Leah Looks Under the Equator: a Travelogue: A selection of photos! Finally!

Hey look! You get some photos! These are a selection of some photos from Chile, starting with my hike in Yerba Loca, outside of Santiago, and going back to Iquique. It has been so long since I put up pictures that it is impossible to really show my trip. Maybe if I have time later on I´ll put some more up on Facebook or some other photo sharing site. (I´m trying to move more and more away from using Facebook).

I have been in Valparaiso for a few days and I´m getting restless. Southern Chile is where all of the "good" stuff is and I feel as though it is taking me forever to get there and that I´m going to end up rushing once I´m there. Also, because my trip is so unplanned and things are busier in Southern Chile I am realizing that there are lots of things I wanted to do that I may not get to do (3 day "cruise" from Puerto Montt to Patagonia being one of them). My unplannedness is feeling very uncomfortable and I am really struggling to actually plan it all out while also exploring the places that I am. Ugh.

Valparaiso is an important port city and 150 years ago it was the most important port city in South America. This means that it used to have a lot of money and all of these foreign dudes from England and France built themselves some huge fancy houses. These houses are all now a little ramshackle and weathered, but still beautiful. The house I am currently staying in has ceilings that are like 20 feet high. I don´t think I´m exaggerating. The best thing about the city is the art and the color. The houses are different shades of purple and blue and yellow and green and just lively and wonderful. And every other person here seems to be an artist either selling their goods on the street or in a little shop. The arty vibe actually reminds me of Portland a little.

Some notes on Chile: First of all Chileans speak Spanish as much as Americans speak English, which is to say they speak their own version of the language. They have so many words that no one else uses. Examples: pololo=novio/boyfriend, sipo=si, pues/yes, of course, chivay=intiendo/understand/got it, choclo=maiz/corn. Secondly I learned the hard way that the way an American rights a 7 equals a 1 here (someone elses Chilean cell phone number got 2,000 pesos of credit...). People talk about earthquakes ALL the time. Earthquakes are very common here and Chile is coming up on the 1 year anniversary of a the last large one (February 27, 2010). Earthquakes are more common as you move south I really think that someone has mentioned earthquakes to me every day since I made it to Santiago. Seeing the contrast between Chile and Central America has been really interesting. Similar to the United States Chile (and Argentina) bribed foreigners with free land to get them to come and settle the country. This means that much of Chile has European roots. Plus the country is much wealthier than Central America (and its northern neighbors). I had a really interesting conversation with my CS host and his girlfriend the other night about their travels in Europe. They said that they didn´t experience any racism but they have a friend who looks very indigenous who had problems with racism all over Europe and they know people who look indigenous, people with an education and good jobs, who were denied visas in Spain. They also spoke with frustration about the amount of paperwork they have to go through to get a visa to the United States, hinting that the USA makes them go through this much paperwork to make sure that they aren´t going to try and stay in the USA to work after arriving.

The photos:

This is the most amazing thing ever and I want one. It is a Chilean invention, it is a sleeping bag suit. I tried to buy one in Santiago but the two stores were closed. You can buy it on Amazon.com so I might just buy one once I get back to the states, though they are more expensive then.

Felipe and my reaction upon "reaching" the glacier. The glacier is right above Felipe´s head. What you couldn´t figure that out on your own?

Sunset, Yerba Loca, as seen from where we were camping

Carlos´s aunt, mom, and cousin with Clarence

Me eating my first sopaipilla

Me and Carlos, my new Chilean best friend, in Valdivia de Paine

Sopaipilla, uneaten

Humberstone Nitrate plant (ghost town). Don´t you wanna live out here?

Picture of tins that I really liked from Humberstone

Humberstone, inside a building

Iquique

Llama!

Lago Chungara in Parque Nacional Lauca. This is the highest freshwater, non-navigable lake. Lake Titicaca is a few meter lower but is navigable so it gets more press, much to some Chileans dismay