Well, after our less than lovely experience in Montevideo, we were all more than stoked to hop on that ferry and get to Buenos Aires, or BA. (Note: The ferry experience was super cool! Our first time entering a country via water!) Anyways, we arrive in Buenos Aires and cab to our hostel on Avenida de Mayo, practically in the city center. And we immediately LOVE Buenos Aires. It is absolutely GORGEOUS. The architecture is all French, Spanish, and Italian colonial style, making it appear more like Europe than anything I have ever seen this side of the Atlantic. Many people say that it is the Paris of the Americas and that is absolutely FACT. Spoiler Alert: I fell in love. As beautiful and stunning as Paris is with her coffee shops, wide avenues, and city appeal, Buenos Aires does Paris one up for the very fact that it has everything Paris has (minus the Eiffel Tower) AND it has Spanish, making BA my dream city... literally. Plus, Parisians do get a bad rap for being rude and snobby, while Argentines are quite personable, helpful, and lovely. Now that I am in love, ya'll in the States have to worry about me skipping out on coming home in the spring and just up and moving to Buenos Aires. (You think I'm kidding... I'm not.)
Anywaysss... The details about when we arrived on Thursday can be skipped. Not too much happened. Just getting settled, eating, finding an ATM etc. However, the big day was Friday with our 8 hour personal walking tour with Alan, a Brit who has lived in BA for 6.5 years. We went EVERYWHERE and saw EVERYTHING. Where do I even begin? Well, we began in La Boca, the colorful neighborhood where El Tango was born. La Boca with all her colors, history, and crazy charm was a favorite of all of us seven girls on the tour. Then we moved to the San Telmo district, which was also precious with her coffee shops, cobblestone streets, and antique shops. Moreover, throughout the entire tour, Alan was heaping wonderful amounts of history on us, which made us appreciate what we were seeing so much more. A rich history of colonial conquest and revolution as well as dictatorships and civil unrest overflows from the city of Buenos Aires. From San Telmo we wandered into the city center to see beautiful churches (like the one built in the early 17th century by the Jesuits and named St. Ignatius de Loyola!!), Congreso Nacional, the Obelisk, la Casa Rosada (i.e. their version of the White House, yet pink), and so much more. We took a coffee break in the most famous coffee house in Buenos Aires, Cafe Tortoni. And unlike most coffee shops in Chile, they had REAL coffee.
Honestly, everything we saw was gorgeous and very European. Buenos Aires is absolutely beautiful. Avenida 9 de Julio (yes, my birthday and BA official day of independence in 1816 although May 25, 1810 is celebrated more as their day of declaring their independence) is one of the largest avenues I have ever seen, with over 18 lanes of traffic in some areas. It is pretty much the man street in BA. More with the history, all of us especially loved the history about Juan and Evita Peron. Perhaps you have heard of Evita? If not, in short, she is probably the most beloved Argentine in history. I don't have time to go into mini detail about everything I learned, but I would highly encourage you to pick up a history book about Argentine history if you are into history. It is fascinating. We also went to the Plaza de Mayo which is where the Mothers of the disappeared meet every Thursday for their disappeared family members from the dictatorship in the 1970s who "disappeared" (a euphemism for murdered) over 30.000 Argentines, mostly Peronists from the left. Horribly sad. The Mothers still meet in order to bring attention to the injustices. Plus, many of the bodies have not been found and some will never be due to the tactics used, like simply taking them up in planes and dumping them into the ocean. Furthermore, only a few of those involved have been held accountable and thus, the Mothers are asking for justice as well as for the truth to be unearthed.
Anyways, the tour was amazing and that evening we went out to a parrilla, which means MEAT, MEAT, MEAT. I, of course, was living on the edge and chose chorizo (type of sausage) and morcilla (aka blood sausage haha). Both are typical Spanish dishes of which I am quite fond. Delicioso!! However, definitely not as delicious as the place we went to in Mendoza, Argentina. Nothing can beat that place. Although we did drink some tasty wine from Mendoza with dinner.
The next day was another full one. We broke up into smaller groups, which was helpful and didn't cause as many headaches. Plus we moved a little faster. So Emily and I headed for Teatro Colon, the famous theater in the center of Buenos Aires. Although we didn't get to do the tour, we enjoyed seeing the outside as well as relaxing in the park for awhile with a Starbucks. Afterwards, we traveled to the Palermo district where we went to the Museo de Evita - i.e. Eva Peron museum. Very cool! She was such a classy lady. Next, we picked up Katie at the museum and headed for the ZOO, which was insane!! We were literally feeding animals out of our hands. And there were hundreds of these rabbit-deer animals running around. It was very South American. We saw all kinds of animals, of which our fav was probably the giraffes! We took some hilarious pictures with the animals and definitely had a good laugh. Next, we went back into the city center to do some shopping, which for me didn't amount to much. (I did buy a new hat to replace my pink Hawkeye hat for running! Not as cool but it will suffice.) Anyways, I will have plenty of time to shop if necessary (probably isn't necessary though.. haha). I mean, I will be coming back to Buenos Aires before I leave South America. I am kinda thinking about backpacking for the month of February down through the South of Chile to Patagonia and then up North through Argentina to Buenos Aires.... Just an idea! However, things did not turn out so well for our friend Katie, who was pick-pocketed on the metro. Thus, we had to call her mom in the States and go through that whole bit, canceling credit cards etc. How horrible! It could have been much worse but it is just frustrating, especially because we were just talking about pick-pocketers since Emily and I realized this other guy was trying to rob us on the way to the museum in the morning on the metro. It was crazy! We obviously gave this dude a dirty look and told him to skedaddle. But then, three hours later while back on the metro... Katie is robbed! Ugh.
Sunday was travel day. Woke up, headed to the airport, flew to Montevideo, had a five hour layover, then hopped on our plane to Santiago. We were exhausted by the end of the day. However, once we landed in Santiago and realized we were home, we suddenly had all the energy in the world! Hogar, dulce, hogar. All in all, Buenos Aires was a SUCCESS and I am definitely pumped to go back. But before that, I still have a month of school left and a bunch of papers, presentations, and projects to complete first... bummer! However, the girls and I definitely have some plans in progress in order to make our last month together in Santiago the best ever... so stay tuned :)
¡Hasta pronto!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Wake-Up Call in Montevideo
Hello all,
I am writing to you while in Montevideo, Uruguay although I probably won't post this until I get back to Santiago. However, I wanted to blog while the events of today are still fresh in my mind.
Hmm... the events of the day... Well, after getting about 2-3 hours of sleep, waking up to catch a flight to Uruguay, and arriving at our hostel in Montevideo, it was already a long and exhausting day. But we were all stoked to be in Uruguay, the pinnacle of which occurred at customs when we got our passports stamped! With the ride from the airport to the city center, we noticed that Uruguay had a different feel - a costal city in a country less developed or less wealthy than Chile. Nonetheless, it had a bit of charm from the superficial views we gathered from the shuttle. However, we did notice how dirty the water was... perhaps because it was so shallow and the sand was so visible, but still dirty. In hindsight, that was perhaps the first sign. Little by little, we got some weird vibes... In the first place, there wasn't much happening since it was a holiday - Day of the Dead. So most businesses were closed and thus less street traffic. The architecture of Montevideo seemed to promise beauty and a bit of a European-feel. I'd guess the architecture is French colonial style but I'm no expert. However, Montevideo is dirty like it's ocean water along the coast. It is quite obvious just by taking a look around that Uruguay is much more underdeveloped and Uruguayans have lower standards of living in general. (These are general observations and most likely do not reflect all of Uruguay etc. but I am entitled to blog about my views and opinions, right?) Anyways, with the lack of pedestrian traffic on the streets and the lack of open businesses etc. we all got a kinda eerie vibe as we walked along the main parts of the city... As a group of five girls, I would say we were pretty noticeable to the population. However, we are also pretty street smart and aware of our surroundings. Thus we were careful. Yet, a few things came to our attention and in hindsight kinda set the scene of what was to come. (The suspense is killing you right? Spoiler Alert - Don't worry. we all survive!!)
The first red flag was our use of the McDonalds bathroom in which a woman who was clearly strung out on drugs was bathing her toddler-aged son. Honestly, as much as I wanted to turn the other way and get out of that bathroom asap, my heart was uneasy as I realized how impoverished and absolutely difficult her life must be and thus a large part of the population as well. And Uruguay is not even the worst, you know? There are places and people who are in situations that I, myself, cannot even begin to imagine. And it is so easy to be disgusted, judge, condemn, and then forget whatever you saw and lack so much compassion. I am reminded of Jesus and how He never turned the other cheek or ignored the desolate and broken. Instead, He touched the leper, spoke to the prostitute, etc. I wish I had a fraction of the compassion God has for His people.
Second red flag occurred while we were walking down a street heading towards the ocean. We passed a storefront behind it's protective cage, or bars, which is totally common. However, what is not common is the state that the storefront was in. Covered, absolutely covered, in various varieties of trash and filth as well as five or six of the most innocent kittens wandering aimlessly through the junk with flies hovering above it all. It was a sight that broke all of our hearts and, again, made us cringe with disbelief and a bit of disgust, to be 100% honest. I can't help but wonder if the kittens are a metaphor of some sort for people - stagnant in a place of filth and hurt, innocent without any knowledge of a way out, somewhat incapable of helping themselves. Humbling... Yes, this world is broken. People are starving, hurt, and sick. Yet, more than food and medicine, these people need a Savior. They need a life that offers joy, fulfillment, and purpose. See where I am going with this? It all points to Jesus.
And lastly, as we were walking from the corner market to our hostel, we stopped just outside our hostels buzz-entry door to snap a few pictures of the sunset. As we were there, we had a few suspicions surrounding a young, teen-aged boy, who was hanging around just a little too much to be up to good. We were right. He tried to rob one of us. Luckily, we were just about inside and luckily, one of us let out a terrifying scream and luckily, he freaked a little and ran away with nothing. An experience to shake us up just a little bit.
Now to Montevideo's defense, it was a holiday and thus the city was not at it's normal state. However, even on holidays without very many people in the streets, we felt Montevideo was a little too eerie and yes, a little scary. Thus, we stayed in our hostel the rest of the night and prepared for Buenos Aires. The next morning as we awoke to head to the harbor to board our ferry to BA, we noticed the hustle and bustle of Montevideo with all the stores open and the people going about their daily lives and we liked it... I think given different circumstances we would have really like Montevideo. However, circumstances weren't different and we really had a terrible time. Thus, I am not bashing Montevideo totally, saying never go there. It may be worth another shot. However, bring friends, be smart, and don't go when there are holidays... Just a few words of wisdom for the traveler.
Now... for Buenos Aires, the Big Apple!
PS Pictures of Montevideo y Buenos Aires are up!
I am writing to you while in Montevideo, Uruguay although I probably won't post this until I get back to Santiago. However, I wanted to blog while the events of today are still fresh in my mind.
Hmm... the events of the day... Well, after getting about 2-3 hours of sleep, waking up to catch a flight to Uruguay, and arriving at our hostel in Montevideo, it was already a long and exhausting day. But we were all stoked to be in Uruguay, the pinnacle of which occurred at customs when we got our passports stamped! With the ride from the airport to the city center, we noticed that Uruguay had a different feel - a costal city in a country less developed or less wealthy than Chile. Nonetheless, it had a bit of charm from the superficial views we gathered from the shuttle. However, we did notice how dirty the water was... perhaps because it was so shallow and the sand was so visible, but still dirty. In hindsight, that was perhaps the first sign. Little by little, we got some weird vibes... In the first place, there wasn't much happening since it was a holiday - Day of the Dead. So most businesses were closed and thus less street traffic. The architecture of Montevideo seemed to promise beauty and a bit of a European-feel. I'd guess the architecture is French colonial style but I'm no expert. However, Montevideo is dirty like it's ocean water along the coast. It is quite obvious just by taking a look around that Uruguay is much more underdeveloped and Uruguayans have lower standards of living in general. (These are general observations and most likely do not reflect all of Uruguay etc. but I am entitled to blog about my views and opinions, right?) Anyways, with the lack of pedestrian traffic on the streets and the lack of open businesses etc. we all got a kinda eerie vibe as we walked along the main parts of the city... As a group of five girls, I would say we were pretty noticeable to the population. However, we are also pretty street smart and aware of our surroundings. Thus we were careful. Yet, a few things came to our attention and in hindsight kinda set the scene of what was to come. (The suspense is killing you right? Spoiler Alert - Don't worry. we all survive!!)
The first red flag was our use of the McDonalds bathroom in which a woman who was clearly strung out on drugs was bathing her toddler-aged son. Honestly, as much as I wanted to turn the other way and get out of that bathroom asap, my heart was uneasy as I realized how impoverished and absolutely difficult her life must be and thus a large part of the population as well. And Uruguay is not even the worst, you know? There are places and people who are in situations that I, myself, cannot even begin to imagine. And it is so easy to be disgusted, judge, condemn, and then forget whatever you saw and lack so much compassion. I am reminded of Jesus and how He never turned the other cheek or ignored the desolate and broken. Instead, He touched the leper, spoke to the prostitute, etc. I wish I had a fraction of the compassion God has for His people.
Second red flag occurred while we were walking down a street heading towards the ocean. We passed a storefront behind it's protective cage, or bars, which is totally common. However, what is not common is the state that the storefront was in. Covered, absolutely covered, in various varieties of trash and filth as well as five or six of the most innocent kittens wandering aimlessly through the junk with flies hovering above it all. It was a sight that broke all of our hearts and, again, made us cringe with disbelief and a bit of disgust, to be 100% honest. I can't help but wonder if the kittens are a metaphor of some sort for people - stagnant in a place of filth and hurt, innocent without any knowledge of a way out, somewhat incapable of helping themselves. Humbling... Yes, this world is broken. People are starving, hurt, and sick. Yet, more than food and medicine, these people need a Savior. They need a life that offers joy, fulfillment, and purpose. See where I am going with this? It all points to Jesus.
And lastly, as we were walking from the corner market to our hostel, we stopped just outside our hostels buzz-entry door to snap a few pictures of the sunset. As we were there, we had a few suspicions surrounding a young, teen-aged boy, who was hanging around just a little too much to be up to good. We were right. He tried to rob one of us. Luckily, we were just about inside and luckily, one of us let out a terrifying scream and luckily, he freaked a little and ran away with nothing. An experience to shake us up just a little bit.
Now to Montevideo's defense, it was a holiday and thus the city was not at it's normal state. However, even on holidays without very many people in the streets, we felt Montevideo was a little too eerie and yes, a little scary. Thus, we stayed in our hostel the rest of the night and prepared for Buenos Aires. The next morning as we awoke to head to the harbor to board our ferry to BA, we noticed the hustle and bustle of Montevideo with all the stores open and the people going about their daily lives and we liked it... I think given different circumstances we would have really like Montevideo. However, circumstances weren't different and we really had a terrible time. Thus, I am not bashing Montevideo totally, saying never go there. It may be worth another shot. However, bring friends, be smart, and don't go when there are holidays... Just a few words of wisdom for the traveler.
Now... for Buenos Aires, the Big Apple!
PS Pictures of Montevideo y Buenos Aires are up!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Gettin' Down & Dirty in San Pedro de Atacama
Oh well hello there my blog-followers!
I am currently blogging from San Pedro de Atacama, which is in the northern-most part of Chile and home to the driest desert in the world. We are doing so much and seeing so much that I just couldn't wait until I got home to start blogging sooo here goes nothing:
Day 1 (Friday, October 28)
We woke at the crack of dawn to be on a bus around 5:00AM taking us to the airport where we boarded our flight to Calama, Chile. Then we bused for another hour or so up to San Pedro de Atacama. We are at a much higher altitude (2400m or 7900ft) so thus we must be careful not to get altitude sickness. (So far so good!) Also, it is incredibly dry up here so we are drinking water like it's our job. And not the tap water, might I add, due to metal contamination. Furthermore, the temperature is very extreme, dropping below zero up in the mountains to getting up into the 80s with a very strong sun that makes a hat and sunscreen a must. Up here in the desert, we are surrounded by copper, nitrate, and other mineral mines. We actually passed the largest copper mine in the world on our way from the airport. Pues, once we got settled in to the airport, we took a little walk around the small, quaint town of San Pedro. Not too much going on... Very touristy. However, we did manage to book a tour for the next day (Saturday), which brings me to...
Day 2 (Saturday, October 29)
Again, waking up at the crack of dawn (3:30AM for the second day in a row), we put on our swimsuits then bundled up with layers upon layers. Being picked up at 4:20AM, ten of us headed up the mountains with the starry sky looking more beautiful than ever! I even saw my first shooting star!! Another note: Because of the high altitude and nearly non-existent clouds as well as lack of light pollution and radio interference, the Atacama desert is one of the best places to conduct astronomical observations and is home to some of the biggest and most high-powered telescropes in the world. Thus we will be going on an astronomical tour in a few days. Pues, where were we headed so early exactly? El Tatio, a geyser field with over 80 active geyers. It was INCREDIBLE. I truly need to invent a new adjective to describe the astounding beauty of the combination of mountains, desert, geyers, and just the vastness of the scenery in general. Well, hopefully you'll check out my pictures and see just what I'm talking about. On another note, boy was it cold up there!! However, with a little guts, we all stripped off all our layers and headed for the thermal baths. Hahaha. What an experience. It was all great and lovely until we had to get out of the water. Yikes!! An experience nonetheless, and that's what we are here for - to experience. Among the 80+ geyers, there was even a volcano with smoke coming from the top - the real deal! Sooo beautiful. On the trekk back, we stopped at random points on the (very, very, very bumpy) road to take pictures of beautiful panoramic scenes and the wild animals, such as burros, flamingos, and vicunas (a llama-looking animal that is only found at high altitudes). Anyways the beauty was overwhelming.
Part two of day two consisted of touring an ancient fortress, which was fun, but the best part of the afternoon/evening was going to a national park - Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). It was like being on another planet, hince the name. It is so desolate and dry with differing rock formations from varying minerals etc. I honestly felt like I was on Mars, so uninhabited but so beautiful in its own way. The desert is surprisingly beautiful. In the Valle de la Luna, we also climbed a huge sand dune in order to watch the sunset across the landscape. More or less, breathtaking. Although I was a little bummed because due to the crazy wind whipping sand to and fro my amazing light pink Iowa Hawkeyes hat blew off and down the dune, which later I was prohibed from retrieving it because we aren't allowed to walk on the actual dune. Major bummer. So I guess I'll have to put that on my Christmas list (haha) or just wait until I get back to Iowa to buy a new one, although I will have to buy a replacement down in Chile due to the muy fuerte sun. Anywhoo I'll survive. Hopefully a Chilean will find my hat and decide it is cool enough to sport around! After the park and dinner, it was straight to the showers for all of us. We were all absolutely filthy with sand, dirt, and dust. Best shower of my life (or at least in the running). Although I'll probably be finding sand amongst all my things for weeks to come... Oh well, when in San Pedro... :)
Day 3 (Sunday, October 30)
The morning of our third day here, we were able to witness a traditional native (blend of Chilean, Peruvian, and Bolivian) baptism ceremony of our program director's daughter. How lucky we were to be able witness this personal and emotional ceremony. I can't even begin to describe all that occurred. I will note, however, that this baptism was not of water, but a hair-cutting ceremony. It was actually pretty cool the way everything occurred. The godparents carried out the ceremony with the whole community present. It was a very emotional and special day for our program director, his wife, daughter (obviously), and friends and relatives. Moreover, it was very cool that we were about to be there to share in the special ceremony. We even got to try coca leaves, which are supposed to help altitude sickness etc. Also a kinda cool experience. The rest of the afternoon I laid by the pool and got tan. :) Success!! Now we are heading for dinner and then the ASTRONOMY TOUR!!! We get to look at the stars in the best place to look at the stars etc. in the world. Wow!
Astonomy Tour = EPIC. Absolutely mindblowing. We learned a ton about the rotation of the earth, planets etc. in our solar system as well as about constallations and how people 3.000+ years ago would have looked at the sky. We also got to look through telescopes to get a closer look at Beetlejuice, Sirius (the brightest star in the sky), the third star of Orion's sword, the Seven Sisters, two orbiting stars (which really look like one), another galaxy, a star cluster that looks like a giant spider, the small Magellanic cloud, and the big one was Jupiter and her four moons. WOW. We also got bombarded with facts about how far away all of this really is - thousands of lightyears away... It was all just so incredible. The stars, galaxies, planets and everything else in between just makes me feel so small, which makes the fact that God created all of this yet He loves us, humans, so much and desires a personal relationship with each of us all the more unbelieveably amazing. Throughout this whole trip to the desert, I have been astounded by the variety of beauty God has created. He is unmatchable on every single level imaginable.
Day 4 (Monday, October 31)
Happy Halloween everyone!! Day four of our desert excursion took us to the salt flats. What used to be a giant (I think they said the 3rd biggest in the world) salt lake is now a huge space of flat yet bumpy ground filled with salt. We literally took a little taste of the rocks and yes, salty it was indeed. Amongst this rocky and salty terrain was a few fresh water lagoons that are home to many creatures of which the flamingo is the most well-known. Flamingos everywhere! Surrounded by volcanoes and mountains and fresh water lagoons. An oasis in the middle of the driest desert in the world. Chile is an amazing country with an amazingly large variety of environments - from deserts to glaciers, wine valleys to volcanos, the Andes mountains to the Pacific ocean... With Chile you can literally travel to the end of the world. What a country! What a country indeed. ((PS again, the rest of the afternoon, I laid out by the pool and worked on my "tan" - tough life I know. And for the record, I did get t-a-n, which is an accomplishment for my general pale skin. Must have been the Atacama sun! Magical.))
Day 5 (Tuesday, November 1)
Departure Day... However, in the morning we went to the Puritama hot springs, which were exactly like an oasis in the desert. Absolutely gorgeous as well!! ((Note: On our way to the airport we stopped at the most well-known memorial for those who were murdered by the regime of Pinochet (dictator) after the coup in 1973. Very cool especially since I had just watched a documentary with my class called Nostalgia de la Luz about the Atacama desert and those murdered/disappeared during the dictatorship and how families are still searching for their loved ones in the barren, vast desert as the astronomers are searching amongst the stars and galaxies as well.))
The desert never ceases to surprise me or amaze me. Throughout the entire time I was there, I was constantly in awe of the beauty of this seemingly-barren land. I think I fell in love with the desert. No joke. Totally unlike me, seeing as I prefer cool weather to the scorching heat, busy cities to vast landscapes, and so on and so forth. However, the Atacama desert is enchanting.
Anyways check out the pictures and I apologize if this blog was a bit all over the place. Currently it is 1AM and I am unpacking from the desert (the amount of sand is unbelievable) and repacking for Montevideo and Buenos Aires. I have to be up at 4AM to get ready to catch my ride to the airport for our morning flight. Thus, I am wondering if I should even sleep! Ridiculous but totally worth not sleeping. Soooo stay tuned for Buenos Aires and Montevideo!! :)
¡Ciao!
Sarah
PS the pictures might not be posted quite yet... slow internet connection!
I am currently blogging from San Pedro de Atacama, which is in the northern-most part of Chile and home to the driest desert in the world. We are doing so much and seeing so much that I just couldn't wait until I got home to start blogging sooo here goes nothing:
Day 1 (Friday, October 28)
We woke at the crack of dawn to be on a bus around 5:00AM taking us to the airport where we boarded our flight to Calama, Chile. Then we bused for another hour or so up to San Pedro de Atacama. We are at a much higher altitude (2400m or 7900ft) so thus we must be careful not to get altitude sickness. (So far so good!) Also, it is incredibly dry up here so we are drinking water like it's our job. And not the tap water, might I add, due to metal contamination. Furthermore, the temperature is very extreme, dropping below zero up in the mountains to getting up into the 80s with a very strong sun that makes a hat and sunscreen a must. Up here in the desert, we are surrounded by copper, nitrate, and other mineral mines. We actually passed the largest copper mine in the world on our way from the airport. Pues, once we got settled in to the airport, we took a little walk around the small, quaint town of San Pedro. Not too much going on... Very touristy. However, we did manage to book a tour for the next day (Saturday), which brings me to...
Day 2 (Saturday, October 29)
Again, waking up at the crack of dawn (3:30AM for the second day in a row), we put on our swimsuits then bundled up with layers upon layers. Being picked up at 4:20AM, ten of us headed up the mountains with the starry sky looking more beautiful than ever! I even saw my first shooting star!! Another note: Because of the high altitude and nearly non-existent clouds as well as lack of light pollution and radio interference, the Atacama desert is one of the best places to conduct astronomical observations and is home to some of the biggest and most high-powered telescropes in the world. Thus we will be going on an astronomical tour in a few days. Pues, where were we headed so early exactly? El Tatio, a geyser field with over 80 active geyers. It was INCREDIBLE. I truly need to invent a new adjective to describe the astounding beauty of the combination of mountains, desert, geyers, and just the vastness of the scenery in general. Well, hopefully you'll check out my pictures and see just what I'm talking about. On another note, boy was it cold up there!! However, with a little guts, we all stripped off all our layers and headed for the thermal baths. Hahaha. What an experience. It was all great and lovely until we had to get out of the water. Yikes!! An experience nonetheless, and that's what we are here for - to experience. Among the 80+ geyers, there was even a volcano with smoke coming from the top - the real deal! Sooo beautiful. On the trekk back, we stopped at random points on the (very, very, very bumpy) road to take pictures of beautiful panoramic scenes and the wild animals, such as burros, flamingos, and vicunas (a llama-looking animal that is only found at high altitudes). Anyways the beauty was overwhelming.
Part two of day two consisted of touring an ancient fortress, which was fun, but the best part of the afternoon/evening was going to a national park - Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). It was like being on another planet, hince the name. It is so desolate and dry with differing rock formations from varying minerals etc. I honestly felt like I was on Mars, so uninhabited but so beautiful in its own way. The desert is surprisingly beautiful. In the Valle de la Luna, we also climbed a huge sand dune in order to watch the sunset across the landscape. More or less, breathtaking. Although I was a little bummed because due to the crazy wind whipping sand to and fro my amazing light pink Iowa Hawkeyes hat blew off and down the dune, which later I was prohibed from retrieving it because we aren't allowed to walk on the actual dune. Major bummer. So I guess I'll have to put that on my Christmas list (haha) or just wait until I get back to Iowa to buy a new one, although I will have to buy a replacement down in Chile due to the muy fuerte sun. Anywhoo I'll survive. Hopefully a Chilean will find my hat and decide it is cool enough to sport around! After the park and dinner, it was straight to the showers for all of us. We were all absolutely filthy with sand, dirt, and dust. Best shower of my life (or at least in the running). Although I'll probably be finding sand amongst all my things for weeks to come... Oh well, when in San Pedro... :)
Day 3 (Sunday, October 30)
The morning of our third day here, we were able to witness a traditional native (blend of Chilean, Peruvian, and Bolivian) baptism ceremony of our program director's daughter. How lucky we were to be able witness this personal and emotional ceremony. I can't even begin to describe all that occurred. I will note, however, that this baptism was not of water, but a hair-cutting ceremony. It was actually pretty cool the way everything occurred. The godparents carried out the ceremony with the whole community present. It was a very emotional and special day for our program director, his wife, daughter (obviously), and friends and relatives. Moreover, it was very cool that we were about to be there to share in the special ceremony. We even got to try coca leaves, which are supposed to help altitude sickness etc. Also a kinda cool experience. The rest of the afternoon I laid by the pool and got tan. :) Success!! Now we are heading for dinner and then the ASTRONOMY TOUR!!! We get to look at the stars in the best place to look at the stars etc. in the world. Wow!
Astonomy Tour = EPIC. Absolutely mindblowing. We learned a ton about the rotation of the earth, planets etc. in our solar system as well as about constallations and how people 3.000+ years ago would have looked at the sky. We also got to look through telescopes to get a closer look at Beetlejuice, Sirius (the brightest star in the sky), the third star of Orion's sword, the Seven Sisters, two orbiting stars (which really look like one), another galaxy, a star cluster that looks like a giant spider, the small Magellanic cloud, and the big one was Jupiter and her four moons. WOW. We also got bombarded with facts about how far away all of this really is - thousands of lightyears away... It was all just so incredible. The stars, galaxies, planets and everything else in between just makes me feel so small, which makes the fact that God created all of this yet He loves us, humans, so much and desires a personal relationship with each of us all the more unbelieveably amazing. Throughout this whole trip to the desert, I have been astounded by the variety of beauty God has created. He is unmatchable on every single level imaginable.
Day 4 (Monday, October 31)
Happy Halloween everyone!! Day four of our desert excursion took us to the salt flats. What used to be a giant (I think they said the 3rd biggest in the world) salt lake is now a huge space of flat yet bumpy ground filled with salt. We literally took a little taste of the rocks and yes, salty it was indeed. Amongst this rocky and salty terrain was a few fresh water lagoons that are home to many creatures of which the flamingo is the most well-known. Flamingos everywhere! Surrounded by volcanoes and mountains and fresh water lagoons. An oasis in the middle of the driest desert in the world. Chile is an amazing country with an amazingly large variety of environments - from deserts to glaciers, wine valleys to volcanos, the Andes mountains to the Pacific ocean... With Chile you can literally travel to the end of the world. What a country! What a country indeed. ((PS again, the rest of the afternoon, I laid out by the pool and worked on my "tan" - tough life I know. And for the record, I did get t-a-n, which is an accomplishment for my general pale skin. Must have been the Atacama sun! Magical.))
Day 5 (Tuesday, November 1)
Departure Day... However, in the morning we went to the Puritama hot springs, which were exactly like an oasis in the desert. Absolutely gorgeous as well!! ((Note: On our way to the airport we stopped at the most well-known memorial for those who were murdered by the regime of Pinochet (dictator) after the coup in 1973. Very cool especially since I had just watched a documentary with my class called Nostalgia de la Luz about the Atacama desert and those murdered/disappeared during the dictatorship and how families are still searching for their loved ones in the barren, vast desert as the astronomers are searching amongst the stars and galaxies as well.))
The desert never ceases to surprise me or amaze me. Throughout the entire time I was there, I was constantly in awe of the beauty of this seemingly-barren land. I think I fell in love with the desert. No joke. Totally unlike me, seeing as I prefer cool weather to the scorching heat, busy cities to vast landscapes, and so on and so forth. However, the Atacama desert is enchanting.
Anyways check out the pictures and I apologize if this blog was a bit all over the place. Currently it is 1AM and I am unpacking from the desert (the amount of sand is unbelievable) and repacking for Montevideo and Buenos Aires. I have to be up at 4AM to get ready to catch my ride to the airport for our morning flight. Thus, I am wondering if I should even sleep! Ridiculous but totally worth not sleeping. Soooo stay tuned for Buenos Aires and Montevideo!! :)
¡Ciao!
Sarah
PS the pictures might not be posted quite yet... slow internet connection!
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