so i'm in futaleufú, playing on some amazing rivers. went kayaking for the first time yesterday and rafting today. both boats flipped, but without any complications. i'm doing great and enjoying myself and the beautiful scenery.
gotta run. expensive slow internet.
i'm in puerto montt (hence the creavtive title) for the day. tomorrow at 1 i take a ferry to chaitén, where i'll stay the night. monday at 3 or so i take a bus from chaitén to futaleufú, which is built next to some of the best whitewater in the world. there i hope to run the river 2 or 3 times, depending on how much they charge for such an amazing experience.
time to go explore puerto montt
yesterday i rented a mountain bike and rode about 20 km to some waterfalls called los ojos de caburgua. very pretty, though i was pretty tired when i got there.
today i went to the top of volcano villarrica, and also made it back down. it took about 4 hours to get to the top - not technically challenging, but definitely tiring. it only took about 1 and half hours max to slide down. the biggest slide i've ever seen, and for that matter used, in my life. walking around the inside (and rim) of the crater was incredible. i saw real molten rocks. yay lova. and even sometimes the volcano spit some up into the air. let's hope the photos of that turn out. we also ate lunch there in the crater. such and amazing few of the area.
now i'm off to find food, and in the morning i head to puerto varas.
yesterday i bought a bus ticket for pucón. i leave tonight at 9:45 (7:45 EST), and will arrive about 9 hours later, or at about 7 in the morning. that should give me time to find a tourism agency and hopefully go to the top of volcano villarrica tomorrow. should be a fun time - if i'm lucky i'll actually get to see molten rock.
from there, the plans are just an outline. i'm going to go to puerto varas, but i'm not sure how long i'll stay. there i'll look into rafting on the futaleufú and maybe sea kayaking. if none of that pans out, i'll head on to chiloé via puerto montt. in any case, should be a good time.
since i'll be using the internet a bit to email a few people (those who are looking after me ;) i'll maybe give all of you an update.
for now, time to go get ready, buy those last minute items, pack, clean, etc.
i got my first package in the mail about a week ago (i suppose, i don't remember the date). the only negative was the postal worker waking me up at 10 AM on a saturday to deliver it. but the package was wonderful - sharp cheddar cheese (which i'd forgetten is amazing), swiss cheese, and colby jack cheese (also incredible), some nice pocket moleskine notebooks, and reese cups. so many wonderful things - thanks again for sending it.
promted by the cheese, i think, i made french toast for icha to try. thankfully, she liked it, and i was happy to have made french toast for the first time ever - it wasn't that bad, which is probably due to the utterly simplicity of the recipe.
i've gone to 3 or 4 street theatre plays this past week. one, called eureka! theatre laboratory was amazing. they did a good job of doing lots of things with limited props, while successfully conveying a range of emotions, with unpredicatble plot twists. so much fun to watch. the others i saw weren't bad persay, just not nearly as good.
yesterday i went to a feria to buy some fruits and vegetables. a feria is basically an outdoor, impromtu market set up on a block or two of a street. i bought a kilo of peaches (peach-bannanas, a variety that had whiter flesh than most peaches), 2 large tomatoes, lettuce, and a green pepper all for $1.15 or so. a nice deal, and yummy too.
alright. not much else going on. just enjoying the summer, trying to make travel plans. i'll keep you informed.
time to make a salad with the aforementioned vegetables, and the creamy french dressing i was lucky enough to find, and some of that amazing cheddar cheese. if only i could find croutons . . .
a new discovery: chile does have postal codes, i just didn't know about them. so here's my address with the postal code:
Lucrecia Valdes 333
Departamento B
835-0485 Santiago, Chile
alright. that's all i've got for now. time to drink some ice water since i've got a working fridge.
yeah, i know it's been a while since i updated this. apologies.
there's new photos in internetland for you to look at, but i've yet to fix them up with photoshop or give them real titles and captions. hopefully i'll get around to that soon. if you have questions about them, just send me an email (note: excuse to get you to send me an email).
new year's eve was lots of fun - as i said, i went to valparaiso (port city, about 2 hours from santiago) for their carnaval cultural. i saw some interesting photo exhibits, a play Beckett y Godot, the band Congresso (one of those aging bands that was popular in the early seventies and forced into exile (in France) by the military regime), and a modern Baroque dance. great fun, and all free, of course. on the night of the 31st, icha and i went to a really cool cafe for tea (they have over 40 varieties of tea there . . . oh so hard to choose what too drink) and then watched the fireworks over the bay from a mirador (one of the places on top of a hill where you have a good view). there were fireworks in valparaiso, viña del mar, and reñaca, the three cities that surround the bay. there were so many people in the streets there to celebrate, and a wide variety of people: kids, teens, adults, and the parents of said adults. after the fireworks we went for tea again - just had to try a different one.
monday i went and saw the santiago symphony orchestra (for free), yesterday Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and tonight i'm going to see the nutcracker (also free).
the apartment is nice, i should be getting a working refrigerator within the next half hour.
oh, i went yesterday and got my formal letter of acceptance from la católica where i'm going to be studying next semester. sure is nice to know that that is finalized.
i'm working on making some travel plans, though still nothing definite.
alright. time to read some of this book my math professor lent me, and maybe do some problems. looks intersting . . .
