Curico, Iloca and El Parque Ingles

We've had a wonderful stay here in Curico with many exciting adventures. On Monday we spent the day in the quiet beach town of Iloca, about 2 hours from our current headquaters in Curico. I loved that the main activity for the day was eating lunch! The food was delicious and we all ended up way to full of seafood and wine. It was so wonderful to be the only people in the whole restaurant/hotel. Our hosts were so gracious to allow us to have a relaxing day at the coast.

On Tuesday, we went to Molina to meet our Rotary hosts for the day. They took us to El Parque Ingles, a national park outside of Molina with beautiful waterfalls. Again, the main activity of the day was eating lunch and enjoying the scenery. We had to ride for one hour on a very bumpy dirtroad at very high speeds to get to the top, but in the end it was well worth it. We stopped first at Bridal Veil falls (we have one of those in NC!) and then went to the top for lunch in an adorable country restaurant. Once again we were the only ones there so we got excellent service! On the way down, we stopped to see another waterfall just before dark. What a great day!

Out of the big city....

I just woke up from a wonderful nap at my new host family's house in Curicó. We traveled here by train today (2 hour ride) and got scooped up and taken to our new abodes where we will remain for 4 nights (until Thursday). Melinda, my teammate and I, are staying at the same house with Jimena (yes, another Jimena!) Adrian and their son Adrian, but we both have our own room. The house is beautiful and sooo quiet with a huge back yard, complete with pool and 2 doggies! Definitely a breath of fresh air after 11 days in the noisy city of Santiago.

To catch you up on the last few days, I'll share some pictures.
On Thursday our group spent the day in the town of San Bernardo, which is about 25 minutes outside of Santiago. In this picture, we are standing outside of a snail-breeding greenhouse. One of the San Bernardo Rotarians, Clara, recently started a pilot project which allows mentally handicapped people to raise snails (that is what she does professionally). Who knew that raising snails was such an interesting and lucrative business?! She exports her snails to distributors to sell as escargot to restaurants and also sells snail "spit" to laboratories who sell it to cosmetic companies to put into creams and make up.

In San Bernardo we also visited the town hall and met the mayor and saw their modern cathedral. After eating lunch at the Rotary club and doing a brief presentation there, we visted a winery that is run by the army (could you imagine that happening in the states?!). Everthing there was done the old fashioned way...by hand! We got a kick out of the whole process and enjoyed our wine tasting. We headed back to Santiago in the evening.

On Friday we spent a wonderful day at the beach in Viña del Mar and Valparaiso, which are two beach towns that have grown together into a metropolis of about 1 million people. It was beautiful! We walked on the beach in Viña and then headed to Valpo for the afternoon. We rode up to the top of the city (similar feel to San Francisco) on a furnicular to see the beautiful views of the city and enjoyed a Pizco Sour at the top and a little bit of shopping before heading to lunch at a wonderful seafood restaurant. After lunch, we visited the Congress, where the national legistalture meets and had a very informative tour. We headed back to Santiago that evening after sunset, exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep.

On Saturday, I spent the morning reading and journaling and in the afternoon our group presented at the Rotary District Conference. Our presentation went really well! After that, we celebrated with a "completo" sandwich in downtown Santiago. Then Jimena and I went shopping before meeting up with Javier and Mike and his family for dinner at Tip y Tap. It was a wonderful last day in Santiago.

It was kind of sad to leave the city this morning, though being in the countryside feels like ahhhhhhhhhhhh.
Shortly we are headed to a BBQ with the rest of out group. I hope to be better at blogging this week!

Back to it....

It's been a few days since my last update so now's the time to catch you up on what's been going on this week. On Monday I stayed home and hung out with my family in the morning and met up with my group in the afternoon for a visit to a school for young people who have had difficulty finishing high school, for adults who want to finish high school and for deaf people. It was very interesting to exchange ideas with the teachers and principals and talk about ways that we can support one another. The school is privately owned but gets money from the government. The people who work there are some of the warmest and friendliest people I have ever met.

On Tuesday, after visiting one of the municipalities within Santiago and hearing about how the local government works, we headed up the curviest road I've ever been on to visit a school on the side of the Andes mountains. It was a very small school (only 56 students) with integrated classes that serves the ski village of Farellones. The school only goes to the 8th grade and from there children have to go to Santiago for high school (down the curvy road one hour!). They are working to build a high school very soon so this doesn't have to happen. Probably one of the coolest things about the school is that in winter they have 2 afternoons a week on the slopes! Many of the students end up being ski professionals because they start skiing when they are only 3 years old!
After our adventure in the mountains, we came down to have a bbq at a Rotarian's house. We had a blast and ate some delicious steaks. That night we went to a Rotary (Lo Barnachea-El Golf) with a wonderful group of people at an adorable restaurant with awesome food. Great day!

On Wednesday, we spent the morning at the University of Chile learning about how the higher education system works here and then it was off to the Santiago Rotary Club for our biggest presentation yet. The space was beautiful and the people were very friendly. Our presentation went OK but I definitely thought it could have been better. After speaking with my group and other Rotarians it seems that the best solution is to keep this thing short and simple. In the afternoon on Wednesday we went to visit the Palacio de la Moneda where the president works. It was a neat building and our guide told us lots of interesting facts. The president (who is a divorced, agnostic woman in a very Catholic country) was there swearing in some new ambassadors so it was quite the spectacle with red carpets, a military band and lots of press. After our visit we returned to the place where we had our Rotary meeting to sit down and chat before returning home for the evening. Today we are headed to San Bernardo to a Rotary meeting there (40 minutes from Santiago) and to possibly visit a vineyard. I'm looking forward to another great day!

Am I in heaven?

Yesterday my family took me to the Tarapaca winery in the Maipo wine region about one hour outside of Santiago. My "mom's" sister and brother-in-law (Maria and Rodrigo) live on the grounds because he is one of the supervisors there.

It was probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen! The winery sits in a valley surrounded by gorgeous tall mountains that are lined with grapevines. The house that I'm standing in front of is the old vineyard house, which has been converted into a hotel and meeting place for weddings and events.

The vineyard was even cooler because it had a few golf holes! This is definitely a place that I'd love to visit again (next time I'll be sure to bring my clubs!).

Apart from the amazing scenery, we had a delicious lunch of grilled salmon and a fresh organic salad with ingredients straight from Maria's garden. Yummy!

Day in the country and night with my cousin

Saturday was an interesting and fun day. I went with my "mom and dad" to the Chilean countryside to hang out with my "dad's" GSE team from last year at one of their parent's house. We had some AMAZING food! Lots of fresh veggies and meat for lunch and fresh papaya and ice cream for dessert. Yum! We sat around the table and talked about lots of different subjects and most of the time I just listened, understanding about 65% of what was said. I will catch on to this Chilean accent soon!

That night, I met up with my cousin Joe and his girlfriend Ashley for dinner. I felt like a little kid because my "parents" dropped me off and picked me up. Too cute. After a long day listening to Spanish, it was nice to converse with them in English. I'm so glad that we got to get together south of the equator. Today my family and I are going back to the countryside to visit the vineyard that my "mom's" sister and brother-in-law own.

The weather is once again beautiful and sun-shiny and unseasonably warm.

Tired to the bone and loving it!

I can't remember the last time I had breakfast in bed, but this morning my host mom and dad brought in a tray with coffee, toast with homemade jam, juice and fruit while I was Skyping with Chris for my pure enjoyment. I'm still laying here as I write this, hoping that the coffee will kick in (and fast). Though I am feeling the effects of 2 days of running around Santiago all day long with few breaks, I couldn't be more content. This is a beautiful city and the people are AMAZING.

Yesterday we went to the Supreme Court in the morning, the Public Market midday and the National Museum and Cathedral in the late afternoon. Last night we got together at a Rotarian's house with Rotarians from the district, including the district governor, and the GSE group that is leaving for Western NC on Sunday. We had a great time visiting and drinking Pizco sours. I was home by 10:45 and knocked out cold by 11. Today while the rest of my team visits Cajon del Maipo I am going with my Chilean mom and dad to meet up with my dad's GSE team from last year that went to Germany (he was a team leader on the trip!). We are driving an hour and a half to the mountains to have a cookout. Though I will miss my American teammates, I am excited to spend the whole day in Spanish in a place where no tourists ever goes with people who treat me like a princess! Sounds pretty good, huh?

Santiago, Day 2

I'm too tired to write very much! It's almost 2 am and it's been a long and wonderful day! Our team rocks!! In this photo we are with the mayor (white shirt) of one of the neighborhoods of Santiago. There are 40 neighborhoods and each one has it's own mayor, trash pick up, public health system and school system...very interesting! We are having experiences that tourist would never have. I'll write more tomorrow. Now it's time for bed!

Santiago, Day 1 with My Family

Day One in Santiago was fantastico! I spent the day with Javier and Ximena (pictured here), mostly in their home. We ate a fabulous seafood lunch, took a siesta and then later in the evening went to the shopping mall. After shopping, we came home and had a cheese, fruit and wine dinner. Delicioso! I am looking forward to a day with our team doing a vocational visit and touring Santiago today. We have our first presentation at a Rotary club tonight.

We're here!

I am writing this blog from Santiago, Chile in the home of Javier and Ximena Cuevas. It is a beautiful and warm day in the city. We arrived around 8am this morning and were pleasantly surprised to find out that we're in the same time zone as home. No jet lag definitely makes the trip much easier!

Today I am spending the day with Javier and Ximena. I have my own room and bathroom and already feel so much at home. They have been wonderful to me so far and I am really loving speaking in Spanish again! We are planning to have lunch, then a siesta (yay!) and then possibly go shopping or explore the city a little bit. The rest of our team is spending the day with their families. We will get together again tomorrow!
Hasta luego!

Less than one week...

What a beautiful city!! I cannot believe that this time next week our GSE team will be in Santiago, Chile. I am really excited and have so much to get together before leaving.

I looked up the weather and it looks like it's going to be in the mid-70's to 80's, at least for the first part of the trip. The exchange rate is 582 Chilean pesos to $1 (today at least), though it's hard to know exactly how much that is since we don't really know how much things cost. I look forward to updating my blog with photos and great stories while I'm there.