Closing Time
The most important conclusion I have reached during my year long personal and academic studies is that----
It is ok to be a product of my culture...but only with constant conscientious reflection.Throughout the year, I found it difficult to tell people that I am American because of the problems and hostility that this often carries. No one was afraid to be blunt and everyone has an strong opinion about what the US government does (mind you, the majority of what they say is not very positive). Usually they have even more to say about
our government than their own.
I also struggled with the materialism and consumerism that I have grown up in, yet had never before noticed. I often experienced guilt for having had, in one year, the opportunity to travel and experience more of Chile than most Chileans will ever experience in their life. It confused me to feel wrong, but now I have realized that it isn't wrong- it just is. I have been given this chance for a reason.
The opportunities that I have been granted stem from my past opportunities and experiences and negating or feeling guilty for what I am given or what I have earned is not really the appropriate reaction. What I have found is that more than anything, I should take into consideration where I come from and incorporate what I am learning from everything that I do, see, and experience and to not take anything for granted. I´m not Ghandi, and at this point in my life I don´t see it necessary to give up all pleasures in life. But in the end, it is going to be me that climbs that mountain and all I have to rely on is my previous experience (my
own two legs) and some guidance from others who have walked a similar path before.
I had a great year and now it is officially ending- I'm in Atlanta, Georgia right now waiting for my connecting flight to Cali where I will be greeted by several members of my family- I hope they don't forget to pick me up.
So what am I looking forward to? Finding a job where I can use my Spanish, studying (again), looking at life from a different point of view than before, and following the words of my friend Brigt-
Life is a sequence of surprises....so just enjoy. :-)
My last day
My last 36 hours in Santiago were busy- and absolutely fabulous. I went to a wedding where we partied till 7am, slept three hours then ran errands, ate lunch at Juan Pablo's family's house (typically the day after the wedding the whole family gets together again for a big meal of seafood...it was delcicious), and finally got together with my good friends at Natalia's restaurant to drink my last Fanschop (Chilean beer with orange soda).
In my last two days, I cried, laughed, danced, kissed, sang, drank, ate...and made merry. I loved it and hated it at the same time knowing that I will not live moments like those ever again.
Oh nostalgia...Tan dulce la vida...
My Horoscope
"Slow Fades Are Worse Than Sudden Endings"
That is what my horoscope told me today. Tomorrow I will probably agree.
However, in the past few days I haven´t really been able to think much about the fact that I am leaving Chile on Sunday night. I have been too busy tying up lose ends with my apartment, writing cards to people, trying to sell my TV, paying bills, requesting school records, etc etc.
I just played in my final water polo game (we lost) and right now I am enjoying some down time drinking a coffee in Café Melba in Providencia where a friend works. But he isn´t working today so I won´t get to see him before I leave. :-(
This evening, I will be a guest at a Chilean wedding. What a good way to go out, huh? I should be dead tired tomorrow for my going away lunch in Santiago, where I am sure I will cry like a big baby and expend every last ounce of energy that I have. But that means that I should sleep like a baby on the airplane, so I´m ok with that.
It´s been a good year. Well, almost year. In two more weeks it would have been a year since I arrived on February 1st.
Time flies when you´re having fun.
Taking Care of Business
I just finished climbing a volcano. It was awesome. But it was playing with me- the sucker spewed up lava so high but it never let me get a good picture. My hands were freezing, my nose was running, my eyes and lungs were burning from the sulfuric gases, and I just couldn´t capture the image that I wanted. Oh what a person will go through to try and get a good picture...
I´m leaving the Lake District tonight and heading to Santiago on a bus. This will be my last long bus ride. Buuuu... :-( This weekend is bound to be looong yet very short. But that´s ok because I want it to hurry up and never end. :-) I´m leaving on Sunday night and will be back in So Cal sooner than I know it.
But what do I know?
I know that I still don´t consider myself fluent in Spanish; I know that this year flew by but that I enjoyed every minute of it (even the crappy parts...and yes there were quite a bit of those. I just didn´t blog too many of them); I know that I´m going to be very excited to see my family; I know that I will be very sad to leave my friends; I know that I am definitely planning on coming back within the next 8 years (it´s all part of the 10-year plan); I know that even though I´ve seen, learned, and done a lot this past year that I´ve still got a whole lot more to see, learn, and do in the future.
And well, the list can go on and on, but I don´t really have the time to do that. I need a shower. Badly. I´m surprised that you can´t smell me from there.... :-)
Class 7
I ate it big time going down some class 7 rapids today in Pucón! I hope to post a picture soon.
Tomorrow I am going out with a bang...but hopefully not too big because I´ll be climing an active volcano! Should be fun....
The Enchanted Forest
On Friday I arrived on the storybook island of Chiloé. Its quaint fishing villages with houses built on stilts over the water and picturesque fields with grazing cows brings you back a century in time. Out of all the placecs that I have visited in Chile- this is the one place where I could live...if the government didn´t have plans to build the biggest brige in South America connecting Chiloé to the mainland.
Although this bridge will offer much better healthcare for Chilotes (they don´t consider themselves Chilean- Chilote is the culture created amongst the indigenous people and the original settlers from the 18th century that has continually strengthened due to the island`s isolation from Chilean influence), I think that the island will lose a lot of its charm. On Saturday night, I listened to a hip hop Chilote group that sang about this very topic- how the bridge will be built to take things away from the island (wood, culture, family structure, tranquility) and to bring things that they don´t want (McDonald´s, movie theaters, more people, pop culture).
As of right now, I have fallen in love with this island, and especially its folklore. I visited the national park and walked through the enchanted forest where the troll and fairies live. Good thing I escaped without any problems- they say that this troll drugs young girls and gets them pregnant (thus explaining any unwanted pregnancies:-) )
While in the enchanted forest, my camara ran out of batteries (of course) so I didn´t get any of the REALLY good pictures of the day- the sandy beaches with ravenous birds eating their prey, the bridge shaped like a boat, the mussel collectors (I wouldn´t call them fishermen because they use really thick wetsuits and collect the mussels a couple huundred meters out from the beach), the mermaid that appeared...no just kidding- that is just another part of the legends.
After Sunday´s shopping trip at the local craft fair in Dalcahue I went to a gastronomic festival in a tiny town called Pid-Pid. I participated in the potato sack race and would`ve won (I was way ahead of the other five chicas) had I not fallen five feet before the finish line. :-O I also helped out in the tug-of-war but the Chilotes beat the Chileans (I was on the Chilean team).
I´m now in Valdivia and am going to try to go to the Kuntsmann beer factory. I`ll probably eat some lunch there and then head to Pucón to try and do some volcano climbing...
Penguins and Tierra del Fuego
Yesterday I visited the penguins of southern Chile. Limping around in the cold weather sucked until I saw the first penguin... then I forgot the pain completely. It was the best trip to the zoo- only I wasn`t at the zoo. The 500 wild penguins on the coast of southern Chile were very self-absorbed and hardly noticed us tourists.
Today, I took a ten minute flight in a 9-passenger plane over the Straights of Magellan to Tierra del Fuego. Wait- what?!? No. Yes. Hahahaha. Seriously. I really did. Am I sure? Yes. I think. Well, I have the picture to prove it.
I met with the President of the Rotary club in Porvenir (literally translated as "what lies ahead" or "what the future holds") in the only Chilean town on the island. We had coffee and then I had to leave on the boat to return to the continent. I was in Tierra del Fuego for three hours.
Before, During, and After Five Days in Heaven
Before
On the Navimag ship I met a tall dude from Denmark (Jens),a cute Norweigen (Brigt), and a smart American (Ken) and the three of them let me tag along with them on the W-shaped trail in Torres del Paine National Park.
Day 1 (Dec. 31)
Upon arrival the weather is beautiful so we take advantage of the time and set up camp with a beautiful view of the namesake rock towers of the park. At around 11 we hit the trail that should take about 4 hours to the base of the towers. About an hour into the uphill hike, the rain starts to come down. We make it after several breaks past the midway point and eat lunch. Jens decides to go back. The three of us push on.
At the very rocky, steep end of four-plus hours we reach the base of the rock towers which we can´t even see because it is too cloudy and rainy. But it didn´t matter because it was still breathtakingly beautiful. The whole hike was.
On the way down, I slip and nearly break my leg. I shed a few drops of blood but all of my limbs are intact so I´m ok.
By the time we reached camp at 8 pm, it had stopped raining but we were soaked to the bone. Jens was sleeping in the tent- nice and dry. Brigt started a great fire, we cooked some dinner and celebrated with a few swigs of pisco the turn of the new year with the Italians that were camping next to us.
Day 2- Happy New Years!
We pack up camp and head out on first curve of the bottom of the W towards Italian Camp. The weather is nice and the terrain varied with surprises around every corner-green lakes, pebble beaches, snow capped mountains, side views of the towers, several rivers, a bit of mud, and of course the best company.
Camp set-up isn´t too easy because I´m sharing Ken´s two-man complicated tent. Jens and Brigt get their stuff set up within five minutes and Ken is still struggling to show me how to stake down the tent properly. Once that is done, we concentrate on dinner which is a huge task because Ken´s stove sucks. But it´s quite entertaining because it causes all kinds of expletives to escape from his mouth. We finally crash around sunset, or 11:30 pm.
Day 3- Jan. 2
It´s up the middle of the W. All uphill. Luckily we can leave our packs at camp.
Jens leaves us to go at his own pace and to "think thoughts". During the hike we pass a snow covered mountain with huge icebergs that are crashing into the valley below. Amazing.
We manage to get lost on the trail and end up scaling the mountain and doing some rock climbing. Brigt is hopping along like a gazelle while I hold on for dear life and manage to not fall. Its a long route but we end up in a pristine area by the side of a river runoff. The sand´s texture makes it feel like we are walking on bread. It´s cool.
We finally find the trail and decide to have lunch before continuing on. Since I have already seen magnificent views for the day I decide to take a nap by the river while Brigt and Ken finish up the trail.
On the way back down my knee starts to hurt. Uh oh. I don´t remember falling wrong or twisting it. Hmmm...
Back at camp Jens has already packed up the tent. We have a two hour easy hike to the next camp but I am starting to struggle a bit with my knee.
Day 4
My knee´s pretty tender but not really swollen. We have the last arm of the W to do today and we hit the trail at around 11:30.
The hike takes us through a valley and up towards Grey Glacier. We know its close when we come upon a lake with ice burgs floating in it. I suggest a swim but no one is up for it...
At lunch time we find a brilliant view of the glacier and sit down for yet another day of salami and crackers. Brigt is allergic to wheat (have you ever heard of that before? I hadn´t...) so he just eats the salami. I can´t take it anymore so I eat the only can of tuna that we have. It is the best tuna from a can that I´ve ever had.
We press on and arrive at Camp Grey for our last night of camping. We try to arrange a trip for tomorrow to trek on the glacier but the situation is uncertain because of some problems the company is having with their boat. I´m limping at this point because of my knee but don´t really care- I have a chance to walk on a glacier!!
Before sunset we walk to the lookout point that is pretty close to Grey. It is even more powerful than I expected.
After an hour of bonding, we turn in for the night with good news from the tour company about the ice climbing...
Day 5- Glacier Day!
We´re supposed to be at the office at 8:50. I arrive late (does that surprise you?) at 9-something because I was waiting in line for the camp bathroom. Brigt will later give me a speech about arriving late and wasting other people´s time....
We get on the boat and ride to the far end of the glacier. There are 7 or 8 of us in the group with the guide. From the moment I put on my crampons (the spikes that attach to your shoes to give you a grip on the ice) I can´t wipe the smile off of my face. I´m walking on a huge, million year old ice cube!
We check out the crevices, waterfalls, the Jesus lake (because it looks like you are walking on water when you cross it), and climb a vertical wall. It cool. Literally.
I take advantage of the endless supply of ice and ice down my knee that is swollen and really hurting. I am mentally preparing myself for the return journey to the previous day´s camp in order to catch the catamaran back to the bus. It`s going to hurt. A lot. Luckily my pack isn´t too heavy.
At 2:00 we return to Grey Camp and start our return hike. Today, we need to complete the hike in 3.5 hours that lasted five hours yesterday. I`m not looking forward to it but it is pretty much the only option that we have.
We leave. Twenty minutes into the hike I take off my favorite hat and leash it on to my jacket. Five minutes later I realize that it has fallen off. I`m pissed. Brigt runs back to try and find it but doesn´t see it anywhere. Now I`m really pissed. And upset. I want to cry.
Then I get mad at myself for being so attached to a hat. The adrenaline starts pumping and acts like a drug to numb my knee. We make it back to camp in under three hours.
I`m still pouting about the hat on the bus ride back to the city. Brigt tells me to stop acting like a kid. I am one. But I knock it off anyways because he`s right.
blood, sweat, tears
after all three of the above in the last few days (during 50 km) i am still alive....will write more tomorrow....
