wow. november absolutely flewwwww by. sorry it's been a month. anyway, obviously a ton has happened since october...let's see:
- i went to Horcon with Jen...a small coastal city about an hour and a half north of vina... (the place where jen and i originally planned to bike to previously...we took a bus this time...) and got to have a nice relaxing friday on the beach. We had to go down some really treacherous 'stair's to get to the beach, which we ended up having to ourselves, until about 30 minutes later we decided we were hungry and got up and went searching for empanadas...only making us go back up the same stairs...it was an experience. So anyway, we finallllly found a place that actually had empanadas that day, and had a nice lunch of cheese empanadas and beer along the beach. oh i love chile. later we found another beach, laid out there for a bit, while getting constant piropos from the surfers and bodyboarders out in the water....
- we had our last COPA group trip up to La Serena...yet another beach city, similar to Vina, like 5-6 hrs north. We stayed in some cabanas by el mar, which was cool so we got to do some cooking instead of gastar-ing todo our plata en restaurantes. Anyway, so the first night there all of us decided to do a big pot-luck feast, where each cabana brought a dish or two of their choosing for everyone, and it turned out really nice! There was tons of food, the guys did some barbequing, and it was really fun. The next day, Katie and Jess and I decide to hit up downtown La Serena, so we walk to the highway to get a micro, we get there ok and walk around...hit up the huge mercado, see the old colonial-style buildings and walkways, and then decide to head home. its 4.30 in the afternoon. only thing is, we didnt know the name of the cabanas, nor where exactly they were located, cuz they were sort of out of the city...so we get on a micro that we thought was the right one...turns out it starts driving teh completely wrong way on the highway, so we get off immediately, cross the highway and realize we have no idea which micro we need to subir. sooo i call Vivi, our lifesaver, and she told us to get on one that says '4 esquinas'...right after i hang up with her, one drives by us that says 4 esquinas, so we chase it down and get on! phew, we think we're on our way...hahha...well, we're going the right way, but then the micro starts going up into the cerros, and getting further and further away from the ocean, which is where we need to go....so i was voted to go and accost teh driver and ask what is going on...where do we get off...so i go up to him and say, "ehhh...vivimos en unas cabanas cerca del mar..." (we live in some cabanas by the sea...) and he cuts me off and says, "bajen, bajen al tiro" (get off right now!) soooooooooo he stops, there are people on the micro definitely getting a kick out of us by now, and we're like, hmmm...what to do now? luckily, we were right next to a line of colectivos (pseudo-taxis...) and i go up to a window and say the exact same thing "vivimos en unas cabanas cerca del mar, nos puede ayudar?" and he's like, you dont know where, or the name, or anything? and im like, ughhhhhhh no!! sooooo he tells us to get on in, we'll find it, and im just like, holy cow it shouldnt be this hard...after all, to get into town that morning it took maybe 10 minutes...so anyway, we're driving, and explaining our situation, how we'd recognize the place if we saw it but other than that we're clueless...and he just probably thought we were ridiculous...which was true, but whatev. soooooooo a while later we finally arrive...but by this time its 6:30...wow. 2 hrs getting back. we're gringas, what else can we say? Ok, moving on. that night we went to an observatory…it was absolutely incredible. The stars actually glistened and twinkled…like they do in cartoons where it looks all fake…well that’s how it really was, and there were sooooooo many stars, you could see tons and tons of constellations just filling the black sky and it was so clear…and the stars actually TWINKLED! The next day we went to a restaurant that uses only solar energy to cook the food. And while that fact alone is cool, it was even cooler to see the little town that had formed up on the mountain where this and several other solar restaurants had formed; actually, a group of about 25 women somehow got involved in the solar energy ‘world’ and ended up just starting a business of it up on this side of a mountain where the heat of the sun is just absolutely blazingly hot, and they really turned the town around for the better. This place is now a big tourist spot, the restaurants cater to tons of tourists groups, and it’s just really helped the poor community out…and these women did this, a lot of them at least, without any education, which is really cool! After that we went briefly to a pisco factory, where we got a less than brief description on the process of making pisco, and a ‘gustacion’ period where we got to taste test a few of the flavors. Pretty cool. Our last little excursion of the trip was on our way back to Vina the following day, when we stopped at Parque Nacional Fray Jorge to go on a little hike with a guide. So basically, we’re in the desert region (or where the desert region begins) in Chile, so all around it’s dry and pretty arid, not many trees, etc. Well, at Fray Jorge, we were taken into a sort of cloud forest type thing. Basically what happens, is there’s this cordillera (mt. range…) just lining a portion of the desert, and at the top of each mountain, all of the clouds and moisture that gets blown that way from the coast just gets caught in the cordillera by the plants and trees that are up in the micro-ecosystem at the top of the mountains. So when you’re at the bottom of the mountains or far away, you see this mountain range that just has clouds hovering over the top of them all. What’s really weird is that all of the plants/trees/etc that are found in the cloud forest are originally found in the southern part of Chile…Patagonia, where the weather is just completely distinct from northern chile. This cloud forest literally has an ecosystem so far removed from what’s surrounding it that its just crazy…it was a sight.
- I know there are other things that happened, but this just happened yesterday so it’s fresh on my mind. It was the last day of class for my Brasil class, and the professor (who’s a native Brasilera), brought the class some typical brasilena comida. So anyway, this experience just sticks out in my mind because it’s just so ‘chilean’…meaning, I don’t think/well, I know it would most likely never happen in the states, or at my school at least…so anyway, first we wait 30 minutes for everyone to show up, to then go on to the girls’ house who had volunteered her house for us to eat at/heat up food/etc. This girl doesn’t show up, so we start making our way downstairs to wait for her, and then she shows up finally…so we all head out as a class walking to go catch a micro to her place up in the cerros. Along the way, we stop at the huge fruit/veggie market for our professor to quickly shop for some stuff…she buys some huge lemons, onions, and tomatoes while we all wait on a busy street corner. When she’s done, we continue walking, get to the street, wait for the right micro, and finally all get on and we’re on our way. It’s a pretty long micro ride because she lives up pretty far in a cerro (don’t remember the name), but apparently it’s a pretty shady place to live…So we arrive, our professor starts heating up/preparing the food, and some students go out to buy some potatoe chips and drinks at the store at the corner so we can munch while we wait…finally at almost 5 pm our lunch is ready (let’s keep in mind that this class originally starts at 2) so we sit down and indulge. The meal, which according to my great professor is sin prejuicio because it has both black and white, consists of black beans, white rice, cooked spinach or other green stuff, and a salad. Once it’s all served on your plate, what the slaves do and what most typical brasilians will do, apparently, is just mix it all together…it was tasty…simple yet tasty. So anyway, we sit and talk and talk and talk, until we decide it’s time to clean up, so then we sit and talk some more while the dishes are being done, and then wayyy later we all finally leave the girls’ house…to go get ice cream. Our professor seemed to really want it, so we were all like, uh, sure. So we walk a lot, and finally get to this ice cream place, we all get our ice cream, sit and eat it and talk a lot, and then get on our way to head home….but we had to walk like 20 blocks SLOWLY to get to where one girl could catch her micro, and to where our professor could catch her bus to Santiago, and hten to where I could catch my micro…it was all very slow….slow and relaxed. Anyway, luckily I had nothing else to do that day because I get home, look at my clock, and it’s 8:45 at night. Holy cow.
- Ok not going to lie, I’m writing this entry really late tonight and can’t remember what else I was planning on writing about…but I just really felt obligated to post something because I’m leaving tomorrow morning for 10 days until a day or two before I leave chile, and I wanted to have a last little post so people didn’t think I completely abandoned this blog. My apologies, once again. Anyway, tomorrow I’m going down to Reserva Nacional Siete Tazas, which is in the 7th region, farther south, and in the cordillera, further away from the coast. This reserve nacional is famous for its beautiful waterfalls, who’s water each go into 7 ‘tazas,’ or little cups…in the earth…use your imagination, or just wait for pictures…my description won’t do it justice. Anyway, my friend Jen and I are going camping there till Sunday, when we’ll then head a bit more north to a town called Pichilemu, that’s located on the coast, and is known for its crazy big waves and surfing…big surf competitions are held there every year. We’ll surf and relax and soak up being gringas for our last few days in
- Classes ended well…despite the terrible last 2 weeks of school when seriously everything and their mom was due…professors realize they have few or no grades for us so they decide to assign anything and everything—absolute craziness. But it’s over.
- Soooo….sorry I really bombed the blog thing….hope for those of you who read it that you enjoyed the little that I put out there, and if not, sorry. There’s always next semester, right?!
- See you kids on the flip side…in the U S of A.
