Chau Chile

Presentations have been given, papers have been handed in, tests have been taken and somehow, just like that, my semester studying abroad in the wonderful land of Chile has come and gone.

I just got back from my last study abroad seminar class at the end of which our director brought almost all of us to tears. Vilma has led many study abroad programs and thinks that this may be one of her last but she’s at peace with that because she said if her travels end with us then she can say she quit while she was ahead. She said she was so proud of how well we took care of each other and how open we were to everything Viña had in store for us. She has been an incredible pillar of strength and support for all of us but to hear we were the same for left us all a little chocked up. She gave each of us a hug, told us she loved us and asked that we not forget her when we find our “fame and fortune.” A group hug ensued and more tears as we bid each other adieu before heading out on our travels. We haven't been apart much at all this semester so it's bizarre to think that I won't see some of them until January.  

My last night in Viña could not have given me better closure. I helped my host mom and sister put up the Christmas tree and then we had probably the best meal I’ve had in Chile. My host dad grilled some awesome steak and bought spicy brown mustard for it, which is easily one of my favorite condiments. My host parents talked about their impressions of me my first couple weeks here and described the look of shear terror on my face every time they tried to talk to me. They congratulated me on how far my language has come and thanked me for being a part of their family when in all reality, it is I who owe them all the thanks in the world. While I had my moments of frustration in my home stay this semester I could never express my gratitude to them for taking me into their home, welcoming me into their family and sharing some great laughs with me in the last 4 months. 

After dinner I met friends at the bar that we went to our first weekend here. We did some serious reminiscing, sang some karaoke and commiserated about how much more packing was waiting for us. On my last walk home, an overwhelming awareness for how blessed I am to have had this time abroad hit me. While it feels like I was packing for Chile last week, when I take the time to realize how much I have experienced and learned this semester it feels like I’ve been gone forever.  I wouldn’t trade my time in Chile for anything and know that the memories will truly last a lifetime.

In a few hours I will be boarding a bus to the airport in Santiago to begin a journey that I have been looking forward to for months. When I was accepted into the Chile program I vowed I wouldn’t leave South America until I saw Machu Picchu, well, I’ll be there on Saturday. In the next 2 weeks I will also get to see the Sacred Valley, Cusco, Lake Titicaca and La Paz before returning back to Chile for 24 hours to grab the rest of my stuff and then I will be on my way home. I am thrilled beyond words to see my family and friends that I’ve missed dearly during my time abroad but I'm also pretty pumped for my trip with friends that I honestly didn't know before all of this happened.

I want to thank all of you that have followed me on my grand Chilean adventure and that have calmed my mom down during her moments of panic, you da best. I’ll probably post about my trip once I’m home so check back in a couple weeks for pictures of Peru and Bolivia if you’re interested!

All my love and cariño,

Mackenzie

Se queda poquito

Today I gave my final presentation for my Study Abroad Seminar class. The task was to describe in 15-20 minutes how my semester in Chile has affected me, what I’ve learned and experienced and what I’ll take away from it. Saying that it is hard to articulate these things would be the understatement of the century and provides a serious dose of nostalgia. Surprise surprise I talked for 35 minutes and had tears in my eyes when I finished.

Our director passed out sheets today explaining how difficult “re-entry” to home can be, trying to verbalize to everyone back home what happened to you in the last 4 months can be frustrating, isolating and quite frankly shocking. And I believe it. A couple of us were talking today that we’re so grateful that we didn’t do an external program because if we had to go back to “life as usual” at school without one another to talk to when we’re going through Chile withdrawal we would probably be some pretty lost souls. I don’t mean to sound dramatic, I’m just trying to explain what’s been going through my head the last couple days.

As difficult as it is to believe that our time here is very little we have not been wasting a single moment in the past week.

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving, as all of you know, and while Chile doesn’t celebrate this wonderful day of feasting our university put on a dinner for all of us, our families and our professors. Thanksgiving is easily my favorite holiday (probably because my mom is a killer cook and my grandma makes enough pie to feed a small army…which I guess you could call my family….anyway J ) so I was worried that the Chilean version wouldn’t measure up but I was pleasantly surprised. I missed the stuffing and pumpkin pie and my host family couldn’t make it but we made a little “orphan” table and had some great conversation. It was the warmest Thanksgiving I’ve ever experienced (right around 80F) which made for some great picture taking. I found myself very thankful for the people that surrounded me this year.

Chilean Thanksgiving without mayo, score. 

On Friday I went to this great seafood restaurant in Concón with my family for dinner. This is the first time we’d been out to eat since I’ve been here so it was really fun. We didn’t leave the house until after 8 and didn’t pick a restaurant til a little before 9 so by the time our food came I was starving but it was worth the wait. I’m not a huge seafood person but when your dinner comes out of the waves that are crashing underneath your stilted restaurant, you try something new. I ordered pastel de jaiba which was basically shredded crab in this kind of creamy sauce with a flaky pastry on top. It was divine. We also had mango sour and wine, I felt so grown up J One of my dad’s tennis buddies is living with us indefinitely. My host dad is 35 and this guy is 19 so my host parents refer to him as hijo and joven. My dad’s daughter Cata was also with us for the weekend so my parents thought it was awesome that all 5 of their “kids” were out with them. They kept making jokes that it seemed like so many but our little bizarre family still wasn’t as big as mine back home.

Candid taken by one of my sisters. 

My little bro who we call Poopy.
He has officially entered the terrible 2's as demonstrated by our time at the restaurant. 

Me and my sisters Cata and José. 

On Saturday I made my second trip to the beach town of Maitencillo. It was kind of a crummy day but we had lunch at this cute café with great sandwiches and sat on the boardwalk talking for a while. If nothing else it was a great way to evade homework.

Saturday night our art and culture prof invited us to an espectáculo at the Quita Vergarra, which is this great park near my house that has a giant stone stage that kind of reminds me of the Grand Stand at the state fair. The show was a Chilean group called Los Tres accompanying the Santiago ballet. The music was really interesting and the dancing was awesome. We all enjoyed it a lot more than we expected to I think. Here's a video of it, not the best quality but at least you can get a taste for it. 

Monday we went to the beach to celebrate Anna’s 21^st and after nearly 4 months of living in Viña I finally got in the ocean, the waves were strong and it was cold but we had a great time and made a total scene, as always.

Tonight a small group of us ventured back to the sand dunes to watch the sunset. The ascent was quite comical but once we got to the top, the view was more than worth it. I can’t say how much I will miss nights like tonight.

Cariñas,

Mackenzie

Paraíso

This past weekend 13 girls from our group, 3 of our Bolivian friends and a guy from Arizona that goes to our university here headed a little south along the coast to Algarrobo to stay at the resort that has the world’s largest swimming pool. We were there a while back to visit Isla Negra and glimpsed the pool and vowed to return.

To say that it was paradise would be an understatement. We had been a little worried about the weather since it had been overcast the past few days but Saturday and Sunday were 85 and sunny and absolutely gorgeous. (Yes, while snow fell like crazy in Minnesota I was sitting on the beach with some fabulous friends) The kilometer long pool sits about 100 feet from the ocean and contains about 66 million gallons of filtered salty seawater that is continuously pumped in and out. The water is amazingly blue and complete with water trampolines. You can even rent small sailboats to take out in the pool!

The 17 of us rented a 4-bedroom apartment for the night with a breathtaking view of the coastline. This place was probably nicer than anything I will be able to afford on my honeymoon. The weekend also kind of served as a birthday celebration for me, Anna and Micho, what a perfect way to celebrate my 21st! We had a great time and it was wonderful to get a break from all of our final projects. I have just over 2 weeks left in Viña and I’m trying to soak up every second. 

Cariñas,

Mackenzie

Al seco, al seco, al seco!

Alright, I need to start off my apologizing for being such a flake on the blog front. Life is literally zooming by here and it’s difficult to remember to take the time to keep all of you updated but I really want to share my life here so I’m going to do my best to catch you all up without writing a dissertation-length blog.

Highlights from the last couple weeks:

-We went to an outdoor jazz concert in the Botanical Gardens. While summer hasn’t fully hit so the flowers were still a little sparse the sun was shining and it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. And one of the musicians was apparently from the States even though they all could’ve fooled me with their Hawaiian shirts, Ray-Bans and Birkenstock sandals.

-3 of my lovely friends participated in a 10K/Half-marathon run on a dreary morning in Valparaíso so a couple of us pulled our tired butts out of bed early to cheer them on. As we walked along the course trying to spot our favorite gringas we were surprised to discover that chilenos will still whistle at you even while running a marathon. We all gathered at a café on the main plaza after the race and I got a wonderful chai tea and raspberry muffin, a little taste of home.

-My little host brother didn’t speak a word when I got here in August but is quickly learning words and it is absolutely adorable. I’d forgotten how cute little kids are at this age. It just melts my heart watching him try to put on his socks with his cute little toes. My host parents have also asked me to teach him English so the whole family learns a new word every evening at our meal.

-Our basketball team lost our game this past week to get us into the final four for the play-offs, which means our season is basically over (sorry to disappoint Dil). But regardless, I’ve really enjoyed my time with the team.

Now for the latest news: I spent Halloween in the desert, thrilling right? Our big group excursion was last weekend so we headed to the north of Chile to the driest desert in the world, Atacama. But actually, it was an awesome trip and something I never would’ve elected to do myself so I’m glad I was kind of forced into it.

Sunset from the plane as we landed in Calama.

We had a lot of time to wander the small town of San Pedro to buy souvenirs and ice cream but we also did some really cool tours of the surrounding desert. Our super creepy/inappropriate bus driver Pablo took us to Valle de la Luna (valley of the moon), named so because some people think it looks like the surface of the moon. The first indigenous people arrived here more than 10,000 years ago by following the Andes from Perú. My favorite part was the amphitheater carved out of a cave. Bonus: some of the rocks were really sparkly from all of the salt in the area. We also watched a great sunset (big surprise) from a lookout.

The church on the main plaza of San Pedro, so serene and beautiful. 

Las tres Marías: the 3 Virgen Marys. 

The next morning the bus picked us up from our hostel at 4am. Why were we awake at such an ungodly hour? Because we were driving two hours up into the mountains to 13000 feet above sea level to see El Tatio, some incredible geysers. Our guide, who slightly resembled Mad Eye Moody, told us lots of cool facts about how the geysers but I don’t remember them because I was concentrating on not going into hypothermic shock (it was around 13°F). Considering the cold, what better way to pass half an hour than in the hot springs (which were really more than luke warm) but we just went with our motto of cuando en Chile and got er done. On the way down the mountain we stopped at an ancient town called Machuca, a tourist stop/town has been built around the ruins to make people stop there. We also stopped at a marshy river that is constantly being destroyed by global warming but it essential to the llama and vicuña populations that rely on the water and plants.

As soon as we made it back to our hostel I discovered that my stomach was very angry with me and 18 hours of altitude sickness/dehydration/stomach bacteria ensued. It was miserable but thanks to my wonderful friends and my program director I was back on my feet by morning, thank goodness, because our tour of the lagunas was that afternoon and ended up being my favorite part of the trip by far. The first was Laguna Cejar, it has a salt concentration of 40% aka no matter how big your belly has gotten from all the Chilean pan you’ve eaten, you’ll still float. When we got out of the lake our skin was white from all of the salt.

The tea the owner of our hostel brought me when I was sick,
there is a straight up branch in there. 

Next stop was los Ojos de Salar, two circular pools more than 120ft deep, in the middle of the driest desert in the world. From the air they look like eyes, hence the name. Our guide warned us that you had to be a good swimmer to jump in due to the depth so the beer-bellied Dutch guys that were with us opted out but that didn’t stop them from cheering for us as we jumped/taking creeper pictures of us. It was cold but so fun.

Note the creeper taking a picture of us. 

Last stop was Laguna Tebiquinche or more fondly referred to as the ankle-deep lake since no one can pronounce that. In the winter months the land is totally dry but in the summer the moisture from the snow in the mountains creates a giant puddle of water over the salt flats. It looked like we were walking on snow! Once again, the view of an incredible sunset with a little pisco sour.

Snowy salt. 

On the other side of those mountains is Bolivia,
I'll be there in just over a month!

It was a great trip but we were all exhausted and ready to come home. The feeling of comfort I felt driving down the hill into Viña surprised me but I guess it just shows how much this place has become a part of me. That feeling of calm quickly diminished as I realized the giant amount of schoolwork I have to do in the last 4 weeks (unbelievable) of classes. Schoolwork that I have been avoiding while writing to all you so I better get back to it but I hope the sun shining on you today and always.

Cariñas,

Mackenzie 

No llores por mí, Argentina--VIVA CHILE!!

This past weekend we had a 4 day weekend so a group of us decided to take our first big trip out of Viña without our director. We hopped a bus early Friday morning headed for Mendoza, Argentina. The drive there is absolutely beautiful, winding through the snowcapped Andes. Those mountains are the definition of majestic. There are these trees here in Chile called gomeros, which have the most ridiculous roots.

This may be cheesy but driving through the mountains made me feel like an ant exploring those roots. Especially when we started driving through tunnels burrowed through the mountains on the Argentina side like in the old roadrunner cartoons.

As beautiful as the drive was we were all happy to be at the bus terminal after more than 10 hours on the bus, including at least two hours at the border getting through customs (literally no man’s land, and it was snowing…). At said bus terminal we had our first experience with travel snags. The bus we thought we could take home Monday morning apparently didn’t exist so we either had to leave Sunday morning or take an overnight bus Monday evening. We opted for the latter, which I was honestly quite alright with because it gave us an extra day to shop!

Mendoza is a lovely city! It’s clean, there aren’t dogs everywhere, the people are so nice and so so much easier to understand! I swear, it was like a whole different world. It was kind of nice to be reassured that I actually can speak Spanish even if I can’t understand half of what is directed to me in Chilean Spanish. Our first night we signed up for a bunch of activities through our hostel set out to explore our neighborhood.

Saturday morning we did some solid window shopping in the swanky boutiques on our street and then headed out on a wine tour. The first winery, Vistandes, was relatively new and super modern. Our tour guide was awesome and we got our first taste of Malbec, a red wine whose grapes can only be found in the Mendoza region. I’m not usually a huge fan of red wine but it was delicious! Next stop was an olive oil farm/factory then on to a much smaller organic winery. Our tour there was literally 75+ people aka I didn’t hear a darn thing but I really liked the interior design which almost made up for the church wine they served us. Last stop on the tour was at one of the many chocolate factories in Mendoza (Mendoza is known for wine, chocolate and leather)—heaven! We got samples of alfajores, two cookies sandwiching dulce de leche (carmel but way better) and then dunked in chocolate. Naturally, I bought a bag of them (and possibly a couple other things too..whoops :) It should be noted that chocolate and peanut butter combos don’t exist in South America, even at a fancy chocolate factory, but my wonderful family sent me some Reeses all the way from Minnesota and they just arrived yesterday. Once again in heaven!

At the second winery. 

My dessert at the buffet we hit up: fresh crepé with apple, dulce de leche
drizzled on top with chocolate chip ice cream. Yummm.

Sunday morning after breakfast a man showed up at the hostel to take me paragliding, I swear I had booked this for Monday so I was caught a little off guard but it’s probably better that I didn’t have time to get nervous for it. So off Molly and I went in the back of this pick-up out of town a ways to this sketchy, half finished building. I thought that maybe we were just turning around but no no, our paragliding instructor told us to get out of the truck and invited us to sit on some camping chairs in a circle. I thought that maybe we would be getting a little orientation or something, no no he took off with another group of tourists and left us at this deserted warehouse. While we waited/wondered if he was ever coming back, Molly and I befriended some other gringos. One was a Canadian in his early 30s with a center part and a Paul Bunyan beard who was working in Santiago but came to Argentina for a couple days to avoid visa issues. He was a gem to say the least. He was accompanied by two college students, one from Texas and the other from Virginia. Their interactions reminded me of some of my bromanced friends back home (cough cough Isaak and Will), quite entertaining J After a good hour we realized that where we were waiting was the landing site for the paragliders as 5 colorful chutes came into view. At this point I was getting pretty pumped.

After the instructors got their chutes repacked Molly and I climbed back into the pickup and started up the mountain. We had been on the ridiculously bumpy road for maybe 10 minutes when we hit a huge rock and lo and behold a wheel fell off the truck. That’s right, we didn’t get a flat, the tire literally fell off.

Well the guys jacked up the truck while another ran back to the base to get us a new truck and soon we were on our way again. The road up the mountain was less than secure and around some of the corners I was sure we would just tip off the mountain but we made it to the top and boy was the view incredible. We paired up with instructors, got suited up, waited for a good gust of wind, ran towards the edge and off we went. Words can’t describe the feeling of flying that high with so little holding you up. The mountains, oh my goodness. We spiraled to gain air and at our highest point were cruising a good 2100 meters (nearly 7000 feet) off the ground in the foothills of the Andes. The ride down lasted about 20 minutes and I loved every second. So so cool.

All suited up!

Take off!

Molly and I got back to the hostel from our grand adventure just in time to head out with everyone on our horseback riding excursion. The last time I was on a horse was last spring when I was in Costa Rica during which time we basically walked along the highway and then crossed this ridiculous marsh, needless to say this time was much different. We snaked through the hills, surrounded by the always awesome mountains. The owner of the horses, whom we like to refer to as the Marlboro man, was a straight up cowboy, we’re pretty sure he shot a dog while we were there. For the most part, the ride was super relaxing and really enjoyable. Afterward we had an asado with really good pork sandwiches and of course a little vino. We watched the sunset behind the mountains and tried to take in where we were. I am truly so blessed.

Monday was full of shopping and exploring the city. I will definitely be returning to Mendoza before I die. We boarded our bus, went through customs around 3am (so fun, not) and got back to Viña around 6am. We all had class at 8:30…I went to two of my classes and then headed back to the bus terminal because two girlies and I were heading to Santiago for the Chile v. Peru soccer game! We got to Santiago, navigated the extensive metro to our hostel, which in reality was an apartment that we rented for the night. It was pretty darn swanky. The oven was shiny and actually worked (more than can be said for mine here in Viña) and came with TP and soap in the bathroom, I know, I could barely believe it myself. We jumped back on the metro to head to the stadium at the edge of town. I guess I kind of pictured a Vikings game at the Metrodome but this can’t even compare. People with full-out face paint, wearing flags as capes and all red and shouting Chile chants packed the streets. It was such a fun atmosphere.

We had purchased our tickets a little late so we ended up paying more and landing in a nicer section right around center field. But it was worth the dough because our seats were great, as were the middle-aged friends we made. We were three of maybe 12 girls in our section and definitely the only ones there unaccompanied by our dads or boyfriends, which created interesting interactions for us with the guys sitting around us. One of our new friends tried to convince me that smoking before the game would bring luck to the Chilean team, sorry bout it, I don’t smoke for anyone. All the other friends taught us many new swear words. The energy in the stadium was indescribable. Anytime the ball neared the goal, everyone was instantly on their feet and when a corner kick turned into a goal headered (?) in, the grown men all around us were hugging with tears in their eyes. Fútbol is serious business here. Further demonstrated by the po-po decked out for a mob head-to-toe (including shields) and the barbed wire preventing fans from reaching the field or other sections of the stadium. The game was beyond fun and Chile won 4-2! I’m so glad that I got to experience such an important aspect of the culture! 

C-H-I! CHI! L-E! LE! CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE! VIVA CHILE!!!

I apologize for the novel but it’s been an exciting few days! I am so looking forward to catching up on my sleep, though.

It has been just over 2 months since I arrived in Chile which means that this journey is officially half-way over. As much as I miss home and all of you I’m not quite ready to leave yet and I have so much more I want to experience! I can’t wait to see what the second half has in store. As always, I’m thinking about and praying for all of you back home.

Cariñas,

Mackenzie

PS, for those of you who haven’t grasped the mayonnaise obsession:

Happy Halloween?