Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you from Los Alamos Chile! The last time I made a post, I had just finished my first semester of teaching here in Chile and was awaiting the arrival of my brother and dad before heading to Patagonia for some backpacking. Lets just say the past month has been incredible! I cant explain how great it was to see some familiar faces while traveling in one of the most beautiful places in the entire world.
Dad and Steve Meet Chile!
After a long 12 or 13 hour flight from the United States, with only 2 weeks in Chile, there was no time for rest. After arriving early in the morning of November 27th, we immediately hit the streets of Santiago, Chile’s urban capital city, spending the whole day on our own make shift walking tour of the city visiting all the hot spots with the little time we had. By the end of the day, I would say we had a pretty good feel for the city and were certainly worn out.
(Steve meets some of my students)
Early the next morning we were off to Los Alamos to meet my Chilean family. My brother and dad instantly meshed with my entire host family. It was as if they were already a part of the family. Over the next 3 days we had the opportunity to walk around the town to show them where I have been living, go fishing using the infamous PVC pipe technique, catch the end of a local soccer game, have a delicious and traditional Chilean “asado” (BBQ), and visit my school to meet the students and all the other teachers. It was a great cultural exchange for all!
(The Dads finally meet)
(Steve casts a line)
After a great 3 days, and after saying our goodbyes to my host family, we made a quick stop in a city called Lota for a tour of a coal mine. This was a fun experience for all of us, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of my Spanish career. One of my first weekends here in Chile, I took the same tour and didn’t understand a single thing as the whole tour was in Spanish. Now, 5 months later, I was able to translate nearly the entire tour to my bro and dad.
We were then off to Patagonia at the southern most tip of South America (see map) for our long awaited backpacking trip! We spent the next 5 days trekking in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. There is really no way to explain the beauty of this incredible place, but with an impressive 19 hours of daylight each day, we were surrounded by snow capped mountains that ran directly into lakes that were the color of another world, rolling hills, roaring rivers, and crystal blue glaciers. Over the next 5 days, we hiked a total of just over 60 miles! Every 10 minutes, we had new view of a mountain or river or lake that blew me away. I was often speechless at the beauty of this place. It was incredible!
(Dad dominating the trail)
(Sunrise from our second nights camp)
(Taking a quick rest at Glacier Grey)
(Showing off our Grove pride)
(One of my Dads several incredible photos of Torres del Paine)
(Enjoying a laugh at Glacier Grey)
After getting off the trail, and getting some much needed sleep, the next day we were off to Isla Magdalena to visit the Patagonian Penguins! The only way to explain it is “Humans meet Penguins”, as we stepped off the boat walked within inches of thousands upon thousands of penguins.
The following morning we unfortunately had to say our goodbyes and go our separate ways. It turned into an incredibly difficult goodbye, as I knew I wouldn’t see them for another 6 months.
(French Valley- Torres del Paine National Park)
I then traveled across the boarder into Argentina to meet up with some other WorldTeach volunteers that happen to be in Patagonia at the same time. I traveled to a city by the name of El Calafate and Parque Nacional de Los Glaciares. Argentinean Patagonia was incredibly different from Chilean Patagonia in that it was a dry and barren land with little vegetation, with an occasional monstrous snow covered mountain that would pop out of nowhere, or there would be a huge glacier carving through valleys and lakes into the countryside. It was pretty incredible. One of my good friends down here and I then headed to do some backpacking in the northern part of the national park for 4 days. It was a great time especially since we didn’t use a tent, but rather just a good ole tarp draped over a rope tied between two trees. It was the classic tent!
Chilean Christmas
It was then back to Los Alamos for another new cultural experience. Although it was incredibly hard to spend Christmas apart from my friends and family, it was great to experience Christmas in another culture. We reigned in Christmas day with a Christmas Eve dinner at 1 AM, and opening gifts at about 2:30 AM. I don’t think I got to bed until about 3 or 3:30 AM. The following day, the 25th, the entire family gathered for another asado (BBQ), which was delicious as always. The whole Chilean Christmas was a great experience, but I have to admit, it felt absolutely nothing like Christmas to me. I guess I will just have to wait another year.
Plans for the Next Few Months
In only 2 short days, Bridget is coming to Chile! With the short time we have, my goal is to convince her to stay here with me for the next 5 months. I don’t think it will work, but its worth a shot! We plan to enjoy some time on the beach, as well as do some gazing at the stars at the observatories in the Elqui Valley where the stars are know to be the best in the entire Southern Hemisphere. I cant wait for her arrival!
I then plan to head up to Peru to take some Spanish classes, and volunteer for the rest of January and all of February. I will then return to Los Alamos by the 1st of March to continue teaching English here for March, April, and part of May.
I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas, and I hope you have a happy new years as well. Hopefully for those of you in Minnesota or the mid-west, the snow isn’t slowing you down too much. Take care!
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