Happy Thanksgiving! Get read for an epic post. My last couple weeks at the farm were chilly and rainy. I ended up getting a cold the last week/end I was there. I also slept funny on my neck, and it was terribly sore and stiff the last sunday and monday I was there, like severely so! It was kind of crazy. But Lucy´s parents happened to be visiting that weekend, and they hooked me up with some good anti inflammatory drugs. It was really nice to meet them; really warm and kind; almost bubbly (although that could have been part of their vacation mentality, you know? haha). I had dinner with them and Lucy a couple nights, and I went on an afternoon excursion with them to a nearby town called San Marcos Sierras. Near the town Lucy took us to an abandoned commune-like place called the Pozo de Luz. She explained that it was some argentinian´s idea to create a community centered on spiritual and mental health, and he created this place as a gathering point for a bunch of scientists and other alternatively minded thinkers, and apparently he claimed to have discovered a cure for cancer. I havent read much about the situation, but Lucy said the government put this guy in jail and shut down the Pozo de Luz because he didnt want to share this supposed cure with the government. His fear was that the government would patent and privatize the cure for mondo profit, whereas he wanted it to be accessible for all. Anyway, we snuck in (it was surrounded by barbed wire) and took a look around. I definitely got a mystic vibe from that place; it felt abandonded, but not empty. It was huge, all sorts of buildings with rooms underground, but lots of wide open space too. It´s too bad I could nt really represent the place well in pictures. But after exploring that place we went to town and checked out their little artisan market, then had a picnic at the river that runs through the town. Later we went to Las Tomas in Capilla, which is at the base of Uriturco, and its basically a little river with a bunch of picnic spots and camping space.
I also made a new friend the last couple weeks in Capilla. One of the outdoor educators from the final ministry camp ended up staying at the farm as a volunteer because she liked Capilla so much and wanted to stay a bit longer before heading back to her home in Buenos Aires. Her name was Malena, and she is 25. She actually grew up in Madrid, Spain because her dad was on sebatical and moved the family there when she was a baby. Then they moved back to BA when she was 13 or 14. She was a super cool gal and we got along really well. The farm was so full of campers and educational groups that last weekend I was there that Malena actually had to move into my room with me. So it was kinda fun having a roommate for my last few days. The day I left Capilla, I unexpectedly ended up having a lovely little group send me off at the bus station. I also became good friends with this gay couple (Pablo and Sergio) who started working at the farm about a month prior (they are artisans by trade, and were hosting workshops at the farm and helping cater for groups who didnt come with their own cooks), and they gave me a ride to the bus station. And at the last minute Lucy (who unexpectedly didnt have classes that day) and Malena (who didnt really have much to work on because it was raining and it was the first day in probably 14 straight days with no campers) hopped in the car with us. Then once we were at the station another good friend I made the last few weeks I was there, Juan Pablo, also met us there. They all waited with me, 15 minutes or so, until my bus got there. It was so sweet, and made me feel pretty special. I will miss them all very much.
That night I stayed in a hostel in Córdoba, then flew out the next morning to Santiago to meet my dad for 10 days of vacation! So as sad as i was to leave my new friends, I was very excited to get some vacay time in and see my dad! We had a great time. Rented a car and drove up the coast a little way. We started in Viña del Mar, at a hotel near Reñaca beach, and stayed a couple nights there. We spent an afternoon in Valparaiso, and I took dad to the Pablo Neruda house-museum that Max took me to before. We ate at a swanky cliffside restaurant where we got to watch the sunset as we dined. And I had an incredible caldillo de congrio; the first spicy version I´ve encountered. Caldillo de congrio is a fish soup, basically, and its sooooo good. And apparently it was Pablo Neruda´s favorite dish. On Saturday we took our time driving up the coast so I could show Dad all the beautiful little beach towns not too far north of Viña: Cón Cón, Maintencillo, La Laguna, Cachagua, Zapallar, and then we spent the night in Papudo. Along the way we stopped at a restaurant off the highway for some typical chilean food, delish baked empanadas and tomato onion avocado salad. That night we ate at another fancy oceanside seafood restaurant in Zapallar, and I decided to induldge in 2 glasses of wine, so I made dad drive us back to our accomodations just to be on the safe side. I´ve seen checkpoints in Chile, so had no desire to risk it.
From there we drove up to La Serena for 3 nights of beachside uber relaxation. We stayed in an apartment/condo which had a balcony overlooking the giant pool, and not far beyond it the beach. We continued eating amazing seafood, and got a fantastic seafood pizza one night at a mediterranean style restaurant. One afternoon we took a couple hour drive north just to check out more coast line. The original intention was to go to this little pueblo called Los Choros, and from there take a 20 minute ferry to an island which is a nature reserve, where we could have seen penguins, seals, and dolphins, but since it wasnt quite yet tourist season, ferry only ran a few days a week, and of course not on the day we drove up there. But it was still a pleasure to experience more of Chile´s breathtaking topography.
We left wednesday and spent the night in a beautiful little boutique hotel in Zapallar and made sure to visit the beach there, then the next day went back to Santiago. We had lunch that Thursday with a friend I met through Max, dined at the hotel that night, then Friday (dad´s last day) we ate at the Santiago central market (amazing seafood, again). Dad´s flight didnt leave til 10pm that evening, so it was great to be able spend the entire day together and not feel rushed to get him to the airport. I stayed that Friday night in the hotel because my flight back to Córdoba didnt leave til Saturday morning.
When i got back to Córdoba, i stayed at the same hostel i stayed at the night before I left for Chile. It´s a great place, the owner is super cool. He´s an american who came to argentina after college, met an argentinian girl and ended up marrying her and staying here. Most the staff are volunteers getting free room and board. They are from switzerland, germany, UK, colombia, and buenos aires. I took a nap that afternoon because I was tired from traveling and saying goodbye to dad, then that evening did a little grocery shopping and just ate dinner in the hostel. I made friends with a trio staying at the hostel, a guy and a chick from germany and another gal from england. Bars and nightclubs closed early that night because by law they have to close early when the next day is an election (and the next day was Argentinas presidencial election). So instead of going out, the four of us drank at the hostel and played cards all night. We were teaching each other the few games we knew, and it was a lot of fun. Although practically everything was closed sunday day for elections, everything was hopping that night after the pols closed. there was a huge artisan and flea market not too far from the hostel, so i spent all evening walking up and down streets and slowly looking through all the stalls of beautiful artwork, handmade clothing, jewelry, food, and other stuff. That monday my friend Juan Pablo came to Cordoba for a few days to visit some of his various friends and family there, so we got to hang out again! He arrived late afternoon, so we walked around for a long while, made a delicious dinner that night, then went bar hopping that night. eventually his friend whose apartment he was staying at met up with us when he got off work. it was pretty hard to get up the next morning, but luckily my flight to Bariloche wasnt until 3pm! hah.
Aaaaand now iḿ in Bariloche! I got here Tuesday night, so this is my second full day here. I was originally going to stay through Friday, but it was cloudy these past two days, and of course the sun is supposed to come out tomorrow, so ive decided to stay instead through saturday so i can get some sunny hiking in tomorrow and take some (hopefully) spectacular photos of the incredible landscape. Bariloche lines a giant lake which has various other finger lakes attached to it. All of that is surrounded by giant snow capped mountains. Actually, flying here was wild; as we were getting close to Bariloche we flew over a type of terrain i had never encountered before, and iḿ not really sure what to call it. They were low rolling hills, but some were severely peaked, and there were little rivers between some of the hills. There were miles of these hills. I wish i could have taken a picture because iḿ doing a terrible job describing what i saw, hah. But then right before the airport the hills flattened out and and it was beautiful grassland dotted with cows and sheep, and there were various streams running through the fields with lots of birds. The scenery was just gorgeous and full of life. So yesterday I took it pretty easy. I took advantage of having the room to myself that morning after breakfast because the three other girls sharing the room with me were out and about, and i got an epic practice sesh in with the mandolin. I had been missing it! Then I spent all afternoon, probably almost 5 hours, just walking throughout the town and getting to know its streets. Then today I went on a 4 hour hike to a nearby hill that i didnt need to take a bus to. There is a big asado here tonight at the hostel, so iḿ going to through a bunch of veggies on the grill! Then tomorrow ill take a city bus to a farther away hill that will give me a 360 view of the town and lakes and mountains. With sun, i should get some amazing pics out of the journey. Then Saturday I head to Bolsón! Iĺl stay that night in town so i can get to know it a bit and check out their saturday artisan market, then Sunday ill head to the farm! So next post will be from there! Pictures soon to come!
