Change of Plans

This week's weather: high 60s and sunny, low 40s at night. Toto, we're not in San Diego anymore.
Recent reading: Deuteronomy

Greetings from Santiago, Chile! If you read my last post (just say you did), then you're probably wondering what I am doing in Santiago. Funny story. Well, not funny as in "haha" funny but more of a "classic Hilarie" type story, as some would say.

I was en route to the farm in San Rafael within the Mendoza province of Argentina. With vague directions and unreliable buses, just getting to the farm was an adventure. And when I say "adventure," I actually mean "dark omen." There were a couple of times along the way--namely when the bus driver dropped me off at a different location than I was told so I had no idea how to proceed "700 meters in a westerly direction"--when I considered just turning back but decided that I had invested too much to quit just yet. When I arrived at the finca, the other volunteers were already in their dorm on the opposite end of the farm so I had to wait at the gate for the owner to arrive. The owner stated that the shared dorm for volunteers was full and I was to stay in the spare room within the main house. I was already feeling isolated.

The owner was a middle aged man, twice divorced, looked 70 but was actually 55. His mother was English and his father was Danish but he was born and raised in Argentina. He spoke perfect British English which actually made him even more creepy since I couldn't pin my uneasy feeling on a language barrier. (Besides the fact that this was no way for me to improve my Spanish.) Already I had an uneasy feeling but since it was already nighttime, I figured I'd stay until morning.

The next day I met 2 of the other 6 volunteers but only for the time it took them to instruct me to dig a hole for irrigation. Have you read the book or the seen the movie "Holes?" Because I have and digging holes is actually considered a punishment for juvenile delinquents. But truth be told, I actually enjoyed the physical labor and being outside since the only real exercise I've done is walking (albeit a good amount). Still, the hole digging was a solitary activity.

Did I mention there was no water? He hypothesized that a main water line was broken due to a local construction project. There was no water for showers or drinking or cooking. Lunchtime came and again it was just me and the owner. After lunch he said he was going into to town to run an errand. Be more vague. I decided to lay down for a siesta. But there was not sleeping. I starred at the ceiling, my eyes wide open, clenching the pepper spray in my pocket. Internally I was debating if the uneasy feeling I was having was just my own personal brand of awkwardness creeping in or if there was something real to it. I decided I wasn't going to stay to find out. I jumped out of bed and threw my things in my suitcase. I wrote the owner a note--I don't want to be rude, afterall--and left it in the crack of the front door.

But I wasn't out of the water yet. It was half a mile to the next road where I could catch a bus into town. Here I was, a giant, gringo tourist wheeling my pack down the dirt road trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, so not at all. And then I see a car approaching. Please don't let it be the owner, please, I thought. The car was getting closer. And closer. Sure enough, it's him. He pulls over and we have about a 5 minute conversation where I simply explain that this was not what I was expecting and I apologize for any inconvenience but I'm headed back to Mendoza. Eventually he heads off and I head towards the main road where I hopped a bus to San Rafael's downtown. I found a hostel for Thursday night where I hit the hay early.

Friday at breakfast I met a girl from Buenos Aires who said she was going on a tour at 2pm. With absolutely no plans at this point, I decided to go along. Gabi and I became fast friends hanging out together for most of the tour and chatting constantly in Spanish. The highlights of the tour include visiting a local winery:

American Oak

One should be enough

Okay, maybe just one of these barrels instead.

And hiking around a couple of lakes:

Pondering life's most profound truths...

Selfie, don't judge.

Very peaceful lake

On Friday night Gabi and I went out with a group of guys we went on the tour that are from Santa Cruz, Argentina. We met at a bar where there was live music and then proceeded to a boliche (club) for dancing and adult beverages. The more I spoke Spanish the more confident I felt about it. In fact, several times I made jokes in Spanish that the group found to be very funny actually. Got back to the hostel about 5 AM, so a pretty typical Argentinian night out.

Saturday, due to fernet (spirit) and only a few hours of sleep was rough since check-out was at 10 AM. I explored the quaint town of San Rafael a little more with it's cute clothing stores and little coffee shops. As a reference, it reminds me a little of both Door Country and Temecula.

Just thought it was a cute train near the bus station

Plaza San Martin

With my previous game plan out the window, I decided to go to Santiago, Chile. So I took a bus back to Mendoza Capital (about 3 hours). With just a few hours until my next bus to Santiago, I slept in the bus station. I use the term "slept" very loosely. Since it was freezing, I layered pretty much all of the clothes from my suitcase and I think I have a semi-permanent kink in my spine from attempting to sleep across my entire backpack for security, of course.

I don't know why the bus toilet is foaming...

Epic mountain trek

Beautiful ride along across the Andes

Around 7:30 AM my bus left Mendoza for Chile. Customs on the bus went very smoothly. That package that one guy asked me to carry seemed fine! I arrived in Santiago de Chile around 2:00pm on Easter Sunday just in time to clean up and attend 8:00 PM mass.