Ooooooooooookkkkkaaaaaaaaay. This is going to be a legitimate blog post. This is going to be a blog post in which you see all the blood, sweat, and tears that has poured out of my body and onto your computer screen. This is going to be a blog post in which you step back, shaken, and say, “Wow. This is why I got into this in the first place.” I'm going to remind you why you follow my blog.
In reality, I'm just going to give you a decent life update. So hold on tight.
Anecdote One: I climbed a volcano! This was serious business, friends. Last weekend, I went to Pucón with Jane, the German*, and My New Favorite German (Jana. Who is 100% German with an adorable British-German accent.) We didn't really plan this trip. We just checked the weather forecast, found out we weren't going to have classes on Thursday afternoon/ Friday, and decided, hey, let's get out of here!
So Pucón is an outdoorsy person's paradise. It's in the Andes (six hours south by bus from my dear, sweet, little San Nicolas) and it has a volcano you can climb. It's also rife with other activities such as canopying (zip-lining), rafting, horseback riding, hiking, kayaking, etc. It looked a lot like Lake Tahoe and it was definitely designed for tourists. But I liked it a lot.
We stayed at this cute hostel called the Tree House...and it literally had a tree house. It also had two dogs that were CLEAN and therefore could be cuddled. The dogs on the street here are 100% untouchable (shaaaame) so the fact that I could pet a husky sent me over the edge. Yeah, this guy right here was pretty stoked. EVIDENCE:
On Friday, we headed to the bosque where we went canopying! We hadn't really thought this through (theme of the weekend!) so as we were climbing the first ladder to get to the first platform from which we would depart across the forest, we finally realized oh yeahhhh...this is kind of dangerous. In the end, I'm so glad we did it. It was so much fun! We zip-lined across a river, made friends with the guides (who were all ugly except for one). We also made friends with two other American tourists. But we forgot to get their last names so now we can't be Facebook friends. So Kristin and Catherine (?) if you read this, check us out on Facebook!
As for Saturday, we climbed the volcano. It took us 9.5 hours to climb the active 9,300ish foot beast known as Vulcan Villarica. We didn't see any lava, but yeah, hands down the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. So much harder than college, math, or common sense (in my case, at least). We were the last group to come down, my heels are bloody and hate me, but it was worth it. It was mostly worth it because once we got to the top, the German-American and I had this really romantic moment where we looked at each other and said, “I love you.” It was very sincere. I don't take it back, Jess. And I never will.
I also got to witness the German-American cry. Seriously. These kinds of physical challenges can really change a person. Jess is so much nicer now. She should climb volcanoes more often.
But in all honesty, I don't think I can top that experience. It was so effing painful, it almost broke me the way my first UC Berkeley upper division midterm on the history of international relations almost broke me. Luckily, I'm not so good at quitting (untrue, I'm good at quitting extracurricular activities, jobs, and volunteer work). But when it comes to bragging rights and school, I take that shit seriously.
I climbed a volcano! EVIDENCE:
Next life challenge: Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for the German-American's 30th birthday. My heels have five years to heal. Ha! Unintentional, I swear.
The weekend before Pucón, I went to Valdivia. It's about 6ish hours south of my dear, sweet little San Nicolas as well. It's close to the coast and it was where a lot of the German immigrants from the 19th century settled. The Kunstman (did I spell that right?) brewery is there. And it also has a bunch of old Spanish forts. The forts were unbelievable. Valdivia was absolutely beautiful and it's a place I'm definitely going to go back to. I'm planning on taking my dad there for a few days in January when he comes. Seriously, the forts, so cool.
As for school updates, things are going. There are still so many disruptions, but it's whatever. I've gotten used to it. There is one class that Jess and I both have that is really difficult. They are indifferent to learning, loud, disrespectful, etc. But sometimes for me they can be good. And this past week, they were so good! They were hands down my best class. I've noticed that I just have to get my mood in sync with them because they are the one class that always gets my jokes. They love it when I do silly things. So when I bring the funny, they pay attention. I guess it was more like I was on my A-game this week.
And side note: So the other day Jane and I were alone in our house for lunch for the first time ever. We totally loved it of course, but Jane REALLY loved it. She was so excited, she went into the kitchen and started investigating. We had been curious for a while about what was in the fridge/ freezer and various other parts of the kitchen we had never really been able to go, so we took advantage of the freedom. Jane got super into it. I dubbed it, her most adorable moment in Chile. She was like a kid on Christmas. Also, I'm fairly certain a giant cow head is in our freezer.
Gypsy update: they haven't returned but a circus is being set up in the vacant lot where the gypsies once resided. Odd, don't you think?
Lastly, traveling plans. So Concepcion this weekend with the German-American, probably another weekend out in Chillan, and then I'm not sure. I have to fill about two more weekends I think before I head back to Santiago for closing ceremonies/ farewells. I have to say good bye to Jess at the end of November which is going to be so hard. Confession: she arrived to dear, sweet little San Nicolas one week after me. I was afraid she was going to suck, but Jane was like, chill out, she'll probably be your new best friend. True that. The German-American rocks (you're welcome). But she also totally sucks too. She's moving to London...wow, thanks, Jess. Chile is already expensive enough for me, how am I going to afford a plane ticket to London?
Alright, more on traveling plans. Torres del Paine is still happening in early December, Christmas in San Nicolas with the German-American's host family, Santiago/ Chillan/ San Nicolas/ Valdivia with real dad in January, then, it is quite possible that I am going to do the Atacama/ Macchu Picchu/ Uruguay/ Bolivia/ Argentina circuit with my Chilean friend Rebeca (yes, only one 'c'. That's how they roll down here). We need to discuss more and budget, but hey, I've got time, let's do it!
So thanks for reading this hodge-podge of a blog. I have another one in progress about things I'm planning to bring back from Chile to the United States. It's going to be a good one, so stay tuned. Also, keep your eyes open for another forthcoming blog entitled “Beaches vs. Bitches” in which I make fun of non-native English speakers for having trouble differentiating those two words.
Until next time!
(*from here on in, I shall refer to the German as the German-American. Because well, she is German-American. Jess, consider this my olive branch haha.)
a) congrats on your volcano! seriously, badass.
ReplyDeleteb) when are you coming to valpo? i mean, we need to see each other SOME time.
c) i remember when i lived with a host fam and i finally had the house to myself, the first thing i did was go into the kitchen too...and as i was poking around the pantry/cubboard/hole, trying to find if there were twistos around (there weren't), i dropped a casserole dish and it broke and my whole fam knew i was poking around in the kitchen when they got home. so i'm glad there were no disasters in your kitchen discovery.
d) more details on your chileno! more particularly, what does he call you when you're alone? i've found chileans are infamous for nicknames- mine is every single possible derivation of chancho/cerdo.