Valparaíso

I have officially been in Valparaíso for a week and I couldn't love it more.

Valparaíso is a large costal port in Chile, two hours west of Santiago. The population is 253,580 people. The neighboring city of Valparaíso is called Viña del Mar. Viña has a population of 289,970 people. People refer to Viña as more of a resort and tourist town, where Valparaíso is more of a funky town. Viña and Valparaíso make up the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Chile. When I say Valparaíso, it's safe to say I'm referring to both Valparaíso and Viña. They remind me of a mix between Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Francisco, with its own unique flavor. 

My host family is incredible. I love with my host mom, Noemi, who has such a kind heart. She's made my transition into Chilean life seemless. She also can't pronounce my name so she's taken to calling me Lee. I also have a 22 year old host sister named Javi who's studying to be a dentist. My host brother, Roberto Carlos, is only around on the weekends because he works in the Armada during the week.

Although that's my core family, there are so many more people: a cousin and her boyfriend who sleep at the apartment almost every night, a dad, another brother who's moved out with his own family, cousins, the list goes on and on. It feels like there are people always coming in and out of the apartment.

Chilean culture is entirely different than the US. The mom is the big head of house here. They do all the cooking, cleaning, and a lot of them also have jobs. My host mom cleans my room, cooks every meal for me, does my laundry, and won't let me have it any other way.

The food down here is also entirely different. Breakfast is usually a sandwhich. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and is usually sometime between 1:30-3:00. There's usually a salad of lettuce, tomato and onion, some sort of meat dish, bread, fruit, and dessert. Dinner is called "once" which means eleven. It's usually eaten between 8:00-11:00 and is sandwiches and tea. It has definitely been an adjustment learning to eat later and eat a lot of bread. People also generally don't snack, so meals are the only eating time.

Communication has been hard. In the US, my Spanish is decent, but down here, it's barely cutting it. I'm able to understand mostly everything and respond appropriately when people speak slowly. But when they speak at their normal pace, I have no idea what's going on on. I've perfected the smile and not which means, "I have no idea what's going on but I hope this is an appropriate response."

The biggest and hardest cultural difference has been the treatment of women on the street. When I walk down the street, I get catcalls. When I go on a run, I get cars honking and leering eyes. No matter where I am, I hear, "Hola preciosa" (hello precious), or, "Ay, que bonita" (how beautiful), or, "¿Qué pasa sexy?" (what's up sexy?). I have never felt more like a piece of meat. It doesn't matter what I'm doing or what I'm wearing. Here, guys think it's okay to treat women on the street with less respect. This is the hardest cultural difference to get over. I have grown up teaching and learning respect, and it's what I've come to expect. But down here, I don't get that. I'm working on internalizing the catcalls and using them to fuel my fire and make myself stand taller and stronger. At the moment, that's the best outcome I can hope comes from it. 

Beds, Showers, and Civilization

Yesterday I returned from five days of backpacking in Torres del Paine in the Chilean Patagonia and boy, am I tired. Of course I was the only "newbie" on my trip, the only one who hadn't trekked before, and this adventure was jumping in feet first.

On our five day adventure, we hiked 71.5 kilometers, which is about 45 miles. It was up and down hills and mountains, next to glaciers, lakes, rivers and rocks. We survived sun, rain, and lots of wind. One of the most amazing parts of Patagonia is that all the water you drink doesn't need to be purified. You can fill your water bottle straight from the stream and drink it because it is pure glacial melt.

The first day, we took a bus into the park, and took a catamaran across a lake. From there, we hiked up to our first night of camping at Glacier Grey. Here's a little excerpt from my journal to give you some insight into the weather the first day: On our hike today, each of us almost fell over from the wind about five times. On top of that, I was convinced that someone was throwing rocks that were hitting my face, but it was actually water that the wind was picking up and throwing on top of us.

The second day we hiked from Glacier Grey to Campamento Italiano, where we spent the second night. This required us hiking back the way we had been before, and then down next to another lake. When we got to Campamento Italiano, we chose a campsite right next to the river. Listening to the river as we fell asleep was incredibly soothing.

The third day we got to hike with just our day packs into Valle Frances. We hiked to a mirador, which is a viewpoint, and saw mountains on one side of us and a glacier on the other. This was probably my favorite view of the entire trip. Everywhere you looked was something incredible nature had created. On our hike to our next campsite, we stopped at a beach by a glacier lake and put our feet in the ice cold water.

The fourth day was the hardest day. We had 16 kilometers basically straight up a mountain to hike. We left early in the morning and by mid-afternoon we arrived at our campsite. We all decided this was the best place we'd stayed. The campsite was at the base of the towers, for which the park was named after, so it was only a short 1 mile hike to see them.

Day five we woke up at 5:00am and hiked up to the towers in the dark to watch the sun rise over them. We brought our sleeping bags with us and ate the Milky Ways that we had bought in town before we left. The sunset turned the towers orange which was amazing to see. After that we hiked back down to the bottom and caught a bus back to Puerto Natales.

Overall, as difficult and hard as this excursion was, it was entirely worth it. I got to spend five days with four incredible young woman, do something that I had never done before, and see nature in an entirely new light. It was so eye opening to see all these sights and realize how insignificant your role in the world is compared to everything in the park. Compared to these glaciers, mountains, and rock formations, we are nothing.

Tomorrow we  catch our flight up to Santiago before our program starts. As astounding as my time in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine has been, it is time to look onward to the next adventure and see what Valparaíso has in store for me.

Well, the time has finally arrived and tomorrow I leave for Chile. It's weird to think that I won't be in the US for the next 5 months; I won't be surrounded by a language I know, a culture I understand, and I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb. Despite all this, I'm excited for the adventure.

Before my orientation begins on February 19th, I am meeting up with four Lewis & Clark friends to go backpacking through Torres del Paine in the Chilean Patagonia. From there, we continue our journey to Valparaíso, Chile to begin our study abroad program.

I'm hoping to update this blog as much as possible, posting pictures and explaining my adventures. The time has come to leave behind anything that's familiar to me and immerse myself in the unknown. Goodbye comfort, and hello adventure!