Fiestas Patrias

---

Well, my week of no school has finally ended, so its time to update y'all, complete with my own pictures! (But I still 'borrowed' some from other people for the camping trip which I didn't have a camera for.

The week started last Friday morning (the 14th of September) with a crew of six of us heading to the bus station in Valparaiso to catch a bus to Santiago, where we then did some subway-hopping to get down to the south of Santiago to catch our final ride in a bus to a campsite called 'Cascada de las Animas'. Little did we know, that bus was the only one that went that far south and only came every half-hour or so, so whenever it did it was immediately packed to the brim with people. We missed three before we finally got one, but eventually we made it!
Camping was an interesting experience. We got there in time to set up the tent and make some dinner before visiting the famed waterfall (Cascada de las Animas), but when we unrolled the tent that my family had provided, the stench told us we weren’t likely going to use it. The fact that our hands got wet as we unfolded this what must have been at least 30 or 40 year old canvas tent was further proof, and the mold on the outside was the kicker. So we hung it up at the next door camp site (by the way, we’re talking electric powered, lighted shelter, hot shower camp sites here, which we paid $12 a person for) and decided to sleep under the stars, or better, under the shelter which was under the stars. So we went to the waterfall, which required going through a locked gate over a bridge over a river, which we thought was weird. Turns out we had chosen the perfect time to go because a guided tour (the only option) was just entering the ‘nature sanctuary’ that held the waterfall, so the gate was opened momentarily. The tour guide ran up to us and started to explain that we needed to pay to get into this part of the wilderness, but we pretended we didn’t speak Spanish and he gave up. We hiked to the waterfall, which was pretty impressive, but because the ‘guide’ was there (he didn’t do any sort of guiding the whole time, more of a chaperone than anything) we didn’t get to swim beneath it like we had planned. This was probably for the better anyway because it was only about 50 degrees yesterday and we would have for sure gotten sick had we added waterfall swimming to the frozen sleeping we did that night. So when bed time came all six of us gathered on a tarp under our shelter and shivered to sleep.
Saturday morning, we woke up in good spirits ready to find the hot springs that had been advertised in our tour book and on their website, but found out that the only one is an hour and a half away and is only available on Sunday. All of the other cool things that had been advertised - ripcord over the river, whitewater rafting, horseback riding - were all ridiculously expensive. We ended up going on a hike that somebody else told us about outside of the campgrounds (so that it was free), and we hopped over river rocks and narrowly avoided death for a few miles until we got to waterfall that made it worth the experience. The fact that it was so hard to get to was cool, because we felt like not many people had seen this particular part of the world before, a completely different experience than visiting the waterfall that the campsite offered. We went back to camp, and because the previous night had been so uncomfortable and the fact that we had heard rumors of rain, we packed up and headed back to Valpo.
I realize that this rant probably makes the trip sound entirely awful, but I really did have a good time, especially hiking along a river in the valley of two mountains to get to a gorgeous waterfall. The campsite was bordered by the Andes, really incredibly beautiful, and besides all of the stupid crap I got to enjoy a part of the world completely foreign to me, different than anything I have seen before. Its one area that if I didn’t only have 6 months here, I would probably go back to (just maybe to a different campsite).

Next up was the 'Clasico' soccer match between the Santiago Wanderers of Valparaiso and the Vina del Mar's team Everton. This was quite an experience. I went with Carlos and a cousin, and we left at 10 on Sunday to get to the game at 12. We got on a bus headed to Playa Ancha, where the stadium is, but about halfway there we had to pull over because a police car was going by. I should explain that Playa Ancha is part of Valparaiso, and so to get there from Vina you have to go through the heart of Valparaiso. So behind this police car was a city bus from Vina packed TO THE BRIM, I'm talking about swaying back and forth with the weight of the people packed here, with Everton fans. The people on the sides were halfway out the windows, and they all carried Everton signs and banners and were cheering the Everton chants at our bus which was mostly Wanderers fans headed to the game, so naturally our bus exploded with booing and chearing of its own. After that bus passed, another police car went by, followed by four more buses filled with Everton fans, and finally a gang of 20 motorcycle cops and a vehicle that resembled a hummer, only 4 time bigger, heavily armored, and filled with police. They take these games pretty seriously.
We arrived at the stadium and the atmosphere was just incredible. The whole stadium was filled with green, which is the Wanderer's color, and the crazy fan section at the end didn't stop chanting and beating drums from a half-hour before the game started until a half-hour after. The game itself was exciting too, the Wanderers took an early lead, but Everton came out in the second half and scored an immediate goal. The score stayed the same until about the 75th or 80th minute, when Everton earned a penalty kick. The Wanderer's goalie was kicked out and they brought in a backup, but the Everton kicker hit post and the stadium exploded. Finally at about the 88th minute, the Wanderers got a break away and scored a goal over the Everton goalie's head. It was great.

On Tuesday, it was time for the September 18th celebrations! Our family all came over for the day and we played lots of ping-pong, ate some delicious food such as choripan, which is basically just a sausage on a piece of bread but really flavorful, grilled meat, and chicken legs, drank wine, chicha (a traditional drink that people make around this time of the year, and of course danced a lot of cueca. Later that night, my neighbor had a big party at his house with what he later guessed was a bout 70 or 80 people, and that was a blast too, filled with more grilled food, more wine, more chicha, more cueca, and even some musical chairs in which I won a CD of cueca music.

I didn't end up going to bed until about 7, which I probably shouldn't have even done because I got a call from a friend at 8:45 asking where I was and reminding me that our bus to Mendoza left in 15 minutes...oops. I can honestly say that the next 15 minutes were some of the most frantic of my life. While I threw all of my last minute stuff into my backpack (luckily I had packed most of my stuff the day before), a friend that had left her jacket at my house started ringing our bell and my travel companions kept calling me to tell me to hurry up! When I got out the door at about 8:48, I started down my hill and saw that my dog had managed to escape during the confusion, and he had no intentions of going back into the house, as I discovered over the next two minutes as I tried to make him. Finally I gave up and yelled to the friend that had gotten her jacket to call my brother and tell him what happened and booked it down my hill at 8:50! At this point, I should explain that normally to get from my house to this station would take about 30 or 40 minutes, so keep that in mind. Luckily, there is a plaza at the bottom of my hill where there are often taxis, so I ran up to the first one and threw my stuff in and got in, at the same time yelling that I need to be at the bus station in 10 minutes! The bus driver asked, "the station in Valparaiso?" "No, Limanche Station in Vina del Mar." His initial surprise was overtaken by a determined stare as he jumped to the driver seat and said, "OK, we're gonna make it!" We peeled through Valpo at what I'm guessing had to have been about 90 miles per hour, through at least three red lights, and past two police cars! At one point we had to pull over because he had exceeded his speed limit and some computer in the car shut down the motor, but we picked right up where we had left off! As we got into Vina, my friend called me and told me that the bus was leaving, but was stopped at a red light. We booked it around a couple corners, and lo and behold at the last corner, sitting at a red light, was my bus! I shouted "Thats it!!" to the bus driver and he pulled me up to it. I threw some money at him and ran onto the bus just as the light turned green, and we went on our way. Thats how my Mendoza trip started.
Mendoza is a beautiful city. There are trees lining all the streets, lots of parks, lots of artisan stands, and best of all good food for cheap! On top of this, Mendoza is an up-and-coming wine center, with lots of vineyards in close proximity. We headed south of Mendoza to Maipu for some wine tasting and had a great time. We at lunch at a very cool place out in the country that served a gourmet pasta dish with desert for about $12, and all the food was grown on the property. After lunch we went to Tempus Alba Bodega, and it was one of the highlights of the trip by far. We all got three glasses of wine to taste for $5 each, and because its not tourist season, we got the undivided attention of the wine-expert who was working. We ended up staying for what must have been and hour and a half and got a complete lesson on how wine is made, the different kinds, and the thing that we really wanted to know: what in the world to do/look for when tasting a wine. It was a fun, informative, and delicious visit.
The rest of our time in Mendoza consisted mostly of just walking around and exploring the city, enjoying the parks, food, and great weather.

Well, this has been a really long post, so I won't subject you to any more. Applause to those of you that actually read the whole thing, hope it was entertaining! I will post again soon.

So long for now,

Michael

---

Photos

Cascada de las Animas
The very tall waterfall that we visited, not the cool one that we found on our own but the one in the park.

The Group at Cascada de las Animas
This is the six of us that went camping at the bottom of the waterfall at the park.

Wanderers!
My brother Carlos and I at the Wanderers game.

Football
They had this big tank with the Wanderers mascot driving around before the game. The mascot has Everton's bird mascot in its hand.

Ramada del Huasos Rompe Corazones
The title of the party on the 18th. Ramadas are temporary wooden structures that pop up everywhere during the 18th that are basically temporary bars, and a Huaso is a person that dances Cueca. So, it reads "Ramada of Broken Hearted Huasos." It was a lot more fun than it sounds. Oh, and I made the banner, good right?

Cueca!
My neighbor (and fellow gringo) Ben dancing with his host mom to live music at the party on the 18th.

Tempus Albo
Unfortunately the vineyards weren't all that pretty because it isn't the growing season, but this is what the whole area that the vineyards are in looks like.

A pretty typical street in Mendoza
Very pretty city...

Mendoza
Another Mendoza shot

Rooftop Restaurant
The view from a restaurant that we ate at in Mendoza

Cross in Coquimbo
This is the cross that I wrote about a while back. I finally got my hands on a picture.

Comments

[Gary Swanberg]

Loved the description of "catching the bus"... hilarious! Good pictures too... thanks. Dad

[Sara]

Couldn't stop laughing while reading about you getting to Mendoza. We had some mornings like that driving to Cooper didn't we!? Miss you. Sara