The End of the Earth

It has been a month since I last posted an entry, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I have been busy traveling, teaching, and studying, and I usually don't feel like writing in my free time! I'm going to try to post a couple of entries that will get this blog up to date, and this first entry is the story of my glorious adventure to the ''end of the Earth'', i.e. Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

In the middle of May, I went with Eduardo and Diane to Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, and the Torres del Paine national park outside of Puerto Natales. I discovered a totally different part of Chile that, to be, seems more interesting and aesthetically pleasing. The people in Concepción are great, but it is quite an ugly city, to tell the truth. I like the little communities outside of Concepción because they are usually prettier and have a more soulful feeling to them (perhaps I am romanticizing the countryside, but I assure you, I am no right-wing nationalist), but they lack the convenience of city life. I found Punta Arenas to be a mixture of those two: a small city that had enough diversions to keep a person entertained, but also pretty, clean, and full of history. Immigrants from Great Britain, Croatia, Germany, and other European countries settled here; not just Spaniards (and of course indigenous peoples, but I am talking about immigrants).

We got to see some important sites in Punta Arenas, such as Fuerte Bulnes. It was a fort and settlement where ruffians of England lived, sometimes as punishment. The fort is famous (here, at least) because the community rebelled and liberated itself. That must have been a hell of a day.

We also visited the city cemetary. Doesn't sound interesting, but it was. It is full of mausoleums of various sizes and designs--and a various family names. There one can see the tremendous Croatian hertiage of the city. Behind the giant monuments and mausoleums were bigger mausoleums that held many of the deceased of less wealthy stock. Eduardo asked why I took a photo of them sine they were so ugly, and I replied that it was reality, ugly or not.

Our trip to Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine was wonderful. We stayed in a very nice hostel for a cheap, low-season rate. Puerto Natales is quite small, so there wasn't as much to do, but we went there because of the park anyway. We took a guided tour on a minibus with a group of young women from Hong Kong and a man from Holland. Hiking would have been nice, but it would have required several days and warmer weather. Still, we got to see all the high points of the park, including the torres del paine (or the stone towers) and the cuernos (horns--smaller than the torres), a couple of beautiful lakes, and a waterfall. We didn't make it to Glacier Grey because it was way on the other side of the park. Being in the park made me feel calm, which was a nice turn from the rest of the trip. I sort of had wanted to strangle Eduardo for most of the trip, because he decided to be in control of everything. He has some idea that he needs to take care of us, but there's not a huge age difference! I think Diane and I are a little more mature than him, anyway.

Enough venting. Eduardo and I did have a fun time at the Austral brewery, but unfortunately Diane had had to leave. We got to drink a lot of beer, and we bought souvenir glasses. Austral beer is pretty tasty. My favorite is Austral Calafate, which contains extract from the calafate fruit, which we don't have in the U.S. Too bad the beer isn't available back home.

I also turned 24 in Punta Arenas. It was on a Monday, and Diane, Eduardo, and I had a nice lunch at a fancy restaurant after we returned to Punta Arenas from Puerto Natales. That night, Eduardo, his cousin Rodrigo whose hostel we stayed at, and I went out for drinks, and I had a slice of alfajor cake (crispy layers of pastry and manjar, which is like a mix between dulce de leche and caramel). Truthfully, I spent most of my birthday being cold, achy, and sad. May is basically wintertime in Chile, especially in the South; I'm used to having a springtime birthday! I missed my friends and family, and my phone wasn't working, so I couldn't talk to any of those who tried to call. I have had some awesome birthdays in the past few years, though, so surely one mediocre one won't hurt me.

The day after my birthday, I took a ride on a ferry across the Strait of Magellan. As a history person, this was pretty exciting for me, even though I always hated studying the exploration period in school. I went to the small town of Porvenir in Tierra del Fuego. Porvenir is not much, but at least I can say that I crossed the Strait of Magellan and have been to Tierra del Fuego! A Chilean man of Croatian descent who had been on the ferry offered to show me around town after handing me a business card for his mom-and-pop travel service. He drove me around the little town and showed me the main points of interest, like the church, the plaza, and a museum that told of the city's history. In the end, he didn't charge me anything and refused to take anythign I offered him! I had only a couple of hours in Porvenir before it was time to board the ferry again. It's a three-hour ride, and since the sun sets earlier in the winter, the return trips are right after lunch. Still, it was worth it.

I am so, so glad I went to Punta Arenas, Torres del Paine, and Tierra del Fuego, even if it wasn't in the springtime. It gave me a new appreciation for Chile and its natural wonders. Who knows, maybe I'll have the chance to go back someday when it's not so cold!