Get back to America day!

Well, I successfully made it back to America, but not quite back to my house yet. My flight out of Santiago was delayed by two hours, until 11:30pm which was kindof nice- we wanted to stay in Chile as long as possible! In the airport I ran into my friend from my hotel in Cusco, Kirstin from Stanford, and her friend who is running a marathon on every continent! He has a blog about it, which I will link to asap, because it’s sure to be way more interesting than mine. I also ran into my Jonathan’s best friend at ND and we talked about how clarinets are the best instrument, Peru trips, stalking JC on facebook, etc.

So, the delay made me miss my flight to Newark. After typical running-around-the-airport-after-missing-a-flight shenanigans, I got to Newark at 1:30pm. And have been here, in this massive airport in one of the worst states (no offense, KB/Real Housewives) of America, for the past seven hours. My 5:20pm flight to Harrisburg was canceled. So, I was on standby for the 9 o’clock.

My mom couldn’t wait longer to see me so is driving here now to take me home. I’ve been in airports for the last 26 hours and am so sick of it. I was supposed to be eating Tostitos lime chips 7 hours ago! I’m just ready for Sheetz and Pennsylvania: THE BEST COMMONWEALTH!

Last day in Chile

Today is my last day in Chile! I spent it sleeping in, eating bread with caramel for breakfast, and starting to pack. Currently I’m halfway through packing and leave for the airport in four hours. Even though I’m excited to see my family, I’m not near ready to leave my 6-month long adventure. But I know I’ll be back to South America soon!

Although I’m heading back to the States, this blog isn’t over. Last week I was in Peru, and have some important stories and photos to share. So, keep an eye out for that and my readjustment to life in English. Some expected awkward encounters: Kissing people on the cheek to say hello, talking about people in English thinking they won’t understand, dumping salt all over my vegetables and missing eating fried dough everyday.

One fried dough delight: The Empanada

Viva Chile!

“Escuchaste las vuvuzelas?” -Coca, “No me gustan las bruselas!” -Julieta

“Did you hear the vuvuzelas?” -Coca, my Chilean mom, “I don’t like brussel sprouts!” -Julieta, my almost-3-year-old sister

Today is Chilean’s third game in the World Cup, against Spain. Shockingly, they’ve won their first two games against Honduras and Switzerland. According to Dante (Chilean host father), before this year, Chile had never won a single World Cup game. So, it’s a pretty big deal. The streets are filled with people wearing red shirts, ridiculous Chilean-flagged hats and facepaint. Cars are honking everywhere they go and a lot, A LOT of Chilean merchandise is being sold in the streets. You can’t enter a bar without hearing the cheer, “CHI CHI CH, LE LE LE. VIVA CHILE!”

I’m watching the game with my family at home, we’re having a barbecue and listening to people yelling in the streets from blocks away.

Pucón

Just realized I never put up all of the pictures from my picturesque trip to Pucón. Pucón is a town in the south that is a major tourist spot for outdoor adventurers. We went with the Syracuse program. We had some bomb cabanas, and spent our days hot springing and hiking in the beautiful national park. I also bought really cool gifts made out of wood, including wooden carved flowers.

Look at my pictures for vegetarian food, and landscapes ranging from Jurassic Park to the Pacific Northwest to Fern Gully.

Pucón

Cordillera Blues

The entire countryside of Argentina

Almost 5 months ago, we arrived in Chile. Due to various communication mishaps/laziness, only 3 of the 19 of us had student visas. So, we paid the $130 entrance fee and received tourist visas. These are valid for 90 days. Which means 90 days later, we decided to take a short little trip across the Andes to Mendoza, Argentina, mostly for the passport stamp, also for the biking wine tours.

Well, it was raining in Santiago, which meant it was snowing in the cordillera (mountains surrounding Stgo), and we couldn’t cross to Mendoza. Being intrepid young travelers, Cailtin, Dixie, Claire, and I decided to bus south overnight to Temuco, where we were assured we could get a bus to Argentina. It’s counter-intuitive, that in the south the pass would be clear, (Southern Hemisphere: south=colder), but it’s because the southern Andes are less high. The plan worked out, we got in to Temuco at 8, and at 8:30am we caught a bus to San Martin de los Andes, Argentina.

San Martín is an adorable little town with little Swiss-style houses, you know, the kind with white walls and exposed wooden beams. We stayed in a creaky little A-frame next to the crystal blue lake. We ate some amazing chocolate and seafood. I had squash-filled ravioli, which were amazing. We relaxed a lot and ate a lot and took a hike. We visited the most amazing wine store I’ve ever seen. It was a great vacation!

My friends decided we were “so close” to Patagonia, they might as well go from there (read: really not that close). I had a big group project and meeting on Wednesday afternoon, so I bought a ticket to leave at 6am on Tuesday back to Chile. Alas, here comes the biggest traveling mistake of my life to date: I never changed my cellphone to Argentinian time (an hour ahead), and arrived to the bus station at 7am (6am Chilean time). Woah is me. I was so angry. I didn’t get my money back, and took an 8-hour bus ride north to Neuquen (10am-6pm) at 7:30ish, I took an overnight bus through most of the country to Mendoza, arriving at 7:30am. There were a few scary moments, like when the bus drove down a dirt road lined with “Danger” signs, and because I was all by myself I could only think about how it was just like in movies before vehicles blow up.

I caught the 8am bus back to Santiago, arriving at 1:30, missing my group meeting, and having spent 28ish hours traveling on buses. Posh buses, but I still smelled pretty gross and ate too many free alfajor cookies than I care to remember.

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My glorious comeback

I finally bought my ticket home from Miami. Here’s my itinerary:
July 13, I leave Santiago at 8:55pm on LAN FLT500.
July 14, I arrive in Miami at 5:40am, connect in Newark.

You are all invited to greet me in Harrisburg International Airport with white cheddar Cheese-its and Stonyfield Farm chocolate yogurt at 1:37pm on Wednesday, July 14. We will immediately depart for that really-nice Sheetz at the Paxton St. exit of 83 for fried triangles of macaroni and cheese and subs.

Home is where the Sheetz is

Bottom of the World

A few weeks ago, I spent 6 days traveling around Chilean Patagonia. Patagonia is the farthest-southern tip of South America. It boasts beautiful national parks and frontier towns.

Details and photos after the break!