Montañas, cascadas y otra wea

Parece que time has gotten away from me. My summer here in Chile is more than halfway over, and I'm not really sure where the time is going.  Since my last post, I've watched about two days worth of fútbol and celebrated the success of both Chile and the US (thus far). I am truly loving the passion for sport here. It's on another level to what we experience back home. Stores close, buses stop, they fire up the grills for an asado, people pour into the streets with flags, horns, and open containers to celebrate cada victoria de La Roja. Classes are now over, and my internship at Consultorio Reina Isabel starts this week. With little over three weeks to go, thoughts of leaving are starting to creep in, and with them come mixed feelings of leaving my Chilean family and getting to see my American one. Some travel during the past few weeks has brought with it quite a few revelations. We'll take a weekend to go and experience a new place, do some hiking, or get to know a new town. At the end of the trip I find myself longing to get back home... home: Valparaíso. I admit that my time here is strikingly short and hardly long enough to get to know a city, but I feel a connection to this city. For that reason, I foresee it being very hard to leave. For now, those feelings can wait. There is so much more to learn in my time here!

Trek 1 to Parque Nacional La Campana can be defined as strenuous, slightly reckless, but altogether gratifying. The journey to the park includes a 45 minute metro ride followed by a 20 minute bus ride to the entrance to the park. Our group arrived around 11am, meaning that a near breakneck pace was needed to make the trip before nightfall. Cerro La Campana rises 1880 meters (6,168ft) above the park, offering view of the Pacific on one side and the Andes on the other. We were rewarded with stunning views and knee deep snow for our trouble. First Chilean dirt on my hiking shoes: check.

La vista corta la respiración

This past weekend I traveled to Pucón with some friends from class. This adventure tourism capital of Chile is about 12 hours from Valparaíso by bus and offers beaches, climbing, and mountain biking in the summer, and skiing in the winter. There I got my first taste of hostel culture, which as it turns out, is just a conglomeration of people from all over wanting to experience the world in which we live. There is something fascinating about language, and some of my favorite moments here have been exchanges jumping back and forth from english to spanish.

The trip began with a horse ride through Mapuche territory outside the town of Pucón. The guide was of Mapuche descent, the indigenous population of Chile, and it was incredible discussing the lifestyle, language, and politics of his people. After the two hour horse ride and two day sore body, I'm just thinking my body wasn't made for horses. I think I'll stick to sports where I can use my feet.

Day 2 consisted of a hike through Parque Nacional Huerquehue, a fairly popular attraction in the area. Once again, el invierno got the better of us, as part of the trail was closed due to snowfall. Nevertheless, we threw on our rain jackets, sealed up our lunches, and wrapped our feet in plastic bags (yes.. that actually happened) and hit the trail. Two scenic waterfalls, seven kilometers, and what felt like two meters of rainfall later, we returned to our hostel by bus to dry off before hitting the much needed Los Polzones hot springs that night.

Braving the conditions

Day 3 promised a hike of Volcan Villarica according to the trekking guides, but the weather had other ideas. We ascended to the base of the volcano only to find that the conditions were too hazardous to make the ascent. Nevertheless, determined to find adventure, we set out to find the hidden gem Saltos del Claro. It is so obscure that apparently one has to hand draw a map of the area. Thanks to either our eagerness or the ambiguity of the map, we ended up more or less lost in the forest for about two hours. Finally, after giving up our hunt for the falls, we stumbled across the fallen tree that the map spoke of. There, like a fluffy pillow on the overnight bus ride, like a warm towel and a cup of coffee after our hike in the rain, wound the trail down the hillside. Charlie and I of course took off running to see the falls, and no doubt experienced the moment of the weekend at first sight of them. Sheer, random, unfiltered joy. Finally, feeling accomplished and exhausted, we returned to the hostel to back our things and prepare to return to reality. Then we saw the sunset.

Valió la pena

The opportunity to travel brings with it the re-realization of one's infinitesimally small place here. Almost every afternoon the sun sets in a brilliant mixture of reds, oranges, and yellows laid out across the pacific sky. The immeasurable amount of water rushing from a cliff 85 meters to amphitheater of wonder, drenching you with spray and blocking out all other sounds. The temblors that send shivers through you as you realize the helplessness you would feel in a real earthquake. The thin air of the mountains that reveals silence louder than you have ever heard and the majesty of the Creator who established all of it with only His voice. It all points to something.

Psalm 104:31-32
"May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works-- he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke."

Hasta luego chicos,
BAB

La Roja

¿Como stai? I'm back with a shiny new update from South America! As always, I am grateful that you decided to follow the link here and check in. Over three weeks down, and I cannot believe how fast time is passing. I'm posting this a few days later than I intended to, but nevertheless, I will try to keep it as condensed as possible.

First, a quick summary of last weekend. Saturday and Sunday were excursion days organized by ISA. The first, titled "Playas del Norte" took us to various beaches north of the city which were accompanied by some nice weather and breath-taking views. One highlight was the horse ride we took in Concón. Taking $6 horse ride without signing a waiver or wearing a helmet may not have been the safest decision I have ever made, but it went off without a hitch (for me at least), and we enjoyed some beautiful views of the beach before stopping for lunch in the fishing town of Horcón. Believe it or not, that is not a typo. Here in Chile, theres Horcón, Pucón, here con, there con, everywhere a Concón. Cartographer's nightmare, am I right? Bad jokes aside, the trip continued with the final destination of Zapallar, a town nestled in the green hills of the central region with a spectacular view of the ocean. It was fascinating to observe the economic differences between this area and Valparaíso. This town had the feel of a summer vacation town on Highway 1 in California. Most of the students took the twenty minute, lightpost-adorned, cobblestone-paved, ivy-covered walk to the point of the beach. Here we found a rocky outcropping which provided without a doubt one of the views of the trip so far. 

View from Zapallar

Sunday began with an excursion to the ironically named Isla Negra, because it's not really an island at all. Here we took our third tour of the houses de Pablo Neruda. The man was brilliant, well-travelled, and an incredible writer. It seems my slowly improving Spanish is almost like a key unlocking a door to a different world of literature I would otherwise never know of. I am certainly looking forward to learning more about the poet, the man, the real-estate agent (chiste), Pablo Neruda. The trip continued with dinner and shopping in the town of Pomaire. The highlights here were one kilo empanadas, which translates to 2.2 pounds, enorme! I was not brave enough to try one of these delicious monsters, but those that finished them were soon rewarded with stomach aches for the rest of the day. Here I purchased my first souvenirs of the trip, some hand made ceramic cups and a bowl, perfect for the always luxurious Crowne apartments next year. Who knows, maybe I'll end up like Neruda with a house filled with a random mixture of cultural and sentimental items.

Location, Location, Location.

Next, we continue with the world's and my deporte favorito, fútbol. First, a confession: I would be lying if I said that the location of my study abroad trip wasn't at least in part influenced by the South American countries playing in the World Cup. The passion for fútbol here rivals the fall in Knoxville, TN, and that's saying something. For this reason, the topic this week is:

La Roja- the reds; A nickname given to the Chilean national team.

El Mundial. The single largest sporting event on the planet. No wonder the entire country is buzzing with excitement at the prospect of a world cup on South American soil. Evidence of this is everywhere, from the kids playing on the pitch down the street to a national team jersey on every third person downtown; the belief in la selección Chilena is something else. Despite being drawn in an extremely difficult group, the "golden generation" of Chilean football hopes to progress over defending champion Spain and finalist Holland. The build up to the world cup overall has been very positive for the Chileans. After a flying start to the qualifying campaign, they suffered six straight defeats, which led to a sacking of former manager Claudio Borghi. Under current manager, Jorge Sampaoli, La Roja have seen a turnaround in results, victories over Uruguay and England, a third-place in CONMEBOL qualifying, and a revamped high-pressure and high-scoring system. 

"This is the jersey of all Chileans, symbol of the union and hope of an entire country. Let's go Chile, because believing is in our nature."

The final two warm-up matches included a 3-2 victory over Egypt and a 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland here in Valparaíso. When I heard that the send off match was in Valpo, I had to get a ticket. Wednesday night, mi padre David, Doug and I set out for the stadium in Playa Ancha for the 8pm kick-off. Chile had a somewhat impressive performance, struggling to breakdown the Irish until the introduction of star forwards Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas. It will be interesting to see how they do again the much more solid Spanish and Dutch sides in week's time. Some highlights of the night were learning the chants of the team, as well as some comical curse words shouted from the stands. It was a special experience for my Chilean father as well, as it was his first time seeing La Roja in person, and I thoroughly enjoyed discussing the match with him afterward. It is just over three days before the first match, and I can't stand the wait. Don't worry, I haven't forsaken my homeland just yet. I will definitely be cheering on the Red, White, and Blue from 5,000 miles away as well. Go, go USA!

Doug and I before the match

Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander

Viva Chile,

Blake