My trip to the south with Rotary was incredible. Really incredible. On top of seeing some of the most amazing places in the world, I spent the week with a whole bunch of other exchange students which was really cool. It's hard to have a bad time with a busload of kids with whom you have something significant in common.
Day 1- After a sleepless night on the plane from Santiago to Punto Arenas (the 2nd southernmost city in the world), our first day was pretty laid back. We took a tour of Punto Arenas, which unto itself isn't that remarkable of a city, then went off to see PENGUINS! Real live wild penguins! It wasn't a huge colony or anything, but still there were a good many of them and it was cool to see them so close just doing their thing. It was kinda weird seeing them just chilling on the dirt and grass-- there was no snow. That night, a group of us went running then swam in the Straights of Magellan. It was cold, but it was totally worthwhile.
Day 2- Took a bus to an old old fort, then to some little beaches with nice scenery, then off to Puerto Natales, the city closest to Torres del Paine National Park.
Day 3- We went into Torres del Paine. Words can't do it justice. We ate lunch in Hostería Pehoe, an absolutely gorgeous restaurant/hotel on an island in the middle of a lake surrounded by mountains (check the link for photos), then took an excessively brief hike before heading off to our hotel. The hotel was luxurious to the max-- the dinner there was incredible and the view from every room was to die for. If we were bored, we could just go outside, take a little walk, and enjoy the vista.
Day 4-We had a free morning, so most of us took the opportunity to go horseback riding. It was a definite highlight of the week. In the afternoon, we went out on a boat on Lake Gray to Gray Glacier. I somehow ended up in a pact with a couple of other kids to stay out on the front of the boat until we reached the glacier, which made for good memories and bonding, but also a very wet and cold Benny. That night, we went for another run/dip, this time into a glacial river.
Day 5- Another free morning, then to a tourist-trap cave where the body of a milodon (extinct giant sloth the size of a bear) was found, then back to Puerto Natales, where we just walked around town and did our souvenier/present shopping.
Day 6- Slight digression: I woke up in the morning and couldn't find my camera. It's still missing, and all of these pictures are stolen from facebook. I guess I should buy a new camera soon, but you know, I still have a tiny bit of hope, and it's hard to make myself spend the money...
Anyway, The day started with a boat ride on a fjord to a different glacier, then back to Punta Arenas where we got to see the palace/mansion built there by the super-rich lady who must have basically run the city back when it began. After that, it was off to the airport, arriving in Santiago at 6 AM thoroughly exhausted.
Since I got back things have been pretty relaxed. Some kids from Santiago came down for a night to check out Curicó and visit, which was fun. Other than that, just hanging out around the house and with friends in other parts.
I had my first Christmas here, but the Chilean Christmas seems to be less of a big-- not that it's not important but it's not a huge gathering and it's not the center of life for weeks. Christmas eve, I went to mass with my family(which was very cool to see), then came home, ate a midnight Christmas dinner, then gave presents, helped my brother set-up the Wii that was the family gift, then passed out well-exhausted. Christmas day was just relaxing, then that night we went to Talca to be with the extended family.
I celebrated Channukah too-- the first night I lit candles along with the Beckers and Goldwassers through Skype, then most of the rest of the nights I lit candles with the exchange students I was travelling with in Patagonia. Most of them (if not all of them) had never seen Channukah or any type of Jewish ceremony before, so I felt good being able to share that.
Monday, I went in to town to hang out with Liz and Emily (exchange students) and a few of their friends. When I got there, it turned out that they were heading to take part in the Curicó leg of The World March for Peace and Nonviolence. A photographer from the news paper was there, and we made the front page as well as another another photo in which I'm more featured. We were a small march, but it was fun nonetheless.
I'm looking forward to the next week right now as it includes New Year's Eve (tonight) which should be very sweet and the goodbye parties of two friends. After that, I don't really know what's on the horizon, but with time I suppose I'll find out.
1. Road lines are all white. There is yellow for parking and such, but there's no yellow to indicate that the road is two way. This is especially confusing to me on straight stretches of roads with one lane each way because theres just a single dotted white line.
2. Beverages-- there are no free refills, there is no free glass of ice water, and people don't drink a whole lot of water in general. They drink a ton of soda, which comes in a variety of sizes and containers : 350 cc can, or 350 cc glass bottle, 1000 cc plastic bottle, 1 liter plastic bottle, liter plastic bottle, 2 liter returnable (hard) plastic bottle, 2 liter normal/non-returnable plastic bottle, 2.5 liter plastic bottle, and 3 liter plastic bottle.
3. Counting works differently when you get to the high numbers. In Spanish it doesnt go millón, billón, trillón. Instead, they go million, thousand million, billion, thousand billion; or rather; millón, mil millones, billón, mil billones.
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