautiful country (I´ll be back to see more). This is going to be my last blog post for when I am in Chile. I have one week left to take advantage of everything Santiago has to offer me, as well as say goodbye to friends and places. Soon enough, I will back in the good old US of A.

To Chillán and back again

Hola chiquillos! It´s been a little bit since my last update, and I want to avoid studying, so I thought I´d check in with what I´ve been up to lately.

Two weekends ago, I had the pleasure of going with my host mom to visit her parents in the city of Chillán, about 5.5 hours south of Santiago (by bus). The visit to my Chilean grandparents was a great way to get out of the big city and see some more of Chile.

Chillán has about 200,000 inhabitants from what I understand, so it is definitely a city, but nothing like Santiago (which has about 7 million). My host mom lived in Chillán in the same house where her parents still live when she was growing up, so she told me lots about how the city has changed and how it is still the same. Even though population-wise, Chillán is sizeable, I really got a small town, tranquil vibe from it. It seemed like one of those places were everyone either knows each other, or knows someone who knows the person.

My host mom showed me the downtown area, including the cathedral, which has some pretty cool architecture, the plaza de armas, and the main market. For lunch on Saturday, my abuelita chilena (host grandmother) made homemade empanadas, which are one of my favorite foods here. I even got to help out making the empanadas.

Inside the cathedral, looking to the back

Inside the cathedral looking to the front

In the afternoon on Saturday, I got the chance to meet up with some friends, Nataly and Guillermo, who we met when we were in San Pedro and live in Chillán. They took me on a short trip to a little town and beach about an hour away for some sight-seeing. I really enjoyed the drive because I got to see a lot of countryside...fields, cows, people riding horses, little pueblitos, and a beautiful forest. We walked around on the beach (it was not a swimming beach because the waves are huge, there are lots of rocks, etc.) and enjoyed some fresh seafood empanadas.

The beach in Cobquecura 

Sunday was another chill day, as we just attempted to go to mass (funny story, we actually showed up right when it ended), got coffee, and had a late lunch. That evening we were back on our way to Santiago. It was a short trip, but calming. I love to escape from Santiago and worrying about classes and homework for awhile.

The driest desert in the world

This past week, I, along with my friends Eric and Will, took a trip to the Atacama desert in the north of Chile (close to the borders with Argentina and Bolivia). As my title suggests, the Atacama is known for being the driest desert in the world (it usually rains for less than an hour each year).

We all know the idiom that claims "A picture speaks a thousand words", and in this situation, it could not be more true. I absolutely fell in love with the desert, but there is no way for me to describe what it was like, so I am just going to post photos and let them speak for themselves (although they cannot do justice to seeing it in real life).

Our first tour took us to the Laguna Cejar, which is a lagoon with such a high concentration of salt that you can float in it effortlessly.

The same tour also took us to the "Ojos del salar", so named because they were two pools side by side that seemed to be the "eyes" of the salt flat.

Our last stop on this tour was Laguna Tebinquinche, another lagoon in the salt flat. The colors of the landscape there were unbelievable, especially when we stayed there to watch the sunset (bottom photo).

Our second tour took us to the Flamingo reserve, where we could observe flamingos and other wildlife in the salt flat.

Our next destination was the altiplanic lagoon, located up in the surrounding Andes mountains. However, while we were driving up the mountains to the lagoon, it began to snow. At first, we were very excited that it was snowing, since precipitation is so rare in the Atacama. However, the bad news was that the snow limited the visibility on the road so much that after speaking with an ambulance driver going the other way, our tour guide decided we had to turn around and head back down without seeing the lagoon. My friends and I were feeling pretty bummed about missing out on the experience, when we passed another tour group heading up the mountain. The two tour guides stopped and talked, and our tour guide decided that we could indeed go up to the lagoon if we followed the other group. So we turned around again. When we arrived at the lagoon, it was still snowing and cloudy, so much that we could barely tell there was a lake in front of us.

 However, all of a sudden, it stopped snowing, and the sun began to peak out through the clouds. In what was one of my favorite moments of the trip, an entire backdrop of mountains was revealed to us, and we could see the entire lake. I was completely in awe at the beauty.

The theme of the day was contrast, because the the next tour took us to "Valle de la luna"(Valley of the moon), which was the textbook definition of a desert, with huge sand dunes and rock formations.

 Our final destination of the day was the "Valle de la muerte" (Valley of death, although it is only named that to attract tourists), where we watched the sunset over a huge canyon.

The next day, we woke up at 3:45 am so that we could be heading to our next destination by 4:30. We were headed to the Geisers del Tatio, which was an area filled with geysers at more than 14,000 feet. The reason we had to arrive so early was because if we went later in the day, the air temperature would warm up so much that the steam from the geysers would not be visible. Even though it was freezing cold and very early, getting to see the geyers and the sunrise were worth it.

 We also had the opportunity to swim in a thermal pool. I had my doubts about going in, since the air was freezing, but I did it, and here is the photographic evidence!

The final big activity of our trip was a bike ride through the desert. We rented bikes in the town where we were staying, grabbed a map of possible trails, and headed out. This was my other favorite moment of the trip because it was just us, the bikes, and the desert. We passed a few other bikers going the other way, but we were almost entirely alone with nature, unlike on the tours where we were accompanied by 5-10 other tour groups each time.

I will close this very lengthy post by saying that I never could have imagined the beauty that I found out in the desert. This trip was a totally different kind of travel than I have ever done, and I realized that while cities and other human constructions are often astounding, there is nothing comparable to natural beauty.

¡Viva Chile!

This week is undoubtably the best week to be in Chile. Why? Two words: Fiestas patrias.

Fiestas patrias is the celebration of Chilean independence. The anniversary of the "Primera Junta Nacional de Gobierno" is September 18. However, the celebration lasts all week long. In fact, the entire motto of fiestas patrias seems to be "Go big or go home" (anyone know how to express that in Spanish?). But seriously, fiestas patrias puts any 4th of July celebration I have ever seen to shame.

So here´s what I was up to this fiestas patrias:

For starters, my friend Tiara and I were invited to a "fonda" hosted by the relatives of one of Tiara´s friends from the university. I had no idea what to expect when we arrived, but I never could have imagined what this party was like. Makarena´s family went all out. We entered to the sight of 50+ homemade empanadas being made. The entire area where the party was being held was covered in Chile decor: streamers, strings of Chilean flags, and one huge Chilean flag hanging on the wall. There was a dance floor set up, complete with an entire sound system. We were immediately offered traditional Chilean drinks, and we met at least 20 aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings.

The party space

Almost immediately, our friend Makarena changed into her traditional Chilean dress, and the dancing began. The national dance of Chile is called cueca, and one of my bucket-list items for this semester was to learn how to dance it. After changing into (borrowed) traditional Chilean dresses, our lessons began. It took a little bit for us to get the hang of it, but by the end of the afternoon, we could both dance a passable cueca (see video). So that one gets a big check!

Video of me dancing cueca...please forgive that I don´t exactly look professional. It was fun anyways!

The rest of the afternoon was spent eating empanadas, dancing with all of Makarena´s relatives, and drinking ponche and terremotos. All in all, the party was unlike any party I have ever been to, but I was so glad to be celebrating the most important day in Chile with such great people.

Homemade empanada and ponche

Fiestas patrias phase two began later in the evening on the 18th, when Tiara and I went to meet another Chilean friend at another fonda in Santiago. This fonda was not a family event, but rather a big concert, being held at the racetrack. There were 4 bands performing, a DJ, food, games, etc. I enjoyed seeing yet another way Chileans celebrate the 18th.

Finally, fiestas patrias phase 3 was on the 19th. Tiara and I made our way to Parque O´Higgins, the largest park in Santiago, where the biggest fiestas patrias celebration was taking place. I cannot describe the sight that met our eyes. I told Tiara that I felt like the entire population of Santiago was there. There were booths selling all kinds of things, food, and drinks. There were carnival rides and games (including a game where you could spin to win a bottle of booze of your choice). There were kids flying kites everywhere. It was overwhelming, but in a good way.

The main event of the day in Parque O´Higgins was the military parade, featuring the armed forces, traditional Chilean costumes, and *drumroll* the president of Chile! So yes, we saw Piñera in the flesh. Pretty exciting stuff.

Well, I think this post has been sufficiently long, so I will wrap it up by saying that these past few days have been some of my favorites of the entire semester so far.

Tiara and I in traditional Chilean dress, in front of the Chilean flag

September 11.

This date has carried a great deal of weight for the majority of my life. Given that I was eight years old when the marked attack on the World Trade Center in New York occurred, this day in 2001 is one of the clearest memories of my childhood. I would even go as far as to say that it was the day I lost my innocence about the world. Since then, I have mourned and remembered those who died along with my country on the anniversary each year.

But this year, it isn´t just September 11 for me. It is also the "once de septiembre". And in Chile, this is also a difficult day, albeit for a very different reason.

On September 11, 1973, a military coup occurred in Chile, ousting the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, and replacing him with a military dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet. Today marks the fortieth anniversary of this event.

The dictatorship under Pinochet is undoubtably the most controversial subject in recent Chilean history, since the adult population of Chile all lived through that period. To this day, there remain many uncertainties about what truly occurred. There are those who think Chile was better off those 17 years, and there are those who still mourn the loss of their friends and relatives who disappeared without explanation.

I do not think it is my place to chose a side, or make outspoken remarks about something that happened here before I was even born. Each Chilean´s own experience says much more than my opinion ever could. However, today I mourn and stand in commemoration with two countries: my home country and my adopted country.

Chilling in Chile

Like the pun? It´s not very creative, I know.

Anyways, now that I have been here for about two months (I have finally lost track of exactly how long I have been here!), I thought I would post about the daily life to which I have become accustomed.

A typical morning starts like any other. When my alarm goes off, I ignore it for as long as possible, and then drag myself out of bed with the minimal amount of time required to get showered, dressed, and eat before I catch the bus to go to the university. My breakfast (practically) every morning consists of yogurt with granola mixed in, pancito (bread) with jam, and (instant) coffee.

Chilean breakfast

To get to the university, I catch one of the two busses that will take me to the metro. The micros (what the busses are called here) are usually pretty reliable, especially in the mornings when everyone is commuting, but the traffic can be unpredictable. In no traffic, I can be at the metro within 15 minutes. However, if the traffic is bad, it can take 30-40 minutes. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell which kind of day it will be, so I have to make sure I leave enough time in case it´s the latter. After I arrive at the metro station, I take Line 1, the red line, 10 stops (about 20 mins) to my university in downtown Santiago.

My university is called Universidad Alberto Hurtado, and like SLU, it is a Jesuit university. While at the university, I do the same types of things one would normally do at any university: Go to class, hang out and chat with friends, eat lunch, etc. One major difference between Chilean universities and US universities, however, is that no one lives on campus; everyone lives at home. My Chilean friends have been fascinated to hear that indeed US universities are more or less like what they see in movies, with all of the students living on their own on campus.

Cafeteria in the university

Courtyard of the university

After classes I will either grab lunch with friends, go to my service site in a neighborhood in the south of Santiago, or battle the evening rush hour on the metro, depending on the day. The evening rush hour is a horrifying thing to deal with. It lasts from about 5-8:30, and involves cramming as many people as possible into the metro cars, metro stations, and the micros. Personal space does not exist at this time. Even though I am used to it and know what to expect, I still hate when I have to leave school at that time.

After I get home in the evening, I will usually work on homework until my host mom comes home from work around 8:15. When she gets home, we either have dinner or "once", which is a snack type meal that consists of bread and tea. I love once, it is a great invention of the Chileans. It is best when we have just bought fresh marraquetas (french-bread like thing), and I make a sandwich with mashed up an avocado (Chile is the world´s second-largest producer of avocado and it is amazing) and cheese. I will probably try to recreate once back in the US.

So that is pretty much what a normal day looks like for me in Chile. Of course, no day is completely normal, so there are still plenty of surprises and variations :)

Valparaíso y Viña del Mar

Hello again friends and family!

I am sorry for the lack of posts for the last few weeks, but at the same time, I think it is a good sign that I have found myself otherwise occupied. Classes seem to be going smoother, at least for the most part. Certain things have still been a bit of a struggle, but I have made a few acquaintances/friends in my classes, and that has made it much easier.

Additionally, this past week of school was made easier by the fact that we had Thursday and Friday off. A three-day week followed by a four-day weekend really improves one's mood :) For the long weekend, my friends and I decided to take a short trip to the nearby city of Valparaíso. Our bus left Santiago around 9 am Friday morning, and we were in Valpo by 11.

Valparaíso is a port/coastal city that was of crucial maritime importance during the 19th century. The building of the Panama canal decreased the volume of commerce in the city significantly, but nevertheless, Valpo remains a prominent city for trade and the Chilean navy. It is a fairly large city, so two days didn't allow us to see a ton, but it is so close that we are certainly going to go back (especially once it is warm enough to actually swim in the ocean!)

Valparaíso

Valparaíso consists of many hills, all of which slope down to the sea. Unlike Santiago, where the streets are generally wide, paved, straight, and flat, the streets of Valpo are narrow, often cobblestone, twisting, and very very steep. We had quite the hike up to our hostel. However, the colorful buildings and street art made the climb worthwhile.

Typical street in Valpo

Our activities in Valpo consisted of wandering around looking for impressive views and murals, eating a delicious variety of food, seeking out fun "hole in the wall" type restaurants and bars, and, of course, the beach. On Saturday, we went over to the nearby town of Viña del Mar to check out its beaches and streets as well. Viña's beaches were great, but the town itself is mostly resorts and places that cater to tourists. As nice as it was, I preferred Valparaíso's more bohemian and down-to-
earth vibe.

                      

My friend Tiara and I at a restaurant called J. Cruz M. It served exactly one dish, the famous chorrillana (pictured below)

The beach in Viña del Mar

I really enjoyed getting to spend some time in another Chilean city because it allowed me to compare and contrast it with Santiago. As I already indicated when talking about the streets, Valpo was not nearly as methodically organized as Santiago. This was evident in other aspects of the city as well: all the people paid with change on the bus instead of the Bip! cards that we use in Santiago. Waiters were not nearly as attentive, and I just got a slightly more chaotic feeling from the place. I had heard that in other places in Chile, they make fun of people from Santiago for being too down-to-business and too rushed (much like the difference between big cities like Chicago and small towns in the south), and I could see why they would make such a comparison.

I have enjoyed hearing from all of you, and I really appreciate you reading my blog. More updates to come!