Torres del Paine..round 2

Ok...so here I sit, with a bad cough, runny nose, and extremely chapped lips...and with feelings of extreme happiness, lots of great memories, and also sadness because today I said goodbye to some people that I will never see again.
So....the trip.
David (the Hungarian exchange student, not Rotary, but living in Punta Arenas) picked me up to go to the airport to meet up with the group. I was super anxious waiting for them to arrive, and when they entered the luggage pickup, we had some window hugs....there were lots of real hugs and tons of conversation when everyone got out. Everyone wanted to know how summer had been, and I wanted to know the same for everyone else. Emily, a great friend from the north trip didn`t have her name on the list which I had been bummed about, but she was there and so that was a pleasant surprise. We also had 4 new exchangees, 2 from brasil, 1 from australia, and 1 from New Zealand. We had a pretty small bus to take us to Puerto Natales. Ie....lap sitting was necessary...but it was nice for keeping us warm. Oh..and we had amazing luck because it wasn`t raining when they got in. When we arrived in Natales about 3 hours later, it was raining. We had a while to settle into our rooms and check out the town before cena at 9. (sorry, dinner..) After that, we were hanging out, and the folks hanging out in my room ended up leaving at about 1 20. One of the girls was quite sick and was coughing a lot of the night, so I didn`t have the best sleep as we headed out of the hotel at about 9 in the morning. (I think it was 9...losing track of the time). After our hearty breakfast, we got in the bus and headed out. We had several stops along the way to look at wildlife (guanacos), and also at the park entrance and store (slightly overpriced...due to the location.) We stopped at a lake with the Torres in the background. The view was very different from when I was there in october, because this time it was snowing like crazy in the mountains so it was actually quite difficult to see the torres. We were quite excited about the "ice" on the edge of the lake, but upon closer examination figured out it was salt!!! Yes...we did taste a bit of it and yes, it did have a grooss aftertaste. As we entered the park (same route as last time) I noticed the work that I had done in october, still there. Oh the memories...We stayed in the hostal that they were working on when I was there. nicely done. We had 8 girls in the 6 person room, one on the floor (well, she was the rotarian chaperone) and 2 girls shared the bed (warmth...) We quickly made a mess of the room. I wish i could put up pics to go with most of these descriptions, but it would be all pics basically. It was amazing. We made ourselves some lunch on our campstoves and then headed out on a trek. We didn`t make it to the base of los Torres due to the lack of time and also the varying degrees of physical condition. It was a bummer, (but i was lucky to have already seen it....so can`t complain). After arrival at the hotel, we had dinner with candles because the hostel doesn`t have electricity, very romantic like. Good convos followed, and then bed quite a while later. (lots of funny little tidbits in between.) In the morning, we packed up and then headed out to los cuernos. They were stopped at the map for quite awhile, so eventually i just started walking because they didn`t really hear that i knew the way. The hike had lots of picture breaks as well. At first, a few of us were quite annoyed with the mass amounts of stops that we were making, but as time went on, it was alright. A river that we had had to cross using ropes and lots of care in october was now easily crossed hopping on a few rocks. We stopped to eat there, and refill water bottles in the mountain stream. After lunch, we continued trekking until we reached the next nights home. Those of us with lots of energy still dropped our bags, grabbed some water and headed back to help those a ways behind. It turns out I didn`t have to carry a bag, but it was amazing how light our legs felt without the weight of the packs. That evening was the birthday of a girl on trips, so we had a campfire for her on the beach. A bit before, I went off to the river to make tea with Lars....(a german friend) and he slipped while getting water...wetting his shoes and one knee as well as his jacket. They searched us out a bit later, apparently they had been waiting for us. But the tea was definitely worth it!! One of the guys working at the camp sang some campfire traditional folklorish songs which were really cool. We then all had to talk abit about our countries history and coat of arms. I noticed that I had never studied canadian history before 1900...... I did know a good deal of the chilean history questions that he asked tho :) Jesse, Emily, and I stayed out afterwards to look at the gorgeous sky. I have never seen so many stars in my life, and there were lots of shooting stars as well. We had sleeping bags to keep us warm. We ended up having the three of us sleeping in one twin size bed (emily and i had been planning to sleep in one bed, and then jesse fell asleep there, so, it was an experience...good laughs now...) We also got up at 6 30 to go watch the sunrise (also with sleeping bags) It was beautiful. We were lucky to find a bit of a wind shelter set up, which ended up sheltering us from the mist that came off the lake. It was some extreme wind. After about an hour, we headed in for breakfast. Some people had assumed we were a bit behind because we had stayed in bed...but really we had gotten very little sleep....the hyperness begun.... That day, we were told to be prepared for rain which was coming in...so I put the poncho over my backpack (and the hood was sticking up, so I had a little buddy for the trip). It rained a bit, but not anything significant, but enough to keep us cool. That day was a significant amount of hiking. We had been told it was flat, but had a huuuuge hill before the lunch break. After our lunch of chicken flavored water ("soup") and pesto rice (with lots of water, so like pesto soup with rice...) we headed up to see some amazng rock formations....This was without backpack. We had the luck to see 2 avalanches...from a distance tho..no fears!!! Then a group of us decided to finish off the hike with very little break and walking at a brisk pace. I ended up leading, and we did the 2 and a half hour hike in 1 hour, 32 minutes (minus our five min break, 1 h 27). I was fondly given the nickname of slavedriver. We still enjoyed the scenery, have no fear. A garbage bag flew off one girls backpack (crazy wind!) and Sam had a bit of a sprint with his backpack to go get it....many laughs there as well. When we arrived at our final destination, we showered and then celebrated with a beer. After dinner, (which i couldnt finish..surprising for having hiked about 15 km that day...) we had massage sessions upstairs. I fell asleep on the couch, and when i woke up only sam, jesse, arno and I were left. Emily came up toget her sweater and told us of the dance party happening...I obviously headed over there and we danced up a storm until about 1 or so. Jesse had my sleeping bag hostage (it had been used as the massage table), so we had to fight for that before the top bunk was our home for the night. I had set my alarm to see the sunrise again, but we couldnt see nething but the top of the window from the bed, and it was cloudy anyways. The next time we woke up, it was 8 and perfect timing to go down for breakfast. After that, we packed up our stuff and then got ready to go to the lookout for the glaciar. It was significantly colder than other days. (other days i wished for t-shirts..possibly shorts). That morning, it was snowing, quite heavily actually. The group that headed out was kindof eliteish..all in good physical shape. We had to go quickly because we were kind of lacking in time. We were all commenting how christmas like it kind of felt because of the snow....however, due to the snow we didn`t actualy see the glaciar. Only 5 of the original 10 or so made it to the glaciar..the rest didn`t want to have the intense hiking and sometimes jogging..that we did. At the top, we strained our eyes for an outline and enjoyed the soup and trailmix that sam had so preparedly brought up, took some pics with the camera timers, and headed back down. The mud made the trip interesting.....good laughs and memories. I loved the ability to fill up the waterbottle from a mountain stream. Upon arrival at the hotel, we quickly ate a boxed lunch and then headed to catch the boat. It was kinda neat because there were some people we had been kind of following the whole trip and they were also on the boat. Sam had talked alot with one of the couples and mentioned how he was living the life...and i commented how I bet that man thought that we were living the life...because we are! Our bus broke down about 30 min outside puerto natales, so we waited for awhile as they tried to fix it and then waited for cars to come get us. We had dinner in Natales, then got back into mini buses for Punta Arenas. We went to the hotel, and from there i called my host fam to tell them I`d be home around 12. (we had free time until that hour). We quickly changed (altho there wasn`t much clean to put on...) and then we went to a cafe,restaurant 2 blocks from the hotel. We stayed there til 1....the chairman was with us so it was ok. I called a bit before 12 when we learned there were extra beds in the hotel and said i would just spend the night there. We didn`t go to sleep til probably around 3 or 4, but due to my sickness I realy didn`t sleep much. At 7, my alarm went off and I headed home to put other ppls pics on my computer and pass along mine, then headed back to the hotel. We had a bus tour of punta arenas, and I had a few people asking to sleep under my bed. They loved it, and it made me realize, again, how awesome my city is. Sure it`s cold, but I have the luck of being given a lot of freedom and the freedom from pollution as well. Its also very un north american. Some of my friends in santiago were telling me about the malls and how many there are and how disgusting they find it (especially my nature loving friends...) It was fun to get pics in front of the cool stuff of my home away from home, and i was very proud of it. I went with them to the airport, along with David (who had come with us) and then we took a transfer back. It was weird saying bye, because I am pretty sure I`ll see a bunch of them before I go home, but it is still crappy saying bye after an amazing 5 days together. Time is passing more quickly than I would like it to. A friend of mine who has done an exchange told me that after that year, he has never felt completly satisfied in any place, which i think could definitely be true....
well...i should write my monthly report (which was sposed to be done in the beginning of april...) and then i have to do some computer stuff for my host mom...
Ps..it is now wednesday, i finished this morning, because I did not go to school this morning. My host mom is quite sure I have bronchitis.....o joy and bliss! It was worth it tho.
All my love

the skirt is gone...thank goodness!!!

Wednesday...I started a blog last thursday night, but never got around to finishing it, so we`ll have some cut and paste action going on. However, some of that info is now irrelevant. For example, the track meet that was sposed to be a large part of saturday was cancelled due to weather. (Which has been horrible by the way...rain and cold, rain and cold, rain and cold...) I woke up this morning with my throat feeling very weird and therefore did not go to school. I figured better to miss one more day than continue being sick on my trip to Torres del Paine this weekend. (I actually leave tomoro, hence the blog entry before the trip)
I slept in and then got stuff together, now waiting on the backpack to put it all in. And yes mom, I did buy new hiking shoes, north face..they are awesome! (I didn`t have any in canada either, so figured since I`m going to one of the best places in the world to backpack..i might as well get some good shoes, i don`t want a repeat of my knee accident!!)
In other exciting news..we were told monday morning that we were allowed to wear pants to school in the afternoon due to the bad weather. Originally, this doesnt happen until the first of may, so you can imagine the excitement!! Luckily, Karen`s pants fit me decently (a big big..but more comfy...) so I was able to go in pants right away. the girls who went in skirts in the afternoon were bugged abit...good naturedly of course.
Going backwards...the weekend! I guess I should first tell about last weekend and move forward...
We had an adventure last sunday afternoon...Mema and I went to my grandparents house and when we arrived, everyone was excited to tell us about an american guy in Punta Arenas who had some connection with Karen. Unfortunately, the phone number that had been copied didn`t work, but we did have the name of the hostal. We went around town later, looking for the place, and when we didn`t find it, came back here to see if he had called our house. Yuppers! We called the place (thank goodness for phones that record the numbers...) and then went to meet him. Turns out, his mom is a Rotarian in karen`s city. He has never met her tho. He has been traveling in south america since september, recently parted ways from his 2 other american friends. He has been staying at our house since monday. It`s been fun. The other day, I helped him sell his motorbike...because his spanish is so-so..and he can`t communicate everything or understand everything (altho I was impressed...) Mema recently started an english course that her cousin teaches, and so I have passed on some of the books i used to learn spanish on to her... The other day she asked me to photocopy pages of a mini dictionary thing I had....but I decided to buy her a dictionary of her own instead. I left it as a little present for when she got home (I had gone to the gym.) Johanna went up north for the long weekend so was not home to meet kevin much..only about 20 minutes. The long weekend only had one day off in chile..but she stayed for a week, and got home sunday morning at 3 am. It was lucky for kevin tho, because he had a place to sleep.
Other things....there are so many little stories, i just don`t know where to begin. I actually wrote some stuff down awhile ago when I was bored in class, and then lost the list (typical!)
Last thursday during break in the afternoon, the sound system was set up in the hall, and one of my friends started playing reggaeton and then ppl in my class started dancing..and we had a dance party for the 15 minute break. There was a mosh pit almost, kids fell, and water was thrown. I had memories of west hill dances...except that it was short and we were all in school uniforms (and it was in the day....) Fun times... Words can`t even describe it..things got vicious for a bit haha..some of my friends aren`t allowed to go to the discos...and i mentioned that school is more dangerous than the disco!!
Ok..now this past weekend....Friday, I didn`t have classes in the afternoon so Kevin and I went to town and walked around. I took him to Kiosco Roco (best choripan and leche con platano in town) and then we wandered around town. I also dragged him into some outdoorsy stores to look for my hiking boots. ( I say dragged because it was like torture for him, because he wanted so much stuff, but due to his limited space, couldn`t buy it) We also saw a huge carrot, and so decided to buy it (random i know....and we never actually ate it! he took it with him for the rest of his travels). Later, we came home and hung out, played guitar (my music teacher started to teach me a bit of guitar..) and then headed out for some live music. We had been thinking it would be spanish music..but it was covers of english bands, so we headed out to a disco. A friend of mine, Javiera, was with us too. (After all, the disco is a true Chilean experience...which he had not been to yet..)
Saturday, we went to go see my schools team play futsal. (We won). There was about 30 of us or so cheering the team on, complete with drums and everything. It was pretty sweet. I learned some of the school cheers (altho don`t ask me to repeat them now..i`ll have to relearn them...) Later in the afternoon (after lunch at home) we walked to the local beer brewery because we wanted a tour, but it wasn`t open for tours...bummer. We met Clau in town, and then ended up seeing other friends of mine too. We headed back to my house, where I ate and changed quickly because I had to be at a friends at 9. (we got home at quarter to 8). I had a bit of an adventure finding my friends house..the house numbers are the same on 2 streets, one behind the other..and i turned down the first not the second. I called her and said I was outside her house...but the wrong house! Oops..haha. Afterwards, we went to the disco and i ended up spending most of the night with a group of people from school, because the people i had gone with weren`t really dancing, instead complaining about how full it was so I wasn`t really up for that. (It was packed..difficult to cross the dance floor at times!) Sunday, I was going to get up to get chacarreros for lunch, but woke up late.....Kevin, Mema, and I went to town to get my shoes and then we went to my grandparents for the one month birthday of my baby cousin. From there, Kevin went to Puerto Natales in bus. Later that night (after chinese checkers...i lost brutally!!!), my sister Nelvia called me and we had an awesome chat.
Monday and Tuesday...classes as usual (minus the finally being allowed to wear pants...) I walked witha girl from my class to the gym after school monday, and we got soaked!!! We took some pics with her cellphone when we got there, it was ridiculous. The streets were rivers!! (Its a good thing i wore my heeled boots to school...to cross the puddles!) Well..i should head out, that was a little glimpse into my life...)
In other exciting news...I have reformed my host family in some ways. My host mom now really likes pan integral (brown bread) and has said she is only going to buy that :) And also, I put the french fries in the oven last weekend, and now she has said she will always do them that way too...yay
I have begun to really realize how little time left I have....so am trying to pack things in, people ask me if i want to go....and its one of the weirdest sensations I have ever had. Of course I want to see friends, family, home! (my bed, etc) but at the same time, I know that even if/when! I return, it will never be the same...It`s like i`m excited to arrive home, but not excited to leave here...
chau, besitos
ps...it says i published this the 12th of april..but its the 18th..i started the draft the 12th...

school life

Ok...well, i have continued going to school over these past few weeks. I realized that i haven`t actually gone to school as much as I do here in a looong time. I mean, i go traveling for kind of bulk periods of time, but since we started school march 4, i have only missed the first day and one other for being sick. A lot of you will probably know that due to student council and sports, i was missing a lot of school over the past few years. Here, we are under lock and key at school (seriously, you can`t get out except at certain breaks unless u have a note or your parent comes to get you, and you can`t come in whenever either....a doorbell and a note or parent accompaniment...)
I had the surprise a few weeks ago to be called along for a picture (no notice....they just came to class, told us to straighten our ties, and then a picture....). I noticed that the top students in my class were also called. It turns out that i had the second highest average in my class last year (thank you library work instead of tests, and skipping the tests that were really hard...) I now joke with classmates that we have to do the work perfectly so that my average won`t drop. The guy i work with in biology and chemistry is also on the honor roll (he usually holds the second spot) so i tease him the most.
What else has happened...the other day in gym class we laughed alot when the teacher told us one of our exercises was to stand up and sit down for the 30 seconds of the circuit station. I joined the gym a week and a half ago, and especially love the body combat. (Funny thing is..they advertise the class as body combat, most of the classes have english names). The only problem is that I have to go at night because of my long school days (in general) and it is dark when i leave. My friends have "yelled" or rather spoken firmly with me about the fact that I was walking home alone for the 15 minutes. I don`t like the idea of paying for the collectivo and walking on the treadmill for my cooldown..i prefer to walk in the fresh air...
Yesterday, I went out for lunch with a friend from my class, and then after school went to Yasna`s house. She is living in santiago now, and came back for a few days to visit her family. I left my house at 7 20 am, and didn`t get home til 9 20ish. When i got home, Johanna asked me for help with her english homework. We were working on that til about 10 30, then i showered quickly, and did my own homework til about 11 30ish. I got a text message at 3 am, and woke up at 5 thinking I had overslept..and therefore was dead tired for my bio test in the morning.
(sorry for the scatteredness by the way...)
Monday, a group of us were asked to do an english song at a program for the ministry of education here. claudia and i sang dust in the wind, accompanied by the same violinists and guitarist from the graduation ceremony in december. It was a bit of an adventure the morning before..the prof didn`t bring his guitar, so we didn`t have a great guitar. One of the violinists came to school in her phys ed pants and jacket so went home to change. She lives a good 20 minutes from town, and we had to be at the place at 10. We practiced as a group once before we headed downtown. We were told to get there however we could....
When we went out to present, I was delighted to find out that the ceremony wsa for a new group of english volunteers. There are a bunch of americans, a canadian, and an australian. I talked to one of the american girls and the canadian. They are both staying in punta arenas, as well as 2 others. Afterwards, we didn`t want to return to school right away, so walked slowly back, stopping at the grocery store for some food on the way.
Well...I did tell Yasna that I would drop by her house again today (most of her friends were also friends of mine..the ones who left...) We are going to go to my body combat class at 7 30. It`s bring a friend week.
Hoping life is good with everyone!
chau