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.

Así es Chile

Hola! As the end of October creeps up on me, I am having a hard time accepting that I have less than 2 months remaining in this corner of the world.  Although I do have things to look forward to after leaving Chile (a trip to Machu Picchu and Bolivia, Christmas, seeing family and friends again) I know it’s going to be tough to leave.  It’s moments like the one I had tonight--sitting on a balcony with incredibly generous and welcoming Chilean friends, eating delicious food and watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean—that I know I will miss the most. 

5 hours later, we were standing on the top looking down

 A few weeks ago, a friend invited me to hike up a really pretty “hill” that is near his house in Olmue, a town about an hour away.  I’m always up for a nice little hike, so I wrangled up some other friends and, after a fun Friday night and very little sleep, we hopped on a very early bus Saturday morning to get to the national park.  Turns out this little hill was actually a mountain. A mountain of extreme difficulty. (I found it described as “death march” “complete shock” and “hysterically terrible” from others who have climbed it) [Fun fact: Charles Darwin climbed this mountain on his “Voyage of the Beagle”, he must have been a pretty fit man…] The first half was winding, uphill forest paths leading to an old abandoned mine--two of our companions only made it this far.  The top of the mountain is sheer rock face, so the second half consisted of literally clawing up boulders, free form.  It was simultaneously awful and amazing.  Finally, after 5 of the most breathless, physically exhausting hours of my life, we reached the top.  Words cannot describe the view or the feeling of awe and accomplishment I felt.  Surrounded by the Andes on one side and the Pacific on the other, I can honestly say it is probably the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen.  After attempting to soak it all in, we started back on our trek down which was even more painful than the trek up.  Coming down the boulders was like walking down a ladder frontwards, and I have more than my fair share of scars, cuts and bruises to testify my many falls.  However, it’s a wonder what endorphins, good company and a tasty bag of trail mix can do to keep moods up.  All in all, it was a great day.

don't look down...

The view from the top

 

As the end of the semester is nearing, school-work is starting to feel a little suffocating.  Within the next few weeks I have 3 papers, 4 oral presentations and 3 tests. Yaaaay. However I have not let this bring me out of my “When in Chile” mentality and have still found time to “enjoy my youthfulness” as my host mom would say.  Going out with friends on the weekends to the local pubs and clubs never fails to be a good time. Also, I am leaving tomorrow for 5 day trip to the Atacama Desert in northern Chile!! It is such a highly recommended place by everyone I have talked to—I can’t wait.  Speaking of that, I need to start packing so I will end this update pronto.  Oh, but I can’t forget a shout out to my lovely mother on her birthday today! None of my successes or adventures would have been possible if it weren’t for her wonderful parenting skills :)

Happy Halloween!! I will be spending it with the naturally preserved mummies of the Atacama.  Miss you all!!

My friend Rhiannon and I with our host moms (who happen to be best friends)

Montevideo del Sur

View from Paula's balcony

Last week I was lucky enough to travel to Montevideo, Uruguay and be shown the city by some of the best guides I could ask for. The trip was unforgettable. It’s safe to say I was a little nervous about making an international flight by myself in a Spanish speaking country, but the stars must have been aligned in my favor because somehow all my bus/taxi/plane travel went off without a hitch (for the most part…). 

Hello Montevideo photo exposition

To give a short background, Federico Estol, a photojournalist from Montevideo, Uruguay made trips to my Montevideo the past 2 summers to make a photo book about Monte and its connection to its southern sister city—Hello Montevideo.  While in Monte, he stayed at our house and practically became part of the family (he told me he considers my dad his 3^rd dad, after his real dad and stepdad, adorable).  The book was released a few months ago and has become pretty popular in Uruguay!  Popular enough, in fact, to earn an exposition of its photos in a beautiful historic building in Montevideo’s oldest plaza.  As it turns out, the grand opening of this exposition fell right in the days that I was planning on visiting.  So after arriving and getting settled in at my friend Paula’s house, I headed off to represent my city at the exposition.  It was such a fun experience!  I don’t think there’s anywhere else in the world where I would get such attention and interest for the sole fact that I grew up in Montevideo, MN.  I was formally introduced to the crowd, presented with flowers, and chatted up by multiple important Montevideans.  It was surreal to see these people dressed in business suits, sipping wine, intently studying large photos of Monte’s trailer park, main-street, and Duffy’s.  Definitely an experience I will never forget :)

Throughout the week I was toured around by Paula and Alina, two lovely ladies that I had met briefly through my Dad while they were spending time in Minnesota.  Both are English teachers, and I had the cool opportunity to go into their classes to speak and answer questions about Montevideo.  Alina mainly teaches adults learning English to help further their careers.  I was surprised to hear about how it’s pretty much necessary to at least have a general knowledge of English to even get a degree in Uruguay.  Almost everyone there talked about going to college and being expected to read books, articles and research in their area of study in English.  That would be like me going to college to study psychology and being assigned psychology books and articles in French! Oye. They were also kind of excited to hear that a town in the U.S. is so interested in them because they generally feel ignored by the U.S. and rest of the world in general, being such a small country.  Alina and Paula also teach middle and high school English, which was a very different but just as fun experience.  They were enthralled by the book and thought everything looked exactly like the movies.  Four girls even wanted to take pictures with me after class to post on facebook.

Besides all that, I had a blast exploring the rest of the city.  Some of the highlights were: watching tango at Montevideo’s oldest bar, experiencing the beautiful architecture in the old city, accompanying Paula on her blind date ;), going to Federico’s 30^th birthday party, taking a trip to Punta del Este (a neighboring beach city), and of course trying every food and drink that Uruguay had to offer.  Dulce de leche, chivitos, pascualina, milanesa, mate, uvita, media y media, and of course Uruguayan’s pride and joy: their meat.  One day, Alina and I feasted on a lunch of French bread, huge pieces of melted cheese, French fries, chorizo, beef AND I even tried gizzard. Not half as bad as expected.

Tango at Montevideo's oldest bar

Happy Birthday Fede!

Overall, my trip to Montevideo was super enriching and memorable, I only wish I would have listened to Fede’s advice and missed my flight so I could stay longer :)

noticias locas

El apagón!

Life in Chile has been as exciting as ever within the past week!  In one of my daily conversations with the chatty guard at my apartment last weekend, I was informed that an out of control NASA climate satellite was en route to fall from its orbit and plummet into Chile at any given time.  He assured me that it was only the size of a city bus, and with any luck the atmospherical pressure would break it up into 6 pieces. Being hit by a satellite a 6^th of the size of a city bus couldn’t do too much harm..right? Later that night, this fun news was accompanied by a country-wide blackout that affected over 10 million people.  All lights, internet, and most cell phone connection were completely out.  It really frightened many people who associated the blackout with the big earthquake of 2010, in which there was no power or water for 3 days. Luckily, my host-mom and her group of friends that were over playing bingo didn’t let it affect their fun.  Their solution was to fill the house with candles and pop open another bottle of wine.  After 2 and half hours, the lights were welcomed back on with a big round of applause. However, the fun didn’t stop there.  On Monday, everyone and their brother was talking about how the alignment of the planets on Tuesday was going to cause a huge earthquake.  The reasoning behind it was semi-complicated (my host mom read me multiple news articles on it and had the TV on all night) so I’ll spare you the superstitious details.  Luckily, the only notable thing that ended up happening to me on Tuesday was being followed and harassed by a clown with a fake gun while walking down the street (freaky, but I’d take that over an earthquake any day).  And, the NASA satellite crashed somewhere in the waters of the Pacific, close call! :)

Part of Neruda's house

On Wednesday our group took a trip to Algarrobo, a beautiful little beach town about an hour away. A little further down the road was another house of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.  While I don’t have a huge interest in or connection to Neruda, I must admit that I loved touring his house—it was hands down the quirkiest thing I have ever seen. It was huge and expansive, built on the rocks of the Pacific’s shore, each room having a different theme including bug collections, ships in bottles, masks, a paper mache horse, Hindu carvings, and sea creatures (he even has a narwhal tusk!).  It was a great trip.  While I love living in Viña, it is always fun to explore other areas as well.  In fact, I am leaving on Wednesday for a 5-day trip to my sister city, Montevideo, Uruguay!  I am so eager to finally explore this city that I have heard so much about growing up :)