Last Days in Chile!

We've been traveling for almost 3 weeks and are about to start the next phase of this crazy adventure...Ayacucho here we come!

Southern Chile was INCREDIBLE! As many of you may have seen on Facebook, the south really reminded me (Sara) of Washington-volcanoes, water, islands and cool, grey weather. We spent about 5 days there and started our trip in Puerto Varas. Puerto Varas is a small, touristy town on the shore of Lake Llanquihue and looks out at Osorno and Calbuco, the two more prominent volcanoes in the area. As we mentioned in our last post, we spent the first two days with Lindsay's friend who is working on an upcoming HBO series called Profugos - a narco-traffic action show set entirely in Chile. When we were there, he was scouting Alerce forests to shoot a particular chase scene (Alerce is an evergreen native to the southern Andes in Chile and Argentina).

We visited a lot of giant farms (fundos) to look for forest and they were all absolutely gorgeous with picturesque views of the Lake Llanquihue, the largest lake in Chile, and volcanoes. One interesting thing about southern Chile is that it was settled many many Germans. It was really interesting to meet the farmers who were of German decent and to see all the Germanic architecture.  Even though we spent a lot of time in the car it was quite an experience to drive all around the countryside. The last farm we visited was by far my favorite with their own small Alerce forests, lake front access and amazing views of the volcanoes Osorno and Calbuco.  They also bred horses and had the most incredible stable I have ever seen.

After Puerto Varas we went to Puerto Montt where we stayed with the family of the girls we stayed with in Valparaíso. They could not have been more welcoming from showing us around their home town to treating us to some of the best seafood I've ever had. I'm so grateful for the many new friends and new families I have met in Chile (You guys always have a home in the United States!). The first night they served us chupe de jaivas which is crab cooked with onions, garlic, cream and a little white wine then baked in a clay bowl with some cheese on top. YUM!

The next day we went to the island of Chiloé. It is the largest island in Chile just southwest of Puerto Montt. We ate oysters, learned about mythological characters of Chiloé and saw some beautiful beaches.

Our last day in Puerto Montt we went to family lunch at our friends' grandmother's house. We pretty much met all of their dad's side of the family! We ate curanto which is a kind of a seafood/meat soup. It has mussels, clams, chorizo, chicken, smoked pork ribs, potatoes and potato lard dumplings in it. It was all cooked in a big pot with some white wine and onions. The meat and seafood were covered with foil and then dumplings were set on top and the whole thing was left to steam for about an hour and a half. It was incredible!

Another highlight of our family lunch was the soccer game we played with our friends' sisters and cousins. Lindsay and I were on a team a few other people and we totally scored both of our team's goals!!! We ended up losing by one goal but either way Lindsay and I did the United States proud with our soccer skills!

Now we are back in Valparaíso enjoying our last day here and resting from last night's festivities aka my birthday celebration! Last night we had a wonderful sushi dinner with our hosts, then hung out at the apartment with friends. Cami made me some amazing tiramisu and we finished the night with some serious dancing at the gay bar! I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. Thank you so much Lindsay, Cami, Cotty and Mari! You guys are amazing!

Don't forget to check out more pics on facebook or Lindsay's picasa album!

Early tomorrow morning Lindsay and I are off to Lima, Peru. We are staying there for a few days and then busing to Ayacucho. I can't wait to see what Peru has in store for us!

xoxo

AMEISING

Hola amigos, today we are posting from the town of Puerto Varas, a beautiful but woefully toursity town in southern Chile. We have spent the past few days seeing the countryside of this region with a friend of mine who is working here temporarily. Honeslty this is one of the most beautiful places I have every been too: endless green farmland, snow covered volcanoes and crystal blue lakes. Oh yeah and baby farm animals, a personal favorite of mine (Lindsay). Today we head to Puerto Montt to stay with Mari and Cami (two of our valpo friends who are there on vacation) and their families! I am super excited! More details and photos to come but for now a post-fiesta update!

Bottom line...it was fun, crazy and filled with lots of meat, drink, and dancing. Friday we had a bbq at the girls' apartment where Sara and I fell in love with another classic chilean gut-buster: choripan-tasty chorizo on bread with pebre (kind of like salsa) and mayo.

That night we had super sweet front row seats to the fireworks in valpo at another friend's apartment that over looks the ocean and the very street where the fireworks were being set off. From the 23rd floor, it kind of felt like we were in the fireworks!?!

Saturday we went to a bbq in the small town of Limache which is about 45 minutes from Valpo. We ate even more sausages, beef and pork before heading off to a Ramada, which is essentially a giant carnival or country fair.

Sunday we went to the Ramada in Valpo, of which the highlight was drag show! Yessssss. Overall, the whole weekend was a sweet party during which we ate and drank too much but had a wonderful time!! The best pictures of our rackus bicennential can be found on Sara's facebook page, including my personal favorite pics of our chilean themed face and body painting. On my picasa or photo booth you can see the pictures from Monday´s bicentenial event - a navy parade and airshow!

We´ll be in the south for a few more days, head back to Valpo for Sara´s birhtday (SWEEETTTTT!!!!) and then we're off to Peru! We'll do a more complete post on the south in a few days!

Hugs and kisses to all!

Let the fiestas begin: Chile's bicentennial!

Today, exactly one week into our grand adventure, Sara and I awoke to the roaring sound of canons and F-16s flying overhead. No, Chile is not being invaded but rather is preparing for the biggest party of the year: September 18, Chile's independence day! Traditionally las días de patrias (heritage days?) are celebrated for at least 4 days with parties and patriotism. This year, Chileans celebrate 200 years of Chilean independence only 7 months after the nation was rocked by one of its biggest earthquakes in history. While I have never been here for this holiday,  I am told that there is an even stronger sense of patriotism and solidarity this September as people try to move forward from a particularly difficult year. So far I have been fascinated by the abundance of Chilean flags that fly from almost every house, taxi, micro (bus), and through the streets and also all the navy ships parading up and down the Valpo and Viña del Mar coastline.

Since our first official asado (barbecue) for the holiday isn't until tomorrow, I'm going to save more details for the next post. For now, I just want to let everyone know that we have been having a fantastic and relaxing time here in Valpo. Our friends have been so welcoming and kind - housing us in their apartment (that has an amazing view of the ocean), cooking us delicious food, and generally showing us a good time. We have also spent some more time with my host family who never fails to so warmly welcome me (and my friends) into their home. Sunday and Monday I took Sara around the hills of scenic Valparaíso and I am pretty sure she fell as much in love with the city as I am :) 

We also tried some delicious (and ridiculously fatty) foods on our outings. The dish pictured below is a traditional Valpo dish called Chorrillana - french fries, onions, eggs, and beef - which we ate at the famous J Cruz (pronounced "jota cruz") restaurant in the heart of old Valparaíso. Not pictured, is the classic Chilean completo, a hot dog topped with mayonnaise, avocado, tomatoes, and sometimes onion. I've often wondered why the completo hasn't made it to the food cart scene of Portland...hmmm. 

Gut-busting Chilean dishes aside, we can't wait to attend the numerous fiestas this weekend and are thoroughly enjoying our time here! 

One final note for today, while news of the bicentennial, February's earthquake, and the 33 trapped miners dominates both local and international news of Chile,  I would like to share an article about another issue that I find equally important!

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/09/mapuche-hunger-chile

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Chile!

View from our friend's apartment with one of many Navy boats in the background.

P.S. For those who aren't on facebook you can look at all my pictures here!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lsaperstone

¡Bienvenido à Valparaíso!

Lindsay's Home!

Yesterday was our first full day in Valparaíso and I (Sara) loved every minute of it! After a slow start to the day and a delicious lunch, we headed out to visit Lindsay's host family. They are just as amazing, warm and crazy as I expected. We're going back for lunch on Monday or Tuesday so I'm sure I'll have some good stories after that. After visiting Lindsay's host family, we headed into Valparaíso. Of course we needed a snack and a drink so we stopped into a cafe for an empanada de pino (empanada with beef, onions, hard boiled egg and olives aka one kalamata olive) and a pisco sour.

YUM!

One pisco sour down, we headed across the street to Bitacora, a cafe/bar where Lindsay ran into some friends from her study abroad time here...totes regs, no big deal. We (mostly Lindsay) caught up with friends and the bartender/owner's son took a bit of a liking to me, in the form of giving me many presents- an orange, a drawing of a flower, a pinwheel, his heart, his eyes and a couple of beverages.

Los Regalos de Diego

 We continued the fun at our friend, Coti's apartment with a couple more of Lindsay's friends. All in all, I would say it was a wonderful introduction to Lindsay's adopted city. Many of our experiences thus far remind me of my study abroad time in Strasbourg, France so you can only imagine how much fun I am having here. 

Claudia, Coti, Mari, Cami, Lindsay, Lorena y Daniel (left to right)

¡Bienvenido à Valparaíso, Sarita!

Barking is the same in every language...

After a 4 hour flight from Denver to Miami, 8 hours in the Miami airport, an 8 hour flight to Santiago and a hour and half bus to ride to Valparaíso...WE MADE IT TO CHILE!  Not that anyone was worried right? For me (Lindsay) everything feels surpsingly normal....from the impressive view of the cordillera (the Andes mountains) from the airplane to the diversity of mullets...I feel at home. After settling in at our friend's apartment and getting a bite to eat, naturally, we would then proceed to attend a march in defense of street dogs. I'm serious.

We all deserve to live!

My friend who is an avid proponent of animal rights told me a march would be taking place in the center of Vaparaíso and I thought what better way to introduce Sara to Chile then a protest. Apparently, city government recently passed an ordiance that fines people for feeding the legion of street dogs, "los perros callejeros," that populate the streets of Valpo.

For those who know me, this was not my first south american protest experience and I am thrilled to see Sara enjoying the people watching and chanting (and in this case, howling) as much as I do. All and all, a good first day and will certainly sleep well tonight!

Leaving Gringolandia

We're nearing the end of our last day in the United States...WHAT!?! We've really accomplished a lot since that day in January when we planted the tiny seed of travel. Lindsay got into grad school (University of Denver which she promptly visited and deferred for a year) and Sara...well, Sara came a looooong way in terms of packing.
Sara's Before and After Packing Lists

Before:
Large Roll-y bag (because traveling in South America is the same as traveling in Europe)
1 Pair Frye boots
1 Wool pea coat
1 Trench coat
Trail running shoes instead of hiking shoes
Hair dryer
Hair product
1 Sweater
At least 3 pairs of pants
At least 3 other pairs of shoes
Many other items of clothing too numerous to mention

After:
75 L Traveling back pack
4 T-shirts
4 Tank tops
3 Pairs of jeans
2 Dresses
2 Button up shirts
1 Skirt
2 Pairs spandex
Hiking shoes
3 other pairs of shoes
Socks and underwear
A much humbled sense of traveler chic


Other than the trials of packing and re-packing, our preparations are finally coming to an end. Today has been busy running last minute errands and hanging out with Lindsay's family. We have a grueling day of travel ahead of us so stay tuned for that exciting story!


See you in Miami! xoxo

Reunited in Colorado

We've been reunited in Fort Collins, Colorado! Finally! Smoked out of Boulder today (no, not that kind of smoke); there was a wild fire. One day left before we begin our journey to South America. Almost packed and certainly ready to begin this crazy adventure!

Hugs and kisses to all!

ps. Refer to picture for the excitement we're trying to contain!