Siete Vidas

Thailand is Great!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Trying to get back to the original idea of this blog, which was to give regular Yes, we're alive! updates to friends and family. I'm already failing, though; almost a week here and this is the first time I sought out more than 5 min online.

In our short time so far, we have experienced Thai food (cheap and amazing), Thai massage (using feet, interrupted by the occasional cell call), temples (our favorites are the old ruins, not the new shiny ones), elephants (we fed them sugar cane), and monkeys (a bit over-plentiful, actually). More photos will be forthcoming when I find a better internet cafe...keep your eye on flickr if you're interested.

Jennifer

The Glorious Parques

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:47:00 +0000

During the semester I studied in England, I joined a lot of groups, among them the gentle sounding “Walking Club.” The only “walk” I joined had me spending two days half-jogging up steep rocky trails while icy rain whipped against my face and seeped into my clothing. With this experience very much in mind, we signed up for a Patagonian “soft adventure” tour package. As the 3rd septuagenarian boarded our tour bus, we realized we probably could have gone with a more strenuous version.

Having said that, a bus tour was the perfect way to spend our first day, given the limited amount of time we had to explore the parks. We were able to see a lot of the area surrounding the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, including several lakes and the cave where Captain Hermann Eberhard found the remains of a milodón (giant 15-foot sloth) in 1896. The enormous cave now hosts a replica of the herbivore, which menaces tourists in hundreds of photos just like these.

At the conclusion of the tour, we waited for our ride to the next night’s accommodation inside the park. The refugio was in no way what I expected – we had clean sheets, hot showers, excellent food, and access to the comforts of bar, hot tub and masseuse. We reserved these accommodations because we didn’t have our own camping gear, but once we arrived we realized that renting equipment would have been simple. If we make it back, we will most likely opt for rented tents.

Day one we hiked to the base of the Torres. As expected, I was much slower than Jason and Brandon, who were reluctant to leave me behind and trek off on their own. Eventually we made it up the path, along the edge of a mountain, through a forest* and over a boulder field to reach the hidden lake below the towers. As with most of the lakes in the park, mineral and sediment runoff turns the water a milky blue-green that is impenetrable to sunlight, inhabitable to life. We worried only about temperature, not creatures, as we waded slightly into the pool.

On our second day, we rode through the park on horseback. Some confusion about the location of the horses resulted in a late start, but we were saddled up and on our way by mid-morning. Our group included a gaucho (cowboy) and a guía (guide), both of whom spoke mostly Spanish. The guide was extremely knowledgeable about the park’s flora, fauna and history, and seemed a little disappointed that we didn’t take more photos as we skirted Lago Nordenskjöld. At the end of the ride, he invited us to share mate, which was my first communal mate experience. It tasted like a bitter green tea, which was lovely for me, short about 1/4 cup of sugar for Jason. Brandon thought enough of it to buy a souvenir bowl and pipe once we returned to Santiago.

Our final tour left from Puerto Natales, and took us by boat to enter Parque Bernardo O’Higgins. The highlight of the boat-access-only park is Glacier Serrano. The glacier is enormous, although shrinking. Jason blames the daily allotment of ice chipped from its sides for tourist drinks. I suspect there may be other factors at play. In addition to conservationally-unsound beverages, the tour included a parrilla (grill) lunch. This is essentially a massive platter of meat – lamb, chicken, sausage and steak – grilled with no spices to speak of; it is probably the most traditional meal in Chile, and most Chilean parties are parrilla-centered asados (barbeques).

This was our last day exploring the southern parks. There were no flights directly from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, so we took a bus to Punto Arenas and spent the night there before catching a flight. Punto Arenas is home to the world’s most southern brewery, Chile’s only Hindu temple, and several other things we didn’t have time to see during our brief stop. In fact, our only photo from the entire city is of the Magellan-honoring statue in the center of Plaza Muñoz Gamero.

*This section of the park consists of fairly new growth. In 2005, a Czech tourist started a wildfire that destroyed 55 square miles 500-year old forest (7% of the park). He was fined the maximum amount of CP$120,000 (about US$250 today), which angered a lot of Chileans in light of the severe damage and US$7 million or so restoration is costing. Embarrassed by all the bad press, the tourist donated another US$1,000 and the Czech government contributed US$185,000.

Quirly*

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:51:00 +0000

I confess, I vicariously discovered Patagonia only a few years ago, thanks to musical duo Lemon Jelly. Even more recently I learned exactly how big the area is, extending far beyond the world-famous national parks at the southern tip of the continent and up into Chile’s ninth region. Last month I furthered my personal experience with the area, as Jason’s friend Brandon joined us for a road-sea-air-foot-horseback sampler tour of Patagonia.

After the briefest of introductions to Santiago, we took TurBus down to Puerto Montt, seedy gate to the beauties of the south. The three of us were most likely asleep when our Patagonian vacation began, sometime around 5am as our bus neared Temuco. Once in Puerto Montt, we contributed our own US$30 to the area’s billion dollar salmon industry with lunch at Angelmó before we started the ferry portion of our trip.

The Navimag Ferry is an excellent way to see more than 900 miles of almost-untouched coastline and experience the Chilean fjords. The route so enjoyed by cheapskate tourists today was created by necessity in 1978, when a row between dictators Pinochet (Ch) and Videla (Arg.) closed borders, stranding Chileans living in Tierra del Fuego. The passage is slow and beautiful, with nothing other than scheduled mealtimes and your own entertainment to distract from the scenery.

Having skipped over all of the expensive cruise lines, we did splurge a bit on our ferry accommodations, opting for a private bathroom and only one stranger in our room (Andre, from Italy, age 55+/-, enjoys physical therapy, tango and Italian lovesongs) aboard the Evangelista. The cramped cabin would be a problem during a rougher voyage, but we spent all of our non-sleeping time circuiting slowly from lounge (cards/books) to deck (scenery/i-pod) to cafeteria (bananas/food/lectures/movies).

Passage usually includes a brief stop on Isla Wellington to visit Puerto Edén, home to the few (10) remaining members of the Alacaluf/Kaweskar people among others. Navimag has an obligation to stop at the otherwise isolated port during every passage, in case residents need/want to reach the mainland. However, the accidental death of a British actress during previous passage and the resultant delays meant the Pto. Edén excursion was cut from our itinerary; town residents took boats out to our ferry, but no passengers disembarked.

During the four days, we saw several species of birds, dolphins, a glacier, quirly water, forests, waterfalls, and several channels, passes and gulfs. The latter includes what became known as Golfo de Penas (sorrows) when non-Spanish speaking explorers couldn’t reproduce the gulf’s original name, Peña.

On the final day, we tromped down steep ladder and broad dock into the town of Puerto Natales, looking for food, an internet connection, and our pre-reserved hostal. The food we found at one of Chile’s best pizza restaurants, La Mesita, where strangers bump elbows at one of two large picnic-style tables while consuming their gourmet pizzas and micro-brewed beers. The hostal was a bit out of the way, but it was clean and attractive, the owner was very friendly (and her granddaughter adorable!) and at US$15 a person with private room, shower, and breakfast included, it felt like an excellent deal. We really will have a hard time re-adjusting to US hotel prices…

*Merriam-Webster online doesn’t recognize this word, but it was used often on our Navimag voyage to describe rough waters, and may be my new favorite.

Valpo, Reprise

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:01:00 +0000

So... we'd been to Valparaiso several times, but never took the time to do more than the most cursory of self-guided tours. We remedied that last month by joining a group trip organized by the excellent Escuela Bellavista, where Jason and I have been frustrating our respective Spanish teachers for the past year.

Much of the trip included repeats, but new sights included one of Pablo Neruda's three houses (check out the cow-shaped punch mixer) and the Open Aire Museum. The latter was a very cool and successful attempt to liven up parts of the city by inviting artists to paint murals on the sides of buildings. It caught on so well that home owners outside of the designated museum wanted their own murals. Of course, they weren't always happy with the results, so some art-student murals have been "improved" by subsequent owners.

Also interesting is the statue of Chilean Justice. Rumor has it that after an unpleasant brush with the Chilean justice system, a US businessman donated the statue to the city. Note the lack of blindfold and addition of... sword? cross? club?

Southern Holidays - More about 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:27:00 +0000

My folks' visit was filled with only good things; we had an excellent Thanksgiving meal with lots of fresh produce from La Vega, visited some cool places and ate at many excellent restaurants. For the big meal, we were even able to find a grocery store that brought in a special shipment of cranberry sauce! This was necessary to replace those Mom had very kindly tried to bring in her carry-on: airport security immediately recognized them as the deadly weapons they undoubtedly were and sent them to a PA food bank to harry unsuspecting families.

This was our only Chilean Thanksgiving, and it was successful in large part because mom was around. I kept remembering the first Thanksgiving Jason and I celebrated together – he visited during my semester at University of York, and a group of non-chefs got together to burn sweet potatoes and other traditional fare in the too-small British oven. The only item that hadn’t been overcooked was the turkey… we hacked off and ate the external 2” because the middle was basically raw. The Chilean oven worked much better for us.

In addition to gorging ourselves at Thanksgiving, we did a lot of sightseeing. Mom and Dad went up to the Atacama Desert, where they visited a lot of the same places we did during our desert trip, and got much better photos while doing it. While together, we stayed mostly within Santiago.

We took a tour of coastal cities Vina del Mar, Valparaiso and Zapallar over a long weekend, staying in beautiful Hotel Isla Seca. Based on the number of houses that included helicopter pads, Zapallar is a very wealthy beach town, and home owners there probably spend a small fortune on landscaping. The shape of the beach and the bordering mountains keep the area relatively cool and misty, which means floral species that wouldn’t survive on US east coast shorelines thrive here. The result is a winding oceanside path from hotel to the beach that passes stunning gardens cascading from the mountainside houses.

There are several species of birds that nest in and around Zapallar. The most interesting of these are the pelicans and the penguins. We hired one of the fishermen to take us out near the islands where the penguins nest. He actually got a bit closer to the island than we would have preferred; some of the penguins started to look distinctly nervous. The pelicans, on the other hand, were well-used to people. They lingered close to the restaurant and fish market, only moving when an overly excited dog ran barking to within 4 feet of one of the largest.

Jason’s parents’ visit also started out filled with good things. We saw the sites of Santiago, including a condensed version of the changing of the guard at La Moneda, the fresh produce and seafood at El Mercado, and a very, umm, thorough special exhibit of non-procreative sex in the Pre-Columbian Art Museum.

The big highlight of the vacation was our trip to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) a tiny island that legend holds was found to satisfy the monarchial yearnings of a Polynesian King’s younger brother. The prince astral projected himself over the ocean during a dream, and when he woke up sent seven of the island’s best explorers out to follow the landmarks he remembered from his dream. They found the island, and when the prince and his new subjects arrived in the 63 square-mile kingdom, the first Moai were erected to honor the seven explorers. Unlike all other Moai on the island, they face out to sea and keep watch for new travelers.

We arrived on the island late on Wednesday, went directly to our cabanas and fell asleep. We had arranged a tour through Viator for our first full day, so that we could see the entire island. But… the tour company never showed up. So we wandered around the island, ate lots of fresh tuna, made arrangements with a different tour group for the next day and got an early start on our sunburns.

Friday we took a boat ride out to the rocky island that was/is the focus of the Birdman cult then did some snorkeling in a somewhat protected part of the ocean. Flying fish streaked silver across our bow, and the early morning breeze had yet to reach its daily high. We didn’t see many really colorful fish when snorkeling, as we were too high above any coral, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Jacques Cousteau once declared the waters off Easter Island to be the clearest in the world, and we certainly had no problem seeing the 60 meter-deep bottom.

After dashing into dry clothes, we started off on our tour of the island. Our guide, Terry, was fluent in English, Spanish and Rapa Nui. We saw the ancient villages, heard the most recent theories about which/why/how people originally lived on the island, and saw a lot of Moai in various states of disrepair. We were touring the quarry where Moai were chiseled from the rock face when the vacation took a turn for the worse.

Vicki fell on the poorly-maintained dirt path, shattering her ankle and beginning a week-long adventure of crazy transportation (backboards and truck beds and ambulances, oh my!), hospital visits, staff both helpful and un- (hospital and LAN airlines, respectively), and a quick and necessary increase in Spanish vocabulary. In the interest of continued good relations with Vicki, no photographs were taken of this part of the trip.

She was released from the hospital on Christmas Day, and she and Brad were able to leave Chile on their scheduled flight. Because I took so long to write this post, I can share the happy news that she is now out of her cast, and is walking again with the help of leg brace and cane.

San Carlos de Bariloche

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Now that we’re more than two weeks into the New Year, it’s past time to officially wrap up 2007’s events. The last months of the year brought on a flurry of visitors, with Shannon visiting in late October, my parents visiting over Thanksgiving, and Jason’s visiting over Christmas.

We like to get in at least one trip with each visitor, but deciding where to go can be a challenge. We’d heard a lot of positive things about the Argentinean lake district from people who had visited both the Chilean and Argentine sides, so Shannon, Jason and I took a plane/bus journey to Puerto Montt then on to San Carlos de Bariloche. Puerto Montt was reconfirmed as a somewhat decaying port town (albeit with an excellent fresh seafood market), and it was also where Shannon started feeling the first symptoms of a stomach bug that would follow her for the rest of the trip.

Bariloche is beautiful, with architecture that clearly harkens back to its days as a German and Swiss settlement. If the building style didn’t give it away its international influences, the prevalence of chocolate and fondue probably would. Shannon had never tried fondue before, so tracking down an appropriate restaurant was one of our first priorities.

Our second priority was finding a place to stay. After leaving the expensive, no-working toilet hostal we originally chose, we stayed on the penthouse floor of an apartment building with peaceful views of mountain-ringed Lake Nahuel Huapi. The glacier lake is massive (roughly 1,400 feet deep and 210 mi²), bitter cold (we decided against any kayaking trips) and home to several varieties of trout (which show up grilled or smoked on every menu and most grocery store shelves in town). The prime location of our hostal was especially fortunate given the amount of time Shannon spent in the hostel, reading by herself or being roped into yet another round of Bananas.

While Shannon was recovering from her lingering illness, Jason and I took a short day hike to a municipal park alongside Lake Llao-Llao where they have a small grove of Arrayanes trees. Their twisting, knotted shape and soft cinnamon color give them a whimsical appearance, and it felt a bit like walking through the set of some epic fantasy movie. One of Argentina’s best hotels and golf courses is also located here. My students told me that luxury Hotel Llao-Llao had been severely damaged by a fire in the 1930s, and was only recently restored and reopened. Of course, they also told me that beach volleyball was invented by Tom Selleck…

On our last day we went up to Cerro Otto. We took the cable car up, which had Shannon a little nervous – her mom has a fear of heights and she’d never tested herself – but the ride was pleasant and she didn’t have an problems. As with the hostal, the views were lovely. It was easier to judge just how big the lake is when looking at it from above, and the mountains facing the water are beautiful.

The primary activities in Bariloche seem to be hiking and eating. The city is known for its excellent chocolate, and every word is truth. They even had something that was amazingly close to Lebanon County’s opera fudge. I think we bought from 3 different shops while we were there. I was worried about having trouble crossing the border back into Chile (we had been advised that only unopened packages could make the trip), so most of the chocolate we bought stayed untried until our arrival back in Santiago. Of course, we couldn’t go without eating any chocolate, so we opened one box shortly before leaving Bariloche and then had to cram ourselves with the remainder of the ¼ kilo box as we approached customs.

We returned to Santiago slightly fatter and significantly poorer, with enough chocolate to see us through the next few weeks in manjar-drenched Santiago. Shannon took a day to relax, then headed home to PA, where 10 hour workdays, cold weather and sometimes cranky patients awaited her. It was wonderful to share part of our time in the Southern hemisphere with her, and we were sorry to see her go.

Bio Bio

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 20:16:00 +0000

We went to Bio Bio a couple of weeks ago when we had a free afternoon and an urge to experience something new in Santiago. Chilean friends scared us off of visiting with amusing stories of audacious thefts: Andres tells of a guy who was missing one hubcap. He went to Bio Bio and described what he wanted to the vendor, who said, "Let me go check my warehouse... come back in 30 minutes." After 30 minutes, the guy came back to the vendor, who said, "You're in luck! I had one!" But, when the guy got back to his car... he was missing two hubcaps! But, we decided to risk it -- although, we did leave our wallets at home.

The giant flea market was like a junkier Roots on steroids. The best part was these funny coconuts-like treats I found! Points to anyone who can identify them...

Jennifer

San Pedro de Atacama

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:50:00 +0000

Well, it has been quite a while since we wrote anything or posted any pictures of our adventures in Chile, so, to avoid becoming hopelessly behind...

Our fifth wedding anniversary was September 14th, which coincided neatly with two Chilean national holidays. September 18 is the Fiestas Patrias, similar to Independence Day, and September 19 is the Día de las Glorias del Ejército, similar to Memorial Day. We took the five day weekend to travel north, to San Pedro de Atacama.

San Pedro is an oasis located in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on earth (Wikipedia says it is 100 times more arid than Death Valley -- which is kind of like measuring information transfer rates in Library of Congresses. Since I have no idea how arid Death Valley is, while it sounds impressive, it is really not too meaningful). However, Wikipedia also says that various scenes for TV and film set on Mars were shot there, and that NASA tests equipment for future Mars missions in the Atacama. In other words... dry. Really dry.

Another benefit of the dryness and lack of population is that the sky there is unlike anywhere else on Earth. Thus, there are a number of huge telescope installations in the desert. ACT just opened for business this year, and the "most ambitious ground-based telescope currently under construction," called ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) is being built.

We had a bit of trouble getting there (our flight was delayed in Santiago, so the airline put us up in the nicest Sheraton I've ever seen), but once we got there, we had a fantastic time. The Atacama Desert is made up of sand, salt and lava flows, but it is not much like the classic image of a desert (or at least, not the image I have in my head of a desert). I imagine there are places with nothing but sand as far as the eye can see, but the tiny part of the desert we saw was as much crazy rock formations, salt canyons and landscapes of plains with nothing but rocks and shrubs to the horizon.

Sunday afternoon, we toured three terrain features near San Pedro: El Valle de la Muerte, El Valle de la Luna and a salt canyon, all in the Cordillera de la Sal (mountain range of salt). Our favorite of the three, the exact name of which we cannot remember, is a canyon system carved out of an ancient salar (salt flat). We walked into a canyon that we later learned was made mostly of salt crystals. In fact, all of the "ground" in the area was 50% salt. There were places where we could see salt crystals anywhere from one inch to 6 inches long in the canyon walls, and other places where it looked like the walls and canyon floor were covered in snow or frost, but was in fact, salt. We also it very interesting that the walls of the canyons were constantly shifting. At one point, we all stood very quietly, and could hear a creaking noise coming from the walls, as the salt crystals shifted and rubbed against each other -- a very eerie sound.

The Valle de la Luna was a bit disappointing. The main part of the valley is the most classically desert-looking, with a massive sand dune sloping down to the valley floor. There were some very cool rock formations and a number of truly astounding views, but the sunset over the dunes, which was advertised as the big attraction of the tour, left a bit to be desired. While there certainly no precipitation, there were plenty of clouds to block the view. There were also lots of tourists, which the salt canyon was relatively free from (aside our small group, of course).

Monday, we rode in a van through incredible landscapes (alas, it is impossible to get decent photos from a speeding, bouncing van) to some termas (hot springs) in a canyon an hour and a half from San Pedro. The contrast of the barren rocks with the lush greenery surrounding the hot springs was really cool.

On Tuesday, we got up early and went on a tour of the salt flats and Altiplano. Of all the different kinds of landscapes we saw on this trip, I think the salt flats were the most bizarre to my Pennsylvania-raised eye. Acres and acres of oddly-shaped rocks, made entirely from salt, as far as the eye could see. And even more strange was that things live there. The Salar de Atacama is one of the world's largest salt flats, and is home to a number of endangered species; most famously, there three kinds of flamingos that have their breeding grounds in the salar: Andean Flamingo, Chilean Flamingo and James's Flamingo. The three species of flamingos spend part of the year living peacefully in Chile, and the other part trying to avoid being eaten in Bolivia. It also holds 40% of the planet's lithium reserves, which causes problems for the communities in the area. The lithium mines, along with the many copper mines in the area, use tremendous amounts of water (600 liters per second was the figure one guide told us).

Our second stop of the day was the Altiplano, a high plateau that straddles the borders of Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador. The salt flats were the strangest landscape, but the Altiplano... just defies adequate description. The air is so clear, you can see, I don't know, 50 miles? You can see as far as whichever mountain range happens to be in the given direction you are looking. And in that distance, there is nothing but ankle-high rocks and shrubs, sometimes punctuated by a group of rocks the size of a car or house. Again, photos out of a speeding van window are just not satisfactory. We also visited the absolutely beautiful Lagunas Miscanti and Miñiques.

Wednesday, we got up even earlier, and took the most unpleasant van ride of my life to El Taito, the third largest geyser field in the world (after Yellowstone and some place in Russia I've never heard of). The road... was not good. The vast majority of the traffic using the road is, not surprisingly, the vans that all of the tourist agencies use. Apparently, the suspension of the vans, after time, causes the road to be rutted and very similar in texture to a washboard. Imagine four hours of driving at 50 miles an hour on a dust-clogged washboard. Naseau-inducing, to say the least.

Anyway, when we finally arrived, the ride was well worth it. We came over the top of a rise, and saw a huge plume of steam rising up from a valley ahead of us. As we got closer, we could see that there were lots of small geysers giving off steam at random intervals. The geyser field is in a small valley, and gets its name, which means something like "The Grandfather," from the outline of one of the hills surrounding it. In the middle of the field was a huge machine. It was built in the 1960s as an attempt to harness the geothermic energy from the geysers, but was not financially successful. After strolling (very important at high altitudes, strolling) around the geyser field for a while (and at least SOME of us paid attention to the warnings to not get too close), we went swimming in a terma created by the same geothermally heated water as the geysers. You can tell that the water was not evenly heated -- everyone is clustered around the few places where the hot water escapes into the pool.

Our trip back from the geysers took an extra hour, because some poor sucker drove his car somewhere he shouldn't have and bottomed it out hard... it lost important pieces, and blocked the only way out of the geyser valley. On the way back to San Pedro, we stopped at another oasis -- a cactus forest. The stop was cut short because of the delay in leaving the geysers, but we walked down through a river canyon to some small waterfalls and saw different kinds of cacti.

During the trips on Tuesday and Wednesday, we also saw an astounding amount of wildlife: foxes (one of them walked by just as the van pulled up to the top of the trail to Laguna Miscanti, and then posed for the tourists to take pictures -- I hope he is well-payed for his performance); two species of llama: alpacas (these are domesticated alpacas used for meat and wool) and vicuña (these are wild, and protected); some kind of chinchilla-like creature (you get extra bonus points if you can find the little buggers); dozens of different kinds of birds; sheep and goats.

Now we have a debate here in the Ellsworth-Aults household: which part of Chile is the best? Jen is still firmly in favor of the Lake District, but I have been won over by the desolate beauty of the Atacama desert.

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 15:11:00 +0000

Time keeps slipping away, and these posts don’t make it up until weeks after the events they cover. We threw a combo birthday/farewell part to belatedly celebrate my birthday and Matt’s last days in the country about... oh, a month ago.

This was the first time a lot of our new friends met each other, and the first "US" party that some of the folks from Chile had experienced. Parties here start late (11:30pm-ish) and revolve mainly around drinking, so our extremely early start time of 8:30 and abundance of food (especially the deviled eggs) threw them for a bit. But they caught on quickly... there weren't many leftovers.

Back to Matt: one of our first friends in Chile (he helped to celebrate our first Christmas and first shore explorations), he had been working at the Tromwell language institute. He decided that it was time to return to Texas, where both his lovely girlfriend and grad school were waiting for him.

Another holiday, another trip

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:26:00 +0000

May 21st was Día de las Glorias Navales (Navy Day) in Chile, and added an extra day to our weekend. Jason and I are anxious to get as much traveling in as possible during the year, so we take advantage of every holiday that appears on the calendar. Unfortunately, the incredible length of Chile limits our affordable (read: bus transportation) options. Iquique, where the battle being commemorated by Día de las Glorias Navales took place, is waaaaaaay outside of our travel limit limit, at roughly 25 hours. So we went to La Serena instead.

We left Santiago at midnight with friends Lucy and Ishani and pulled into La Serena at 6:30am. The town is a popular beach resort during the summer, and my students assured me that the water stayed warm enough for swimming even this late in the season. This was in no way proven correct; one of the first things we did after arrival was go shopping for extra sweaters. We were cold and wiped out from the overnight bus ride, so our first day here was pretty low-key. We wandered around town, visiting the plazas, craft market, and some of the small city’s 29 churches.

Jennifer

Easter in Talca

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 24 May 2007 01:26:00 +0000

We spent Easter in Talca, a town known as a jumping-off point for many of the wineries south of Santiago. Because it was Easter, none of the wineries were open. Instead, Jason, Debbie and I relaxed in our lovely hostel (the nicest we've been to in Chile so far), wandered through the near-deserted streets of Talca, and took a train to Constitución.

The coastal town of Constitución is only about 1.5 hours away from Talca by bus, but we decided to take the more scenic 5-hour train ride. We arrived at the train station to see a very modern, clean, well kept 15-car train. Unfortunately, that train was going to Santiago. We walked past it to our old, rickety, three car train. The seats were ripped and burned in places, the aisles were packed with people, and the amenities were non existent, but the scenery really was beautiful.

Once we arrived in Constitución, we immediately took a local bus to Putu, then walked for 45 minutes to the sand dunes. The dunes get only the briefest of mentions in the guide books, but they are well-worth the long walk. We didn't realize that the dunes were on the coast, and were surprised to discover the ocean after several minutes walk through the sand. It is not only the largest beach we had ever seen, but also the most private. As you can see in the photos, we were often the only people visible on the shoreline.

Constitución itself also boasts a beautiful coastline. Its strong currents and towering rock formations make much of the beach unsuitable for swimming, but perfect for photography.

Jennifer

Idle words/Cheese, how we love thee

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Mon, 14 May 2007 23:35:00 +0000

Not surprisingly, I suppose, Chile and Argentina share quite a few traits. I found a blog called Idle Words by a former Vermonter that lived in Argentina for a little while, and he writes some very funny things.

His essay, Argentina on Two Steaks a Day, which describes food and eating in Argentina, is not only amusing -- it also is quite accurate in some respects regarding the eating habits of Chileans, too.

After you've read it, this list will make more sense, but his comments about: the mayo, the milk, the veggies, the coffee (or so I've been told), especially the dulce deleche (called manjar and pronounced "man-har" here in Chile), the ice cream, the lack of breakfasts and odd eating schedule otherwise... All applicable to Chile. Steak is not nearly the cultural institution here that it is in Argentina, but they do like meat an awful lot...

In general, the food is decent, if you go to the right places. I know I have mentioned the veggies, and "en pobre" (beef, chicken or whatever with fried onions and a fried egg on top). But so far, the food we miss the most... is cheese.

We miss the many options for cheese that are available in the US (we have been referred to as "cheese snobs" upon occasion). It isn't that they don't have any cheese here... in fact, they have many cheeses: goat cheese, fresh goat cheese, goat cheese with chives, goat cheese with garlic, blue cheese without any actual "blue" in it, gouda. Did I mention goat cheese? Oh, and this cheese called quesillo, which is sort of like fresh mozzarella, only without the taste. It is just that the cheeses they have are all the same.

There is a shop called El Mundo Del Queso not far from our apartment, and they do have a larger selection, but nine kinds of cheese rather than five kinds of cheese should not qualify you as a "mundo de queso."

So, first stop when we are back in the States? The cheese store.

Jason

PS - Entirely unrelated to Chile, an article the guy from Idle Words wrote about the Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel is one of the funniest things I have read.

Otras cosas al azar

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 02:30:00 +0000

I don't know if that title is right... but it is supposed to be "other random things" or more directly translated, "other things at random." Azar also means hazard, and is a masculine word, as is problema. Draw your own conclusions.

Anyway, let's see. Jen started work at DuocUC, a community college-like branch of La Universidad de Católica. So far, the work itself is good, but the lack of organization is truly astounding. Some of the more egregious examples include:

All communication is pretty much by rumor. No memos, no emails, no meetings. You better hope that one of the instructors that the coordinator off-handedly mentioned some important fact happens to mention it to you!
No calendars for the instructors, so no idea when tests or days off are.
No textbooks for instructors. Ha! Who needs textbooks?
The tests are created by non-native English speakers. Which means they all have errors on them. And since the instructors don't see the tests until the day of, they have no chance to make corrections.
Finally, my favorite... the instructors are paid by check, and told to cash them at a specific branch of a specific bank. And two days after the checks were handed out, there was no money in Duoc's account... There was money when Jen went to get her check cashed today, so obviously it was just a timing thing. But seriously. That's crazy.

My life is much simpler. I started swimming at a pool close to our apartment. This will, however, only lead to more problems... My pants are already falling off of me. I imagine this is primarily due to the vastly greater amount of walking we do, but dang, do I hate shopping for clothes.

My Spanish classes continue to go well, I think. I am still very slow when it comes to speaking (I know, I know.... difficult to believe), but have learned a lot. Chileans have a (self-professedly) terrible tendency to mumble, which certainly makes understanding spoken conversation much more difficult, but we soldier on. Carolina (my professora) told me in our last class that we're going to forgo learning new grammar for a little while and focus on getting me more secure in speaking. I'm glad, as I think that is just what I need...

Jason

Chiloé

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 01:42:00 +0000

Jen wrote this, oh, about 2 1/2 weeks ago, but a few hints from friends and family finally got me off my butt to edit and post it...

Jason

The reality of la Isla de Chiloé is not, perhaps, as magical as the guidebooks would have you believe. At least, not at the first glimpse of Ancud, the chilly and damp harbor town where our bus deposited us after our 3-hour trip from Puerto Varas. A half hour hike from bus station to hostel took us away from run down houses and fried food shacks and offered in return colorful houses perched on a hillside overlooking the ocean. Once ensconced in our home for the next two nights, it was difficult to leave its warmth. We went out that night for curanto (a traditional shellfish dish made on the island), but otherwise stayed warm and content in the hostel. Its glassed-in porch was the perfect spot for Debbie and I to enjoy our books and the ocean view over a cup of warm tea. Jason sat and petted the house cat for about 4 hours, which made him (actually, both of them) quite happy. I think he misses Marmalade.

The next day we went on a tour of the countryside and offshore penguin colony. This is when Chiloé's reputation started to make sense. Once away from the town, the island is beautiful. Rolling hills spill down into the ocean, and the sky is an almost unrealistic blue. The high points of the trip were the sculpture "bosque de pesces" (forest of fish) outside of a local school and, of course, the penguins. The penguin colony at Puñihuíl is run by a government sponsored organization charged with the habitat's protection. Before the group took over, penguin tourists and local fishermen were having an extremely negative impact on its heath. Things seem to have found a better balance now, although money for penguin care and research is still tight. The islands off Chiloé are home to two species of penguins: the Humboldt and the Magellanic -- the only place in the world where two species of penguins nest together. They nest here from October until March, then disappear to parts unknown for the rest of the year.

Our final day in Chiloé started at 6am and ended at 9am, as we caught the first bus off the island. Our next stop was Pucón, and the distance (6 hours) and infrequent bus schedule forced an early start.

Jennifer

Santiago to Puerto Varas

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 03:25:00 +0000

Our vacation started with a 12.5 hour bus ride to Puerto Varas. This isn't quite so torturous as it sounds. Most Chileans opt for bus travel over the more expensive in-country flights, and the buses are pretty comfortable. Our mid-class tickets scored us "semi-cama" seats (a ton of leg room, and 60% recline), a sweet view (we were in the front of the top deck of the bus) and a mediocre breakfast. Although it seemed really long to Jennifer, by Chilean standards a 12.5 hour bus ride is pretty much nothing. When you get up to more than 24 hours, that's it starts to get impressive...

Our friend Debbie went with us. Jen met her in the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) class they took together so they would be qualified to teach for DuocUC.

We arrived in Puerto Varas (about 615 miles south of Santiago, and about 15 miles north of Puerto Montt, as seen on this map -- look for "The Lake District" and "Ancud Gulf" to find Puerto Montt) and wandered around the heavily German-influenced town. Puerto Varas sits on the edge of Lago Llanquihue, with a beautiful view of the lake and Volcán Osorno.

After about two hours in town, I got a call... from Jim, my boss at the hospital. A server had crashed, and they needed me to fix it. But, thanks to the ubiquitous internet "cafe" (which in this case was actually kind of a hole in the wall), and with the help of a fabulous Microsoft engineer, we were able to get the server back up and running within about three hours. And the good news is that this was the only time anything went wrong at work while we were away.

The three of us really lucked into it Friday evening. Pto Varas is trying to establish itself as one of the major tourist hubs in the Lake District. In what is probably part of this effort, the city arranges different events during the Jan-Feb tourist season. We happened to see a big tent that was erected near our hostel, and when we went to check it out, we discovered that the Primera Gala Gastrónmica Ovina was being held. For about $10, we got a n all-we-could-eat buffet of lamb dishes from the about 15 of the area's most prestigious (and fanciest) restaurants, as well as wine and a wine glass to take with us. The food was fantastic, and Debbie even won a drawing for a free lunch at one of the local upscale hotels (alas, we had to leave before she could collect).

Saturday, we went on an excursion to the other side of Lago Llanquihue to four places, all inside the Parque Nacional Vincente Pérez Rosales: Lagos Todos Los Santos (the Lake of All Saints), the Saltos del Petrohué ("jumps" or waterfalls, and pronounced Petro-hwey, or if you are Jen, Petro-hooey), Laguna Verde and Volcán Osorno. This was only the first of many under-dressed vacation days for Jen. We were told that one of the lakes we were visiting was quite warm, and "que rico" for swimming. So... Jen dressed in capris and we all brought our suits. Alas, the lake was cold, and when part two of the trip took us up a ski lift over the snow line on Volcán Osorno, other riders laughed as she floated by in her totally inappropriate shorts.

If you want to get a better look at the pictures on Flickr, you can click on the "All Sizes" button, and choose "Large" for the highest resolution image. More pictures are coming soon...

Jason

Valparaíso and random things

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 03:48:00 +0000

Sometime WEEKS and weeks ago (well, the 27th), Jen, Matt, Jordan and I took the bus to the coastal city of Valparaíso for the day. Valparaíso is a lovely city that is built on a bay (it was once one of the most important ports in the south Pacific, but the Panama Canal put an end to that) and spread across 40-some hills. People have called it the San Fransisco of Chile, which seems like an apt description.

There are a number of acensores, funicular railways that take people up and down the steep, steep hills. Cleverly, we did not get pictures of any of the three we rode up, but I found a picture of one we didn't ride up and one we did ride up, which I almost hesitate to link to, because the page is so ugly. To ride most of them, it cost about 200 pesos (40 cents or so), but we were particularly amused to see quite a few signs decrying the operator of one who dared to charge 500 pesos (not quite a dollar).

Acensor Artilleria (named so for its position overlooking the bay, perfect for artillery) is at the southern end of the port, and gave us great views of the container machinery loading and unloading the ships. But for some reason, the other three didn't want to stay and watch it all day.

We took a boat ride around the bay, and got an explanation of the sights. It was in Spanish, of course, and I could only follow about 10% of it...

We did quite a bit of walking around, up and down the cerros. Along the way, we saw some cool murals... or maybe it was graffiti. Hard to tell.

OK, random things. We're going south next week for our first vacation; we are going to hit the Lake District. Follow along on the map. We're taking the bus overnight to Puerto Montt, then heading to Ancud on Isla de Chiloé. We'll be there a day or two, then head north to Puerto Varas. After a day or two there, we head north again, to Pucón (half way between Valdivia and Temuco, and to the east). After few days there, another overnight bus ride, and we'll be back in Santiago.

Also, Jen cut the grass the other day. Heh.

Jason

My new favorite store: Jumbo

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 20:45:00 +0000

You know why?

They have American-formula Dew! At least, they did when we went this time. Jumbo is a store owned by a German expat. They get a lot of random imports, so it's rare that you find the same thing two trips in a row. I would have bought more, but these cans were about $1.30 each, and I could only smuggle a dozen of them past Jen...

Oh, and we're going to Valparaíso tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll have cool pictures to show off.

Jason

Viña del Mar and los temblores!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 17:04:00 +0000

Jen, Jordan, Matt and I went to the coastal town of Viña del Mar this past weekend. It was about an hour and 45 minutes away by bus. The terrain we drove through was quite beautiful. Rocky, rolling hills and fields of I'm not sure what (including many fields of neat rows of small trees). The views of the city as we approached were really cool -- the coast is quite like parts of California, so there were parts that looked a LOT like images from Hollywood you'd see in the movies.

Once we got there, we walked directly to the beach. Since it was only 10:30, it was still breezy, overcast and not at all looking like a proper beach day. But, we persevered, and waded into the ocean. And then quickly waded right back out again. It was FREEZING.

Then we walked a mile or two north toward some other beaches. On the way there, we (or at least Matt and I, apparently the softies of the group) were nearly given heart attacks. Two small, very cute black dogs, decided that it was a very fun game to run out on the road repeatedly, barking madly at the passing cars and trucks. They would get within about 6 inches of the cars' tires, dodge back, and then attack the next car. It was maddening. But, my guess is the had been playing this game for a while, as they escaped without harm. I'm not so sure about their eventual lifespans, though...

We stopped at a castle-turned-museum called Castillo Wulff. The paintings were all very cool, but the view from the top of the castle, and from a (for those that have... problems with heights) vertigo-inducing-hallway, were exceptional.

We stopped in at a restaurant called Torito Parrilla Cerca de Mar y la Tierra (heck of a name, eh?) for lunch. The waiter was extremely helpful, and made a number of excellent suggestions... We got clam-type things, covered in some kind of cheese, and some kind of shellfish, garnished with mayo and an olive, both as appetizers. Whatever the shellfish was is something that is only in Chile. The entrees were equally delicious.

Anyway, after lunch, we walked to a different beach. Jen and I pretty much laid around, while Jordan and Matt walked around, looking for cute girls.

Also, we experienced our first los temblores! There are two different words for earthquake in Spanish (or at least in Chilean Spanish). Los terremotos is the scary kind, where the earth splits, buildings crumble, bad things happen. Los temblores is the kind that you barely notice. In fact, Jen didn't notice at all, and I wasn't sure -- it seemed like it could have been a large truck driving by our apartment. But I mentioned it to my Spanish teacher that evening, and she confirmed it. Jen was rather disappointed that she didn't notice. I think she was looking forward to making me stand in a doorway...

Jason

Speaking the language OR Utilities suck. And the previous tenant wasn't so great, either.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:57:00 +0000

One of the reasons we rented the apartment we did was because the previous tenant was American and spoke English... Jen has increased her Spanish vocabulary immensely (and I suppose I have too, but she is FAR more competent. I say things like, "Hablar más lindo, por favor" which means, "Speak more beautifully, please" instead of "Hablar más lento, por favor" which means "Speak more slowly, please"), but speaking on the phone is still very stressful and difficult. When we have the chance, we go to talk to whomever face-to-face. So an English speaker to deal with was very helpful. An additional benefit (and one that, as it turns out, was much more important) was that the realtor (corredor?) is an American expat. He has lived here in Santiago for 25 years, so not only does he speak English, but he also knows his way around the Chilean bureaucracy quite well.

Anyway, before she left, the previous tenant told us that she would not cancel her internet service -- it would be up and running for me to work the day we moved in. She didn't cancel the service, but she did that the cable modem with her... and left an unpaid bill behind. It took much work from the realtor to get the ISP to set us up, since they seem to associate the service with the address.

On Friday, Chilectra, the power company, stopped by about 1:30. They told us that the bill had not been paid for the last two months, and that the power would be turned off in 5 minutes. Great... The realtor tried to get us a reprieve, but wasn't successful this time. He did go and pay the outstanding bill out of his own pocket right away (I hope he can recoup it from the previous tenant's security deposit), but Chilectra didn't turn the power back on until around 8:00 that night.

And, to top it off, our internet connection went out last night. We went to the ISP this morning, so hopefully, we will be back up and running soon.

...

I wrote that part yesterday, and we were back up and running yesterday. The ISP sent two guys out, who came and poked at the cable modem for about two hours before hitting on the right solution. Which, unfortunately, they weren't able to share with me. One guy spoke about as much English as I speak Spanish. Which is to say, not enough. So, my connection is back. But it isn't right. Before, it was actually very fast. Now... not so much. Back to the ISP!

Jason

PS -We're going to Viña del Mar, a beach town, this weekend with Jordan and Matt. We should have more exciting things to share when we get back.

Happy holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 19:02:00 +0000

The Saturday before Christmas Jason and I went to el Santuario de la Naturaleza Yerba Loca with other students from Escuela Bellavista. It's only 90 minutes of steep winding roads away from Santiago, and scenery on the 7km round trip hike was beautiful! We tried to capture it with our camera, but as with most large landscapes, the reality was far more impressive. Still, there's enough here for those of you planning to visit Chile to decide whether Yerba Loca should be a destination. The landscape itself is easy to navigate, but the altitude (we reached 2,080m) made the hike more tiring (for me) and the sun far stronger (for Jason, who is still peeling off pieces of his head) than expected.

Chileans seem to celebrate Christmas more on the eve before than on Christmas Day. We purchased small gifts (regalitos) for the family that operates the hostel we called home during our first month in Chile, and when we delivered them Sunday night discovered that they were already in full-blown party mode. The next day we invited EEUU and TeachingChile coworkers Matt and Jordan to join us for a (non)traditional Christmas grill. After a few false starts with the coals, everything went well, and I think we all enjoyed the holiday a little more because we were able to share it.

Jennifer

Apartment, and a haircut... two bits!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 01:53:00 +0000

OK, I know that doesn't really work. But anyway, Jen and I signed a lease for an apartment today. Yeah! It is in Providencia, which seems to be right in the middle, as far as nice place to live vs still affordable. If you look at this map (PDF), our apartment is about two blocks south of the Tobalaba Metro stop (on the far right-side of the map, just below Cerro San Luis). I also started to geotag our photos in Flickr. Sometimes this page works for me, sometimes not. If it chooses to work for you, our apartment is off to the right (marked with a #13 -- click on the circle for the pictures). If not, the pictures are on our Flickr page.

The place is completely furnished. So much so, that the only things we NEED to buy are sheets, towels and a desk chair. Nearly everything in the pictures is included -- furniture, the TV in the bedroom, plates, cups, cooking utensils... even crystal if we decide we want to have a fancy dinner party for eight! It has a nice little yard (we bought a BBQ from the previous owners, both Americans), a 24-hour concierge and the back of our yard butts up against the only "American" church in Santiago. It is also about three blocks from one of the few gaming stores in Santiago. Not that I planned that or anything. grin About the only downside I can think of is that our cellphones don't work in the house -- we have to go into the yard. We move in on the 20th. I am very excited to have a desk at which to work.

And... I got a haircut. I got tired of my hair (or what was left of it), so I decided I'd try this for a while. We went to a barber down the street from our hostal. It was one of the hair places where all of the people there, employees and customers, are old men of at least 60. The guy must have used five different blades on his clippers, plus two or three different kinds of scissors, plus a straight razor. It took close to 45 minutes. And I think it cost about $6.50.

Jason

1/2 Crude to the Canapes

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 02:54:00 +0000

The big news of the day here in Chile is that Pinochet died this afternoon. There are both supporters and opponents of the ex-dictator on the streets and in the many plazas of the city, singing, waving flags and drinking champagne. So far, things have been peaceful... but we're staying home. Strangely, some of the songs that we can hear sound somewhat like If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands. No idea what THAT means.

Jen and I started our Spanish classes last week. She has class for 3.5 hours a day for five weeks, while I have a one-on-one class twice a week for 1.5 hours, for at least 11 days. My first class, I told my professora Carolina that I was 301 years old, and that I WAS the United States. I think I'll require more than 16.5 hours...

Some of the restaurants have English language menus. Or at least, they claim to. I didn't get a picture of one of the other pages, but it included a dish called "mud loco." We weren't brave enough to order it. And what the hell is 1/2 Crude to the Canapes, anyway?

The food at restaurants is interesting. The owner of the hostal owns a very nice restaurant just down the street from the hostal -- we've been there three times. The food there is much like you'd find in an upscale American restaurant, with, of course, local variations. But, we've eaten at a few other places (such as the "mud loco" place). They have dishes that often involve either fried eggs, mayonnaise, or both. Today, we grabbed lunch at a place while looking at apartments. Their menu of the day was bread (good), tuna salad on artichoke halves (good), over-done flank steak with a side of fried onions, both with a fried egg on top (not so good) and ice cream (good). Some places have very good pizza. But we ate at a place where their idea of pizza was... bad. Very bad.

Oh, and American culture is alive and well here in Chile, although Buzz is looking like he had just a bit too much to drink last night.

Also, I posted some more pictures of Quinta Normal, the park near the hostal. It is lovely.

Jason

Teletón!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 12:20:00 +0000

(American Idol + good cause)¹⁰ = Teletón! This National two-day event is held bi-annually to raise money for children with physical disabilities. The extent to which the entire country gets behind this effort is amazing. Friday and Saturday we were in some alternate universe where all television stations played nothing but Teletón! entertainment, interviews, and donations calls; bank workers voluntarily stayed open beyond their usually strict M-F, 9-2 schedule; and everyone (including me) was incessantly humming the Teletón! theme song. This event is so huge that politicians one year debated postponing the elections so that political advertisements wouldn’t interfere with those for Teletón!.

Jennifer

Cerro Santa Lucia

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:20:00 +0000

Jen and I went to Cerro Santa Lucia on Wednesday. There are quite a few large cerros (hills) around Santiago -- they make good landmarks to orient yourself. Santa Lucia is a park that was created in 1872 by the mayor, Vicuna Mackenna, and built with prisoner labor.

The hill itself is about 2,065 feet high, and there are paths that criss-cross the entire thing.

A fairly good-sized building is at the base of the hill, and it houses the tourist office.

There were lizards, and giant aloe plants, and people even carved graffiti into a plant! But to me, the coolest thing was the amazing view from the top.

Clever, clever Jen stitched the panoramic image together from three or four pictures she took from the platform at the top of the hill -- we have a bigger (MUCH bigger) version if anyone wants it. Oh, and on Flickr, you can click the All Sizes button to see larger version of some of the photos.

A bountiful (and cheap) harvest

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:53:00 +0000

We went to the Policia Internacional and the Civil Registrar today. The first stop took about 45 minutes. The second stop... took forever. We stood in line for something like 2 and a half hours, got some paperwork, waited a little while longer, then got fingerprinted. Which took another ten minutes to clean up.

But, after that (and quite a bit of lost-like wandering around) we found the market that we briefly visited on Saturday. And this time, we bought stuff. We spent somewhere around $2.50 or $3.00, and got: six Roma tomatoes, two Hass avocados, mushrooms, spring onions, garlic, a white onion, three bell peppers (red, green and orange), close to a pound of pasta... and my favorites: a pound of raspberries and close to a pound of cherries.

Very nice.

Prices for produce are much, much higher in grocery stores -- closer to US prices. According to Bruce, residents of Santiago tend to see going to the market as lower class. I am not sure why. Better prices, better produce. Seems like a win-win to me.

Jason