Last weeks in Chile

Puerto Varas and last thoughts on Chile
We have been in Argentina for almost a month and I haven't finished posting on Chile! So here we go.  This was started a while ago but poor Internet prevented it from getting posted...
Puerto Varas
We left Castro on the magical, mythical Island of Chiloe and took the bus to Puerto Varas. We had passed through on our way south for a night and scoped the place out. It is a town a little smaller than Santa Cruz on a big lake that reminded us of Tahoe. Across the lake there looms the conical, snow covered Volcano Orsono and to the right another volcano more craggy mountain shaped. Behind them are layers of mountains stretching back for what seems like forever. The Andes. On a clear day the views are stunning.
We came here for two weeks of Spanish classes. This was my idea and no one else was excited about it to say the least. I had found a small school here on the Internet. We did not want to do this in a big city where most of the schools are, or Pucon where we had been and it was a bit too touristy/party central feeling. Puerto Varas was a really easy place to be for two weeks it turned out. Our teachers Alex and Malva were like hosts. We rented an apartment from them next to their house and went to class for 2-3 hours, or more if we went on a field trip, five days a week. It was very different from what we had been doing, homework and all.

Alex and Malva's school and home. Our apartment is on the left

The apartment was interesting. It was in two recycled shipping containers stacked one on top of the other. The bottom one had a master bedroom and bathroom, the top one a trundle bed and eating area. A kitchen was added on to the back of the bottom room. Stairs lead up the side from the bottom to the top and there is a small balcony above and a deck in front below. We called it our "tin can " home. Over all it worked and the location and price were right.

Our "Tin Can" home with Dave peeking out.

Alex and Malva were great teachers. Dave made amazing progress and got very motivated. (He is sitting next to me making more vocabulary flash cards as I type.) Anika really fought and complained the first three days. Then she accepted her fate and did the bare minimum to get by. Malva knew the way to her heart and had candy bribes ready everyday that made things literary sweeter for Anika. I learned a lot and can only hope it actually sticks. Alex and I listened to music and translated it to learn grammar. We watched an excellent documentary about Chile "The Nostalgia of Light" directed by Patricio Guzman. I not only learned Spanish but a lot about Chilean culture and history. I also read short stories and wrote about them. Alex and Malva introduced us to their friends, took us on filed trip to places we never would have found on our own, and were generally great hosts. They even found an alternative school for me to visit. (I'll write about that in my Schools Around the World Blog when I get a chance.)

Lovely god Bye breakfast Alex and Malva made for us.

Highlights of our last two weeks in Chile
Pablo Ferier Museum. This museum was created by one local artist in an old water works building by the lake side that the city of Puerto Varas gave to him. The entire museum is an art piece. He has added collections of old things (type writers, tin cans, photos, old tools and household items to name a few) and hung his drawings and painting through out the three stories of the small building. Its like a house sized collage. His paintings and drawings are all of local buildings and old historic houses. He frames them with recycled materials. Much of the house is made form recycled materials. Most days he is there and you can meet him. He is a character. He also has art supplies around and encourages people to draw and write and add their creations to his walls.

The outside only gives you the briefest idea of the inside.

Frutillar
This is another small town on the lake with great views of volcano Osorno on the other side. It has a big music and performing arts festival in the summer. We went to their beautiful, modern theater to see a hip hop dance show. I did not know what to expect and hoped it would be okay not some a mature talent show. I think i thought it would be US hip hop style dance. The show exceeded any expectations I had. It was more like a dance opera with great costumes, music and video in the background. It was one of the best uses of video with dance I have seen. The dancers interacted with the images on the screen and the movement on the screen often complemented or contrasted with the dance movement on the stage.

Theater building with Orsono volcano in the background

Old Houses/German heritage
The town of Puerto Varas is full of old houses from the late 1800 to early1900s built by German settlers. We did a walking tour and took tons of photos. Most of these houses have fallen into disrepair. We also visited a really interesting and well presented collection of artifacts from the German settlers lives on one of our Spanish school field trips.

Most houses look like this

But this one has been completely redone.

 Insider- Retreat and Restaurant
Alex and Malva suggested we check out this place and we never would have found it on our own. A German couple have built a wood fired sauna and hot tub on the river side. They also have a few cabins and a restaurant. But they mostly have private events and really only like to cook for private groups or individuals. We had a private 2 hour hot tub/sauna time and then an incredible meal. the highlight of the meal was almond/garlic soap with citrus. It was relaxing and delicious. A great afternoon.

The river

Hot tub and sauna

Romhue Farm and Reserve
This was another place Alex and Malva recommended and we would not have found on our own. this huge working farm with 2000 head of cattle is the project and home of Susana and Silvio. In addition to raising organic, grass feed beef, most of which goes to Europe and the US, they have preserved part of the forest and have an animal rehabilitation center. They are part of a University of Chile project to breed Pudu, the smallest deer in the world and native only to Chile. They are very endangered. They also have three puma they got because they had been injured. They would like to release these but there is no where safe for them to do so in Chile. They also have foxes, owls, horses, sheep, other farm birds and our favorite the Hueña, a small wild cat. They made us a fantastic lunch with all ingredients from their farm, took us on a hike through the forest and showed us their animal projects. Another really fun and interesting day.

Anika with very tame pudu they bread. It is the size of a small dog or large cat.

Anika and the wild little Hueña.

One of the three puma

Pacific Coast
Alex and Malva took us to this beautiful place on the coast one day. As with much of the Chilean coast it reminded me of CA. There were lots of indigenous people living in this area farming and making crafts.

Final Thoughts on Chile
The two months we spent in Chile were an exceptional part of our trip so far. I loved being able to work on my Spanish. I also learned a lot about the history and culture. It was very special to be in the country where authors I love, like Isabelle Allende and Pablo Neruda lived and to see the places reflected in their work in real life. The people were down to earth, helpful and kind. We felt very safe and traveling was pretty easy. We met other travelers who were interesting. The street dogs were all friendly and most looked pretty well cared for. It is hard for me to pick one color for Chile. But I think if I had to it would be blue. Blue in all of its shades, of the sky and lakes, the blue of the ice of the glacier, the blue green of the ocean. The country is so varied as it stretches from the arid north to the freezing south. I felt a sense of depth of spirit in the people. Maybe its our shared German heritage! I hope to go back. Dave and I have a list of the places we didn't get to that we would like to go back and get to know. This was a great country to visit.