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Well here it folks, I have officially fallen further behind on this blog than I have on the little amount of homework I constantly neglectJ I have two really awesome trips to write about, so I figure I can make this entry a daily double and talk about them both! The first happened 2 weekends ago when everyone from my API study abroad group traveled to Buenos Aires for the weekend! The second was this past weekend when a couple friends and I traveled 12 hours south to a touristy city called Pucon. Both trips were very different experiences, and that just made them all the more fun!
Our first stop on the Buenos Aires trip was through…Chilean customs and immigration. Our director told us when we first arrived that it is important for us to hold onto the little immigration slip they gave us on the plane when we first arrived in Chile, as we will need it when we want to leave in June/July. Unfortunately, for some of us (including me) the immigration people decided we did not need it. I asked the worker after she checked out my stuff if I needed it, to which she gave
me a firm “no” and made it clear I wasn’t getting it back! Of course, on the way back into Chile, we got another slip, so I don’t think it should be a big deal, but our director is still looking into it. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will work out fine this way, because otherwise we will have to take another trip back to the police station to re-apply for some legal paperwork stuff (that’s a technical term). All I really know is that I’d rather not be stopped by customs when I try to leave the country in July!
My first impression of Buenos Aires: HUGE. I think there is a total of 13 million people in the city and surrounding suburbs. We had about a 45 minutes bus ride through the city from the airport to the hotel. I am quite sure that, though we took a few tours of the city, the majority of the city I never saw. On Friday night, we went to a tango club, had a wonderful dinner, and then had a “learn to tango” class. As I am sure all of you know, dancing is one of
street art
BA has some pretty cool graffiti too! my many natural born talents, so I obviously rocked it J It was a lot of fun, though! So if anyone is interested in some free tango lessons when I return, let me know now, as my schedule is filling up quick!
Lets see. Saturday was a day filled with tours and walking. We had two walking tours of about 3 or 4 hours each, with time for lunch in the middle. It was tiring, but great to learn about Buenos Aires. We also got to see la casa rosada (the pink house) which is their main government building (like the white house). That night we went out for steaks, which Argentina is famous for. Oh man, if you get the chance to eat Argentinian steak, you’d best take it (even you, Katie).
All in all, it was a short weekend trip, but definitely worth it! And just to have the chance to visit Argentina was a great experience. It is interesting how different the accent is, even though the 2 countries boarder each other! The trip was interesting for me for another reason as well. When I was considering where I wanted to study, Buenos Aires was
my second choice, behind Viña and Valpo. I think I made the right choice. I feel like if I lived there and took a walk, I might never find my way back again, which would be sad. And the buildings. At least in the part of the city I spent most of my weekend, the buildings towered over everything. Great for a weekend trip, but in terms of living I definitely prefer where I am now!
So that was BA. Then I had another busy week catching up on stuff that I didn’t do over the weekend. Before I knew it, Thursday night rolled around and it was time to get on a bus for a 12 hour overnight ride south to Pucon.
This by far felt like the busiest weekend I have had on a trip! In just those three days I toured around the city, went hydrospeeding, relaxed in some hot springs, took a hike in a national park, and climbed a volcano. Yeah, I’m coolJ It was such a touristy weekend, but every once in a while I am completely OK with that!
Hydrospeeding is a bit difficult to describe. Basically, you put on
Turkeys just wandering around.
We also saw pigs and sheep. And a dead snake. a wetsuit and a helmet and then hold on to this floaty boat thingy. Then you hop in the river and cruise down the rapids! It was a blast! Although I found myself wishing for another couple hours of it at the end! I also realized that using flippers is not my strong suit. A lifeguard that can’t use flippers. Go figure.
The main reason that I wanted to go to Pucon was for the Volcano. We got up at like 2 in the morning or some insane time that the human body should never be forced to wake at on Sunday morning. It was basically an all day thing. They picked us up and drove us to base of the volcano. We were outfitted like pros, hiking gear: boots, backpack, pants, coat, helmet, crampons, and ice pick. Then you hike. Being that we are cheap, we chose to walk an extra hour uphill as opposed to taking a chair lift they offer for 7000 pesos (about 15 bucks). But that part of the climb is quite lame. Basically, we just walked uphill underneath a chairlift watching as people soared right on over us. Haha. Once we met up
The volcano!
Yeah, we climbed it. with the chair life cheaters, we continued to hike. The guides that went with us were quite nice, but I also think they were secretly trying to train us for an uphill marathon on something. It was definitely one of the hardest physical things I have ever done! That has happened a few times so far in Chile, maybe I am just lazy in the US…
A little past halfway up, we got to the ice. Here we had to put on our crampons (Those things that go on the bottom of your shoes with little picks which can stick into the ice and keep you from sliding) and use our ice pick. From there was the hardest part of the hike, we were all so tired by the time we reached the top!
The only disappointing part about the climb was that I didn’t get to see any lava!😞 When we reached the top it was super sulfury (it didn’t seem like smoke, but it came from the volcano, so it probably was). The lungs were not a big fan of it, and it made it seem very foggy up there. But accomplishing it was so awesome!
And now for the rest of my life I can look back on the time I climbed a volcano. Awesome.
Finally, to top off a great weekend, I turned 21 on Monday! It was a little weird celebrating my birthday without my US friends and family, but I am so grateful for all the wonderful people I have here who helped make my birthday great! My family even got me a cake with “Feliz cumpleaños Isaac” written on it!
Ok, so I’ve got a few weekends now before my next trip to San Pedro, which I am quite happy about. As fun as all the trips were, I am looking forward to having some weekends here in Viña and Valpo, and to hanging out with some of the friends I have here. Thanks to everyone for continuing to follow my adventures!
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Katie Dorrance
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Thanks for the shout out! If I ever make it to Buenos Aires I will make sure to eat a steak. However, it doesn't look like I will be going there anytime in the near future. That hiking seemed pretty intense, awesome experience! Great pictures and writing, thanks for the update!