Chiloe and Puerto Varas

Volcan Osorno (I got to the snow)

Well just recently I went on a little trip to 3/4 of the way down south of Chile. To give you and idea Valparaiso is right in the middle and i went a quarter of the way down and that is 18 hours on bus.... so i flew!

I ended up going solo because me and my roomates all decided to do different things. I wanted to go to Buenos Aires with Jay (Brother) and Borja, Marta and others wanted to go to Bueanos Aires then. It couldnt have worked out better and I had an amazing time solo.

First I went to Chiloe. It is the second largest island in Souther America. This part of Chile is totally different then the rest. The atmosphere is way more laid back, it is green everywhere and people (i thought) tend to be nicer. I went to a beautiful little town called Castro. There is a lot of history on this Island and it shows everywhere from the old old churches to the boats in the harbour. It is a large fishing community. I had fresh salmon almost every night. It was amazing. Apperently Chile is one of the largest exporters of Salmon in the world. They are right behind Norway. So that part of the trip was great. I also went on a hike on a National Park in Chiloe that was medioker actually.

Next I took a ferry off the Island and stayed at a beautiful little town called Puerto Varas. It reminded me of a little Banff. It is right around a lot of Mountains and Volcanos and it is sooo amazing. I stayed at a cool little French owned hostal and from there I went to the Park everyday and did trekks. I also went white water rafting. It was a lot of fun. I also went in Peru and this was so much better. The rapids were high level 3 to 4 (it goes to 5 and the absolute highest is 6 (experts). So it was good. I think I am ready for level 4. I am going to try and go in Canada because apparently we have amazing rapids that i have never checked out. I met some great people... guy from Ecuador (Alex), Irish couple (Mick and Terra) and a Chilean couple. It is sure easy to meet people when solo. Oh I almost forgot. I hiked up a Volcano called Volcan Osorno. It was so amazing. I was the only one on the mountain and it was breathtaking. Very peaceful experience for me (it is the picture at the top, i got to the snow).

So now I am back in Valpo doing the school thing. I have received some marks back and I am doing very well actually. I was super nervous for a test that I had where I had to read and case study and write it in spanish but I was right around the class average. My other classes I think I am above class average. Good stuff. I think I just might receive my degree! haha.

Some bad news, my buddy Borja got robbed last night. He was walking with a friend and a couple guys held knives up to his throat and chest and they took his camera. The worst part is is that he doesnt have a lot of money to begin with, and just recently his old camera broke so he splurged and bought a new one and one week later... gone. Its a mighty shame. I feel bad for him.

My next trip is to the end of the world. As of now Borja and I are only going. Marta is thinking about it. We are going to a place called Punta Arenas and doing a trekk in what is considered one of the nicest national parks in latin america. I cant wait. If i had more time i think i would take a plane and go to Antartica because its close but I just cant do it. Ah well. Southern tip of Chile is good enough.

So I am home December 6th (48 days) and I think it will fly by. Jay is coming around the end of November, I think the 23rd after a hike at Machu Picchu on the Inca Trail. He is going to check out Valparaiso after because the art seen is amazing here and then we are checking out Buenas Aires Argentina for 4 or 5 days then coming home.
I am nervous to be grown up but excited to get back and see that girl of mine Lauren, i miss her like crazy. It was also be nice to see the family of course. So see you soon and stay posted amigos.

My new house

well after living in a friends room for a week i finally recieved posession of my room (right above my friends place). Its great. Nice big room, lots of light, great view of valpo, my own bathroom and all my friends live right below me. The house has a good kitchen and balcony too. Enjoy the pics. 

The Group

Me, Borja (Spain), K'pa (Basque), Simion (Germany), Ramon (Mexico), Xioming (Basque), Natherat (Spain), Marta (Spain), Aurora (France) 

La Serena Road Trip, Exams, Moving

well there were no classes scheduled for last weeks classes because it was the independence day for Chile. So me and 8 other friends rented a van and a car and went on a road trip north to do some camping and celebrate independence day for Chile. In the van we had Simion (German), Marta (Espana), Aurora (France), Borja (Spain), Natheret (Spain, she came down for about 10 days to visit Borja), and me (Canadian for those who didnt know). In the other car it was Ramon (Mexico), Xioming (Basque), and Kpa (Basque). For those of you wondering where Basque is it is a part of Spain that wants its inderpence and even though it is recognized as Spain they see themselves as their own country. So first we headed up to a place called Coquimbo. There was a huge circus thing going on and a bunch of people were camped out there on dirt... so we joined them. This place is kind of run down and you could see it in the people. They didnt stop staring at us because we were foreigners and they wouldnt leave us alone. It ended up being a little uncomfortable actually. So the next day we headed in Valle de Eike. This valley is know for its pisco production and they actually ended up naming a town pisco because of it. We cruised around there for about 3 days and camped in Pisco and an amazing little jem we found in the middle of nowhere with a swimming pool. It was great. In pisco is where we were for the independence day and we went to a couple parties in a big hall and in the plaza de armas. We had a great time and I couldnt have gone with a better group. 

When I got back reality kinda hit and I had to start studying for two exams that I had this week. One was in Administracion de Empresas 2 (Business Admin. 2) and Recursos Humanos (Human Resources). The Human Resources one was first and right before the test my proff wispered to me and asked if I would prefer writing in english (I said yes before he could finish). Then my next exam was yesterday and the proff doesnt know english so I didnt get that advantage. It was really really difficult and I would have done great if it was in english because I had the ideas but I just couldnt write everything I wanted to say. It was a case study analysis exam, yeah not cool. I hope the proff gives me "exchange student marks". 

And now tomorrow morning I am moving! I am excited. To be honest I dont really have a set place to live as of now. I am going to live with my buddy Borja. He is living with Marta and Aurora and Aurora is taking off for 10 days tomorrow and said I could crash in her room. They live in a 3 story place and each floor is its own house. The floor above has 2 people that want to move out by the end of the week. One guy told me last night that he was 99% sure, so that is great news. I can just move right up stairs, be close to my friends and live in the best cerro (hill) in Valparaiso. IF that doesnt work out Borja and I have a plan... its a good one! haha. So when you walk into Borjas place there is an empty place that could be a room and we said we would set up a tent there and both of us would switch off and on and split the cost of his room. Borja is always looking to save money since he doesnt have much so I think he would like this idea haha. I am sure I will be living upstairs though, dont worry ma and pa. 

So that is about all for now. I am getting used to life down here and starting to get comfortable and have made some amazing friends and I know some will be life long which is fantastic. Borja and his girl Natheret want Lauren and I to visit them in a year or more so we can do a road trip in Borjas van throughout all of Spain... is there a better way to see a country? really?! 

video

If you wish to get a little better feel for Valpo check out the cheesy video at the bottom of the page. Click on the first one and you can watch it at the top of the blog. 

Update

Well since my last post I have done a few pretty rad things. First of all I found out that there was a pro volleyball tourny going on in Vina del Mar (city attached to Valparaiso) so I HAD to go check that out. Sure enough Brasil was playing and they brought some of their best players to the tourny like Giba who is considered to be the best player in the world. Yeah so amazing. I watched Venezuela vs. Uruguay and Brasil vs. Columbia the first night then the second night I watched Brasil vs. Venezuela which was suppose to be the highlight game of the tourny. Brasil still rolled over Venezuela but it was a great atmosphere. So that was a huge highlight for me. 

After the game on the second night I met up with some friends and there was this kind of, I guess you would call it an art show/circus. It being held by lots of different kinds of artists in valparaiso and vina del mar. It was in a house where artists live for free and its a huge open space. Very cool atmosphere. There was a mime, jugglers, clown, trapeze act, and capuara. That was a very cool experience also. 

Other than that classes are still kinda kickin my butt because of the spanish barrier. There are days where I am on and can understand a lot and days when I am exhausted and things fly over my head. It is getting a little better each day. I have an exam coming up in less than two weeks where I have to read an article about a business and write a short essay about the types of styles they use and stuff... not a problem in english but this has to be all done in spanish. AHHH! I will let you know how it goes. 

I am also playing on a basketball team here. Each area of the University creates a basketball team for the semester. So we have a team with all the exchange students. We are actually pretty decent compared to the chilean teams. Tomorrow we play in the semi finals! In the quarters we played a team and won 52 - 9. haha yeah it was a blow out. 

So that is about all for now. Hope you like the new sleek look of the blog. I am home in 78 days... but whos counting haha. 

3 months today

Hola amigos, 

So last week Lauren was here visiting me and we had so much fun. We checked out santiago and caught a fubol game which was actually pretty crazy. The crowd was fighting to get into the stadium  then we found out we got sold fake tickets so we tried getting in anyway and we snuck past the guard. So we got to watch the game! It was a lot of fun. We did some other things in santiago like went up to a verry popular hill and saw a fantastic view of santiago, through the smog of course. We also checked out a couple markets, museums and other stuff. 

After that we came to Valparaiso where I live. We pretty much lived like royalty going to amazing dinners every night. We didnt go out because we usually ate so much we just wanted to watch a movie. We went to a famous poets house here in Valpo. His name was Pablo Naruda. He has some amazing poems. We also found some cool cafes. It was a great time. 

Since then I have been a little bumbed that she left me here to fend for myself but its all good haha. I have changed my flight to december 5th so I can get home on december 6th (my bday). I figured I would make it a good day. I still have to make the changes but I should be home on the 5th or 6th if things work out good. 

I have to find a new house to live in. First of all we had a spaniard living here and he moved out now it is me, a german and a chilean lady that is a little weird. I told her I am going to move out at the end of the month. She actually decided to move out to because she cant afford the house so really I have no choice. I am hoping to find a place with a mexican and argentinian. It would be really good for my spanish and they are good guys. One of them plays on my basketball team. 

So I think these three months will go by pretty quick with classes getting pretty busy, jay coming to visit me in november and such. I am kinda missing some things that Canada offers. But I am soaking it in here and realize I will all be home before I know it. 

Miss you all and I hope everyone is safe and healthy. I AM! 

Chau!

Loconess in Chile

Well I have some news to report. First of all snowboarding was fantastic. It snowed two days before hand and the sun was out when we went. I went with a guy from victoria, norway and my roomate from spain. It was a blast. The equipment was pretty good too.

Ha I have a little story from today. I went to go to my only class and I showed up and no one was there. I was thinking that nobody tells me anything in the damn country. Then I came home and went on msn and a guy from chile who is in my group was online. I asked him what is up and he said that the proff developed Robella... yes robella and all the students in his class had to get immunizations immediatly. Buuuut luckily, right before I left Mike got the mumps so I got scared and got my second MMR (mumps, measles, rebella) shot. So I am in the clear and I guess I should thank Mike for getting the mumps! Thanks buddy.

Other story. I got robbed saturday night which shook me up a little. Me and my roomate from Germany were walking to his friends place (i didnt even feel like going but he convinced me of course) and we got to this creapy staircase and there were these two doods standing there and you couldnt see them till you walked in the staircase. They said something but I thought they just were beggers wanting money or somethiing then half way up the stairs we realized they were right behind us then I started doing two steps and they ran infront of us and cornered us on the wall and the one guy put his fist up to my neck like he had a knife and at first i wasnt sure then I realized he didnt so I grabbed my wallet and wasnt going to give it to him. Then he tried to grab it for a few second and then reached for something in his back pocket so I just game it to him. And they ran off. My buddy didnt have anything stolen from him, just me. I ended up losing the house key, my alberta license, 14 bucks, and a bankcard. Nothing really important at all. I am kinda mad that I didnt sprint as soons as I realized they were following us but now I know for next time. Its hard to do the exact right thing in that situation. So there is that story. I am ok, just my ego is a little bruised haha.

So thats all amigos. I had a good time snowboarding, I dont have rebella and I got robbed and I am ok. Todo bien.

Happy birthday today Lauren! Wish I could be there for your disney theme party! Love you!

School and stuff...

well floks... this is going to be a quick one because Borja (roomate from spain) and i are going snowboarding in the andes tomorrow and have to make some sandwiches and go to bed. We have to wake up at 4 45. Its going to be an early one! I will let you know how the snow and hill is. I hope its good. who knows.

So school has been a little intimidating so far. Classes are alllll in spanish and the prof goes a mile a minute. I am starting to pick more up slowely but surely. I have one awesome proff who loves exchange students and said i could write tests in english haha. He doesnt talk barely any though. I think he just likes to try. He is funny. I have to start reading and doing work on my own time though to start to really get ahead. I am good at what I know now I need to expand my knowledge of this freaking language. My house is great and so are my roomates. Me and the Spaniard get along very well. The spaniard is an awesome cook so he has been making us a lot of spanish food lately... so good. He knows as much english as i know spanish so we are talking spanglish a lot. Its funny. We help each other out though.

Its really cold down here. Feels like i can never warm up because the house has no heating. I think this house is extra cold too. But winter is over in about a month so that will be great. Then I wont go snowboarding i will attempt surfing again. I tried in ecuador and failed miserably. So thats about all for now. Off to make some food. I will tell you all about snowboarding after the weekend. Chau!

Valpo

Well there has been a lot going on the last few days. I arrived on the 22nd and all the exchange students had to be here on the 23rd. i didnt even know about it because they never emailed me. so that worked out thank god. in the past 3 days i have found an apartment in valpo, bought a cell phone, took a couple spanish tests to see my level (i am in the middle of all the students), and finished getting my student visa. its been pretty crazy.

my apartment is nice. i live with a german and another chilean lady who is about 30 or so. she is very nice. the place is pretty great. its got everything i need and its in the nicest part of the city. there are two parts that the students live in, valparaiso and vina del mar. they are two different cities that are attached and pretty much one. vina del mar is very touristy and newer where valparaiso is not as touristy but it has so much history and its so beautiful. especially where i live. every house that is built in the hills is so colorful and old. the streets go every which way. i will have pictures of the city soon. there are huge murals that painters put on walls that are so nice also. its just amazing and hard to describe. so i am happy with where i live and who i am living with. it would be nice to have another chilean student but we will see if that happens. i sure hope so. there is room for two more people in our place. annnd i am paying 200 a month for it which is cheap as well.

so that is the big news. i start classes on monday which should be interesting. i hope they go well. oh my number is 76572824. i hope your calling card works tonight lauren! i will keep my fingers crossed.

chau all.

Ahhhh Canadians!

Well, I am ripping the canadian badge off my bag for awhile. Soo it came to my attention today that Canadian Police officers were beating up the Chileans at the under 20 world cup in Toronto and Chile is PISSED at Canada for it. I told a lady I was from Canada tonight and she said to not tell anyone that for awhile till this whole thing blows over. My friend who lives here who did an exchange in Lethbridge that I talked to tonight said to do the same. So I bought a paper and it is in the whole sports section. A quote from Harper too saying its not the Canadians fault or something. Ahhh too bad. Kinda makes me mad. Who would have thought it would be better to be an american in Chile... AH! Oh I am in the second biggest futbol town in Chile too. And if no one knew what happend, Chile was playing in the semi finals, which has been a HUGE deal down here, and they lost which must have caused the uproar among Chilean-Canadians. Its sounds silly but futbol, or soccer, is bigger down here than you think and these people were going so crazy over the whole ordeal of making it to the semies.

So other than that, I am good. I am in Valparaiso now. I had some good times in San Pedro doing some tours and riding horses then I was in La Serena and did a Pisco Vineyard tour. It was nice. Tomorrow I go apartment hunting, to the university, and to the embassy for my study visa. So I hope everyone is well. I am safe and feeling well.

Happy One Year Anniversary Lauren. I cant wait for you to come see me at the end of August!

San Pedro

well here i am in san pedro, i am travelling solo now because mike is going home earlier than planned and he wanted to check things out around valpo and i didnt cause i will be doing that for 4 months. so here i am. its been going good so far. i checked out some natural geysers this morning which was great. this town is half tourists and half locals. i have met a ton of people which is great. so i am doing a couple more tours and then taking a 16 hour bus trip to la salena. its another little tourist city with cool things to do. i will only be there a couple days then will arrive to valpo about the 22nd. i will keep you updated though. tonight i am going to look at the stars. there is a guy who has amazing microscopes and he does tours at night and tells a crap load of stuff. where i am is one of the best places in the world to check em out because there is never any clouds and the sky is so clear. should be good. well thats all for now. talk to you all soon.

pictures on facebook

ok there are a bunch of pictures on my facebook. sorry for those who are not on my facebook... mom and dad, get jay to show you when he is home. if your not on my facebook, i suggest you add me. this blog sucks for putting pics on it. so that is what i am resorting to. good ol reliable facebook... haha. and to think i used to be a hater.

Iquique Chile

Well after a 14 hour bus ride from la paz bolivia we made it back to chile. we are at a beach town called iquique. its decent. its cool temperatures right now which sucks but ah well. it is winter here. so next we are going to go to the largest copper mine in the world (che guavera went there in motorcycle diaries), then do some volcano hikes and then check out some salt desert thing. should be cool. i am tired of hanging out in cities, they can all be the same stuff sometimes. so after that we are going to go to valparaiso where i will be going to school. sounds like a gem. so i am on a fast computer so i am going to try and load some pics... heres hoping that they work!!
Sorry for not updating after the most dangerous road thing chals haha.
Talk to you tonight Lauren, I LOVE YOU!

Bolivia or Bust

well we are still in bolivia and are ready to move back to chile. it has been good hear but the unstructured life here has been getting somewhat... hmm... annoying. no one knows whats going on. we survived the most dangerous road in the world. it was pretty crazy, one guy almost fell off the edge on our trip. 29 bikers have died since tours began. we road down this road where 100 people die on average a year for about 5 hours. it was one of the most intense things i have done. its almost all gravel so one wrong move, your gone. i am not making it sound dramatic either, its pretty crazy. we had a great company though with amazing bikes. so after that we came to a place called rurenbaque. it is in the bolivian jungle and we did a three day two night trekk thing that was very cool but cold too that involved a terrible bus trip. at the end of the tour the town that we have to pass through went on strike (how a town goes on strike, i dont know, but in bolivia they build a five foot wall, sorry two five foot walls of dirt that dont let and traffic through. sooo we had to walk past the town, about 7km, with our things to get to the van to bring us home... ohh bolivia). so now we have almost zero money cause the town we are in has no bank machine and are leaving bright and early back to lapaz. we have just enough to get there then we are fine. dont worry, we do have enough. we tripple checked. this town wont exchange money, has no bank machine, its frusterating. soooo we are thinking of heading back into the more structured country of chile and doing some more hikes and checking out some beach activities before going to valparaiso. sorry it took so long but we have been busy. i will let you know how chile goes. oh i guess i should mention some more about the jungle trekk. we saw crocs, anacondas (our guide caught one and we all held it, oh and held a 2 year old croc), sloths, tons of great birds, too many big spiders. so it was awesome in that way. so much wild life. cant wait to show you the picks. we road a large canoeish boat through a river in the jungle and slept at cirtain `points. so that is all for now. im going to bed and will talk to you when i am back in chile.
mom dad, love ya, i am fine. whats going on with the house? any new news? i will be calling you in the near future!
lauren, keep working hard at those camps. i love you!
and i love whoever else is reading my blog.
hasta luego,
matthew
ps... bolivia was not a bust... just here and there i guess. i mean i love those loco bolivianos when it comes down to it.

LaPaz

Well I am in Bolivia and I am here safe and sound. The border crossing weent smoothly and now we are in lapaz. the capital of bolivia. its hug eand built right in the mountains, its really breathtaking. there ar ea lot of indiginous here and many manny markts, as well as a witchees market that has actually ´¨witches¨¨ i wont them put a curse on me, done worry. (i am having trouble with this keyboard). so yesterday me and mike saw volcan changara and it was amazing. we did a 5 hour hike and then saw it from anouthre view. it was great. we have been travelling alot and i am a little tired but nothing a good night rest wont fix. eveerything has gone smoothly (knock on wood) and we hopee it stays that way. we are going for a bike ride on the worlds most dangerous road tomorrow or the next day then a hike through the bolivian jungle. wee will see how that works out.

everyonee praises valpaiaso where i will bee going to school so that makes me excitd to get there. no entry from mikee, he is in thee room. no pics eithre. the usb doesnt work. theree are somee great ones too.

takee care and talk to you soon.

much love

Sorry cant load pics on this damn computer, that just means you get a bunch later!

Santiago and Arica

Hola hola,

the trip has been going well so far. we have been travelling a lot but have some down time today so its super nice. were in a cool little village called Putre that is super small and right in the andes so there are mountains all around us.
We had a long lay over once we got into Santiago so we went downtown for about 4 hours and walked around. Its a very nice city, lots of smog though as you will be able to tell in the picutres. After that we flew to the northern tip of Chile to Arica. We spend just one full day there and it was nice. Right on the ocean. Its also one of the dryest spots in the world. They havent recorded rain in a long long long time. I actually dont think they have it recorded. In Arica there was a cool cliff that overlooked the city (see pics). there was a big war between Bolivia and Chile and Chile won and that where it took place.
My spanish is doing a lot better than i thought. there are holes i have to fill in but i am having convos with people and they say they understand me. mike doesnt know any so its just me doing most of the talking. he is learning stuff surprisingly quick though.
thats all for me, here is a few words from Mike or as we say Miguel: Hey mike on the mic, here is my bloggers debut. Im having a great time in chile, its been super busy - go go go - but were making wicked time and weve had a chance to see alot. Cerro Santa Lucia in Santiago was cool, its where the Spaniards claimed and founded the city of Santiago. Pretty much its a huge hill with tons of 18th century architecture, and at the top you have an unreal view of the city surrounded by the mountains. In Arica, against brother Matteos advice I went body surfing at the playa de chinchorro and it was suprisingly warm, and the waves were pretty dece. Talk to u later.....

One Month

Well all, I am taking off for Bolivia/Chile in less than a month (June 30th) and I am getting pretty excited. I am going to be travelling with Mike Proudfoot (lived and played vball together at Mt. Royal) for the first month then once my schooling starts on August 2nd Mike is coming back to good ol' Canada. My plane ticket home is book for Christmas eve and I am landing in Calgary at 10:30AM Christmas day. I am gone a total of 6 months. All my classes are in spanish which is probably going to KILL me the first couple months. I have to find a place to live a week before my classes start, I hope that isnt too tough. I want to live with a Chilean so I can practice my spanish. So now that you are all informed I hope you enjoy some stories and pics untill Christmas. Chau amigos y Hasta Luego.

Reading Week Update...

Well I am going to give you all an update with what I have been doing and what I am up to. Since I have been back from South America I have been stuck in Lethbridge finishing up my schooling. After this semester I have one summer session and then I am off to Chile at the end of June for 6 months to finish my degree in International Management. I am really excited to live in another country for 6 months and to be done school.
Some exciting events are coming up like Ro Dawg's wedding, that will be awesome and even more exciting (for his buddies anyway) the stag party in Fernie. And actually... that is the only exciting event coming up, sorry to get your hopes up.
Well thats all... take care and talk to you soon.