Jets to Brazil

My next adventure was to Brazil on a Gira de Estudios or class trip with my school, El Colegio Aleman. The day after my birthday we gathered outside the school and united as a class for the first time in months. A lot of kids had been in Germany for a short term exchange and it was great hear about their summers. They showed a new appreciation for what I had gone through during my first months and suddenly we could discuss more meaningfully the experiences of an exchange. The name Gira de Estudios might sound like a trip with some higher educational purpose, but don´t be fooled becuase it was actually a week of vacation on the beach and "carreteando" with close friends.

From LA, we took an overnight bus to the Santiago airport to catch our first flight to Buenos Aires. It was probably clear to passing travelers that we were headed to the beach since we sporadically broke into soccer games on the airport floor and were already dressed in swim suits and bright beach colors. I should mention that the class designed sweatshirts specifically for the trip. They were all white except for mine which had unfortuneatly turned pink in a load of laundry... for ten days I suffered from coments about the gringo´s pink sweatshirt, but nevertheless I wore it proudly. From Buenos Aires we connected to Foz de Iguassu and by land crossed the border into Brasil. El Rio de Iguassu creates the borders between Brasil, Argentina, and Paraguay and at the juncture there is a massive series of waterfalls. We didn´t waste too much time in this region, however, since our final destination, Camboriu, was still a 12 hour bus ride east toward the coast. Exhausted, afraid I was getting sick, and without sufficent beroca we rolled into the touristic city of Camboriu and went strait to the beach. The perfect jet lag remedy... The warm water and humid temperature were drastic yet pleasant changes from Chile´s dry climate. The next few days were spent sprawled out lazily on various beaches sipping Caipariñas, fresh coconuts, and working on that tan I never seem to get back at home. And when the sun went down we went out to the happening Brazilan discos or back to the beach outside the hotel. The boarding arrangements turned out to be very, very entertaining since some 300 Argentine girls were staying in the same hotel. Although most of them were 15, the boys in my class were pleasantly occupied making all the girls in the class jealous and bitter. Having just turned 19, I felt like I was out of place for the first time, nevertheless, it was hilarious to just watch the situation unfold. We took a trip over to the Isla de Portobello, which was my favorite destination. We hitched a ride to the isle on a "Pirate Boat", which was a thumping party boat that stopped every once and allowing us to jump of the sides or dive from the masts. The island´s beach was the best we had visited so far and everyone was entertained kayaking, snorkeling, or riding on the classic Banana Boat.

It really was a tropical vacation... although, it was neat to suddenly be imersed in a Portugese speaking country. Getting around wasn´t all that difficult since it was surprisingly easy to converse with locals in Spanish. It was a strange language to try to listen to, however, things made sense when you read store signs or Billboards. Ironically enough, while out at a disco one night, a kid came up to me and said, "Yo, whats up man hows it going?". I´d like to think I dont look that gringo, but maybe I really do stick out as a foreigner. I responded in Spanish, but later learned that he was a Rotary student from Kansas staying in Santiago and was apart of a district that my group had never come in contact with. Small world...
On the last day in Brazil, we visted the waterfalls that I mentioned earlier. If anyones seen the latest Indiana Jones flick apparently one of the ending scenes was filmed in the area- that was our tour guides favorite fact. We got soaked on a tour boat that motored us to the foot of the water and dried off afterwards walking around on a terrace between the two primary water falls and soaking in the incredible views. Niagara is cool and all, but at this place you were surrounded by rushing water since water falls crashed into the Rio Iguassu in all directions. It was awesome. The next morning, we checked into the airport to fly back to Santiago. I had just had an absolutely amazing time and while sitting exhausted on the plane I had almost forgot that my sister Molly would be in Santiago in just two days...

Pucón with My Parents!

Six months without my family is quite a long time when you think that for my entire life I hadn´t gone more than 4 weeks with out mother´s preaching, father´s ridiculous jokes, or my younger sister´s craziness. You´d think in six months alot would have changed, but the truth is we picked things up exactly where they we left them. After more than 24 hours of traveling, my poor family, who probably just wanted to sleep, was welcomed with a traditional Chilean BBQ prepared by my host parents, counselor, and nieghbors. We shared an excellent dinner as we moved from pisco sours to a fine bottle of chilean wine and endless vacuno (BBQ). It really was great to be with the family again and I was excited for the week to come. The next day we woke up late and took a tour of the big L.A. meandering through the plaza, mall, and the Deutche Schule where I study. A single day in L.A. really is sufficient... so we spared to time hopping over to Villarrica and Pucón- the adventure capital of Chile. Pucón sits on a big lake located a few hours south of Los Angeles and is shadowed by the towering Volcán Villarrica- it was a pefect place to play. We ran around on the beach, in the termas (hot springs), and in the town. Pucón is a vacation destination for many Chileans and it was no surprise that I ran into several people I knew and even a guy I had met in Coyhaique- a friend of Cristians. We spent one afternoon trying to find this hidden water fall called El Salto Claro, an ordeal made much more difficult than it should have been. After hours spent on nameless dirt roads we were finally sent home by a locked barbed wire fence... Luckily, Hayley, mom, and my friend Emily reached the 80m waterfall the next day while on a horse back ride.
Since our birthdays were just around the courner, Dad decided to put down his blackberry and told me we were going to climb the Volcano- sweeet! On our last day, we planned an alpine start and drove to the foot of the volcan with our expedition group. Chile has some 5,000 volcanoes and roughly 65 acclaimed active. Villarrica is a 10,000ft glaciated strato-cone (right dad?) and still blows smoke like chimney. The top it all off, the storm the night before left us with a fresh layer of snow to play with. Getting to the top was pretty strenuous, but what made it worse was the toxic smoke that we were inhaling. Once our guides found out dad was a geologist they were asking him just how toxic the smoke actually was- it wasnt very reassuring. Around mid day we got up to the top and peered into the crater- it was a perfect birthday present. The nearly 5 hour ascent was followed by a simple one hour glacade down. So I notched another Volcano on my belt... only 4,998 to go. The week with my parents went by incredibly fast and it was sad to see them go, but I know when I get home we´ll just pick things up where they left off.

Coyhaique

Arriving to Coyhaique had been an objective of mine since before I left the states. My NOLS course two summers back was instructed by two Chileans and in the end it was on the ice in Canada sipping mate and "huevando" in Spanish that I decided to travel to Chile. From El Campo NOLS, I went with Judd back to his house just a short walk down the road. Although a gringo from Lander, Wyoming, Judd Rogers has been in the Patagonia for more than ten years and might as well be a true born Chilean. He lives in a quaint straw adobe house over looking an enormous valley with his wife Carolina and kids Sam (5) and Sophia (less than a year). It was almost strange seeing the civil side of Judd since the only time we spent together, although more than a month, was on an icefield in remote parts of British Colombia. Over a bottle of vino tinto, we spent the evening remenicing about course in BC and discussing the Chilean culture. We had essentially shared the same experiences, but it was interesting to hear about how Judd had thrown his entire life into the mix- his job, family, and home. As the night went on, I all sorts of ideas entered my head about working with NOLS in the Patagonia and making Chile a more permenant residence... Judd had made a living that matched all my interests; his house was designed environmentally with a small garden, fruit trees, and a traditional wood burning stove that heated the place as well as the water. Working for NOLS, he not only surrounded himself with the outdoors, but also helped manage the small farm on the property. And lastly, he had adopted and integrated himself completely in this new culture. Interesting thoughts...

I had signed up for a WFA (Wilderness First Aid) course that would begin at the end of the week, but I really didnt have a plan for the first few days. The next morning, Judd set me up with one of his mountain bikes and gave me rough directions of a loop that toured through the campo behind his house. The whole trip was about 25 km and I didnt see a single person the entire morning. I was back at the house at around mid day and grabbed for my rod to toss a few flies in the river the cut through the property. Luckly, I was free from any hooks that might have been whipped in the wrong direction... I was so entertained in Judds back yard that I didnt even make it to the center of Coyhaique until the third day. The following morning, I set off once again on Judd´s green stump-jumper for the 11 km haul into town- I was really enjoying the whole cycling deal. In town, I followed my Lonely Planet guide book through the plaza, a small museum, and the best places to eat for my money. Coyhaique attracts a decent amount of tourists and so my attentive waiter made the blatant effort to explain to me that I was in a restaurant and walked slowly through the menu with me so I could understand. I just decided to got with it and act nieve. When he brought the bill he threw in a free city map and gave me a corky wink before returning to the kitchen. The town was covered with posters entitled "Patagonia Chilena- Sin Represas"- (With out dams)- a fairly recent environmental movment trying to prevent the installation of several hydroeletric dams in the south. Chile doesn´t deny that its entering an energy crisis, however, it doesnt make much sense to distrub the Patagonia to send power to the mines in the north. We don´t produce electric energy in Yellowstone to have it transported to New York City...or do we? All in all, its been interesting following and learning more about the issue. The town was cool- they even had huge statue of a hand holding a mate gord!- but the truth is I was having the most fun in Judd´s backyard fishing and hiking.

On Friday, we started the First Aid course up at the NOLS branch and Judd and Cristian (my other instructor from BC) attended the three day class as well to re-new their more indepth WFR certifications. So my previous teachers became classmates. Others had arrived from Colombia, Bolivia, Brasil, and all parts of Chile to take advantge of the course. I was a bit nervous since it was in Spanish, but I surprised myself by how much I understood- I think the only term I was unfamiliar with was RELAMPAGOS (lightening strikes). And so on sunday I left certified in CPR and Wilderness First Aid. That afternoon, we all got together to have an asado and celebrate the birthday of one of the instructors named Atila- kick ass name for a NOLS instructor... Many of the employees were from the states, but we all conversed in what little spanish we had- I met some very neat people. Once it got dark, the Brazilians took over the fiesta with traditional music and that awesome Brazilian fire dance- by far the coolest party ive ever been to. A week always goes by fast, but I had an absolutely great time in Coyhaique visiting old friends and leaving with a new skill that will be put to use when I return to the states. My parents and hayley come next week!

January

The entire month has passed and I didnt even written a thing- I apologize. Once the Christmas and New Years rush settled and my gym subscription expired... I became bored. Quickly. For few weeks in January I can honestly say I did not do very much at all... and once my boredom accumulated to hours spent on Google Earth each day, I decided something had to be done. With one free weekend I went to Chillan to visit the exchange students (Emil from Denmark, Jennie from Boston, and Tyler and Kasey from Arizona). I spent two tonights with Emil and on the first morning I woke up with tooth paste in my hair- a friendly prank played by his little sister? Well, not so friendly since it took a while to remove it all. Besides the toothpaste incident, it was good to catch up with them and I got the chance to see a neighboring city. Before I left, Emil, Tyler, and I made the pact to climb the Volcan Antuco before the end of the month. So I returned to Los Angeles with a few dates marked on the calendar.
Its summer now... and everyone suffers from this scorching and dry weather. Thankfully before Christmas my family decided to put in a pool in the little back patio space. And so a lot of time is spent dipping in and out of the pool. Also with summer brings the fruit. I have never ever eaten fruit as I have here. They buy strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries in crates of 3 or 4 kilos for less than you could buy a handful at the Village Market. Not to mention it is all absolutely delicious. I've been making smoothies daily now playing with new recipes each time.
On the 17 of Jan. we celebrated my host fathers 50th birthday and my host mother planned a big surprise party. She had a caterer come in as well as a DJ - it was a big deal. When the day finally arrived Ricardo was called for a "work meeting" in Chillan with an old client and friend. They were to arrive at around 10:00 since guests were told to be at the house by 9:30. 10:oo turned to 11:00 and 11:00 to 11:30 and it was nearly midnight before they showed up. Jokes were made that the two long time friends probably went out for a drink.... but the surprise was still genuine and everyone had a great time. I played the song Wagon Wheel for everyone after dinner.

The following week brought Antuco! I was looking very much forward to getting out in the mountains and I knew it would be a great time with friends. Initially, I had the idea for ascending the nearly 10,00ft volcano ourselves. My plan was as follows: take a bus to Albanico, a tiny pueblo 15km from the National Park de la Laguna del Laja, walk the remaining distance to the park, camp the night (I was determined I could muster a tent), and wake at around 5am to start ascending. I didn't even take into account how we'd get back. So, it became clear we needed a little help. We got a recommendation for a guide that would lead us during a night ascent with head lamps getting to the top for see the sunrise. Wow. That sounded too great to us all, so we tracked down this Victor and had him take us. There was no moon out that night and the stars were amazing. We'd walk for roughly an hour then stop for a break to just took at the sky- victor napped during our breaks.... he seemed to be a bit tired. We got up to about 2, 500m when my friend Tyler clumsily dropped his headlamp while trying to pass it to the guide. This presented a problem are moreover Victor had informed us he'd lost the route. Trusting our guide we decided to descend a bit and wait frigidly for the sun to rise so we didn't have to rely on the lamps. The sunrise was gorgeous, yet we were short from the top. In the end we decided to make our way down... the volcano defeated us.... nevertheless it was quite the adventure and we came a way with some amazing sights.
After staying up all night we had to re-adjust to a regular sleep schedule, but quickly because our friend Emily had invited us to go the the city Valdivia for a Bierfestival. The end January turned out to be a very exciting ... Kunstmann - a small artisan brewery holds an annual bierfest in the German colonized city of Valdivia. Friday and Saturday night we enjoyed a show of German music and dancing and of course a few glasses of the fine Kunstmann Bier- which is German means "Art man". During the day Saturday we took a ferry over to Corral and visit an old Spanish Fort. Emil and I went exploring in this awesome looking cave where we both stepped in what we hoped was only dog poop...fortunately we were close to the sea and could clean it off... The last week in January was nonstop. From nearly the top of Volcan Antuco to the shore of Valdivia and the Bierfest. And now I am sitting in the NOLS office in Coyhaique, Chile- a hidden city in northern Patagonia where the view of the pampas fields are endless...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I spent this Christmas without snow, a fireplace, sister´s cookies, and the family. It was of course a little triste, but in 90 degree weather it really didnt feel like the holiday let alone december. Unlike the weather, crowded malls seems to be a universal sign of xmas .... Ah! I did all my shopping with the other exchange students in LA (three girls...!)- can you imagine the day in the mall. I do however have to give Chileans credit for their practical wrapping system. Instead working your fingers wrapping oddly shaped presents like cross country skis, every street corner down town is equiped with a wrapping stand and you can have all your wrapping done for less than a dollar. With everything nicely and professionaly wrapped ,we headed to Santiago, however this time we made a new record for the latest departure and arrival times- 11pm- 4am....k loco! Chileans celebrate Christmas a little differently than we are accustomed becuase all the festivities take place on xmas eve. First we had dinner, which consisted of turkey, rice, salmon and more. They had me prepare another stuffing to acompany the bird, but this time my dad tossed in lots of blue berries and plums so in the end it was bright purple- nonetheless tasty. We finished dinner at around a around 11:45 and once the clock struck 12 we gathered around the tree to share presents. The tradition is to run out side to look for santa at 12 and when everyone comes back inside the tree is full of presents!! I received some tight, but tight underwear, a few tshirts, and a DVD of a chilean band called Los Jaivas preforming live at machu pichu- coool. And after all this I went out to a party with my host siblings until the wee hours of the night. It was a little strange becuase we slept nearly the entire day the 25th.

New Years lasts just about the entire night as well. We left the house at around 10:30 to go to a family friends house for dinner. We were with about 4 other familes and it seemed more or less like the parties held at the McCurdy household, but with a few new traditions. For some reason your supposed to wear yellow underwear on new years? By coincidence I was wearing my yellow boxers with hotdogs on them so I was safe there. Next, I was given a piece of paper and told to write down all the bad things I had done during the year of 2008. Now, I thought we were going to read these out loud or something so I wrote things like, "didnt make my bed all the time" and "got home after curfew, once"... but in the end what we did was fill this paper mache, scare crow looking puppet´s head with all our wrongdoings and when the clock struck 12 we burned him out side. Apparently this is a common tradition in Ecuador. Next, we all ate a spoon full of cold, unseasoned lentils- I have no idea why. This was followed by taking turns running around the house with an empty suitcase- which is to ensure you safe travels. I want to do thse all next year. At around 2 all the kids and I went out to this huge fiesta called La Tranka. There I saw just about everyone I´d met in Chile thus far. Classmates, the other exchange students, nieghbors, people I had met in the gym... it was a good time. And I got home this morning at good time to eat breakfast... Tomorrow I´m going to Chillan¡

Al Fin del Mundo

Before the Christmas vacation we had our Rotary trip al Sur, it was incredible. We took a flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas (one of the southern most cities in the world). The first thing I got acustomed to was the wind- te juro que I´d never been in plane that landed with so much trubulence. Now, in STGO it was upwards to 90 degrees, but as the plane doors opened in PA we stepped into 40 degree weather with wind that blew the rain sideways... We were a group of about 25 exchange students from Finnland, Denmark, Canada, Germany, and the US and we drove all over in a coach bus piloted by an absolutely crazy driver. The first thing we did was vist a tiny hacienda where we ate a typical cordero asado and greeted the Rotarians of the Punta Arenas club. After, we retreated to our hotel in the center a Punta Arenas- where I quickly went out to buy some a mate and a cheap gord. Unfortunately-- Chileans dont drink as much mate as I had hoped, but in the South you can find it everywhere! We took a city tour the following morning and saw all the sights. In Punta Arenas you can see a view of La Tierra del Fuego in the distance. The peguins were in like a zoo- I suppose you could call it- but luego en el día fuimos to see a colony of penguins in their true habitat. Our next destination was Puerto Natales, which is a bout 3 hours north of Punta Arenas and at the out skirts of the Parque Nacional Los Torres del Paine. We stayed at the Hotel Glaciers- and I was psyched to see some ice. Through out the whole trip I was on a mission to find this book titled In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin. Every thing I had read prior to the trip refered to this Englishman´s travels in the Patagonia, however, it was very difficult to find. Every tourist and souvenir store we went to I asked and I got the same response each time, "No, lo siento no lo tenemos en este momento, pero es un libro que siempre debría estar..." Well, genial... We set off for Los Torres de Paine 6am the following morning after stopping at La Cuerva de Milodon- a giant cave that had been carved out by the melting glaciers.
In the above picture, im with my buddy Javier Rojas at the first sight of the famous blue towers. The flag were holding is the flag of the 12th region in Chile also known as the flag of Magallanes (Magellan). The yellow represents the plains of the Patagonia (pampas), they meet the white Andes mountains, and in the sky is the southern cross. I think its awesome. For the longest time I had no idea who they were refering to when they said Magallanes...not becuase of my lack of a proper history class (grandma), but becuase the pronunciation is completely different... In the park, or for most of the trip rather, we were in the bus... which at times absolutely killed me. Nonetheless, it really was amazing and I expect ill be back- hopefully to do the 10 day loop throughout the whole park. Nearly 100% of park visitors are foreign... My camera battery died once we entered.... We prepared traditional whisky cocktails using ice from Glacier Grey, ran around with the guanacos (type of llama), and ate lunch on this hotel with an incredible view which was located on an island in one of the glacial lakes...

The next day, again at 6am, we departed for the Argentinian side of the Patagonia to Calafate. It was a six hour drive..... but what we saw was worth while. The Glacier Perrito Moreno- for some unknown reason this glacier is one of the only slabs of ice that sustains its size year after year. While all other glaciers are receding as much as 4 meters anually, Perrito Moreno gains back all the mass it loses during the summer months. The view was incredible.

It was in Calafate that I finally found my book! And so that was our last day in the Patagonia. The trip was short, but we were constantly doing something. The following day of travel consisted of a 2.5 hour bus ride to Punta Arenas, 4 hour plane ride to STGO, followed by a 7 hour bus ride back to LA. Exhausting... pero te juro impresionante!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday and I wasnt going to let it just pass by while out of the country. My friend down the road Emily and I had big plans for preparing a thanksgiving feast for our family and friends- traditional, but with some chilean estilo. We split up family recepies and came up with a brief menu- turkey, mash patatoes, green beans, gingered carrots, corn, salad, cranberry sause, pumpkin and apple pies, stuffing... the works. I was in charge of the bird. Now, I thought stuffing a turkey was normal, but apparently its not a universal technique. My host father, who was also a first time turkey chef, was very concerned about our stuffing recepie and I kept on telling him were just going to "wing in", make this mix of almost everything we´ve got, and throw it in the bird. Saturday morning (thanksgiving was on saturday in Chile becuase we didn´t have time off) we woke up "early" 11:00am and began to prepare. Rubbed and stuffed we tossed her in the oven and let her cook. The ovens down here don´t have temperature dials-- so we turned the controls to what I would call "sorta hot" and set a tentative timer. Six hours later, that little red button popped up and my host dad and I got overly excited. At 8:30 our gests began to arrive. Emily and her family, the other exchange students in LA, and the two Españoles (I mean Basques, pardon me). We had a brief cocktail hour before thanksgiving which included home made pisco sours and appetizers- we had too much food. My parents even bought an eletric knife... just to carve the turkey. It was a little exessive, yet funny watching Ricardo and Oscar, Emilys dad, figure out how to cut it... The Pumpkin pie was a hit- they intially didnt like the idea, but the two pies were gone in the end. Oscar, who is an absolute character I wish everyone could meet him, insisted on bringin chamange- im not even sure if thats custom for thanksgiving, but we had it. We were definetly on a differnt time frame. At home we´d eat early in the evening then roll over and fall sleep in front of a football game. In Chile, we ate and conversed until about 1 in the morning and then all the kids went out.... Nonetheless it was a typical and traditional thanksgiving and I was glad to share with people here in Chile.