Well world, I made it to Ecuador! But first, a quick recap of my last week in Chile.
My last week in Coquimbo flew by. I spent some time with my host family, and made them some thai food for lunch one day (I couldn't decide on a "Canadian" meal so I settled for something i know I can do well). I was quite sad to say goodbye to my family; they have been so welcoming and so friendly to me during my stay in Coquimbo. I learned so much about Chilean culture and values... All while not speaking the same language. This experience in Chile really caused me to appreciate the value of non-verbal communication, a smile can go a long way to help communicate!
On my last day in the lab, as fate would have it, my experiment that I had been working at (& at this point thought I wouldn't finish) FINALLY, somewhat miraculously worked and we were able to collect all the data needed to finish my part! I was pretty excited, to say the least. That's one of the things I like about research, the feeling of accomplishment when you finally get something to work after hours/days/weeks(/months?) of frustration, and to know that you might be the first person who's ever done exactly that before. After this breakthrough, Liliana and the guys in the lab took me to the port to eat some amazingly fresh seafood at a restaurant right on the docks of Coquimbo. If it's possible go eat a dangerous amount of seafood in one sitting, I'm sure I was at that point.
My last night in Coquimbo I went to a pub on the beach with Consuelo and her friend Humberto. We enjoyed a few pisco sours, and the night became entertaining when Humberto decided to take the stage and sing with the band! Went home and managed to get a couple hours of sleep before making my way to the bus station to catch the bus to Santiago.
I spent 2 full days in Santiago, and managed to fit SO MUCH sightseeing into that time. The first day, I woke up and to my dismay it was raining. Like torrential downpour, not just a nice sunshower. So i ate breakfast and pondered what my backup plan should be. Ultimately, i put on my coat, bought an umbrella from a guy on the street that was only 1000pesos (& only 1/2 waterproof), and continued with my sightseeing plans while getting soaked in the process. I went to the Plaza de Armas, walked into an incredible church (catedral metropolitana), walked past the correos de chile building, justice building, and a few important governmenty-looking buildings (it was too rainy to pull out my book and figure out what i was looking at). Then i went to Bellas Artes area and walked through the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes as well as the Musea de Arte Contemporareo. I don't think I get contemporary art. What they call art, I call soft-core porn. I guess there's a reason I was never an art major. Then i walked to San Cristobal, the hill in the Parque Metropolanito. Luckily, it stopped raining just in time for me to take the funicular up to the top of the hill and check out the AMAZING views of Santiago and the Andes mountains! Then i went and walked to La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's house.
My last day in Santiago, I met some IFMSA friends at the Cousino Macul vinyard, a picturesque winery set in a valley near the andes built in the 1800s. it's been around for over 6 generations! The tour was interesting, and the wine was poured with a heavy hand. Then I went to Santa Lucia, an incredibly old building (I think from like the 1500s or something) on a hill overlooking the city. Plus, there were people up there dressed in medieval gear dueling, so that was entertaining. My last night in Chile, I met the girls for drinks in the BellaVista area where we enjoyed pisco, wine, and many great stories!
...so that brings me to today! This morning's 3am alarm clock was less than ideal, but I managed to sleep more or less the whole first plane ride to Lima. I arrived in Quito just before 1pm, and was greeted by Rebecka (a friend I met the last time I was backpacking in Asia), and her boyfriend Andres. We started off by going to a "fair", and I wasn't sure what to expect. When we arrived, I realized that it was bull-fighting, like the kind you would expect to see in Spain, with the guys in the tight pants and the red flags and everything. We watched for awhile, and I tried not to be too quick to judge as I realize this is an important part of the culture here...but it didnt take long to realize that this truly is an awful spectacle, purely for human entertainment, that causes significant injury to harmless animals, and should have been left in the medieval ages. In the 21st century, with so many animal rights groups (not to mention that the average person has the common sense that hurting animals for fun is immorral, unnatural, and just plain wrong?) I'm surprised that this is still legal... Not only that, but apparently is widely popular throughout latin america. I could go on for several more paragraphs about how strongly I feel against this, but you get the point.
Anyway, the rest of the day in Quito was great! Went to a pub to get some food and watch the soccer game (it was an important one, and Brazil won just FYI). Then Andres and Rebecka took me on a tour of the centre of Quito at night, which was amazing! All the buildings are lit up at night and you can see the city sprawling in the distance through the mountains and valleys. Then we drove up the mountain to Panecillo, a big virgin mary statue on top of the mountain that is lit up at night and you can go walk around inside.
We have lots of plans for touring around the next 2 days, I think tomorrow we're doing a big hike in the morning and going to the equator in the afternoon! Hopefully checking out some hot springs and the centre by day as well. Then Wednesday I'm off to the GALAPAGOS!!!!! Can't wait!
Cheers!
