As you can imagine there is plenty going on in this country where small earthquakes are a twice a month deal, there are student protests every other week and fall is slipping into winter. gross. I'm not a fan of winter without snow. Instead, here the snow only falls on the distant (but not that distant) Andes and in the (actually) distant Patagonia. Hopefully I'll get to ski on some of that in June :)
To continue with the goings-on-in-Chile topic, today there was a government permitted student strike that was supposed to be normal, non-violent and all that. However, watching the news this evening there was a burning bus, someone getting chased by police on a motorcycle and someone unconscious being carried by four men from the scene. I feel so safe. Actually as long as you just avoid the center of town you are usually fine. I am REALLY good at avoiding the center of town during strikes ever since my first experience with tear gas. I must say it just wasn't good enough to repeat....ever. It was terrible
So I was lucky enough to get to visit Pucón in the middle of April. We actually went on what was called the 'viaje semestral' or the semester trip in which 'Syracuse University' brought us to Pucón and paid for lodgings and some food etc. It was fantastic! There is a gigantic volcano that you can see from everywhere, there are all kinds of touristy (but awesome) adventures like sip lining, kayaking, white water rafting and thermal hot springs to visit! We had an awesome time! We stayed at Hotel Sol y Lago which was comprised of cute cabin-apartment things. There was also a pool there, but it was freezing.
Coming back to Santiago was a bit of a noisy let down after, but I am now re-accustomed to city life. Normal things such as waiting for the D18 bus in the frigid morning, forcing yourself onto a really full metro, riding said metro to class, going to class where SO MANY students get there late (must be a chilean thing) etc. The city is exhausting (in good ways too) but Pucón was a nice break.
Thankfully, there are more adventures in the near future to be had because me and two other 'gringas' are planning a trip to the island of Chiloé, very very far south. There are penguins on the Pacific coast side and cool houses on stilts on the Atlantic side so I am super excited. We are going to take an overnight bus to get down there because it takes so long, I'll never get used to sleeping on a bus or a plane. Just can't do it.
the beach! Algarrobal
Volcan Villarica! Check it out!
One of Pablo Neruda's 3 houses. He is probably one of the most famous Chilean poets. He likes tall houses
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