Thursday, December 04, 2003
I just emailed my final paper to myself. done done done. two whole months of freedom freedom freedom. I`m...confused. it happened so fast- I see my parents in 12 days, in 12 days I`m at my grandfather`s, struggling to speak in spanish, eating mango and papaya and picking up the thread of my life that was left, dangling, when I boarded the plan with Scott in July. exactly 5 months earlier. even though I`m not coming home home til January 22, home enough, more and more, is the Dominican Republic, because thats where my parents and familiarity are. Easter Island, Isla de Pascua, Rapa Nui, is almost being eclipsed, by the enormousness of the semester behind me, the strangeness of the return to come- and thats not right!
I promised James before I left that a blog would be incisive and insightful commentary on Chilean life and culture, and not personal ramblings. But well, I feel like it. and he`s probably not reading anyway:-)
La Serena! serene. I ended up going, just went to the bus station and a practically empty bus took off 30 minutes later with me in it. The closer I got, the more I wondered what the heck I was doing, going alone (Scott, meanwhile, had a parallel adventure in St. Martin de los Andes, though his involved Jews and hiking while mine touched upon Aussies and penguins). only was momentarily distracted by Parque Nacional Fray Jorge, a remnent of Valdivian cloud forest about 1000 miles north of where it should be ecologically. But when I got to the bus terminal, I was swept along by Andres from Maria`s Casa, and fed strawberries and bananas with condensed milk, and given a pretty room, and met two Australians, Marcus and Jerome, and translated tour pitches for them, and bought hallulahs and cheese in the supermarket thinking of what has become trip routine...and was on a van bound for the Observatorio Mamalluca in Vicuña. While there are bigger and fancier observatories (the area is known for its clear skies) in the others you can`t see the moon soclose up- it was incredible.
Monday I stumbled out of bed and went on a tour of Reserva Nacional los Pinguinos de Humboldt, a long car ride and chilly boat ride away. Most of the little magellanic penguins were up in the caves nesting (so they said) but the sea lions were gorgeous, lolling about on the rocks. The islands were pretty too- three small ones off the coast near tiny Punta Choros. Upon return I walked in the direction of La Serena`s Japanese Gardens, totally overshot them, and got to the beach by sunset. Back at the hostel, the dinner table group was comprised of the Australians, a New Zealander, two English girls, a South African couple, and a girl from Switzerland. All on their way or back from the Bolivia Peru circuit.
Tuesday, a swing by the market, then a bus to Vicuña again, this time for a tour of the Capel pisco factory. On my way there I met two more Australians, Amanda and Mirella, who had been working in Dublin (!) and were on their way back from Peru as well. Vicuña is the birthplace of Nobel prize winner Gabriela Mistral, and we walked through the museum devoted to her before dinner. Back in La Serena, I took advantage of Dia de la Cinema in Chile and saw El Amor cuesta...caro (aka Intolerable Cruelty).
Wednesday, the archeological museum, and an early (and rather boring, but for finishing the wonderful Mrs. Dalloway) bus ride home. feeling guilty for the trip, on the eve of what was supposed to be my relaxing end of semester blow out trip. but hey- I wanted to see the area. I wanted to prove I could travel by myself, and I didn´t have all that much to do in Santiago....now that I`m done done done, but for printing and turning in my not so master opus on the Chilean parliamentary elections of 1894.
I promised James before I left that a blog would be incisive and insightful commentary on Chilean life and culture, and not personal ramblings. But well, I feel like it. and he`s probably not reading anyway:-)
La Serena! serene. I ended up going, just went to the bus station and a practically empty bus took off 30 minutes later with me in it. The closer I got, the more I wondered what the heck I was doing, going alone (Scott, meanwhile, had a parallel adventure in St. Martin de los Andes, though his involved Jews and hiking while mine touched upon Aussies and penguins). only was momentarily distracted by Parque Nacional Fray Jorge, a remnent of Valdivian cloud forest about 1000 miles north of where it should be ecologically. But when I got to the bus terminal, I was swept along by Andres from Maria`s Casa, and fed strawberries and bananas with condensed milk, and given a pretty room, and met two Australians, Marcus and Jerome, and translated tour pitches for them, and bought hallulahs and cheese in the supermarket thinking of what has become trip routine...and was on a van bound for the Observatorio Mamalluca in Vicuña. While there are bigger and fancier observatories (the area is known for its clear skies) in the others you can`t see the moon soclose up- it was incredible.
Monday I stumbled out of bed and went on a tour of Reserva Nacional los Pinguinos de Humboldt, a long car ride and chilly boat ride away. Most of the little magellanic penguins were up in the caves nesting (so they said) but the sea lions were gorgeous, lolling about on the rocks. The islands were pretty too- three small ones off the coast near tiny Punta Choros. Upon return I walked in the direction of La Serena`s Japanese Gardens, totally overshot them, and got to the beach by sunset. Back at the hostel, the dinner table group was comprised of the Australians, a New Zealander, two English girls, a South African couple, and a girl from Switzerland. All on their way or back from the Bolivia Peru circuit.
Tuesday, a swing by the market, then a bus to Vicuña again, this time for a tour of the Capel pisco factory. On my way there I met two more Australians, Amanda and Mirella, who had been working in Dublin (!) and were on their way back from Peru as well. Vicuña is the birthplace of Nobel prize winner Gabriela Mistral, and we walked through the museum devoted to her before dinner. Back in La Serena, I took advantage of Dia de la Cinema in Chile and saw El Amor cuesta...caro (aka Intolerable Cruelty).
Wednesday, the archeological museum, and an early (and rather boring, but for finishing the wonderful Mrs. Dalloway) bus ride home. feeling guilty for the trip, on the eve of what was supposed to be my relaxing end of semester blow out trip. but hey- I wanted to see the area. I wanted to prove I could travel by myself, and I didn´t have all that much to do in Santiago....now that I`m done done done, but for printing and turning in my not so master opus on the Chilean parliamentary elections of 1894.
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