Blogging instead of studying: Waterfalls, rivers, and RAIN.

Helloooo there. I've been really busy since my last post, so I figured I'd update you all on my current life. It's awesome. I've been traveling! Hopefully I will be continuing this trend as much as possible!

Well, a few weeks back we took a day trip to some neighboring small towns around the Santiago area. Saturday morning, at 9 o'clock. Interesting morning to say the least. Get home the night before at 6, wake up at 8. Excellent start to the day! Anyway, we left Viña around nine that morning and headed to our first destination, a small town called Curacaví, where we visited a one of a kind chocolate factory! They make chocolates in a purely organic fashion, most shapes, and MANY flavors. We got to try a whole bunch of kinky varieties! Oregano, ahí, mustard, cheeeeese. They were all delicious, the flavors were subtle but vibrant, and each chocolate was hand made. It was a really cool little factory, and a great place to get my host mom a mother's day gift! (Sorry mom mom, the chocolates don't last THAT long)

Next, we headed to a small town called Pomeira, known for its ceramics. We spent an hour or so wandering the streets, looking at many small little shops, and spending our money on little gifts and trinkets for all you bums back home! After Pomeira, we headed to Isla Negra (which isn't actually an island) but rather a really gorgeous little area on the coast, where Pablo Neruda had one of his three house (I've seen two now, this one, as well as La Sebastiana, which is found in Valparaiso). We took a little tour around his house, checking out his massive collections of random things. That man lived in the antithesis of poverty, that's for sure. Out back was his tomb overlooking the sea. A nice little plot of land to say the least, this poet was quite well off!

Well, the next few weeks that followed were really good! Met some new friends who live out in Reñaca, one city over, and we had an asado (BBQ) at their place and then watched the Chileans last warmup before the Copa Mundial! Let's hope they pick it up, they lost to Mexico. Boo. We're tentatively planning a weekend camping trip up north with our new friends, so that should be a real blast!!

Well, this past weekend I went on a trip! It was absolutely fantastic! I went to Saltos del Laja, a small little area about an hour south of Concepción, known for its WATERFALLS. I went with my friend Jeff, and two of his Chilean friends (Pedro and Natali) and we all had a blast! We left Valparaiso at 10 on thursday night and arrived in Concepción about 6:30 the next morning. We had to wait in the bus terminal so that we could hit up the grocery store, and it was FREEZING. It's actually cold in Chile, I never would have thought. We hopped on a micro and headed to the grocery store near our train terminal, only to find out that the train had just left and that the grocery store was still closed! An interesting start to the trip to say the least. While we there, we saw firsthand some of the intense damage caused by the earthquake. An entire building had literally fallen over. Timber it went, I can't imagine having been there. Overall the damage in Concepción didn't look too bad, but granted, I only saw a small portion for a very short amount of time. I just everyone is getting back on their feet. So, long story short, we eventually caught a bus that took us straight to our cabañas, so we were in business!

Five minutes from our lodgings was the first, and biggest waterfall we saw. It was just incredible. So big, and so powerful, I've never seen anything like that before in my life. We trekked along the side, getting up the top. The views from all angles were so incredible, getting wet and muddy was totally worth it! Following the first waterfall, we walked about 3 kilometers north in our attempt to find the Salto Chico. We arrived there only to find that it was on private property! Did that stop us? Not a chance. We hiked our way towards the sounds of rushing water, crossing little rivers as we went until we reached the top of the waterfall. This waterfall wasn't as big/wide across as the first, but it had multiple levels, a dynamic that the first didn't have. This one also was completely natural, and not geared towards tourists at all. It was just the falls. Incredible. We basically crossed the pinnacle of the falls, and sat down right in the middle! Some great photos were had from that vantage point, let me tell you.

The next day started out a little slow. We had to find a bus on a sunday that would take us to Concepción reeeeally early in the morning. So that was bureaucratic and a pain, but we got in taken care of. Jeff and I decided to go explore, so we just headed out in the middle of the afternoon. We soon heard the sound of rushing water, and decided to get dirty! We hiked along el Rio Laja, starting up high near the road, heading down for the following kilometers as we made our way closer to the river. It was a great hike. IN THE RAIN. But we survived.

Overall, the trip was short, filled with dilemmas, but AMAZING. Truly an adventure. I only hope to have many more in the next two months before I head home!!

Check out the pictures on my facebook. Keep in mind that no photograph can do this place justice. Amazing.

Gracias, que todos esten bien! Ciao, nos vemos!