desde Valparaíso!

My, what a bustling last couple of weeks. What can I tell you? I´m writing from Hostal Polaco in downtown Valparaíso, where I been since Friday and will be leaving very early tomorrow morning, sadly. I just finished putting avocado on my poor sunburned nose and cheeks and ate a dinner of bread, many avocados (abundant and delicious here) and Chirimoya, one of the many fruits that exists only in the alternate universe of agriculture that is Chile. Chirmoya has grayish green skin with lumps like an artichoke, and full of delicious white flesh that is best described as tasting like mango and coconut combined. So delicious! Obviously. The hostel has been full of other travelers: frenchies, austrians, aussies, kiwis, all good folk.

Yesterday I met up with friends from the farm in Tunuyan who are en route to another farm in south Chile and we explored the city. And, what a place! Very much like San Francisco, but smaller and more working class. It´s basically an industrial port giving way to steep hills covered with pastel houses and churches and cable cars (just for touist use nowadays) and big globs of mist rolling in from the sea. The neighborhood I´m in is downtown and just soo artsy, yet somehow not that pretentious. There are murals lining every street- fantastic murals! Really strong colors and from all different artists, some trippy (bears in a mushroom castle), some channeling indigenous mapuche designs, many political- one showed a skeleton in a helmet with a US flag scything a field of flowers (subtle, eh?)and bore the message "They can cut down all the flowers, but they can`t steop spring from coming." On the street climbing up the the hostel- and I mean climbing, we´re talking a 60 degree angle- you pass Biblioteca Popular (People´s Library) Salvador Allende, where a guy in a red beret lets people hang out, read his lefty books and play instruments. He explained to me that Hugo Chavez has been key in his financing of most of the other left wing folks elected down here is the past few years, from Evo to Correa to Lugo. Needless to say, if I had to live in a city, Valpo would make the A list.

Then this morning I took a bus an half hour south to Quintay, a little beach town in the middle of a huge rolling landscape of hills and pine forest. Jesus, what a place. I spent the day hopping from rock to rock along the jagged coastline and watching the waves come and crash against the rocks and mist float up into the hills. I was still in a trance on bus back, blaring cumbia and all. Tomorrow it´s back through the mountains to my little corner of Mendoza, and to study my arse off for the two big exams this coming week. But then, besides finals, classes are basically over. But I had to come back to Chile one more time while I could.

What else is new? I don´t rightly remember. Last week was bustling; lots of asados (cook out), merriment, and intense classes. A highlight was last Saturday when we got back to Mendoza and walked into a Celtic music fest in progress. There was an Irish band from Buenos Irish Aires with an uillean piper! Unbelievable. Then the best part was we were dancing off to the side and a woman from one of the groups asked us if we could come and dance up in front of the stage to try and get people engaged, so up we went and did our best to step dance in front of thousands of people in the plaza. It was amazing, and I must say, having had some instruction in zapateo, I can apply a lot of my moves to step dancing. Needless to say, we stole the show, or at least borrowed it for a minute. After one set we were completely exhausted, and coughing from the smog from all the buses that pass the plaza, but well worth it.
Well, as always, much more to tell, but I must awaken painfully early toworrow, and my brain is pretty cloudy anyway. Last week already seems like a long time ago. So, wish me bon voyage and sweet dreams.