Pucon!!!

Okay, this last weekend I went to Pucon, which is about a 12-hour bus ride from where I live. It was awesome, as the weekend was filled with adventures. Personally, I am a person who prefers adventure sports and awesome scenery over historical buildings (although they are growing on me a little bit as I start enjoying geography more). So, this weekend was up my alley. I even enjoyed riding in coach buses, because as most of you know, I can sleep really well in moving vehicles. Once we arrived in Pucon, we stayed in cabins. This was a trip of my exchange program, so about 65 North Americans went. Six of us stayed in my cabin.
The first day we went on a beautiful tour. We visited Salto Palguin, Salto La China, Ojos del Caburgua, Laguna Azul, Lago Caburgua, Termas (hot springs) Los Pozones. The first waterfall was extremely tall. It was gorgeous. When we went to the lake, I swam around. It was fun. As for the hot springs, they were cool. It was my first time seeing naturally hot lake-type things like this. They can get to be so hot!
The second day was a huge day. I climbed on a Volcano. It is called Volcan Villarrica. It was such hard work. I would have liked to climb the entire thing, including snow and all, reaching the top and looking in at the lava, but the weather did not permit it that day. It was so windy! It was even hard to stand without getting blown over. It would have been impossible to climb to the top. All the groups were coming down. I wish I could explain the conditions of this climb better. It was cold, since the wind was so intense. We walked with picks and were given gear for the hike, like special pants, coats, helmets, boots, etc. Due to the wind, the dust was flying up and my face was so dirty (again!). It was hard to breathe. Some people have problems with the altitude when they do this. It was also so steep that we were almost too tired to talk to each other while climbing much. It was also somewhat dangerous; therefore, we had to hike in a single-file line. A guide was at the front of the group and another guide at the back of the group. It took about 3 hours to climb to where we had to turn around and only about 45 minutes to get down. I returned with some beautiful photos. In the afternoon, I went canopying (zip-lining). This place has the longest route in South America (1 km). It was very high in the air and very exciting.
The third day I went WHITE WATER RAFTING in the morning. This may have been my favorite activity. We did class 3 rapids. I am now ready for class 4-hehe. Anyway, it was awesome. We got soaked. Between rapids, when there was calmer water, our guide asked if anyone wanted to jump in the water. I asked if he was serious. He said yes. I jumped in, but it was very cold! Anyway, white water rafting was awesome. I learned commands and what to do, etc. I sat in the front. It was great! I was concerned about not being able to get any pictures, but I talked to the bus driver. Since he was dropping us off and picking us up, he said he could take pictures. I was happy. I gave him a quick lesson on how to operate my camera. Part way through the run, I saw him from our raft on a bridge overhead. He went above and beyond to get some extra pictures. We were excited. After white water rafting, I went horse-back riding in the afternoon. We went for a 2-3 hour horse-back ride. It was relaxing riding up and down some hills/bluffs. The volcano from the day before was in the background at times. However, since there hasn't been rain in a while, it was also VERY dusty.
Well, I feel like this blog is not giving justice to the weekend. It was jam-packed with adventures. After the days' activities I did things like going out to eat with friends, playing Uno with Chileans (who play differently), and talking/laughing with friends.
I returned very tired with much dirty laundry. But it was a great weekend!
I saw so much of God's beautiful creation. Chile has really been blessed with different natural wonders, such as: volcanoes, desert, mountains, etc. Since Chile is so tall and skinny, its climate is able to have such a diverse variety of God's creation.

Santiago

Last weekend we went to Santiago for about 4 days. Most of the Gringos (North Americans) were just arriving then. However, since I did the intensive month early with about 10 others, we went to Santiago, which is the capital of Chile, to meet up with about 50 more Gringos in the airport. This weekend consisted of a lot of English, which is one reason why I hardly spend time with Gringos. However, this weekend was interesting and relaxing too. Let me tell you a little about it.
First of all, Santiago is the capital of Chile, and its population holds about 40% of the entire country's population. I think it is a city of about 6 million. It was nice to visit, but I would not want to live there.
Anyway, I was assigned a roommate, who had just arrived to Chile that day. It was interesting talking with these new arrivals, as I was reminded of the emotions, excitements, questions, etc., that I had on that day about a month ago. Anyway, the hotel was great! My roommate and I got along very well and we had an apartment to ourselves (kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom). For a side note, my roommate shared my views on sunscreen.~yippee!
Okay, one of the first things we went to was called Cerro San Cristóbal. We rode up in large elevator type things but rode down in teleféricos. They are hard to explain but are like little carts to ride in and are transported by cables. They are used to get to and from the top of the hill. The distance from the ground can get up to 38 meters and the length of ride is about 5,000 meters. This picture might illustrate them better than written explanations.
Another interesting place was called the Palacio de la Moneda, which is kind of like the White House in the United States. The Chilean president works there, but does not live there. It was fascinating to me that we could enter so easily. We went on a tour around the facilities. Ever since Chile became a democracy, they find it important that citizens have access to this governmental building, since a democracy is supposed to be a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. I understand why the White House in the United States is less accessible, but I just found it very interesting. The president is much more accessible here. My hostmom explained that if someone wants to talk to the president, they are welcome to. She likes to be close to the people.
Oh, and I took a picture with one of the guards. Do we look alike?
We also went to other tourist places around Santiago, including an artisan fair. I would like to briefly explain two more places we visited, that especially stick out in my mind.
First, is la Vina Cousino Macul, which is one of the oldest vineyards in Chile. I think it was founded in the 1800's. Some of the wine in storage rooms that we saw on the tour dates back to 1927. Anyway, before the tour we all got a wine glass for taste-testing wines. The quality of wine from this vineyard has helped to make Chilean wine well-known on an international level.
The other place that we toured that I wanted to tell you about is called La Chascona, which was one of Pablo Neruda's houses. Neruda was a famous poet and politician and was fascinated with boats/ships. Therefore, his house is "shiplike". Let me explain. The hallways are narrow and the steps are circular, just like on a ship, where there isn't much room for luxury. The ceilings were lower. He even had a water stream outside his house to give it an additional effect. Also, in one of the rooms, the floor is purposely crooked, to make it seem like one is walking on a boat with waves underneath. Surprisingly, the resemblance is great.
Well, in a nutshell that was our trip to Santiago. During the days, we had mandatory tours, and we mostly had the nights free. It was nice to be able to relax two of those nights. The third night I was invited with a friend over to a couple's house. This couple are both Luther alumni that have lived in Chile for about 30 years or so. They were so hospitable. It was fun to converse with them. They said that we brought them a little bit of their home/past back to them, with our accents, culture, etc.
When I returned from Santiago, I walked into our apartment, and my hostmom greeted me at the door. With disappointment, she said that she was alone, that nobody else was there to welcome me home. However, as I walked around the corner, there were some of my Chilean friends there, waiting to go eat ice cream with me. It was a nice surprise!
That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed it.

La Campana

Wow- this past week or two have been even busier. I just returned from a trip to Santiago. However, before I update you on that, I would like to blog a little over a camping experience I went on with some Chilean friends.
There were 7 of us total, and let me tell you, this sort of camping was much different than the camping I do with my family. There was no camper and no car. We backpacked in food, sleeping bags, clothes, drinks, and tents.
We basically climbed a mountain. They call it a hill, but I suggest we change that name. It is 1880m high. The Lonely Planet travel book says, "The abruptly steep trail to the summit climbs 1455m in only 7km - an average gradient of nearly 21%." It is about half way between Santiago and Valparaiso.
Okay, we stayed overnight one night before climbing and descending. Our camp spot was really remote. It was a campground, but from our campsite, it was hard to even find our way to the bathrooms and back, as we were surrounded in woods. After eating, singing around the campfire, and playing cards, we layed under the stars. This was a unique experience for the Chileans, because they usually can't see the stars like we could that night. I think this is due to the smog and light pollution in the big city. However, as I said, we were so remote, that the stars glowed. :) While we were laying there on the ground, we heard an animal running at us. One of the guys in our group yelled out, "Horse". It was dark, and we all jumped up in a hurry. It ended up being a cow. Two more followed it. They were still quite a ways away from us, but when lying in silence on the ground looking up at the stars, any animal moving quickly at you sounds scary. I do not know why these cows were out and about, but it made for an interesting story. The sky was also interesting because some of the stars we saw cannot be seen in the U.S. and vice versa. For example, I do not think we can see the Big Dipper here.
Anyway, the next morning, we got a late start (Chilean time is very different) on the day. Then, the hike up took us about 5 hours and the hike down about 3 hours. I can honestly say that I did not know if I was going to make it up. It was SO intense! It was hard work and it was hot out. But we made it to the top, and there was a book chained to a huge rock, where those who had successfully climbed all the way to the top could sign their name. The last 2 hours of the climb up were so tough. There were rocks all over, and at times I was climbing on all four.
The view was spectacular! To me, it was like mountains. However, I am confused on the difference between the terms mountains and hills. We climbed so high that we could see where the clouds ended. It was incredible! Actually, where the clouds ended was probably only half the way up or so. There were 2 water spots on the way up. As for bathrooms, there was nature all over.- hehe
On the way down, our group really had to book it. However, due to the climbing conditions, we had to be rather careful. On the second half of the way down, I was walking second, following a male from our group, who was our current leader. On two different occasions, a huge spider crossed the trail. I had never seen a spider like that. It looked like a tarantula. I screamed. :) The third time something like this happened, the guy in front told me to quick pass. I asked if it was another spider. He said he heard a noise and listed some of the things it could be. I was thankful to walk quickly past that spot. We laughed. With the exception of a couple large blisters on my foot, I made it back safely with my group. The views were gorgeous. It was a rather cheap excursion for me and was definitely worth the hard work.
God's creation is gorgeous, and it was great to see it. I was also fortunate that some new Chilean friends invited me to go with.