Monday, September 17, 2007 Puerto Varas, Frutillar, and a sad goodbye to one ofthe most beautiful places on Earth

Monday, September 17, 2007 Puerto Varas, Frutillar, and a sad goodbye to one ofthe most beautiful places on Earth

Again we woke up early and everyone ate breakfast on their own. No one really knew exactly what to do for the day. There is plenty to do but (Climb the volcano, skiing, zip lining through the forests, rafting, canoeing, kayaking, horseback riding, etc. etc.) but it’s all really expensive. We wanted to go kayaking which we heard wasn’t expensive, but we found out that they only do it in the summer. So I talked with the owner of the hostel, a super nice guy, and he showed gave me an awesome map of Puerto Varas and showed me a nice walk around the town. I wanted to go with a small group, but since no one else knew what to do, they all ended up following me. It was fine, but I got a little stressed having to play tour guide and after a while some one started calling me “troop leader” like the girl scouts. I apologized for getting snappy, but everyone told me it was cool because they just appreciated the fact that someone took the initiative to figure out something to do! So we hiked Cerro Philippi, a hill that looks out over the city and gives an incredible view of the volcano and lake. On top of the hill are a huge steel cross and the beginning of the zip line. Instead of walking down the hill on the trail we used to hike up, we found a more exciting old mountain biking trail. We started hiking down and it quickly became much steeper then we’d imagined and we ended up sliding and skidding down. It was quite exciting but we were lucky to not have any broken bones!

After surviving the last of our now habitual trail blazing, we walked around the town, ending up at the well known Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon (Church of the Sacred Heart), a beautiful Catholic church modeled after a famous German church. We wanted to go inside to see, but as the blob of 10 loud gringos approached we realized that something was going on inside. It was only about 11:15 am, so I couldn’t image what. I peaked in while everyone waited out front and saw the church packed with well dressed people and the alter full of very formal looking people including many priests and men in military uniforms. I asked a woman out front what exactly was going on and she told me it was the Te Deaus and that it would only last about 20 more minutes. I didn’t really understand but asked if we could go in and in a surprised tone, said, “Of Course!!”. So a few brave souls went with me while everyone else (not the church going type) decided to wait outside.

Inside, I quickly realized that it was definitely not a normal mass. The church was full of people in military uniforms, so I figured it was something for Fiestas Patrias. They began a long series of prayers for various things in the city and country (the poor, the military, the education system, the churches, etc.) each one presented by an apparently important person in the city and followed by an Alleluias by an incredible choir. They then did a presentation of the offerings, but with leavened bread and a bottle of wine, yet another sign that it wasn’t a normal mass. After an Our Father and Sign of the Peace, there was a procession of various important people. When I figured the priest would begin the Eucharistic Rites, he announced that a group of young teens would be doing a Cueca performance (the national dance)! After the dance, they sang the Chilean national anthem, which I had yet to hear. Finally, everyone processed out of the church. I was completely confused and while we were waiting to leave I asked the family behind us what exactly had just happened. The mother again said it was the Te Deus, which is a ceremony in every city, usually on the 18th of September to celebrate and pray for the country. All the important people go and it’s always quite a show. She said that Puerto Varas always does their Te Deus on the 17th because on the 18th Puerto Montt has their Te Deus and they don’t want to compete. Overall, it was yet another, “I can’t believe I’m seeing and experiencing this! What luck!” We had literally just stumbled onto the church just at the right time! I love it!

After our incredible Chilean experience, Courtney and I decided to skip lunch with the group and head to the big tent set up in the town. We realized later that the tent was the town’s Fonda (the big party in every town to celebrate Fiestas Patrias. It usually includes food vendors, artisans, etc. with concerts and dances the entire week). So we went to the tent and bought anticachos, delicious meat kabobs with steak, chicken, chorizo, onions, etc. For dessert, I ate Mote con Huesillo, a delicious drink type dessert with a peach type fruit in juice with an oatmeal type grain at the bottom. It’s really different but delicious. Courtney bought kuchen, a German strudel cake that is really popular in the South.

While Courtney was buying the kuchen, a woman working there starting talking to us about the lies told about Chile outside of Chile. To summarize:
1. Pinochet was the best thing that ever happened to Chile.
2. Salvador Allende was the worst, most shameful person every to live. (Pretty much a direct quote)
3. Robert Kennedy said that the world needed Democracy in Latin America. But Democracy will never work in Latin America and now we are seeing the repercussions of that grave mistake.
4. The current government steals from the people everyday and there has never been more delinquency in Chile.
5. We must not believe the lies people tell about Pinochet and his regime and we must know that any good, respectable Chilean would support Pinochet with their life.
6. We must spread this news to the entire world and ensure that people know “the truth” about Chile.
Courtney and I just smiled and nodded, while inside I was somewhat frightened. I’ve never seen someone so passionate about what they were saying. In fact, I was afraid she was going to start either crying or screaming. So once we got a chance, we thanked her and quickly walked away. We both just looked at each other with the, “Can you believe what we just heard?” look.

After lunch Courtney and I met up with the rest of the group who had been watching the military parade through the streets. We caught the end of it and I wasn’t too disappointed that I’d missed it. Everyone decided we wanted to try to find a place to go kayaking, but after a few tries and finding everything was closed, we decided to visit a nearby town called Frutillar. It is a tiny German village 30 km north of Puerto Varas also on Lake Llanquihue that is famous for its music and beautiful concert hall that is still under construction. Seven of us took a minibus about 40 minutes to Frutillar and again I immediately fell in love. The beach there is beautiful and has an incredible view of Volcano Osorno. We walked along the beach, stopping at the play ground to swing and climb trees. Then we continued to the Concert Hall. It is out over the water and an incredible piece of architecture. It is still being built, but the part that is finished is open with different art exhibits, a swanky café and a small concert hall. So we walked around and admired the view, the art, and dreamed of one day going to a concert there. At this point my head was about to explode trying to take in everything.

We walked to the edge of town attempting to go to another Natural Reserve run by the University of Chile. We walked about half a mile along a path through a beautiful forest till we reached the Reserve. Unfortunately it was closed, but we enjoyed the excursion anyway. We walked back and jumped on a bus back to Puerto Varas. Along the way we planned the dinner we decided to cook ourselves: Chicken Stir-fry with Kuchen for dessert! We bought the groceries and by the time we left the grocery store it was pouring outside. We ran back to the hostel, dried off and began cooking. I let everyone else cram into the tiny kitchen, knowing I wouldn’t be much help.

While the food was cooking, I talked to a French man staying in our hostel that was on a 7 month tour around the world. For $3000 he had purchased essentially a plane ticket for one year all the way around the globe. As long as he travels one direction (always to the east) he can keep flying. He had started in May, after being fired/quitting his job but receiving a nice severance package, which was apparently enough to fund his adventure! He spoke French, English and Spanish, but he wanted to speak in Spanish since we were in Chile! We invited him to join our feast and after a long but well worth it wait, we all stuffed ourselves. I was quite impressed with the cooks.

When the 7 of us and our French friend had finished, the other group came back from Frutillar. They had bought empanadas and precooked dinners at the grocery store and looked rather envious of our feast. I did the dishes since I hadn’t cooked and afterwards played an intense game of Chinese checkers with pruney hands. I’m proud to say I beat the other 3 boys, including Tom, who goes to an Ivy League. I didn’t have time to rub it in because as soon as I won I had to repack my bag, say a quick goodbye, and run to the bus stop.

I was really sad to leave the south and to say goodbye to by travel buddies. I had fallen in love with the beauty and calm of the south and wasn't quite ready to be back in the hustle and bustle of the city. And my friends were staying for a few more days, but since Calli, Hanna and I had planned be in Santiago for Fiestas Patrias, we took the bus back to Santiago at 9:30. On the bus, I immediately fell into a deep sleep until around 11:30 when the conductor woke us up to tell us we had to get off. Apparently there was a problem with the lights on the bus and we waited about 25 minutes for a different bus. I wasn’t a happy camper knowing the problem cost us almost 2 hours total since we had to go out of the way to change buses. But once we got on the new bus, I fell back asleep.