Just Around the River Bend

The Saturday before my mom & nana came to visit me, 

I went on a trip that was hosted by a club at my school.

And guess what?!! On that trip, I accomplished goal

#021: Go white water rafting.

photos courtesy of Natalie Spangenberg

We took a bus down to Cajon del Maipo, which is the same place

all the UC students went in the beginning of our program for a little retreat.

Way more students showed up to go white water rafting than were expected,

so we had to split into two groups. It was kind of a pain to have to

"take turns" and wait for the other group to finish (we literally sat in

an empty field for HOURS waiting...), but it was still a really fun day. 

Have you ever been to Raging Waters?

If you have, and if you are not a total loser, you have been on a ride called Raging Rapids. 

White water rafting is a lot like Raging Rapids, except... Raging Rapids is a lot scarier hahaha.

 I don't know, I guess I was expecting it to be more of a challenge. 

Although the rapids we encountered were really fun and intense, it seemed

 like our ride consisted of a lot more peaceful rafting than ... raging.

photos courtesy of CAUC

A couple people that I spoke to told me that they have been white water

rafting in Colorado and in California and that it was much more intensive.

Guess I'm going to have to go again when I return home! 

Some Peace & Quiet

Getting settled in my new apartment & trying to register for classes has been completely 

exhausting... To retain some sanity, I have been taking solace in my pretty little room.

Exhibit A:

I hung these pretty little birdies I bought from an artisan in Chiloe (I will talk about 

Chiloe later) from a light in the center of my room and it is incredibly cathartic 

watching them spin around, casting shadows on my long red curtains.  

Exhibit B:
While on vacation in Patagonia, I read "My Life in France" by Julia Child in its entirety 

and completely fell in love. It reminded me of "Eat. Pray. Love.," I think

due to the whole "leaving your tired, old life at home and running off to discover 

a new world, and in doing so, discovering delicious foods and yourself as well!" thing.

Inspired, I walked over to the campus book shop and picked up some new/old reading material.

Exhibit C:
After a terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad morning of registering for classes,

 I dragged myself back to my apartment, ready for a long, hot shower. 

My mood completely lifted when the concierge downstairs handed me the 

bouquet of 2 dozen roses that was sitting on his desk. Anniversary gift from Bryan ♥




I mean, I guess I haven't been suffering TOO much... hehe.
I also had an amazing night out with friends this past weekend to celebrate
a friend's birthday and ended up trying duck for the first time at a little French bistro.
Yum!!! Yay for new experiences!! Speaking of which...

Our last day in el Parque Nacional Torres del Paine was spent
dillydallying over to a beautiful waterfall and encountering many, many
guanacos on the way. Guanacos are a type of llama, btw, and they
are so awesome! We were literally walking with them on the road.
And when we reached the waterfall, we were thrilled to see
that there was a rainbow over it. Absolutely breathtaking.












The waterfall was amazing and seeing it definitely inspired me to plan a trip to
Iguazu Falls in Argentina! And possibly to Niagra Falls in the more distant future.

Well it is way past bedtime here so I bid thee goodnight!
¡Buenas noches!

Ice, Ice Baby

First day of school at La Católica was amaaaazing. 

I had a communication class at one campus in the morning with two friends from

my program and I ended up befriending a really sweet brazilian girl! Funny thing: she is

also in Chile to learn Spanish (she only speaks Portuguese!) so that made things
 interesting, haha. The class was very interesting and I was amazed at how
 well I could keep up. I wasn't able to participate in the discussion

 (I just could not form the sentences quickly enough in my head!),
but I really enjoyed the dialogue and cannot wait to learn more from that class.  

In the afternoon I headed over to a different campus for an aerobics class,

met a group of exchange students from New York on the metro, and quickly

became friends with a Chilean girl in my class. She was seriously the nicest

person ever. She went with me to talk to the teacher after class, helped me register

in the office, and even waited for me so we could take the metro together. 

Why are Chileans so friendly????? 

 

Without further adieu, here are more pictures from my trip down south.

Sorry if you are getting sick of them, there are just sooo many cool things

we did and I am obligated by law to show them to my family!

After our exhausting hike to the Torres del Paine, my friends and I decided walking to 

the halfway point of the main glacier in the park, Glacier Grey, would be sufficient. 

We took it slow and had so much fun on the trail playing truth or dare,

two truths and one lie, and all those other awkwardly revealing games that 

result in you knowing way more about your friends than you ever wanted to!!

It was raining off and on that day, which ironically made the hike even more beautiful.

There was a lot of exotic plantlife and so much green everywhere --

I felt like I was walking through a rain forest! Oh and there was also 

a pretty little meadow that looked like it was straight out of Twilight!
Our skin didn't sparkle, though :(

 

The trail was beautiful, the conversation was very amusing,
and the glacier was sooo cool (hah! in more ways than one).

*jessica darling reference. please tell me somebody understands this*

Up next, chillin' with guanaco's & sittin' on a waterfall...
♥

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

So many experiences that I have had in Chile this past month (it has been a month!)

have been so new, exciting, and monumental, that I often find myself thinking,

"Why didn't I add THIS to my Day Zero Project list??" 

Luckily, while I was in Patagonia last week, amongst the many amazing things I did

that were not on my list, I was able to do two things that actually were.
#014: Go on a hike &

#015: Go camping.

My friends and I spent three days and two nights in the 

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, but the first day was definitely the hardest. 

We arrived in the park around noon, set up camp, hiked to the 

infamous Torres, and then hiked back to the campsite just before nightfall. 

That sounds really simple, I suppose, but this hike was seriously

one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. 

A few of you more experienced hikers and backpackers might find 

that amusing (especially all you that did the W circuit. Props.),

but hiking/backpacking is NOT something I am familiar with.

I have gone camping plenty of times with my family,

but our camping trips usually consist of BBQing, card games

all day, maybe a short walk to the river and/or lake to go fishing,

and fun times around the bonfire. 

I can honestly say that if I didn't have my friends there with me,

I would have turned around and walked back to the tent after a couple 

of hours of hiking. I am really, truly glad that we all decided to keep

going, because the feeling of accomplishment once we had reached the Torres

was incredible. I wish the pictures did the view justice, but they really don't.

♥