Week 2: El Cajon de Maipo

Aló from Chile.  This past week has come and gone in the blink of an eye.  The calendar changed to Septiembre.  In Chile that means winter is over.  The days of layering three shirts, leggings under jeans, and heavy socks are behind us.  Nobody warned me about the winters in Chile.  Don’t get me wrong…upstate New York can get pretty cold in the winter, but there is a HUGE difference that I wasn’t aware of.  Most homes in Chile do not have a built in heating system.  They use a small space heater in one room at a time. 

You can imagine this came as quite a shock to me, coming from 80 degree summer days, but I adapted very quickly.  I did as the Chileans do…wore LOTS of layers.  On that note, I can happily report that since my cold arrival (8 weeks ago), I have spent countless days laying in the park with friends soaking up the heat that had been missing from my life.  Spring is definitely in the air.  All of the trees are in bloom, the birds are chirping, and the Chileans are out from hibernation.

My weekend was also spent outside enjoying all that spring has to offer.  It began at a Chilean vineyard about an hour outside Santiago.  I did a wine tour of Concha y Toro, one of the largest producers of wine in Latin America.  They make one of the most famous brands of Chilean wine, Casillero del Diablo.  Casillero del Diablo translates to something like “cellar of the devil”.  The story is that the label was started by the founder of the factory because the winery was being robbed by the employees. He framed a legend that the devil lived in the storehouse so the employees were afraid to steal the wines. So, began the legend of Casillero del Diablo.  The winery was beautiful with countless barrels of wine and an aroma of oakey vino tinto (red wine).  Not to mention that a bottle of wine that would cost at least $100 in the US was being sold for about $14.  From the winery we moved to the next adventure of the weekend. 

A quick side note. When I say “we”, it refers to Andrea and Anna or the two blonde girls from Germany and Holland.  We do our traveling together and none of us ever have a plan.  Weekends in the past have consisted of arriving at the bus station with our bags packed, and our destination is wherever the next bus is headed.  Hostels are always booked onsite, and we see the sites the Chileans recommend over any Lonely Planet. 

With that being said…the following day was an adventure in itself.  We slept at a hostel in San Jose de Maipo.  At breakfast we asked the dueño or owner of the hostel what we could do for the day.  He sent a Chilean man our way who said he could show us around for the day.  There was no doubt that we were in for a treat. 

Alejandro (the guide) and Carlos (the driver) brought us through a spectacular part of Cajon (canyon) de Maipo.  We drove about an hour outside of San Jose through breath taking views of snowcapped mountains, and rocky edged cliffs. When we arrived at the destination, we were greeted by snow, rocks, and a crystal clear reservoir with a surface as flat as glass.  Embalsa el Yeso, or reservoir from the Yeso River, provides the drinking water to Santiago. 

After taking in the tranquility of the sun, embalsa, and silence, we made our way to the grill.  Alejendro and Carlos took the liberty of buying an enormous amount of carne (beef) and cerdo (pork) to grill for us.  It must have been enough food for 10 people, but the five of us managed to do some pretty good damage to the meat.  We sat in the sun for hours conversing in Spanish, listening to Chilean music, and watching for a Condor (a famous bird Chileans go crazy over).  It was a spectacular day that will soon be followed by more intense trekking after I buy my trekking boots this week.  The following day we returned back to Santiago, a mere 2 hours away from the serenity of this paradise. 

Looking back on the past few weeks, I am able to see how my Spanish is finally developing at a more rapid pace.  I can have a full conversation with a person who doesn’t speak a word of English.  I can’t wait for the day when I begin to dream in Spanish!  On that note, I’m going to close this up and rest up for a new school week.  I will leave with the update that I just booked a 10 day trip to Bolivia in October!  No specific plans yet, but the destination is set. Until next time, Chau (thats the way the spell it here)!