Birthday Week was definitely a success! One of my favorite
birthdays in all my 23 years. Filled with warm, sunny weather, good food, good
friends, and, as with every week, incredible memories.
This week I was able to send my deposit for my
hiking/camping trip to Machu Picchu next week!! I can’t believe it’s only a
week away that Allie and I head off to Cusco. I’m so glad to have a travel
partner as well. I know that it’s going to be an incredible trip and I can’t
wait for this experience! I celebrated my successful securing of my spot on the
trip by going on a great afternoon run, and I had a sweet dog follow me. He was
a great motivator! He fell into pace with me and hung out with me almost up
until the end. What a trooper.
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| I took this picture awkwardly while I was running |
For lunch one day at the office, we used an amazing website
called quierosushi.cl that has great deals on mass quantities of sushi. For
whatever reason, Chile loves sushi.
I’ve probably seen more sushi restaurants here than stray dogs, which is saying
a lot here. We ordered 40 pieces for 4,000 pesos, which is about 7 USD. Later that night I made some oatmeal raisin cookies
and headed over to Allie and Brittany’s (other interns in the same program as
me) to make dinner and watch Disney movies. Not a bad start to Birthday Week.
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| You can't even tell how burnt they are on the bottom! |
Later in the week we went to dinner at Tercer Tiempo, one of
our favorite local bars, to watch Chile play Haiti in soccer, and to of course
order a chorillana (they have the best one in town, I think). Chile won! Which
was expected, but still fun to watch the game in a packed bar. Also, if anyone
can explain to me why countries are once again playing each other in soccer,
that would be appreciated. I have no idea what’s going in the world of soccer,
but I like being able to cheer Chile on, so I’m glad it’s back!
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| A pitcher of a drink called a Terremoto ("earthquake") made of fermented wine, pineapple ice cream, and grenadine |
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| This is for 2 people... |
My birthday on Wednesday was a great day!! At the office, my thoughtful
coworkers gave me a box of chocolates and a wilderness survival guide for when
I go to Machu Picchu and Patagonia. They know me too well! Then we all went out
for lunch at a delicious pizza place close to our building. It was really nice
to spend some time with everyone out of the office. They’re a fun bunch! Then I
went on a nice run and then a group of us went out to dinner at a cozy Italian
place nearby. It’s actually my roommate’s birthday today too, which is pretty
cool! So we were able to celebrate both our birthdays with a nice dinner
followed by a fun night out with some other great friends here :)
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| So fancy! |
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| The adorable cookies and wine that some of my sweet friends from UCV brought me! |
Thursday, September 11th, is the anniversary of
the military coup d’état and the beginning of the dictatorship, which means
angered Chileans take to the streets, setting dumpsters on fire, starting
riots, and generally messing things up. But that is much more of an issue in
Santiago. We didn’t see or hear of anything scary happening in Viña. But we didn’t
exactly go looking for it either. I was perfectly happy to stay inside this
evening!
We went back to Tercer Tiempo this weekend again and ended
up meeting some friendly Chileans and spent the night laughing at each other
trying to do tongue twisters (trabalenguas) in each other’s languages. Try
saying: “Tres tristes tigres trigo trigaban tronquilos en un trigal” 3 times
fast (or if you’re like me, just try it one time slowly). It was a really fun
night talking and hanging out with them though. Random encounters with locals
like that are one of the things that I love the most about traveling and is the
best window into a new culture. The fact that Chileans are just so casual and
friendly and want to engage us in conversation like that just makes me so happy
and makes me feel so at home in this country.
We went on a beautiful hike to La Campana National Park
today, where we had the intention of going up to the summit of the highest
mountain, which is at about 6,000 feet and gives you a 360 degree view of the
Andes mountains, the city, and the Pacific ocean. But we arrived at the park
too late and the path the summit was going to be closed before we could reach
it. So we detoured and went hiking in the opposite direction to the other side
of the park, and ended up at a peaceful spot overlooking the Andes and the rest
of the Coastal Range, taking in the scenery and the mountain noises like
hummingbirds and wind passing through palm trees (it’s a strange climate here)
while we ate our PB&Js. We had a lovely, although a bit strenuous, hike up
one trail and back down another, seeing lots of plants and lovely vistas along
the way. Our hike totaled 15km and
about 7 hours of gorgeous Chilean nature. While we were going through the woods
and by creeks though, it felt a lot like hiking in Boone and made me miss that
magical place! But I know I’ll be back there soon to visit, and for now, I
suppose Chile will have to do :)
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| I've never seen a single leaf have the colors all the seasons at the same time |
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| Palm trees in the foreground, snow-capped Andes Mountains in the background. What a wild country Chile is! |
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| More weirdness. What even is this plant?? |
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| We took the most green bus I've ever seen back from the park |
I can’t believe that I only have a week left in Viña!! I am
so sad to be leaving the great friends that I’ve made and wonderful life that
I’ve built behind, but it’s about time to move on! And with each day that
passes, I get more and more excited about Machu Picchu!! (and living in wine
country). This week crossed a few more things off of my Chile “To Do” list and gave
me a few experiences that I wasn’t expecting, like the sweet gifts from my
coworkers and meeting new Chilean friends along the way, and that is exactly
what adventures like this are meant to be made of :)
Besos xox
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| I finally made it to the famous flower clock! |
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