A food tour through Gringolandia, or why it's unrealistic for me to try to start eating healthy again for the New Year

So I've been taking pictures of what I've been eating while I've been home, but I haven't gotten around to sharing the pictures yet.  Be forewarned not to read this if you're hungry.

Breakfast in the Miami airport during my layover home.
This plus an orange juice came to 18 bucks.

Pizza steak with fries.  My first meal after arriving back in Jersey.

Bacon turkey bravo sandwich, cinnamon chip scone, and chips from Panera Bread

Breakfast at Denny's.  They are supposed to come to Santiago later this year.

A homemade meal of pot roast, mac and cheese,  and some veggies.

Chocolate mousse from Mrs. Nolan's annual Christmas party

tortellini, breaded chicken, and tomato salad from TGI Friday's
with my dear  Tante

fried scallops with mashed potatoes and veggies

Chipolte has come to Jersey.  Enjoyed a chicken burrito with a
friend who also lived in Santiago.

Sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and cheese wonton as a break from
playing Magic with friends

Country fried chicken while catching up with a high school friend
at Cracker Barrel

soup and salad at a Japanese restaurant

And the main meal of chicken terryiaki!

cake batter ice cream with graham cracker bits

parmasean crusted chicken with pasta at Riverwinds

chocolate cheesecake dessert, yum!

home made fried rice while visiting my brother and sister in law
in North Carolina

Apple pie ice cream dessert at Texas Roadhouse while catching up
with a friend in North Carolina.  Forgot to take a picture of the steak beforehand.

In n Out burger.  My first meal upon my arrival in Los Angeles.

Jamba Juice.  Love me some strawberries wild.

Swork hot chocolate, Eagle Rock area

Ham and chicken croquettes from Porto's Bakery in Glendale

turkey croissant and plantains from Porto's

parmesean chicken romano from Cheesecake Factory in Pasadena

a delicious and healthy stri fry made by a friend when I stayed with her

chicken enchiladas and mole in Playa del Rey

breakfast burrito at LAX while waiting for my flight to Vegas

Vegas breakfast buffet day 1 part 1

Vegas breakfast buffet day 1 part 2

Vegas lunch buffet day 1 part 1: Thanksgiving plate of
turkey, stuffing, and gravy

Vegas lunch buffet day 1 part 2: Italian plate of chicken
fettuccine alfredo

Vegas lunch buffet day 1 part 3: Asian plate of fried rice with
orange chicken and sweet potatoes that wouldn't fit on
the Thanksgiving plate

Cashier: "Would you like to add all you can drink champagne to
your lunch for $4 sir?"
Me: "That sounds great!"
Cashier: "Great!  May I see your ID?"  :-D

Vegas breakfast buffet day 2 plate 1: made to order omelette
with ham tomatoes and cheese

Vegas breakfast buffet day 2 plate 2: bacon and French toast

a suprise treat from Kari while we caught up in the
Las Vegas airport: Auntie Anne's cinnamon pretzel bites

I do have a few more meals in Jersey as well as 3 days in Miami before I'm back in Santiago, but I wanted to take advantage of the free time while I have it.  Now I'm off to find some inspiration to start eating healthy and shed some kilos once I'm back in Santiago.

Viva Las Vegas

I'm back in New Jersey as I'm writing this.

I was in Las Vegas for two nights, and the visit brings back a lot of memories.

Las Vegas, aka sin city.  I see it as a city of excess where people let loose.  People usually associate it with gluttony, greed, and lust, and rightly so.  The all you can eat buffets, drinking, gambling, and atmosphere all ooze letting your hair down and honoring the saying "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

My first trip to Vegas was with my parents when I was 14 years old.  We stayed at the Excalibur, and our flight was delayed to the point that we got in at about 4 in the morning instead of 10 at night.  I was amazed to see all of the hotels and luxury there.

I also went a few times after finishing college.  One time I decided to go when my spring break at my school lined up with a Linkin Park concert in Vegas.  A few friends flew out to meet up with me there, and I ended up winning a Meet and Greet pass to meet the band before the concert.  It was at the Hard Rock Cafe there, and it was standing room only, so I was able to get up close and snap some pretty awesome pictures.

Another time I went after getting laid off from my teaching job for the third year in a row.  That trip was more of an escape than anything else and not wanting to face the reality of not knowing what my next step was, but I think that we all need something like that every once in a while to take our mind off of things.

My trip was all around pretty enjoyable.  I got in from Los Angeles in the mid afternoon, and after what seemed like an eternity on the shuttle I finally arrived at The Quad.  (I had drunk a bottle of water since getting off the plane.)  It used to be the Imperial Palace, and luckily I found out from a local that they were doing a lot of construction and that I should request a quiet room.

I stayed at The Quad due to its location and a few nice perks: 2 free breakfast buffets per guest, a $20 resort credit for use on food, alcohol (in moderation of course), or gift shops, and no resort fees.  My time was spent enjoying the food, gambling, alcohol, and exploring the hotels.

People usually go to Vegas with the hope of hitting it big, and I was no exception.  I'm not too adventurous when it comes to table games, so I stick with the slot machines.  I spent $30 on video poker without any luck, but then I decided to try out a Monopoly slot machine.

I like a game like that for a few reasons (I know a few of these are very superficial):

1. It's more colorful and exciting.
2. There's sound.
3. There are bonus games that help you win more money.

After putting in $20 I went up and down a bit, and the money lasted about half an hour.  I decided to press my luck with 10 more bucks.  I had been chatting with a guy sitting next to me that didn't know how to operate the touch screen to spin the wheel, and so we kept each other company while we played.

I hit a three bonus games, and my largest winnings at that point was $6.  I saw my money slowly depleting and was ready to admit defeat when the unthinkable happened.

Mr. Moneybags popped up as a wild on my last spin, and he said "Well, what do you know?  Let's change some of these!"  He then started throwing cards up in on the screen, and those cards transformed the items into OTHER WILDS.  He not only did this once, but 7 TIMES.

This was the result:

I was down to 40 cents, and now I had 134 bucks.  The guy next to me congratulated me on my luck, and I cashed it out and got a celebratory drink.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm completely grateful for having won a nice sum of money.  I just wish it had come before 11 PM the night before I was leaving.  (Earlier in the night I had waited in line for half an hour for the Ceasars buffet only to find out it was 48 bucks instead of the 35 I thought it was, and I passed it up due to the price.)

In any case, I had only spent $60 gambling, so my winnings will help cover the cost of the Vegas buffets and eating out in LA.

I thought that the adventure was over, but I had a pleasant surprise at the airport.  A friend of mine was moving from Vegas back to Alaska.  We had talked about meeting up, but with the chaos of moving it wasn't going to be possible.  Long story short, she was supposed to fly out the night before me but had her flight rebooked to the following day.

When I got through security I decided to send her a Facebook message on the off chance that she'd be flying out around the same time as me.  She responded that she was going through security at the time and we'd most likely miss each other.  My flight then ended up being delayed and moved to the gate next to hers, and so half and hour later we were catching up over some Auntie Anne's.

We were exchange students in Germany about 12 years ago.  We had only met up in person once since then about 3 years ago, and it was great getting to see her again.  We talked about memories of our travels and adventures and vowed to keep in touch to meet up once again.

Thanks for bearing with me with posts that are lacking pictures.  My next post will be a tour through the food I've enjoyed during my time home.

Reflections on US Travels

It´s a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I´m trying this from Swork Coffee in Eagle Rock, a suburb of Los Angeles.

Swork is an independent coffee shop that is about a 20 minute walk from my alma mater, Occidental College.  Not having a car in college or grad school, it was always a nice escape to get some hot chocolate (I don´t drink coffee!), catch up with a friend, but more often I used it as a change of scenery while doing work.  Despite the arrival of a Starbucks about 6 years ago in the shopping center next door, Swork is still here and doing well.

A few years ago I made the conscious decision that traveling was more of a priority for me than living in a fancy apartment or having excessive clothes or material goods.  I have made wonderful friends traveling and through high school and college, and combining traveling with seeing them is something I find incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.

My brother and sister in law moved to North Carolina, so I visited them for a long weekend last weekend.  Their new house is beautiful, and I enjoyed spending time with them.  The weekend included delicious homemade Chinese food, relaxing on the back deck with unusually warm weather for January, playing Wii, and cuddling with the cats while we watched movies.

During my time down there I also got to meet up with two friends.  A friend I made in Santiago moved back to North Carolina in December 2010, and this was our first time seeing each other since then.  We met up at Texas Roadhouse and caught up on what has been happening for the past few years.

I also got to see another friend that I made in Granada, Spain.  We both studied abroad there in 2004, and while we kept in contact via email, phone, and Facebook, we hadn´t seen each other since then.  She has since become a doctor and is enjoying life.  We met up at Panera Bread and then got some dessert at Coldstone before she dropped me off at the airport.

Now I´m in Los Angeles with the same plan of visiting friends.

The plan hasn´t worked out as well as I hoped.  I had plans to stay with a friend, and we had everything confirmed three days before my arrival.  The night before I texted him reminding him and thought it was strange that he didn´t respond, so I sent him an email  reminding him of the time and asking about his cell phone number and giving him mine.  No answer that night either.

So I texted him when I got off the plane in LA and didn´t hear anything so I called him only to find out the number was no longer in service.  At this point I was already on the Flyaway bus from the airport to Union Station in downtown LA and had to figure out what to do.

I called a friend and when she didn´t pick up I left a message explaining the situation and that I wasn´t sure what to do.  Then I called another friend, and he offered to do a search for his phone number and address and said he could drive me there or I could crash at his place in Culver City.

The person in front of me on the bus overheard me and lent me her phone to send an email.  I sent an email in hopes of hearing back and that he had just overslept or something.

Then my other friend called back, and after talking for a few minutes we decided the best course of action was for her to pick me up at Union Station and then crash at her place (with her husband and baby daughter) for the night.

During the night I checked my emails in hopes of hearing what happened, but no word.

My friends opened their home to me and made me as comfortable as possible on such short notice.  I also met their daughter, and I ended up staying with them for 3 days.

During those 3 days I talked with other friends to see where I could stay, as I felt that I shouldn´t stay longer than that with such short notice.  Luckily another friend in Glendale let me spend last night, and I´ll be in Culver City for my last two nights here.

Well that was a bit of a tangent, but it all comes back to my connections with friends.

I didn´t come to LA to party or go to Disney or Universal Studios.  I came to reconnect with friends, see my alma mater, and relive the memories of my time there.  So far I´ve enjoyed visiting Oxy, a walk around the Rose Bowl, hanging out at the Americana in Glendale and at Olvera Street.  It was great seeing friends that I saw since my last visit as well as some I haven´t seen since in about 8 years.  A friend from Chile moved to Los Angeles to work for a year, and we got to meet up too.  While I was typing this I ran into another alum from Occidental who was actually my Orientation Team Leader.

So what does the rest of my time in the States look like?

• Hopefully catching up with some more friends down in the Culver City/West LA area.
• Some relaxation and well deserved free time in Las Vegas.  This will hopefully include catching up with a few friends in the area too, but given the short visit I´m not expecting it.
• 3 days back in Jersey, including a family party to celebrate birthdays
• 3 days in Miami as a birthday gift to myself before returning to Santiago.  Of course I´ll be doing it on a budget by traveling with a friend and staying in a hostel.

I´ll have one more update before I leave, and I´ll be sure to post pictures to make up for the lack of them in the past few posts.  Off to Culver City soon!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I can hardly believe that it is 2013, and this is the fourth year that this blog has been in publication.  This post was something I meant to do before the New Year, but alas here I am.  I do have to admit that perhaps this post is a bit more for me than my readers, but I think that any type of self-reflection is always good every once in a while.

2012 started off with some Chilean friends ringing in the new year in Viña del Mar.  It was really nice of them to include me, as I was the only gringo there and felt a bit like a special guest.

It also included some friends visiting me, which was a nice way of sharing my experience in Santiago with others and also a great way to strengthen some already great friendships.

There was also a trip to the emergency room on my birthday, and an enormous sense of relief and gratitude that it was not worse and that I had some great friends that helped me out in a time of need.

There was some traveling:  A visit back home to New Jersey, reconnecting with friends in Los Angeles, a trip to Bogotá, and two trips down to the south (Puerto Varas, Chiloe, and Bariloche).

There were also some accomplishments: becoming a permanent resident, attending two international conferences, working as an interpreter, teaching my first "classroom" class of 16 students in about 3 years, and presenting workshops at a conference and at Grants (the institute I work at).

I´m not a terribly social person, yet I have managed to venture out and go to some new events and make some new friends..  This includes a blog reader Britt who took a chance and commented on my blog a few years ago wanting to come to Chile, and she came here and we have since become good friends.

I have been fortunate to have managed to maintain friendships and professional relationships despite the spans of time and distance.

Not everything went as well as I hoped.  Some professional relationships were cut off, and some friendships have faded away due to various reasons.  I also realized that some friendships were no longer worth my time or effort.  I dealt with getting bitten by a dog and the owner who didn´t want to take responsibility as well as a trip to the ER on my birthday.  I still struggle to relate to people at times since I´m not a very social person and am not much for going out late at night.

All of these events have a silver lining, however.  I´ve come to the following realizations:

1. Not everyone you mean is going to like you or want to be friends.  No matter how others treat me or say about me behind my back I am a much happier person if I treat them with respect and courtesy.
2. Some friendships don´t work out for various reasons.  That doesn´t mean people are bad; they are just different, and there´s nothing wrong with letting go.
3. Negativity just breeds more negativity.  Either turn it into a positive or let it go.
4. Having faith in people that they will do the right thing will usually work out.  It might not be perfect, but it will certainly turn out better than if you have a negative expectation of them.
5. I have had many wonderful people in my life that have helped me as I grew up: family, teachers, friends, neighbors, and complete strangers at times.  If I can do anything to help others (sharing my experiences in Chile, teaching methods, passing on materials I´m not using, helping people connect with each other to teach in other countries) it is a great way to give back to others.
6. There´s nothing wrong with me for being an early bird and not being a big fan of going out drinking late at night.  (Perhaps Chile´s ban on smoking in enclosed public places that will take effect in March will help with this.)
7. If you expect things to work out in your favor they will find a way of doing so.  If you expect conflict and negativity, that is what you will find in your life.

All in all, 2012 was a great year.  I´m very fortunate to have the experiences that I have had.  Thank you for reading and hope you all have a wonderful 2013!

The Trip Back to Home Sweet Home and Thoughts on Consumerism and the Holidays

So I arrived home on Tuesday morning, December 18th.

My last time home was the month of February, so about 9 and a half months ago.  It wasn't as long as a time as least year (about a year to the day).  There's a strange paradox in that it seems like it was a long time (especially during the Chilean winters and random days feeling homesick), but at the same time it seems like such a short time ago when I was last home.

My flights home were pretty uneventful.  The airport in Santiago was busy on Monday night, but I had checked in online and only had to drop off my one checked bag.  Recently airlines have moved to charging for a second checked bag for flights to and from South America, and if my dad hadn't told me about it I would have shown up with two luggage pieces and 70 dollars poorer.

There were swarms of people at the entrance for the international police, and I had to wade through Chileans waving, taking pictures, giving hugs, and calling out farewells as people walked through the gate for their international flights.  International police took longer than I expected, but I still got through with plenty of time.

Using online checkin I was able to get myself into the middle seat with two empty seats on each side for both flights.  I was able to sleep on the overnight flight to Miami and was surprised with both dinner and breakfast.

This was my first time in the Miami airport, and it is HUGE.  I took a monorail after getting through customs and immigration and then found a breakfast place near my gate.  I had about an hour until boarding, so I got a breakfast plate and some juice.  The total with tax and mandatory 15% tip?  Over 17 dollars.  Note to self: Next time check the cost of an orange juice before just buying it.  (It was 5 bucks).

After walking down to my gate with my luggage, I found out the gate had been moved.  Back up 2 escalators and another monorail ride later, I arrived at my gate.  I was anxious to get home and had a hard time sleeping on the flight, but after about 2 and a half hours I arrived.

We touched down about half an hour before we were scheduled to arrive.  I got my bags and tried calling my dad from a kind stranger's cell phone, but he didn't answer.  So I went out to the curb to see if he was driving around but no luck.  Another phone call from another kind stranger's phone, and it turns out he was waiting up at the passenger exit.

The ride home included stops to get a pizza steak at the mall food court where my dad and I used to work as well as a stop to get some Philly pretzels.

So now I'm home, and it's a good feeling.  I've been enjoying time with family and the food and places that are familiar to me: Texas Roadhouse, Panera Bread, Starbucks, and Barnes and Noble to name a few.

I've found myself with a good amount of free time here.  I'm not working, and mostly everyone I know is working.  At the same time I'm also sharing a car with my dad.  In this free time I've come to a couple conclusions:

1. I have too many things at home that I'm not using.
2. I don't really need or want that many things when I go shopping here.

I'm sure that I've written about this before, but it's so easy to accumulate things thinking that you'll use them one day.  Combine this with low prices of clothing and almost everything at Target and Walmart and you have a recipe for consumerism and accumulation of lots of unnecessary stuff.

I have to admit that I am particularly guilty of this in the realm of teaching materials.  The textbooks and materials you receive as a teacher in the States often leave a lot to be desired, and so it's common to buy more books and materials to give your students the best experience possible.  I ended up doing this not only for one subject area, but for three: kindergarten, Spanish, and German.

Most of those materials are collecting dust when they could be used by teachers here in the area.  So I've made it a goal to clear out my teaching materials that I'm not using and either donate or provide them as an indefinite loan until I need them again.  (In case that I ever return to the States to teach)

Coming back to the States always affords the perfect opportunity to go shopping.  As I said before, prices are cheap and you can get really good value for your money compared to Chile.  Walking around Walmart and Target, however, was a strange experience for me.  I didn't really find much that I wanted or even needed.  The only exceptions were travel size toiletries, a folding up laundry basket, and a few other odds and ends.  I'm sure that other things will pop up between now and the time I return to Chile, but I find that I'm happy without feeling the need to buy "stuff".

This accumulation of "stuff" also carries over to teaching.  I remember learning early on in my teaching career that the sign of a real language teacher is that he can teach without the use of a textbook.  The teacher I worked with during student teaching didn't know what levels of Spanish he'd be teaching until the first day of school let alone have textbooks, and it was really interesting seeing how he managed to teach despite those challenges.  I carried this over to my teaching, as I was in the same situation teaching Spanish for my first year at a charter school.

When I am out shopping I find myself feeling that perhaps I am relying too much on materials to do the teaching.  Is this Wallace and Gromit video necessary?  Do I really need another game?  What about this puzzle?

After giving it some thought, I realize that my teaching is based on effective second language acquisition strategies.  The materials that I have been seeking out are mostly for enrichment for kids classes that I teach; I find that kids don't want to have more school when I visit them, so we do minimal work for school and make learning fun and activity-based in an English-speaking atmosphere.

At the same time, I have gone a bit overboard with buying books and materials and not using them all.  So in addition to clearing out materials I'm not using at home, another goal is to stop accumulating and maximize the use of the materials I already have for classes back in Chile.

It's hard to believe that Christmas is only 3 days away.  I'm very fortunate to be home for Christmas this year and to have the opportunity to spend the holidays and most of January visiting family and friends.

To all of my readers I hope you have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Belated Happy Hanukkah, and that you have an equally wonderful holiday season.

Finishing up the year and a trip to Puerto Varas and Bariloche

The past three weeks have gone by very quickly, and in less than 15 hours I'll be on a flight back home for the holidays.

Thanks to Britt's advice I can now use photobucket to store my pictures and then put them up on here.  I'm in the process of uploading them there and will then transfer them for this post and my previous post.

So, what has been happening down here since my last post?

I've finished up my classes.  It's always a bittersweet feeling because I really enjoy teaching and look forward to classes with my students, but I also look forward to having some time off.  I feel very fortunate that the kids I work with are so well-behaved and want to learn.  To finish up our classes we baked chocolate chip and sugar cookies, and the families have told me that they want to continue with classes for next year.

My adult classes ended well also.  I'll continue with my private classes and will have to see what students I will have next year at Grants.  Between my schedule and the students' very full work schedules it's not always easy to find times to continue with the same teacher, and part of me feels like continuing with the same students can leave you too comfortable and less willing to try out new things and continue to challenge the student.  We'll see how it all works out.

My boss throws a Christmas party at the end of each year, and this was actually the first year I have been able to go.  It was in a park, and the weather was beautiful.  It was a catered event with plenty of delicious Peruvian food, meat, and drinks.

There were also some games: a water balloon toss, a 3 legged race, a puppet show in which we were put into groups, and a Secret Santa.  It was truly a great time and I wish I had been able to go to the parties the past two years.

This picture gives you no idea how huge those pots were.

I can't believe this was my first time having aji de gallina!

After a year in Taiwan Tim is back in Santiago!

Our prize for coming in second on the 3 legged race!

The clue that we unwrapped that told us our puppet show groups

After walking with a coworker and waiting for buses and taxis for about 45 minutes, we finally got one to take us to the metro.  I was home for about an hour and a half before I then headed out for the bus station.

Where to this time you ask?  Puerto Varas and Bariloche!

I was in Puerto Varas back in September with Dana, but it's such a nice town that I wanted to spend a day there before traveling across the border to Argentina.  The overnight bus was as comfortable as could be expected, and I was able to sleep fine.  I got in around 10:30 in the morning and dropped my things at the hostel.  Breakfast was already over at the hostel, so I went into town and got some hot chocolate and an apple crepe at the same place I ate at last time.

After enjoying the meal and free wifi I decided to walk along the coast a bit.  The weather was cool but sunny, and I found a nice place along the coast with a beautiful view.  There were a few fishermen out on the rocks, and I decided to sit down and write in my journal.  It was so quiet and peaceful, and it reminded me of times when I did the same thing in Spain and Venice Beach.

I only had the day but still wanted to do something with it, so I decided to check out the tourist information office.  I came across a brochure for ziplining, so I gave them a call.  Surprisingly they told me that they could  organize a tour for any time I wanted that day, so we arranged it for 4 that afternoon.

After heading back to the hostel to shower and change clothes I met the company near the tourist office, and we headed to Cerro Phillipi.  It's the main mountain/hill in the area, and it's absolutely beautiful.  After a short training on how to use the ropes and gloves we were off!  The tour guides were gracious enough to take pictures along the way.

View while ziplining

The ziplining altogether was about an hour, and the thrill and views were worth it.  Afterwards I walked back into town, got some dinner, and relaxed at the hostel.

Sunday morning I got an early breakfast at the hostel and left for the bus station bright and early.  The ride to Bariloche was supposed to get me in at 1:00, but after the border crossing it was closer to 1:30.  Bariloche is a small town in Argentina that is well-known as a ski resort in winter, but its chocolates and moutanins are famous year round.  Upon arriving I decided drop my bags and wander around to get a feel for the area.  Most of the food was overpriced in restaurants, and I could see that the warnings of it being a tourist town were very true.  There were also a ton of chocolate places.  I visited a few of them to get a sense of the prices.

Based on the weather forecast I decided that the next day I'd be best off doing some mountain biking.  There was a promotion of 2 for the price of 1 for bike rentals, and the hostel employee suggested trying to find someone else to go with me.  I didn't have any luck that night, but in the morning I did.

I was up early for breakfast and got a shower to avoid having to wait, and I was down in the common area checking my email on my Ipod.  I heard a woman talking about blogging and traveling at the breakfast table, and she mentioned wanting to do a tour that day but not knowing what to do.  I asked her about the bike tour, and she said "Sure!  I'll be ready in 20 minutes!"  I was surprised at her spontaneity but also happy to have someone to bike with for the day.

After getting a bus card and putting money on it we took the bus out to the bike rental office.  We got our bikes, and they outlined the suggested route.  We could see that it was a good distance (about 26 km round trip) and that it was also very hilly, but we were told that there was no shame in getting off our bikes to walk when necessary.

The ride was so beautiful and relaxing.  We had views of the mountains, lakes, and lots of flowers.  We went at our own pace and talked along the way, and it was so interesting talking with another traveler.  She had been traveling for 2 years and was in the last 3 days of her trip, and I can only imagine the stories and experiences she has had over that span of time.  Including stopping for a lunch break the trip was about 4 hours, and we were content to go back and relax at the hostel for the evening.

The next day the weather wasn't supposed to be as nice (cloudly, cool, and rain starting in the afternoon), so I booked a tour to see Cerro Tronador and the Black Glacier.  We would spend most of the time in a van with minimal walking, so I figured it would be a good way to spend the day given the weather.

Unfortunately the tour didn't live up to my expectations.  The view along the rivers and some of the waterfalls were cool, but the tour guide spoke with no pauses and didn't stop to ask us any questions.  When walking through areas she didn't speak loudly and she began talking once she arrived at a stopping point.  Some of us only reached that stopping point as she finished talking and was ready to move on to the next area.  There was also a misunderstanding about lunch.  Our hostel told us that we could bring our own lunch to eat since it's very expensive there, but then the tour guide insisted that it's illegal to bring your own food into the park and told us that we would have to pay for a picnic table and sit in the rain or we could get a table at the restaurant and order some additional food there.  When we tried to explain to her what the hostel told us she was really rude and told us we were wrong and that she was expecting us to eat in the restaurant.  A couple and I just stayed in the van and ate there, hoping the tour would be over soon.

Our enthusiasm to see the Black Glacier had long dissipated by that point, and it started raining heavily.  I snapped a few pictures and headed back to the van, and from there it was about a 3 hour trip back to town.

I was cold and wet, and the rain had become steady.  After having had hostel breakfasts for 2 mornings and sandwiches for lunch for the past 2 days I decided to get a nice dinner.  I found a restaurant that looked nice and had a nice menu.  Albeit pricey, I wanted a good meal and settled on some cream of tomato soup and veal with potatoes.  I splurged on some chocolate mousse for dessert too, and it was a nice way to end a less than perfect day.

Wednesday the weather forecast called for rain and cold weather all day, and I was content to just make it a lazy day.  I wandered around town, drank hot chocolate, wrote some postcards, and got lunch at the same restaurant.  I went for the cream of tomato soup again but settled for some pasta as the main dish and skipped dessert.  I also bought some chocolates to bring back with me.

Later in the day I also met another really interesting person at the hostel.  Would you believe it if I told you there was a person who grew up not having electricity at home until he was 20?  This guy grew up on a huge ranch with his family, and they lived off the land.  He lived in the Malibu area doing that until he was 20.  He decided that college wasn't right for him and took classes to become a guide for rock climbing, and he was traveling around Argentina to climb some of the mountains.  He's planning on taking 2 months to climb one near Bariloche, meaning he'll be climbing it or living on it for both Christmas and New Years.  Talk about an interesting way to spend the holidays.

Thursday morning I got an early breakfast and was then on a bus back to Puerto Varas.  We got held up at the border due to a problem with the bus in front of us as well as some people on our bus bringing illegal products (mostly wood things) into Chile, so instead of arriving at 1:00 we got in at 2:30.  It ended up working out fine, as I was able to get lunch at the same restaurant with wifi.  I hung out there for the entire time and then got a colectivo to the other bus station for the overnight trip back to Santiago.

The bus ride back was also uneventful and as comfortable as could be expected.  We got in at 5:50 in the morning, and luckily the metro was running.  It was a great feeling to be back home.

My last few days here have been busy with cleaning, packing, buying gifts, some pool time, and catching up with friends. Some are heading back to the States, and others are moving on to Asia or England.  I have met some amazing people this year, and I'm going to miss having them in my life here in Santiago.

Now I'm off to pack, clean, and enjoy my last warm summer day until February!