Day 24 & Day 25

We had our last day in Puerto Montt today. Cynthia, Kelly, Emily and I got up around 10 so that we could pack our bags and then head out to do some last minute shopping. We found this great strip of shops and were able to find a bunch nifty gifties as we call them. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the grocery store to get some snacks for the bus ride back to Santiago. Back at the hotel we gathered all our bags and piled on to the bus. Luckily we were not headed to Santiago quite yet. Jaime had arranged for us to go to this tea house in Puerto Varas not far from Puerto Montt for “lunner” (a lunch/dinner). We had quite the meal here consisting of a two types of cake, a platter of bread and an assortment of spreads including salmon, egg salad, jam and others. We were also served coffee and tea. The great thing too was that we were able to go outside and play on the swings, zip-line and pet the llamas and then come back to eat more if we pleased. We spent about two hours here until it was time for our departure. This is where we had to say good-bye to Jaime, which was very sad. I am really going to miss him and all of his silliness. For the first couple hours of the bus ride I did not want to sleep because we were going to be driving all night and so I chatted with Emily instead. Emily and I also watched a couple of episodes of The Office on my computer until the battery died. We made one stop at a gas station for every one to use los banos and after that I took some Tylenol PM to help me sleep. Unfortunately it is really hard to sleep on a cramped bus and so I barely slept the whole ride. We were suppose to be driving for 18 hours, but Juan miraculously got us back to Santiago around 7:30 am, 4 ½ hours earlier than expected. Everyone was very grateful, and on top of that the hotel even let us check in to our rooms. Emily, Kelly, Cynthia and I are sharing a room, so once we all got our things in the room we headed over to get some breakfast and after that it was straight to sleep.
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Wow, I really needed that nap. I woke up and took a shower, which I definitely needed. By the time all four of us were showered we were absolutely starving and heading down to Mamut for some lunch. We all got the chicken sandwich, which was quite a sight to see. Afterwards we went to get some cash from the ATM and stopped in the store to get things to make dinner for the following evening before Cynthia heads back to the states. When we got back to the hotel we met back up with Brandon and Cameron to take Cynthia to the market we had gone to during our first weeks in Santiago. We took the subway both ways, and were very proud of ourselves for being able to find our way around Santiago. When we got back to our hood Cynthia and Kelly went to search out a place for our last group dinner. Emily and I went back to the room to check our email and rest a bit before dinner. For dinner we went to the restaurant where the group had taken their tango lessons, which was fun because there were people dancing while we ate and at the end of the dinner there was even live music. Cynthia and I shared a cesaer salad and a plate of ravioli for dinner, which was very filling and tasted great. After dinner I was too tired to go out so Emily, Cynthia and I went back to the room and went to bed early.

Day 23

Happy Birthday Cynthia!!! Today was also our last day of the program, which was a bit sad, though it was not our last day of doing things as a group by any means. We had to leave at 8 this morning to catch a ferry to a nearby island. The drive to the ferry was a lot longer than we expected and we had to travel across many dirt roads which were fine except that the bus got really dusty, especially on the inside. The ferry was not like the ferries that you see in Seattle either. It was a boat that very few cars can drive on to and then there really is no place for you to get off and go get coffee or anything. We all got off the bus anyway and hung out on the deck, which was nice, but a bit chilly too. The ferry ride was pretty short and then we piled back on the bus to reach our destination in a nearby town where we met up with Dr. Cristian. Our group split in to two, one group staying with Cristian and the other heading further in the island with Jaime on the bus. My group was made up of Emily G, Marijke, Alex, Jaideep, Sarah, Cameron, Brandon, Emily, Kelly, Jaime and me. When we arrived at our destination we were suppose to be attending a community meeting to discuss what they should do with the money that the government has given them to spend on public health programs. Unfortunately when we got there we found that the situation was not as we had imagined, so we were given a sheet of the programs and then asked to return later. The group decided that it would be a good idea to go get some empanadas, so we headed out on the bus in search of empanadas. We were able to find a little stand that sells them; they were heated in a toaster oven and were quite tasty. After our snack we headed back to the hospital where the meeting was being held but instead of going in to the hospital we played on a playground down the street and took pictures in front of the mountains. Jaime decided that it was not necessary for us to go back to the meeting and instead we went back to find the rest of the group. When we met up with every one else we headed over to the school where we saw students doing the quecca, which is the Chilean national dance. All of the students were coming up to us asking us if they could have our email addresses and one girl even asked me and Emily if our hair and eyes were natural. We were set to have a late lunch before we left the island and so Dr. Cristian escorted us to where we were to eat. There were two long tables set up in a room and just outside the door there were chickens, a lamb, a cat and a dog just wandering around. This was a very rural area on the island and it was a great way to experience it by having lunch there. For lunch we were served a huge plate of food that had muscles, chicken, pork, sausages, and two types of potatoes. I am not a huge shell fish eater but I ate three muscles which I am pretty proud of. Alex M. and Sam ate more than 20 muscles each which is quite impressive. After lunch we were served some coffee and then it was back on the bus for our departure back to Puerto Montt. With our luck we were able to catch the first ferry when we arrived at the ferry line and then the drive back to Puerto Montt was a lot shorter than the ride to the ferry. When we got back we set a time to meet to go out for Cynthia’s birthday. Kelly, Emily and I all took showers and set up our room to surprise Cynthia. When we came to borrow the hair dryer we had the lights off and then let her in, turned the lights on and yelled happy birthday while throwing balloons at her. We also had noise blowers so we were making a ton of noise and a couple of people from the program came over to see what was going on. Cynthia was completely surprised and very excited that we had done something special for her on her birthday. The group met in the lobby where we went to a nearby place for drinks and food. The place had a DJ which played songs that we requested and they were all in English which was great for us. After we ate they moved the tables and some of us danced around with other tables surrounding us just watching, but we didn’t care. That night we ended early, or at least some of us did. I was very tired so it was nice to go to bed before 4 am!

Day 22

I slept pretty well last night and didn’t even wake up until almost one in the afternoon, but it was expected since we got back around 4 am or so. Cameron, Cynthia, Kelly, Emily and I ended up going back to the same restaurant we had gone the previous day for some food because everything was closed. We really wanted some empanadas but didn’t see any on the menu, which was weird because we had sworn to seeing some the day before. Instead we ordered some French fries and a grande order of what we thought would be empanadas. We were definitely wrong because what they brought out ended up being a huge bowl of French fries with chopped up pieces of hot dog on top. Wow, we sure had a ton of French fries to eat. After we paid for our food we headed over to a nearby mall to browse a bit. There was not too much that interested us and so we went in to the grocery store instead to get some fruit and other goodies. While we were there Cynthia found a little place that had internet and decided to stay to get some work done. Since Cynthia was preoccupied Cameron, Kelly, Emily and I decided to get some dirty work done and headed back in to the store to get Cynthia some birthday goodies. We were able to find an awesome birthday tiara, some balloons, and a feliz cumpleanos sign. From there we headed back to the hotel and hung out a bit before we had a group dinner at 8pm. Cynthia made reservations at a restaurant called Sherlock where I had some chicken tacos that were OK. After dinner the group headed back to the hotel and some people split off to go to the pool hall across the street. I decided I wanted to go back to the room instead and so I took a shower and then just hung out until I wanted to go to sleep.

Day 21

Today was a very lazy day because we were out so late last night. Emily and I woke up earlier than the rest but none of us actually got out of bed until 1 in the afternoon. Emily, Kelly, Cameron, Brandon, Cynthia and I were starving so we got ready and headed out to get some food. I had a vegetarian sandwich that I didn’t know how to eat because it was given to me open face and everything was just falling every where when I tried to eat it. We had a ton of food though and every one got their fill. After we ate Kelly, Emily and I stopped at the internet café to check our email and try to catch up on life. Before dinner I ended up meeting with Gonzalo and we walked down to the pier until we had to head back for my group dinner. Jeanna had made reservations for dinner at a restaurant about 15 minutes or so from where we were staying. The place that we went was just across from the ocean and was kind of like a cabin or in a Disney land pirate ship ride. For dinner I had a chicken with a mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. It seemed that everyone was enjoying their food, but I was anxious to get back to the hotel. We had plans to go out to a local place for karaoke and Gonzalo was going to come along with us. Unfortunately by the time we got to the karaoke bar the karaoke was finished for the night which seemed odd to us, so some people just had some drinks and we hung out for a bit. From there we all went to a local dance club called Kamikaze. It was another late night of dancing but still very fun.

Day 20

Today is our first full day in Puerto Montt. Us girls were a little slow getting up this morning, and we basically missed breakfast which was a bummer. Jaime was ushering us all out the door so that we could make our first meeting with his nephew. Juan took us on the bus to Universidad San Sebastian and it is quite beautiful there. We are so close to the ocean and the city has such a feeling of community about it. At the university we got situation in to a room where we were introduced to the vice head of the university Dr. Gillermo Leory. We also met the medical head of the university Dr. Alejandro Caro. After a photo of the heads and our group Jaime’s cousin gave a presentation on different medical issues in Chile. Afterwards there was a coffee break before a handful of the student presentations.

Jaideep- type II diabetes
Jeanna- Hanta virus
John- Alzheimer’s
Brandon- correlation between mental health and crime

We were not able to complete all the presentations though because Dr. Gladys Caro came in to give a presentation of the family health care in Puerto Montt. After the presentations we were able to have lunch. We were taken down to the building’s cafeteria where I chatted with one medical student who had watched the end of the presentations. His name is Gonzalo and he ended up having lunch with us. The second part of the day we were able to go with Gladys and some sixth year medical students to visit the homes of patients for some check ups. We went two students per medical student and I was with Brandon and Gladys. Out of the three houses we visited we were able to see one patient who was an older lady that has joint problems. She was very welcoming and told me that I was very pretty. We had dinner at the hotel again, but this time we were on the main floor which was a lot less smokey than downstairs. For dinner we had salmon with fried potatoes, and the salmon was very delicious. Our evening was pretty eventful, too. Most people decided that they wanted to go to bed early but a group of us (Brandon, Cameron, Marijke, Cynthia, Kelly, Emily and I) met up with some of the medical students we had met earlier that day. We went with them to a gathering they were having at someone’s house and from there went out to a dance club. It was a blast to be able to hang out with Chileans and dance the night away.

Day 19

This morning we were hoping to go to the hot springs but there was no such luck. Unfortunately for us the spring did not open until 11 and we had plans for a Mapuche style lunch at 12:45 which did not give us enough time. Instead we decided to hang around the ruka and do our own thing. After breakfast Emily, Kelly and I climbed back in our beds and hung out for a bit because it was warmer there. After awhile we decided to go outside and play on the playground for awhile. Cameron and Cynthia came with us and we had a good time laughing and messing around. Right before lunch was served we went over to where one of the farms had a ton of sheep with baby lambies running around. We were sooooo hungry by the time lunch came, we were all relieved. It was suppose to be a traditional Mapuche meal and so we were served Mapuche bread which looks like donught bread and is so delicious. We also had some salad, and then pork with vegetables. Everything was very tasty and I was impressed that I ate it all. After lunch we had some time before leaving for Puerto Montt and so a group of us played some card games. Piling on the bus was once again a complicated situation. This time I sat in the front with Cynthia because there was an extra seat. This drive was a lot shorter than from Santiago to Villarrica, only about 4 hours or so. Everyone was very glad to get to the hotel. Emily, Kelly and I are roomed together... no surprise there, but I love my girls! We had dinner shortly after we arrived downstairs in the pub of the hotel. It was very smokey down there and I could barely finish my food because the smoke was making me feel sick. I took a shower to get all clean but my clothes still smelled really bad. I was very tired that night so I went to sleep early.

Day 18

Today was a great day! I felt very rested when I woke up this morning, which was nice. We had yogurt, bread and cheese for breakfast again. I have to say that I actually really like this kind of breakfast and it reminds me a lot of what European breakfasts are like. Good news though, we didn’t have to push the bus to get it started today. What was sad is that today was the day that Marcela had to leave to go back to Santiago. I am really going to miss her, and we were all sad to see her go. Hopefully we will be able to meet up with her again when we were in Santiago for the Chilean Independence Day celebrations. We dropped Marcela off at the bus stop and then drove about 2 hours to the home of a lady who grows Aloe Vera plants and creates products that she sells to the community. We were invited in to her home where she served us coffee and bread with this delicious honey. After we had our fill we headed out back to the green house where the plants grew. In the green house there were 5 different aloe plants that all had different properties from healing dry skin to properties similar to penicillin. It is the inside of the aloe plant that is used so we were able to touch, apply and even eat the different types of aloe. We also went through the green house that had all different kinds of cacti and other plants. When the tour was finished we headed back inside where we were shown the how to make “crema de ortiga y romero” which is suppose to be a topical product that helps with healing a variety of injuries and soreness. While we waited for lunch we chatted and were given drinks of fermented apple cider as well as a cider sweetened with honey. Eventually some one brought out two guitars and we were entertained with some Chilean songs and even some dance! Then it was our turn to sing, but it was hard to pick a song that every one knew so Taylor and Cameron only played a few songs on guitar and those who knew the words sang along. Lunch was served as a variety of vegetables (spinach, carrots and green beans) as well as a soup with broth, chicken and a little bit of vegetables. For dessert we were served a traditional dessert made up of a grain topped with a wine sauce; it kind of reminded me of a Chilean Crème Brule, but a different taste. After lunch we chatted a bit more, and some of us walked up to the end of the road and back just to stretch our legs before we headed out. Most of us also purchased some of the products that were sold in the community. I bought some Aloe Vera lotion as well as the Crema to see if I can help my tibia out a bit. The plan for afterwards was to go to some hot springs nearby Villarrica so we headed out in that direction. We were able to find where it was but the road we were driving on was a muddy dirt road and we found a road block caused by a truck carrying a load of wood tipping into a ditch. So we waited for a tractor to pull it out and also had some bread and cheese that Jaime had purchased on the way as a snack. They eventually got the truck out, but then we realized that we had one flat tire in the back so Juan had to change the tire. It was very cold while we were waiting but we were able to entertain ourselves by taking some great pictures and just goof around. By the time everything was fixed and ready to go (they even repaired the road while we were there) we decided that it was too late to go to the hot springs so we went back to the ruka. I was not hungry when we got back but dinner was served any way and was delicious. The main course was vegetarian lasagna with spinach, and I was a bit sad that I could not finish it but I was just too full. After dinner we met in small groups to talk about the day so that we could tell Jaime what we thought of the trip so far, and then met with Cynthia individually. Tonight is our last night in the ruka so I must pack my bag a bit because we are headed for Puerto Montt tomorrow.