fotos finales

Julie and I together in Santiago!

Aquiles, Rey de la Cordillera

El desierto atacama.

Me, Ximena and Koni at my goodbye at the bus station.

My second goodbye party. Renato-- giving me my certificate. Me-- embarrassed, yet happy. Pedro-- thinking the whole thing is hysterical and holding back tears over my departure. 

Me, Tia and Tio at my final asado at their lovely home. For now.

El Salar de Atacama-- the third largest salt flat in the world. Those are chilean flamencos.

Chuiquicamata: the largest open-pit copper mine in the world! Its 5km long!

Will and Allison in the mountains outside of Mendoza

Algún día volveré.....

I apologize for taking so long to finish up my blog, but its part of a resistance to admitting my travels are over. But according to all available evidence, this seems to be the case. I've been sleeping till 11am, eating lots of Special K and Tropicana OJ, spending my free time garage sale-ing and reading the TU and getting a lot of love/abuse from Moriah. Yup, I'm definitely at home. 

But before I landed here in Delmar, I spent a wooonderful week with my friend Allison in Buenos Aires. Allison was busy but made time to show me ALL the important spots in the big city. It is quite big. We saw a drumming concert, walked around every neighborhood, ate lots of dulce de leche and stayed out at a clubs till 6am (thats what BA is famous for they tell me). On my birthday we went to an INCREDIBLE vegetarian Asian buffet and then a sweet jazz club and a crazy dance club, celebrating with all her friends who I had met in Mendoza. On my last day we took a boat to Uruguay and spent the day at a beautiful bed and breakfast owned by the director of Allison's program. It was there that I had my last asado, which happened to be one of the most incredible asado's of my trip. It was a great way to end my travels and it was so fun to see Allison. I safely made it back to New York last Sunday morning. 

As I was saying before, its wonderful to be home. After four months of always feeling like a foreigner, you can really appreciate a place where everyone speaks your language, eats the same food as you, and understands you in a way that comes only with a common history. On Tuesday I even got to go back to Wesleyan where I arrived unannounced, surprising all my friends. It was so great to see everyone again and to be welcomed back as if the five months hadn't even passed. Anyway I won't bore everyone with too many reflections on my trip and what I learned-- I'll save that for my own diary. But quickly I'll just say that I am proud of what I did during my gran viaje. I learned spanish AND learned to survive chilean spanish, made friends all over, saw a large portion of a beautiful country, was welcomed into a new family and into my office, learned to love Osorno, and to love meat for just a little while and came back with four months of wonderful memories and lots beautiful pictures. 

Plus, I kept an awesome travel blog. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed sharing my travels with me. Now that I'm back in the country you don't need to read about me online, but you can see me for real. So if you want to hear what I edited out of the blog, see some of my pictures, or mostly so I can see you all again, please give me a call. This weekend I'll be at graduation at Wesleyan but I should be home in Delmar/Glenmont/Albany for the whole summer (I'm still looking for employment-- any suggestions!?!?). I think the blog will have to be officially suspended for now. I say suspended because as I told all of my chilean friends, algún día volveré. One day, I'll be back to Chile. Entonces, you can be sure to check in to Rice n' Chile. 

al otro lado de la cordillera

My last day in Chile was EPIC. Aquiles (who prefers to be referred to as Aquiles, Rey de la Cordillera) showed me a fucking awesome day. It turns out he lives up in the mountains 4 months out of the year as a hiking guide. He took me up a HUGE mountain-- we were at 3000 meters when we parked the car! THIS is the cordillera, he kept telling me. He was absolutely right. I usually say I live near the mountains, referring to the adirondacks, but I will never again refer to the adirondacks as the cordillera. This was some serious mountains. We took the day very slow because of the altitude which was just fine with me. We stopped to have tea twice. Aquiles brought a massive backpack that included a stove, two pots, a bottle of wine, a wine glass, warm clothes for him and for me, comida and even some floss (just in case). Both stopping points were incredibly beautiful and we decided worthy places to spend an hour drinking early grey tea and eating empanadas, palta (avocado) and tomatoes. As we were waiting for our water to boil, we saw a magestic condor fly overhead (chile´s national bird adn the biggest in the world) . We even saw the sunset on the way down and it was one of the most beautiful sunsets that I´ve ever seen. It was the perfect way to end my stay in chile, containg all the necessary ingredients taht have comprised my stay there: empanadas, tecito, random friendship, the kindness of strangers, beautiful scenery and soooo much chilean slang.

After an incredible bus ride through the Andes to cross into Argentina, I made it to Mendoza. All of the border control workers wore face masks and looked at me and my Canadian friend extremely suspiciously. Once they considered that neither of us had touch foot in the northern hemisphere in over 4 months, they realized that the chances of us spreading Swine Flu were pretty low. Although I´ve left Chile, I´m carrying every part of it with me here in Argentina. I still talk with my chilean accent and everyone finds it hysterical. I compare everything that happens to chile and teach my friends chilean slang. I met a charming Argentine man who tried to convince me to switch my heart over to Argentine, but I promised him it would be staying in Chile. Anyway, despite my resistence, Argentina is awesome. I met up with Allison, Suji and a bunch of their friends from BA. The weather here is beautiful, the wine is delcious and the beef is even more so and we´re having great time. Today we´re going to rent bikes a tour a few of Mendoza´s famous wineries. Today is Sujatha´s birthday which means we already celebrated last night, and will continue to celebrate today. My birthday is Tuesday and Rodrigo´s is Wednesday, so its going to be a busy week for me. But what better way to end my adventures than spending a week celebrating in Buenos Aires?

mi último día entera en chile

Today is my last full day in Chile. Tomorrow, at about 4pm I will cross the border into the Argentine Andes without immediate plans to return. I´m devastated and in the last few days have been eating lots of empanadas, buying foolish toursity recuerdos and listening to the beautiful chanting of chilean spanish as I walk down the streets, already anticipating the nostalgia. Sigh.

The desert was bakan (chilean slang = fucking awesome). The weather was muder on my body, there were an insane amount of tourists and it was absurdly expensive to buy anything. But it sure is fucking beautiful. This really can only be expressed in pictures, but y´all will have to wait. I went sandboarding en el Valle de la Muerte, saw saturn and the amazing desert stars through a fancy telescope, went to the 3rd biggest salt flat in the world and hung out with chilean flamencos and saw the lagunas antiplanicas. It was all beautiful. After a few days though I was burnt out on San Pedro. I said goodbye to my big comfy hostel room and bought a bus ticket to Iquique. Iquique is a surfing town about 8 hours from San Pedro. I crashed at a great hostel right on the beach and spent two days doing next to nothing. The people in the hostel were awesome so I spent most of my time alternating between lying on the beach, and eating and drinking with my friends in the hostel. It was a nice relaxing break from my busy and exhausting days in San Pedro. Plus, the beaches are sooo beautiful.

I got back to Santiago yesterday in time to meet Javi, a chilena who was an exhange student at Bethlehem, for lunch. We talked about the Sagor house, the Bentley house and what it feels like to be a forigner in Chile, and in the US. She sends her love back to everyone from BC. Then last night Julie and I finally got vegetarian food and it was amaaazing. I moved out of the hippest hostel in the world and moved back into the place I stayed when I first got to santiago four months ago. Just to frame the trip nicely. Its so much better here. Everyone is friendly and relaxed, there is laundry, there is a rooftop deck and the breakfast comes with fruit. Anyway I´ve got to go because I´m waiting for Aquiles to pick me up. My last day in Chile will be spent with a chileno I met who worked at the last hostel (I guess it did have some nice stuff to offer). He claims to be a mountainista and is going to take me to the cordillera for a hike. I have packed an empanada de pino. Obvio.

Although its the end of my stay in Chile, its not quite the end of my blog or my adventure. Tomorrow I get on a bus to Mendoza, Argentina and on Monday I will land in Buenos Aires. Expect to be updated with stories that include famous argentine beef and wine, lots of gringo friends, fun exciting adventures in BA, and some kind of 21st birthday celebration with a combination of old friends, people I´ve met along the trip and probably some perfect strangers.

una semana de superlativos

So I thought that maybe my last week hadn´t been all that exciting, which is why I hadn´t felt compelled to write a blog entry. After some encouragement from Lee, I decided it was time and in the process I realized I had a week full of exciting (or not so exciting) superlatives.

Hostal Forestal: the hippest hostel in the world. It actually said on the flyer that it was "one of the 5 hippest hostels in the world." I was obviously suspicious, but my German friend who I was traveling with was really excited about it. It was cheap and came with all the necessary ingredients (a comfortable bed, internet, breakfast, storage, a safe-box, a TV so I could watch my novela, 24 hour reception, a printer) but I hated it. There was loud music playing on the bottom floor, crappy breakfast, only english speaking travelers who always came home as I was waking up in the morning, a new person at the desk every day, and generally had no character. Still, I was too lazy to move and stayed all week. Plus, I ended up meeting some people I really liked including a receptionist who offered to be my guide and take me hiking when I come back to Santiago and a really handsome Canadian who wants to celebrate my birthday with me in BA.

Aire Libre: the cooolest cafe in Santiago. I know you´re thinking it will be hard to prove that this is true, but I beg to differ. Sunday night I finally decided I should eat dinner and wandered out of my hip hostel at about 10 to search for something. I ended up walking by myself to Bellavista, a neighborhood full of cool cafes and bars. I wasn´t really planning on sitting down and eating a whole meal by myself but the place just caught me. There were colorful tables, reasonable prices, adorable waitresses, and a lovely man singing classic chilean music with his guitar. I spent an horu and a half enjoying my quiche, my Allende novel, and the live music. The next night, Rodrigo, a guy I met with my family in the south, offered to take me out. I have the cooooolest place, he explained. I got out of his car only to discover he brought me to the safe cafe, but at a different location. I ordered the same quiche and few beers and we sat for hours listening to yet another chileno with a sweet voice and revolutionary chilean music.

El Desierto Atacama: the driest desert in the world. Okay so I don´t actually have the proof to substantiate this one. Somoeone did say it to me, but I feel like it was just a symptom of how chileans like to exagerate about their land. I finally did make it though, and it is pretty dry. I woke up yesterday morning with crackling dry skin, and a weird head ache. NOt only is it dry, but super high up so you need a day to adjust to the altitute. I had lots of pancitos for breakfast and spent most of the day sitting down, and today I feel fine.

Chuquicamata: the biggest open pit copper mine in the world. Now, you wouldn`t think that a copper mine would be a big tourist spot. Honestly, its not because to get there is a bitch. I had to stay overnight in this ugly town, and basically devote my whole day to the tour since it was smack in the middle of the day and becuase there´s nothing else to do in Calama. But Chris insisted it was worth it, so I had faith and waited it out. It was pretty cool. The mine is 5km long, 3km wide and 1km deep. You also get to see the abandoned mining town they built and then abandoned right next to the mine, and the BIGGEST trucks in the world (two superlatives in one day!) that carry all the copper. Not surprisingly, this company produces the MOST copper in the world which ends up to about 1/7 of the world´s production (okay, 3 superlatives).

Sumaj jallpa: the nicest 7 luca dormitory bed I´ve ever seen. My hostal was in a pamphlet of recommended hostels that has not disappointed me thus far. After two warnings from chileans that have a skewed sense of distance that the hostal was too far, I decided to make the 10 minute trek anyway. The adorable woman at the desk apologized and informed me that all the dormitory rooms were taken, but she could offer me something else for the same price. This place is adorable, clean and desert-y and I have a private room including a private bathroom with two beds (one, big one for sleeping and a small one for my belongings). I´m probably never going to leave.

As you can see, everything is good. I hope to spend my next five days in the desert doing a variety of inordinately expensive activities that include some combination of salt flats, sandboarding, archeological tours, 4am geysers and then finally coming home every night to watch my novela and sleep in my big comfy bed.

Me queda muy poco.... (I should be in NY on May 10th).

la ciudad de colores brillantes, poesía y cerros

I am in Valparaíso, Chile. Its a two hour ride from Santiago towards the coast. The only thing that is keeping me sane from the tearful parting from Osorno, is the fact that I am completely in love with Valparaíso.

To go back a little, my last three days in Osorno were lovely. The last day was pretty epic. I stopped by the office to drop of a sleeping back I has borrowed and have lunch with my friend Ximena. I planned on saying one last goodbye and then running back home to enjoy my last few hours at home at Los Copihues 1810 before my goodbye bash (read: a feast of carne). Like the last time, it was harder for me to leave than I thought. After a long lunch with a whole group of officemates and an hour of free internet use, I decided it was time. I did my first round of goodbyes on the second floor to the forestales and the agricolas. Me voy, y este vez no vuelvo, I said. I´m leaving, and this time I won´t return. The goodbyes were nice, and not too dramatic. I didn´t have the energy for tears and too much sentimentality. I went down to the first floor to say good bye to Ximena and she wouldn`t have it. No, why do you stay just a little bit longer. I started to get annoyed and then realized she had something up her sleeve. She dragged me to BIGGER with her to get a "snack." When she started buying enormous quantities of food, I realized that this was not just a snack. Despite the fact that they had already planned me a despedida at the office, Pedro had insisted on another one.

At six o´clock (6 hours after my arrival at the office) my party began. I didn´t beleive it was possible, but it was even cuter than the first goodbye. We all stood around in a circle and made lots of "the silly gringa" jokes all together for about an hour. They gave me a certificate for my work at the office and made Renato present it to me, all while they took billions of pictures and chanted KISS HER! KISS HER! Unfortunately all I got was a kiss on the cheek. Embarassing. Eventually I told them I had to go home at catch my bus in a few hours, and I said my final goodbyes to everyone. I promised I would come back and Pedro talked again vaguely about offering me a job. Only if you pay me this time, I insisted.

Then I ran home to find the mesa set one final time for my last meal at home. The in-laws and their son were there and there was a tremendous hunk of meat cooking in the oven. The meal was lovely and we recapped all of the good times together as they appreciated the picture album I made as a going away gift. I ate ravenously, remembering I would never be forced to eat pancitos and carne ever again in my beloved house. We all shipped off in two collectivos to the bus station and my two friends from the office met us there. Talk about dramatic. Imagine me, my huge backpack and ten people all standing around anxiously as we wait for my bus. I almost missed the bus because I had to individually say: te quiero, goodbye and I promise I´ll come back, to everyone. The guy next to me seemed a bit confused as to why I came on to the bus teary-eyed. I slept almost the whole 12 hour bus ride up to the capital and spent the rest of the time looking nostalgically at my hundreds of pictures of my friends and family in Osorno.

Anyway like I said, Valparaíso has enchanted me. It is full of hills, bright colors, cute cafes, great artesanía and poetry. Plus, Pablo Neruda lived here. If you know anything about me, its not suprising why I love it here. I´ve already made plenty of phone calls and sent plenty of cariño in facebook messages back to Osorno, but the enchantment of Valparaíso is pretty good at distracting me from all the wonderful friends and memories I left behind in the south. Plus, there are friends waiting for me here. I met up with Andres and Fabian, the boys I met in Valdivia at the beginning of my trip. They showed me around today in Valpo and tomorrow I´m going to meet them in Viña. Julie is waiting for me in Santiago and up north the Atacama desert is also waiting for me. But even so, I miss Osorno....

el bolson y bariloche en fotos

My second seder was adorable and my 50km (yikes!) bike ride with Bobby was beautiful. I´ve spent the past three days finally saying goodbye to Osorno, and tonight after a big carne celebration I´m off to the bus station. I arrive in Valparaíso tomorrow morning and on friday will meet Julie Munro at the beach! Check out the pictures from my week in Bariloche and el Bolson.....

From Cerro Cathedral outside of Bariloche. One week earlier, this was covered in snow (see below). This day, it was sunny and hot and beautiful.

Victor and I attempted to climb this peak, but the weather wouldn´t have it.

Our very own asado! Our lovely hippie hostal owner in el Bolson helped us buy the cordero and cook it on the parilla. It was a group effort at it was delicious.


El Bosque Tallado-- a burned forrest on the side of a mountain in el Bolson full of beautiful sculptures. I think that girl is in Meredith Lutz´s sorrority at Cornell. Small world....

Hotel Llao Llao. The lunch buffet cost about $80, so we just took pictures. Beautiful, right?

The vista panoramica that we finally arrived at after 4 hours of biking. It was actually that beautiful.