Mountains, Futbol, and Tanning

Buenas Madrugada,

It's 12:13 AM Chile/Ontario time, and I am about to head to bed. The past few days have been busy and fun. We went to La Parva area where there are 3 of Chile's main ski resorts as well as a national park, "Yerba Loca". The road from Santiago to the higher area involves steep, continuously turning and switchbacking, and very thin roads - barely wide enough for one vehicle.

We set up camp on a plateu on private property - this was at about 2000 meters altitude. At night it got pretty chilly, probably around -15 but in the day time it warmed up to about 15. On Saturday we started hiking at 10 and headed up to the first visible peak. Just starting out I realized how hard it is to work at high altitude. Walking was slow, steps were small, and my heart was beating hard. La Parva is a beautiful area - pictures are up on Facebook - the hiking was mainly on steep and rocky terrain so I had to keep my eyes on where my feet should go. Walking effeciently saves you oxygen and work. But when I did get a chance to look around and see the vistas, I was very happy to be there, and not in Santiago. In the distance, past ranges of mountains, Santiago (or the smog of Santiago) was visible in the daytime, and the city's light pollution was very visible in the night time.

After our day of hiking (about 7 hours) we decended back to camp for guacamole and spaghetti and another cold night. Fortunately, I decided to bring my -18 sleeping bag with me instead of my summer bag. Mmm, cozy.

On Sunday, we were picked up by Luis (Viviane's driver) at 11 AM and he drove us back to Santiago. He took us to Viviane's house where we dropped off her camping gear and organized that afternoon's events. Viviane had bought five tickets to a futbol game on our request, as well as one for an escort.

That evening we went to one of the year's biggest futbol games. Colo Colo vs Universidad de Chile. Both teams play in the same elite international league, and both are from Santiago. So there is a yearly game between the two which is accompanied by ridiculous fan bases clashing in and out of the stadium. Check out Colo colo Universidad Chile on you tube and you'll see some crazy videos similar to what we saw.

I was very glad that Viviane had a friend escort us because it was very important that we enter in the right area and time, get seats in the right area, and exit in the right manner and time. Otherwise, we may have ended up in some significant trouble.

The game and madness provided by the fans were epic and entertaining. After the game as we were leaving, rocks were thrown at us by a mass of Colo Colo fans, but we were protected by some of the many armoured riot police. We then hid behind some news/tv vans until most of the Colo Colo fans had dispersed.

After that, we came back and ate and drank at our hostel and went to beddy byes.

Then, Monday Luc, Scott, and Pat flew to Iquique and the rest of us (Ryan, Christine, Justin, Amanda, and Moi) took a bus to Vin~a del Mar which is on the ocean. We pretty much just sat on the sand in the sun all day. It was wonderful.

Now I am going to bed because I have to wake up in four hours to get to the airport to fly far north to Iquique. From there we will be renting a car to see the area of San Pedro for a couple days. We will be back in Iquique for the 3rd of May to meet with regional FOSIS officials and Vivianne.

That's all for now / Ciao ciao,

-Mateo