Hey Everyone!
Sorry It´s taken me so long to update this blog! Things have been really busy around here. We got back to Vina and went directly to Santiago for orientation. The hotel we stayed in was called "Rent a home"...at first glance we figured it would be a little sketchy, but it was REALLY nice! They were like little apartments with kitchens and living rooms. I lived with two other girls from Luther and the girl who is my housemate right now. Lets see....orientation. Well the first day we went to a statue on a hill of the virgen mary. It was HUGE, something like 25km tall. It was so pretty to look out and see everything. Hopefully I can put some pics up later. The statue was put on the hill because it was the hill that guided the first settlers to the city of santiago. Afterwards we had our typical dinner of peaches and yogurt topped with ceral (so good!). The next day was SO busy and tiring, but interesting! We went to the Moneda...the building where the president does her thing. Its called the Moneda because it was originally a mint and later was turned into a building similar to the white house. After the Moneda we visited a musame of pre columbian art. It was interesting but we were all pretty tired at that point in the day. The next day we went to the house of Pablo Neruda....he has 3. It was AWESOME! He designed it to be like a boat, so each of the rooms are very small and shaped like they were in a boat. He was such a creative person, both in writing and in his art.
Now we are back in vina getting ready for classes to start. We´ve had 2 days of orientation so far, and my brain is still trying to switch back to spanish. There are 47 people in the program and its a great group. I love the new house i am living in. Every evening we sit and eat dinner and talk for about 2 hours. Its like living in a soap opera, everyone is so dramatic which makes the evenings entertaining. I got to see the psych building today where all my classes will be. Its AMAZING. Its near a lake on the outskirts of the city. Its a building with tons of windows and is very open and spread out. I´m excited to take classes there. I´m also planning on joining the college swim team here with another guy from CA. If its goign to be everyday and intense i may re think it, not because it wouldn´t be fun, but because i really want to have time to explore and enjoy new things. ...I can´t believe I´ve almost been here for two months. I´m very ready to start classes and really jump into the culture.
Hope everyone is well!
Cristina
Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Tuesday, 20 February 2007
More Random Pics!
1. Socializing at the hostel in Bariloche
2. Maren ready to go
3. Crossing the "one person at a time " bridge
4.The whole group
94 hours on a BUS
No, we did not spend 94 hours on a bus all at once, but in 3 weeks we had the pleasure of doing so. Our last and longest ride was to vina. We left at 10am yesterday and got here at 10am today. Bariloche was AMAZING. Imagine a town, surrounded by mountains and lakes, filled with unlimited amounts of chocolate and icecream shops, and composed of a lively and welcoming popultaion. We stayed in a Hostel on top of a hill called La Justina. It was a small hostel, only 14 people, but cute and friendly. On Wed, Erin and I ran up a mountain called Cerro Osno, the view from the top was amazing and worth the pain (vale la pena). That night we had an AMAZING dinner at a resturante in town. It was the first time we hadn´t cooked in a long time, and it felt good to just sit and relax and eat Argentinian steak. The next day I went rafting with a group of 9 people. They came to the Hostel at nine and I didn´t end up getting back until nine. We went to El Bolson (2 hours) and had lunch at a house in the country. We then got on the river for a 2 hour rafting trip. The people in my raft didn´t speak any spanish, which made it an interesting trip of translating admist the " rapids" what the instructor was telling us. I call them "rapids" because they weren´t really rapids. But a goodt ime was had by all. In the group there were 2 argentinians, 3 chileans, and 2 women from Austria. It was fun to get ot kno weveryone.
One cultural ritual that I love in aregentina is Mate. Everywhere you walk, people hav etheir thurmus under their arm filled with hot water and their mate cup and straw on them. Mate is a mixture of herbs tha tyou put in a cup and drink out of a straw that filters the herbs out. Hard to explain. But its more of a social thing. Everyone shares (including the guys in the bus on the way to rafting). Its strong, but I didn´t mind it.
Ok, well i suppose thats all for now. I am going to post some more pics for you all. They are out of order, but I hope you enjoy them!
Cristina
One cultural ritual that I love in aregentina is Mate. Everywhere you walk, people hav etheir thurmus under their arm filled with hot water and their mate cup and straw on them. Mate is a mixture of herbs tha tyou put in a cup and drink out of a straw that filters the herbs out. Hard to explain. But its more of a social thing. Everyone shares (including the guys in the bus on the way to rafting). Its strong, but I didn´t mind it.
Ok, well i suppose thats all for now. I am going to post some more pics for you all. They are out of order, but I hope you enjoy them!
Cristina
Wednesday, 14 February 2007
MORE PICS
The first photo is of us in Punta Arenas before Torres del Paine
The second is of our huge dinner we made with the guys in the hostel
The third is of us cooking meat for the Shashuka
The fourth is of us hiking to a glacier in ushuaia
Bariloche, ARGENTINA!!!
Yes, I am in love with Argentina. WE stayed in Chiloe for about 1.5 days and randomly decided that maybe we need to head back to Argentina. So we took a bus to Puerto Varas and stayed there for a night and a day. What a BEAUTIFUL city! Its right on a lake and is a cute little town. We stayed in a hostel run by a group of people from France. It was our first time staying in a dorm style hostel and I was lucky enough to share a bunkbed with a 40 year old argentinan man...there was a also a guy from Gerany and a couple from Switzerland. We stayed about a day in puerto varas and spent the day walking around and exploring. That night we cooked Shashuka for the second time in 3 days and made an AMAZING apple crisp dish...yes, I am finally learning how to cook and am not half bad. So we finished off a tub of ice cream and the apple crisp and then walked around the city with a guy from NYC and a guy from Germany. The guy from NYC is getting paid to bike around the world and had tons of stories to tell. The guy from Germany will be heading to BAriloche tomorrow so we are hoping to see him again. The bus to BAriloche was long but BEAUTIFUL. It was through the Andes and had great views. We´re staying in a small hostel run by a young couple. SHould be good. Bariloche is on a huge lake in the Andes. There are TONS of things to do and I am excited to find a hike to do tomorrow.
One thing I always look forward to is making dinner with the people I am traveling with. It doesn´t matter if we´ve had a long day and everyone is crabby, we always do dinner togeter. ITs a constant thing amist the craziness. Makes me realize how much I value and need to be around friends and family. I suppose that´s all for now. GOOD LUCK TO THE lUTHER SWIMMERS AT LAC! YOU GUYS ROCK!
One thing I always look forward to is making dinner with the people I am traveling with. It doesn´t matter if we´ve had a long day and everyone is crabby, we always do dinner togeter. ITs a constant thing amist the craziness. Makes me realize how much I value and need to be around friends and family. I suppose that´s all for now. GOOD LUCK TO THE lUTHER SWIMMERS AT LAC! YOU GUYS ROCK!
Tuesday, 6 February 2007
Super Bowl Parties with Israeli Men in the Southern- Most City in the World
WOW, that is all I have to say about Ushuaia, Argentina. I have a sinking feeling in my stomach because I know I have to leave here in 2 days. We arrived here on Saturday and have been staying in a Hostel called Freestyle. It is SO GREAT. The people are so friendly and we{ve been hanging out with Itai and Itai from Israel. We´´ve also met people from germany, argentina, boston, denver, and switzerland. The city is amazing...we´´re surrounded by mountains and water and its really incredible. Anways, on Sunday night the Itais from Israel were dead set on watching the super bowl....they wanted to order pizza, drink beer, and watch the game...so we made some soup and decided to join them. At halftime we ran to the ice cream shop and then returned to watch the rest of the game. SO FUN! On Monday we hiked to a Glacier with the Itais (they are both named Itai) and I really enjoyed learning more about their culture. The glacier was nothing special but the view was amazing. After we came back we bought food to make Shasuka, an Israeli dish...It was SO good! Shashuka consists of carrots, onions , garlic, tomatoes, eggs , and bread. You first put a ton of tomatoes and carrots in a pan and heat them up. When the mixture is almost boiling you crack eggs on the top and let them cook. Then it is ready to eat with bread. We made it with meat and peas as well (Emilio, the hostel owner insisted on it) and named it Argen-Shashuka because we ate it with meat. I love cooking with people and then eating all together, it gives me such a sense of family and community. There were 8 of us eating together and the meal was amazing.
Today I relaxed for the morning and went on a boat tour with one of the Itais in the afternoon. The boat tour was 2 hours and we went around to all of the different islands looking at Sea lions and birds. It was FREEZING but the view was amazing and I really enjoyed getting to know Itai better. We talked a lot about traveling and different cultures...he told me he doesn{t believe life is worth living if you don{t learn something each day...I have to say I agree. After the tour I went for an hour run around the city and LOVED IT. It was super cold and rainy, but it was nice to get out and have some time alone. While I was running I met a guy from Argentina who is going hiking with us tomorrow. People are so friendly here...the second you meet them you feel like you{ve known them forever. This is the first place we{ve stayed for more than a night and we{ve developed a family wiht the people here...its such a great feeling to have people to eat with each night and enjoy eachother{s company. I don{t know how to explain it. Its really been a great last few days though and I{m really going to miss this place. The Israelis are already making plans to visit us in Vina hopefuly in April. Its been so neat getting to know them. I love traveling and talking with so many different people, I wish i could giv eyou a clearer picture of everything, but its hard to put into words. The environment here is so friendly and open, its incredible. Ok, well I{m going to go get more ice cream....its only about 4 degrees C but its never too cold for ice cream! Love you all
Cristina
Today I relaxed for the morning and went on a boat tour with one of the Itais in the afternoon. The boat tour was 2 hours and we went around to all of the different islands looking at Sea lions and birds. It was FREEZING but the view was amazing and I really enjoyed getting to know Itai better. We talked a lot about traveling and different cultures...he told me he doesn{t believe life is worth living if you don{t learn something each day...I have to say I agree. After the tour I went for an hour run around the city and LOVED IT. It was super cold and rainy, but it was nice to get out and have some time alone. While I was running I met a guy from Argentina who is going hiking with us tomorrow. People are so friendly here...the second you meet them you feel like you{ve known them forever. This is the first place we{ve stayed for more than a night and we{ve developed a family wiht the people here...its such a great feeling to have people to eat with each night and enjoy eachother{s company. I don{t know how to explain it. Its really been a great last few days though and I{m really going to miss this place. The Israelis are already making plans to visit us in Vina hopefuly in April. Its been so neat getting to know them. I love traveling and talking with so many different people, I wish i could giv eyou a clearer picture of everything, but its hard to put into words. The environment here is so friendly and open, its incredible. Ok, well I{m going to go get more ice cream....its only about 4 degrees C but its never too cold for ice cream! Love you all
Cristina
Sunday, 4 February 2007
Longest blog of my life
So you may want to grab a drink and a snack before you sit down to read this, because I have a lot to catch up on! First of all, GREAT JOB to the Luther Swimmers, you guys pretty much rock. Secondly, I hope everyone is doing well and I hope classes started smoothly!
Ok, so where to begin. I´m going to give you a day by day description of my trip so far. Just for some background, I am traveling iwth 3 other girls, Heidi, Maren, and Erin. We are all from Luther and are all studying in Valpo.
FRIDAY 1-26, SATURDAY
Today I woke up early and awkwardly left my host family, I think it will be a good change for me, and I had dinner with the new family today and ablsolutly loved talking with them. AFterwards the four of us went to JUMBO to buy food for our backpacking trip...we are going to make a killer trail mix and have some pretty great dinners planned. After shopping I went for an amazing run in Quinta Vigara, a park in the middle of the city that really makes you feel like you are in the country...it reminds me of Phelps park for all you people from luther. Heidi and I then headed to Maren´s house to pack and sleep before our 5:30 wake up call. We went to bed around midnight and ended up talking unil 3am....the alarm went off at four...oops. Anyways, we got to the airport and what did we find??!!! A STARBUCKS!!! YES, a STARBUCKS, now, I´m not one to be overly obsessive about coffee ...especially when you have to pay mad amounts of money for a small cup, but it goes back to the familiarity thing. ANYWAYS, we caught our flight to Punta Arenas....5 hours (by plane) south of santiago. We had a blast and Erin got out her energy by doing pushups in the aisle during our quick layover.
So we finally arrived at the hostal only to find that we had made reservations for the wrong month, we decided to go out and buy a tent and a stove so we could camp out on the lawn of the hostal...the tents are so cheap here, and in the end it was a good investment and saved us quite a bit of money. The hostal was so much fun. Eduardo , the owner is a great guy and helped us get our acts together before our trip. That night we met 2 guys from Israel, a couple from Germany, and a lady from Brasil. We talked with the guys from Israel for a while about their experiences and their country, SO INTERSTING. Lots of Isralies come here after their mandatory 3 years in the army. I´d say about 90% of the people we´ve run into have been from Israel. Eventually we went to bed, all packed and ready for the next morning.
SUNDAY
This morning we ran around like CRAZY trying to get our bus tickets all squared away. I´m sure four white girls with large backpacks running around a city at 8am was quite a sight. We finally got tickts to Puerto Natales...where we spent the night in order to catch a bus to Torres del Paine in the AM. We arrived in Puerto Natales around 6:30 and immediatly headed to the super market to buy food for dinner. We cooked veggies with pasta and topped it off with an ice cream cake...all for about a dollar a person...not bad at all.
MONDAY
Our bus picked us up at about 7:30 to head into the park....all together it was about a 4 hour ride to get to the first camp site. On the way we started talking to 6 chilean guys from Santiago. They were so friendly and decided to set up camp near us and hike with us for the afternoon. It was great to talk in spanish for the day and learn about each of them. They were shocked that we as women were able to carry our packs and start a fire to cook for ourselves...they were always offereing to help, its interesting how the culture shapes them to think that way. THey told us that their girlfriends wouldn´t be caught dead going backpacking. ANYWAYS; we hiked up to the torres for the afternoon. IT was a beautiful hike and there was an incredible lake at the top. I didn´t realize how much I needed a break from the busy city until I got to the National park, it was SO REFRESHING. The very top was all boulders, SO FUN! On the way up we met a couple from Canada, John and Helga. Little did we know, they would soon become our adopted parents on trail. They are professors in Canada but are teaching for a year inCHile. They are some of the smartest, funniest, and kindest people I have ever met.
THat night we cooked an amazing dinner of beans and tortillas...literally, it was amazing and we savored every bite. We then sat around a fire with the Chileans and Helga and John before we headed to bed.
TUESDAY- The most intense hour of our lives
So I wont write every detail of the trip because this could get very long. But today was the most intense day of hiking we would have. The terrin wasn´t bad but the wind was INCREDIBLE. There was one point where it literally lifted me up and threw me into the bushes. It was SO FUN! We hiked along a lake and by the end we were soaked because of all the water blowing onto us. We could see the wind comming towards us by looking out on the lake and seeing the water vapor as it approached. We would estimate the time we had to run before the wind hit us. We would run as fast as we could from place to place and when the wind was about to hit we would sit down and hold on tight to a rock or a tree. I am not exagerating, we were getting blown away and it was impossible to walk when the gusts would come. Usually big gusts would come about every 30 seconds....we ran when the wind died down and did this for about 2 hours straight. Then we hit the "beach of death" There was no shelter on this beach, just black rocks and water. When the gust died down, we booked it to the other side. IT was SWEET! We felt like army people in training. Needless to say, we made it to our campsite, exhausted but alive and running off of adreneline. What an incredible day. John and Helga arrived shortly after and introduced us to 2 guys from Germany who wanted to learn about where they could take some spanish classes. We talked with them for a bit and then went to bed.
WEDNESDAY- Calm after the storm
Today we did a day hike and then packed up our packs to head to the next site about 2 hours away. AT this point we had aquired the name "The Four Crazy American Girls" and were pretty darn proud of it...not sure why we were called that, but i suppose it fits. The campsite that we arrived at was incredible. When we first arrived the ranger gave us a box of old veggies and cheese to use for dinner. Needless to say, we ate like roalty that night. The camp had a hostal and resturante as well. Definlaty for the upper class "I want to go tot he mountains but don´t want to camp" type of people. Anways, we cooked dinner and sat with a couple form England for a few hours. They were also halarious to talk to.
THURSDAY and FRIDAY
We made our way towards administration to catch the bus. On Thursday I headed up to the Glacier ...everyone decided to do their own thing for the day, so we were all on our own. It was a great hike, and ince to have time alone...the Glacier was amazing..I´ll try to post pictures later. On thursday night we stayed at a pretty rustic campsite that luckily had a shelter from the wind to cook food. The two German guys were there as well as a mom and daughter from Santiago and 2 girls from Pikipsie , NY who attended college at Syraycuse....what a small world huh? For those of you who don´t know, I have a lot of family in NY from that area. ANYWAYS, we cooked a FEAST becaseu it was the last day on trail so we didn´t have to ration everything. WE were having a great time until one of the guys mentioned the mice below our feet. I ddin´t think it was too big of a deal, but Maren was a little nervous and ended up on the table...pretty comical...not for her i´m sure (love you Maren :) ) . We then went to bed wishing that we didin´t have to get up so early and miss the home-made bread that the german guys were making for breakfast...I need to find me one of them :) On FRiday we caught the bus back..I met a guy from Boulder...very small world. Friday night we got to the Hostal around 10 and made dinner. We then camped out for the night....way cheaper.
SATURDAY and TODAY!
We´re in Ushuaia! AFter a 12 hour bus ride, running around in the rain for 1.5 hours looking for a place to stay, and figuring out bus tickets, we finally have a chance to relax in the Southern-most city of the world. It is incredible and I am in love with it. WE are surrounded by snow covered mountains and the ocean. There are tons of places to eat and walk around in. Tomorrow we will hike to another glacier wiht 2 Israli guys that we met. Last night we went to an Irish pub and got the MOST AMAZING VEGGIE SOUP KNOWN to MAN...or maybe it was just cold out and the soup was the first real food we had eaten all day....Afterwards we went out with the Israli guys and ended up at a little Cafe talking about our adventures. I´´ve decided that I have to come back to ARgentina in a few years to work or something. I love it. This morning Erin and I went for an hour run and it was AMAZING. The air was cool and crisp and we are in the most BEAUTIFUL town, which definalty is a motivator. AND now, we´re all off doing our own thing...laundry, internet, eating , relaxing, enjoying the day!
I suppose that is all for the day. I´ll add details as I go. I wish there was a better way to capture all of our adventures. I miss you all and think of you all the time.
Love Cristina
Ok, so where to begin. I´m going to give you a day by day description of my trip so far. Just for some background, I am traveling iwth 3 other girls, Heidi, Maren, and Erin. We are all from Luther and are all studying in Valpo.
FRIDAY 1-26, SATURDAY
Today I woke up early and awkwardly left my host family, I think it will be a good change for me, and I had dinner with the new family today and ablsolutly loved talking with them. AFterwards the four of us went to JUMBO to buy food for our backpacking trip...we are going to make a killer trail mix and have some pretty great dinners planned. After shopping I went for an amazing run in Quinta Vigara, a park in the middle of the city that really makes you feel like you are in the country...it reminds me of Phelps park for all you people from luther. Heidi and I then headed to Maren´s house to pack and sleep before our 5:30 wake up call. We went to bed around midnight and ended up talking unil 3am....the alarm went off at four...oops. Anyways, we got to the airport and what did we find??!!! A STARBUCKS!!! YES, a STARBUCKS, now, I´m not one to be overly obsessive about coffee ...especially when you have to pay mad amounts of money for a small cup, but it goes back to the familiarity thing. ANYWAYS, we caught our flight to Punta Arenas....5 hours (by plane) south of santiago. We had a blast and Erin got out her energy by doing pushups in the aisle during our quick layover.
So we finally arrived at the hostal only to find that we had made reservations for the wrong month, we decided to go out and buy a tent and a stove so we could camp out on the lawn of the hostal...the tents are so cheap here, and in the end it was a good investment and saved us quite a bit of money. The hostal was so much fun. Eduardo , the owner is a great guy and helped us get our acts together before our trip. That night we met 2 guys from Israel, a couple from Germany, and a lady from Brasil. We talked with the guys from Israel for a while about their experiences and their country, SO INTERSTING. Lots of Isralies come here after their mandatory 3 years in the army. I´d say about 90% of the people we´ve run into have been from Israel. Eventually we went to bed, all packed and ready for the next morning.
SUNDAY
This morning we ran around like CRAZY trying to get our bus tickets all squared away. I´m sure four white girls with large backpacks running around a city at 8am was quite a sight. We finally got tickts to Puerto Natales...where we spent the night in order to catch a bus to Torres del Paine in the AM. We arrived in Puerto Natales around 6:30 and immediatly headed to the super market to buy food for dinner. We cooked veggies with pasta and topped it off with an ice cream cake...all for about a dollar a person...not bad at all.
MONDAY
Our bus picked us up at about 7:30 to head into the park....all together it was about a 4 hour ride to get to the first camp site. On the way we started talking to 6 chilean guys from Santiago. They were so friendly and decided to set up camp near us and hike with us for the afternoon. It was great to talk in spanish for the day and learn about each of them. They were shocked that we as women were able to carry our packs and start a fire to cook for ourselves...they were always offereing to help, its interesting how the culture shapes them to think that way. THey told us that their girlfriends wouldn´t be caught dead going backpacking. ANYWAYS; we hiked up to the torres for the afternoon. IT was a beautiful hike and there was an incredible lake at the top. I didn´t realize how much I needed a break from the busy city until I got to the National park, it was SO REFRESHING. The very top was all boulders, SO FUN! On the way up we met a couple from Canada, John and Helga. Little did we know, they would soon become our adopted parents on trail. They are professors in Canada but are teaching for a year inCHile. They are some of the smartest, funniest, and kindest people I have ever met.
THat night we cooked an amazing dinner of beans and tortillas...literally, it was amazing and we savored every bite. We then sat around a fire with the Chileans and Helga and John before we headed to bed.
TUESDAY- The most intense hour of our lives
So I wont write every detail of the trip because this could get very long. But today was the most intense day of hiking we would have. The terrin wasn´t bad but the wind was INCREDIBLE. There was one point where it literally lifted me up and threw me into the bushes. It was SO FUN! We hiked along a lake and by the end we were soaked because of all the water blowing onto us. We could see the wind comming towards us by looking out on the lake and seeing the water vapor as it approached. We would estimate the time we had to run before the wind hit us. We would run as fast as we could from place to place and when the wind was about to hit we would sit down and hold on tight to a rock or a tree. I am not exagerating, we were getting blown away and it was impossible to walk when the gusts would come. Usually big gusts would come about every 30 seconds....we ran when the wind died down and did this for about 2 hours straight. Then we hit the "beach of death" There was no shelter on this beach, just black rocks and water. When the gust died down, we booked it to the other side. IT was SWEET! We felt like army people in training. Needless to say, we made it to our campsite, exhausted but alive and running off of adreneline. What an incredible day. John and Helga arrived shortly after and introduced us to 2 guys from Germany who wanted to learn about where they could take some spanish classes. We talked with them for a bit and then went to bed.
WEDNESDAY- Calm after the storm
Today we did a day hike and then packed up our packs to head to the next site about 2 hours away. AT this point we had aquired the name "The Four Crazy American Girls" and were pretty darn proud of it...not sure why we were called that, but i suppose it fits. The campsite that we arrived at was incredible. When we first arrived the ranger gave us a box of old veggies and cheese to use for dinner. Needless to say, we ate like roalty that night. The camp had a hostal and resturante as well. Definlaty for the upper class "I want to go tot he mountains but don´t want to camp" type of people. Anways, we cooked dinner and sat with a couple form England for a few hours. They were also halarious to talk to.
THURSDAY and FRIDAY
We made our way towards administration to catch the bus. On Thursday I headed up to the Glacier ...everyone decided to do their own thing for the day, so we were all on our own. It was a great hike, and ince to have time alone...the Glacier was amazing..I´ll try to post pictures later. On thursday night we stayed at a pretty rustic campsite that luckily had a shelter from the wind to cook food. The two German guys were there as well as a mom and daughter from Santiago and 2 girls from Pikipsie , NY who attended college at Syraycuse....what a small world huh? For those of you who don´t know, I have a lot of family in NY from that area. ANYWAYS, we cooked a FEAST becaseu it was the last day on trail so we didn´t have to ration everything. WE were having a great time until one of the guys mentioned the mice below our feet. I ddin´t think it was too big of a deal, but Maren was a little nervous and ended up on the table...pretty comical...not for her i´m sure (love you Maren :) ) . We then went to bed wishing that we didin´t have to get up so early and miss the home-made bread that the german guys were making for breakfast...I need to find me one of them :) On FRiday we caught the bus back..I met a guy from Boulder...very small world. Friday night we got to the Hostal around 10 and made dinner. We then camped out for the night....way cheaper.
SATURDAY and TODAY!
We´re in Ushuaia! AFter a 12 hour bus ride, running around in the rain for 1.5 hours looking for a place to stay, and figuring out bus tickets, we finally have a chance to relax in the Southern-most city of the world. It is incredible and I am in love with it. WE are surrounded by snow covered mountains and the ocean. There are tons of places to eat and walk around in. Tomorrow we will hike to another glacier wiht 2 Israli guys that we met. Last night we went to an Irish pub and got the MOST AMAZING VEGGIE SOUP KNOWN to MAN...or maybe it was just cold out and the soup was the first real food we had eaten all day....Afterwards we went out with the Israli guys and ended up at a little Cafe talking about our adventures. I´´ve decided that I have to come back to ARgentina in a few years to work or something. I love it. This morning Erin and I went for an hour run and it was AMAZING. The air was cool and crisp and we are in the most BEAUTIFUL town, which definalty is a motivator. AND now, we´re all off doing our own thing...laundry, internet, eating , relaxing, enjoying the day!
I suppose that is all for the day. I´ll add details as I go. I wish there was a better way to capture all of our adventures. I miss you all and think of you all the time.
Love Cristina
Longest blog of my life
So you may want to grab a drink and a snack before you sit down to read this, because I have a lot to catch up on! First of all, GREAT JOB to the Luther Swimmers, you guys pretty much rock. Secondly, I hope everyone is doing well and I hope classes started smoothly!
Ok, so where to begin. I´m going to give you a day by day description of my trip so far. Just for some background, I am traveling iwth 3 other girls, Heidi, Maren, and Erin. We are all from Luther and are all studying in Valpo.
FRIDAY 1-26, SATURDAY
Today I woke up early and awkwardly left my host family, I think it will be a good change for me, and I had dinner with the new family today and ablsolutly loved talking with them. AFterwards the four of us went to JUMBO to buy food for our backpacking trip...we are going to make a killer trail mix and have some pretty great dinners planned. After shopping I went for an amazing run in Quinta Vigara, a park in the middle of the city that really makes you feel like you are in the country...it reminds me of Phelps park for all you people from luther. Heidi and I then headed to Maren´s house to pack and sleep before our 5:30 wake up call. We went to bed around midnight and ended up talking unil 3am....the alarm went off at four...oops. Anyways, we got to the airport and what did we find??!!! A STARBUCKS!!! YES, a STARBUCKS, now, I´m not one to be overly obsessive about coffee ...especially when you have to pay mad amounts of money for a small cup, but it goes back to the familiarity thing. ANYWAYS, we caught our flight to Punta Arenas....5 hours (by plane) south of santiago. We had a blast and Erin got out her energy by doing pushups in the aisle during our quick layover.
So we finally arrived at the hostal only to find that we had made reservations for the wrong month, we decided to go out and buy a tent and a stove so we could camp out on the lawn of the hostal...the tents are so cheap here, and in the end it was a good investment and saved us quite a bit of money. The hostal was so much fun. Eduardo , the owner is a great guy and helped us get our acts together before our trip. That night we met 2 guys from Israel, a couple from Germany, and a lady from Brasil. We talked with the guys from Israel for a while about their experiences and their country, SO INTERSTING. Lots of Isralies come here after their mandatory 3 years in the army. I´d say about 90% of the people we´ve run into have been from Israel. Eventually we went to bed, all packed and ready for the next morning.
SUNDAY
This morning we ran around like CRAZY trying to get our bus tickets all squared away. I´m sure four white girls with large backpacks running around a city at 8am was quite a sight. We finally got tickts to Puerto Natales...where we spent the night in order to catch a bus to Torres del Paine in the AM. We arrived in Puerto Natales around 6:30 and immediatly headed to the super market to buy food for dinner. We cooked veggies with pasta and topped it off with an ice cream cake...all for about a dollar a person...not bad at all.
MONDAY
Our bus picked us up at about 7:30 to head into the park....all together it was about a 4 hour ride to get to the first camp site. On the way we started talking to 6 chilean guys from Santiago. They were so friendly and decided to set up camp near us and hike with us for the afternoon. It was great to talk in spanish for the day and learn about each of them. They were shocked that we as women were able to carry our packs and start a fire to cook for ourselves...they were always offereing to help, its interesting how the culture shapes them to think that way. THey told us that their girlfriends wouldn´t be caught dead going backpacking. ANYWAYS; we hiked up to the torres for the afternoon. IT was a beautiful hike and there was an incredible lake at the top. I didn´t realize how much I needed a break from the busy city until I got to the National park, it was SO REFRESHING. The very top was all boulders, SO FUN! On the way up we met a couple from Canada, John and Helga. Little did we know, they would soon become our adopted parents on trail. They are professors in Canada but are teaching for a year inCHile. They are some of the smartest, funniest, and kindest people I have ever met.
THat night we cooked an amazing dinner of beans and tortillas...literally, it was amazing and we savored every bite. We then sat around a fire with the Chileans and Helga and John before we headed to bed.
TUESDAY- The most intense hour of our lives
So I wont write every detail of the trip because this could get very long. But today was the most intense day of hiking we would have. The terrin wasn´t bad but the wind was INCREDIBLE. There was one point where it literally lifted me up and threw me into the bushes. It was SO FUN! We hiked along a lake and by the end we were soaked because of all the water blowing onto us. We could see the wind comming towards us by looking out on the lake and seeing the water vapor as it approached. We would estimate the time we had to run before the wind hit us. We would run as fast as we could from place to place and when the wind was about to hit we would sit down and hold on tight to a rock or a tree. I am not exagerating, we were getting blown away and it was impossible to walk when the gusts would come. Usually big gusts would come about every 30 seconds....we ran when the wind died down and did this for about 2 hours straight. Then we hit the "beach of death" There was no shelter on this beach, just black rocks and water. When the gust died down, we booked it to the other side. IT was SWEET! We felt like army people in training. Needless to say, we made it to our campsite, exhausted but alive and running off of adreneline. What an incredible day. John and Helga arrived shortly after and introduced us to 2 guys from Germany who wanted to learn about where they could take some spanish classes. We talked with them for a bit and then went to bed.
WEDNESDAY- Calm after the storm
Today we did a day hike and then packed up our packs to head to the next site about 2 hours away. AT this point we had aquired the name "The Four Crazy American Girls" and were pretty darn proud of it...not sure why we were called that, but i suppose it fits. The campsite that we arrived at was incredible. When we first arrived the ranger gave us a box of old veggies and cheese to use for dinner. Needless to say, we ate like roalty that night. The camp had a hostal and resturante as well. Definlaty for the upper class "I want to go tot he mountains but don´t want to camp" type of people. Anways, we cooked dinner and sat with a couple form England for a few hours. They were also halarious to talk to.
THURSDAY and FRIDAY
We made our way towards administration to catch the bus. On Thursday I headed up to the Glacier ...everyone decided to do their own thing for the day, so we were all on our own. It was a great hike, and ince to have time alone...the Glacier was amazing..I´ll try to post pictures later. On thursday night we stayed at a pretty rustic campsite that luckily had a shelter from the wind to cook food. The two German guys were there as well as a mom and daughter from Santiago and 2 girls from Pikipsie , NY who attended college at Syraycuse....what a small world huh? For those of you who don´t know, I have a lot of family in NY from that area. ANYWAYS, we cooked a FEAST becaseu it was the last day on trail so we didn´t have to ration everything. WE were having a great time until one of the guys mentioned the mice below our feet. I ddin´t think it was too big of a deal, but Maren was a little nervous and ended up on the table...pretty comical...not for her i´m sure (love you Maren :) ) . We then went to bed wishing that we didin´t have to get up so early and miss the home-made bread that the german guys were making for breakfast...I need to find me one of them :) On FRiday we caught the bus back..I met a guy from Boulder...very small world. Friday night we got to the Hostal around 10 and made dinner. We then camped out for the night....way cheaper.
SATURDAY and TODAY!
We´re in Ushuaia! AFter a 12 hour bus ride, running around in the rain for 1.5 hours looking for a place to stay, and figuring out bus tickets, we finally have a chance to relax in the Southern-most city of the world. It is incredible and I am in love with it. WE are surrounded by snow covered mountains and the ocean. There are tons of places to eat and walk around in. Tomorrow we will hike to another glacier wiht 2 Israli guys that we met. Last night we went to an Irish pub and got the MOST AMAZING VEGGIE SOUP KNOWN to MAN...or maybe it was just cold out and the soup was the first real food we had eaten all day....Afterwards we went out with the Israli guys and ended up at a little Cafe talking about our adventures. I´´ve decided that I have to come back to ARgentina in a few years to work or something. I love it. This morning Erin and I went for an hour run and it was AMAZING. The air was cool and crisp and we are in the most BEAUTIFUL town, which definalty is a motivator. AND now, we´re all off doing our own thing...laundry, internet, eating , relaxing, enjoying the day!
I suppose that is all for the day. I´ll add details as I go. I wish there was a better way to capture all of our adventures. I miss you all and think of you all the time.
Love Cristina
Ok, so where to begin. I´m going to give you a day by day description of my trip so far. Just for some background, I am traveling iwth 3 other girls, Heidi, Maren, and Erin. We are all from Luther and are all studying in Valpo.
FRIDAY 1-26, SATURDAY
Today I woke up early and awkwardly left my host family, I think it will be a good change for me, and I had dinner with the new family today and ablsolutly loved talking with them. AFterwards the four of us went to JUMBO to buy food for our backpacking trip...we are going to make a killer trail mix and have some pretty great dinners planned. After shopping I went for an amazing run in Quinta Vigara, a park in the middle of the city that really makes you feel like you are in the country...it reminds me of Phelps park for all you people from luther. Heidi and I then headed to Maren´s house to pack and sleep before our 5:30 wake up call. We went to bed around midnight and ended up talking unil 3am....the alarm went off at four...oops. Anyways, we got to the airport and what did we find??!!! A STARBUCKS!!! YES, a STARBUCKS, now, I´m not one to be overly obsessive about coffee ...especially when you have to pay mad amounts of money for a small cup, but it goes back to the familiarity thing. ANYWAYS, we caught our flight to Punta Arenas....5 hours (by plane) south of santiago. We had a blast and Erin got out her energy by doing pushups in the aisle during our quick layover.
So we finally arrived at the hostal only to find that we had made reservations for the wrong month, we decided to go out and buy a tent and a stove so we could camp out on the lawn of the hostal...the tents are so cheap here, and in the end it was a good investment and saved us quite a bit of money. The hostal was so much fun. Eduardo , the owner is a great guy and helped us get our acts together before our trip. That night we met 2 guys from Israel, a couple from Germany, and a lady from Brasil. We talked with the guys from Israel for a while about their experiences and their country, SO INTERSTING. Lots of Isralies come here after their mandatory 3 years in the army. I´d say about 90% of the people we´ve run into have been from Israel. Eventually we went to bed, all packed and ready for the next morning.
SUNDAY
This morning we ran around like CRAZY trying to get our bus tickets all squared away. I´m sure four white girls with large backpacks running around a city at 8am was quite a sight. We finally got tickts to Puerto Natales...where we spent the night in order to catch a bus to Torres del Paine in the AM. We arrived in Puerto Natales around 6:30 and immediatly headed to the super market to buy food for dinner. We cooked veggies with pasta and topped it off with an ice cream cake...all for about a dollar a person...not bad at all.
MONDAY
Our bus picked us up at about 7:30 to head into the park....all together it was about a 4 hour ride to get to the first camp site. On the way we started talking to 6 chilean guys from Santiago. They were so friendly and decided to set up camp near us and hike with us for the afternoon. It was great to talk in spanish for the day and learn about each of them. They were shocked that we as women were able to carry our packs and start a fire to cook for ourselves...they were always offereing to help, its interesting how the culture shapes them to think that way. THey told us that their girlfriends wouldn´t be caught dead going backpacking. ANYWAYS; we hiked up to the torres for the afternoon. IT was a beautiful hike and there was an incredible lake at the top. I didn´t realize how much I needed a break from the busy city until I got to the National park, it was SO REFRESHING. The very top was all boulders, SO FUN! On the way up we met a couple from Canada, John and Helga. Little did we know, they would soon become our adopted parents on trail. They are professors in Canada but are teaching for a year inCHile. They are some of the smartest, funniest, and kindest people I have ever met.
THat night we cooked an amazing dinner of beans and tortillas...literally, it was amazing and we savored every bite. We then sat around a fire with the Chileans and Helga and John before we headed to bed.
TUESDAY- The most intense hour of our lives
So I wont write every detail of the trip because this could get very long. But today was the most intense day of hiking we would have. The terrin wasn´t bad but the wind was INCREDIBLE. There was one point where it literally lifted me up and threw me into the bushes. It was SO FUN! We hiked along a lake and by the end we were soaked because of all the water blowing onto us. We could see the wind comming towards us by looking out on the lake and seeing the water vapor as it approached. We would estimate the time we had to run before the wind hit us. We would run as fast as we could from place to place and when the wind was about to hit we would sit down and hold on tight to a rock or a tree. I am not exagerating, we were getting blown away and it was impossible to walk when the gusts would come. Usually big gusts would come about every 30 seconds....we ran when the wind died down and did this for about 2 hours straight. Then we hit the "beach of death" There was no shelter on this beach, just black rocks and water. When the gust died down, we booked it to the other side. IT was SWEET! We felt like army people in training. Needless to say, we made it to our campsite, exhausted but alive and running off of adreneline. What an incredible day. John and Helga arrived shortly after and introduced us to 2 guys from Germany who wanted to learn about where they could take some spanish classes. We talked with them for a bit and then went to bed.
WEDNESDAY- Calm after the storm
Today we did a day hike and then packed up our packs to head to the next site about 2 hours away. AT this point we had aquired the name "The Four Crazy American Girls" and were pretty darn proud of it...not sure why we were called that, but i suppose it fits. The campsite that we arrived at was incredible. When we first arrived the ranger gave us a box of old veggies and cheese to use for dinner. Needless to say, we ate like roalty that night. The camp had a hostal and resturante as well. Definlaty for the upper class "I want to go tot he mountains but don´t want to camp" type of people. Anways, we cooked dinner and sat with a couple form England for a few hours. They were also halarious to talk to.
THURSDAY and FRIDAY
We made our way towards administration to catch the bus. On Thursday I headed up to the Glacier ...everyone decided to do their own thing for the day, so we were all on our own. It was a great hike, and ince to have time alone...the Glacier was amazing..I´ll try to post pictures later. On thursday night we stayed at a pretty rustic campsite that luckily had a shelter from the wind to cook food. The two German guys were there as well as a mom and daughter from Santiago and 2 girls from Pikipsie , NY who attended college at Syraycuse....what a small world huh? For those of you who don´t know, I have a lot of family in NY from that area. ANYWAYS, we cooked a FEAST becaseu it was the last day on trail so we didn´t have to ration everything. WE were having a great time until one of the guys mentioned the mice below our feet. I ddin´t think it was too big of a deal, but Maren was a little nervous and ended up on the table...pretty comical...not for her i´m sure (love you Maren :) ) . We then went to bed wishing that we didin´t have to get up so early and miss the home-made bread that the german guys were making for breakfast...I need to find me one of them :) On FRiday we caught the bus back..I met a guy from Boulder...very small world. Friday night we got to the Hostal around 10 and made dinner. We then camped out for the night....way cheaper.
SATURDAY and TODAY!
We´re in Ushuaia! AFter a 12 hour bus ride, running around in the rain for 1.5 hours looking for a place to stay, and figuring out bus tickets, we finally have a chance to relax in the Southern-most city of the world. It is incredible and I am in love with it. WE are surrounded by snow covered mountains and the ocean. There are tons of places to eat and walk around in. Tomorrow we will hike to another glacier wiht 2 Israli guys that we met. Last night we went to an Irish pub and got the MOST AMAZING VEGGIE SOUP KNOWN to MAN...or maybe it was just cold out and the soup was the first real food we had eaten all day....Afterwards we went out with the Israli guys and ended up at a little Cafe talking about our adventures. I´´ve decided that I have to come back to ARgentina in a few years to work or something. I love it. This morning Erin and I went for an hour run and it was AMAZING. The air was cool and crisp and we are in the most BEAUTIFUL town, which definalty is a motivator. AND now, we´re all off doing our own thing...laundry, internet, eating , relaxing, enjoying the day!
I suppose that is all for the day. I´ll add details as I go. I wish there was a better way to capture all of our adventures. I miss you all and think of you all the time.
Love Cristina
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