I promised a while ago that I would post one of my Pucon adventures, so here it is: Waterfall Hide-and-Seek!
In Pucon, Katy and I befriended a young German couple named Pia and Julian. They were really awesome, and as such they offered to let us tag along with them for the day! In the early afternoon we visited the Playa Blanca (White Beach) and hung around by the lake for a while. After stopping back at the hostel, we decided to check out one of Pucon's many waterfalls before the sun went down! Armed with some rudimentary directions and a map sketched on the back of a piece of paper, we set off in a little white rental car with the horsepower of a miniature pony.
We quickly exchanged the paved roads for dirt paths, which was not uncommon for Pucon -- our little white car bravely tackled the dirt mountain roads to make it to the lake in the afternoon. We were told to take a left at the fork, so we came across a fork and took a left. It was a lovely drive, and we rolled all of the windows down to enjoy the fresh air and the forest view.
As we continued to drive, the path began to get steeper, the ruts deeper, and the rocks bigger. Julian was an excellent driver, and our poor little car prevailed against all odds, but as the trees began to disappear and the area around us converted to grassy rangeland, we began to wonder if maybe we had taken a wrong turn. This did not seem like waterfall territory. Besides, we had been told that it was possible to bike to the waterfall in about an hour -- we agreed that any biker who could make it this far in an hour was probably Superman in disguise.
We stopped periodically, but we were all certain that we could hear water ahead of us, so we kept going. However, after a while (and a really foul-smelling collection of manure) Pia tentatively suggested that maybe we should turn around. Julian insisted that it was just a little farther, and we agreed that since we had made it that far, and the sun was beginning to set, that we may as well find a nice spot to watch the sunset.
Our car finally made the decision for us by getting stuck in a particularly deep rut. We looked out the window -- at this point, the road really wasn't a road anymore, and we were surrounded by farmland and a herd of traumatized cows. Pia turned to Julian and said, "Now do you think we took a wrong turn?"
Julian stuck his head out the window and looked around. "Maybe....this may have not been the right way," he conceded.
We could still hear water -- we just couldn't figure out where it was coming from! So we parked the car and got out to walk a bit. After a few minutes, we came across the source of the water, and the result of all of our driving, walking, and the considerable effort we had put into getting lost. As Katy said, she's seen better puddles in her driveway.
Although we never did find the actual waterfall, getting there was nevertheless an adventure, and it was a lot of fun to hang out with Pia and Julian. Getting lost can be quite the bonding experience, and it gave us something to chuckle about for the next few days!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Peanut Butter Power
Ok, first things first.
Mandatory Poll
How do you pronounce Reeses?
A. Obviously, it's REE-SEES.
B. It's REE-SIZ, duh.
Responses accepted in comment form.
Ok, it's really not that important. But somebody (*cough* Zach *cough*) keeps making fun of me for saying it "wrong" so I'm curious as to how everyone else says it!
My friend Katy and I really enjoy peanut butter. We splurged before our trip to Pucon and bought a jar of peanut butter to make sandwiches -- opening that jar was the most glorious moment of the whole trip (or at least pretty close to it). But you know what's even better than peanut butter? Peanut butter mixed with CHOCOLATE. So, you know, kinda like Reeses!
Unfortunately, Reeses are just not a thing in Chile. We literally have not been able to find any -- and it's usually possible to find most US candy down here, even if it is really expensive. But for some reason, we can't find Reeses! It's been quite upsetting, but we've been coping by eating ungodly quantities of ice cream, cookie dough, and manjar (sometimes all together). We tell ourselves that our metabolisms are still running on full power after climbing that volcano, so naturally we're just taking advantage of it, as any reasonable person would.
So all of this backstory leads us to this afternoon, which found Katy and I desperately combing the supermarket for some ice cream. Today was an important day -- Katy has been converting me into a Doctor Who addict, and today we began season two, with the wonderful David Tennant. If anyone has made it through the first through episodes of season two and still not proclaimed an undying love for this show, then they're obviously not trying hard enough and probably have poor taste.
How could anyone not love this show.
Moving on! So as I explained before, we had big plans for this afternoon.
The Plan
1. Buy ice cream, preferably chocolate.
2. Make cookie dough.
3. Eat and watch Doctor Who.
4. Rinse and repeat.
We were pleased to find a tub of chocolate ice cream at a moderately cheap price. Then we dropped the tub of chocolate ice cream for ice cream with peanut butter swirls. We proclaimed that life clearly could not get any better than this.
Then we saw it.
Decadent Fudge Tracks: chocolate ice cream with chocolate fudge ribbon and mini peanut butter cups.
Peanut butter cups.
We nearly started crying in the middle of the grocery store. We practically skipped home -- it was all we could do to put it away in the freezer while we made cookie dough and began planning our end-of-semester trip (we did have some work to do before the magic began). At long last, it was time. We hovered around the stove and Katy slowly peeled back the lid. The top was a smooth layer of chocolate goodness, interrupted at times by a hint of chocolate ribbon. And there it was, in the bottom right corner -- the edge of a peanut butter cup.
I was allowed to steal the first peanut butter cup, and then we almost panicked when we couldn't find a second one for Katy. The excavation began -- but it's ok, we found another one! It was heaven on earth.
All together, quite a fantastic evening -- and it wasn't accompanied by the usual mass chaos that follows us whenever we try to make anything! Maybe all of the chaos was expended in the morning, when we made empanadas with some fellow extranjeros from our university. But that's another story! In the meantime...
I've still got half a tub of ice cream waiting for me in the freezer.
Mandatory Poll
How do you pronounce Reeses?
A. Obviously, it's REE-SEES.
B. It's REE-SIZ, duh.
Responses accepted in comment form.
Ok, it's really not that important. But somebody (*cough* Zach *cough*) keeps making fun of me for saying it "wrong" so I'm curious as to how everyone else says it!
My friend Katy and I really enjoy peanut butter. We splurged before our trip to Pucon and bought a jar of peanut butter to make sandwiches -- opening that jar was the most glorious moment of the whole trip (or at least pretty close to it). But you know what's even better than peanut butter? Peanut butter mixed with CHOCOLATE. So, you know, kinda like Reeses!
Unfortunately, Reeses are just not a thing in Chile. We literally have not been able to find any -- and it's usually possible to find most US candy down here, even if it is really expensive. But for some reason, we can't find Reeses! It's been quite upsetting, but we've been coping by eating ungodly quantities of ice cream, cookie dough, and manjar (sometimes all together). We tell ourselves that our metabolisms are still running on full power after climbing that volcano, so naturally we're just taking advantage of it, as any reasonable person would.
So all of this backstory leads us to this afternoon, which found Katy and I desperately combing the supermarket for some ice cream. Today was an important day -- Katy has been converting me into a Doctor Who addict, and today we began season two, with the wonderful David Tennant. If anyone has made it through the first through episodes of season two and still not proclaimed an undying love for this show, then they're obviously not trying hard enough and probably have poor taste.
"You want weapons? We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!"
How could anyone not love this show.
Moving on! So as I explained before, we had big plans for this afternoon.
The Plan
1. Buy ice cream, preferably chocolate.
2. Make cookie dough.
3. Eat and watch Doctor Who.
4. Rinse and repeat.
We were pleased to find a tub of chocolate ice cream at a moderately cheap price. Then we dropped the tub of chocolate ice cream for ice cream with peanut butter swirls. We proclaimed that life clearly could not get any better than this.
Then we saw it.
Decadent Fudge Tracks: chocolate ice cream with chocolate fudge ribbon and mini peanut butter cups.
Peanut butter cups.
We nearly started crying in the middle of the grocery store. We practically skipped home -- it was all we could do to put it away in the freezer while we made cookie dough and began planning our end-of-semester trip (we did have some work to do before the magic began). At long last, it was time. We hovered around the stove and Katy slowly peeled back the lid. The top was a smooth layer of chocolate goodness, interrupted at times by a hint of chocolate ribbon. And there it was, in the bottom right corner -- the edge of a peanut butter cup.
I was allowed to steal the first peanut butter cup, and then we almost panicked when we couldn't find a second one for Katy. The excavation began -- but it's ok, we found another one! It was heaven on earth.
All together, quite a fantastic evening -- and it wasn't accompanied by the usual mass chaos that follows us whenever we try to make anything! Maybe all of the chaos was expended in the morning, when we made empanadas with some fellow extranjeros from our university. But that's another story! In the meantime...
I've still got half a tub of ice cream waiting for me in the freezer.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
A Special Video Just For You!
Katy and I had plans to document our experience, but in the end we only made two videos, one at our first rest stop and one at the top. I have the first video; she has the second. If I ever get a copy of her video I'll post it here, but in the meantime enjoy the first video of our Volcan Villarrica adventure!
EDIT: Here's the second video, for your viewing pleasure! We forgot it was recording towards the end, so you don't have to watch through the end unless you're unusually dedicated.
Opportunities
There are few places as full of possibility and opportunity as a full bus stop. Not a little, street-side bus stop, although those in themselves can be pretty special. I'm talking a huge, train station, airport of a bus stop. I've never been in a bus stop so large before. Airports, bus stops, train stations -- they have so much potential, so much emotion. You can stand in the crowd and almost taste it. Backpackers -- the ones just starting, bright eyed with a spring in their steps, and the returners, slower, more pensive, but with a powerful sense of energy and experience. Weary parents, laden with stuffed animals and bleary eyed toddlers. Businessmen and con men (sometimes one and the same); couples and best friends. Pacers, writers, gamers, movie watchers, music listeners. Everyone is going somewhere, but they're all stagnant, caught in this web of anticipation. We're all linked in our anticipation, excitement, anxiety, and our inability to do anything about it. It's a kind of helplessness, but a welcome one. For some, it increases the anticipation, the suspense; for others, it's a rest before the storm.
I love feelings of community like this, where people of different origins and different destinations all meet together with a common link -- in this case, that suspension in time. It's like being in limbo -- a traveller's limbo.
Some Travel-Inspired Poetry
I would like to note that I'm copying this almost word-for-word from my journal. At this point, my entry was interrupted with this gem from my friend Katy:
There once was a pick-up truck named Bob
He had one important job
To make lots of money
and put gas in his tummy
Katy likes corn on the cob
You're welcome.
This weekend, we were fortunate enough to meet so many wonderful people from all over the world. It was really such an incredible experience. I am still astounded by people and their capacity to find common ground, no matter what the situation. On Thursday night, most of the guests from the hostel sat around the same table and ate an asada together (an asada is like a Chilean barbecue -- it was delicious, and there was a loooot of meat. My dad would have approved). Between the 15 of us, we had representatives from Germany, Sweden, the US, Canada, Chile, and New Zealand. Snatches of Spanish, English, German, and Swedish flew around the wooden picnic table. It is so fascinating to me, and so amazing, that people with such different backgrounds and experiences can always find something in common to talk about around a fire or a couple pints. We are drawn together by our similarities, not pulled apart by our differences.
I love travelling, and I love talking with people who enjoy travelling. Everyone is so open and willing to share everything from stories and advice to food and even money. I think it does take a certain kind of person to be willing to travel, especially in a foreign country. Obviously every traveller is very different, in their goals, methods, and ideas, but they all have a certain drive and a certain wonder, an instinct that drives them to see more things and try out new experiences. It's a unique feeling but it was so apparent in every single person we met in Pucon. It's such a wonderful bond to share.
I have so many stories to share about my four days in Pucon -- I promise to try my best to share them all here eventually! For now, though, I have a lot of homework to catch up on. It's time to kick off my hiking boots and pull out a pen!
Or, alternatively, just go to bed. They both sound like pretty excellent plans to me.
I love feelings of community like this, where people of different origins and different destinations all meet together with a common link -- in this case, that suspension in time. It's like being in limbo -- a traveller's limbo.
Some Travel-Inspired Poetry
I would like to note that I'm copying this almost word-for-word from my journal. At this point, my entry was interrupted with this gem from my friend Katy:
There once was a pick-up truck named Bob
He had one important job
To make lots of money
and put gas in his tummy
Katy likes corn on the cob
You're welcome.
This weekend, we were fortunate enough to meet so many wonderful people from all over the world. It was really such an incredible experience. I am still astounded by people and their capacity to find common ground, no matter what the situation. On Thursday night, most of the guests from the hostel sat around the same table and ate an asada together (an asada is like a Chilean barbecue -- it was delicious, and there was a loooot of meat. My dad would have approved). Between the 15 of us, we had representatives from Germany, Sweden, the US, Canada, Chile, and New Zealand. Snatches of Spanish, English, German, and Swedish flew around the wooden picnic table. It is so fascinating to me, and so amazing, that people with such different backgrounds and experiences can always find something in common to talk about around a fire or a couple pints. We are drawn together by our similarities, not pulled apart by our differences.
I love travelling, and I love talking with people who enjoy travelling. Everyone is so open and willing to share everything from stories and advice to food and even money. I think it does take a certain kind of person to be willing to travel, especially in a foreign country. Obviously every traveller is very different, in their goals, methods, and ideas, but they all have a certain drive and a certain wonder, an instinct that drives them to see more things and try out new experiences. It's a unique feeling but it was so apparent in every single person we met in Pucon. It's such a wonderful bond to share.
I have so many stories to share about my four days in Pucon -- I promise to try my best to share them all here eventually! For now, though, I have a lot of homework to catch up on. It's time to kick off my hiking boots and pull out a pen!
Or, alternatively, just go to bed. They both sound like pretty excellent plans to me.
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