No llores por mi, Argentina

When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.
-Clifton Fadiman

Firstly, and most importantly, Chile just beat Ecuador!! (sorry Matthew...). So I can hear lots of yelling and sirens and happy clapping and chanting from my window... pretty exciting!


Yesterday morning, I got back from another four-day adventure, this time to Argentina. It still seems crazy to me that I could just buy a bus ticket for about $27 USD and hop the border into anther country. Insanity.

We left Valpo last Thursday at about 7:45, and got to Santiago a few hours before we had to leave for Mendoza. Finally were REALLY on our way at about 10:30. (Sidenote: Had a super sweet bus. It reclined WICKED far, and had this thing for your feet, too. Fantastic. If only I could sleep on buses....). Bus trip wasn't horrible. What WAS horrible, however, was waiting at the border for about four hours. No joke. But I got another stamp on my passport, so I really shouldn't complain.


FRIDAY

We finally got to Mendoza at about 7:30 on Friday morning. Marathon travel sessions are the only way to get it done. The first thing we needed to do was find tickets back, which was suprisingly difficult. It was a holiday weekend (apparently Christopher Columbus is a big deal here, too), so a lot of the better bus companies had Mendoza - Santiago booked out for a while. But then we stumbled upon this hole in the wall company that had space. It should have been a sign. But the price and the time were right, so tickets were bought. More on O'Higgins later...

Navigated ourselves to the hostel. Meaning we took a taxi. Got there, checked in. I was with a group of five, and we were in a room for six. With one other stranger. Super bizarre, but she ended up being the sweetest lady in the world. She had been two over 100 countries, speaks French and Italian, is learning Spanish, and wants to go to Antarctica. If she were a male about 20 years younger, I'd say we were soulmates. Well, not that we have anything in common; this was my second country, I'm learning Spanish, and I want to go to Antarctica, too.

Moving on.

Friday was our day for wandering, exploring, eating, and napping. Nothing too exciting.

I LIED!!! You guys. I tried meat. For the first time in five-ish or whatever years. Argentina is known for its cattle/beef, and I had been thinking about trying it anyways, so I decided... why not? But probably won't be doing that again anytime soon.




SATURDAY

Saturday was maybe one of the best days I've had since I've been in South America. We went to this place a little outside of Mendoza Center, where you can rent bikes for dirt cheap. And all up and down this one road, and off the little side roads, are vineyards and chocolate shops and olive oil factories and other cool things like that. So we rented bikes, and rode for hours, just stopping to taste wine or buy chocolate or picnic in the grass. And the entire time, we had a fantastic view of the Andes, which just added to the experience. It was nothing less than surreal.



SUNDAY

Actually, Sunday was really sweet, too. We booked a rafting trip in Rio Mendoza. Plus side: Super fantastic suits and helmets. Down side: Our guides thought it would be fun to get our boat stuck under a waterfall/rapid-y thing and "play" while the water rushed over our bodies and into the boat. Super down side: I fell out halfway, with the entire upper half of my body in the water, and just my legs in the boat. Plus side: I am now 100% positive that my heart beats, because it almost jumped out of my chest that day.



Also, my group's boat definitely won "Most Festive." It was just the five of us and our guide, who didn't mind that we sang songs at the top of our lungs while going down the river. Our group favorite for the weekend was definitely the theme song to Arthur. For memories, click below :)



Once we got back to the city, we showed, made lunch, and then went to the AQUARIUM!

Coming from a girl who grew up with the New England Aquarium at her disposal, I was expecting big things. Sharks. Turtles. Jellyfish.

Not at all. It was super tiny. But they had some cool stuff, including a decent sized sea turtle. But it was like, three rooms total. Still, I'd say it was worth the 79 cents admission fee. And true to form, I spent too much time looking at the rather grande sea turtle tank, moving closer and further away, and started to feel sick. So I had to skip the serpent museum. Sad story.

We also, on our walk back into the center, found a pretty fantastic playground/sculpture park! I think the theme for this day was "Re-live Your Childhood," with extra emphasis on the life part.




MONDAY

Monday was the day we went PARAGLIDING. My gosh, absolute craziness. Firstly, we were supposed to go at 9 am, but got a phone call saying we'd leave at 11 instead. That's okay; losing two hours was no big. We'd get back at 3 instead of 1, and still have time to shop in the town center and take advantage of Argentina's insanely low prices on EVERYTHING.

Get picked up at 11. Drive a bit away to a piece of the Andes, and wait. And wait. And then an instructor comes up to us, and tells us that since the wind is so fierce, he's going to have to take some of the heavier people first before he can take us, since we were, according to him, small girls.

No big deal, my friend. Let them do their thing. Come find us later.

These people land. He waits a bit. It's now 1/1:30. He comes up and says the wind is still too strong. He needs to take another group of heavier people. So he takes four other girls. Really, my friend? Are they actually bigger than we are? Or are you just playin' us?

Whatever, dude. Take them. As long as I get my go.

(Mind you, I'm pouting a little bit by now, thinking "WHY CAN'T I GO?!", even though my feet didn't touch the ground when I was sitting on this chair....)

Blondie comes back. (Oh, by the way--- Argentines are super European-looking. It was actually striking. I think I found a South American country where I could seriously blend in...) Tells us it's our turn. We cheer a bit, get in the van, and start the ascent up the mountain. Actually, this was kind of the scariest part. We were literally inches from falling off a cliff. Oh, and we were singing Arthur again. You know, just to prove to them that we weren't little kids.

Get to the mountain where we'll "take off" or whatever you do when you paraglide. And we wait. Because of the wind. It's about 5 pm by now. And I'm hungry.

FINALLY! We strap on suits! And we unravel our parachutes! And we buckle our helmets!

And we wait.

And suddenly... the wind dies down a little bit. Could it be... could we be so lucky as to actually get to go?

But then we waited.

FINALLY FINALLY. After 6 1/2 hours of waiting, the first of our group is able to go. Within the next couple of minutes, the other three go. And I'm sitting on the mountain, fully strapped in, watching them fly around the cordillera with the city in the backgound.

And I wait.

My guide explains to me that we need to wait for the next round of tail winds, because if we take off in a tail wind, it will just drag us up the rocks and gravel, instead of pulling us off the mountain. Then the windsockets on the poles change ever so slightly, and he yells at me "THIS IS IT!" The parachute opens up... I begin to go up... and then the wind suddenyl slaps me in the face, grabs my parachute, which is now moving behind me instead of over me. I fall to the ground, get pulled along the gravel up the mountain (this sounds familiar.....isn't this what we were preventing by waiting for six hours?), and finally get up in the air somehow. Not necessarily a smooth takeoff.

But the ride was absolutely beautiful. Entirely serene and peaceful, very calm. Did a few flips, no big deal. Felt a bit sick once I landed on the ground. But Mission: Flight was accomplished.

I flew.


Below, are some videos and pictures of what the world looked like from up there!




Oh, this is a video of a man who was hangliding off the top of the same mountain that we departed from







Following two are videos that I took in flight. The wind kind of makes them sound awkward, and they're not the most stable videos in the world, but it captures what it looked and felt like a little more









Bus ride home was QUITE the adventure. We only had to wait an hour at the border this time, which was sweet. But. Remember that cheap bus I mentioned at the beginning? It was because it was essentially a city bus. Seats did not recline. There was no bathroom. I'd like to remind you this was an eight hour ride..

But. We got back okay. Maybe things didn't 100% the way we imagined, but it's not like that ever happens anyway.

Now I have a weekend with no travel, and then I think I'm off again next weekend!

Lots and lots of love,
Colleen

Sorry I'm a Blog Hog.

I was never really a doodler. I knew it was just a talent I did not possess. End of story. So I learned early that my way of dealing with classroom boredom was with markers. I could make my notes all colorful and pretty, whilst keeping myself entertained and relatively in-tune with what was going on in the lecture.

I brought my markers with me to Chile, obviously. All who know me will not be surprised that I bought a planner in the US (to ensure it fit with my expectations), and my markers came with me. Everything is still color-coded. Same schema to my note-taking. The big change? I've become a Class-A doodler.

The best example is my Gramatica por extranjeros, or as I lovingly call it, "Grammar for Gringos." It's an intermediate class, and though I'd never say I have a decent command of the language, a lot of the things seem pretty basic. And it's at 5:20 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, when the sun is setting and the last place I want to be is stuck in a chair watching the afternoon pass me by from a window (or, in some cases, without windows. Because our Wednesday classroom has. no. windows). However, I digress. I would like to share below the progression of my doodling, from the first day of class to the most recent. I realized today just how RIDICULOUS it has become. Hopefully yall will understand by the end.



August 12. First day of classes

From Doodle Logic

Clearly I'm still trying to impress people here. We don't even have colors. Typical first day of class perfection. Psh.

August 17

From Doodle Logic

Okay, now we're talking. Notice, however, that the notes are still pretty and organized and lengthy. Clearly I was still paying attention. But the pretty flowers and animals foreshadow the coming storm...

August 24. Clearly priorities are changing

From Doodle Logic

Oh, no. This circle isn't quite right. Let's try again

From Doodle Logic

Ohh, no. The trunk looks awkward. One more time...

From Doodle Logic

From Doodle Logic

THERE WE GO! I mean, graphing adjectives and their changing connotations depending on the verb used is important. However, we all know the orange elefante in the corner is what I truly went to class to accomplish. Landslide starts NOW.

Some random day when I didn't date my notes? That is a sign.

From Doodle Logic

Clearly, class got boring. The page on the left is a few notes. The page on the right, which you see above? PacMan Masterpiece.

August 31.

From Doodle Logic

From Doodle Logic

Started out relatively strong! Digressed towards the end, and truly made myself laugh out loud in class over my "Gram-ants." It's actually really funny, if you speak Spanish. To me.

September 9 and 23. Another solid effort

From Doodle Logic

From Doodle Logic

CHECK IT OUT! These class, I realized I needed to pay attention. So I used as MANY colors as I possibly could, thus forcing myself to focus on the lecture. And still entertain myself. Might this be a turn-around? Could I be changing my ways, and recognizing that though I'm abroad, I still need to focus in class in order to maintain a decent GPA?
These were a few days filled with hope for the future.

October 7. Rock bottom

From Doodle Logic

There were no notes taken today. None. My professor knew. He knew it was a penguin. He saw it. Multiple times. I almost told him "It's Pedro the penguin!" (His name is Pedro). Eventually decided against it.

So that is my scholastic life in Chile. Filled with some notes and doodles, ultimately culminating in nothing but doodles. Such a change from what I'm used to.


FYI: Life in psychology is no different

From Doodle Logic

Tomorrow, I'm leaving for Argentina for a few days. I think I'm going to be investing in a coloring book for that bus ride.


And to take to class with me for the second half of the semester.

I peaked.

You guys. I peaked. For real. I am currently atop of this mountain called life, and the only way to go is down. It will never, ever, EVER get better than this night.


I just met the Harlem Gospel Choir.



It doesn't end there. They sang a Michael Jackson tribute.



And they hugged us.



And it only cost $12 USD.




Now do you understand? Peaked. The HGC, earlier this year, was performing in Harlem, and Barack Obama was in the audience. After the show, they hugged him. And then they hugged me tonight. ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION. I've hugged Barack Obama by proxy.


And we spoke English with people other than exchange students!! So rare for that to happen. Well, at least fluent, entirely coherent English.

So here's how it went down: we saw the banners for the show hanging around Vina for a few weeks now, and decided it was a must-see event. Harlem Gospel Choir singing Michael Jackson in Chile? It sounded like too perfect a trifecta to be true. But it was.
Bought some tickets. Got to the shower 45 minutes early, a la Americana. Sat down. Got ready. Got excited. And then they came out, and the guy was speaking ENGLISH. For some reason, that was SO cool to hear, at least for me. I'm not used to going to events in English anymore. And then he told us all to stand up! So we did! But the lady behind me (clearly not an English speaker) didn't understand what was going on (uhh, nor did the rest of the audience), and she poked our backs until we sat. So sat we did.

But I danced in my seat.


However, when the busted out with the Michael Jackson, I couldn't sit anymore. We stood up and danced for real (as did most of the theatre, including the Grumpy Guses behind us). Our mission had been decided: get REAL hugs from the people singing on stage. We were willing to stake out their hotel, their bus. I seriouslsy miss hugs more than you could imagine. It would have been worth it.

But when the concert ended, and we went downstairs, THERE THEY WERE! We got hugs, and photos, and they even took photos of us with them on their own cameras! So much excitement. Can't even explain it! We were kind of hovering around one of the guys, waiting, talking, and suddenly he looks at us and goes "You guys are from the States, aren't you?"

"Yes, we are...." we responded.

"I could hear it! I could hear it in your voices! Come here!"


He did not have to tell us twice.


So that was my night! Quite possibly the best night I've had in Chile. In my life. Thus, I've peaked. And I'm okay with it.

Halfway Done

Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed.
-Joseph Addison

(FYI....This post was supposed to be uploaded on October 1st, but something happened and it didn't submit correctly. Lo siento!)


Today is Thursday, October 1st (rabbit rabbit). When I wrote something down in my planner today, and I saw that the months had officially changed, I honestly was filled with a sense of panic (however minor). I'm officially halfway done. This journey is halfway over. And yet, I still can't speak Spanish as well as I'd like. I still get overwhelmed in this city/country. I still have miscommunications with professors, host family members, etc. 72 days have passed, and 72 remain. It's amazing that this day is truly the halfway point for me.
I was also talking to Bobby the other day, and he was telling me that he couldn't believe how much I've changed. I'm not entirely sure I know what he means by this, but I definitely feel like I'm more willing to try new things. It's almost a new-found sense of bravery, but not invincibility; it's more of a competency and confidence. It'll be interesting to see what he has to say about me when I get back to Boston...
I've also had CRAZY focus issues here when it comes to school work. I mean, we joke at school that I'm the ADD child who doesn't sit still so well. Here, it's about a billion times worse. I hate having to sit down and focus on schoolwork... so I usually just don't (not that it's an issue here.... most of my exams never materialize anyway). I've never been as unfocused as I am here. But at the same time, I like to justify it by saying I'm just incredibly focused on other things - like travel. I can spend HOURSE on the LAN airline website, looking for round trip tickets to destinations for under $120 (mission accomplished many a time). I guess I'm just prioritizing?
Additionally, I've learned that I will never EVER be a "relaxed person." I don't think it would matter how long I lived here. I can definitely relax. And I have relaxed a lot here. But I'm still not a relaxed person. It's a fine line (for Spanish speakers, think ser vs estar :] ), but I've accepted it. I just don't think I'll ever slow down enough to truly assimilate. And I'm okay with that.

I have ten weekends left. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to Santiago for a night. And then! Next week, on Thursday, I leave for Mendoza, Argentina for four days!! We're hopefully going to get to ride bikes through vineyards, go rafting, paragliding, and lots of other "adventure"-type activities. I'm also still hoping to make a trip to Arica (the northernmost city in Chile) for a little bit, then hop the border into Peru for a bit. And I'd love to make it to the South, the Patagonias, and play with penguins. A few other weekend trips are planned, and then I'm home. 1000% insane.

AND! On Tuesday, October 6th, Harlem Gospel Choir is going to be playing a tribute to Michael Jackson in the Vina Theatre. GUESS WHO'S GOING!!!!

Last Friday, after deciding that we knew Vina pretty well but really didn't know ANYTHING about Valpo, a group of five of us went there for the day to just wander around some of the cerros and explore. We went to a museum that used to be this famous Chilean cartoonist's house, and it was seriously the best 600 pesos I think I've spent here. It's cool to see how some senses of humor are universal. We also went to a few cool cemetaries in Valpo, looking for graves of famous people. Though most people are buried in Santiago, we were able to find family members and things like that. The way they make cemetaries here is completely different, as you'll see in the pictures below. Families have entire tombs, but they're not just headstones like we're used to; these are huge, elaborate shrines. They were eerily beautiful, and peaceful.
Valparaiso is a fantastic city, and I'm so lucky to be able to spend time in it. All of the music on the streets, the ferias (fairs where artisans go to sell their works), the crazy colors of the houses... it creates an unforgetable environment that's entirely different from Vina.




I also had a fun experience today in the grocery store. I forgot my lunch today (and got chastised by Fabiola, our nanny, when I got home), so I went to the store to get Coca Cola Light and something small to eat before my next class. While I was wandering the aisles trying to decide what I wanted, I saw this brightly colored package of peanuts, complete with a sombrero. Intrigued, I went over to investigate further. Could it be true? Could this package of peanuts have SPICES and FLAVOR?! No. Way. (Chile is known for its rather bland food. Everything kind of starts to taste the same after a while, in the land of salt- NEVER pepper) I think it might have been the most satisfying lunch in a while...

And those little things like that keep me going! I love surprises, reassuring reminders that I made the right choice. I'm learning, adapting, and beginning to trust myself and my instincts in a way I never had before.

See you all in 72 days!

Love,
Colleen

¡ Feliz dieciocho!

This past Friday, the 18th of September, was Chilean Independence Day! And Saturday was Dia del Ejercito (Army Day). Together, the two create las fiestas patrias (literally meaning patriotic parties). [Note--- that link has all of the important information about this day. I'm lazy] Most of my classes were canceled for the week, and a lot of the colegios (~ schools) in Chile were on Spring Break (it's still weird to me that it's spring right now... and that I'll have three springs/summers in a row...). SO! It made for an incredibly fun (or at least interesting) weekend, to say the least.

Vina's population for these festivities seemed to EXPLODE, as people fled the smog of Santiago for more refreshing ocean air. And during these days, everyone's a patriot. Flags hang outside every house; the colectivos put ribbons on their hoods. It's really amazing, and it's definitely a contagious enthusiasm.

Thursday, I went with my friend Sarah to her host siblings' school performance for the dieciocho (eighteen, or how Chileans refer to the day). The traditional Chilean dance, la cueca, was represented, as were other traditional/indigenous dances of Chile. Very cool!

Friday, I went with my host mom to her sibling's house for an asado (cookout) and more traditional Chilean food. That night, I went with some of my friends to a ramada, or this really sweet outdoor carnival. There were tons of stands with food, traditional carnival rides (ferris wheel included), fun games, lots of music, billions of people. It actually got pretty overwhelming after a bit, not gonna lie. Regardless, very entertaining!

It was also a bit of a homesick weekend. I think it's hard being around families, and comparing these holidays to everything we celebrate in the US. It's nearly impossible to not make comparisons like that, but they also make you realize what you're missing. I've realized that it's much easier to not compare Chile to anything, but just remind myself that these are all new experiences, people, holidays; it's easier to not think of an American counterpart! Either way, that time has come and gone... and now I just want to do more in Chile while I'm here. I'm almost at the halfway point, which scares me . . . where's my Spanish!?!? Why am I not fluent yet?! I need to speak Spanish more with my American friends. I made a pact with a few of them that starting October 1, it's ALL Spanish. We'll see how that goes....

I also have midterms this week. Which is why I'm blogging. I'm really just procrastinating...
I was supposed to have literature yesterday, but it ended up being take-home essays instead of in-class work. But I had studied. So that was frustrating and fantastic at the same time... This morning was supposed to be psych, but our professor never showed?! So now that's next week. This afternoon I have grammar (haven't started studying yet...), and tomorrow might be history. I say "might" because I never really know the deal in Chile :) It never ceases to amaze me how laid back EVERYTHING is, even the school system. Could any of you in the US imagine a teacher making a test a take-home essay, or just NOT SHOWING the day of the exam?! I cannot. It's a hard paradigm shift.

Other than that, there's not much going on in my life down here! When I get a chance (probably this weekend), I'll get caught up on all those emails that are still awaiting responses, lo juro (I promise)!

Okay. I need to study grammar. Oy.

Miss you all!!!

Lots of love,
Colleen

Desert videos

I meant to add these into my last post about the desert, but completely forgot... below are some short videos I took of el desiertooo!




This is just kind of a panoramic view from the day we took the hike. You can see the packs of llamas!!









This was one of the geysers we saw; it wasn't erupting quite the same as all of the others, but it was cool to watch the water boil. People were putting cartons of frozen milk and juice inside it to defrost them





(sorry this one is sideways... I don't know how to fix it!)
This geyser erupts every seven or eight minutes, and is one of the most cyclical geysers in the field.





Panoramic view of the geyser field. At one point, I focus on one that's erupting a bit in the distance; it has a much steadier and stronger pace than most of them. This one was formed by man a few days before our visit, because they're trying to harness geothermal energy to solve Chile's energy crisis and dependence on Argentinian oil.

"Do I need my raincoat?"

I know that nature can do some pretty crazy things. I've seen what happens after crazy Nor'easters; tornadoes both scare and amaze me; hurricanes never cease to amaze me; images of the 2004 tsunami are easily remembered. But I've never truly appreciated the sheer force of nature until my trip this weekend to San Pedro de Atacama, to visit the Atacama Desert.

Firstly, it was the epitome of a whirlwind weekend. We barely had time to breathe, let alone sleep (definitely still struggling with those aftereffects).
Sidenote: I just averaged my sleep for the last seven nights. We're hovering around 3.5 hours per night. AHH!!

I think that the easiest way for me to record all this is to just break the days down... we'll see how this goes (Warning: This post is going to be a BEAST). Also, if you click on the hyperlinks, you'll be sent to Wikipedia articles that explain what I saw a little bit more :)


Friday

Friday started when, but about midnight, the group of 12 arrived at my house to chill out and wait for our shuttle to the airport. We made (deliciously amazing) brownies, and just watched some Latin American Idol to pass the time. 2:00 am: Van scheduled to show up. Van shows up at 2:20, a la Chilena. We head to the airport to catch our 5:45 flight. Land in Calama at 7:50. Take a taxi to the bus station. 10:15 bus to San Pedro. Arrive in San Pedro at about noon. Go to the hostel; check in; pay. Get to the center to eat real quick and start tours at 2:30 pm.

The first thing that I really noticed when we got to San Pedro was how DUSTY it was. It honestly blew my mind. And water pressure there? Incredibly low. I mean, it's to be expected... it's the driest desert in the world. But still. And we weren't allowed to drink the tap water, so I ended up spending an unexpected 5 mil pesos on bottled water. BOO!! We were drinking about 4 or 5 liters of water a day, and were still thirsty and dehydrated.

Okay. So Tour One: We went to La Cordillera de Sal, which is a mirador (lookout) over one of the canyons in the desert. I've never seen the Grand Canyon or anything. And it just amazed me that something so vast can just be formed, for lack of a better word. All of the rock formations were mind boggling. Then, we went to Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley). This is the driest spot in the world. They've been recording rainfall and weather there for over 150 years, and never once has there been rain. And it's true... nothing grows in this area, but there's also these HUGE sand dunes that were fun to run around on. The sand was so incredibly fine there from all the wind and natural erosion.

After, we went walking around a bit through some of the canyon-esque areas in Death Valley. We were there right around sunset, as the shadow start to fall on the rock walls. Our tour guide, at one point, made us stop and be absolutely silent. We heard these cracking and snapping noises; when the sun hits the rocks, it heats up all the gypsum and other crystals that they're made of. Once the sun sets, it starts to cool down, and the rocks actually make these noises as they snap back into place.

Last stop: Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley). We went there to watch the sunset from the top of a cordillera (mountain range). It was BEAUTIFUL, with the Andes turning pink in the background.

Below is my slideshow from day one!! Again, the photos have captions




Saturday

After that insane day, we woke up at about 6 for a tour the following morning.

First stop: Salar de Atacama. It is the third largest salt flat in the world, and the only major one that is formed by underground water sources instead of rain. This bottom-up evaporation creates the awkward and irregular structures that you'll see in pictures. Also, licking the salt rocks is a very good/very bad idea all at the same time. As stupid as it sounds, the salt is just saltier there. But I'm glad I did it! And! 40% of the world's lithium reserves come from this salt flat; odds are that the batteries in my camera had lithium from the Salar de Atacama. Talk about going full circle...

Also at the salar was the Reservacion Nacional de los Flamencos (FLAMINGO RESERVATION!). Sad story: it was too hard to really get all that close to them. Oh well!

I also learned that Chile has 150 active volcanoes, which is 10% of the world's population of active volcanoes. The most active one is Volcan Lascar, which had major eruptions every year from 2000 to 2007.

Next stop: Socaire, a small village outside of the Salar. Indigenous influences are still readily visible, especially in their use of terraces to irrigate their land. Pretty ingenious!

Then, we went to Las Lagunas Altiplanicas, Lagoon Miscanti and another. These are some of the highest lagoons in the world, formed by underwater sources and water than runs down the Andes. I think this was perhaps one of the most beautiful things that I saw in Atacama. The volcanoes mixed with the regular Andean mountains in the background.... again, it was just amazing to see the forces of nature at work.

Last stop was Quebrada de Jere (ravine/gully), a random oasis in the middle of the desert. They still use these old-school systems of redirecting water to take advantage of this stream running through the desert. And they're good at it, too. They end up growing lots of fruits there.

PICTURES!



SUNDAY

Another early morning, this time to hike in the Andes a bit. We took a bus along the road that connects Chile and Argentina, and stopped about 50 km away from the country lines. We were at an altitude of 4600 meters (about 3 miles), which is higher than the highest point in Europe! We chewed coca leaves to fend off altitude sickness (... and because it's fun to say that you've chewed coca leaves..). Also, it was entirely FREEZING during this hike because of the insane winds. I was wearing leggings and shorts that day, and I still have this little strip of skin around my ankles that's entirely red raw. My hands were cracked and bleeding due to the crazy temperature extremes in the desert.

I think the trek was my favorite day. I was able to climb lots of rocks, and that fun stuff. It was also cool because our guide was SO laid back. He didn't really care what we did or where we went, as long as we met up with him in the end. It ended up being hours and hours of exploring and wandering. There were a few times where I'd look around and not be able to see anyone, or anything. Absolutely no signs of life at all. I've never felt truly alone like that before; and it might have been the most peaceful feeling I've experienced. I also felt so small during this trek, surrounded by these huge rock formations carved from wind. I feltBlogger: ¿Como se dice.....? - Create Post both powerful and impotent at the same time, which is a bizarre sensation.

At the end of the hike was another lagoon... and a PACK OF WILD LLAMAS!!! Below are photos (obviously).








MONDAY

Monday, we woke up at 3 am to be on a bus by 4 am to go to El Tatio geysers, the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere. Even though the geyser "show" will continue all day, you have to get there super early to see the eruptions before the temperature goes above 0 degrees C. Once it does, you're unable to see the steam that comes out of the geothermic field. So we arrived about 6 am, with a temperature of -9. How fantastic....

No, but it was. I didn't chew coca leaves that day, and ended up feeling a bit sick (altitude of 4200 meters), but it was so worth it. The constant streams of steam into the air were breathtaking.

Then, we went to a thermal spring a few towns away to go SWIMMING in a hot spring!!! Absolutely amazing. It was about 40 degrees C, and was a nice way to warm up.

The last thing we did was go to a "farm" of cacti. There aren't many cacti left in the Atacama desert, but this is one of the areas with the highest concentration. There was also a waterfall (I'm really starting to not believe that it's the "driest desert in the world." I saw salt flats and brine pools and lagoons and geysers... hmmm....).




We got back to the center at about 2 pm. Ate lunch. Checked out of the hostel. Got on a 5:50 bus. Taxi to the airpot. Waited in the airport for security to open because it's such a small airport, it only opens at certain times (?!?!). 10:50 flight. Arrived in Santiago at 1. Van to Vina del Mar (Arrived at 3 am). A full 24 hour day.

Moral of the story: It was an absolutely amazing trip. Everything was so pure and untouched, and was almost too beautiful to be real. I've never felt so inundated by yet close to nature. And never have I been more appreciate of what is natural. I learned that I really love being outdoors, and would prefer to be outside doing something than sitting around.

And this trip just made me want to travel even more.... I can't wait for Santiago in a few weekends!