Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Day 3-4 Puerto Montt


I´ve spent the last couple of days in the bustling city of Puerto Montt. The city is built around, as the name suggests, a port. It is very unique though. It looks like a large lake with mountains (and, in this case, an impressive volcano) surrounding it. But its water is ocean blue and it has beautiful waves. If it wasn´t so chilly, I would be tempted to take a dip.

The town is swarming with tourists. I wasn´t as suprised by the amount of tourists, as I was by the lack of Americans. I have only met one couple from the U.S. since I landed in Santiago. It has been nice because I have had plenty of opportunities to practice my Spanish, but a bit frustrating at times. In most of the places I have gone the country or city is very dependant on American tourists. Usually there are throngs of people offering places to stay, places to eat, or tours to go on. That is not so here. I have had to look for these things wherever I go. For the most part I don´t mind. I would rather spend the extra time (and money) for the peace, but it has been difficult finding food.

Today was the first time that I knew what I was getting when I ordered at a restaurant--well kind of. The vocabulary for different items of food is so different from country to country. In other countries the owners have had english menus or spoken a bit of English. Here that is not the case. I order something and hope for the best. Usually I am pleasantly surprised. I have had some interesting meals though--some sort of beans and sauce over spaghetti noodles with an egg sunny side up and a whole sausage on top or a hot dog with guacamole and yellow mayonaise on top.

Today was different though. As I was walking along the port in search of wool mittens, I stumbled upon a fish market that made Pike´s Place look small in comparison. The market was lined with cocineras and I walked into number 93 and ordered Jaiva, the infamous crab. The owner/cook walked out into the market got fresh crab and cooked it. When it arrived, however, I was suprised to see that there was no shell or tools to crack it with. She had done all the work for me, and all that was on my plate was a big pile of crab. Mmmm . . . .

Monday, January 30, 2006

Day Two--Curico


As much as I was impressed by Santiago, I´m not a city person. I decided to catch the first bus to Curico. Alexandra, a girl that worked with me at the Supreme Court, had suggested that I check out this waterfall near Curico called Siete Tazas, and I knew that the area was famous for its wine. It was a short bus ride through field after field of grapes, corn, or sunflowers.

Once I arrived, however, all of the hotels were closed. It was harder to find a place to stay on a Sunday in Curico than it is to find a place to eat on Sunday in SLC! Rather than sleep on the street I decided to catch the next bus to Puerto Montt (12 hours). Unfortunately the next bus didn´t leave until 7:15, which gave me five hours to kill.

By this time, I needed a drink. I walked into the first bar I came across and ordered a taza of wine. Well, I forgot that a taza means measuring cup rather than drinking cup. The bartender looked puzzled, but poured me a shot of what appeared to be homemade wine. =) We had a pleasant conversation and the drink was on him.

Curico is a quaint little town. It has a really beautiful palm-lined plaza with several beautiful fountains. There were also a number of really beautiful, simple churches. My favorite, though, were the colorful houses. They were all built in a row, but each was a different bright color.

On my walk back to the bus stop, Hernan (the bartender) waved me over to meet Javiera. Javiera, was dressed in a bright pink net belly shirt with a powder blue bra underneath. She unnecessarily introduced herself as a homosexual tranvestite. Needless to say, she had several interesting stories. While s/he entertained me with stories and a dance to remember her by (as if I could forget), Hernan served me the most wonderful watermelon. I was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Day One-Santiago, Chile


After months (years) planning this trip, it is almost surreal really being here. The plane was surprisingly small for the length of the flight (almost 12 hours). I must have been exhausted though. I had no problem sleeping for almost the entire flight. I was amazed at the view when I woke up. The clouds were so uniform that I wasn´t sure if they were clouds or the ocean. When we got closer to Santiago, the mountains began peeking (no pun intended) up from the frothy ocean of clouds. I wondered if there were people under the clouds or whether they were fog covering the ground. This question was soon answered when we descended into smoggy Santiago. The air was so thick that you would never know that the city is surrouned by mountains. It makes SLC´s inversion look like a clear day.

I spent most of the first day wandering around. The buildings here have a clear Spanish influence, moderately ornate with bright colors. My favortie sight was Cerro Santa Lucia, a park that is located atop a mountain. There are several building built into the mountain. At the base there is a fountain/building that resembles a three-tiered wedding cake with the Greek god Neptune as the topper. Once you climb that there are several levels of worn, steep stairs. At the top is an amazing view of the city (I wish the mountains were visible).

Right as I was snapping a photo, I felt something crawling up my leg. I went to swat it away. It was a bee! And boy did it hurt when it stung me. Imagine the shocked looks on the Chilean tourists´faces when I cursed loudly and began lifting up my skirt. Fortunately, for me, I had shorts on underneath. What a way to start the trip!

The Short Version

I can´t believe I´m finally here. I´ve only been in Chile for three days and I´ve already flashed a crowd of local tourists and been entertained by Javiera, a transvestite prostitute. Today I found really great seafood in Puerto Montt. Tomorrow I´m headed to Patagonia.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Two days to take off

I'm not sure if this is how you do this (I'm not exactly tech savvy), but I am trying to create a blog to let those who care know where I'm at and what I'm doing during my vacation to South America.