So 8 months have slipped past and now I'm sitting in a libreria in Caldera trying to think of how to sum them up in a few words during my last 3 hours in town. It goes without saying that I won't be able to accurately describe how I feel but I'll try. I arrived in Caldera in April with a little hesitation. I was hoping to be placed in a small town but when I got here the reality sunk in--I will be calling this place home for 8 months. I remember that uncertainty and the feeling of "what have [View Full Entry]

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So it's been a while...and for good reason. My laptop became infected with numerous viruses and now the hard drive crashed. So, I haven't been able to do any updates lately and probably won't do more than one or 2 before I get back home in December. I can't believe I only have 2 weeks left in Caldera! See you soon! [View Full Entry]

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Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar This was a long weekend in Chile. They were celebrating el día de la madre cristiana, the day of the Christian mother or Saint Mary's Day. Ben, Nick, and I decided to spend a day at Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar which is only about an hour and a half from Caldera near the port town of Chañaral. We arrived in Chañaral at about 10:00am on Saturday. From the bus station we took a colectivo to the park which is about 30 minutes away. On the way we planned our day and decided to go to [View Full Entry]

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I've tried writing this 2 times before this and both times something happened. The first time my battery ran out before I had a chance to save it and the second time the window went back to the previous screen on its own without me hitting the Back button. So here goes again: It's been a busy few weeks here. I've been feeling the rapid approach of my return to the US. This pressure has encouraged me to really start making a plan for the following months and years. So over the past month or so I've been spending as much [View Full Entry]

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I received sad news from home last Friday, August 14th. My Aunt Diane, who had been struggling with pancreatic cancer for about 2 months, passed away in her home surrounded by family and friends. Needless to say there has been a lot of mourning, phone calls, and late night chat sessions with family in Minnesota. While this news has left me in a bit of shock it has also given me the chance to think about life, family, and future with a new perspective. I think my friend, Heather, was right on when she noticed "that death ma [View Full Entry]

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Hey all, Just sending out a quick recap from my time in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I started my trip at the airport outside of Caldera. The Atacama Airport is a tiny place not much bigger than a gymnasium at your average high school. I boarded the plane (the first time I've boarded a large jet by stairs) and happened to be sitting next to a guy from Australia who had been in the area about as long as I had. He worked for a company that owns a few mines in Chile and other parts of South American as well. It [View Full Entry]

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I decided to spend a night in Montevideo, Uruguay during my visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina. They aren't that far apart and I got a few more stamps in my passport! I woke up in my hostel at what I thought was 6:00am but it turns out that I forgot to switch my phone/alarm clock's time ahead an hour so it was actually 7:00am. I ran to catch a cab and had trouble getting them to understand me but finally go one and made it to the dock in time to catch the next Buquebus, a ferry/bus company that specializes in [View Full Entry]

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Hey all, So I don't have much time but I just wanted to write you all and say "Hi!" from the southern tip of South America. I'm in Puerto Natales right now in an amazing hostel. It's amazing here! I saw flamingos and swans swimming next to each other in the water along the coast. The horizon was covered by clouds this morning but by sunset (at about 5pm) there were some gorgeous mountain peaks that poked their summits out of the clouds. I'm here for a week teaching at an immersion camp. It starts tomorrow and goes through Saturday and [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Buenos Aires 2 days ago to an airport that I think is best described by the word "vague". It wasn't really clear where we should go or what we should do. At one point there was a sign that said "Customs" with a bunch of x-ray machines with employees. They were all looking at us and we were talking to ourselves asking "are we supposed to do something here?" We just kept on walking figuring someone would stop us if we were supposed to get our things scanned. As we slowly stepped through the room the employees starred [View Full Entry]

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Hey all, It's been along time again. My laptop is giving me more hell than I could ever have wished on my worst enemy. Ok, so maybe that's a bit dramatic but it has been giving me trouble. My current issue is that it won't connect to the internet so I am using an internet café. I actually don't mind it so much. It keeps me from spending all night searching the web for useless information. It would be nice for looking into graduate school though. Travel Well, where to begin. I am heading on an amazing vacation in a day [View Full Entry]

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