Pucon and Back to Santiago

So I haven't been keeping this updated very well, so I'll try to remember what happened...

Thursday afternoon, we arrived in Pucon at our "rustic cabins". We were all lead to believe that these would be some form of primitive-living huts in which we would be "lucky to have electricity". Instead, they turned out to be beautiful little apartment-style cabins, with full bathrooms and cute, cozy decor. We even had a little pet dog and kitten that would wander around. The dog would even come in our living rooms and lay on our couches for attention. Made me feel like I was home...

After we settled in, we were taken downtown to either eat, grocery shop, or explore. We did all three, and just walked through markets after eating shrimp pasta at a little place on the street. We found the beach, got some groceries, and got back onto the bus to go home.

I had a near-death experience back in the cabins when we got there.... All 4 of us girls were getting ready for bed, and I was on the bottom bunk of the one bunk bed in our room. I had been sitting there awhile when I got up to plug in my camera battery charger, and all the sudden I heard an enormous crash in our room. Dr. Leonard and I went running to find the top bunk had fallen down onto the bottom bunk when Chelsea tried to get on the bed. I was so grateful that I had just stood up because I'm almost positive that would have ended in a trip to the hospital... we all got a good laugh about it anyway though.

The next day, the girls laid out on the "beach" by the lake across the street, but it was made up of volcanic rock, which was very painful to walk on. We got on the bus at noon to go downtown, where we got to shop some more. I bought ridiculous, colorful woolen socks with alpacas (or llamas, or something...) on them, plus some leaf-shaped copper earrings (copper is the biggest export here, so a lot of jewelry is made of it), and some other things. The rest of the day was filled with stops to look at amazing waterfalls and the clearest, bluest waters in random areas throughout the city. Our last stop was at the hot springs, which we all thought would be a natural body of water that happened to be warm, steaming into the air... instead, it was like a spa with a series of hot tubs of different temperatures.

Most of the group went to do the 6 zip lines that were set up throughout the mountains and trees before they got in the springs, while the rest of us got a sandwich at the restaurant. There was also a mud bath that four of us girls hopped into, which was the most terribly disgusting thing I have ever felt. This wasn't smooth clay mud, this was like... mud, mulch, and sticks that reaked and soaked into our suits for the rest of the day. The pictures were fun though!

We all met back up and got in the hot tubs until the bus took us back for the night, where we had another slow night back at the cabins.

Friday morning, people had all planned to take an all-day excursion to climb a volcano, or go white-water rafting. It would be the most exciting day in Pucon because of the adventurous sports, the main reason Pucon is normally the most loved part of the trip. But when we woke up, we saw dark skies and pouring rains. Dr. Leonard called to have the bus meet us at 11:30 to go back to Santiago instead of taking the bus that night, so we left without any of our adventures... but at the same time, we were all happy that we didn't have to spend the night on the bus, wet from the rain and rafting.

We haven't done much at all the last few days except spend a day on the bus, yesterday was spent laying out and swimming, and today we had one class then spent the rest of the time (7 hours) in a computer lab to work on journals and our papers. Now we are thinking about going to another salsa dancing club for the night.

Last Day in Concepcion

This morning, we had a lecture on the fishing industry and then we took a tour to see the forestry plants. We were dropped off and a bus picked us up to take us on the tour, then we got out to look at the enormous nursery they have for the beginning plants which are planted for the man-made plantations. It was extremely hot though so it was hard to pay attention... We came back home and Ify and I were picked up by Jorge, our host brother. He took us to the grocery store where we bought flowers for his Mom as well as some Nestle Manjar (caramel spread) that we fell in love with when it was served for breakfast at our house. When we got home, we surprised her and Yoyi (Yolanda's nickname) with the flowers, a book of Ohio, some giant Hershey chocolate bars, and a big jar candle. We took pictures, and then had an amazing dinner of beef strips marinated in wine and mashed potatoes out of a box, which reminded me of home. Jorge and I went outside and played with their dogs, one of which is giant and the other is small and hyper. I hated saying goodbye to them the next day!

Later on that night, we went to a club that was only a block away. I was excited and ready to be out, but I had one Pisco Sour (the most popular Chilean drink) and the sourness was too much. After a few hours, I was bored and like most of the rest of the Cincy group, the smoke was really getting to me. I tried to ignore it, tried to dance, but when 3:00 rolled around I just asked Yoyi to walk me home. I was glad to be in bed then.

Tuesday... Fish!

Even though class didn't start till late today, I was so tired. Michelle was dropped off at our house early to have breakfast with us and take the city bus to school since her buddy had to go to work. We listened to a class on forestry, which we will get to see tomorrow, but then hopped on the bus to take a look at the fishing industry. We could smell the El Golfo plant from far away, and it was so strong once we got off the bus. I didn't really mind though because I just breathed through my nose and took pictures of the crazy amounts of seagulls circling outside. Everyone ran for cover so they didn't get dropped on, then we went inside for a presentation of the company. The tour afterward was somewhat interesting and cleaner that I would have expected, and we saw a lot of dead fish get fileted at speeds that would have had my fingers cut off. The bus took us to a fishing boat afterwards, where we got to see them working and the seagulls try to steal what they could every time they pulled up a load of fresh fish. Another long day, we took the bus back to UDD.

Yolanda met us back there and we went with her brother, Jorge, and her mom back to get ice cream. Stuffed from two lunches that day, I had only coffee (which turned out to be complicated because they poured me a full-to-the-brim cup of hot coffee and left me no room to put my Nescafe into, so I was very confused and my family only made it more confusing. We got a good laugh out of it though). We went back to change out of our fishy-smelling clothes and headed to a market downtown. I didn't find anything there, but Ify did. We came back to the house, then waited for Michelle's buddy to come (she came about a half hour late while we sat on the couch waiting, and then watching the inaugeration of Obama on some of the channels we found). We went to our host family dinner, which was pretty nice but I couldn't eat too much. I had empanadas (bite-sized), steak, some tomatos from the salads, and a sopapilla. I skipped desert. I have eaten way too much today. We stuck around for some time afterward so I floated around to talk to people, then came home early to stay in for the night with Ify so I could catch up on here and get some sleep. Tomorrow we are visiting the forestry industry and going dancing, then we will be leaving for Pucon on Thursday.

Concepcion and a New Family

Yesterday we left for Concepcion around noon and had a six hour bus drive. I just slept the whole time and tried to catch up on reading. Around 7:00 we arrived in a neighborhood here in Concepcion where our families were waiting. Ify Bell and I found our student, Yolanda, and drove back to their house before dinner. It's a very comfortable house in a safe neighborhood where her brother also lives. They have two dogs, Bruna and Joe, which I love to come back and give at least a little attention to when I can. I miss my dogs back in Dayton! We had a quick dinner of bread and pasta with homemade meat sauce. I was glad that I felt comfortable and that dinner was informal. We had ice cream, then watched some TV and got to know Yolanda a little bit more as well as her dad when he stopped by. Ify went to bed after talking to her kids, and I stayed up and chatted some more before going to a neighbor's house to celebrate his birthday with friends. It was a lot of listening to Spanish and I picked up very little, but it was good to do that I think. I didn't speak at all, but I should have. We came back and I was in bed by 1:00.

Today, we started classes at the UDD campus here. We had two speakers and then had a giant cafeteria lunch of rice and chicken, plus a million sides, then a few of us took a walk around the block until the bus came to pick us up to take us to the mines. We got to wear hard hats with the little lights, much to our amusement, and took about ten thousand pictures. We then set off for the mines, which haven't been actually used in over a decade (it's now just a tourist attraction. I think they said that the mine we saw was a fake mine that they rebuilt for the tours, but I could be wrong. Either way, they were very realistic). It started with a little tiny cage that four of us squeezed into, then we were brought down under sea level. It was chilly, but a relief from the hot weather! We spent over an hour under there walking around while an ex-miner talked about what was done and the hardships and dangers of having such a career. We could tell that they were much shorter than us, like him, because half the time we were ducking. We even had to crouch down to about 3 feet at one point in a little wet tunnel, and by that time we were all ready to be done. It was very interesting, but never have I been so grateful to be back on the bus!

Afterwards, we drove past the old houses that were provided for miners and their families. We were just distracted because there was this GIANT barrelling forest fire literally right outside of our bus! Our tour guide was saying something like "on your left, you will find...." but the entire group was piled against the right side with cameras flashing. I got a few good pictures, with people standing around nonchalantly. I guess they are used to these fires because people set them in the summers intentionally (a speaker said that sometimes kids set them because they like to see the firetrucks and helicopters, and also sometimes a person will be angry that they weren't allowed to be sold the land for farming, so they will set fire to it). We got to the mining museum and were greeted by the smell of smoke and ashes floating down when we got off the bus. Some people were complaining, but I was just amused that no one else other than us paid any attention to the fact that this fire was occuring within arm's reach.

After the museum, we went to a gorgeous park right on the same street. There was a view of the fishing boats on the coast, mixed with the smokey air; it made a great picture. I mainly took pictures of all the flowers, so those will explain the rest of what we saw in the park.

We got home late, and Yolanda and her dad took Ify and I out for some really good pizza. I practiced some Spanish words while we were waiting on our food, so that made me feel a little better since I haven't been speaking. We then went to Tina's home stay condo to have a get-together with a majority of the other students and their buddies. There were drinks and I didn't have much, but everyone had a good time. One guy on our trip tried to catch a ping-pong ball but slid on the floor and smashed his hand on broken glass on the floor, then bled everywhere. He was fine, but we were concerned at the time that he would need stitches. We left around 1 and I was so happy to see my bed waiting for me back at "home".

End of the first week of classes

On Friday, we had our last Spanish class and then another one before we left to go trekking in the mountains. It was actually a really neat little hike with plenty of amazing views (I think we stopped and got pictures at each one of them) with wooden swinging bridges, two waterfalls, and dogs that followed us the whole way. (Apparently one of the dogs only follows Americans and never with the Chileans, something I found interesting...maybe we give them more attention?) I didn't get in the water at the waterfalls because I just didn't want to be soggy the rest of the way and on the long bus ride.

When we got home, we slowly got ready to go out to a salsa club. Most of our group went and Enrique taught me how to dance, but I just laughed hysterically out of embarrassment and my flip-flops didn't really help either. I never really got the hang of it, but it was fun to try and learn anyway. We got back at 4 am.

This morning, I went with Michelle and a group of girls from another room to go to this nice park to lay out at a pool and go to a market. We took a sky cap ski-lift sort of thing up to the halfway point of the mountain, then paid a ridiculous 5000 pesos to use the pool area, laid out until it got cloudy, then walked up the roads (more amazing views!) until we finally got to the top of the mountain. There, we found more steps up to this giant statue and a cute stray dog that I became a little attached to. It followed us up so many flights of stairs and sat at the base of the statue while we took pictures. When we headed down, I whistled and it was right there with us again. It ended up finally getting distracted though and then it was gone.

We took a little train thing back down and got in a cab, then came back to the hostel where I hunted down my vestido that was in the laundry so it would be clean for dinner. When I finally found that, I got ready and we all went out to Los Buenos Muchachos, a dinner and show place. The show was neat and you could dance afterward, but we were so disappointed in the cost of it and the food we got. We had three choices of meat, which came alone with no sauce (I had a steak that was too well done) and a pile of fries. So American. Then they brought us ketchup packets. We have been disappointed with the lack of Chilean meals so far I think, and feel like most of what we eat can be found easily at home.

After dinner, I didn't really dance. We got our bus back home and I talked to Greg for the rest of the night on Skype, and now it's super early in the morning. We are leaving for Concepcion and Pucon tomorrow, so I finally get to meat my homestay family.

Not much to report from the last two days... we just started classes on Monday. We had three yesterday and three today, but today was definitely more interesting. Other than classes yesterday, all we did was go out to get drinks with Enrique and his friends, and some went dancing, but then some of us got a taxi home so we could get some sleep. Today after classes, we went to a vineyard and got to do a wine tasting. It was really neat and the land around the winery was beautiful, really great for pictures! I passed out on the bus back home, and then took a nap until dinner

When I woke up, I realized how tender the cut on my foot is and I showed one of the professors. He said that it's really infected and if I don't get it open (there's sand stuck inside) then I'll need to go to the clinic and get it lanced.... not fun. Kat and Jeremy helped me soak it and Jeremy tried to squeeze it to see if any sand or anything else came out. No luck. We got iodine, cotton, and tape and he wrapped my foot up for the night. We'll have to see how it looks tomorrow, but we are going trekking on Friday and I need it to feel better by then!

Horses, Bleeding Feet, and Santiago

The last two days turned out to be pretty eventful. We had a nice breakfast at our hostel yesterday morning and set off for a different beach this time. The plan was to spend the day with the six girls that we hadn't seen much of yet, but ended up at two different beaches when the second group didn't know what stop to get off at. So we ended up about 40 minutes away on a dirty beach in a poorer area, with dogs everywhere (well, sorta like the rest of Vina.) We tried to find the girls on the beach, but I took my flip-flops off too soon and my first step left my right foot split open by something in the sand. It bled all over the place, soaked the bottom of my leather flip-flop, and I had to limp to the water to wash it off. It continued to bleed, so we gathered up what we had to take care of it: napkins, hand sanitizer, and lip gloss (to keep the blood in). I stuck a napkin the the gloss and it was nicely taken care of!

With that, we walked over to the horses we saw under a shelter near the beach and found out that it was very inexpensive for a half hour ride. Seven of the eight of us decided to go for it, and it ended up being a really great time just wandering down the beach in a group and guiding the horses with ropes. Though I was terrified at first that it would take of running, I actually found myself trying to kick its sides and jiggle the ropes so it would start to canter, which didn't really work. The guide would whip the horses in the thigh when they started to lag behind, and that was the only thing that would make them go any faster. It was fun! Ending up on the wrong beach turned out to be the best mistake of the day.

Afterwards, we took a bus to Renaca since it was ten times as beautiful as where we were. We got a ton of sun and played in the waves some more, and watched these 4 jets do tricks and draw pictures in the air. It was strange to see everyone on the entire overly-crowded beach watching the same thing all at the same time.

After several hours, we headed back to the hostels/hotel to get ready for the night. At around 9:00 we headed to this beautiful casino, Enjoy, on the coast. Inside were two restaurants, so we went to the least expensive one despite how fancy it looked. The staff were incredibly welcoming to us though we were in jeans in such a nice place, and the meal was just as impressive as everything else. It wasn't an extremely cheap meal, but there is nowhere in the U.S. you can get a meal like that with nearly the same service for the amount of money we paid. And I can't believe how patient everyone has been! We have been a pain trying to have them translate menus and taking forever to decide, but not a single person has seemed to mind at all. We have all been impressed.

Afterwards, we went to a club called Tutix and I got a beer and a Pisco Sour (the mixed drink of Chile). Everyone had a great time getting to know each other and we were all feeling pretty good about two hours after we should have left to go back and sleep since we had to be up early. Instead, we hit the dance floor around 2:3o and it was definitely worth only getting a five hour sleep.

This morning, we all woke up bright and early to catch our shuttles back to Santiago to finally meet everyone at the Kolping House. The ride was long, but we were all pretty pleased with how nice the hostel was. I am rooming with Tina, Sam, and Michelle, which is graet because we have been together most of the time so far. Our room has a kitchen, a full bathroom, internet, and two separate bedrooms. It's much better than our last hostel!

We went out to eat with the entire group and professors at a very nice restaurant with multiple courses, then went on a bus and walking tour around Santiago. We saw the President's Palace (the president is a woman!), a giant church much like the ones in Europe, the stock market building, and several other things. Most of the city seems European, but much friendlier. We will discover more later. After the tour, we drove up in the mountains to look a the amazing view of the Andes, then headed back home. We all went to the market to get groceries, and a lot of us girls literally just talked for hours for the rest of the night. And now, I'm off to bed to sleep up for our first day of class in the morning!

Beach!

So yesterday didn't turn out to be the best of days. My layover just dragged on and on at the horrible Toronto airport... then I started to feel sick. It worsened as I waited for the group to show up, and wasn't any better when we boarded the plane. I didn't hardly touch my dinner other than the piece of bread on my tray and the little girl behind me was kicking my seat consistently throughout the entire flight. Not only that, but it was the worst Screaming Baby Flight I have ever experienced. Sleep was almost impossible, but I was so tired I was able to pass out against the plastic wall (no window for me!) without even a pillow.

When I woke up and ate breakfast, I felt completely refreshed. We made it off the plane, got our luggage, and spent a good part of the next hour trying to negotiate with taxi and shuttle companies to get to our several different hostels. Once we decided, all fifteen of us piled into two vans and took an hour and a half ride to Vina del Mar. We were in awe as we arrived from above the city, driving down the curvy road to the coast. The water was so blue and the view was just amazing. It took awhile for our driver to find our hostel, driving up into an area that reminded me a lot of Mount Adams. Finally we parked at our quaint little hostel, checked in, and changed into our bathing suits in our tiny box of a bedroom. While waiting for others to shower, Chelsea Kindschuh took me and Chris Schuh to the mini market up the hill. I got a giant bottle of water, and Dinosaur-shaped crackers (which turned out to just be animal crackers) that looked fun.

We met everyone at the beach later on where the weather was just perfect. I got in the water right away with one of the guys, Ryan, but didn't last long because I was afraid the strong tide would likely kill me. We stayed out for a few hours, then decided to head back to our hostel and cook dinner for ourselves with supermarket foods. Once we passed the first restaurant, our plans changed and we got pizza instead. At that, some of us called it a night even though it was only 10:00 and came back up to the hostel to get some much needed rest.

Pre-Departure

Currently, I'm sitting in the Columbus airport alone while I think about how strange it is carrying a REAL boarding pass rather than a seat request to fly Delta standby. I always have bad luck when I have an actual seat, so I'm only hoping that all goes smoothly. I can deal with a delay though. I only have a six hour layover in Toronto, which will probably be spent writing on here more.

Though I have traveled outside of the country nearly 7 times within the last year, I still feel incredibly nervous about leaving. I'm used to weekend trips and can't imagine being gone for three weeks with almost every day booked with different plans.

I haven't written a blog in ages, so bear with me on this. I will hopefully have plenty of internet access in Chile, but we'll just see how that goes. I'll start off in Vina del Mar where we will hit the beach on our own before meeting at the Kolping House in Santiago on Sunday morning.