living tranki

Since I´ve moved, I have definitely gotten more into a routine. I get up in the morning, make me some coffee (I HAVE A COFFEE MAKER IN MY NEW PLACE...CLUTCH)...and have granola with warm milk due to the frigidness of the mornings. Just too cold for cereal with cold milk.

Work is about a 10 min walk from home..maybs 15 if I am particularly sluggish and not entirely awake. This time of year we are wrapping up all the projects from the year, and have a big event next Friday. After that, it's a lot of paperwork and planning for next year!

After work, I tend to get a few groceries. Shnacks, and something for dinner. Then, Every other day, sometimes more, after work I like to go jogging along the costanera (the street on the lake Llanquihue). It's pristine and gorgeousss. When there aren't too many clouds or volcanic ash...you can see the Volcanoes (Osorno and Calbuco) which are stunning.

Next week is thanksgiving..hard not to be at home, but I'll probs be doing something with the gaggling of gringos living here in PV. THere are quite a few of us. It's impressive how many foreigners have found their way to PV and stayed here! IT's just that GORGEOUS...and tranki.

The ash from Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano has been spewing since June. Fortunately, here in PV we don't normally have many negative affects. A large chunk of the ash has been blowing east to Argentina. Even still, flights going north in Chile are hard to come by, so anytime you need to go to Santiago or fly thru Santiago, odds are you're flight might be cancelled. Accordingly, I am taking the bus to Santiago to leave for Xmas. 13 hours on a bus is worth it to make sure I get to be home for the holidays :)

This Thursday, the PiLA who is in Bariloche Argentina (Zoe) arrived for the weekend (she's doing a visa run...aka she entered Argentina on a tourist visa and thus needs to leave the country every 90 days to renew it). She was telling us how bad the ash is in Bariloche and the whole city is going into an economic depression due to NO tourists and all the businesses are closing. It's very sad, bc Bariloche (though I've never been) is a natural paradise of lakes and mountains that is now covered in toxic ash :( It's nice having Zoe visit, and despite the disarray of Bariloche, I will probs go in a few weeks! It's only a 6 hour bus-ride away!

Today there is a possibility of hiking or something outdoorsy..depends on if it downpours or not. We'll see.

Next weekend I'll be trekking up to Santiago again for a work thing the following Monday...and then a few weeks after that, I'll be heading home for 2 weeks!

Puerto Varas and long weekend in Buenos Aires

So I have been here in Puerto Varas for a month exactly (today). The cold has been an adjustment and the slower paced small-town lifestyle is also new. BUT, I am settling in quite well. In the last week of October, I moved to a new house. A friend of some of the Americans I know down here was renting this room, and then he moved to another part of Chile, so he offered it up to me! The house is a little bit further away from the center, but it's only a 10 minute walk to work. My room is much dryer, gets natural sunlight all daylong, and there's no mold! WOOT. 3 other women live in the house: the owner, her cousin, and this other girl in her late-twenties who's a massage therapist!

The house is itty-bitty, but it's comfortable and warm. Which is what I was looking for! My internet got installed yesterday, so I have everything I need! I can see myself staying here through the summer months and then maybe finding a new place afterwards. It would be nice to end up living with friends, because it's somewhat isolating to be in a house with none of the people you hang out with.

I have been spending time with Jess, Mai Ann and Janine (the 3 other Americans, all former PiLAs that are still here in PV). And they have been introducing me to their friends, etc. They all hang out with the mens rugby team here, AND I was talking with some of the mens players last night, and they would totally back me if I wanted to get a women's team together! So over the next few weeks and months, I am going to start investigating that...apparently 3 years ago, there was a women's team, but wasn't very organized and fell apart. BUT, there are women interested in playing,...and that's all you need to start a team!

Work is good. I've been getting more and more responsibility and this time of year is very busy here, because we 'wrapping the year up' with events, etc. Our anual Seminar is November 25th (So soon) which is a huge event with important speakers, etc. Also, our major government funded project ends in December, so all the reporting/financial stuff needs to be turned in over the course of the next month. But I am liking it. AND starting in January, I get to work on new projects...of my choosing! So it's nice to have that kind of freedom to really take the bull by the horns and do what I want.

Last week I got my ticket home for Christmas...which I am so excited for. I haven't been out of the US for so long...it's only been about 3 months at this point, BUT now that I am in CHile where everything is a lot more foreign and unfamiliar, missing home happens quite a bit.

BUT, this past weekend, we had a long weekend here in Chile..So i took that opportunity to go to Buenos Aires! I left PV Thursday Oct. 27th on a bus to Santiago. I got in Friday morning, worked all day in the Santiago office and then headed to Fran's house to chill for a bit. I slept till 430am and then headed to the airport for a 720am flight. I got into BsAs on time...Customs was kind of a bitch because about a gagillion people arrived at the airport in BsAs when i did...from every country in Europe.

Mati picked me up at the airport and brought COOPER!!!! Who was sooo excited to see me (Cooper...and Mati obvs). I swear Cooper recognized me! We headed back to Capital and had coffee at El Destino...which USED to have some of the best medialunas around, but they got a new baker,...and they're not AS good. I'm gonna have to find a new spot. Afterwards Mati and I packed up to head to La Plata (with Coop) to spend the afternoon with his family. His baby nephews are getting so big and it's just sooo cute. His parents' dog just had puppies too, so there were oodles of puppies and babies to play with. BLISS.

Mati and I (with Catalina and Santi -his niece and nephew) went together to buy tickets for the Semi-final rugby match between San Luis (mati's old team growing up) and SIC (another team from Buenos Aires). Later that night, we went to Manu's (one of Mati's closest childhood friends) place and had a few beers and a picada before heading to the game. The game was SPECTACULAR....so intense. Sadly, San Luis lost, but it came down to the last second when San Luis scored a try and they were down by 2 (so they just needed the kick for the points after)...but the try was scored in the far corner of the try zone, so it was a really hard kick to make...and the poor guys missed it. Not by much..but he did. Nevertheless, it was very exciting. We headed back to Mati's parent's house, had dinner and then drove back to Capital (to return the car we borrowed from Gaby, a friend of Mati's). I was soooo tired from my trip that I passed out in the car..mouth wide-open, druelling...the works.

We had to get up really early the next day because Mati had a game at 10am. We took Cooper, which was fun. He ran around like a maniac. Mati played scrumhalf (which he normally doesn't do for this particular team) and the game was excting..but they lost. The team they played was quite strong. We went back with Ruleman (mati's rugby friend) to his place, because he has a dog too...a giant pitbully type dog who is really sweet, but is bigger so sometimes he would stomp all over Cooper without intending to....They played like maniacs and then Cooper was nearly comatose he was so tired by the end of the day.

Mati and I cooked steak for dinner! Yummy.

Monday we did a bunch of errands in the morning, with Cooper...and then we both headed downtown so Mati could go to work and so I could go buy the list of things that people in CHile had asked me for. Monday night Mati cooked an amazing Pasta dish with a whitewine cream sauce, ham, onions, panceta, mushrooms, and Chicken. YUM

Tuesday I just kindof hung around Devoto and played with Cooper a bunch. I had to get up at 3am on Wednesday to get on a 615am flight back to Santiago. I got into Santiago at around 830am and had a long van-ride to the office. The driver literally drove around in circle sin downtown Santiago. I made it to work...delirious from lack of sleep and worked all day. I headed to the bus station, via subway...with my giant hiking backpack and just bummed around the bus terminal till my bus left at 915pm. I was so tired on the bus that I didn't even watch the crappy movie they always put on.which I normally love. I got in a little late to PV (at around 945am) and headed straight to work (thursday Nov. 3rd). Thursday afternoon and evening I was kind of a zombie and just went to sleep. Same deal Friday night because I hadn't so much recovered from so much travelling and lack of sleep. Saturday I went for a gorgeous run along the lake..truly spectacular...so much so that I ran 10 minutes more than my standard 30 minute jog. HAHA. I had to hang around the house most of the day Saturday because the internet man came to install an antena on the roof, etc.

THEN Saturday night, I went to Janine's house for a little Mexican fiesta. Her friends from college, who she met while studying abroad in Mexico, are here visiting...There was margaritas, guacamole, pico de gallo, and refried beans...also BLISS! twas quite fun.

So yeah..I am getting into somewhat of a routine here in PV. It's still new, but between work, the gorgeous natural beauty...and the possibility of RUGBY....I am very excited for what's to come!