Lovely Lota

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September 17th 2009

Published: September 17th 2009

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Photo 1

ocean in Lota

Tuesday was our trip to Lota. We met outside the Humanities building at 8:30 a.m. I got up at 6:30 to shower and so I could ride with Marcela to the University at 7:30. I would be there kind of early but it is easier and cheaper to be a little early than to take the micro or collectivo. Marcela had a class at 8:10 so I just sat in her office and used her computer while I waited. I went outside to wait around 8:20. Jessica was there but nobody else yet. I decided I wanted some cappuccino so we walked to the little store on campus. The store is called "el ombligo" which means bellybutton. haha.
I got a little cappuccino and a media luna which is a little pastry. It was really yummy. We walked back to the building and there were a few more people waiting. I made Christina want cappuccino so I walked with her so she could get some. Once everyone arrived we walked to the street, los carreras, to find a bus to take us to Lota. Lota is about and hour or so away by bus. Lota used to be one of the

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fancy place settings

richest cities in the world because it had a huge coal mine. The mine closed int 1976 and now Lota is one of the poorest cities in Chile.
We found a bus with enough space for all of us and we were on our way. It was really annoying because the bus kept stopping to pick people up and drop people off and it kind of throws you around. I also hate it when the buses stop and let people on but there aren't any seats open so people have to stand. Of course we are young, able bodies so we have (not literally HAVE to but Should) give up our seats to let others sit down. We finally made it to Lota sometime between 10 and 11.
Our tour guides were waiting for us on the street when we got of the bus. We walked to the community college building in Lota. There, we were greeted by people from the school. Some people will be going there to do service learning and work with the students that are trying to learn English. After the greeting we had a snack of cookies, peanuts, crackers, tea, juice, and coffee.
After our

Photo 17

snack we walked to the Lota museum. It wasn't very exciting. It is just an old house. Don't get me wrong, the stuff is a little bit interesting to see but it was nothing special. The house used to be the gardener's house. Now the garden is a huge, beautiful park. We had a tour guide, dressed in traditional clothes of the century who took us through the house and then to the garden. Evin had to take the bus back to Concepcion because he wasn't feeling well and didn't want to stay in Lota.
The garden was amazing. I could have walked around all day but they kind of rushed us through it. We probably spent and hour or two there though. There was fountains, flowers, peacocks and more. The tomb of the lady who owned the garden is also there. From the garden there are breath-taking views of the ocean. After touring the garden, it was time for lunch.
We ate at a very elegant restaurant. There were fancy table settings and crystal wine glasses. I ordered the special which was a soup, pasta, and a dessert. I ordered a "Bilz" pop which is cherry flavored. It tastes

Photo 2

the houses are shacks, but look at that view!

a little bit like a kiddy cocktail. The dessert was pistachio ice cream with strawberries. I didn't think I liked pistachios and I didn't know that is what it was when I was eating it. It was really yummy though. One of our tour guides was a professional singer and she was singing for us during lunch.
After lunch it was time to go to the mine. We had been anticipating this all day! On the way to the mine we passed by the church in Lota. It was really pretty. The mine is called "chiflon del diablo" which means "devil breeze". We got hard hats and battery pack belts for the lights on the hats and we were ready to go down under the ocean to the mine. The mine is pretty dusty and dark. The scary part is going down the mine in the rusty old elevators that look like they are going to break. They look just like the ones you see in the movies. The could hold 4 or 5 people at a time. We held our breath and down we went!
Our tour guide was a guy who like to talk A LOT. He was

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walking to the museum

not my favorite person in the world. He just kept talking and talking and I got the feeling that he didn't like Americans very much. He also only had one arm and he had to tell us the story of how he lost it in a fight, defending his friend and his friend never even said thank you.. so I guess he is just a bitter man now.
All in all the mine was interesting. We got to see the drilling machines and even the little cage the kept the bird in. The miners worked 14 hour days. There were kids as young as 8 or 9 working in the mines. A lot of the passages are really narrow and scary. We didn't go down any of those. The tour is actually pretty short but our guide just liked to talk a lot. We even got to see the bathrooms that the miners used. They had to thrown a piece of wood at it before they could use it, to scare the rats away. GROSS!
I thought the mine would be cold, like a cave for some reason but it was actually warmer than above the ground. We walked up

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our tour guide

a steep hill and a bunch of steps to get out of the mine but I prefer that to the scary elevators! I bought a necklace at the mine, just because I liked it. It cost 1000 pesos (about $2).
After the mine tour, it was time to go home. We walked back to the main road to catch a bus. It was around 6 p.m. We managed to find a bus with enough space for us. The bus driver was nice and said he would get us home quick so he didn't stop at every bus stop like the other driver. We would have gotten home a lot quicker but we got stuck in traffic near Concepcion. That was no fun. I'm not sure if it was just rush hour or if there was an accident but I think there was an accident.
When we got back to Concepcion, I got off the bus with Jessica A. and we went to wait for a micro home. We got lucky and a bus came in about 5 minutes. We got off in our neighborhood and walked home. At home, I sat and talked with Jorge and Marcela for a little

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Isadora

while. I tried to put my pictures up on my last blog but it wasn't working. I finally got them up on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning, I was planning on meeting Hayley, Catie, Alison in the centro so we could go to the travel agent. After that Hayley, Catie, and I were supposed to meet with Professor Ostria to discuss and essay with him as part of our class. We decided that we should call the travel agent in the morning, just to let her know we were coming and make sure she was going to be there. When I called in the morning, nobody answered and this ruined our plans. We were going to go there at 9 and meet with the professor at 10 We decided to go to the travel agent after meeting with Ostria after, even though Alison couldn't come then.
I left my house to walk to the micro. I was all excited because shortly after I started walking, the micro came down my street. I wasn't really thinking, so I got on it. Good thing I must have looked lost or like I didn't belong because the driver was really nice and reminded me that

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big painting in the museum

I didn't want to get be on that bus because he was going the other way. It was about time I found a nice micro driver. He let me stay on until he turned by my bus stop which was just down the road. I waited probably 5 or 10 minutes before another micro came.
When I got to campus, I had some extra time. Jessica had called me and said that Ostria was going to be late. I went to the post office place to send my postcards. It cost me 500 pesos for each postcard. The stamps were really big and each postcard needed 2 stamps. I hope they don't take too terribly long to get to the United States but who knows. Jessica called and said Ostria was there so I went up to his office. Another group was already in there so we had to wait our turn.
My group was Catie and Hayley but Jessica didn't have a group so she came with us also. It wasn't too bad. I had read the article but I didn't understand a lot of it. I even translated it to English. It used a lot of big words,

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lion outside the park

even for English. We talked with him for about 20 minutes. After we met with him, Catie, Hayley and I walked to the centro to go to the travel agent.
At the travel agent we had to reserve our hotel for our trip to Buenos Aires and pay for it. She had to make copies of our passports also. I like the travel agent. She is really nice, but every time we are there she answers her cell phone and talks on it and we just have to sit there and wait. It is really rude and annoying but there was nothing we could do about it. Alison has to go on her own someday soon so we can get our tickets and such but it all has to be sent in together.
After the travel agent, Catie and Hayley left to go home. I went back to the store where I bought the postcards so I could buy more. After that I went to a grocery store and bought snacks for in my room when I get hungry and some to take to Buenos Aires with me. I took a collectivo home for there. It was around 1 pm

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entering the park

when I got home.
When I got home I ate lunch, showered and then decided I needed a nap. At 3, the ramadas were beginning at the University. I wanted to go but not without a nap first. Ramadas are the name for parties for the independence day. My host dad said it is huge and that the University wasn't going to have it this year since it got really out of hand the year before. I heard that someone died but I don't know if that is true. I called Jessica to see if she wanted to go with me.
After my nap, I had tea and then called Jessica again. It was about 4:30. She walked down to my house and then we walked to the bus stop. We took the micro to campus. The closer we got to campus, the more people there were. There were students everywhere. The plaza Peru was full of students, just sitting around talking and drinking. We were going to meet Catie, Hayley and others on the steps of the library.
As we got onto campus, I couldn't believe how many people there were. It was packed. There were thousands and thousands

Photo 9

pretty

of people. There was a band playing on a stage that was set up in the center of campus, in front of the fountain. There were tents selling food and drinks all the way around the center area. We made our way through the crowd to the library.
Catie, Hayley and I decided to walk around and look at the tents and get something to drink. Catie and I got glasses of Ponche for 250 pesos (less than 50 cents). Ponche is a drink that has a little bit of a wine taste but I liked it. You could only take so much walking around because you literally couldn't move and people kept pushing and shoving to get through. We met up with Jessica and Lucas. Then we decided to go back for more Ponche. We got more and then ran into Brad and Evin. We chatted with them and then ran into Karl, Trevor, Brenna, Adrien and Christina. Christina, Lucas, Evin, Jessica, Brad, Hayley, Catie and I decided to go get some Shisha (pronounced Chee-Cha). It is a sweeter drink. I really liked it. After that we just sat outside the fence for awhile and relaxed. After awhile we

Photo 10

walked up to steps to see if we could see the band. I still couldn't believe how many people were there. Probably double what was there when I first arrived.
Around 9, we decided we had had enough and went to a bar across the street from the university called Pub Quebec. It was Hayley, Catie, Christina, Lucas, Brad, and I. I ordered a chicken sandwich and shared fries with Christina. It was really good. Catie's host brother Vlado and his friend Sebastian came a little later. We had a lot of fun just hanging out there. We didn't leave until around midnight.
I wanted to take a collectivo home but I didn't see any. Brad and Lucas walked with me to my bus stop but then they left to go to their's because the micros stop around 12:30 and by this time it was 12:15. Every bus I saw, none of which were the one I needed to take, were completely full of crazy drunk students. Most weren't even stopping because they were so full. I decided just to call the taxi. Sergio picked me up in about 10 minutes. It cost me 3000 pesos, which isn't too bad.

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amazing view

Brad and Lucas ended up having to call him too because no micros came.
Thursday I slept until about ten. I got up and showered. I really didn't do much all day. I watched the Nana make empanadas for a little bit and have been adding pictures to my facebook from the Lota trip. We are leaving for Chillan this afternoon so I packed my bag. I skyped with Becca for awhile. My family went somewhere but I don't know where. I ate lunch by myself. I ate the empanadas the Nana made. They were delicious and very hot. They were filled with meat, egg, onions and olives. I picked out the olives. After lunch, I had tea and a pajarito. Pajaritos look like cinnamon rolls but there aren't that sweet It is a typical food of the independence day and of Chile. Marcela buys them sometimes but the Nana made these. The ones that Nana made are way better than the boughten ones!
Now I am just waiting to leave for Chillan. We are staying in Chillan tonight and then tomorrow I am going with my Jorge and my host brothers to a tennis match in a farther away