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My third week in Valdivia was pretty rushed after getting back from Pucon and getting ready for Bariloche-Patagonia-Argentina.
Mid-week there was a soccer game between Chile and Colombia that we watched in a pub, Chile won 4 to 0 & we enjoyed hearing the "Chi Chi Chi le le le, VIVA CHI-LE" "Chi-i-Chi-le-vi-va-Chi-le" chant throughout the game. A man asked if we were from the US and told us he had a friend in the states and asked if we knew him, it's interesting when this happens because people commmonly misinterpret how large the US truly is.
I had my first volunteer meeting for "American Corners" and it went well. It's been nice to see students going through what I am trying to pick up from the language and being able to be on the other side of it and help them by teaching English.
Students from our university threw us a mini-bbq the day before our week off school for Chilean Independence Day. We ate in a beautiful park next to campus, empanadas! After this I searched everywhere around the city for a camera charger (the worst thing I could have left behind) and finally found one! That night I went to the movie theater and saw an English movie with subtitles, movies from the states are extremely popular here. Then we went out and played pool.
Left my house at 8am the next morning to catch the bus for Argentina, it was only about a 7 hour ride and I thought I'd nap but as soon as I got on the bus it was experiencing time 24/7, not a moment you would dare to close your eyes. I traveled with three kids from my program but once we got to Argentina we split up a bunch to take adventures where we wanted. On the bus we brought packed lunches from our host families and chocolate we bought from the bus station, we were set. After our first stop three guys got on the bus who were the only other group speaking English, we learned that two were from Australia and one was born in Puerto Rico but was currently going to a California State School not far from my home..small world. When their bags got randomly searched at the border it was pretty funny speaking Spanish for them to cross. I hadn't met people traveling in South America who didn't know the language, this was one of the first times we actually felt kinda good at it.
Our bus went right up and over the Andes Mountains into Argentina, we were in the Lake Region so seeing the lakes below the mountains with the mountain's retroreflection was truly unbelievable. I felt like such a tourist with the hundreds of pictures I was taking with my face practically pressed against the glass but it was inevitable. I was exhausted but couldn't sleep, no one's eyes could have shut out these phenomenal picturesque views.
Mckenzie and I booked 3 nights at the first hostel "41 Below" and Kendall and Eric booked 4. I still wasn't sure how long I was going to stay in Argentina past the weekend, I'd arrived there on a one-way ticket which I loved. Entering into another country entitled Chilean pesos to Argentine, time change and new hours of operation everywhere.. once we had this all handeled we were stoked to be there. Immediately Kendall, Mckenzie, and I checked out excursion agencies to get the best price for horseback riding. I was apprehensive of what the trail and ride would be like but I was pleasantly surprised. The four of us went to dinner that night then Mckenzie and I went to the Irish Pub on the block of our hostel and enjoyed Argentine beer. After we went with guys training to be snow instructors in Argentina from England to a few discotecas. It was great being in such an international spot.
The horseback ride the next day was breath taking. We got picked up around 10:00am and usually it's a group of about 20 but we lucked out and it was just us three on the ride! The terrain before lunch was pretty dry, desert type climate-we were in the backyard of the Andes which was awesome and trotted through a few streams. The included lunch was mouth watering..steak, sausage, salad, pasta, break (obviously) and red wine. Outlooking the Andes and a bridge with a small river underneath, all we could do was giggle that we were in Argentina horseback riding, sipping red wine, melting food of the best kind in our mouthes, sharing an experience only we could know and see from our eyes at this moment. Couldn't even find the right words for it, don't think I'll ever really digest this day. After sharing mate and cafe we got back on the horses. We rode through patches of snow to a huge open valley of deers, birds, and wild mules. This valley will forever rest my eyes before I sleep at night. We then rode through a forest that had endless trees & we chose the path to ride through them. The rich, quiet, natural beauty was unlike any place I've ever been. No civilization. Just us. Once out of the trees and into another valley our guide glanced ast me and told me to go ahead of him and do as I wished on my horse because I'd told him I used to ride. Galloping through the open valley was the most liberating feeling I've had in a long long time. We never wanted this day to end! Pure amazement that these secret places exist and may be unlocked.
We grocery shopped and made pizza that night at the hostel then went to another pub and heard some live music with people in our hostel. Then we all went to the reggae bar. On our walk there the woman from New Zealand who drives a tour bus there was laughing that she really wanted to hop in the drivers seat of one of the Argentine tour buses we passed, I'd never heard a passion for this- she was a very funny lady who had traveled all over alone and inspired me to go to some awesome places in the world. I was in such a daze from the horseback ride a guy in the reggae bar asked me where I was from because I had a grin on my face from ear to ear.
The next day we got up at 8am for snowboarding the Andes! It was a crazy day because it's such an international resort that it was hard to know what language to speak. A large portion of this day consists of things you would have to be there for but the best story is probably when I was sitting snapping into my bindings on my snowboard and Mckenzie was still coming down to where I was, a huge group of guys started throwing snowballs at me. When Mckenzie came down I welcomed her to getting snowballs chucked at us. Many people yelled at us from the chair lifts.. even with goggles and beanies we were called out on being North Americans and got marriage proposals. The encounters with other people on the mountain were ridiculously hillarious. The air was really clean and the untouched views were spectacular..Many of the runs took a couple hours because it was an elevation of 2100msnm at the top.
Mckenzie and I went out to an Italian dinner that night then met up with the guys we met on the bus ride, we actually ran into them which kept happening with people we met throughout our time there. We laughed about the huge dogs running through the bars. The night ended as it seemed to each night.. Mckenzie and I recapping our adventures eating our bread and cheese trying to silence our laughs in the hostel kitchen.
On Monday Mckenzie and I found some awesome graffiti then I went with her to the bus station and bought my bus ticket for Wednesday, I'd decided to go with my family to the coast in Concepcion to celebrate Chile's Independence. I switched hostels, the second hostel had the most amazing view of Bariloche and Lake Nahuel Huapi. Kendall came to this hostel my second night there. I rested most of Monday then went to a Fondue dinner. I went out and played pool with friends I'd made there after. Tuesday I took a gondolla up to the 7th rated top world view by National Georgraphic. Up top I ate lunch at the cafe that spins for the panoramic view. I met a girl who wants to be pen pals to help me with my Spanish. Tuesday night I cooked dinner in the hostel and heard some crazy travel stories, a few women had just gotten back from biking the most dangerous road in the world in Bolivia.Again it was wonderful to hear international travel stories all evening.
Wednesday I was bummed to leave but exhausted and getting low on money.. it was time. Kendall and I went to some artisan shops and purchased some memorabilia. I hope to go back for Kayaking or to take a ferry to one of the Islands on the lake, one is where Walt Disney got a bunch of his ideas for Disney movies. It was an amazing place I'll keep in my heart forever.
Next blog.. Concepcion for Chilean Independance Day/Weekend festivities.
Chao!
T
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