Everyone has been telling us, “Oh, you have to try the ‘completos’, they’re fabulous.” A completo is one item on Chile’s menu of fast, unhealthy food. The funny thing is that they don’t hide it either, like this particular restaurant was called ‘El Guaton’ which is the title for a fat person. So we made our way there and each ordered a completo completo. We forgot the camera, so this photo will have to do it justice, but as you can see it’s a foot long hot dog and bun topped off with huge amounts of sauerkraut, tomatoes, avocadoes and mayonnaise. All you taste is condiments. Ugh, we both felt ill after.

This week Rachel and I have moved out of our host family’s house and into a house with 3 other students. We were ready for the change, but sad to go at the same time. We really liked our host family, but our relationship with them was always hot and cold. At times it felt like they didn’t want anything to do with us and at other times we felt very included. I’m sure it was hectic for them though since this is their holiday and had family coming and going. The new house has two wings. Rach and I live in one end and have separate rooms, living area (with yellow, fake leather furniture nonetheless!) and a bathroom. The other wing has three bedrooms, bath and a more comfortable living area with internet, TV and dining table. The two sections are joined together in the middle by a kitchen and open air patio. The accommodations are very basic and kind of remind me my friend’s houses in college, obviously not the best or cleanest, but get the job done. We knew one of the roommates, Nico, from class and the other two, Morgan and Mara, flew in last weekend from Colorado. We’re really representin’ down here!

Plus, the nice thing about being on our own is we can buy our own food. Rachel found out about a sweet, outdoor market held twice a week here. We went a couple days ago and were able to fill up a backpack chock full of goods for five bucks! Most things cost between $0.60 and $1.00 per Kilo (2.2 pounds), so we loaded up and got strawberries, bananas, avocadoes, tomatoes, grapes, lettuce and more. Wish it were this cheap in the States!

We’ve been keeping busy with our jobs, especially Rach whose work load has increased this week. We also started new Spanish classes today. We hope to get out of town this weekend and do some camping. In the mean time we’ve continued to visit Valpo to climb up the Cerros and then wander down through the nooks and crannies of the dilapidated stairways lined with beautiful graffiti art. I’ve been trying to think of the best way to describe Valpo and haven’t been able to since it’s so unique, but I think this small excerpt from Chile’s famous poet Pablo Neruda does a nice job:

Valparaiso,

How absurd you are,

You haven’t combed your hair,

You’ve never had time to get dressed,

Life has always surprised you.

(Click here to read the full poem)

We’ve also met the other new students at the school and we’ve all been hanging out at nights. It’s pretty low key and we usually end up playing a game called Minority. Basically, someone says two things like “Wedding Crashers or Old School” and everyone votes for their favorite. The choice with the least votes means those people have to drink.

So which would you choose? Wedding Crashers or Old School?

Signing Off,

Andy

Oye! Our last week was jam packed with an array of experiences I don’t know where to begin. On Friday we celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Andy Collins and I have been together for 5 years…. and a day. Hard to believe it has been that much time. I remember when we met I was 19 almost 20, unsure, and reluctant to get into another relationship. The ongoing joke between us is we have been together for too long, but actually I won’t be giving up on a good thing any time soon, especially since we can travel together. To celebrate our big day we hit the town and went to a Mexican restaurant where I had a chirimoya (chirimoya is a tropical fruit that is popular here) margarita and Andy had a burrito stuffed with beef, chicken, and pork (He probably won’t order the mixed meat again… he was overloaded). Then we went to the Municipal Theatre to see a production called Tango. We listened to a piano, accordion, bass and violin play wonderful tangos and watched professional dancers. There was also a singer and master of ceremonies that sang along with some of the melodies. Before catching a micro (the local buses are called micros) home we found a bench under the stars. It is a local custom to make out in public areas… for hours! When in Rome… against Andy’s wishes we only stayed for a few minutes. J

As the saying goes time flies when you are having fun and with three weeks under our belts we are ready to start week four. Last week seemed like a normal working week. We both got used to our own schedules. Andy continued to work on projects in Valparaiso and I attended three different English classes as a visiting Gringa. This gives all the morning classes the opportunity to listen to and interact with a native English speaker. The students in the morning classes are all teenagers and in the evening I have been co-teaching a class of beginning level adults. There are only three students and in February I will become the full time teacher. I am excited for the chance to teach a class on my own, but realize there are challenges. The teacher now uses a lot of Spanish to explain the meanings of words. I prefer and am not able to use Spanish when I teach. I am anxious to see how they adjust and how well I can teach a beginner adult class.

On the downside we both have been battling bad colds. I think it is a combination of the change in climate and adjusting to the city air and all the crap that is in it. Including tons of cigarette smoke; almost everyone here smokes and most restaurants and bars allow it. I had to stay home sick one day, but we are both on the mend and don’t cough nearly as much as before.

On Friday we went to a botanical garden to do a high ropes course with the classmates from our Spanish class. We did a few zip lines from the treetops and walked across several types of hanging bridges. It was fun hanging out with our American classmates, who we have gotten to know during the past few weeks of class.

On Saturday we took it easy and then ventured out to Valparaiso to experience the cultural carnival, which presents several types of art from music to theatre, spread among the cities plazas. We walked through the streets and took a funicular, which is like an elevator that goes diagonally up a steep slope. Once above the city streets we found silence. Wanting to take advantage of the peace and quiet I found a corner table at a café. We spent at least a couple hours there journaling, sipping on helados, and listening to the street musicians passing by. The festival activities picked up in the evening and Valparaiso came alive. We roamed the city until 1am, drinking super bitter cheap beer, which is sold on the streets for a buck, and watching popular bands play on a stage at the heart of the city.

Today we took a bus to the small town of Isla Negra to see one of Pablo Neruda’s houses. Neruda, who is famous for his poetry, has three houses, but this was his favorite. He loved the sea, but could not leave land and so he built his house like a ship. The inside has very low curved ceilings and small doors. The view of the waves hitting the coast was spectacular. Heading home we missed the bus and began to wait at the bus stop. I asked Andy if he was hungry and an older gentleman turned to me and said in English, “you know what happens when men get hungry don’t you?” Not sure how to react I played along and said asked what happens. He said, “They get aggressive.” Then he explained his story and before long the three of us were standing there having a diverse conversation for at least 45 minutes! He was a local and had some very interesting opinions and used to get grumpy when he came home from work. His wife figured this out and would leave food or a beverage for him at the front door so that he would not be so “aggressive” when he had some food in his stomach. His interesting viewpoints and his willingness to share with a couple of young extranjeros was refreshing and a nice touch to our day.

We have enjoyed reading all your comments so please keep writing! We miss you all and hope all is well in the states.

Amor,

Rachel

I don’t know what it is, but young Chileans love mullets. I thought they went out  in the 80’s, but they are fresh down here. Everywhere you look, a person is sporting one, including our Spanish teacher. I wish I could sneak pics of all of them and just make a post about mullets, but it hasn’t happened yet.

The first week in Chile went a little slow for both Rachel and I as we adjusted to our new lives here. The city is always bustling and we can’t even escape from the noise in our room. Buses are constantly passing by and the bar next door blasts Reggaetone (A popular type of music in Latin America). Right now the song Ride ‘til I Die by rap artist DMX is shaking the walls.

But we are adjusting and getting in the swing of things. We are now in our third and final week of Spanish courses and we both started our jobs last week. I am working at Catholic University in Valparaiso and Rachel is working at a British English School in Vina del Mar. I like the work so far and am challenged everyday to effectively communicate with Fernando, the university’s main computer guy. Rachel is a visiting teacher that rotates to a different class every morning to mainly converse with students in English. In the afternoons she will start to co-teach in an adult class and will take over for the teacher next month.

The weekend before last we made like Chileans and stayed out to the wee hours of the morning, almost late enough to see the sun rise. We went to Valpo to check out a popular band called Chico Trujillo with other students from our Spanish school. Of course, we couldn’t find the bar. So we asked people where the Aduana Bar was, but in return they would give us these crazy looks. Turns out, we were saying it too clearly for them. Once Rachel mumbled the name, they knew right where to send us. Fortunately, everything starts late here so we made it to the bar by 2:00am to see the band go on by 2:30 even though we were told 12:00. Anyway, we danced to some Latin Ska with a packed house in a dimly lit, smoked filled bar. Rachel even got to dance with a couple of gay guys, who were of course sporting mullets. One guy’s mullet even had dread locks and was died orange. It was great!

This last weekend we decided to ditch the city and head for the hills. We attempted to climb La Campana Hill in a nearby national park. This was some hill though; the trail was only 4.2 miles long and it had an elevation gain of 4,000+ feet. Plus, I mixed up the buses and we ended up walking an additional 5K just to get to the park entrance. Along the way we ran out of water, but thought we were close to the top and continued on. Soon thereafter we ran in to some people coming down and learned we were at least 45 minutes away. It was very hot and since I had recently gone through a dehydration bout last summer we decided it was best to turn around. On the return we met a nice couple from Denver; it was pleasant to hear someone without an accent. Then on Sunday we took it easy and witnessed Chile elect their new president, Sebastián Piñera, and attended a celebration in the main plaza of Vina. Our host parents are beside themselves since they were going for the opposition leader Eduardo Frei.

Other than that, we have watched the Santiago orchestra perform classical music in an outdoor theatre and have taken a tour of Valparaiso with the school, where we took a boat out in to the harbor, road a funicular up one of their many hills and found places decorated with ‘graffiti art’ which it is known for. We have also visited the beach in Con Con and got thoroughly sunburned, which makes it the second time for us. It’s nasty; we have skin flakes coming off everywhere. =P

Catch ya next time,

Andy

The flight down was uneventful and long. I slept or tried to sleep for most of it. In Toronto we had to go through security again and spent seven hours anxiously waiting for our flight to leave. From Toronto to Chile it was nine hours and we had an open seat next to us. Even though we had the extra room we both got off the plane feeling grumpy and groggy, but in Chile! Customs was a cinch; we found our bags, and then our driver. I remember my first step out of the airport… the sun was high and it was hot!! We had to shed our winter layers quickly.

Our driver talked to us in Spanish the entire trip to Vina del Mar (2 hours). He was easy to understand and told us many things about the country of Chile like the famous vineyards, the copper mines, the climate, the government, food and what drink you should have with which food… he went on and on. It was very nice to have him as our guide, but it took energy to keep up with him. After our first view of the city of Valparaiso, which was very similar to San Francisco with narrow, steep streets, we went to Viña del Mar with our driver and our Adelante contact Jennifer. Both were giving us points of reference so we could remember how to get from place to place. We arrived at our host family’s house around 4pm, but the maid had already left and our parents were still on vacation so they put us up in a hotel for two nights.

Being in a hotel we were able to catch up on sleep and explore the city of Viña del Mar. The city has many high rises and new buildings going up everywhere. There are many people here on vacation from other parts of the country so the restaurants, shops, hotels, and the beach are all very busy. It is nice to once again be in a place where everything is accessible by foot. There is a metro, buses and taxis, but we have walked everywhere so far. On Sunday we went to the beach, but it was too cloudy to swim. We walked along a path where the waves hit rocks along the and then splash onto the sidewalk. Several unlucky passersby were drenched with water! It almost happened to us once. I told Andy on a hot day we should come back and dodge the waves.

Monday was our first day of Spanish class. We both didn’t know what to expect. There are 7 students total. Most are from the states and most of them are men. For the first class two teachers asked all of us questions and we had to go around and answer in Spanish with everyone listening to our answers. I think everyone was really nervous, but Andy and I made it into the advanced class with 3 other students. After class we met our host family Susana and Denis. They own a big house 15 minutes away from our school. They are very nice and are used to sharing their home with students. Denis loves soccer and also plays basketball. He even invited us to play with him at a local gym! Susana has been a midwife for years and now is a professor at a college teaching others how to be midwives. She also paints and has many paintings hanging in the house. Their Chilean Spanish is very difficult to understand at times, but it is getting easier.

The food has been great. We have had so many avocados and empanadas. My favorite is an empanada made with spinach, cheese, and queso! But Denis told me if I eat too many I will get fat J Our host parents had some guests over last night and we tried a beverage called “cola de mono” which is milk and tequila mixed together. It was surprisingly good. I am also looking forward to trying the ever famous Chilean drink pisco sour but poco a poco (bit by bit).

Overall we are adjusting to our surroundings, learning Chilean Spanish, walking everywhere, loving the nice weather, and soaking up the Chilean culture.

Rachel and I will be traveling to Chile and Argentina.  We will be there for 3 months, leaving on January 1st, 2010 and returning on April 5th, 2010.

We will be spend the first 2 months in the cities of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar on the coast of Chile.  We will be studying Spanish and interning with local companies.  Rachel will teach English and I will do something with computers.  We will find out more details as our leave date approaches.  For the last month we plan on traveling through Chile and into Argentina, visiting such places as Torres del Paine, Iguazu Falls, the Valdes Peninsula, Bariloche and so forth.

We hope to keep everyone updated with our ventures using this blog with the latest entries being shown below.

It’s truly official now.  We have been accepted in to the program and we just purchased our tickets!

Flight reservation

Fri, Jan 1, 2010
Departs 11:20am, Arrives 12:15pm
Air Canada 1038 / 92
Denver, CO to Santiago, Chile

Mon, Apr 5, 2010
Departs 6:45pm, Arrives 10:16am
Air Canada 93 / 1037
Santiago, Chile to Denver, CO

Woot!  Woot!  Today I asked my boss (again) if I could take a leave of absence.  I can’t say it gets any easier for me, but for him he’s become accustomed to it and just laughed after my request as if he was almost expecting it.  The laugh, being a good thing, means Rach and I can start making full commitments to everything we’ve been wanting to do in the winter!

Right now we plan on spending January-February in Chile studying Spanish and interning with local organizations.  Rach is going to work as an English teacher and I in the area of computers.  After that we plan on traveling for the month of March in Chile and Argentina.

-Andy

May 1, 2007

To finish out our trip, we moved south to the little roadside town of Uvita. We stayed at the Hotel Toucan for 4 nights. Being one of few hotels in Uvita, this chill hostel was a great place to stay. I especially liked the hammock movie theatre. From Uvita we kept ourselves mostly busy. The rain came in the afternoons so we hiked to waterfalls and the beach in the mornings. Both of us got sunburns, but our time here was relaxing. The day before we left we went to Cano Island to snorkel. This being my first real snorkeling experience I was pumped. Then the tour agency forgot us! The shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 6:30am, but went to the wrong hotel and left without us. Luckily we were able to catch a taxi to the dock where the tour boat was leaving. For snorkeling the visibility was only 50%, but I thought it was great. We saw different types of colorful fish, eels, and we got to hold two puffer fish! After lunch on the beach we headed out for another snorkel trip and saw a school of fish. After a long day in the sun we arrived back at the Toucan and prepared for our trip back to San Jose.

Now we are sitting on the plane en route for home. It has been a trip of a lifetime, but both of us are ready for the familiarity of home. We return home with a little more knowledge about other countries of the world, the fundamentals of a new language, and thousands of memorable journeys.

May 1, 2007

We headed to the Pacific Coast town of Dominical after leaving San Gerardo. We spent one night there before we  decided to move further outside the city to a place slightly more expensive but held more than a bed in the room. So we ended up at Hacienda Baru Nature Reserve.

At Hacienda Baru we signed up for one of their tours that took us up into the canopy of the rainforest. With ourselves and a guide we strapped into a series of harnesses, ropes, and other contraptions that made climbing a lot easier. A one-way lever was attached close to our feet and another in our hands. With this setup we were able to pull our legs up close to our chest, have the foot lever lock into place on the main rope allowing us to ‘standup’ and move our hand lever up next, then the hand lever would lock i nto place, and we could repeat the process all over again. Using this process we went vertically up 120 feet reaching into the uppermost part of the tree. I was a bit scared since I’m not real fond of heights and Rachel handled it better and was even bouncing off the tree a bit. Rach reminded me that tree climbing was my idea! It was really cool though and I became more comfortable with it. In addition to this we also rode on 5-6 zip lines through the forest, and at the end of the last one was a sloth! She was within feet of us going ‘full speed’ as our guide said up this little tree. She soon realized it wasn’t big enough for her and came down to the forest floor to find something better. Unfortunately, she found an even smaller tree that started bending back over itself the further she climbed up, but with another guides help who pushed the tree to run into another one she found herself on sturdier limbs. It was a rare and nice finishing touch to the morning and awesome to see a three toed sloth up close and personal.

We heard about a horse ride trip that took people to a set of waterfalls. For us though it was a bit much to fork over and not quite our style. We prefer to hike if possible and therefore set off on our own. First we walked a half hour into the Dominical from Hacienda Baru and found a taxi to take us to the entrance and from there we walked for an hour or more and came to them. They were gorgeous with two smaller waterfalls dumping into an  upper pool that collected water for the main spectacle pouring out below. We swam and even climbed up onto the first ledge at the base of the main fall. After eating lunch we hiked back to the highway and hoped for a bus to come along as no taxis hung around the area. With luck we made it to a bus stop just as the rainy season decided to start that afternoon. 20-30 minutes later a bus arrived to take us back to Dominical. The rain was coming down heavier as we got off and to our dismay there were no taxis available to take us to Hacienda Baru. With no signs of it letting up we began our 30 minute walk back. 10-15 minutes into our very dark walk along the dirt road a Jeep pulled up next to us. It was a guide from earlier in the day who offered us a ride. There wasn’t enough room in his Jeep so we climbed on to the running boards. One of us on each side, and off we went! Pretty exciting…wet ending to an exploratory day.

April 24, 2007

After hiking 8 miles on the beach every night for a week, I thought it would be a good idea to escape to the mountains and climb the tallest peak of Costa Rica. The trailhead is located in the rural town of San Gerardo de Rivas. The bus ride out there was a bumpy one on a steep, dirt road. As soon as we got off in the small town of San Gerardo Andy said, “Rach, what have you gotten us into.” That was just the beginning of a big adventure. We stayed at The Descanso hotel that is run by a very nice Tico and his family. The day before we rested and did some hiking in the Cloud Bridge Reserve before the hike up Chirripo. The next day we left at 5am for the initial 14 kilometers to the hostel located 5.5 kilometers from the summit. The hike was steep and muddy and winded through a luscious rainforest. Above tree line the scenery changed to more of a desert with small plants and tons of lizards. We made it to the hostel around 1. We were tired from the climb with our packs full of ramen and our heavy, but extremely important Nutella and snickers. The hostel sits at about 11,000 feet, can sleep up to 60 people, has running water and is nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains. Awaking at 3am, we left the camp and headed to the summit to catch the sunrise. Walking in the cold and darkness with one headl amp was a challenge and maybe the low point of the hike. The signs were not well marked and both of us had the feeling that we were lost. We climbed a ridge and looked into a valley and saw some lakes and then Chirripo looming in the background. Daybreak was upon us as we started the ascent. Not wanting to miss the sunrise I tried to push it only to become severely out of breath and therefore almost crawling up the mountain. We made it though and saw both the Atlantic and Pacific shorelines and the sun came up. The view was phenomenal…this was the high point and made the whole trip worth it. 5.5 kilometers back to the hostel, we packed the rest of our stuff and started back down the mountain. Every kilometer is marked with a sign that has given that section of trail a name. One  odd name is Fila Cementario de las Maquinas, translation: The Machines Cemetery Ridge. There were no machines to be seen. Other names were Ba rbas Viejo: Old Man’s Beard that was a very calm section of trail with plenty of singing birds. While hiking we calculated that by the end of the two days we will have hiked 25 miles! Once we hit Kilometer 0, we were tired and limping from the downhill grind. Our trip wasn’t over. We had to walk another mile to our hotel, stopping along the way for ice cream and juice. To sooth our aching legs and feet we ventured out that afternoon to some nearby hot springs. It was also a steep hike to the springs, but was well worth it. The next morning we left for the Pacific coast where we are now. We had the idea to head to the beach to take it easy, but we will see how long that lasts.