Racing through the Andes

On Saturday, October 17, I ran a 10km race with two of my friends, Grace and Meghan. I don´t know what I was thinking beforehand. I guess having run the 5km race in my comuma of Ñuñoa, I was feeling pretty good about running. This race in the Andes was race sponsored by the North Face and was called Ultra Marathon de Los Andes. (http://www.ultramaratondelosandes.cl/select_languaje.html) Though nervous at the beginning, the race turned out to be incredible and one of my favorite things I have done so far in Chile, though at the same time one of the hardest. We gained, and then lost, 1600 feet of elevation and started out at about 3,000 feet above sea level. The views of Santiago and of the mountains we were running through made the work easier. There was one point though in which we were going up a 45 degree angle and everyone was climbing/hiking it because it was almost impossible to run it. At 6.5km the climb up ended and the climb down began. I was laughing as I ran because gravity was just pulling me down. It was the sensation of not being able your body as you run down a huge sand dune, however, I did have to be careful as there were rocks and mountain bikers and other runners all around me. It was also funny because at a few points in the run there would be a giant, fat cow or a group of horses grazing. The last 2 km were back on solid ground, out of the mountains, and were by far the hardest. I finished in 1:17:27, 6th in the women my age and 9th in the women overall. We received massages and spaghetti lunch afterward not to mention tons of water and Gatorade! The only downfall of this experience is the full body soreness I have been feeling since the race….

Race Gear!

El Corazón de Valle Elqui

The pelicans and sea lions we saw at the port city of Coquimbo. The cross constructed on the top of the hill in Coquimbo. The little windows on the crossbar is where we were able to ascend in order to see the entire town and the vast pacific.


Puclaro, the gorgeous lake where we saw the hydroelectric dam and tried to kite surf.

On the beach in La Serena. Pacific Ocean!Me, Grace, Katerina

Pisco Elqui for our horseback ride (and yes, I rode in my skirt and Grace in her dress!)

One of the many incredible views of the northern valleys.

Grace and the tumb of Gabriela Mistral.

When we went to the tourist office, we asked how we could visit Valle Elqui, thinking it was national park or town or something. The man told us that we were already in the heart of the valley, because the whole region is Valle Elqui....oh it was funny! Needless to say, this foto makes me smile....

How wonderful it was find out that Chile recognizes Columbus Day and there are no classes. Two friends of mine, Grace (originally from Naperville) and Katerina (originally from Moscow, Russia) and I took advantage of this extra long weekend and traveled 7 hours north to the IV region of Chile. We took an bus overnight on Thursday so as to have all day from to learn, explore, and relax. Upon arriving in our first stop, Vicuñua we were surprised by the tranquility of the town. It was about 8 in the morning and there was absolutely no one in the streets—just the group that had gotten off the bus and a few city workers sweeping the street with palm fronds. After eating breakfast (and finding out that Obama had won the nobel peace prize) we found a cute, friendly hostel, talked to the tourist office, and started the adventures with a hike up Cerro de La Virgen where we were able to look down at the entire city and beyond. It was a beautiful site and the thing that most caught my attention was the constant contrasts of the land. This area has lots of vineyards to make wine and pisco, a famous drink of Chile. The vineyards were vibrant green against café colored mountains and hills and a celestial sky. It was wonderful to sit and stare. After our hike, we immersed ourselves culturally, going to a natural history museum (lots of insects, butterflies, a fossil over 4,000 years old) and the museum and house of Gabriela Mistral, famous famous poet in Chile who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1945. She was born in Vicuña and her life is quite interesting. She appears on the 5 luca (Chilean equivalent of $10 bill) and always looks quite ugly, like one of the Disney witches. A supposed lesbian, she never married but devoted her life to children as a schoolteacher and much of her poetry is about children and motherhood. She herself never had children but raised her nephew like her own son and was severely hurt by his suicide at age 17. She was also influential in politics and received much fame worldwide through various projects and travels. Additionally, we went to a pisqueria (a distillery for pisco) called Capel, which is one of the largest brands, and had a tour of how pisco is made and then passed some time hanging out in the town’s Plaza de Armas to people watch and enjoy the beautiful spring weather.

The next day, was incredible and I will try to spare some of the details for the sake of time. We traveled to Monte Grande, about 40 minutes from Vicuña to see the schoolhouse and grave of Gabriela Mistral. A solemn thoughtful experience was what we had in this small town. We continued the day walking to a river and having some wonderful and wet adventures. As we continued our walk (not in the river) we saw a fox and met a man named Pablo, who worked for a tourist company in another small town, Pisco Elqui, where we were hoping to visit that day as well. He ended up being our new best friend, leading us to a huge Incan rock with drawings on it, driving us to Pisco Elqui, recommending us to tour the pisqueria called Los Nichos, which was the oldest pisqueria in Chile and is considered artisanal because all the bottles are bottled by hand. Los Nichos is based on quality over quantity and has quite a remarkable, intriguing history. For comparison, Los Nichos produces 20,000 bottles of pisco per year while Capel, the one we visited the day before, produces 30,000 bottles of pisco per day! Pablo also hooked us up with his friend Pirata (yes that means pirate) who owned horses. We went horseback riding up the cerros/mountain to look out over the valle and took a pass through the entire town. Again it was a beautiful site and very fun to travel through town on horseback. Afterwards the Chile vs. Columbia soccer game was on and we watched about 5 minutes of the game before catching a bus back to our hostel in Vicuña. The crazy part of this was, however, that Chile beat Columbia 2-1 (Chi chi chi le le le, Viva Chile!) and the two goals that Chile scored—what everyone now calls the “two magic minutes”—were part of the overall 5 minutes of the game that we saw! All of Chile was celebrating that win and it was a happy, warm, everyone is family kind of feeling in the town. The game was important because it meant that Chile had enough points to qualify for the world cup in South Africa 2010. (For the record, the US also qualified). While in Vicuña we ran into some of our friends—3 French exchange students, one of which is my salsa dance partner. We hung out with them that night and had some wonderful discussions and laughs.

Sunday, we again had an unforgettable day—involving lots of walking and a few hitched rides in the back of trucks. We went to a hydroelectric plant called Puclaro, tried to kite surf and realized it was super expensive and time consuming, basically walked around the entire Puclaro lake, went by bus to La Serena, a slightly larger town than the others we had been in, went to the beach, explored the town, its churches and artisan fairs, met a man named Miguel Angel who gifted us with bracelets and hand-crafted plaques with beautiful quotes on them and took pictures of us in ridiculous masks. . He shared with us that he likes to give someone a free gift each day because a few years ago he was ready to commit suicide and he doesn’t want anyone to ever feel the loneliness and depression that he felt. He sees beauty in life now and wants to share that and wants to see others smile. I honestly was not able to stop smiling after meeting him. Sunday night, the sky was finally cloud free so we were able to go to an observatory called Mamalluca and see the entire milky way, new stars, old stars, binary stars, other galaxies, and Jupiter—with the lines produced by the gas and 3 of its moons. The constellations are different here in the southern hemisphere—it was kinda sad because usually the only constellation I can see is Orion and that was not in the sky. Also, there is not a north star but there is a way to use two other constellations to find north. I learned so much and felt so small and insignificant after observing the vastness and greatness of the sky.

Our last day of our trip, we traveled about 20 minutes along the ocean to the “cousin” of La Serena, Coquimbo. This town was a port city for sure with colorful houses, steep slopes, and more pelicans on the piers than people! We first visited La Cruz del Tercer Milenia (The Cross of the third millennium) which was constructed in 2000 for the celebration of Christ’s birth. It had a 360 degree view of the entire city and, of course, the ocean. We traveled along the pier to check it out, ate fish empanadas, saw pelicans, sea lions (they were soo close us and there were tons of them!), met fisherman who let us play with a sea urchin and a sea star with over 20 legs. We caught the 7 hour bus back to Santiago that afternoon. It was one of the best trips I think I have ever been on, for various reasons. The sights, the tranquility, the hospitality of people, the wonderful company of my two friends, the way God revealed himself to me throughout the trip, and realizing that there is no need to fear, that there lots of value in talking to others and to listening to their stories. ¡Aprovechar!

3 months have come and gone....time for a quick check-up

hola a todos!
I can´t believe how fast the time is going here, the fact that I have been here over 3 months, which means that in less than 2 months I will back in the United States (and the winter!) boggles my mind. I know that I am going to miss my host family and friends here so much, just like that is what I miss most about being here. Seeing as it is over the half-way point of the semester, I thought I would post some quick thoughts about how I´ve been and later post more about the amazing adventures and trips I have been having.

Physically:
*Healthy, though still a little sore from the 10km on Saturday
*Have been able to go running at least twice a week
*Absolutely love and look forward to salsa class every Thursday
*Today was my last session of therapy and I have improved in both mobility and strength-the x-ray I had on Tuesday also reported that the bone is growing together and is lined up nicely. I also have permission from the Kinesiologist to play tennis again.
*Food is always abundant and delicious-my host mom is a wonderful cook :)

Intellectually:
*I have had exams or essays for every class so far and they have ranged from tough, good, and bad. Sometimes it is harder to study here because there are assumptions that we, the students, have learned certain things in high school. For example, in my history class we are learning about the history of Chile and America in the 19th century. Our professor assumes that we all have a solid knowledge of Chilean history, so I have been having to study the material that we are learning as well as the basics that my classmates learned in previous years of school. Though it takes more time, I have been learning so much and really enjoy havning more humanities based classes as opposed to science classes.
*My life views have also been expanded and continue to expand. I have been realizing that there is so much you can learn from someone else if you just take the time to listen and talk to them. Along these lines, I have learned to not be afraid to ask and to not be afraid to give.
*I have had many conversations lately about politics and religion. I have watched more news here than probably my entire life in the United States.

Emotionally:
*I love it here but can´t ignore that fact that I miss everyone from home!

Culturally:
*Accustomed to life and living with my host family
*Have learned the short-cuts on campus, still like to discover new routes to get home, have mirco routes and streets memorized, seldom get lost now
*Still fall over sometimes on the metro/micro

Spiritually:
*The beautiful Andes mountains are still a reminder every morning of the majesty of God
*Found a church, Iglesia Vina, that is wonderful and has corportate worship similar to Hope´s Gathering. Fun fact: the pastor of this church has been to Batavia, IL! He went to the Vineyard church in Batavia and we talked about the Fox River and a restaurant that he ate at in St. Charles!

until next time,
Katita

The Atacama!

We took our firs trip as a program to San Pedro de Atacama, August 28-30. Leaving at 3:30 in the morning, I saw the sunrise over the Andes from my window seat on the LAN Chile plane. We arrived in Calama, which is located about 1225 kilometers north of Santiago.

After loading up on water (the water from the tap in San Pedro is undrinkable because of the minerals) we headed to Chile's largest (and one of the world's largest) open-pit copper mine, Chuquicamata. Until recently, the mine was the world's largest supplier of copper producing 630,000 tons annually. It's no wonder that copper accounts for 1/3 of Chilean exports. The mine is an awesome olliptical abyss gouged from the desert and measures 4.3 km long, 3 km wide and over 850 m deep--deeper than the deepest lake in the U.S. There are trucks the size of houses that are used to transport the copper. Driven on the left side of road as a safety precaustion, the trucks weigh 3 million tons and can carry 4 million tons of copper. Because rubber tires cannot be made any larger than the ones used for these trucks, the trucks are their maximum size. The tires last about 1 year and the trucks 10-12 years. We were able to see an implosion at the mining site and see the machinery that allows for the extraction of copper.

We arrived by bus into the pueblo San Pedro de Atacama. Atacama, covering 600 miles/1000 km. It is one of the driest deserts in the world because of the mountain ranges on either side of it-the Andes and the Domeyko. With little snow and over 150 volcanoes, the mountain ranges are distinctly differnet in appearance in Northern Chile compared to Central Chile. We saw Volcán Licancabur and Volcán Lascar. Lascar is among the most active volcanoes and we saw it smoking during our trip. The brown land stretches to the mountain chains. Underground rivers allow for the small patches of bushes or trees to occasionally adorn the vast dusty, sandy land, contrasting greatly with the ever blue, cloudless sky. At night, the stars are clearly visible. Being in the southern hemisphere, we identified different constellations including scorpion and was saw Jupiter.

Additionally we made a visit to Laguna Chaxa in the Salar de Atacama. Imagine being under the sea surrounded by coral but the minus the water. That is what it felt like to walk through the lifeless, jagged salt flat situated between the Cordillera de los Andes and the Cordillera de Domeyko. There is, however, a lagoon full of activity in the middle of the Salar where we saw flamingos, birds, lizards, and beautful depostis of saltrates and minerals. The lagoon is similar to the Dead Sea in that it has a 40 percent concetraion of salt.

We visited the traditional pueblo Toconao. It is characterized by the liparita or volcanic stone that is used to create its houses and buildings. We visited the Iglesia de San Lucas and its bell tower with a door made of cactus wood, saw the Quebrada de Jere (Sherry Gorge), and learned about the canal system used to water the land.

Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley) y Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) were two of the most beautiful views we had while in Atacama. We watched the sunset from the top of a dune in Valle de la Luna, so named because the earth resembles the surface of the moon. The colors in the sky continually changed as the sun set from a gold, yellow, pink to a dark blue, purple.

Besides being awed by the incredible views, we also did a few excursions. We took a mountain bike tour though the desert having to carry our bikes over a small river, climbing up a small hill/mountain to see Incan ruins, and exploring/trekking through the crazy desert rocks. We ended our trip by trying out the extreme sport of sandboarding. Your socked feet are velcroed into a wooden, waxed board. From the top of a pretty vertical sand dune, you just kinda go...and wipe out. It was super fun and you really had to balance. I was surprisingly good at it though it took three showers to get all the sand out of my hair!

The desert is also home to the indigenous pueblo Los Atacameños. Alpacas, llamas, and agriculture, notably corn, beans, squash, and potatoes, are the principal economic means of these people. Their sewing, ceramics, and works of cactus, copper, and bronze are still popular today.

Classes and Culture

I am now officially registered for all the courses I will be taking this semester. The way that registration works in Chile is quite different than in the U.S. For two weeks, students "window shop" for their classes, attending however many they want to figure out if they like the course, the professor, etc. It's a little stressful to work out a schedule this way but definitely useful! I went to a literature class and was completely lost the whole time. The professor sat at his desk for the entire hour and twenty minute lecture speaking rapidly, softly, and with his hands in front of his mouth. My friend and I honestly understood about three words: hereo, degradado, y viaje. That being said, I'm very excited about the classes in which I am enrolled. At La Universidad Catolica I am taking "Temas de Chile y America Siglo XIX--Ciencia, Poder y Nacion en America," y "Aportes Del Medioriente al Arte." In La Universidad de Chile, I am taking "El Cuento Espanol Contemporaneo." I am also taking a human rights class sponsored by our program. The books and lectures we have to read for class are all photocopies. We receive a syllabus with a biography of what to read/suggested reading and have to find the book in the library, photocopy it, and return it. I wanted to take a Baile y Ritmo class but after many attempts and unforgettable adventures, it is not going to work out. Two of my friends and I did found an extracurricular class, Salsa y Merengue that we will be taking together Thursday evenings. My partner is Maxim and is an exchange student from France studying physics. Today was also my first day at a volunteer job I will be doing for the next 3 months. It is with a foundation called Coanil that houses people with intellectual and physical difficulties. I will hopefully be able to work a lot with the physical therapists.

In addition to classes, I have been experiencing and observing Chilean culture. I've had many wonderful, profound, and funny conversations with new Chilean friends (including a few firefighters), friends from my program, and other exchange students from around the world (from Spain, Bolivia, Germany, and the states). We've gone to a few concerts, to each other's houses/apartments, shopping at malls and artisan fairs, had dinner and empanadas, and of course gone danicng. I am also getting close with my family here. My little brother Italo and I have been practing Spanish tongue twisters, playing card games, playing practical jokes on each other, and playing online games. I went hiking in the Andes, which was a bit of a challenge because at the time my hand was still in a cast, however, the views were just incredible!

Everyday continues to be an adventure but I absolutely love it! I look forward to the daily challenges inundation of knowledge. I've learned a lot through simple observation as well as through conversation.

"El mejor recuerdo de nuestra cordillera." --Mi hermano Esteban

The Andes are one of the longest mountain ranges in the world. Majestic and breathtaking, they tower over the city of Santiago. I love waking up every morning, opening my window, and letting my eyes feast on the beautiful mountain range.

Saturday, August 1, a group of my friends went skiing in the Andes to get to know the mountains ever better. It was marvelous and beautiful! The snow covered mountains, clear blue sky, and smog-free air. The runs were great and there weren't that many people, so hardly any lines. We also had so many laughs: my first yard sale, Michelle taking a picture of us and then just falling over, me getting hit by both the door to get on the ski lift and the ski lift itself, another skier sitting on me on the ski lift and then the two of us proceeding to have the most awkward and quiet ride up the top of the hill, belting John Travolta and Celion Dion in the bus on the way down the mountain, taking the wrong local bus home, and more.

I also fractured a bone for the first time. Just before lunch, Michelle and I decided we had conquered intermediate and were going to try dificil. I'm not even sure how it happened but I think that the ski pole something cracked my right thumb as I tried to slow down by gracefully falling. I iced it with snow during lunch and skiied a few more times before we went home. On Sunday my host mom took me to the emergency room because my hand was incredibly swollen and I couldn't use it.

The x-ray showed a fracture and I recieved my first cast, which I wore until my surgery on Wednesday. The surgery went really well. The doctors were super nice. I was put under for the operation in which they inserted a metal rod to align the bone and allow for the quickest recovery. I had horrible hospital food, made friends with the doctors, nurses, and my fellow roomates, including a nun from a local catholic college, recieved another x-ray, and returned home Thursday afternoon.

I wore the bandage and a sling from the surgery for one week. I was not to use my hand and had to keep it in the air at all times--my host mom gave me a sock to put over my fingers at night. Last Thursday I had another appointment. The doctors were very pleased with everything and gave me permission to start moving my thumb and using my hand. Slowly but surely I am getting better at using it and it continues to be pain free! Yesterday I put my hair in ponytail for the first time since skiing, and I am slowly starting to use my right hand again to write! This Thursday I will get the stitches out.

While not without its challenges, fracturing my thumb has allowed me to get a firsthand look at the medical system in Chile, meet new people (its a great conversation starter), bond with my host family, and be creative in the ways of going about everyday life. Thanks for your prayers!

Learning, growing, all day long!

During the first two weeks of the program, we all had class everyday to learn about Chilean culture and society, history, Chilean Spanish, literature, movies, politics, indigenous cultures, the environment and contamination, human rights, music, and food. The class, Chile Contemporaneo was very informative. We had different professors each day and went on many "mini viajes" throughout Santiago.

We visited:
*El Palacio de La Moneda

This is where the president, Michelle Bachelet, and others in her administration work. It is very rare to get a tour of the inside.

* El Museo Historico Nacional y Plaza de Armas
*La Red de Monitoreo de Calidad de Aire (The monitoring network of air quality)
*El Parque por la paz--Villa Grimaldi

This was a torture site during the Pinochet regime. Our guide/professor for the day was a survivor of the torture and disregard for human rights. It was quite an emotional day and unbelieveable some of the descriptions he shared with us.

*Cementario General

Over 5 million people are buried here--founders of Santiago, presidents, upper, middle, and lower class.


We also experienced:
*Orientation in the Universidad de Chile

We watched folkloric dance and the national dance of Chile, la cueca

*Orientation at the Universidad Catolica
*Watched the Chilean movie, Machuca
*Ate dinner at a chilean restaurant and listened to folkloric music

*Gave oral group presenations about various topics

Apart from the program, my friends and I explored Santiago in these first two weeks. We did lots of shopping at local stores and artisan malls. We visited one of the three houses of the famous Chilean poet and Nobel Prize winner, Pablo Neruda. We saw Santiago from above by climbing Cerro San Cristobal where there also is located a large statue of the Virgin Mary. We experienced a fish market, some discotecas, cafes, plazas, family gatherings and church. Santiago is so full of new things.