Continued Adventure

The past month has been quite incredible in the life of Matthew Grove with this past week turning out to be one of the craziest weeks of my entire time here in South America. Over the past month, I was fortunate to have an incredible time traveling with Bridget, see some of the worlds driest desert in northern Chile, and head to Peru where I have taken Spanish classes, visited Machu Pichu and been trapped in a small mountain village for 6 days due to flooding. Needless to say, the past month has been quite an adventure.

A Long Awaited Visit

On January 1st, I had the incredible joy of meeting my girlfriend Bridget at the airport in Santiago Chile. It had been nearly 6 months without seeing her, so it was a much needed visit. With an even shorter visit than by brother and dad had, there was surely no time to waste. Day one was spent exploring Santiago and getting Bridget caught up on sleep after her red eye flight the night before. We hit up all the hot spots such as the fresh fish market, Chile´s capital building, and Santa Lucia as well as enjoyed a few glasses of delicious Chilean wine while watching the sunset from atop a hill called San Cristobal. Although I had seen all of these things, it was so enjoyable to just walk the city streets and catch up with Bridget.

(just a little excited)

(Capital building in Santiago)

(yummy fish from the market!)

(Enjoying her first Chilean empanada)

Bright and early the next morning, we were hopping onto a bus and were off to a city by the name of Valporaiso which is known as one of the most unique cities in all of Chile and quite possibly in all of South America. We spent the day wondering the winding streets and getting lost in the maize of hills and beautifully colored houses. My favorite part of our short time in Valporaiso was a visit to an old prison that had been converted into a graffiti museum. The contrast between the hard ridged old building and the unique artwork was outstanding.

(Graffiti Museum)

(artwork on the streets of Valporaiso)

The next morning we were back on a bus (this time for 7 hours) to a beach city in northern Chile named La Serena. In this warm and sunny city, we settled down for the next 4 days which were incredibly relaxing as we essentially spent them laying around and reading on the beach, trying to catch as many rays as possible. Now that I think about it, all the time in the sun had its set backs as each night I rolled around in bed struggling to sleep due to some pretty burned skin. Regardless, it was well worth it. During one of our days in La Serena, we got a little abistious and rented bikes. We spent the day biking along the beach to a nearby city by the name of Coquimbo, where we checked out a cool fish market, saw some unbelievably enormous sea lions, and hiked up to probably the biggest cross monument I have ever seen. We once again returned to La Serena tired and sun burned. (sunset from beach in La Serena)

(That is one huge completo!)

(A monster fish!)

Penguins and dolphins here we come!!! A quick hour and a half drive from La Serena is the infamous Parque Nacional Penguino de Humboldt which is known for its Chilean penguins, large variety of bird species, and dolphins. Lets just say that it lived up to its reputation. We spent the entire day with our wonderful tour guide exploring the two islands that consist of the park by boat. It was quite the adventure as we floated around in search of the animals that inhabit the islands. My favorite part was when we found the dolphins that were soaring through the air and swimming right along next to us.

(Ready for dolphins and penguins!)

With only two days left before Bridget had to leave, we headed into the always sunny Elqui Valley whicih is known for brewing the famous pisco (typical Chilean liquir) as well as star gazing. And that we did! We spent the afternoon touring the Capel Pisco Plant, and in the evening we went to a near by observatory to check out the stars. Our tour at the observatory was quite possibly one of the most interesting and mind blowing tours I have ever been on. I have never seen stars so clear in my life. It was fun to observe constalations that we never see in the northern hemisphere like the Southern Cross. The sky was so clear that we were actually able to view two complete galaxies (Magallanas Galaxies) which appeared as clouds in the sky. I dont think that I have ever felt so small in my entire life.

(Biggest Pisco Sour of all time!)

(sunset from Elqui Valley)

The next day we were back to La Serena to spend our last day on the beach, before our 7 hour bus ride back to Santiago to get Bridget to the airport. The following day (the day Bridget flew out) came far to fast, and I once again had to go through an incredibly difficult goodbye. Although I tried to convince her to stay in South America with me for the next 4 months, it just didnt work. Im not exactly sure why not though! Regardless, our goodbye was inevidable. It will be great to see her again in 3 and a half months.

Heading North

Imediately after dropping Bridget off at the airport, I was back to the bus station and hopped on a bus for the next 23 hours. I had been reading Ernesto Che Guevara´s diary titled ¨Motorcycle Diaries¨ which is about his travels accross South America at about my age, and I couldnt help but feel a bit of a connection with him;

´It was kind of a crossroads, at least it was for me. I was looking to the future, through the narrow band of Chile and to what lay beyond…´

-Ernesto Che Guevara

(Salt flat in Northern Chile)

I was heading to driest desert in the world, known as the Atacama Desert. I spent the next 4 days based in a city named San Pedro de Atacama in which I was able to make some truly astonishing day trips. I visited the Titio Gysers at sunrise fallowed by a nice relaxing soke in some nearby hot springs, floated in Laguna Cejar which has a higher salt concentration than the Dead Sea, walked across an incredibly large salt flat which blew my mind, and mountain biked to the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) which has a very fitting name. This was my first experience in a desert, let alone the driest in the world, so I was quite amazed at how oddly beautiful a desert can be.

(Salt flat in Northern Chile)

Peru Here I Come!!!

After making the short stop in San Pedro, I was off to Peru. I crossed the Peruvian boarder, got my passport stamped, as was on my way to Puno which is a city on the shores of Lake Titicacca. Puno was a great start to my Peruvian adventure, as I spent my time visiting smaller, somewhat unknown Incan and pre-Incan ruins, visiting the infamous islands of Lake Titicacca and getting used to the Peruvian spanish.(Islas Uros- floating reed islands on Lake Titicaca)

(Peruvian boy on Lake Titicaca)

Cusco and My Machu Pichu Adventure

After Puno, I was on the road heading North West for Cusco, the Incan capital of the world. The city is a bustleing city, full of tourists from all over the world. Despite all of the tourists, it is quite an incredible city that has been fun to explore. Upon arrival in Cusco, my plan was to take two weeks of intensive Spanish classes, and then be on my way to do some volunteering elsewhere in Peru. But things have not really gone as planned. The first week went pefect. Taking Spanish classes was just what I needed, and it was really great to focus on improving my Spanish and my abilities to communicate in a new language. Then came the weekend, which started out with a bang, and went straight downhill from there.

On Saturday afternoon, I hopped on the train, and was off to visit the famous Incan city, Machu Pichu, for the weekend. In order to get to Machu Pichu, you have two options: hiking the Incan trail which takes 4 days, or taking the train to a city named Aguas Calientes and taking a small hike up to Machu Pichu. There is not a single road into this city. Only a hiking trail and the train tracks. Because I had classes the following Monday, I chose the train. I arrived in Aguas Calientes later on Saturday evening, and checked into a hostel to get some rest for my early morning walk up to Machu Pichu. The doors open at 6 AM and only the first 400 people get a special ticket to go to a different part of the Incan city. I was number 107. The day started out incredibly foggy and rainy, but by about 11 or 12 o´clock things cleared up, revealing the largest of the preserved Incan cities, Machu Pichu. I spent the following 12 hours walking around the ruins, taking myself back in time, and admiring how unbelievably advanced the Incan civilizations were for their time. At about 4 PM, I began my walk back to the small mountain village of Aguas Calientes to catch my train back to Cusco. But things didnt necessarily go as planned.

(Machu Pichu hiding behind clouds in the background)

It is currently the Peruvian rainy season, but they are recieving substantially more rain than they are used to. I arrived at the train station to discover that all trains leaving had been canceled, and that no one was getting out due to the rising river level (which runs along the train tracks the entire way back to Cusco). I checked back into my hostel, with hopes that the roaring river would subside and I would be able to get out the following day. I wasnt so lucky, as the following day water levels were rising and sections of the train tracks had been sucked down into the river and destroyed. Things were not looking good. It was soon realized that our only way out was going to be helicopter evacuation, but the weather was terrible the helicopters couldn´t fly. The next 4 and a half days were spent sitting around waiting for the weather to clear up, and for helicopters to begin evacuating us. At no point was I in any sort of physical danger, but I remember at one point walking down the street towards the area of town closer to the river, and all of a sudden a stampead of people came sprinting around the corner screaming and crying. Part of the river had broke, and had taken a large section of a city street and some buildings into the river. Things were starting to get serious! The towns people with the help of some volunteers were able to get things under control, but the major problem was people running out of money. All the ATMs had run out of money, and most places in this small village didnt accept credit card, so people were without cash to pay for a place to stay or for food to eat. The municipality opened up the local church and the gymnasium for people to sleep, and handed out free lunch and dinner to the people without money. I had a bit more luck than most people.

(Overlooking Machu Pichu)

I randomly ran into one of my favorite college professors from the education department at Gustavus, who had been on a month long service project with one other professor and 22 Gustavus students. It was quite the coinsidence. They kindly took me in for the following 3 days, giving me a place to stay at their hotel and more food than I could eat. It was great as I got to catch up with my professor as well as get to know the other professor who is an incredible person with great stories as well as a handful of the students.
Throughout the entire experience, there was one small incident that will stick with me for a long long time. After the 4th day of being trapped, I ran into three middle aged Peruvian women, who didn´t appear to be wealthy by any standards, and were handing out free bread and coffee to the tourists. These were three women who had plenty of things to worry about themselves, as food supplies for them were running short and their town was being destroyed by the flood, and here they were handing out food and coffee to tourists who have probably never had to worry about a meal in their life. This act of kindness that may not seem to big to many people of the world, was no small act, but rather the largest showing of kindness I have seen in a long time.
By 4 o´clock on Thursday afternoon I was being rushed on to a helicopter for the first time in my life, and was flown through the beautiful Peruvian Andes Mountains which left me speachless. At least I got an exciting helicopter ride out of the deal along with a story I will never forget.

Whats Next?

Although I lost a week in Machu Pichu, I am quite fortunate as I don´t have a strict schedule for the next month. I will finish out my Spanish classes here in Cusco this week while volunteering at a local orphanage in the afternoons, and the following week I will head to the coast where I will do some volunteering to help rebuild houses in a town that was demolished by an earthquake about one year ago. As always, I hope all is well with you and let me know how your doing!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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 27^th, 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!

(Our morning mixture of wine and wheat; "arinado")

(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!

 (Los Glaciares National Park- Argentina)

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 25^th, 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 1^st 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! 

Last Words For Awhile

It has now been 3 weeks since my last blog post, and I can accredit that to an assortment of things. In the past three weeks I have experienced a Chilean Dia de Los Muertos, climbed a volcano in Pucon, crossed the Andes in to Patagonian Argentina, gone fishing in the ocean, played several games of soccer with my students, and have simply just tried to soak up every last bit of life here in Los Alamos. My last “official” day here in Los Alamos will be next Tuesday, and with only a few days left, my list of things to do before I leave has been growing and growing every day. One of the things on the list is a quick blog post, especially since I don’t know when Ill be able to make another one.

Teachers Strike = More Traveling 

Currently, the majority of Chilean schools are not in session due to a teachers strike that has been going on since the 25th of October. The strike is the result of a 30 year debt that the government owes to the teachers union but still has not paid. Regardless of the confusing details of the strike, my school was on strike for the first two weeks of the strike, which was essentially like a 2 week vacation for me. During those two weeks, I spent time relaxing around my house with my family, and I also took a few short trips to a city named Pucon, as well as across the boarder into Argentina to Bariloche, San Martin de Los Andes, and El Bolson. Ill let the photos do the talking for these places.

For awhile, I was worried that our school would be on strike until the end of my service here, but about two weeks ago the teachers at our school decided to stop striking, and continue with classes. This made me very happy as I now have the opportunity to wrap up some last things with my students as well as the opportunity to say goodbye to my students, but some of the other volunteers have not been so lucky. My school is one of only a few public schools in all of Chile that has classes right now, so many of the volunteers will be leaving next Tuesday without being able to say goodbye to their students.

View of the Andes from El Bolson, Argentina

From Volcan Villarica in Pucon

Volcan Villarica, Pucon

My kindergarten class

Saying My Goodbyes

With my last official day here in Los Alamos being next Tuesday, I have been slowly saying my goodbyes and preparing myself for leaving this incredible town that has accepted me as one of their own. I have been visiting all of my classes that I have right now as well as the classes that I had before to give them all gifts, and to say thank you and goodbye. After each speech I give, the students often start yelling “Don’t go Mr. Matt! Please don’t go!”. These visits have really made me feel good about the work that I have been doing here over the past four months. On one of my visits, a student stood up and gave about a 4-5 minutes speech about how great of an experience it was to have classes with me, about the importance of English in our world, how lucky they are to have classes with a native speaker, and about how much they loved my class. I know it sounds super sappy, but it was truly a special moment for me.

Today, after giving some students their final exams, I returned to their main classroom to give them their gifts and I arrived to a surprise going away party! The students had gone out and bought food and drinks to celebrate our last class together. It was pretty cool. 

More Travels Ahead

I have to say, I am one lucky guy. Over the next 2 months I am going to have three incredibly important people come to visit me for some travels. On November 27th, my brother Steve and my dad will be arriving in Santiago for about a two week visit. We plan to make a stop in Los Alamos so that they can see where I have been living for the past 4 months, and then we are heading down to Patagonia to do some backpacking for about a week.

I then plan to return to Los Alamos to spend Christmas with my host family, and on January 1st, my girlfriend Bridget Marie arrives in Santiago for about a 10-day visit. We plan to head north to La Serena and the surrounding area where the beaches are pristine and the view of the southern hemispheric stars are some of the best in the entire world! I cant explain how excited I am for these trips.

An Unmarked Path

Ahead of me is an unpaved and unmarked path with a several question marks. When I arrived in Chile, I had planned to teach until the end of November, then do some traveling for about a month and then return to the United States. I have recently made the decision to extend my stay here in Chile and South America until sometime in May of 2010! This has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, but this is one of those once in a lifetime experiences that I just couldn’t pass up.

I am not exactly sure where the next several months will take me, but Im sure they will be great. The next school year doesn’t start until the beginning of next March, so until then, I will be traveling around Chile, Argentina and Peru, taking intensive Spanish classes, and possibly volunteering as a farm hand on a potato farm in rural Chile. Who knows what lies ahead? Either way, I am greatly looking forward to the adventures I have ahead of me.


So… at this point, I don’t know when I will have the opportunity to make another blog post. Could be around Christmas time, or may not be until the middle of January. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Until then, I hope all of you are happy and well. Please send me your comments or send me an email just to say “Hi!”. I would love to hear from you.