Spring Break in October

I can’t believe that today is the 1st of November. Time has been flying even faster than usual…but since time flies when you’re having fun, then I must be doing something right.

Spring Break in Chiloe

Saturday, October 17
Around 8 at night, we all met up outside Museo Fonck, which has been our punto de encuentro (meeting place) ever since we met our families there two and a half months ago. It is definitely an easy place to spot due to the small Moai (Isla de Pascua/Easter Island head) outside.
The bus was actually pretty comfortable, and thankfully I slept almost the entire 16 hours it took us to arrive in the south.

Sunday, October 18
Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m feeling kind of lazy and unenthusiastic about writing about this vacation because it happened such a long time ago. So, since I had to write a paper for art about my experience in Chiloe, I thought that I’d just use the Microsoft Word translate option as an experiment…turns out pretty funny, but I think you’ll get the general idea…I’ll include just a few paragraphs.

“After 16 hours by bus, I woke up and found myself in Chiloe. I was surprised to landscape. I do not know exactly expected, but weren't the hills smoothed with a carpet of trees or pastures where rearing sheep and cows. The bus took us by the Nice field that was very similar to the landscape of Washington, where is my home. Then, when I was in the South, the nostalgia not left me; was like a ghost accompanying me constantly. In Washington as in Chiloe, bloom yellow flowers shrubs frequently rain and fog hung over the sea and the mountains as a delicate mantilla. Some people think that this type of landscape is depressed, but for me, was an area where the imagination can go without limit. It could almost see the Caleuche, the fascinating boat ghosts and nightmares, sailing through the fog ensnared among the hills. This land of shadows and Moss, can cross the line between reality and dreams. I think as rich captions culture developed due to the influence of this nature very beautiful but a little Gothic.
The day we arrived, was cold. We visited Angelmó, a village of port, where there was a full product not polished wood and thick wool clothing fair. These are the typical memories of the South, and the amount of handicrafts impressed me. I must thank them to the flames because my feet were warm and dry due to socks I bought. We also went to a market near the sea which smelt like seafood and fish. I watched while a man cut off the head of a fish and removed the scales. I have never seen it before. I gave disgust, but at the same time, I was fascinated by because it is part of the sea life. When we walked by the market, we were surrounded by offers of seafood dishes. The voices of sellers were fight to capture our attention - and our silver. Dinner in a small sea food restaurant, where I tried chupe crab and fried salmon, two unforgettable and rich flavors. Warm dishes were perfect for a very cold day.”

And that is why I cannot use Microsoft Translate to write my essays.

After spending time at the ferias (bazaars) in Angelmó, we drove to Puerto Montt where we got on a ferry that took us to the island of Chiloe. The landscape did look a lot like Washington to me, especially since it was rainy and there were lots of trees and even plants that looked like Scotch Broom. The other students said it looked like Minnesota but with more hills.
We went to an agrotourism place (complete with a goat named Pepito in the front yard) for a dinner of the traditional dish, curanto. To make it, you heat up rocks in a hole in the ground and then pile on shellfish, chicken, potatoes, potato dough, and meat. Everything is covered up with leaves and burlap sacks to cook for awhile. In the meantime, we listened to some traditional folk music and a few people danced. The food was really good, I was surprised at how much I liked the shellfish. Still don’t love them, but they were much better and less chewy than I expected.

Much of the group stayed at the agrotourism farm for the night, but ten of us girls had to go to a different agrotourism place. It was a wooden house with lots of bedrooms upstairs and a huge table for eating. We called the lady who lived there our abuela because she greeted us so warmly and took such good care of us. Our breakfast was incredible. Biscuits, milk from her cow, cheese, marmalade, cookies, cake, sweet bread—she made everything herself. After the day’s activities, the two nights we spent there were like a huge slumber party—we bonded as a group and had a lot of fun.



I’m having a hard time remembering what happened which day because our plans changed from our itinerary due to the weather (cold and rainy at least half of our time there) and the days blend together because we spent at least 3 hours on the bus each day…and oftentimes more. Our activities were:

Monday, October 19
Parque Nacional de Chile—it was raining, but we still braved the weather and walked through the park—it looked like something out of a fantasy story, lots of green and moss.


Tuesday, October 20
City of Castro—saw houses on stilts (palafitos), went to another feria, and saw a church. Chiloe is famous for its churches, which are made out of wood, which is unique to Chiloe and doesn’t need to be finished—it doesn’t expand with water.

National park—saw a waterfall and the most incredible blue-green water I’ve ever seen. Also stopped at the lake Todos Los Santos for a boat ride—it was absolutely gorgeous, especially with the view of the volcano close by.

Wednesday, October 21
City of Valdivia—went to the Kuntzmann (lots of German immigrants in the South) cerveceria (brewery) for a tour and a beer—everyone was in such a great mood after that.
However, the rest of the rainy afternoon was spent at fuerte de Niebla (a fort) and a couple of museums…which were extremely boring. We left for Villarrica afterwards and had a group fiesta, which was so much fun it made up for the weather and the fome museos.


Thursday, October 22
The plan was to go to Pucon to hike the volcano and then go rafting, kayaking, or ziplining…however, it rained so we couldn’t. Instead, we went to some outdoor hot springs and spent the afternoon relaxing. Very strange sensation to be in hot water while it’s raining. Stopped in town for dinner, a small group of girls and I went to this little Italian place and had a great time. Another group fiesta that night.


Friday, October 23
Left Villarrica for Lota, a mining town. The mine, called Chiflon del Diablo (devil’s whistle), is no longer in use but is still a tourist attraction. A famous Chilean author wrote a book about the mine which was later made into a movie, so we got to see the set. The guide explained some sayings that are particular to the mining community, such as cama caliente (a miner on the day shift would sleep in the same bed as a miner on the night shift—they would simply switch once one got off work, so the bed was always warm) and pata negra (a man could tell if his wife was having an affair with another miner if the miner left behind a black footprint from the coal). After getting some background information on the mine, we went into it—outfitted with our own headlamps of course. We descended in an elevator that looked more like a cage and then walked a path through part of the mine. An interesting and kind of frightening fact is that the mine is underneath the sea—so on top of tons of rock above your head, you knew that the ocean was there as well. At one point in the tour, we all turned off our headlamps to experience complete darkness, and at another, we squeezed through a tunnel to experience what life was like for the miners. It was definitely a unique experience, really cool yet kind of scary at the same time.
Stayed in Linares that night.


Saturday, October 24
Museo del Colchagua in Santa Cruz—after the boring museums, no one was excited for this one, but it was actually really amazing. Fossils, the Chilean Declaration of Independence, old portraits, shrunken heads, an Arican mummy (different process—they removed all organs and stuffed the body with vegetation and placed a clay mask on the face), indigenous art (some cultures I was able to recognize before reading the plaque—thank you, Salomo), old cars, weapons from around the world, jewelry—and it was a private collection.
Returned to Viña, which was great because everyone was exhausted, tired from the bus, and needing some time away from each other. I spent the evening watching episodes of The Office and Grey’s Anatomy…so relaxing. It was funny how we all felt like we were going “home” after a week away from Viña and our host families. Guess we really have gotten used to living here!



Chiloé marked the halfway-plus point in our trip, so upon returning, we’ve all decided that we need to make sure we do everything that we want to while we’re here so there are no regrets when we leave. Viva Chile!