Crossing the Border - Chillin' in Chile

I'll start with an update of my progress in daily life. If you're more interested in the Chile part of this post, skip ahead to the picture of me and the volcano.

Straight after my last blog post I fell sick with a bit of a cold. I'm still unsure whether it's the colder climate or the Argentian culture of sharing everything (or a combination of both) that got the better of me. Being sick puts a bit of a damper on life no matter what continent you're on but it has given me the opportunity to get a bit more rest and let my brain catch up. It has also given my Spanish a good work out, because at the first mention of my ailments, Elsa (who happens to be a doctor) sat me down for an onslaught of questions about my symptoms. To my pleasure I was able to understand most of what she asked and successfully communicate how I was feeling. The other day at school I was also able to translate some written things into Spanish from English for some of my mates so I've been feeling quite good about the language. I did face one little problem when I wandered the streets for an hour or so trying to find the local music school, only becoming more bewildered when I stopped various individuals for direction and understood very little of what they told me. However I did make it to the school eventually and now know my way there so I've been able to book myself in for weekly piano and guitar lessons and have been enjoying going there to chat to the music teachers (who are all great with English) and to practice on the piano. I was quite worried that I wouldn't be able to find somewhere to keep up  practice on the piano so having the music school in town is a real blessing.

Normal school is going really well - the teachers have allowed me to choose the subjects that I most enjoy to take part in and during the rest (pretty much just Chemistry) I go the library to work on a presentation about Australia and study Spanish. Many people at the school have taken to calling my 'Australian' or 'Australiano' which also makes me smile. I much prefer that to Brian, a much more common name in Argentina that everybody calls me at first. In Spanish, any 'r' at the start of a word is rolled, so it sounds really cool when people say my name properly, but makes it much more difficult when I try to explain that my name isn't Brian.

Other than the flu and the minor difficulties with the language, I am very much enjoying everyday life and feel that I am settling in very well.

Sorry if it's not quite as cool as you were expecting, the view of the volcano wasn't as good when we got this photo

Now for the Chile part:

The family decided on a trip over to Chile for the weekend. It still amazes me that they can so easily jump between countries for a day or two! On Saturday morning I woke to these words from Elsa: "Ryan? Vamos al Chile!"

On the way through the Andes I was treated to a spectacular view of the Lanin Volcano. Agus (one of my host brothers) informed that what I thought was snow covering a large proportion of the volcano, was in fact ice that had stuck around since the last ice age - a very impressive fact to me. With the ancient araucaria trees and the completely unfamiliar landscape among the mountains and lakes and a solitary narrow dirt road winding its way through to Chile, all under the ominous presence of the Volcan Lanin, I felt as if we had driven into a prehistoric world. I wouldn't have been all that surprised to have seen some form of dinosaur. The heavily armed and armoured border patrol only helped create an even more awesome atmosphere . We made it through the checkpoint without any hassle, however some others didn't find crossing the border quite so easy. As we drove forward we saw a car load of people hand-cuffed and face down in the dirt with armed officers standing over them. Also at the checkpoint, a few blokes were struggling to start their ute, so us and several other bystanders leapt to action and gave a helping hand after a quick "Vamos chicos!" from Luis (a phrase I've heard more than any other in Argentina, but perhaps my favourite two words in any language).

Chile was in many ways quite similar to Argentina, but in others very different. Pucón, the town that we were staying near in Chile, is a tourist destination with a very strong North American influence - it wasn't uncommon to see signs in English or words that are similar in both languages to take on the English spelling. Everywhere I went I was hearing English, (more often than not in a strong US accent), which perhaps detracted from the cultural experience a little.

Nonetheless, the area that we were staying in Chile was very beautiful, and also in close proximity to a volcano and a massive lake. However, Pucan sits right on the water's edge so it makes for quite a different experience to Junin. I had the chance to chat to a few Chileans in the shops in both English and Spanish. The change in accent is noticeable (although doesn't cause as much amusement to me as it does to my host family) but the people are very friendly and welcoming, and seem quite gentle and relaxed in manner. But no matter how relaxed they may seem on the street, their manner of driving is quite questionable.

Pucón was far colder than Junin, and the buildings of a different construction, usually comprising a great deal of wood - a very Chilean way of doing things according to Luis (host father).

The meal that I ate at one of the restaurants was one of the most amazing meals I've ever had! (not that I can remember what it was called). Agus seems to think that the Chilean food is far inferior to its Argentinian counterpart and when I ordered a dish with meat, informed me that it was liable to run from my plate. (I encountered no such problem) Argentinians seem to make fun of Chilean culture in a very similar way to our friendly rivalry with New Zealand in Austalia which made for a great deal of amusement over the entire weekend. Overall, I had a wonderful time and based on my (very) limited time in Chile, I would happily make further visits if the opportunity were to arise in the future!



The posts seem to be getting longer each time (which I think is a good thing) but means more reading for you so thank you to anyone that has made it this far. Thanks again for the continued support and best wishes for your endeavours now and in the near future!