Advertisement
Published: October 10th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Taking a break
One of the many vistas to be had in the Elqui Valley. It has been quite some time since I updated so I figured it was about time, since I have lots of new pictures and experiences to share.
Dipping all the way back to the start of July, my parents came to visit for two weeks. We toured middle Chile, from Concepcion north to La Serena and inland to the Elqui Valley. My parents greatly enjoyed their visit to Chile. Among the things that most impressed them were the friendliness and sincerity of the Chilean people, the ease of travel, and the simple and tasty food. They left quite impressed with Chile and with rapidly forming ideas of returning to see more of South America.
Towards the end of July, I went to Bariloche, Argentina for some Patagonia snowboarding. It was a pretty awesome experience, mainly because it snowed multiple
meters, while I was there. I went with my Fulbright friend, Noah, and we stayed in a hostel near the slopes of Catedral. Bariloche is famous for its Patagonia vistas, but since we were there through the heart of a snowstorm, we rarely saw more than gray and white, sometimes no more than white five feet down the slope. Coming
Patagonia
It was hard to stop taking pictures from the bus window... from Minnesota, I am no expert on powder skiing and found myself both amazed and completely stuck in powder over waist-deep.
Then at the start of August, I had an all-expenses paid weeklong "regional enhancement" Fulbright conference in Buenos Aires. Since the Fulbright ETA (English Teaching Assistant) program is only in its second year, the ETAs from all over South America met for a week to compare experiences, share advice and make suggestions for improvements down the road. Buenos Aires is a city of 12 million, the second largest in South America (behind Sao Paolo). It is known as being the most "European" of the South American cities. The buildings appear Parisian and the city was largely settled by Italian immigrants in the '20s. One week there was not nearly enough time to explore, although I greatly enjoyed everything I saw, from Eva's grave to the Boca Junior stadium to an opera in the Colon theater. I would really like to get back there to visit, but I'm not sure if I'll have the time.
The third week of August brought a visit from my girlfriend, Paola. We met in Santiago and immediately headed north to Iquique. Iquique
is along the ocean and next to the driest place in the world, the Atacama Desert. I talked to an Iquique local and according to him, in the last four years it has drizzled four times in Iquique, for about an hour each time. Needless to say, the landscape appears completely different from Concepcion, with our months of drubbing rain. Paola and I went on several daytrips. One was to Humberstone, which was a true ghost town. It is an abandoned saltpeter refinery, now a declared UNESCO World Heritage Site. We also bused through the desert to Pica, an oasis of fruit trees with a natural freshwater stone pool. It has not rained in the Atacama Desert in recorded history (over 400 years) and the landscape reflected it: not one cactus, not a bush, not even a fly. Nothing but dry brown and hot sun, and this was during the winter. We also got our adrenaline kick by paragliding off the desert cliffs and out over the city. From there we headed back to Concepcion and toured the area.
(On a sidenote, I was able to do all that travelling because the month of July was winter break between
Fiestas Patrias
Parents dress their little ones in traditional clothes. semesters, and with a little fudging and trading of exam slots, I was able to extend mine to five weeks. I do actually have a job down here!)
In early September, my two best friends arrived: Anders, my best friend from childhood, and Carl, my best friend from Grinnell. They are here to live for three months or so. Having had no luck in finding employment for that short of time, they have contented themselves with practicing Spanish, daytripping, and doing some volunteer work. They were here to celebrate September 18th with me, the Chilean Independence Day. This is the party that all Chileans look forward to: four days non-stop of traditional celebrations and barbeques. We went to several
ramadas, traditional parties under a shelter of branches with
cueca music and dancing,
guasos (horseback-ridin' campesinos), and loads of other traditional foods such as
chicha (fermented grape juice),
empanadas (meat pasties), and
sopaipillas (fried dough made from flour, water, and squash). The actual independence day was on Monday, but I was so tired from three previous days of celebration that I ate some meat and went to bed early.
Since then, I have started to relax. This was planned,
The fearsome threesome
By the ocean near Concepcion. but also somewhat enforced by the unfortunate occurence of a fractured shoulder. I was in soccer practice, took a spill, and ended up with a dislocated and fractured left shoulder. After a cultural experience in waiting for an ambulance (suddenly that three-week hospital strike meant a little more!) and a few wildly varying medical opinions, the dust settled: I'll be fine without an operation here in Chile, but no more soccer. Since I've been playing four days a week since arriving, that's disappointing news, but it could have been worse.
The only things on the horizon are a week-long visit from my sister next week, and two trips left that I'd like to take: one back to Patagonia to Pucon and the other to Argentina, to renew Ander's duration of stay in Chile. At the end of my time here, I will head to Lima for Christmas to spend it with Paola's family and do a few weeks of travelling in Peru.
That's the springtime news from Chile.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.074s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0295s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb