Despedida

A contemplative moment in Valparaíso. The first of many sad goodbyes.
Hello, dear blog. I have missed you, too. I know, I know, I have ignored you for months. Yes, I realize there are a few missing chapters. I haven't shared any stories or photos from our visit to the U.S. aircraft carrier, Mendoza or my birthday weekend in Maitencillo. Maybe I will record them as an afterthought. Or maybe, as I found myself telling scores of students and colleagues and friends (not mutually exclusive), these moments will just have to stay in a very safe and special place: my heart. For that is where I have stored all the unique, wonderful and special experiences from my year in Chile. As I listen to "Love that Dirty Water," almost a year after using it to cobble together a power point presentation about Boston, the emotions are spinning like ingredients in a blender: leaving beloved Chile and yet returning to another special place on the planet.

But first...Argentina, Uruguay and Perú. I'm a lucky gal, I tell ya.


Happy Birthday, Allende!
The dead and candy colored houses...just one of many odd mixes in Valparaíso.

Talca

With a four day weekend at our disposal, we headed south to Talca. Talconians have a phrase: "Talca, Paris y Londres." Err...guess that's tongue in cheek, but we still had a marvelous time. When we arrived at our tranquil, welcoming hostal (don't worry-the hostal pictures are at the end) we decided to walk off the long bus trip. I couldn't help comparing it to Vermont for all the vibrant foliage:
One great thing about Chile (and I suppose also for places with similar climates, like California) is that no matter what the season, there is always something flowering.

The second day we rented some bikes and headed to a funky museum. There were all sorts of reliquias religiosas, but our favorite was an artist's life size interpretation of The Last Supper, all carved in wood and eerily realistic, complete with a recorded message politely explaining how we had to believe or else we'd be cast out to rot in the sun like fruit and then tossed on a pyre to burn...) Luckily, we had a picnic lunch first, and I ate an apple.


By the end of the bike ride, we were parched. We stopped for a few sodas and played the strangest pinball game ever: there were no flippers, so it was more like skee ball behind glass but you couldn't control the balls...

At the end of the day, we cleaned up and headed to a blind wine tasting. I sat next to a hilarious German woman and we made jokes the whole time in order to take the edge off the snootiness. We had some darn good wines, though. The best part was snatching up the unfinished bottles for the walk back to the hostal where a yummy dinner awaited.

The third day we rented a vehicle. Or should I say a Toyota trekking diesel powered truck? We bumped along some rocky dusty roads along our way to the Siete Tazas park. The name refers to the rock formations you can see in the picture, where the water has cut through the rock and left behind seven cup-like formations. We hiked down and had a picnic on what looked like elephant eggs...if elephants hatched from eggs, that is.


Our last day was dedicated to relaxing, reading and spending some time with a 3 year-old German girl who must have thought I was the stupidest adult ever: using the same phrases, repeating what she said...but I learned some new words and recognized others. Kaput, Wasser, Kinder, Garten, kleine, große, Stein, come, das ist ein, Mama, to name...well...most of them.

Ahh, thanks for a great weekend, Joanna, Jack, Clayton and Kevin. We'll miss you, Talca!

Pagano

Yesterday we went to Pomaire in search of chanchitos, which are little piggy banks with personality. Found all kinds of pig products made without injuring any real animals. Just wait 'til you see my ceramic sugar container! I guess I'll have to upload a photo...

Later, after empanadas and pisco sours (two of the three things I will miss the most when I leave Chile, the third being colectivos), we had a religious experience dancing at Pagano where Jack and Mickey were spinning some mad tunes. Up next weekend is a concert by Los Jaivas, and the following weekend a trip to Talca for some r&r and wine tours.

Great Day

March 20th: I had such a great day that I had to share. First, all 6 of my classes went well today. Shock! Second, we have a three day weekend! Third, I went to Valparaíso this afternoon–always a treat, but today especially so, as I went to a Valpo artist's studio and fell in love with two paintings, one before it was even finished...but I left a deposit on one and will go back in a few weeks to see the other one...there is something so incredible about being able to discuss the art with the artist himself: sharing visions, being shown techniques, seeing a progression from earlier works. Now to veg out, but first a few photos from our Nobles-Esperanza trip:

todos los alumnos:
Romina and her profe inaugurating the English Corner
Art and Agave in Valparaíso

Hope you aren't tired of seeing Volcanoes...

We went to Pucón but found it really touristy. However, before moving on, we did take advantage of the non-Chilean food restaurants and artesanal ice cream shop, the Blue Orchard (I combined caramel banana with cinnamon...mmmm). We cchose to hang out in nearby Villarica, where Jack and Joanna gave me a few more cooking lessons, our Swiss hostel hosts fed us homemade bread, yogurt, jam and fresh fruit every morning and at night we stood transfixed as we watched lava oozing (ok, probably spewing) down the Volcán Jaima. We also used this chill town as base camp for trekking and living it up at the Geometric Hot Springs. Aaaahhhh.

Pucón
Another cool camping trip
Fauna on aforementioned camping trip
Flora on aforementioned camping trip
Swimming at Lake Toro on our camping trip
Rewarded with a view after hiking and panting straight up
But the real reward came the next day. Hot Springs, baby
After that, the J2 +M team went their separate ways. For me there was a shopping trip in Temuco followed by an overnight bus back to the fifth region and then Buenos Aires (again). We officially started the 2008 academic year today, so summer is..sniff...over. The photos, memories and your comments (hint, hint) are all I have to bring me blissful waves of nostalgia. (Laurie wins the comment prize.)

Valdivia

Pedro de Valdivia may have founded Santiago, but this little river town (we are now officially out of the lakes district) bears his name. The coffee is bad: read dirt flavor with silt and sludge at the bottom, but the beer is good, thanks to the Kuntsmann brewery. Sea lions (called sea wolves in Spanish) also come here for vacation, lounging on the docks until a fishmonger from the local seafood market tosses them a bone...err, a fish.

Way down in Cochamø

Last day of summer vacation today, folks. I therefore feel that I need to finish up the posts from my trip south. After several failed attempts at imbedding a video on this page (apparently mac users need firefox, and I just don't have any more room on my overburdened hard drive), we will all just have to settle for a link. So...click on that silly question mark to see me on the natural water slide with Jack and Joanna shouting words of encouragement. Then you can scroll through the pictures that lead up to that moment.

We had heard great things about a little-known park in Cochamó. Ok, so first of all, we had to purchase white long sleeve shirts and wear only light colored anything to discourage the evil tábanos. Tábanos are large, mean, swarming horseflies that bite with a vengeance but mostly just drive you mad as they circle you, buzz in your ear and somehow get the word out to all their friends to join the party to which they were never invited in the first place. Luckily, their life cycle was coming to an end by the time we got to Cochamó, but that just meant we had stints of reduced numbers following us rather than being bombarded as when were in sunny fields or near water. We had a fun new adventure at every turn as we hiked for 4 1/2 hours through rivers, over rivers and trudged through lots of mud.

The tranquil town from which we got a ride to the trail head by spotting the 4WD vehicle in the street and knocking on the closest door.
Wading through a river with hiking boots in hand.
Woo hoo! Joanna crosses another river as I take a short break from pulley duty while the picture is being taken.

When we got to the campsite and realized we would have to share it with cows and their field deposits, we crossed another river and found perhaps the greatest refugio ever built. It even held its own the next day when we discovered the oasis was not a mirage, after all. We hung out with some cool Argentines, 3-year old Zenón (Dad from the U.S., mom Argentine), their entertaining collection of books, two kittens and blissfully few horseflies.

inside looking out
Trementina and Manzanilla (that's prononunced "Manzanijjhha").
When we finally did leave our refuge, we explored the lush nature and the water slide! (Did you click the question mark yet?)