Week 3: A taste of the Pacific Ocean

This weekend was met with a number of firsts.  After a short 4 days of classes, I was ready to get my weekend underway.  It began in traditional Chilean fashion, with a good empanada.  I´m not partial to this pastry type dish filled a variety of ingredients, but when you´re hungry, on a budget, and in a hurry to get the night started, it gets the job done.   We made our way to a chic salsa bar which was tucked away on a side street.  The conclusion of the night was: we NEED to sign up for salsa lessons.  This isn´t to say it was a disaster, but it would be a lot more pleasant if I knew which direction my feet are supposed to turn and when the flip is coming.  One more thing to add to the ¨to do¨list.

The following day came with an early morning and a new destination for the evening.  I FINALLY  found a pair of trekking boots that I hope to get a lot of use out of! You can´t imagine how difficult it is to find a pair of boots for a size 8 foot.  I would go to a store, pick up the model size 5 or 6 boot and ask for my size.  Without fail I would get the response ¨that’s the only one we have in stock¨.  Seriously who has that small of a foot.  And when I asked if I could order it, a common question in the US, they said it would take 2-3 months.  That response was then followed by a laugh from me, a ¨muchas gracias¨, and on to the next store.  Needless to say, it was a huge relief to find a good pair in preparation for my upcoming trip to Bolivia.

The hunt for trekking boots was followed by a 5 hour bus ride to the Chilean coast!  Pichilemu was the setting for the weekend.  This small town is a destination for world class surfers.  The intention for the weekend was to go relax on the beach and maybe watch some surfers.  Let´s just say the weekend turned out much different than anticipated.  Relaxing on the beach turned into squeezing into a wet suit, and watching some surfers turned into learning how to surf!

Being a water person I was thrilled to learn Pichilemu wasn’t an impossible place for a beginner to learn.  I guess I just assumed because people from all over the world go there to surf that it was out of the question for me.  Turns out the real waves are a few kilometers (yes I´m now forced to think in the metric system) up the road.

An Australian surfer warned us ¨these are by far the coldest waters I´ve ever surfed in¨, but we didn´t listen.  We suited up in our wet suits and booties, grabbed a board, and headed for the water.  There was a bit of hesitation with the talks of the cold water, but once I was adjusted to the 12 degree Celsius (54F) water there was no pulling me out.  With a little bit of help and instruction, I managed to get up on the board a few times.  That’s really all I needed to fulfill the weekend.  My friends and I finally got out of the water to brag to the Australian that it wasn´t THAT cold…only to determine we probably had to work a lot harder than he´d ever thought of just to get past a couple of waves and up on the board.

Eventually I regressed to Santiago late Sunday evening to satisfy my exhaustion with a good night´s sleep.  A weekend filled with dancing, shopping, and surfing served its purpose in getting me into the Chilean groove.  

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)!

Week 1: Chile: The Beginning

Hola from Santiago, Chile.  The home of Chilenismos (words made up by the Chileans), vino delicioso, and fresh avocado.  It’s hard to believe that I’ve been living in this remarkable country now for 7 weeks and I am beginning to actually speak Spanish.  I have certainly come a LONG way since my arrival…

            Upon boarding my LAN flight from JFK to Santiago, I stepped (or rather leaped) into the Spanish speaking world.  I had no idea what I was in for.  All along I thought “Oh I will just learn Spanish when I get there, it can’t be that hard”. WRONG.  My gracious host family picked me up from the airport at 6:30 am.  Our first conversation consisted of me speaking like Tarzan, and them trying to figure out what the heck I was trying to say.  It was a little daunting to say the least, but even so, it was love at first site. Learning Spanish has been far more difficult than I had ever imagined.  Luckily, my host brother Pedro speaks English pretty well, so he often serves as both my teacher and translator

When we arrived at my new home for the next 6 months, there was hot bread and fresh avocado, better known here as “la palta”, waiting on the table.  Ever since that day palta has been my best friend.  I even introduced my family to a mix of avocado and banana (which I created) that is delicious.  They think it’s weird that I like to mix food, but all the same they love me for it.  My Chilean family enjoys music, food, and good conversation. I don’t think I could have found a better match if I had tried.

I have learned a tremendous amount about the Chilean culture since I have arrived.  The people here have this lifestyle which is so different from the fast paced New York life.  Ever thing is done very slowly, and nobody seems to be in a rush to get to the next thing.  Their culture is rooted in music and the history of their ancestors (most importantly, The Mapuche Indians).  One of the first questions my family asked me is “how many Indian tribes can you name from your country”.  They told me it’s a game they play with people from the US because we clearly don’t know enough about our Indian heritage.  I am proud to say I named more than any other person from the US whom they had asked.  I was curious as to why it was so important to them. Jo, my host mom explained those are the roots which we are founded on. More notably, the tribes of North America and Chile have wisdom that is very important in this day and age.  They have a relationship with the Earth that we often lack.  For this reason, we should learn more about them and seek to find this connection.  She also requested that I make a note for everybody to google and read “Carta del Jefe Seattle al presidente de los Estados Unidos”.  This translates to “The letter from Chief Seattle to the president of the United States”.  It has an important message worth noting.

I have been able to do a bit of traveling.  A few weeks ago I took an overnight bus to La Serena, about 7 hours away.  From there I visited Punta de Choros, Vallenar, and Huasco.  At Punta Churros my friends and I got on a small speed boat and took a 3 hour tour to see dolphins, sea lions, pelicans, and mostly importantly penguins.  It was a phenomenal experience.  My friends and I sat on this boat in the middle of winter, bundled up with an airplane blanket just to see those penguins.  Let me tell you, it was well worth it!  Huasco is a small fishing town which holds a rare phenomenon.  While standing in the middle of Huasco, the desert is on your right and the sea is on at your left.  The people were extremely hospitable (as most Chileans are) and I even got some close up pictures of the fishermen cleaning the fish and throwing the leftovers to the pelicans. 

Life in Santiago has been good. I have met lots of new people, had many new adventures, and most importantly, I am learning a new language.  I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and giving a look into the life of a gringo girl living in Chile.