Good Day Everyone,
I know that I have not given any sort of update
in a long while. There just have been a lot of
things going on. School is out for the summer
now and Christmas is right around the corner. My
birthday was not all that great and I’d rather
avoid the month of November. Going to La Serena
however was fun -- movie theatre, beach, huge
center, mall (although I never went to that) and
friends. December came with my relief. I was
helping the English teacher for a week while my
classmates were in Brazil. That went swell all
and all. The following week I had to leave on a
Thursday to be in Copiapó where I went to a 3
and a half hour rotary meeting (21:30-1:00).
That morning I left with a Rotary with whom I’d
be staying for the night. His old style VW Bug
ended up breaking down on the highway and we did
not get back to his place until 3:00. Since we
were leaving by plane at 7:45 from Copiapó to
Santiago, we had to get up at 6 to be there an
hour early and have time to get ready. Let us
just say I was very tired the next morning. The
plane ride was great and once in Santiago we
took a transfer to Viña del Mar where we were
going to have the orientation. There were three
boys and three girls at the orientation early.
We ended up having a ton of free time to do with
as we wanted. Some of our many adventures were
getting lost in Viña, getting pointed in the
wrong direction by a British man, and running
into a giant Star Wars character statue. More
girls showed up that night which was unfortunate
due to there only being 3 beds. The next day was
the orientation. We did not have much free time
during the day, but there were a lot of little
breaks to just talk to one another. They didn’t
really tell us anything. Well, they clarified
the independent travel rule which everyone had
¨broken¨ -- some a lot worse than others. No one
got in trouble though. Beyond that we talked
about Chilean society, schools, etcetera. That
night was a lot of fun however. Luis Varas (this
is the Rotary YEP President . . . just wanted to
clarify due to everyone being confused about it)
let us out again with an 23:30 curfew which
really wasn´t that strict. We were done with the
orientation at about 17:00 give or take, so
there was plenty of time to goof around. Most of
us went and got Starbucks. So nice to have a
little taste of America. From there we made our
way to the beach where one of the exchange
students had his palm read by a gypsy with an
odd little pat down at the end. We went back to
the hotel after that to relax until nightfall.
Once night hit, we made our way out again. Some
of the exchange students went swimming. Well all
of them except Leah and me. Some of them got
sick on the trip south . . so I’m happy with my
decision. The people headed south all went to
the airport at about 24:00 since the flight was
at 2:45. It was long, but most of us were able
to sleep.
The South trip felt long and yet quick at the
same time. That first day was horrible since
most of us had had very little sleep. We went
and had a tour of Punta Arenas and that night
went to a natural penguin preserve. There were
so many penguins. Oh, and we also went to a
cemetery which was extremely different than the
ones I’m used to. It was all cement with the
dead in little houses. Oh . . . and we had a
rather fun time with the strangely shaped trees.
That night was another free one and we all went
and explored the city. We didn’t have a ton of
time, but enough to see the south at night.
Monday we all left for Puerto Natales. It was a
very long bus ride and we didn’t do much that
day besides chill with the other Rotary district
there with us. (Forgot to mention that. The
Santiago district also was on the trip south
with us -- we flew on the same plane. However,
after Tuesday we were no longer together.) Most
of us also celebrated Hanukkah. Tuesday we went
on another long bus ride to Torres del Paine
where we explored the park and went to Glacier
Gray and Lake Gray. It was covered in giant blue
icebergs which was an odd sight. The wind was
horrible however and at times we had to stop due
to how hard the rocks were hitting us. On the
way back we stopped at a Milodón cave. There
weren’t any fossils or anything, but it was
where the ancient bear-like creatures slept and
mated. Wednesday was spent on a boat going to
two different glaciers, seeing waterfalls, and
just enjoying each other’s company. (Or in my
case and that of a few other exchange students,
playing intense slap jack.) Thursday was our
last full day. It was mainly spent in bus as we
made our way back to Punta Arenas. We had more
free time once we got back and most went to the
plaza to buy little souvenirs seeing as there
wasn’t much time to do that. Many times they
tried to rip us off, but we were smart and asked
for a lower price unlike the cruise ship people
(who probably were just happy there was some
sort of communication happening). Afterwards we
had a bite to eat. We all had to leave soon
after which was rather sad. None of us wanted to
go because it meant we would all be far apart.
The plane left at 2:45 again and off we went to
Santiago. In Santiago I found out that Rotary
did not buy me a ticket back to Vallenar . . .
so I ended up staying in Copiapó for two days. I
didn’t mind at all.
Hope everyone has a great holiday season,
Rickey Bodle
P.S. If you would like a postcard, write back an
address please. I bought quite a few in the
South and forgot I need addresses in order to
send them. Blonde moment.
