Tour de Valparaíso, Viña, and Santiago

After a sad farewell in Rancagua, my parents and I spent five days traveling between Valparaiso, Viña, and Santiago. We agreed that Valparaiso was the most interesting of the cities, but Viña and Santiago had their share of subtleties and landmarks as well.


(Picture with another volunteer, Jenna, and our new German friend who we adopted at the restaurant, El Vinilo).

In Valparaiso, we spent two nights in a mod little hotel with high ceilings and checkered floors. Our room was on the top piso and we had the most incredible view of puerto Valparaiso. From our window we could watch the hills roll down to the ocean where they welcomed the ships coming into dock.



And at night, the city gleamed with lights in all directions. More than once, I found myself standing in the window, mesmerized by the million little candles that mimicked the stars.



We spent a full day in Valparaiso, wandering through the curving cobblestone streets of Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepcion. At the top of Calle Hector Calvo, we found one of Pablo Neruda's famous houses, La Sebastiana. My mom and I toured the eccentric poet's home and were intrigued by his eclectic taste in furniture, art, and bar decor. We played our part as disrespectful Americans and broke the rules to capture all of the curiosities Pablo had accumulated on his bar:



We saw Pablo's vivid description of Valpo as we wandered through the winding hills in an effort to meet my dad on time for lunch. Pablo writes in his "Oda a Valparaiso":

VALPARAÍSO/ qué disparate/ eres/ qué loco/ puerto loco/ qué cabeza/ con cerros/ desgreñada/ no acabas/ de peinarte/ nunca/ tuviste/ tiempo de vestirte/ siempre/ te/ sorprendió/ la vida



As was Pablo, my mom and I were caught off guard by the confusing cobblestone streets, inspiring street art, and natural chaos of life in Valparaiso. We stopped to take photo after photo of the murals and brightly painted houses, but capturing the spirit of the city was impossible. We marveled at how the houses stood proudly with fresh paint but rotting foundations and how old women, disguised as feeble, hiked up the mountains without stopping to catch their breaths.




Houses in Valparaiso, much like other hill towns (Nice, Capri for instance), are built basically on each others' roof tops. It is amazing that houses have survived the daily shudders of mini-earthquakes in Chile and it will be a miracle if the city endures another earthquake such as the one in 1906 that turned the hills of Valpo into landslides. Thousands of lives were lost in the 1906 earthquake and although locals dread the day that another occurs, the lost properties were rebuilt without appropriate fortifications to avoid another such tragedy.



After meeting my dad for lunch, albeit a forty five minutes late, we took a boat tour of the port and saw some more sea lions.





The port was colored with a variety of ships. There were armored marine vessels, gigantic cargo ships carrying hundreds of thousands of liters of wine and copper all over the world, and tiny fishermen ships that brought in enough mariscos to feed the center region of Chile.




The marine ships teased my dad's relentless interest in history, so we agreed to let him explore the Naval Museum that loomed above us on a cliff. To get him a little closer, we gambled our lives on a creaky old funicular. From the top, we enjoyed yet another incredible view of Valpo.





Viña del Mar

On our way out, we stopped in Viña to enjoy the famous gardens and sunsets. Viña lacks the personality of Valparaiso, but it is preferred among Chileans because it is cleaner, safer, and overall more fashionable.



As we strolled through Viña's parks, we could see why it would be a hot spot for young Chileans to study and live there, but we were still enchanted by Valpo's sense of humor and could only value Viña for its sunset and its famous casino. Well-dressed Chileans strolled by us into the large white casino on Avenida Peru while we looked for a place to watch the sunset.



In a restaurant called Enjoy del Mar, we drank white wine and watched the sun set above a distant boat. It looked as though the sun would ignite the anchored vessel as the sky filled with flames and set the horizon on fire. When the sun had fallen, extinguished by the ocean, we left Viña and headed for Santiago.






Santiago

Showing my parents around Santiago was a treat for me. I have grown very fond of Santiago after a week of orientation and constant weekend trips. I showed them all of my favorite places: The top of Cerro San Cristóbol, Santa Lucia, Bella Vista, Parque Forestal, the fish and fruit markets, and of course, La Piojera. After a terremoto (wine, liquor, and piña ice cream afternoon cocktail), it's impossible not to enjoy yourself, but I think the drink had little influence on my parents impressions of La Piojera. My dad, especially, was impressed with the lively ambiance and huge empanadas de pino. My mom might have been a little disturbed by the straw bedded bathrooms without seats or soap, but she held her own in the local dive bar.



Instead of hiking up Cerro San Cristóbol like I did with the other volunteers during orientation, my parents and I risked yet another funicular and went up the quick way. A quick ride straight up the mountainside and were standing beside the immense Virgin. My parents were impressed with the view of the Andes even though it wasn't the clearest of days in Santiago.



We spent the day wandering through Providencia, La Plaza de Armas, around La Moneda, and found our way to Santa Lucia just before it closed for the evening. We walked around the ruined fortress while Chilean couples used the dusk to shade their affection.



Sadly, the next evening my parents had to leave, but not until we spent a successful day art shopping in Bella Vista. I am happy to say that they found a lovely painting of Valparaiso as a recuerdo of their trip to Chile. I will miss them here, but after a wonderful vacation, it's back to work for all of us.

Family Fun In Rancagua

The week after our trips up north and down south, my parents came to visit. They spent three days in Rancagua with me and were welcomed lovingly by my host family. It was incredible to have my two moms in the same room, and it was obvious that they bonded instantly.




The first night, my host mom made a grand feast which we could hardly make a dent in. After three courses and dessert, my parents were ready to tuck in for the night. My parents aren't quite night owls like the Chileans, so it was impressive that they even stayed up until midnight.



The next day, my parents took Cami, Laurel, and me to a vineyard in Santa Cruz called Viu Manent.



We went on a tour of the vineyard in a horse drawn carriage and later walked through the factory where the wines are kept in french oak, American oak, and stainless steel barrels (depending on the wine variety). The wine tour was much like those I took in Italy, but two wines in particular, Carmenere and Málbec, both which you can't find outside of Chile/Argentina made the tour unique.






On Tuesday morning, my parents came with me to school and the kids went wild. Wild is an understatement since that's their natural disposition--feverish is more accurate. They filtered into my room like wild animals, filling it up until there was no room to move. At one point, as I was surrounded by my kids in one corner of the classroom, I looked over and saw my mom trapped in a corner with a bag of candy, trying to answer their rapid fire questions in Spanish. I couldn't help but laugh and silently thank my kids for proving that I was not exaggerating their insanity. They keep my hands full and I love them for it.



Tuesday night my parents took all of the volunteers, my host teacher, and my host family out to dinner at a nice restaurant in Rancagua called Doña Emilia. Ironically, the nicest restaurant in Rancagua is hidden behind a gas station. Had Kelly not noticed a small sign pointing into the darkness, we would have never found it. After six bottles of Carmenere, some squid fries, Spanish tortillas, and a table full of rare beef, we were a boisterous bunch.



Our table jabbered away in Spanish and English conversation combinations for hours until we finally had to face the facts and say goodbye. My parents and I were leaving for Valparaiso in the morning, so my two families had to say their goodbyes. Both of my moms cried and it broke my heart to see them walk in different directions. I hope I am blessed enough to see them in the same room again.

Winter Camp in Valdivia

Winter Camp in Valdivia re-oriented my perspective after a week of adventure in the north. The last two weeks traveling through Iquique and San Pedro felt very much like study abroad where my time out of the country was about my own development and being young and uninhibited. But, I am not just here for myself. In Valdivia, a German- inspired city in the mid-south of Chile, I met sixty kids, twenty in particular, who were not only very talented English students, but who reminded me why I am in Chile.



After a week of constant traveling, staying up late, and meeting other like-minded, twenty-something globetrotters, it was hard to come back to teaching without being a little resentful of the job. At first we were bitter to have to set our alarms in the morning and to follow orders from a more than somewhat whiny and screechy coordinator, but after a day with these kids, we knew we had made the right choice in participating in the Winter Camps.



We spent funfilled days with the kids, spending one afternoon in the park on a scavenger hunt, one morning at the bowling alley, and we even figured out a way to make smores. The kids were not only smart, but enthusiastic students. They didn't misbehave, fight, or yell like my chiquillos in Rancagua. They sat with ears on fire, scribbling notes after every word and jumping out of their seats to participate in the activities.





We were tired at the end of the school day, but we found time for ourselves. We spent a lot of time wandering around Valdivia, trying chocolates at the famous EntreLagos chocolateria and walking along the tranquil waters of the Rio Calle Calle.



Near the fish market and artisan craft stores there is some local entertainment: sea lions. I had no idea that sea lions were so large and hairy. They are ugly animals, but expert sun bathers.



One night we went to the Kunstmann Cervezeria and shared a "rocket" of unfiltered Torobayo beer. Delicious. Kunstmann is one of the most popular beers in Chile and is brewed in Valdivia thanks to heavy German immigration in the Los Rios Region. We also spent a lot of time at a hip, bohemian café called La Ultima Fronterra, which had incredible coffee and papas bravas.



It was hard to wake up on the last day of camp, but we were all very excited for the Talent Show. So many of the kids can dance, sing, or play an instrument that the show was actually more promising than I would have expected. I even got reeled into two separate acts. I danced and sang to Billy Jean with some of the girls in my class as well as gave a surprise act at the end. We sang and danced to "Quiero Ser Libre" by La Noche, a very popular song right now in Chile, and the kids thought it was hilarious. Embarrassing yes, but totally worth hearing them laugh and sing along.



Saying good bye to the Valdivia kids was impossible, but I am so grateful that I was able to spend time with them and experience their beautiful city.