Not goodbye, just hasta luego

I don't think I can say goodbye to this continent, to this country, to this city, to my home, to my family and my friends. 
At least without knowing that I'll definitely be back again. So I am going to make that happen. 


I finished packing and I finished my 19 page paper. I haven't started my goodbyes but I don't even want to think about that. I'm currently just sitting in my room, dying from heat and not wanting to move. And I mean not wanting to move in more ways than just one...


But just like coming here for 6 months was an adventure, I'm excited for my new adventure: life after this one.


Not sure how it's going to go. All I know is that something is going to be different, not quite sure what.


If you read my very first blog, there was a very nice statement from a friend of mine which encompasses a lot of statements from a lot of people I left back home. 
I'm interested in seeing how true all of those statements end up being. 


I think I'm not as excited to go home right now because I think I'm just going back to the same life I left 6 months ago. But that's not true at all. 
People change and I wasn't there to witness those changes.
But I changed too, I'm just not sure how. All I know is that I did.


I guess I'll find out in approximately 15 hours. 


Hasta luego America del Sur, te voy a extrañar muchisimo. 

A month of tears and memories

Sorry for not updating in so long. This last month has been pretty hectic.

I HAVE 3 DAYS LEFT IN SANTIAGO!

I don’t understand what that means. I just spend half a year in South America, and now I just have to leave? If there ever was a perfect definition for a “bittersweet moment,” this is it.

I know I said I was ready to go home, and I definitely am. But I am not ready to leave. Two very contradicting statements, I know. But it’s true.

I can’t wait for bagels and Tropicana orange juice and real cheese (caprese salad!). I can’t wait for grey skies and cold weather. Curling up on my couch and watching TV mindlessly for hours. Greasy NYC pizza and hole-in-the-wall Chinese food. Getting into my car and running silly little errands like buying toothpaste or Advil instead of Ibuprofen. I can’t wait to see my friends and family and actually being able to make a phone call that is longer than a minute. But everyone watch out, I haven’t used my touch screen in 6 months, hello drunk-looking sober texts!

But what about delicious empanadas? What about that awful awful yellow bus that I have to take home every day? Taking my lunch to school in my awkward tupperware that my nana prepares every day. What about laughing at the ridiculousness of Chileans with their 1990s outfits and disgusting dreadlocks. What about the mountains that I see every day and the sunshine? My group of 22 friends and my coordinators. Mi familia Chilena y mi perro Happy. What about all of that? How do I say goodbye to all of that?

Not sure how I am going to deal with all of this. It was easy to leave because I was going to an adventure for 6 months. And it will be amazing to come back to my real life. But it’s real life. Who really wants to deal with that? I have been on the most incredible vacation for the past 6 months, how do I come down to reality?

I think I am going to need some help. Good thing for me is that I have the most wonderful friends and family waiting for me back home! One of my best friends made me extremely happy a few weeks ago. I have never received any mail here in Chile until just a few days before my birthday. She sent me an envelope full of postcards that she has been writing to me ever since the beginning of the summer. I received this when I was close to the peak of my home-sickness and it just made me feel so much better.

But I don’t want to make this a sad post. And trust me, there are a lot of great stories coming up!

So on a happier note – I have great news about my Chilean final exam. Since I was such a great student throughout the semester (showing up at least half an hour late every day and either reading, drawing, playing games, or sleeping during class) I didn’t have to take the final! My previous test and essay average were so high that I was exempt from the final! I honestly thought I was going to be close to failing that class. I guess not :) Only thing that would have made it better is if the lovely professor would have emailed me telling me that instead of making me come in at 10 in the morning just to leave. Oh well.

And that day, my grandma was in Santiago! It was so incredible getting to see her here. She was doing a tour of Latin America with some of her friends and their last stop was Santiago for 3 days. We didn’t spend the entire days together because she already had tours set up, but just knowing that after going to class I got to go have dinner and spend some time with my grandma was a great feeling. Again, perfect timing because I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be in Santiago anymore.

Having her here was also much different than when my parents were here. I realized how much more I knew about the city. I took my parents to all the touristy spots and I got to take my grandma to places that I personally knew and loved. It felt really good to know that this city really was my home for the past few months.

My grandma took home a lot of my stuff. And looking around my room right now, it really doesn’t feel that way. So many things to pack…

You know I’m comfortable in a place when I keep my room nice and messy :)

The day after grandma left, we had our gringo Thanksgiving dinner. A week early, yes we know. I honestly thought it was going to be a disaster. How were we going to cook a turkey in Santiago? And bring enough food for 30 people? But I was wrong. It ended up being better than it should have been! There was so much leftover food, everyone came and was happy, hungry, and thankful. It was the best thanksgiving dinner any one of us could have asked for.

And then on the real Thanksgiving, we had our cena de despedida (goodbye dinner). That made us leaving seem very real.

A girl in our group came up with genius idea for a gift for our coordinators, Mauricio and Paula. To donate money to a human rights organization in Chile. Nothing could have been better. It encompassed everything we learned this year and there was no better way to say thank you for teaching us and helping us.

The dinner was emotional to say the least. Lots of crying and memories. It was wonderful.

And the next day it was time to begin my birthday weekend celebration! (Yes, I knew my birthday was on Monday, but why should that stop me?)

So Friday a group of my friends went out to Bellavista. This is the barrio (neighborhood) where we most typically went out in Santiago. We sat drinking at a bar for a long time and just talking and laughing. It was great. Then we went to the club where we went on our first night out in Santiago. How sentimental. Such a fun night with my friends.

But the next night was the real celebration. And how could I celebrate my birthday without a birthday outfit? So the next morning my friend (who has more clothes than any one I have ever met) went to the mall to find me a birthday dress. I ended getting a birthday dress and birthday shoes… woops.

And that same day my family left for the night to a wedding in Valparaiso. And that was obviously the first time I forgot my keys. Obviously.

So my nana, who was planning on spending the night anyway, had to come earlier so that I could get into the house. Silly me.

After getting ready quickly, I met my friends at a Mexican restaurant. Not everyone came to the restaurant and the ones who did I can truly say are my best friends on this trip. I am so glad to have met them. The dinner was incredible (and I’m not just talking about the food).

the best people 

All semester the 2 Mike’s have been wanting to watch me do a shot of vodka. So what did I get for my birthday? A birthday shot. Took it like a champ. And a free pisco sour from the restaurant. And an absolutely delicious (and very large) raspberry daiquiri. Dinner was perfect.

yum

Afterwards, it was still too early to head over to the club. So we discussed if we should go to a bar or drink outside on the grass. In front of all the bars in a very popular location in Santiago. Obviously being the smart gringos that we are, that is what we chose.

My amazing friends bought me a vodka bottle. Nothing more appropriate :)

But about 10 minutes after we sat down, the cops came up to us. They asked to see our Chilean ID’s and wrote down our names. I really don’t know how or why, but they let us go. And we got to keep our alcohol! So we just went to a bar. And my friends bought me another drink. If it isn’t obvious, we take birthdays very seriously here. Before going out that night I said that I was scared to celebrate my birthday with them because of amount of drinks they buy the birthday person. And I think I was right to be scared…

I had contacted a really famous club in Santiago a few days before and they said to send them a list of names and we could all get in for free for my birthday. The only problem was that the club was far away. So half of us took a cab straight there and me and 6 other people decided to take a bus half way and then take a cab. Very very bad idea.

We ended up finishing the bottle of vodka during that trip. Woops. And after the bus, we got into a cab that only later on decided to tell us that he would only take us halfway. Meanwhile there were 6 people sitting in the backseat, 2 of which were 6 foot tall guys.

It took forever to get a second cab. 3 of my friends actually had to go back home because they never found a cab. But I got there, not without more drama of course.

As we get up to the club, they tell us that there is no list. Apparently all my friends who had already gotten in had argued their way in. I was very upset that this was happening and started yelling at the bouncer. I don’t remember what I said but I was taken away by my friend because my yelling was definitely not helping the situation.

Somehow we finally got in. But not before I had a little crying session outside of this famous club where celebrities go. Mature, really mature.

just a little red eye... 

The rest of the night is somewhat of a blur. I thought we were only there for about 20 minutes. Turns out we were there for more like 2 hours. I am told that I had fun…

Even though I cried on my birthday, I would still say that it was an amazing day. An amazing weekend actually. I spend it with my best friends on this trip and they made it an incredible 2 nights. North American birthdays just do not compare.

Oh and I forgot to mention that on our way home that night, my friend and I made the cab stop at McDonalds. Yes, I ended my birthday night at McDonalds.

I think I have eaten McDonalds here more than I have in my entire life.

By the way, my birthday still wasn’t for another day. And it was extremely depressing that when it turned midnight here on Sunday night, no one back home realized it was my birthday because NYC is 2 hours behind Santiago.

But my actual birthday was great as well. My host mom bought me bagels and cream cheese and a cake. How perfect. I invited 3 of my friends for this dinner. It was a nice calm way to spend my birthday, especially in comparison with the past weekend.   

Two days later, we went to a bar called La Piojera. It is famous for its atmosphere and its Terremotos. I hope you all remember what a terremoto is. It’s my favorite drink here: white wine with pineapple ice cream. Yum. I had never been to La Piojera before, I wasn’t allowed to leave Santiago without having gone there. Definitely worth it.

We are now engraved in La Piojera

And believe it or not, a few days after that I was on a plane to Patagonia!

I have mixed feelings about this trip. But before I say anything about it, I have to say that it was absolutely gorgeous there! Nothing compares, so much natural beauty.

And now to complain a little bit.

At this point, my knee was just not okay at all. I was hoping to do little hikes every few days but I just couldn’t handle that. So as soon as I got there, I realized I shouldn’t really be there. Patagonia is not a place you go if you are injured. Luckily, we ended up still getting to see a lot, but I was definitely upset for a part of the trip.

But still, it was absolutely beautiful. I thought I regretted going, but I can’t say that I do. Who knows when the next time will be that I can see something that stunning.

The first day we got to our hostel at 7 in the morning and fell asleep until 4 pm. Woops. And normally that would be considered late but in Patagonia the sun only starts to set around 10 pm so we had lots of time to walk around the town, Punta Arenas. There wasn’t much to see. But we did decide to treat ourselves to a nice dinner.

The next day we went to a little town called Porvenir. Whatever you do, never go to Porvenir on a Sunday. There was absolutely nobody around and nothing to do. But the trip there was fun – it was 2 hours on a boat. We slept the whole way…

In Porvenir we visited a cemetery and walked around what seemed to be the entire town. We ended up sitting in a playground and swinging for over an hour. Played with some cute puppies as well. It was a nice, relaxing day.

colorful cars

The next day, we took a tour to Isla Magallanes to see a penguin colony. Again, it was a 2 hour boat ride to get there. We decided to sit outside so that we wouldn’t sleep. I fell asleep outside anyway (I hope you are starting to see a pattern here).

The island was great. There were hundreds and hundreds of penguins just walking around. They are absolutely adorable when they wobble. So cute!

inappropriate penguins

On the way back, we talked to a few Israeli men who were traveling through South America after having served in the Israeli army for the past 3 years. I have officially decided that I need to marry an Israeli man. Not just a Jewish man like my grandma always wanted, but an Israeli one. There were so many in Patagonia! We met one that was Argentinean and Israeli. Nothing could be better than that!

That night we got a beer and fell asleep as soon as we finished it. The next day we decided to go to a café to try to work on our final papers. I would just like you to try to imagine how well that actually worked…

So that same evening we got on a bus to the next town, 2 hours away. Puerto Natales. This is where Torres del Paine National Park is. The park with the famous W-circuit hike that I wanted to do.

When we got to our hostel, the owner said that we didn’t have a reservation. Then he said that I did make one but only for myself. We were so frustrated at this point. But he said he had another room at his other hostel down the street. How convenient. Except that it was one little queen sized bed, for the 3 of us. With the springs sticking out. Comfy. But we slept there because he let us have it for half the price. For the next 2 nights we were able to switch to the better hostel and sleep in normal beds. We really did not like this hostel owner.

But anyway, in Puerto Natales the first day we went on a day-long tour of glaciers. Another boat. And it was so windy on this boat. I wore so many layers. It became a joke about how many layers we each had on. I also had a lot of colors on… My fashionista friend did not enjoy that. But I was warm and that’s all that matters. So comfy in my fur hat.

I like all my colors

And obviously we slept any time we didn’t have to be outside looking at something.

The actual glacier that we saw was incredible. I definitely had different notions of what a glacier was (obviously just from the Titanic). This was even better.

The next day we went on a day tour of Torres Del Paine National Park. I contemplated going on a day hike to the base of the Torres (about a 6 hour long hike). The reason I thought I could do it was because everyone always talks about how there are 70 year olds who do it. And little children. But I’m Masha. Obviously I was injured to the point that there was no way that I could do this.

So we went on a day tour and I am so glad we did. We stopped the car every few minutes to get out and look at something. Each time it got more and more beautiful.

But our tour guide, to be fun since it was just a bunch of 20 year olds on the tour, decided to take us on a mini hike. It was supposed to be a 10 minute walk but he turned it into an hour and a half. 4 months ago that would have been nothing for me. Last week, I was in excruciating pain. I didn’t feel it until about an hour later when I could barely walk. Let’s just say, I took a lot of Ibuprofens for the next few days.  

But it was worth it. So beautiful.

the wind actually pushed me over

And after that, it was time to go back. We missed our Santiago homes, not to mention our homes in the States. We talked way too much about the things we missed from home during that trip.  

Our flight was for 2am Saturday morning, but we got to the airport around 3pm on Friday. We tried to get on a 5pm but there was no room. So we got on an 11pm flight instead. Meanwhile, we almost went crazy in that airport. I have never liked JFK but at that moment I missed it so much. There were 2 tiny cafes in that airport. And that’s it. Even security could barely be called security. No one really checked anything. Definitely not used to that.

And when we got on the plane, we realized we had the exit row. So much happiness for my knee! Although exit rows are great for the legs, they are not very comfortable for the back. But obviously we all slept anyway. I think we slept through half of our trip to Patagonia. Not sure how or why.

And the very next day in Santiago, after getting home at 4am, I went to Starbucks. About 5 other people from our group ended up going there. We go there to study because not only does it make us feel like we’re home, but it’s also air-conditioned. I don’t understand how these people survive their summers. My family doesn’t even have a fan!

So after procrastinating in Starbucks all day, I went home to help my mom set up and decorate the house because it was my sister’s birthday party. It was fun, I’ve already met most of her friends and 2 of my friends came since one of them lives with my sister’s boyfriend. Fun night.

And the next morning (today), I went to Starbucks again. I spent all day there. Got barely anything done, again. And now tomorrow I will be going back as well. I still need to write another 9 pages before I leave this country. Great way to spend our last few days.

Yesterday I was much sadder to be leaving Santiago than today (always equally as excited to go back home) because I got a lovely surprise from my mom (my real mom) today. She said I can try to look for internships here this summer! Summer ’12 Santiago, here I come! (Even though that means I will have missed summer for 2 years in a row since our summer is winter here…)

So maybe this isn’t “goodbye Santiago” after all, just a “see you later” :) 

Finally Ready…

… to go back home.

It’s not that I’ve suddenly had a complete change of heart and hate Santiago, quite the opposite actually. But just a few days ago, I all of a sudden realized that I think it’s time for me to go back home. Not sure how I feel about going back to Syracuse where I’ll be taking 6 classes instead of 3 like I am here… but I am so ready to just go home and sit on my couch for days and days with my family bringing me all my favorite food.

And that is not to say that I didn’t have an incredible time last weekend. Our entire group went to Pucon which is a 10 hour bus ride to the South. One of the best parts was that it was entirely paid for by Syracuse University. 5 star hotel, which was actually just a bunch of quaint little cabins. Syracuse even paid for a fondue dinner and an asado (you should all know what that means by now) the next night. Breakfast was brought to our cabins each morning. And the first day we went on a tour of some beautiful waterfalls and then to some hot springs.

The waterfalls were gorgeous, but I couldn’t make it up to see all of them because it was a big climb and I am currently sporting a really sexy knee brace. But I did get to see some!

And before we went to the waterfalls, we stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the view of a beautiful lake. Where we discovered that we could walk on water…

It was such a beautiful scene, so serene and peaceful. I can totally imagine having a little summer house in Pucon…

After the waterfalls we were taken to some hot springs. The day was hot and the water was even hotter, but it was wonderful. The springs did wonders for my messed up knee.

And to escape from the heat, some of the people in our group decided to go into the cold river instead…

The river wanted to take Mike with it

The next day was the day to climb the volcano. The volcano that I said I would climb no matter what. Also the volcano that I am so happy I did not end up climbing. Of course I would have loved to if I didn’t have this knee problem, but I probably wouldn’t have gotten up for more than 10 minutes with this stupid knee according to what my friends told me. Apparently it took them 5 hours to climb and it was so vertical that they had to use ice picks to help them at some points. Ice picks? But I thought it was spring here in Chile? Well, the volcano actually has about 9 feet of compact snow on it. So my friends were just casually walking on top of 9 feet of snow on a volcano. But what they said was the best part was that to get down the volcano it only took about an hour because they slid down the entire way!

the volcano they climbed

But I had a great day as well. I went with some of my friends to the nearby lake. We laid on the beach and chatted. What a perfect day. Then we all went to a restaurant that is famous for its great North American food. Que perfecto, I haven’t had pad thai in months!

The next day, while the volcano climbers were too sore to do anything but go to the lake, the rest of us went horseback riding. I’ve been redeveloping my love for horses while I’ve been here. I’ve always loved them, until once when I was in Canada about 7 years ago and a horse decided to lie down and scratch its back while I was still sitting on it…

But anyway, this ride was amazing. The horses were all very well trained and well taken care of. I know this because one of my friends has been riding horses her entire life. She is also the friend that turned into a lobster the day before because she didn’t take the sunscreen I offered her…

We rode for about 2 hours. The 2 guides even let us gallop a little even though 2 girls had never ridden a horse before in their lives. I’ve ridden a horse at least once a year for most of my life but no one has ever let me gallop. It was such an incredible feeling, almost like flying through the air on this majestic animal.

My horses name was treinta y ocho…that means 38. How creative. But she was a wonderful horse that was very content in following the rest of the horses without me having to do much. At least in the beginning… Then she decided to act out a little bit – something the guides said she never does. I guess we just had a special connection.

We rode through beautiful scenery. Some people in our group said they wouldn’t want to ride on a horse because wherever the horse takes them, they can hike that themselves. But I think being on the back of a horse makes the experience so much better because you’re sharing it with that wonderful animal.

Most of my photos are either crooked or blurry because it is extremely difficult trying to take photos while on a moving horse. Especially once my horse decided to be an individual and not just follow the crowd.

My beautiful horse:

And this horse, while gorgeous, was not the nicest.

This horse tried to bite a lot of the other horses. And on our last gallop, just a few minutes away from the stable, his saddle broke. And my friend fell off. Such a scary experience, I can’t imagine how terrified she must have been because apparently she was riding basically on the side of the horse for a few seconds until she just fell. Reminds me of my bicycle crash just 20 seconds before the end of our bike tour in Mendoza, but obviously this was worse.

To make her feel a little better, we went out for ice cream and brownies after. Yum.

Unfortunately, this was our last day in Pucon. We left that night so that we could make it back in time for classes on Monday. Yay…

But the week ended up not being too bad. The test in my Chilean class that I was certain I was going to fail, didn’t actually go that badly. I go the highest score out of my friends and not a bad grade at all. However, this was most likely due to a positive gringo tax.

If I haven’t explained gringo tax before, im sorry. Gringo tax isn’t a real thing. It just means that sometimes people charge us more for some things because we are obviously gringos and they assume all gringos have a lot of money. But a positive gringo tax was the fact that our teacher bumped up our grades because we clearly had no idea what was going on in that class. Unfortunately, one of my friends is from the Dominican Republic. But that’s not the unfortunate part. The unfortunate part is that her last name clearly shows that she speaks Spanish, so our teacher didn’t know that she was just a gringo like us. So her grade was the grade we all should have gotten, but instead we got a positive gringo tax added on. I feel bad for her, but I am also definitely not complaining about my grade. Now if only I can do that well on the final for that class which is in just a few days…

I got the grade back on Wednesday, and on the Thursday I had a good day as well. I booked my flight to Patagonia!! Even though, because of my knee, I can’t do the famous W-circuit that most people do, two of my friends and I are still going down there to explore the greatness of Patagonia without doing the 5-day hike. Personally, I think this is even better because we’ll get to see so much more.

And that same day, we went to a Peruvian restaurant after class. The food was muy rico (delicious). Definitely going to become part of my diet back in the States.

I never thought I would miss food from back home so much, even crappy Chinese food. And don’t even get me started on bubble tea or caprese salad…

We talk about the food we miss way too much here. Which is why I ordered 180 pieces of sushi for my pool party this weekend!

Not really a pool party in the sense that we went wild… or that we actually swam.

It was warm but not sunny so only the boys went in the water. But it was a really nice and relaxing with all my friends nonetheless. And eating yummy sushi. Or suchi, as they say here in Santiago. Then we took a little field trip 5 blocks away to an ice cream store that sells hand-made ice cream.

Hand-made raspberry/blueberry, passion fruit, and manjar (dulce de leche) ice cream. Deliciouso!

And everyone left fairly early because most of us haven’t even started our essay that is due tomorrow. Including me. Woops.

And I have a final this Wednesday. But my grandma is coming on Tuesday and there is nothing else that seems at all important in my life at the moment. So excited to see her! I am definitely starting to miss home more than I ever have during this entire trip. 

Tomorrow the one-month countdown begins!

From the Desert to an Island

It’s beginning to get cliché that I keep starting my blog posts saying how incredible my past 2 weeks were, but it’s just the truth.

I left off promising to tell you about the Halloween party that we had 3 weeks before Halloween. And now that it is the day after the real Halloween I am very glad we had that party. People in Chile really do not know how to celebrate that holiday.

but the Americans do

However, Siena, who lives with my host sister’s boyfriend, had the party at her house so lots of Chileans came as well. These Chileans dressed up and it was a great night. We even introduced the Chileans to beer pong.

So the Halloween party was on Saturday and that following Thursday night I flew out of Santiago to Calama. A 2 and a half hour flight to the north of Chile.

And of course, here begins more transportation problems. We booked our flight so that we would land around 10 pm. Then we needed to take a 2 hour bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama, the desert where we were staying. Unfortunately, buses at Calama airport (which by the way looks like a little lodge more than an airport) stop working around 9 pm. Our only other choice was to take a private van for about $25 a person.

Woops.

So I was frantically emailing companies for the 2 days before our flight and luckily our hostel owner decided to help us out. She sent her brother to pick us up for only $14 a person. Much better.

And as we walked out of our airplane, we looked around and didn’t really realize where we were until one of my friends just says, “Holy shit guys, we’re in the desert!” And that’s when it really hit us.

During the ride to our hostel, I felt like I was in a planetarium. There were so many stars in the sky, it was incredible. Not something I get to see often, or ever for that matter.

So after passing out right away in our beds, we woke up the next morning ready to start our adventure. And when I say beds, I mean that the 4 other girls on the trip got really nice and comfortable  beds while I got the bunk bed to myself which felt like I was sleeping on rocks and also squeaked any time I moved half an inch…

Anyway, the town was adorable. All the signs were made of wood and there was sand everywhere. We really were in the desert. We walked around trying to find tours for the next few days. Little did we know, we found the perfect one for that same day.

At 4pm, we went sandboarding. One of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. Now I understand why snowboarders think they are cooler than skiers.

It was really difficult climbing up that hill

I obviously fell a bunch of times but it was so much fun. Except for the fact that I had sand absolutely everywhere for the next few days…

I was doing really well...

then I got scared of going too fast...

so I made myself fall.

After sanboarding we were taken to Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). We hiked up for about 5 minutes and came to the most beautiful, and windiest, spot. It was there that our guide decided to give us Pisco Sours (typical Chilean alcoholic drink) as we waited for the sunset.

The sunset was beautiful. Valle de la Luna is known for the fact that the sunset turns the mountains a mix of blue and red.

After that, we thought the tour was over…and the official tour was. So off we went to the salt caves.

We climbed in the salt caves for about 20 minutes. Since we didn’t know that this was part of the tour, my friend very kindly said “Where the fuck is he taking us?!” and the guide just responded saying that he knew English.

At one point he just took off some of the salt crystals on the cave wall and gave them to us to eat. Best salt I have ever had.

We kept climbing (it got kind of small at some points) until we came to a clearing. We climbed up to it and just layed down and looked up.

Remember that feeling I got of being in a planetarium while we were driving in a van? This completely surpassed that feeling. We were in a snowglobe of stars.  

Then we went to go “listen” to the salt. I was obviously a skeptic but even I could hear the salt forming within the rocks!

Overall incredible day. That ended around 10pm. Good thing we were going to get lots of sleep before our tour the next day… that started at 4 in the morning!

5 cranky girls got up at 3:45 in the morning and were in a tour bus 15 minutes later.

5 cranky girls were bundled up and still freezing on the ride on this tour bus that lasted 2 hours.

We were going to the Geysers del Tatio. We were told it was going to be cold, but none of us were prepared for how cold it was really going to be.

But the site was beautiful. 

We just didn’t stay for too long because it was so so cold. So the 5 cranky gringas got back on the bus to wait for it to warm up outside.

I sat on them for warmth

It finally got sunnier and we ventured back outside.

Since our tour started so early, we got back early in the afternoon.

So what do 5 gringas do with the rest of their day? Shop, obviously.

We all bought lots of llama gear because we were so cold that day and had another tour the next morning (but later, at 7am instead of 4).

Since we were in the desert, water was scarce and expensive. It cost $2 for a bottle for water that cost about 85 cents back in Santiago. And food was expensive too. So what did the 5 gringas do?

We ate pasta for every single meal. Cheap and delicious… at least the first few times.

And again, since we were in the desert, water was scarce and expensive. So when we tried to go shower that night, we had 2 options: freezing cold, or boiling hot. We chose neither.

So the next day we were up early again and bundled up more than the day before.

Our first stop were salt flats that were also a flamingo reserve. Normally people see hundreds of flamingos, we saw about 6.

4 more flamingos?

But it was still beautiful regardless.

Then we were off to the mountains to see beautiful lagoons.

and some snowmen?

Oh, and what do 5 gringas do when they are in the midst of such beauty? …

JUMP!

But really, it was absolutely beautiful there. A perfect oasis.

And then came my favorite part of the trip, there was a surprise waiting for us…

showing off our llama gear

We got to pet LLAMAS! While wearing our llama socks! And yes, I have cultivated a not-so-little obsession with llamas while I’ve been here…

he really liked potato chips...

And then it was time to go back to the hostel after another perfect day.

When we got there, we met another group of gringos that actually go to our University in Santiago and who we ended up talking to for hours. 

And that was the end of our amazing trip to the desert. We decided to take an early bus back to the airport because we all had lots of work to do. The bus put on the movie “The Pianist” which is an incredibly sad movie. And in the middle of it the bus had to stop so that the police could check our bags. I was thoroughly freaked out because I was so drawn into the movie at the moment.

But anyway, we made it to the airport at 12:30 and our flight was at 4:30. We decided to try to get on an earlier flight and we made it onto the 1 o’clock flight. Finally one time that our transportation worked in our favor!

But we weren’t in Santiago for very long. We got back on Monday. On Wednesday I took one of the hardest tests I’ve ever had to take (in my Chilean class which I sleep through so that could be why…). And then that very same night, my friend Annie and I were off to the south.

I was so tired from the past week that I passed out on the bus. It was a 12 hour bus ride. My bad knee just became even worse.

I woke up in a lot of pain, but there was nothing I could do. Anyway, we got to Puerto Varas in the morning and walked to our hostel. It was a very rich town and it was beautiful.

There was nothing much to do besides walk around and enjoy the view, and that’s exactly what Annie and I did.

We were hungry so we decided to try to find a pizza place. Terrible, terrible pizza. But while we were sitting there, it started to rain. So we sat and chatted for a couple of hours, the perfect rainy day.

We found a giant chess board... I was clearly a knight

Then we went back and watched a movie and worked on our papers that were due the next day.

The next morning we were off to Ancud which is on the island of Chiloe. Our bus got on a ferry to get there.

Our hostel was a 3 minute walk from the bus terminal. On our walk there, I called our friends that we were supposed to be meeting there to see where they were. They said they had already gone on a tour of the island without us, how considerate. This wasn’t a big deal but it frustrated me a little bit. So when we got to our hostel and the gate was locked I had a mini freak out. Very silly, considering the old man across the street came and just pushed it a little harder than we did and it unlocked…

The hostel was just what we needed – a private little room for 2.

I forgot to mention (and this will freak my mom out as she is reading this) but there was a third person in our room in our previous day’s hostel.

We booked a room for 3 because it was cheaper, thinking that no one else would be in that room. Well, we were wrong. A German backpacker was assigned to our room as well.

It was an interesting experience. He was a really nice guy, just graduated from college and backpacking through South America for a few months. Just a little strange. Especially when he started making inappropriate noises at night as he was getting into bed. We were watching our movie at that point and I timidly asked him if the movie was bothering him. It turns out he had a skiing accident a few days earlier and was just in a lot of pain.

So mom, nothing bad happened by having a random person stay in the same room as us, but I wish I could have seen your reaction as you read this!

Anyway, back to Ancud. We got there around 11 and our hostel owner helped us book a tour for 3pm. The tour was to a penguin reserve!

The drive there was absolutely beautiful.

We stopped at a lookout of the beach.

And then finally we arrived at the penguin reserve, just as it started to rain. So we put on ponchos of course

And then we were rolled out onto the boat.

And then finally we got to see some penguins!

But first we saw some adorable sea otters!

Can you spot the penguins?

Our guide made fun of me for taking too many pictures so I'll spare you the rest.

So then, just as we stepped off the boat, it stopped raining. So we went to another lookout.

maybe I do take too many pictures

We went back to our hostel around 7pm very content. Only to remember that we still hadn’t finish our essays and they were due that night at midnight. I finally finished around 11pm.

The next day we were off to Castro, another island in Chiloe. This is where we were going to meet our friends for sure because we were staying in the same hostel for the next 2 nights. So as we are approaching the island, we asked them where they are and they told us that they already left for the national park. Great. Still just Annie and me.

So we follow them to the park. And of course we took a bus so there were issues.

There weren’t enough seats for everyone so Annie let me sit while she had to stand. But I sat next to a mom and her toddler. She fed him a sandwhich, yogurt, and juice. I remember watching that and thinking the combination of foods would make me want to throw up. Apparently the toddler agreed with me.

He threw up about halfway through the trip. Luckily, somehow none got on me.

Finally we made it to the national park only to realize that we were hungry. But the food was outrageously expensive. So we ordered a fruit salad. And while we waited 30 minutes for this salad, our friends walked by! They were extremely shocked to see us there.

Anyway, we went with one of them on this little hike that we were told would last an hour but really lasted about half an hour. It was nice nonetheless.

intricate spiderweb

He really likes his Tims...

Then we all went on a hike to the beach.

We saw some sheep...

and some cows on the way.

The water was so fierce that it created a huge “puddle” that prevented us from getting to the actual ocean. And by us, I mean the girls.

It wasn’t a problem for the guys…

Henry dove right in and was fine...

Mike was a little cold...

and Alex just hopped on through.

Happy boys

Apparently coming back they weren't even cold at all

caveman Alex

We went back very satisfied from the day. We quickly went to dinner after getting back. Annie’s friend from Syracuse who is working in Concepcion for the semester was coming up to stay with us. We decided, being the nice people that we are, to play a prank on her. We would all come up with different personalities.  

My name was Ariel and I lived on a boathouse in the Hudson River. Get it…Ariel, living in the water…

Anyway, we finally told her the truth, but not after getting a few (and I mean a lot) of good laughs out of it.

The next day were went to a market so I decided not to bring my camera. What a bad idea that was. It was absolutely beautiful! The water was so blue and everything was so green all around it. So much vegetation on the island of Chiloe!

I guess I’ll just save those memories for myself for once and not have pictures of them.

That day we tried the typical dish of Chiloe called “curanto.” The ingredients are sausage, chicken, pork, potatoes, mussels, and clams. It was absolutely disgusting to me, but everyone else seemed to like it. I thought I hated mussels, clams, and pork, and now I know for sure. Oh well, it was all for the experience.

The next day we were leaving. Our bus left from a town called Puerto Monnt which is about 15 minutes away from Puerto Varas, where Annie and I stayed on our first day. We thought it took 2.5 hours to get there from Castro. Apparently it takes closer to 4 hours.

Our bus was scheduled to leave at 4:45 so we decided to buy tickets for 12:40, giving us what we thought would be about an hour to relax before the next bus ride.

So that morning we went to another market closer to us. There we all bought ceviche (I bought it with salmon, never eating mussels or clams ever again). It was delicious and the day was gorgeous. How could that great morning turn into such a bad afternoon?

Well, by the fact that our bus to Puerto Montt broke down about half an hour away from Castro. Remind you of anything *cough* our trip to Mendoza *cough*.

 It occurred to us that maybe we wouldn’t make it to Puerto Montt on time for our bus. I went out to talk to the bus driver and he confirmed our suspicion. Great.

It’s a good thing that people in the south of Chile are so friendly. The lady in front of us tried to help us by calling the bus company. Meanwhile, I talked to her 6-year-old daughter. Or more like she talked to me (6 year old's never stop talking apparently). The mom was also furious at the bus driver for letting people get on a broken bus, although of course it’s not his fault. He ended up getting another bus to come out and pick up everyone from the broken bus. But by this time we were all freaking out.  

However, the nice bus driver came up to us and told us that we would reach our next bus on time. How?

Well, by driving super fast on the roads. And then getting the ferry to use a shortcut…

Just some sea lions enjoying the sun

After we get off the ferry there was still some more to go. Then all of a sudden the bus driver tells us to get off the bus. We thought we were going to meet up with our bus that we missed, and we were right…partially.

There was a grey van and 2 men waiting for us. They took our stuff into the van, as we were all nervously laughing at the situation. They drove us for about 5 minutes to another destination where we actually were supposed to wait for the bus this time. So we waited and waited and finally it came.

But our problems weren’t over yet. Annie and I had seats close to the back of the bus, but 2 of our other friends had the very last seats on the bus.

A family with 2 young boys and a baby got on at the next stop. They had the seats in front of our friends. But just the parents and the baby. They placed their 2 boys on a ledge behind the seats of our friends.

Our friends graciously switched seats with the parents. Then all we had left to ponder was how awful the parents were to let their kids sit on a ledge for a 12 hour bus ride through the night. But we didn’t think about those 2 boys as much as about their little baby brother. Who cried and smelled like poop.

Not to mention their seats were not directly next to the bathroom…

Luckily, the family got off about 2 hours later. If they didn’t, I think my friends would have gone crazy throughout that bus ride.

So of course Annie and I brought lots of snacks on the bus and even loaded 2 movies onto our laptops. Around 11:30 we passed out. I woke up about an hour from Santiago because I was in excruciating pain. If the rest of the ride would have been longer than an hour I don’t know what I would have done. My knee felt like it was on fire.

So we got back to our homes at 6 am on Tuesday morning. And now I have 2 days of rest until we all leave for our University sponsored trip to Pucón on Thursday night. That is also about 10 hours away by bus. My knee is not going to get any rest. And while at Pucón, we are going to climb a volano. But we’ve known for a while now that the climb is really difficult. I really shouldn’t do it with the way my knee has been feeling. Obviously I am going to though.

This is word for word the exact email I sent today to my friend’s mom who is a pharmacist and who I always ask for medicinal advice:

“so some things never change, obviously I have a question about medicine for you. Remember my stupid knee problem here? Well two 15 hour bus rides really didn’t help it… and I have to climb a really difficult volcano in 3 days. So what’s the maximum amount of Advil I can be taking each day before it constitutes an overdose :)”

My life.