Yes: Hiking in the Andes and a Visit to Vina del Mar

Alright, so it is now Sunday and I have a whole list of things I have said Yes to, so here it goes!

First, I said yes to having a common breakfast here, which is mashed-up avocados on bread with some tea. Avocados are really cheap here so it makes for an inexpensive and filling breakfast.

Next, I said yes to attending a summer solstice celebration with my host mom. The venue of the celebration was in a huge house that was complete with numerous paintings that were bigger than the walls of my dorm room. There was also a wall that was completely covered in tribal masks. For the celebration, there was an "altar" that had a bucket of nuts, a bowl full of oranges, a bucket of water, and a bucket of trail mix. These buckets were placed on a mat on which candy was scattered. The celebration started with about 35 people sitting in a circle and singing with the accompaniment of two drums and maracas. In the circle, there were four people who kept coals burning in stone cups that they added incense to throughout the ceremony. The leader of the ceremony rolled a big cigar using a corn husk and tobacco. Next, we went around in a circle and said what we were thankful for and what we hoped would happen in the new year. When it was your turn, you were supposed to smoke the cigar and speak. I spoke but I did not smoke the cigar. Surprise Surprise. After our thank yous, we sang more, passed around the buckets of water and food, wished each other happy winter, and walked around in a circle singing, "May you walk peacefully on the Earth, I hope you flourish." It was definitely an experience, to say the least.

Next, I saw yes to going on an excursion to the Andes! Only four of our group went because the others preferred to explore the city. Specifically, we went to el Parque Nacional de Banos Morales. Here are some of the pictures from the trip! P.S. Because I did not have snow shoes, I wore two pairs of socks, covered them with a plastic bag, and then wore my running shoes. Unfortunately, this strategy did not keep my feet any warmer. (I promise I can show clearer pictures when I get home! I know that the quality is not too good for these photos for some reason...)

 Here you can see both of our guides, Jorge and the dog

 This pictures goes out to Ben specifically.

People in Chile really do not like regular water. Therefore, I made the mistake of buying carbonated water, which is much more popular and much less refreshing.

So that was our trip to the Andes!

Today, we went to Vina del Mar, which is this really pretty city where Pablo Neruda, a famous port, diplomat, and politician, had one of his three houses. This area is also known for its vast amount of street art which I will show below. I'm also going to show you guys the ocean view!
This is the whole group that I am here with!

 This was one of Pablo Neruda's houses. It felt like a Chilean Hearst's Castle on the inside.

 
Sorry for all of the random pictures...I just wanted to make sure that everything was basically on the page. Vina del Mar was very beautiful and definitely worth the trip. We ate at an Italian restaurant where I had some delicious lasagna with MEAT! My host family does not typically eat a lot of meat because it is rather expensive so I try to get meat whenever I can. Today, which is now Monday, I went to COANIL, which is a program that helps the mentally handicapped. Their students are encouraged to pursue art and many are trained to maintain jobs in various industries. It's a really great program and I'm really excited to be working with them. I'll most likely have more to say about that next time....Other than that, it's just been a very busy couple of days.

I miss and love you all very much!
Rachel