pictures of my house and viña del mar

my home (64 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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a time of reflection

now that I am back in los estados unidos, it has been kind of weird.

i thought that it would be weird coming home, that I would feel drastically different, that I would send off different vibes...something. I was greeted at the airport lovingly by my mommy, daddy, Rebekah, and Karlie (she was a surprise!!!) and then headed off to go see Hannah in Athens. we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at Mama's Boy in Athens (I highly recommend it to everyone!), saw her dorm room, etc and then headed home.

upon reaching perry,driving in off the highway, taking a right onto macon road.......nothing felt weird or different....it felt normal as if i had done it everyday these past five months. and then i figured out that that is what home is. Home is the place that makes you feel as if you had never left. Immediate comfort. Love. Hugs. Lots of hugs.

English came back without any problems. at all. I can see now, only after 10 days of being home, how easy it would be to completely lose Spanish.

I had a yearning for people to ask me "How was Chile?" or "What did you do in Chile?", but no one did. I asked Hannah and Karlie in the car - "Aren't you going to ask me about my trip?" - and they responded "Well, we read your blog and talked to you quite a bit so we feel as if we know everything already." I even got to be in our Christmas card photo. I was sort of hoping that a picture of me while i was in Chile would make it in the Christmas card, but they waited instead.

Have I changed? really, have I changed?

I really hope so. I hope that I continue to be relaxed - all the time. maybe not relaxed relaxed, but relaxed enough so that I can keep my eyes open to the big picture and remember that God is ALWAYS in control, so in the end what are all of these silly things going to matter? Relaxed enough that I can appreciate the sun set, or the sunrise, or my friends when I am with them, or my health, or the coffee that I am now drinking.

Relaxed enought to appreciate the little and subtle things in life that used to go unnoticed. I hope that I can travel within the United States some more. That I can see what my own country is about and appreciate my liberty within it. America is an awesome place that we all take for granted. our streets our clean, along with our water, we all have cars (no more micros!!! YES!!), I go to a great university that I got to choose, we are encouraged to be entrepreneurs and have the ability to be successful in anything we set our hands to do; the men respect the women - i haven't yet been whistled at since I have been home :)

I have been getting frustrated with the little things since I have been home. things that now appear little to me since i have just experienced and taken in so much. my eyes have been widened. i have a new perspective. so don't be offended if i say something different than what you wanted to hear, but maybe wonder why does she think that now. the world is so big. and my sphere of influence at home is so small. when you live in a small world there are still big things right? should there be? or should we be searching for bigger things?

if you walk in late to church is it really rude? should I judge that person? No. i don't know why that person is late first of all, and second of all, if that person came because he had a desire in his heart to come. and he might be sitting there in that pew REALLY there, unlike his neighbor next to him was there on time.

I have learned not to judged. which is kind of ironic because while i was in Chile Colleen and I would always joke around by saying "stop judging me" or "dont judge me". I have heard some stories about people. You can never really understand a person until you know there history, ¿me cachai? Why am I the way that I am? well, there are 20 years of stuff that has shaped me into the person I am today. and everyday will continue to shape me. God is so good. and He is the one forming me into the woman that He wants me to become.

i feel different on the inside. but at the same time, i feel like i haven't changed. it is bizarre.

¡recap!

places i've been:

1) Santiago de Chile

2) Omlúe

3) Viña del Mar

4) Valparaíso

5) Reñaca (las dunas)

6) Concón

7) Rabuco

8) Calama

9) San Pedro de Atacama

10) Toconoa

11) Mendoza, Argentina

12) La Serena

13) Vicuña

14) Monte Grande (Valle de Elqui)

15) Coquimbo

16) Puerto Natales

17) Torres del Paine

18) Punta Arenas

19) Fuerte Bulnes

20) Porvenir, Tierra del Fuego

21) La Isla Negra

22) Quilpue

23) Pucón

24) San Felipe

25)Los Andes

las termas

on Sunday, our last day in Pucón, our program took us to las termas or hot springs. due to all the volcanic activity there are lots of these in this region. we went from 11:30-2:45 and so enjoyed ourselves. it was nice to relax after yesterday - climbing the volcano. the hot springs were actually man-made pools, but were all natural - rock bottoms and sides and everything and they just transported the hot water in. there was a river running right by the springs too. relaxing afternoon.

when we got back we packed up and then went to our Goodbye Dinner, our last asado chileno. we then loaded up on the bus and headed out at 7pm for our long 12 hour drive home. there are also pictures of my cabaña in the album. it was sooo nice. 2 bedroom, 2 bath, living, kitchen, and every evening the maids came and dropped off our breakfast for the next morning. so spoiled.

las termas y mi cabaña (102 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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climbing el volcán villarica!

soooo....first of all i would like to say that my outfit that i climbed the volcano in was pretty awesome - leggings with running shorts and knee high socks that i bought the night before (a 2 pack shared with natalie). anways, i woke up at 5:45 to be ready to go at 6:30. we went and got our rental equiment and headed to the volcano!!!

we hiked about 15 minutes to get to the ski lift and then took the ski lift the first 1400 meters. then we hiked to the top! it took about 4 hours to get to the top and about halfway through our hiking our guides (there were 3 guides and 11 hikers) put on our "crampons" so that we wouldn't slide on the icy snow....hahaaha

pretty cool huh??? we made it to the top and had about 25 minutes to explore. the inside of the volcano was black and i didn't see any lava...

going down was the BEST part because we slide down on our bottoms!!!!!! we buckled on a tarp type thing on our bottoms so that we would slide better and not get as wet and then we used our ice axes beside us as our brake. it was sooooo fun!!!! and i would totally recommend it.

it only took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to get all the way down.... slightly less than the 4 hours to get up.

the rest of the afternoon I got to explore the city of pucón, buy lots of goodies, and then we had a nice dinner for the whole program that evening. we played cards and enjoyed our cabaña during the evening too. good times all around.

pucon! - VOLCANO (81 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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la ciudad de Pucon (59 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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last trip to Pucón

this is my last trip in chile. i was hoping that it would never come because i knew that it meant the beginning of the end - but it came igual. this trip was really sweet because our program paid for everything :)

we headed out at 9pm on Thursday night for about a 12 hour bus ride to Pucón. we arrived to our cabañas just before 9am, unloaded and ate breakfast. we then headed to a Mapuche Museum just outside of Pucón to spend the afternoon. we were given tours of the museo and also did "talleres" or workshops of the language mapudungun, tejer en tela (loom knitting??), and dancing/music. and we ate Mapuche food for lunch.

we then headed back and picked out our tours for saturday. i signed up to climb the volcano - Volcán Villarica :) sooo pumped. especially because on the way down you just slide down on your bottom in the snow. ahhh

Pucon! (66 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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trip to Villa Alemana

so Sunday November 29 was my last Sunday at the church that I have been attending, CEMIPRE. it is amazing to feel like another chapter in my life is ending. my time at this church has been so sweet and I have been so blessed by attending.

after the service one of my friends, Lia, invited me over to her house on Tuesday. Lia, 30 yrs old, is one of 9 kids - Juan, one of her brothers, is a co-pastor at the church, Betsy, younger sister, plays the piano and sings, Gonzalo and her parents also attend the church. So i knew a good portion of the fam.

so tuesday comes around and i take the train/metro about 30 mins inland to Villa Alemana and Betsy picked me up. we then take a collectivo to their house. What i didn't realize is that they own a little supermercado, so we entered the supermercado and Gonzalo was behind the counter (that is when i realized it was their store), then we went through the mercado and out the back, and then i saw the dad making bread! he makes the bread (2x a day) that they sell in the supermercado. their house was attached as well and they have a huge backyard, swimming pool, and animals. Lia is an event planner and she hosts them in her backyard because she got a grant from the government (attempt to support entrepreneurship) to build a big pavillion thing and buy sound equipment, etc.

i was at the house from 2pm-11:15pm. a long day, but it didn't feel that way at all! i got to help bake bread in the afternoon, ate lunch, and helped babysit one of their granddaughters (daughter of the oldest son). The baby was 9 months old and a doll!!! i loved getting to play with her all day!! it was the first time that i had interacted with a baby in spanish! my spanish definitely improved this day because they did not understand any english nor words pronounced with a heavy gringa accento....

it was wonderful to share and get to know what "life in the country"is like here in chile and get to know a wonderful Christian family. they asked me "so are you going to come back and be a missionary too like John (the pastor of my church)?" and "are you going to come back and visit?" ah! it is weird too to think that i may never see them again. but who knows!

villa alemana, by Sarah Moredock

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videos!!!!!!!

so i realized that i have some funny videos that i would like to share from my trip down south....

here i have just gotten my glacier ice and i am crazy.....

march of the pinguinos!!!!

this bird was seriously chasing me!!!!! and his squawk is crazy.

head butting pinguinos...this is what Colleens and i did when we got sick of each other.

pinguino loco y muy interactivo.

ThAnKsGiViNg In ChIlEEEEEEEE???

yeah...a little weird but SO FUN!

thanksgiving! (35 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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comforting grace

so every now and then being away from home is really hard. fortunately, God always uses those moments for the better. this last time, i found this song by Chris Tomlin, "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)," on grooveshark and then later i realized that i also had it in my itunes AND in my ipod. i have been listening to it a lot this past week and thought you might be touched by it too

Amazing grace

How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
Chorus:
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

Chourus(x2)

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine

algunos relatos...

sooooo......i missed a grammar test when i went to the south which was fine because we knew that there were going to be make-up tests on the last day of class, Nov 30. well, we asked him on Monday Nov 23 if we could take it on Wed the 25 so we wouldnt have to come in next Monday. he said fine.

we arrive to class on Wednesday, prepared to take our test and he looks at us and is like "oye, me olvidé a imprimir las pruebas". so basically he didnt remember to print them and said that if we waited a second he could go print them off. WELL....being the crazy person that i am....i just straight up asked him if he could just count our first grade twice so we didnt have to take the second exam. i mean, it doesnt ever hurt to ask right?!?? that is how i got Juan en Serio.

AND

he said yes.

i love Chile.

Relato numero dos:

you know you are having a "good day in Chile" when.....you are waiting for a micro and someone rolls down their window and yells "dulce" at you, then you are IN the micro and you look over and the man in the other micro is staring at you, and then you look over a moment later (after the other micro has passed) and you see 6 construction workers looking at you and one of them blows you a kiss!

and then on your way home, you get off the micro and as you cross the first intersection someone honks at you, at the second intersection someone whistles at you, and then you get stared at by a man who walks by.

i am ready to be in America.

my home these past 5 months...

I was very spoiled these past 5 months with my home and family. I lived on the 18th floor of a 24 story building that also had an inside and outside pool, jacuzzi, sauna, and gym. there was also a concierge who kept me safe :) yep, I was so fortunate and blessed by my family switch after the first week. I really enjoyed getting to know my mom who I helped in the kitchen a lot, my brother with whom I had lots of inside jokes, my sister who I also had fun with, and my dad.

for another point of view...

please see Colleen's blog http://colleen-in-chile.blogspot.com/

there are also some more embarrassing pictures of me....and she puts her pictures in cool slideshows.

AND we have done all of our traveling juntitas :)

region xii - dia 9

today we were picked up at 10am for our tour of Fuerte Bulnes, Puerto Hambre, Bahía Mansa, y el Centro Geográfico. first stop was Bahía Mansa. a tiny cove with boats and there was one group of guys loading up seaweed.

second stop - Puerto Hambre where the first settlers starved to death. our guide told us that the same kind of thing happened in the US in St Augustine. the only archeological thing they have done there is dig up a part of one wall. they don't have funds to really dig into things. that was for you daddy. and there is one monument there of a table....with no food on it. just a table. a hungry table.

after that we stopped by the centro geografico which is the middle of Chile North to south - half way to Peru and halfway to the southpole because has claimed a wedge of antartica (I went to the presidents house who did this in La Serena, recuerdas??)

y despues, we finally made it to Fuerte Bulnes. when we first got there we walked to the coast as instructed by our guide but what he didnt tell us was that we were going to have to walk through a herd of cows to gete there.... that will explain the cow pics.....

the fuerte was cool too but it was just a replica of the original because the original was used as firewood by the indigenous people. the story behind Fuerte Bulnes is this: Chile wanted to claim it for Chile, obvio, so they sent a group of settlers. great. but due to the harsh weather (you are at the end of the world) they moved a little but further north and founded Punta Arenas, abandoning the fort and hence the indigenous used it fair in square. then end.

we got back in town. almorzared. (spanglish for ate lunch) went to the lasts museo on our list....which was far away and ended up being closed. and then had a 2.5 hour once with Colleens at Cafe al Centro filled with lots of stimulating conversation. we went back to the hostel and hung out til 11:15 when we got a taxi and headed to the airport. flight left at 1:40 and i finally got home at 9:30 am.

and that was my trip to the south.

region xii-dia 9 ft bulnes, by Sarah Moredock

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region xii - dia 8

MORE PINGUINOS!!!! en Isla Magdalena!

we woke up dreadfully early - 5:30 am - and headed off to the tourist agency. our tour left from there at 7am and we were bused to the boat. the boat ride, again, was fun and we reached the island just before 9 and had about an hour on the island. it was FULLLLLL of pinguinos. yes, all 50,000 breeding pairs. the little pinguinos walked right across our pathway to get to the mar. the only thing on the island was a lighthouse, or faro en espanol, and one pathway up to the faro. so all we did was walk up there and back. but it was soooo fun! i touched a pinguino even though before we got off the boat they told us not...oops. but when in the world am i evergoing to be able to do that again??? thats what i thought. so i did. hehe.

here is a video of a pinguino sqawking at me. his nido was very close to the pathway and he was getting a little protective...

on the boat right back we saw an island full of sea lions.....each male with his 10 females.....

also on the way back we starting talking to a couple from california. he works for NASA and was stationed in Punta Arenas for about 6 months because he manages an airplane that is set up for scientific research and they were doing trips/tests/collecting data (i dont know) in ANTARTICA!!! how cool right! and his wife came to visit.

we went home and made lunch and then afterwards we went out to find the rest of the things on my map's list. we went to the navy museum which was soo cool! we watched a video of the Peking making a trip around cape horn in the opposite direction as normal - east to west. it was a sailboat with no engine. really cool video. made me think a lot about my grandpas!!

there was a morse code machine thing and the directions on the alphabet...so Juan spelled out his name.......

great day!!!! pinguinos, pinguinos, pinguinos, pinguinos as i was wearing my pinguino sweater and sharing it all with Juan. and Colleens. lol

region xii-dia 8 IslaMagdalena (70 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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region xii - dia 7

PORVENIR, TIERRA DEL FUEGO!!!!

so today, we headed out early once again in order to catch the 9am ferry to Tierra del Fuego! Porvenir in my Lonely Planet travel guide book has exactly 1 thing listed to do: el museo de la municipalidad. yep, thats it. but we went anyways because now i can say that I have been to Tierra del Fuego :)

the best part was the ferry ride over there - 2.5 hours each way. on the way there we sat by a mom with her 4 year old son and her sister. after about half way through the ferry ride I was finally able to strike up a conversation with this little tike - you guys know hoe i really enjoy kids, so it was killing me the whole time. but let me tell you that it is a little hard to communicate with little kids in a second language. at one point he was like "¡no entiendes nada!" thats right, he told me that i don't understand anything. oh dear, the honesty of little kids. but we taught him how to play tic-tac-toe, i read him dragon tale books, and we played with his little cars. good time all around. and the coolest part is that he LIVES in Tierra del Fuego, so I was playing with a little Fueguino!!!!!!!!!!! and Juan en Serio, my pinguino, was sitting there too :) its the little things in life.

so, my guide book was right. there was nothing to do in Porvenir. we did the museo, found an interesting park, walked along the coast, sent some postcards, and still had time to kill. mind you we only had an hour and a half on the island because the bus to take us back to the ferry left at 1:15 for the 2pm ferry and we didn't get there til 11:30pm. crazy right?? but we were SOO happy that we only had an hour and half lol. we didn't even find any open restaurants.

on the ferry ride back we bought cafe and pancitos (bread and cheese heated up so the cheese melts). and we enjoyed our ride back. i love boats and water.

only way home we stopped by the museo del recuerdo which basically was a yard filled up with old mining equipment, train cars, buildings, carts, etc. and then walked the rest of the way home. it started to snow....and yes, this was when i saw school girls walking around in skirts with no tights. we also saw lots of garden gnomes.

region xii-dia 7 Porvenir, TdF (178 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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region xii - dia 6

this morning we woke up bright and early in order to explore the city before our pinguino tour this afternoon. i was given a map of Punta Arenas for the tourist agency with 22 marked places to visit. and i wanted to visit ALL of them. So we started at the cementerio, and then to the Shepherd's monument, then up to Cerro la Cruz - where i bought my Pinguino sweater!!!!! it will now be in all of my pictures....get ready. it is made out of wool and is soooo warm and the best part is the fact that it has Pinguinos Magallenicos which is the type of pinguinos that we saw down there!

anyways, one more museo and then Colleens and I stopped by the tour place to pay for the rest of our tours:

Wed. Pinguinera Salvaje (where we trek 2 hours to find the pinguinos) $15.000 pesos

Fri. Pinguinera Isla Magdalena (protected isla with 50.000 pairs of breeding pinguinos) $35.000

Sat. Tour to Fuerte Bulnes, Puerto Hambre y Bahía Mansa (historic stuff and also the furthest most point south on the continente that you can drive) $10.000

Important story: there were 3 little crocheted pinguinos in the window of the agency that were SO cute. they each sported a little chilean gorro. so, i picked one up when we walked in to check and see if there was a price on it. No price. but a man got in my way and i couldn't put in back before i started talking to the tour man. we settled up and finalized everything. at the end of our convo i asked in spanish "Quiero llevar tu pinguino." this was a very untactful way of asking because i used the most impolite form of querer, and called him tú instead of usted. a very blunt way of asking. but, Juan Conejeras (the tour man) must have liked me/been amused by my stupidity and told me "¡Llevatelo! y toma otro por tu amiga." so i took 2. one for me and one for Colleens.

so now, you will see my pinguino, Juan en Serio, in all of my pictures.

we went back to the hostal and had lunch and then Juan called me to say that our tour was cancelled due to the harsh weather where we would be hunting pinguinos. triste! but then Kelly called him back and told him that we WANTED to see pinguinos so we signed up for a different tour - Seno Otway. and she asked for a discount since they cancelled our tour with very short notice. during her phone conservation, which we were all gathered around listening to, she said very forcefully "No. Juan, en serio, ¡necesitamos un descuento!" we all cracked up laughing. she was so intense and serious about getting a deal. and for this reason, my pinguinos name is Juan en Serio.

we then got picked up at 4pm to go see pinguinos en Seno Otway. A little boring because there weren't many pinguinos, but we interesting facts:

• there are 17 types of pinguinos. we saw magallenic pinguinos.
• humans inadvertently kill pinguinos because we eat there food. Juan and I shared pinguino food at dinner - the fish Pejerreyes.
• the macho pinguinos come back to land in September to repair the nest, or nidos
• the hembras come back in October
• pinguinos don't touch land for 6 months of the year
• pinguinos make really weird honking noises. like a goose.
• baby pinguinos have different feathers that are really fluffy and can't swim til they grow growup waterproof feathers.

Juan enjoyed seeing his family members. and I enjoyed learning how to catch a pinguino. our guide explained to me that you grab a pinguino by the neck and the flipper in order to catch it because their beaks are really hard and powerful.

word of the day:

• aleta: flipper or fin
• aletear: Mover las aves repetidamente las alas sin echar a volar. to use the flippers.

region xii-dia 6 city-pinguino (160 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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region xii - dia 5 in PUNTA ARENAS!!!!

yay!!!! for civilization!!! we got up in time to have breakfast at the hostel and then catch the 10am bus back to Punta Arenas. Funny story: the attendant on the bus could talk, so he like mimed to us. . .and he brought us candy and checked on us every 15 minutes. Colleens was sleeping for a lot of it, but I was journaling the whole time so he would point to Colleens and shake his head like "dude, she is wasting time" and then point to me and give me a thumbs up. he was a little weird.

we then found our hostel, which was super cute and our room was huge. it was a house with a big kitchen that we got to use too. we then walked around the city and found our tour agency and made plans. on our way back to the hostel we stopped at La Chocolatta, which is a little coffee shop. We enjoyed our coffee and treats - Colleens got brownies and i got cookies. the brownies passed the test, but my galletas FAILED!!!!!! how miserable. I figured out that the problem is here the don't have brown sugar, so everything ends up dry and flavorless. i am ready for some postre estadounidense. But we easily passed about 2 hours soaking up the familiar coffee shop atmosphere.

yep, there is the bowl of strange flavorless cookies which i dunked in my coffee.

we also stopped and paid to use the internet to assure our parents that we were still alive :)

we then met up with my teatro friends, Jess and Kelly, bought our tours, and then went back to the hostel and made a huge salad and spaghetti for dinner. um um good.

Here is my very first picture that i took in Punta Arenas because Colleens was convinced that this was the satellite that communicated with Antartica.

region xii - dia 4 in TdP

soooo, this morning started at 5:45am because we were going on an all day trek to see glacier gray. this campsite was really nice and had a nice kitchen/eating area where we had dinner, but the bummer was that it didn't open until like 7am. SO we, once again, made food in the bathroom - the women's shower room to be exact. 6 girls and 2 boys in the bathroom making breakfast. quite a sight to see! and the second meal in a bathroom for me and Colleens.

we departed at 7:15 for the hike and made it to the refugio near the glacier 4 hours later where we stopped and had 'lunch' if you will. this is the picture of raisins, crackers, peanut butter, and a piece of chocolate cake. healthy. rightttt.

then we finished hiking to the mirador for the glacier - it was GORGEOUS. i have never seen ice so blue or so big. and it was weird because it was in the middle of like regular mountains. God is so creative. and then we got creative and decide to descend ALL of the rocks in order to get down to the water....i kept telling Colleens that the other people were probably saying in there heads "those crazy gringos, what are they doing!??" yes. looking back it was NOT very safe, but we survived.

Once we got down there i noticed chunks of ice floating around in the water SUPER close to where we were. and then i decided that i needed to eat a piece of glacier ice. so I ask Antonio if he wouldn't mind using his walking stick to pull up a piece of ice. and he did! he slid it up the rock and i caught it. i then became really excited and a little irrational. i hurriedly took out my camera and was handing it to Colleens to take my picture of me with my baby glacier when it fell! in the process handing it to her we lost track of it. BUT, solely by God's amazing grace, my hand reached down and caught it. I really hadn't even noticed that it had fallen to be honest. I heard it fall, but hadn't realized that it was MY camera. and the rocks where i was sitting formed a slide (which is how we got the ice up) and acted as a shoot for my camera into the water. I have a new appreciation for my camera. and reflexes.

Anyways, we then proceeded to pass around the glacier baby and eat it. . . there are lots of pics. and we saw a condor flying in the sky too on our way up. un día super emocionado.

We then embarked on the journey back, climbing up the tons of rocks that we had climbed down to get to the water. the hike back was only 3.5 hours and Colleens and I immediately took down our tent and packed up, ready to catch the 6:30pm ferry back. We then enjoyed great coffee again and took the bus into Puerto Natales. We got to return our PAINFUL shoes (even today a week and a half later i have bruises on my ankles.) and other equipment and then found a hostel with nice hot showers, warm beds, and heat :)

region xii - dia 4 - tdp dia 3 (101 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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region xii - dia 3 in TdP

so, we woke up around 7:30 this morning with the sun brightly shining, got ready for the day and then made a pot of oatmeal. more accurately: avena con canela y pasas (oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins). because we bought a kilo of raisins for the trip. oh yeah and a kilo of lentejas (lentils). we packed up our tent and then caught the in-park shuttle to the main entrance and from there we took our bus to the catamaran pick up point.

we stealthily hide our packpacks leaning up against the side of the catamaran building and then headed off to visit to Salto Grande - a huge waterfall - and the mirador for Los Cuernos. so the waterfall was spectacular!!! and so was the rest of our walk to the mirador. the walk was easy!!! and nothing compared to the day before which was perfect because we needed a break. but funny thing - as soon as we got to the mirador it started blizzarding on us!!! like the big mountains disappeared and the snow began to blow horizontally all up in my face.

oh yeah, and on the way there we saw guanacos which are a relative of the llama which automatically makes them really cool of course. and i tried to sneak up and touch one of them but ....the brush was too dense. here is the video of my sneak attempt.

(My favorite guanaco's name is Hannah ;) )

so. once we got to the mirador we quickly turned around and headed back. due to the mad amounts of windy snow. awesome.

problem: once we got back we were wet and cold, so we wanted some hot coffee and soup right?? well, our little cocinilla no funciona con viento. sooooo we ended up cooking lunch in the women's bathroom. i don't think i have EVER felt SO GROSS in my entire life. lol. we sat on the floor - me on the rolled up sleeping mat and colleens on the rolled up sleeping bag. women ever came in and out. and one told us "¡Buen provecha!" oh dear. but i did enjoy my tomato soup, zapallo soup, crackers and coffee :)

our restaurant (that i do NOT recommend):

let me explain a little further...we got dropped off at 11:15 and the 1st catamaran left at 12, but we missed it because we wanted to do the hike. we got back from the hike at like 2:45pm and the next catamaran didn't leave until 6pm. yeah. so that is why we ended up with so much time to kill in between. but we got out of 'Toilet' at like 3:30 and then just hung out by the dock until the catamaran left. which means we were outside in the freezing - on and off - snowy cold until 6.

GOOD NEWS: my teatro friends showed up to meet us for the catamaran!!!! so they are in all of my pictures for the rest of the time in TdP. AND the catamaran was AWESOME!!! they served hot coffee and galletitas!!!! which they should have sinced it cost $18,000 CLP ida y vuelta. i was deteremined to drink my money's worth.

We then sent up or snazzy carpa. colleens and i were really good at this. and then made lentejas for dinner. soooo yummyy!!!! and again, we shared the pot. we didn't have any bowls so each meal was shared from our olla. what a great day.

Region XII - dia 3 in TdP (195 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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fun facts about the end of the world

1) they have more time. sunrise at 5:30am and sunset at 9:30pm.

2) freezing

3) guanacos!!

4) all 4 seasons in 1 day

5) PINGUINOS!!!!!!!!!!

6) the people who live in Punta Arenas call themselves 'pinguinos'!!! (i want to be one)

7) girls were wearing their school skirts without tights in the snow! granted, yes, it is springtime, but still - there was snow!

8) i would not be able to live there. too cold. would get depressed.

9) la gente de Tierra del Fuego are called fueguinos!!!

10) the landscape is rather stark due to the harsh winds. and all the trees are crooked.

11) the most common animals are sheep and cows due to they durability in harsh weather conditions.

12) the people here take great pride in being part of Patagonia and fly the Patagonian flag.

13) they people here are FRIENDLIER! just like the southerners of the USA :)

14) and, again, pinguinos are cool.

15) and so am i. bahaha!

slight interruption in my story about the south....

Tati Sarah Alejandro
but i am atually blogging about what just happened to me today!!!! haha i thought this would never happen!

so today was my very last day con mi hermano chileno! today my brother and sister headed off to a trip to Italia with their highschool. apparently at the end of everyone's junior year they go on a trip to Italia (because they go to an Italian highschool called Scoula Italiana). So they get to go speak the italian they have been learning their whole lives.

I also baked CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES for them. the very first time that i have ever baked chocolate chip cookies here. and they were nothing like US chocolate chip cookies...i think the chocolate chips were stale. actually i know they were. i can't even imagine how much they would love REAL chocolate chip cookies.

I also took pictures of me with my family when we dropped them off!!!

here is from l to r: me, brother Alejandro, his girlfriend Nicole, sister Tati, dad, aunt Alejandra, mom, and grandpa

here i am with my abuelo (moms dad) and my prima (mom's sister's daughter)

oh yeah. other really great news....my family told me that my spanish improved! AND i was speaking english for the past 10 days. how awesome is that! i actually really made an effort this past trip to talk to everyone - taxi drivers, the hostel owners, the tour guides....etc. entonces, ¡¡¡espero que mi español siga a mejorar!!!!

Región XII - día 2 in the park Torres del Paine

Sábado - Nov. 7

we began our adventure today. we got on the bus to the park at 7:30am after a hearty breakfast. paid our $4.000 peso entrance fee and then took a $2.500 transfer to our camp site. we set up camp with the help of the park ranger dude who pointed out that we had forgotten to stake 2 parts of our tent and helped us tighten everything up. we were on the trail by 12 with only one small backpack, well 45 liter backpack, full of food and jackets. in Torres del Paine you can witness all 4 seasons in 1 day. and that is the truth because we did for sure.

we trekked and were doing great until about 3:30 when we realized we were on the wrong side of the river and couldN'T cross! it totally looked like a legit trail, but it wasn't. so we backtracked and lost about an hour. onwards and upwards! we kept trekking until about 5pm ish and then i just had to ask Colleens....'why are we doing this?????' we could even see los torres which is what we were hiking to and to be honest i did not have ganas to see them really. here they are:

she told me she did either, so we ended up turning around because we still had a good 2+ hours to go AND we FORGOT FLASHLIGHTSSSSS! what a mistake. it kind of made us panic so we turned back. but i will say that here in the south the sun rises at 5:30am and sets at 9:30pm. so the days are really long and we really never had a use for a flashlight. but anyways. we were just WAY happier people when we turned around. and plus i took this picture from the bus and we saw them just fine from there :)

So we made it back, ripped off those painful shoes and then made dinner inside of the tent. our cocinilla was so fickle it couldn't be exposed to any wind, so the only way to cook was inside of the tent. we made soup and then had coffee and a piece of a Hershey's dark chocolate bar for dessert. coffee and chocolate can still solve the worlds problems :)

we went to bed at like 9:30pm when it was still light out haha! and then got up at 7:30 the next day.

region xii - dia 2 in TdP (81 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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fyi

i have added more pics that i found to my mendoza album from the first part of our trip - these pics include dad's stellar beef rib cake ;)

AND i finally actually blogged about La Serena!

Almost in Antartica . . .

yep, thats right! These past 10 days I have been in the twelfth region de Chile enjoying the natural flora y fauna of el parque nacional de Torres del Paine, las ciudades de Puerto Natales y Punta Arenas, and la isla de Tierra del Fuego.

Jueves - Nov. 5 a Viernes - Nov. 6 (día 1)

got on a bus at 8:20pm with my travel buddy Colleen Cummings (o mejor Colleens). and soon arrived at the airport.

we then killed time with our friends Natalie and Tori (they were waiting for their plane to Chiloé) until we emarked the plane at 2am.

made it to Punta Arenas at 5:40am, got our bags, and took a transfer directly to the bus station. the station was closed until 7:30am, but the transfer driver saw me looking around for somewhere to get some coffee, so he graciously reloaded the 7 of us back into the van and took us to a restaurant for breakfast. COFFEE! and a pancito with melted queso. the first time was so good that we did it over again! yum yum.

we then walked back to the bus station and took the bus to Puerto Natales only after i had bought a newspaper since it is called 'El Pinguino'. perfect right? just encouraging my obsession. after a 3 hour bus ride there we walked to our hostal and got settled. then off the explore the city. BUT before we went off exploring, we talked to the man who worked at the hostal and knows all about some backpacking/trekking. I explained to him that we were planning on trekking for 4 days, 3 nights, what we had, what we needed to rent, etc.

here is the 'W' that we were planning on BACKPACKING (colleens is nuts and wanted to do this....and then i was nuts enough to agree haha!)

BUT, fortunately, the hostal man told us how to do it without our backpacks. perfect. set up tent and leave your stuff in it before the hikes. i like it. what i DON'T like is the fact that he told us we would be crossing 3 rivers and needed to rent SHOES along with a tent, sleeping bags, walking sticks, a stove, a mess kit, . . .need i say more??? 2 unprepared gringas.

so AFTER all that we got to explore the city :)

Region XII - day 1, by Sarah Moredock

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la Serena (113 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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La Serena

so, we explored La Serena more today. all the artesanias and ferias. we also went to a museo which was the home of the president Gabriel Gonzalez Videla who was responsible of claiming the Chilean part of Antartica. i liked the guy as soon as i heard that.

i also bought Marmelada de Papaya and papaya confitadas, which are dried and sugared papayas, because La Serena is known for their papaya products - they are 'la region de las papayas'.

We were then shown around Coquimbo by Jasmins Chilean sister who lives in la Serena. the pictures of the huge cross of millenium are from there. and the pictures of us climbing on a playground. we still had lots of time left in our day before our bus left. so we got something to eat, did a little homework since we had a paper due a 2pm the next day that we hadn't started (oops), and then headed to the bus station.

great trip, but my 3 classes the next day were a little rough since i didn't relaly sleep.

Vale la pena.

Isla dama 10-25 (189 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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Isla Dama

i have an obsession with pinguinos.

Sunday - 10/25

We booked a tour to go see Humboldt Pinguinos through our hostal. best decision. ever. we were bused out about 2.5 hours to Punto Chorros where we got on this over-sized canoe with a motor. I was scared. sometimes Chile is a little ghetto. BUT the boat worked even though there were 14 people on it. just look at the pictures and you will see why i was scared. we saw lobo marinos, pinguinos, tons of aves of different types, delfines, and a really neato starfish! at first we just boated around the island with all of the wildlife and then we headed to Isla Dama where we got off and walked around.

just to explain the ghettoness a little further - in order to block the water from spraying into our faces, the people on the left side of the boat had to sit on a large piece of plastic and then hold it up with their hands to about their shoulder. on the way back the right side of the boat had to do it.

Isla Dama was fun. we climbed up to the top of the rock which has the profile of the 'dama' or woman. and yes, this day i was tackily wearing all PINK! that didn't match. at all. oops. i couldn't help that my toenails were pink, my capris were pink, my backpack has pink on it, my nalgene is pink, my raincoat is pink, and my chacos are pink. OOOPS! fun time regardless.

PS. lobo marinos make goofy noises.

Vicuña 10-23 and 24 (294 photos), by Sarah Moredock

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Trip to the 4th Region!

Valle de Elqui!

(soooo, now that it is actually Nov 15 I am going to tell you about my trip to the 4th region that ocurred from October 22-26. sorry about that. )

Friday - 10/23

OK! so, we traveled through the night, as always, to La Serena (a six hour bus ride from Viña) and then took the 6:30am bus to Vicuña. Vicuña is a very small town - even smaller, way smaller, than my town of Perry, GA. That being said, we found a hostal, had breakfast and coffee (essential), and planned our time in Vicuña. We saw basically the entire city in the morning....but the one museo that I really wanted to see - the house of Gabriela Mistral (a Nobel Literature Prize winning Chilean poet) - was CLOSED! I was a sad little girl. but life goes on.

we went to a Pisco plant in the afternoon, Capel, had a tour, taste tested some deliciously flavored pisco and walked back. yes, we walked like 45 mins each way. it was kinda hot too. But we made it back, had lunch, and went to an entomology museo (which, if you were wondering, was simply full of BUGS!). I had no idea what entomology was before that trip, but now i just looked it up:

–noun

the branch of zoology dealing with insects.

that explains everything. there are like ten million pictures of this museo because Colleen got sick and couldn't go, so I told her that I would takes pictures of it ALL. and i did.

That night we went to the Mamalluca observatorio and saw some pretty stellar things lol! oh dear. the moon, Jupiter and its three moons, and some crazy stars. even one that reflected light like a rainbow. pretty cool. end of day 1. we crashed hard in our little (really gross) hostal.

Saturday - 10/24

Early morning we headed out to Monte Grande in order to see the tomb and house of Gabriela Mistral. This town had like 3 buildings in it. that was all. the tomb was pretty, the house was like 3 rooms, but we enjoyed our picnic lunch and bought some macrame and copper jewelries from vendors outside the church in the little plaza.

We then headed back into Vicuña, got our stuff and took a bus back out to La Serena. Overall, Valle de Elqui was very arid but it was amazing to see how green it was due to all the pisco vineyards and manmade irrigation. It was a very cute city and great experience.

Now, we are in La Serena. Our hostal here is AMAZING. private bathroom, nice kitchen, computers, CLEANNNNNNNNNN! just the way i like it :) we dropped our stuff off and then set out to explore. We went to el parque japonese - very beautiful and tranquilo. lots of pictures with me playing with patos (ducks). We also walked out to the beach. (these pics are under La Serena).

you know that song that always makes you smile...

"Banana Pancakes"

Jack Johnson

Can't you see that it's just raining
Ain't no need to go outside...
But baby, you hardly even notice
When I try to show you this
Song is meant to keep ya
From doing what you're supposed to
Like waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
I'll make you banana pancakes
Pretend like it's the weekend now

And we could pretend it all the time
Can't you see that it's just raining
Ain't no need to go outside

But just maybe, laka ukulele
Mommy made a baby
Really don't mind the breakfast
'cause you're my little lady
Lady lady love me
'cause I love to lay here lazy
We could close the curtains
Pretend like there's no world outside

And we could pretend it all the time
Can't you see that it's just raining
Ain't no need to go outside
Ain't no need ain't no need Mmmm MMmmm
Can't you see can't you see
Rain all day
And I don't mind.

The telephone is singing
Ringing it's too early
Don't pick it up
We don't need to we got everything
We need right here
And everything we need is enough
Just so easy
When the whole world fits inside of your arms
Don't really need to pay attention to the alarm
Wake up slow, yeah wake up slow
You hardly even notice
When I try to show you this
Song is meant to keep ya
From doing what your supposed to
Like waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
I'll make you banana pancakes
Pretend like it's the weekend now

And we could pretend it all the time
Can't you see that it's just raining
Ain't no need to go outside
Ain't no need, ain't no need
Rain all day and I really really really don't mind
Can't you see can't you see,
You gotta wake up slow