Although I'm not quite sure I deserve it, I've found myself on winter vacation. Since we're situ"ated at the bottom of the planet and it gets very cold there, we have a full 3 weeks to do whatever we'd like. Most of the volunteers have decided to take advantage of the break to travel to all sorts of different countries throughout South America. While I'd love to visit some of the beautiful places on the north side of the continent, it's just a bit too expensive to fly all the way there. I'm hoping to see some of those great places after the program is over and we're back in Santiago which is quite a bit further north. For now, Argentina, Uruguay and southern Chile will have to do. Woe is me, right?
Before I start telling you all about how it's gone so far, I have one very important update that's necessary for the story. I'll be referring to myself as we from here on out because I have company for the trip. Her name is Marie and she's my incredibly beautiful, painfully sweet girlfriend. She's a volunteer as well and is stationed in the "nearby" town of Puerto Natales. She's the best surprise I've found while here in Chile and I enjoy her company every minute of every day that I get to spend with her.
I began my vacation by taking the 3 hr bus ride to Puerto Natales to meet Marie. From there, we caught the bus to El Calafate, Argentina. We'd been there a couple months ago to visit the nearby glacier and we enjoyed it so much that we decided to see it again. We filled our three days there with lots of walking around the town and lake, ice skating on the lake and eating delicious food. I'd have to say my favorite part was the ice skating. We were lucky enough to find ourselves there on a day when they were putting on a special night skating event where they stuck torches in the ice and had a big bonfire on the shore.
Our next stop, and where we're currently located, was Montevideo, Uruguay. I'd read some travelers make comments about being underwhelmed by this city but I couldn't disagree more. I like it quite a bit. It's much smaller than neighboring Buenos Aires but it still has a lot of charm and character. We were actually very lucky to arrive on the same day as the national soccer team so we spent our first day in front of the Palacio Legislativo celebrating their successful World Cup with a boat load of real life Uruguayos. The idea was that the team would take their bus through the city on their bus and end up at the palacio to celebrate with all the fans. We weren't entirely sure what time they'd arrive but we got to the palacio just as the parade was starting on the other side of the city. Almost three hours later, the team still hadn't arrived and we'd had enough of being bounced around by about 50,000+ proud citizens. As we started to head back to find something to eat, we heard sirens and saw a huge groups of people running up the street to meet the team bus. We squirmed our way through the group and got a good look at all the players & coaches as they made their way closer to the event. The streets were so packed with people that the buses must have been going about 2 mph to ensure it didn't run anyone over. It was a special experience to get to see the country honor their team after a successful tournament. It literally felt like the entire 1.5 million citizens were celebrating together.
Today, we made a stop at the Mercado del Puerto where they have quite a few restaurants. We ended up eating a delicious parillada lunch for two while drinking some tasty Uruguayan wine. Between the company, the wine and the fantastic pile of barbecued meat, I couldn't find one thing in the world to complain about. It was a great afternoon.
Our next stop we'll be a quick stay in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay before spending a 4 or 5 days in Buenos Aires where we'll meet a couple other volunteers. It's going to be a great few days in the "Paris of South America". Life sure is tough...
At this moment, I have to consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
