And off to the beach we go...

It seems that Concepción is going through the change of the seasons, meaning that as we head into Springtime the weather is getting warmer and we are seeing more and more clear blue skies!  This makes one very happy Karina!

So what better idea than to head to the beach?!  In Concepción we are blessed to be only thirty minutes away from a beach, and we have a selection to choose from.

With three friends I headed to Ramuntcho, a beautiful little cove surrounded by woods.  It's situated on the Pacific Coast, which means that the water is clear and blue, but very very cold!  Needless to say I didn't bathe in those waters.  I didn't even dare dip a toe in!  I think I will save that experience for when we are in Summertime, when the air temperature will hopefully be slightly more agreeable after plunging into the icy blue depths of the Pacific.

Apparently this beach is a hotspot in the summer months as people go to camp over night and sit round a bonfire soaking up the scenery.  I can't wait to give that a go.  I can tell it will be magical!

After lazing on the beach and doing cartwheels we headed off on the hour-long trek to the neighbouring beach of Lenga.  It's a windy trail that leads you up and down along the coastline, with some spectacular views along the way.  To give a gauge of just how beautiful it is, there was even a film crew using it as their location for their latest movie.  Half way through we came across a part with a log bridge, and I just couldn't resist re-enacting the scene in Dirty Dancing when they dance to "Hey Baby" on the log.  Sad but fun!

On arrival in Lenga, we went in search of Empanadas de Marisco as they are supposed to be the tastiest around.  We bought a mixture of mussel and cheese filled ones at a cost £5 for a dozen.  We sat and ate them on the sea wall, listening to the waves and watching the seagulls swooping to and fro.  It was at that point that I decided Empanadas de Marisco are the equivalent of our fish and chip supper by the sea.  They are almost as yummy too, and definitely equally naughty for the waistline!

And the search for sea lions took place...

One day in the holidays we travelled from Chillán, a shopping town in the Bío Bío district, to a place called Cobquecura.  This particularly sleepy town on the pacific coast is famed for it resident sea lions, and so we decided it was definitely worth a look.

The three hour bus ride cost the equivalent of £2.50, and if this price wasn't cheap enough, the beautiful views that dazzled us as we wound our way through hills, fields and woods to the coast meant that we really got our money's worth.  Priceless!

When we arrived, we were confronted with the dangerous situation in which our geographical location left us.  Walking up the road towards the deep blue sea, we came across sign after sign signalling that this beautiful, passive place could turn into a tsunami risk area and it really took me by surprise.  After a slight internal panic, I resulted to the "when in Rome" mentality and decided only to run for the hills when the locals did so.  As no one in the shops seemed particularly pressed to leave their daily routine, and we had heard no news of an earthquake on the radio blaring from the bus, we headed in search of Lobos Marinos at their home, a rock called La Lobería.

We found said rock with certain facility, but our search for the creatures was to no avail.  We soon began to feel dejected, wondering if this excursion had been for nothing.

All of a sudden, I was convinced that I had seen a sea lion thrashing around on the beach!  Poor Claire had to give me a "pitty pat" and advise me that it was nothing more than a small child playing in the sand...Oh the shame hehe!

After staring at the large rock for what seemed like an eternity as the waves crashed against its jagged edges, finally what I can only describe as "the daddy bear" raised his magnificent head and gave a large honk.  Immediately the rock sprang to life and mummies and babies were squirming all over the place.  It turns out they were so well camouflaged; we had no idea that we had been staring at hundreds of sea lions for about twenty minutes before we realised.  From that point on it really was a magical sight to take in.

I know I will never forget that day for the rest of my life.

And so the town celebrations start....the parade

The town came alive at the arrival of the dieciocho.  By 11am the majority of the residents had turned out for the celebrations.  Hordes of people gathered on and around the newly erected stands in the main street, which had been closed off to traffic.  All ears were focussed on the annual Mayor's speech.  The Mayor of Peumo was coming to the end of his term in office, and you could definitely sense his sadness and the passion he possessed for his beloved town.  His speech ended on this touch, and a little over the top, piece of advice: "Remember the most important and best thing in the world, our town Peumo!"

My favourite part of the proceedings was after the performance of the very talented professional Cueca dancers.  The Mayor and other members of the town council were invited to take to the floor, in a very Strictly Come Dancing-esque way, and joined their professional partner to  show of their skills!  I can't ever imagine that happening in the UK.  Although, come to think of it, I could see Boris Johnson having a bash at Morris dancing, jingly bells round his ankles and all!

Then came the turn of the school children of the town to parade before us in their smart uniforms.  My goodness there were a lot of them, especially for such a small town!  Each school had flag-bearers carrying their school crest.  One pupil carried the flag pole itself and two others took charge of two strings which were attached to each side of the pole.  It is a privilege to be elected flag bearer, and this is usually done on the grounds of excellent grades and attendance.  

What I found particularly interesting was the school uniforms worn here in Chile.  This country is so far from my own, yet their uniforms are practically identical.  I have been told that this is due to a period in Chilean history when the school system used the British system as its model.  I wonder what other similarities there are between the British system and that of Chile.

Not all children were dressed in uniform, however.  Some, especially the youngest generation, were adorned with their national dress.  The boys wear the costume associated with "Huasos", the Chilean cowboy, and the girls a coquettish dress, with flowers woven into their braided hair.  In this attire they are referred to as "Chinas".  Dressing up in this way is traditional when you are young, and Isaac's father showed us pictures of his children doing the very same thing at around 5 years old.  You could tell he was very proud of them.  An interesting fact about the straw hat the boys wear is that the thinner the plaited strips of straw are that make up the hat, the more expensive it costs.  Some of the youngsters walked hand in hand, others rode side-saddle with their fathers.  The excitement proved a little too much for this wee one,  fast asleep throughout his big moment!

An extremely admirable part of the parade came in the form of the men and women that volunteered on a regular basis at the local hospital.  The crowd cheered and clapped as they passed, acknowledging and thanking them for the hard work and commitment they showed in helping the community.  Recognition was also given to the brave fire fighters and ambulance crew that served the town.  I can imagine that they have worked extremely hard over the last couple of years what with 2010 earthquake.  I had got a little worried that there had been an accident when I heard the blaring sirens, but all became clear when a cute little fire engine dressed up to the nines in red, white and blue ribbons came crawling round the corner, with the driver bibbing its horn merrily and waving as he passed.

Last but by no means least came the Huasos, the Chilean cowboys crowing loudly in the style of Peter Pan, accompanied by their dog and horse companions.  Another item they would never be seen without is their Chicha, an extremely strong drink made of fermented grapes.  I have found throughout my short time living in Chile, that the locals are friendly and like to share everything they have.  The Huasos are no exception, and they share their Chicha in an interesting way; they fill a large animal horn and pass it round in the crowd until everyone who desires it has had a sip.  

As we left the parade at around 1pm it became clear that the Chicha had got to some a bit early as they were having a kip in the local park!

And so the eating commences...Chilean empanadas

Peumo is a small town in the 7th region of Chile.  It was named after the large amount of Peumo trees that grow there.  It is surrounded by hills which means it benefits from a micro-climate   For that reason there are an array of plants products that are cultivated there including oranges, avocados, cherries and grapes.  When we first arrived it seemed quite a tranquil place, but my preconceptions were obliterated when everything came alive in the holiday celebrations.

I really did feel privileged to celebrate Chilean independence in huaso country, "the heart of Chile" as I really felt that I got to experience first hand the Chilean culture and customs.  Here is what I was lucky enough to witness:

Empanada making
I fear I may have eaten a year's supply of empanadas in that one week alone. They are very popular in Chilean cuisine and for the British reader they are best described as the South American Cornish Pasty.  Inside the pastry case you can find a variety of delicious fillings, each with its own particular name, flavours and textures.

One filling that particularly took my fancy was la Napolitana, which consisted of ham, red pepper, tomato, black olives, boiled egg and cheese.

They are prepared by rolling out the pastry and cutting it into a circular shape.  The filling is then placed in the centre and the pastry folder over.  Water is brushed around the edge to stick the sides together and then the dough is pushed together tightly.











Then comes the decoration in the form of folding the edges of the dough in different patterns.   This also has a practical function, as each different filling is identified by giving the empanada a different pattern or shape.







They are then cooked at high temperatures in a mud oven, quite like a pizza oven, for about 30 minutes.

In my experience they are best served straight from the oven.  Oh, and they must be eaten using your hands. My Chilean friend Pablo is adamant that "no cutlery is allowed"!

And so the partying begins...

What a week! What a week! What a week!  This country has turned into a fiesta hotspot and it's all in aid of the Fiestas Patrias!

After being at uni just two weeks, we were granted a week's holiday to celebrate Chile's independence day, the 18th September.  Most people were given three days holiday but schools and universities profited from a whole week's worth of festivities.  The date of the celebrations is not in fact when Chile actually gained independence, but it is when the process began.

Despite being given a week off, university students feel the need to start partying from the Friday afternoon beforehand in what's known as las Ramadas.  Classes are suspended from 12pm and the campus is magically transformed into a music festival before your very eyes.  I headed down with some friends at around 5pm and it really had kicked off! The Universidad de Concepción really does lend itself to a glastonbury-esque festival as it is surrounded by luscious woods and has a large expanse of green pasture.  At the end of the large area a stage had been erected complete with musical instruments, gigantic speakers and flashing lights.  Throughout the night different bands and DJs entertained the crowd and I really enjoyed an ecclectic mix of rock, reggae, reggaeton and cumbia.  There was even a cueca or two thrown in, which sent the crowd into histerics as they jumped around waving their makeshift hankies around their head and performing the national dance, Cueca.

After a Terremoto or two, no make that just one as a single glass of this toxic drink consisting of white wine, grenadine and pineapple icecream is enough to set you on your merry way, I was linking arms and joining in as if I'd been dancing it all my life!
The area was also encircled by stalls that students themselves had set up selling all the typical drinks including Ponche (white wine with fruit pieces), Borgogna (Red wine with fruits) and Chicha (a heavily fermented wine).  The beer had a price of 300 Chilean pesos which is roughly 40p!  Insanely cheap.
The party moved at around midnight from the uni to the take aways and then on to flat parties where we ate, drank and danced salsa, bachata and merengue among other things. Definitely my kind of partying.

                    

From that day on and for the rest of the week Chile was saturated in Chicha, partying, barbecues, empanadas and cueca.  Making the most of the holiday time Claire and I went to stay with a friend of hers, Isaac, who lives in a little town called Peumo in the O'Higgins region.  The night we arrived we were whisked off to yet more partying but this time town styley, in makeshift pubs, bars, restaurants, arcades and nightclubs set up especially for the week in what is known as la Fonda.  It really did have the "eat, drink and be merry" atmosphere that us Brits are so familiar with at Christmastime, but with just a hint of cowboy thrown in for good measure. Just brilliant.

And so the Chilean winter begins.....

It seems that Chile is the exact opposite of the UK when it comes to weather.  In England, the further south you travel, the warmer the temperatures become.  In Chile, I travelled 6 hours south of the capital and am now freezing my Royal Rastafarians off (or I would be if I had any)!  On arrival at my home for the next ten months, a cute and slightly dated flat close to the centre of the city, my landlady greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and a lesson on how to fill the "top quality German hot water bottle" effectively.  I guess I won't be needing all those beautiful sandals I packed for a while then.... 

The two German girls who are currently staying in the flat inform me that our landlady ,Teolinda, is absolutely lovely, but a little bit crazy.  Indeed, it seems she felt the need to remind us not to do things that seem common sense to me (which I know I tend to lack at times before you say anything school friends) as number eight of the flat rules was "Do not let in stray dogs".  At first this seemed extremely strange to me, especially as I live on the fifth floor of a tower block so it wouldn’t be the easiest thing to do.  However, when I think back to the sights I saw in Santiago, it makes a bit more sense.  After a night out in the capital, we were walking home and were very quickly joined by two stray dogs who were flirting outrageously with each other.  We couldn’t seem to shake them and eventually it seemed like they were protecting us on our walk back to the hostel.  Lots of taxis kept pulling up to offer us lifts home but we kept declining.  After a while a taxi actually parked up near us.  Instead of asking us if we wanted a lift, he asked if the dogs belonged to us!   When he realised they didn't, he proceeded to ask if he could feed them.  Out he jumps from the taxi to open the boot and before we know it he’s tipping a mountain of food out for the dogs from a giant bag of dog food.  Thinking about it later, none of the stray dogs seem to be malnourished, so I guess the Chileans take it upon themselves to look after them if they can.  I think the RSPCA would have a heart attack if they saw them all on the street!

Stray dogs also accompanied us up the San Cristobal hill in Santiago.  We kept crossing paths with them both up and down.  It was quite a trek! The view from the top of this hill/mountain was incredible, and the beauty of it was that the view kept changing due to the smog.  We sat there for about three hours, and every half hour a new snow-topped mountain would come into view as another disappeared from sight!  Apparently the best time to go is first thing in the morning after it has rained the night before so that the smog has cleared.  Fingers crossed for a rainy day next time I’m in Santiago.

Speaking of climbing mountains, I did just that my first full day in Concepción.  There are tonnes of national parks in the hills just behind my university campus.  I went for a little hike with my two German flatmates and two Chilean girls from the lab.  The idea was to go up one side and come back down the route through the university.  The only problem was that none of us had done it before and up on the hill there were no signposts telling us which way to head.  So we went all over the place until we got to a dead end.  Then another dead end.  In short we were pretty lost.  Luckily there were a group of guys doing a dirt bike competition on the same hill.  One of the men took pity on us and as we started to head what we thought was back down again, he pulled up in the pick-up truck that he'd been using to ferry the bikers back up the hill and offered us a lift.  So we all hopped in the back and off we went.  Although he was going slowly, it felt like a roller coaster because of all the twists, turns and bumps.  It really was fun!  The woods we were walking in really are beautiful.  They reminded me of Twilight to the point that when stopped for lunch I kept half expecting Edward Cullen to appear from behind a tree and declare his undying love for me. Nahh, only joking! Sort of.

I took a rather less exciting form of transport to arrive in Concepción than the pick-up truck; the bus.  However, this definitely had its perks and interesting sights.  First of all as taking a bus is the most common form of transport for getting around the country, it comes in different varieties.  For example, when booking your seat you have to decide if you want a normal seat, a semi-bed or a full blown premium bed for those extra long journeys (bus rides here can last as long as 30 hours).  We went for semi-bed or semi cama, which was extremely comfortable and had large foot rests and reclining seat backs.  I’d already been warned that time keeping here in Chile was less relaxed for certain things than in Spain for example, and bus times is one of them.  We left very punctually from Santiago and seemed to be keeping time until a stop in a place called Talca.  We made a stop at a sort of bus depot that is only for drivers.  It has beds and showers so that they can rest after long journeys.  We were sat there for about fifteen minutes, which was obviously far too long for the other passengers.  There was already talk of putting in a formal complaint and then all of the sudden the bus erupted with noise as the passengers started stamping their feet in chorus to try and get the driver’s attention!  It actually worked too! Maybe we should try that in the UK when National Express are keeping us waiting.

I better stop this post before it gets too long, but I have much more to tell from this week.  I’ll leave you with the strange coincidence that I discovered when registering with the police department here in Concepción.  Despite my parents putting a lot of effort into picking an original and uncommon first name for me to distinguish me from so many other Smiths, it appears that in fact I am not the only Karina Anne Smith on this planet, in fact, I'm not even the only Karina Anne Smith in Concepción.  Someone with the exact same name, and someone who is only three years my senior, has registered as a foreigner in this city!  I wondered why they kept asking me if I had been here before!  Spooky or what?!

And so the journey begins...

I will never forget the sight of the Andes as I got off the plane in Santiago.
Beautiful snowcapped mountains gliding smoothly into the fog (or rather unfortunately smog) of the bustling city.  I took one look at them and knew that embarking on this adventure was the best decision I have ever made.  The excitement in my stomach (that even on day three has not disappeared) confirmed that this is going to be a wonderful year!

The city centre seems to me to be a mix of New York and Madrid or Paris.  There are all the fast food chains you would expect, and of course the token Starbucks; there is even Santiago's equivalent of Wall Street.  But as you wander around the area near Plaza de Armas, you come across beautiful French and German architecture. One part of the city that was recommended by the tour guide was Barrio Lastarria.  It's a tranquil area that looks and feels like a little corner of Paris.  It's full of wine bars and restaurants, which in concordance with the European theme seem to have elevated European prices!  A little out of my range I feel before I start earning a salary, but definitely on my "to visit with the family" list when they come at Christmas time.

Speaking of families, I seem to have met my Chilean family for the year.  Thanks to a friend from the University of Birmingham I am now in contact with the most lovely and welcoming people you could meet.  They invited me for a typical Chilean dinner last night, and although I was nervous at the beginning that I wouldn't understand their accent and that I had forgotten how to speak Spanish, I was soon reassured and welcomed with open arms (and an open bottle of Chilean red wine to try!)  They left me in no doubt that if I had any problem I was welcome to contact them and they would host me in their house whenever I wanted to come back to Santiago to visit, which I am sure I will do as this city has enchanted me.

As far as food goes, I have enjoyed everything that I have sampled thus far.  For lunch yesterday a friend and I ate at Galindo, a busy restaurant on the corner of Calle Dardignac in Bellavista http://galindo.cl/inicio.htm .  I tried Cazuela de pollo, a kind of broth with chicken, pumpkin, potatoes, corn on the cob and green beans.  It was delicious, but it still felt slightly odd to be eating a very wintery and filling dish when it was 25 degrees outside!  It is easy to forget that Chile is currently in the winter season.  Never one to refuse to try somethig new, I ordered a beer that was recommended by the guide.  What is special about this beer is the preparation, in that salt, pepper and a touch of tabasco is added to it.  Not being overly keen on beer normally, I half expected to hate this interesting mix, but once I'd got used to the saltiness it was actually pretty damn good.  I definitely won't turn down a Cerveza Michelada in the future.  I would definitely recommend this restaurant to any visitors to Santiago.  The prices were fair for the portion sizes and the waitors  very friendly and helpful.  One word of warning though, if you sit inside you may end up nearly getting beheaded by a kamikaze pidgeon as I did just as we sat down.  It flew through the open window and knocked itself out on a closed one trying to escape before swooping straight for my head.  I consequently, in panic, landed on the lap of an unsuspecting gentleman seated at the table behind.  Not cool!!!!

Before I go I must mention our tour guide Danilo from Ecuador.  Throughout our four hour tour he not only told us of Chile's turbulent history, but he also took the opportunity to inform us on the best ways to self defend in South America during our stay.  It turned out he was very keen on martial arts, having studied at least ten at his private school in Ecuador, and now wants to patent his own style here in Chile and become a Master.  However, the style he has developed seems to be breaking all the rules of any other martial art form as your oppenent (who in theory will have trained in one specific art) will not be expecting it.  I can't help but think he's slightly missing the point of discipline in martial arts, but if anyone does try to jump me I will be sure to take his advice and bite them or poke them in the eye.  He assures me it could save my life!