Where did November go??

Well hey! I’m going to justify my lack of blog posts lately with the excuse that I have been trying to take advantage of every moment here in these last few weeks before I leave :( That and the fact that 80 degree weather and the beach 5 minutes away are not a conducive combination to any sort of productive activity. Some highlights of the past month:

World’s largest pool

A few weekends ago a group of us hopped on a bus and headed south along the coast to a little town named Algarrobo, home to San Alfonso—a resort with the largest pool in the world.  Now, disclaimer, I realize that it is probably kind of excessive and not the most environmentally friendly attraction or wisest use of resources but I let go of that in order to take in the absolute luxury and beauty of this place.  Some kids I was with were like “oh yeah, we stayed in a place kind of like this on my family’s vacation to Mexico”.  Not me. Our family vacations consisted of week-long rugged camping trips with the Moore brothers (not that I’m complaining-- those trips gave me much more character than my pampered friends). But anyways, I was like a kid in a candy shop at this place.  It was so lavish!!! For once, the weather cooperated with us and we spent the weekend basking in its glory.  

Thanksgiving Chilean Style

As we all know, Thanksgiving was last Thursday.  As part of our program, our university here had offered to host a Thanksgiving dinner for us and our host families to share this tradition with them.  At first, the plan was for us to make the all the food for the dinner.  Unfortunately, the reality was that the majority of us have kitchens the size of closets and half of the group’s families don’t have cars.  The prospect of transporting dinner for 75 people on Viña’s downright insane public transportation was comical, but not realistic.  So, the kitchen at the university ended up making the food and, to my surprise, it was delicious! The only thing it was missing was stuffing and pumpkin pie, but it sufficed :) Most Chileans really have no idea what Thanksgiving is besides what they see in the movies (my sister’s boyfriend somewhere got the idea that Thanksgiving dinner always consisted of someone dressing up like a turkey) so it was fun to share this special day with them.

                  The big 2-1

The coming and going of Thanksgiving always signifies one thing for me: my birthday is right around the corner.  This year was sure to be unique for a number of reasons.  For one, obviously, I’m in Chile.  But also, it was my 21^st! (wow, that’s still weird to say…I’m so old) It was interesting situation because technically I have been legally able to drink ever since I stepped foot in Chile back in August so I didn’t have the whole “my first drink at a bar!” thrill, but it was unforgettably enjoyable nonetheless.  My birthday fell on a Monday, so the Saturday before I took a trip to a little town called Maitencillo with some friends to explore.  That night, we went to a big concert in an outdoor ampitheater featuring “Los Tres” a famous Chilean band-- spectacular! Later, we had a big party chock full of friends, singing, cake, and of course, a drink or two.  The celebration didn’t end there—the next day was the birthday of my host brother’s girfriend/baby mama Paoli so we had a cute little combined celebration at my house with some of the best cake that has ever graced my lips.  My little host mom knitted me a thick scarf for me to use when I return back to the land of the ice and snow, it was adorable.  Finally, the day actually arrived.  I had class in the morning but I spent the afternoon on the beach in the 80 degree sun with friends.  Nothing better :)

Birthday on the beach! With my Chilean friend Fran

Tomorrow officially marks the one-week point of my time left in Viña, and to say I’m fretting would be an extreme understatement.  From December 8^th-19^th I will be backpacking through Peru and Bolivia with some friends and then I’ll return to MN right in time for Christmas!  These have been the four fastest months of my life and leaving is going to be rough. But as sad as I will be to depart, the prospect of returning home and seeing everyone is quite appealing as well. Wish me luck in finishing my Viña bucket list in this next hectic week! Miss you all!!

I'll miss these November sunsets

The Driest Place on Earth

Valle de la Luna

At the end of October, our group took a 5 day excursion to the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.  I’m always up for traveling to new places and getting a break from school, but to be honest, I didn’t have the highest expectations for a trip to the desert.  I mean, it’s a desert.  Just a lot of heat, sand and flatness, right? Wrong. The Atacama is a geographical wonderland— hot springs, geysers, salt beds, dunes, 3 mountain ranges and multiple volcanoes.  The most amazing and memorable parts of my trip were the unreal views I experienced and are impossible to describe with words, but here are a few of my other highlights!

Valle de la Luna:

The first day, we had a hot afternoon tour of Valle de la Luna, or Moon Valley in English.  It got its name from its striking resemblance to the moon. NASA has even tested spacecraft there before sending it out into oblivion. Sitting there surrounded by towering dunes, twisting canyons, and deep caves made of sand and salt, I listened to our tour guide talk about the ancient history and geography of the place—like how the indigenous people survived in this incredibly extreme and barren environment, or how the geographical phenomena can be explained by the fact that it used to be part of Pangea.  The tour also included Death Valley where they supposedly dumped the bodies of the “disappeareds” during the dictatorship in the 70s 

and 80s.  Disturbing. The tour ended watching the sunset on a cliff.  The view was surreal. 

Geysers del Tatio: On Halloween morning, we woke up at 3:30am to embark on a 2 hour off-road bus ride through the desert. Goal: arrive at Geysers del Tatio in time to watch the sunrise and witness the geysers during their most active time of day.  These geysers, at almost 14,000 feet above sea level, make up the highest geyser field in the world, and this was definitely noted in our group.  Three girls fainted, had to take oxygen from a tank, and get bussed back down to the hostel pronto.  Despite the elevation chaos, it was an awesome experience.  For the ancient inhabitants of the desert, this was like their Mount Olympus—a sacred place where their gods lived.  With the geysers’ steam swirling everywhere, it really did have an eerily divine feel.  Right next to the geysers lies a “hot” spring, which wasn’t quite as hot as I would have liked, considering the outside temperature at this elevation and time of day was around 15 degrees.  But it was exhilarating nonetheless :)

Hot springs!

The geysers

The Lakes: On the last day, a few of us decided to explore Atacama’s few bodies of water.  First we went to Laguna Cejar.  This lake was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.  It’s so incredibly salty (saltier than the Dead Sea) that everyone who enters automatically floats with no effort. It was a crazy feeling. Next, we went to Los Ojos del Salar, two freezing little ponds plopped in the middle of the desert--both 120 ft deep.  Our last stop was Lake Tebiquinche—a vast, salty lake that is ankle deep throughout its entirety.  This site, with the backdrop of the Salt Mountains, was by far my favorite of the day.  

                               
 This trip was hands down one of the highlights of my entire semester.  New life goal: return some day.