Britney Spears what?? Sorry I'm out of touch with North Am., well not really sorry
So it's been about a month since I've had time to actually sit in front of my laptop and update this journal. Sorry. So the question now is where to start??
A few weekends back, I travelled to Puerto Montt, which is kind of like going from Sydney to Halifax. Only outside of Puerto Montt there is sleeping volcanoes. A friend who lives in my house in Castro, is from Puerto Montt, so we were able to stay at her mom's place. On Saturday we did a day tour, saw some quiet towns, beautiful lakes, and crystal blue rapids.
Volcan Osorno
Petronue
From Feb 14 to the 18th was the biodiversity fair, and on the weekend it was also the festival of customes. A couple thousand people usually attend, with most of the people on the weekend. Along the edges of the grounds are stands, where artisans sell their goods. The Health Center had a stand to sell natural medicine so most of the time for me was spent helping them. In the middle of the grounds were displays of traditional work. For example how they made boats, baskets, an apple drink and my favorite how the prepared, cooked, and butchered the livestock. Brings a whole new meaning to the term BBQed Pork.
I've also been able to make some trips to the coast. One was with friends to visit the National Park in Cucao, and the other was in a village a bit farther north for work, called Huetamo. The Park itself is a protected area for the old growth forest. It was amazing, the colors were so green and different from home. The floor of the forest is more or less all trees and their roots that have been growing on top of each other for centuries. The beaches are also very beautiful, although the water is pretty cold. I think it's also possible to surf in Huetamo, but only in winter when the waves are a bit bigger. The problem is trying to get the surf board to the beach, and also the fact that there are no surf boards in Chiloe.
National Park
My life has been pretty busy, but not really stressful. I started taking yoga classes and it's great, something I wanted to do for a while but just didn't have the time. I've been here for almost 3 months now, and my Spanish is definitly alot better. I also have a boyfriend, Claudio. We don't get a lot of time together, but its a good relationship; which unfortunately will probably end when I return to Canada. I really enjoy my life here, it's very comfortable, well expect for the Chilean male factor. I'll never get used to the whistles, honks and comments the men here freely make; even in Canada I was not very comfortable with this kind of attention from males. Here its double or triple, the fact that I'm blond does not help either, in fact it makes it worse. But all you can do is ignore it, until I get enough Spanish to make some comments of course.
I miss everyone at home, and at times it's hard when I know I'm missing out on the special occasions, like my mom's surprise 50th birthday party. But I have a feeling the next 2 months are going to go by so fast, and I know that I will miss everyone here when I return home. That is more or less the only downfall of travelling for me, you can't take the people you meet with you, only the memories and the hope that one day you'll be able to return.
- [)
A few weekends back, I travelled to Puerto Montt, which is kind of like going from Sydney to Halifax. Only outside of Puerto Montt there is sleeping volcanoes. A friend who lives in my house in Castro, is from Puerto Montt, so we were able to stay at her mom's place. On Saturday we did a day tour, saw some quiet towns, beautiful lakes, and crystal blue rapids.
Volcan Osorno
Petronue
From Feb 14 to the 18th was the biodiversity fair, and on the weekend it was also the festival of customes. A couple thousand people usually attend, with most of the people on the weekend. Along the edges of the grounds are stands, where artisans sell their goods. The Health Center had a stand to sell natural medicine so most of the time for me was spent helping them. In the middle of the grounds were displays of traditional work. For example how they made boats, baskets, an apple drink and my favorite how the prepared, cooked, and butchered the livestock. Brings a whole new meaning to the term BBQed Pork.
I've also been able to make some trips to the coast. One was with friends to visit the National Park in Cucao, and the other was in a village a bit farther north for work, called Huetamo. The Park itself is a protected area for the old growth forest. It was amazing, the colors were so green and different from home. The floor of the forest is more or less all trees and their roots that have been growing on top of each other for centuries. The beaches are also very beautiful, although the water is pretty cold. I think it's also possible to surf in Huetamo, but only in winter when the waves are a bit bigger. The problem is trying to get the surf board to the beach, and also the fact that there are no surf boards in Chiloe.
National Park
My life has been pretty busy, but not really stressful. I started taking yoga classes and it's great, something I wanted to do for a while but just didn't have the time. I've been here for almost 3 months now, and my Spanish is definitly alot better. I also have a boyfriend, Claudio. We don't get a lot of time together, but its a good relationship; which unfortunately will probably end when I return to Canada. I really enjoy my life here, it's very comfortable, well expect for the Chilean male factor. I'll never get used to the whistles, honks and comments the men here freely make; even in Canada I was not very comfortable with this kind of attention from males. Here its double or triple, the fact that I'm blond does not help either, in fact it makes it worse. But all you can do is ignore it, until I get enough Spanish to make some comments of course.
I miss everyone at home, and at times it's hard when I know I'm missing out on the special occasions, like my mom's surprise 50th birthday party. But I have a feeling the next 2 months are going to go by so fast, and I know that I will miss everyone here when I return home. That is more or less the only downfall of travelling for me, you can't take the people you meet with you, only the memories and the hope that one day you'll be able to return.
- [)