<--Romina, her mom Gina and her dad Ovaldo
I went with Shol and her boyfriend, José, who actually knew quite a lot about the history of Monte León so it was a little bit like having a guide come with us.
It was great to go back to Punta Arenas because it is absolutely gorgeous down south and my first trip had been so rushed and crammed full of things and my second visit was much more relaxed. Also, I was speaking in Spanish the entire time because I was hanging out with only Chileans, while in Chillán I see the other exchange students fairly often and we usually speak in English. So while I was down south my Spanish improved even more because Romina's family is very talkative and friendly. Her parents, 28-year-old sister Shol and she live in a cozy house only a fifteen minute walk from Punta Arenas's town center.
For New Year's, we had a midnight family dinner in her house--her brother, Ariel, and his girlfriend also joined us and we had an absurd amount of food ranging from meat to sushi. On New Year's in Chile, everyone generally has a family dinner around midnight and then around 1 or 2 AM people ages 15 to 30 go out and party until 6 or 7 AM. We didn't stay out that late, we came home from Romina's friend's house around 5:30 AM.
In addition to hanging out around Punta Arenas with Romina's friends and family, we went on a few family field trips to places like Monte León, a sheep shearing town founded in 1872 by English settlers that is abandoned now but the original buildings are still standing.
I went with Shol and her boyfriend, José, who actually knew quite a lot about the history of Monte León so it was a little bit like having a guide come with us.
<--José showing us a sheep-shearing factory. These pens are where the newly sheared sheep were held.
We also went to Río Gallegos, Argentina for the afternoon which is only a two and a half hour drive from Punta Arenas, although crossing the Argentinean border took a full hour. The first thing we did in Río Gallegos was go eat brick-oven pizza, which was absolutely delicious. In Chile, the pizza is pretty substandard so it was especially wonderful since it was the first piece of delicious pizza I had had in five months. While Romina's dad went off to the casino to try his luck at the slot machines, I went shopping with Romina's mother for painting supplies (she is an avid oil painter) and books. I bought the book Twilight in Spanish and for the record, it is just as good in Spanish and it is in English.
Another day the Ojeda family took me to see Fuerte Bulnes, a fort built by President Bulnes in the late nineteenth century.
<-- Fuerte Bulnes
<--Suppedly the fort has a clear view of the sea from the North and the South.
It was really cool to walk around this wooden town that didn't only have armories but also day-to-day buildings such as a church, a prison, and commerce building.
My two Danish friends from Chillán, Claudio and Frederick, ended up coming to Punta Arenas a few days before I had to fly back to Chillán and announced they were going to go backpacking in the Torres del Paine mountains for eight days. They didn't have any equiptment, not even hiking boots. So, of course, we spent an afternoon shopping in the centro the day before they went and while we were in a cute café taking refuge from the bitter wind, Claudio turns to me and says, "Jennie! Why don't you come with us to the Torres del Paine??" And after thinking about it for a second, I realized that I had brought my hiking boots and quick-dry clothes to Punta Arenas just in case I were to go hiking. I knew I wouldn't have another chance to do this, so after talking it over with Romina's parents and my parents in the U.S. I decided to go with them and it was incredible!
I could only go for two nights because I had to come back to Punta Arenas to catch my flight, but I got to see the Torres up close at the lookout spot which was amazing.
<--On my way up the mountain
<--Me, Claudio and Frederick at the Torres del Paine lookout! The Torres are the three tower-shaped rocks in the background. This mountain used to be a volcano and after an erruption, the tower-like rocks were pushed up.
It did rain the entire second night and day, but the important thing was that our tent and sleeping bags were nice and dry (trust me, that is imperative for having a good night's sleep). The hikers on the trail were almost all foreigners and the Danes got really excited when we came across a group of 14 Danish hikers because as Denmark only has 5 million people in the whole country, it is quite rare to come across a Dane by chance.
<--One of the rivers we had to cross to get back down the mountain on the second day post-rain. It took an hour and a collaborative effort from 10 hikers from around the world to lay logs across so we could cross.
<--One of the rivers we had to cross to get back down the mountain on the second day post-rain. It took an hour and a collaborative effort from 10 hikers from around the world to lay logs across so we could cross.
I really didn't want to leave the gorgeous mountains, but I had to come back to Punta Arenas to catch my flight and luckily, I made all three bus connections to get from the Torres del Paine National Park to Punta Arenas.
