Trekking: Cerro Manquehue

Yesterday was my second trek with the group, this time up to Cerro Manquehue, located in a suburban area in Northeast Santiago. Cerro Manquehue is about 1600 meters high and in Mapuche means "place of the condors".  This particular trek was a little bit slower going than the last one I did due to the larger rocks and looser soil. You know that you have to be careful when the descent ends up taking almost as long as the ascent. I think our guide Daniel scared everyone just enough to use extra caution when he told us that not only could we slip and fall in the loose dirt and twist our ankles, but if we did fall we would probably also cut ourselves on one of the large rocks.
A similar incident occurred with my brother several years ago while skiing, so I took Daniel's word for it, and thankfully we all managed to escape unharmed, except for me getting stung by a yellow-jacket. He decided to crawl up my pant leg and probably stung me in response to his own stupidity when he couldn't find his way back out.
I'll try not to whine and sound like a baby about a silly little bee sting, but it happened to get me right before we headed back down the hill, so nothing like a little swelling and pain right next to my knee that's already working extra hard to stabilize me. Thankfully Daniel also lent me one of his trekking poles that had also been used at one point to hike the Himalayas, and in keeping with the Nepalese tradition, he also led us in a pre-climb prayer to the mountain, asking that we all climb it safely and without incident.

There's our final destination

Pep talks, prayers, etc.

Look at my friends climbing up ahead, these things are always steeper than they look

Claudia, one of my partners in crime

What smog?

Here's to a safe descent

My battle wound starting to swell up

Finally some flatter land

Animal Moments

I've already posted disclaimers about my lack of crazy cat lady-ness, but it's no secret that I really miss my little guy. I think he misses me too, as evidenced by his curiosity with my voice when I'm talking to my mom on Skype or when she has me on speakerphone. He starts rubbing his little whiskers against the phone and purring, while staring at the receiver with a very confused look due to his curiosity about where my voice is coming from...
Sometimes when I'm walking home from class at night and spacing out, I'll think about Cameron and often times feel guilty about leaving him for so long, and to comfort me momentarily a random kitty will pop out of nowhere on the street or from a tree up above and give me a reassuring meow.

A random favorite photo of mine that I knew would fit in somewhere

This semester my night class in on the other side of the city, so my new route has me getting off the bus and returning from the opposite side. You'd think I'd be smarter than the dog, but it never fails, this guy scares the crap out of me every time. He's black so I never see him, and he hides on the step until I turn the corner and then sneaks around behind the cars to the gate just as I turn the corner, ferociously bouncing up and down like a pogo stick. Seriously, this little guy can catch some air, and I don't think this video captured any of his record jumps, in fact this time he kind of looked at me like, "Why are you stopping for film footage lady? I'm much more confident in my terrorizing skills when you just keep walking by."

Trekking: Horcon de Piedra

A couple of weeks ago I bumped into my friend B. at the institute and she was kind enough to invite me along on the the next adventure of a local trekking group that she had discovered in Santiago. One of the disadvantages of not having a car here is the fact that you're a bit limited in terms of visiting some of the beautiful areas within about 40 minutes of the city that are pretty inaccessible using public transportation. Fortunately, this group meets at the metro, all of the participants hop into the cars of whoever is willing to drive, and everyone pitches in for gas at the end.
I wasn't sure exactly where we were going, and as you've probably noticed from some of my pictures, there is quite a varied terrain here in Chile, so I was a little relieved when I discovered that we were heading south of the city to climb a cerro at a private natural reserve called Altos de Cantillana and not straight up into the Andes somewhere. This particular area has an impressive view of the Cordillera de la Costa, a coastal range that runs parallel to the Andes.
The last time I attempted a full day trek was last winter and it resulted in quite an adventure. I'd like to say that this latest attempt wasn't as action packed, but I'd be lying if I said that we didn't get lost, have to climb over locked gates, discover a bunch of beehive boxes, or stumble upon a rather threatening looking cow/bull that didn't appear to be tied up.
If you don't believe me, ask the group who returned yesterday to hike a different area of the same reserve and was this time accompanied by a park ranger sort of fellow. Unfortunately, I now have to work on Saturdays again so I'm not sure when my next trek with this group will be. At any rate, here are some photos of the beautiful parts of the adventure, and sadly enough, I was too fearful to stop and capture all of the hazards mentioned above.

still looking pretty horizontal at this point

this is why we needed to bring 2 liters of water

am I back in Arizona?

pretty cool shadows from the clouds

check out the range behind those clouds

now we're up pretty high

I'm guessing this is a really old cactus

Changes and going with the flow

Do you ever stop and think about how life seems to be going perfectly in one direction and then suddenly out of nowhere something pops up to take you somewhere completely new?
It happens on a small scale, like when I leave the institute thinking that I'm going to go and do one thing, and then suddenly I bump into a friend and end up at happy hour, and it also happens with the big things, a conversation in passing that sparks an idea that takes you off to a completely new place, either physically or mentally...
A fleeting thought about the beauty and grandeur of the Great Wall of China and a week a later appears a grant opportunity for foreign language teachers. Coincidence, or destiny? The trip to China somehow leads to me living in South America, and here I am looking at the next "next step"...

That's exactly what they are, steps to something bigger and better if we allow them to be. If we knew what was ahead, would we ever take the small steps? If someone told me that this move to Chile would result in me going back to the USA to leave my old teaching job and look for another job would I just opt to skip the Chile part and make only one change instead of two? Sometimes we prefer the easiest course of action, but isn't that where we'd miss the learning?

I want to emphasize that I would classify my time here in Chile as exactly that, a learning experience. Yes, I've traveled and shared lots of photos with you here on this blog, but I can assure you that when I look back on this experience I'll remember more about all the things that I learned, both big and small. Yes, I came to Santiago to gain English teaching experience and to put my Spanish into a more practical context, and in the meantime I learned about a new culture and embarrassed myself a few times in the process. I didn't write much about my daily frustrations on this blog because I try to focus on the bigger things and frankly with everything that's going on in the world I don't think my minor setbacks would always be very well-received.

It is appropriate to share, however, that my experience here isn't about how many people cut me in line or stared at me or grinned when I opened my mouth and actual Spanish came out. I've tried to take a better look at myself and how I react in these moments and also keep in mind that there are plenty of crappy people in my own country. When you move to a different country you realize very quickly that the easiest course of action is not to try to change or be bothered by how everyone else does things. The best way to assimilate is to get with the program and quickly set your own expectations aside. At the end of the day it boils down to how we adjust, grow, and internalize these little changes that we've made and put them into practice when the next opportunity for change appears in our lives. For me, patience and acceptance are two big things that I hope to be able to take with me when I go.

Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay

From Buenos Aires, one of the easiest and most popular excursions is to cross the Rio de la Plata by ferry over to Uruguay to access Montevideo or another adorable little touristy town, Colonia de Sacramento. When one imagines crossing a river, you probably don't imagine a river that is up to about 200 km wide. If you want to get technical, it's an estuary formed by the Uruguay Parana rivers that creates the border between Argentina and Uruguay and connects all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Because of sediments entering from the other rivers, the water is a nice murky brown color.
There is the option for the super fast 1 hour ferry to Colonia or the more affordable 3 hour trip which has you there in time to walk around, grab some lunch, snap photos of the historical area of the city, and with the 1 hour time change be back in Buenos Aires by 10pm.

Leaving Buenos Aires behind

Big river, right?

Brown water noted

Approaching Colonia

This is what the ferry looks like

Don't worry, this guy is going to catch a boat that big and tie us up

Here's to visiting another country in one day

Colonia de Sacramento was founded originally by Portugal in 1680 and over the years had also been under Spanish and Brazilian control. It's now a part of Uruguay and it's best known for its historic district, a World Heritage Site, that was built by the Portuguese.

It also had a tropical island feel

I loved all of the different colored hibiscus everywhere

You know it's a small world when you run into two of your good friends from Santiago in Uruguay. We forgot to snap a picture as proof of our coincidental meeting, but they were really there, I swear.

Back to Buenos Aires!

Buenos Aires

I'm almost to the end of the travel posts, I promise. It was a fun 6 weeks and I feel very fortunate to have done and seen everything that I did. My travel around Chile has definitely changed the way I plan to travel in the future and the things I still want to see. Gone are the days of all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, hello Cartagena de Indias, Colombia!
If you're one of those outdoorsy types who likes Alaska or the Western USA, you HAVE to add Patagonia to your list of place to visit. I hope to return someday to see the other side and make my way up the places that I missed like Ushuaia, El Calafate, and Bariloche.
Now...on to my photos of Buenos Aires. Although it's a beautiful cosmopolitan city, I knew right away that I made the right choice in coming to Santiago. For me it's more manageable and the only way I can describe it would be like moving from Chicago to New York City. At any rate, since I'm a Chicago girl, it was nice to get out of this desert for a few days and into a little heat and humidity and see the beautiful people, architecture, and fashion.

Retiro and Plaza San Martin:

La Casa Rosada and Plaza de Mayo:

Puerto Madero:

Recoleta area and the cemetary:

Everyone comes to see Evita

I didn't get it in the photo, but there was even a butterfly flying around right here next to this quote that says to focus on the life that is beginning and not ending. Pretty cool.