This week I found out just how blessed I am to have made the friends I have in Chile, and to be surrounded by such a loving host family. Monday, my birthday, I had made plans to meet with two Chilean friends, my tandem partners, for lunch. However, I was pleasantly surprised when they brought me a home-made manjar cake! If that wasn't enough, they also gave me some delicious wine and a framed picture of the three of us. (See top right picture of previous post.) It was an amazing way to start the day, and a wonderful surprise.
That evening, my host mom prepared a delicious meal, with a cheese and cracker spread beforehand. Jokingly she told me that I am now and adult, although I'm not sure if she was confused, as I was already of adult age in Chile, but still am not in the US...Either way it was really sweet, and my family gave me a necklace as a gift. It was a wonderful birthday :)
Tuesday night I set out for a trip that would take me through Valdivia and Concepcion. (My first solo trip!) Both are in Southern Chile, and thus have a lot of rain during the winter. Valdivia was my first stop, and when I got there in the morning, a beautiful river was my reward. In the morning I stopped first at the tourist information center, to get some ideas of places to visit. While being helped by the agent, a giant sea lion waddled past the window! There are a lot of sea lions in Valdivia, especially next to the fish market. While they are somewhat of a pest problem for locals, it was cool to see them. I then headed over to Isla Teja to check out a museum with a bunch of Mapuche artifacts and such.
As per the suggestion of a Chilean friend, for lunch I headed over to the semi-famous cafe Haussman to eat crudos. (There is a huge German influence in Valdivia, and the largest beer company, Kuntsman, has it's brewery in Valdivia.) Now crudos is an...interesting...food. As I found out, it is a slice of white wonder bread with a thin slab of raw meat (safe to eat, but really weird texture) and chopped, slightly sautéed onions on top. You can flavor it with anything from lemon to mayonaise to one of the many toppings the cafe provides, but I chose to eat it as quickly as possible and find some more familiar empanadas to fill up. (I was not a fan, to say the least.)
That afternoon I went on a boat tour of the rivers that surround the city, which included a tasting of artesian alcohols. After tasting it, I got a bottle of a raspberry concoction, to share. Thursday I was invited on a field trip with several friends I met the day before. (They are other university exchange students, studying tourism in Valdivia.) The trip included going to the Siete Lagos region and visiting three different tourist-y hotels and learning about the difficulties with running hotels in those areas. It was really interesting, as I've never stopped to consider these factors. Additionally, one of the hotels was super-bakan: it was called the "Montana Magica": see picture. The excursion also included some walks to waterfalls and similar natural wonders.
Friday I got to Concepcion, and decided to take a trip to the nearby town of Lota. The lifeblood and reason for existence of this town was the coal mine. While the mine is now open for tourism, there is little else in this coastal town that's worth seeing, so it is quickly falling into disrepair. I went on a tour of the mine, however, which was really, really neat. Unfortunately I couldn't understand everything the tour guide was saying (Southern Chile accents are really different and the people mumble a lot) there was a lot of interesting information about the mine and it's effect on the people of Lota, who were exploited horrendously by one of the richest (and thus most famous) families in Chile.
Following the mine I went to the park where the rich family had their mansion. Filled with exotic trees and complete with gorgeous views of the harbor, it was probably the most clean, natural, and relaxed area in all of Lota. A friend I met while on the tour invited me to go to a karaoke bar that night, so I had a nice carrete. Somehow I got the courage to go up on stage and sing a Shania Twain song for the crowd, which resulted in my winning a "prize"!
Saturday I visited some of the areas of Concepcion, such as the Plaza Principal, a local lake, and a shopping district that has a beautiful lights display in the canopy. (See picture.) At the lake I was lucky enough to see and get pictures of a black-necked swan. These creatures are gorgeous, and almost always found in pairs, as they are monogynous and loyal to their mates their whole lives. (At least I'm pretty sure that's what the boat tour guide said...) It was a very relaxing trip, but fairly inconsequential.
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