Adventures in Pucón

July 4 is a pretty exciting day for those from the US. A typical Independence Day celebration involves a parade, some fireworks, and a large BBQ with the extended family in an uncle's backyard. 

September 18 is a pretty exciting day for those from Chile. A typical Independence Day celebration involves everything mentioned above but 10 times grander. 

From what I have heard, Fiestas Patrias used to only be a one-day celebration. And then the 19th was included as a day of festivities. And then the 17th. And sooner or later they just decided to celebrate the whole week. This year was actually the first year my school had vacation all week. So pretty much this year September 18th is being celebrated from September 13-22.

Here's a step-by-step guide to a Chilean Fiestas Patrias celebration:

Step 1: Drink alcohol

Step 2: Repeat Step 1

Step 3: Eat meat.

Step 4: Repeat Step 1 and 2

Step 5: Repeat Step 1, 2, and 3

Step 6: Repeat Step 4

Step 7: Once you are inebriated a good amount, dance cueca, the national dance. 

Summary: Drink, drink, eat, drink, drink, drink, drink, eat, drink, drink, dance! 

For real though. Look at this game at the carnival in town. It's ring toss with alcoholic drinks and if you ring a bottle, that's your prize. 

But think of the children! 

By now you're probably worried that I, being underage in the states but legal here, am taking advantage of this Chilean tradition by getting drunk every night this week. But don't worry, because Colin and I have been in Villarrica and Pucón all week, doing fun things that we will be able to remember.

We set off on Friday night on an overnight bus to Villarrica, Chile. We brought huge camping backpacks, a tent, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, cooking supplies, etc because we were planning on staying at one of the campsites we found online. We got off the bus and started walking in whatever direction. The small amount of planning I did for this trip included finding some names of campsites online but never getting their information. After a bit of walking we found a tourist information center, but it wasn't open until 9 AM. So we walked over to the nearby lake to wait, and man was that beautiful.

The first step is to admit you have an addiction

So at 9:00 we went to the office and the guy gave us the directions to the three campsites in Villarrica. After the thirty-minute walk, we find out all of them are closed. I started wondering about the qualifications of that worker who sent us to closed campsites. And then I started wondering about the qualifications of the person who looked these campsites up online but didn't realize they weren't open until January.  And then I realized that was me. 

So our only plan to stay at a campsite was already dashed by 10 AM on the first day. We kind of just sat down on a bench and stared at the lake for a while. And when we returned to the tourist office, it was unexpectedly closed. I trusted you, Tourist Information Office, I trusted you.

We ended up just finding a hostel that was $15/night each person. I told the owner that we didn't have enough money to accept his $18 original offer. This is a big step for me - I'm usually too nice to bargain prices. Even though it was a lot more than our original $4/night campsite plan, it turned out to be really great. The owner is a chef and he made us Chilean empanadas every night!

You love empanadas. He loves empanadas. 

Writing this out now, it seems like that whole escapade was no big deal. But in the moment we were super bummed because we didn't want to spend a lot of money and we already brought all our camping gear and we were tired and annoyed with everything. This is where I first realized that this trip was just going to be a test of my faith. When we were just staring at the lake, I asked God to take control of the situation. This is something I should have done before our trip even began. 

Since I've already spent too long writing this post (is that selfish?) I'm going to highlight the best parts of the rest of the trip. 

We went horseback riding! We got to ride through the beautiful Chilean landscape, up and down green hills with farm animals welcoming us at every turn and volcanoes in the distance. Colin seemed to ride his horse with ease. I tried to make it seem like I rode my horse with ease. Let me just defend myself here: First of all, this was my first time actually riding a horse before, so I knew nothing about the form, and the guide's hand motions and grunts didn't help me too much. So I picked my brain for movies that had people riding horses, and tried to mimic what I remember. So between War Horse, Lord of the Rings, Toy Story 2, and Cowboys and Aliens, I think I managed to figure it out. Secondly, I was too heavy for my horse. Going downhill was a struggle to say the least- at times I thought about getting off to give him a break, but I didn't want to try to maneuver that. Thirdly, (and this gets a little graphic) I really had to...use the restroom. And bobbing up and down on a horse is not the best thing to do when you are in that situation. Let's just say that afterwards was the most relieving bathroom break of my life. So during this three hour ride, I didn't know if I was going to make it or not, but if Britney Spears can make it through 2007, I can make it through my first horseback ride. 

WE CLIMBED A VOLCANO! The best part about Pucon is the volcano. Everywhere you stand you can see it in the distance, in all of its glory and might. Our number 1 goal for this trip was to climb the volcano so we went to every volcano-climbing business and finally settled on one, mostly because there was another group we could join (the minimum was 3 people). The night before we made our super-energizing lunches which included lots of peanut butter, jelly, and MANJAR (God's gift to humanity. It's like dulce de leche. Or caramel - but way better. Please pray it will be sold in the states soon). Then the next morning we ate this:

Not what you think it is

Oatmeal with fresh bananas and MANJAR. We met at the business at 7:00 am, got all geared up, and drove to the base of the volcano! Even before we started, I was busting a gut with excitement. There was snow everywhere and the massive monster of a mountain straight ahead. 

At that point I told myself, "Even if I have to turn around now, I am pleased." It was that amazing. But no, we didn't turn around there...not yet. The climb was actually tougher than I thought it would be. The snow made it so every time you took a step, your foot would slide down to where you started, so you had to put in double the effort. 

I took an artistic shot, how many points do I get?

It was pretty slippery so you had to keep an eye on your feet but this was hard for me because of the view. Everywhere you looked, up/down/left/right, there was something magnificent to see. Whether it was the clouds wisping through the mountaintops below us or smoke lightly floating at the peak of the volcano, or the lake down at ground level, it was jaw-dropping. But eventually the weather started getting worse and we got to a point where the visibility was so bad, the ice was so slippery, and the wind was so strong, that we had to turn back. It was too bad we didn't get to the top, but like I said at the base, no matter where I had to turn around, I was so pleased with what I experienced.

Hey Mom look: I'm wearing that hat you made me. Am I your favorite now? 

The whole experience was just so powerful and one where I felt very close to God. He kept reminding me of the Bible verse Matthew 17:20: "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." 

No matter how grandiose this strong structure is, God can move it with just one word. His creation is mighty but He is mightier! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you - just have faith! 

Even though we did have to turn around, this was the most fun part. We got to slide down almost the whole way! In our bags we packed little sleds that you can clip on to your belt, and it actually goes pretty fast! The whole time I was just like, "I'm sliding down a freaking volcano right now!" My grin was ear to ear, but so was the snow on my face. 

When we got to the bottom, it was decided that the guide was going to have an asado (BBQ) at his house and the whole group was invited. So after returning to the hostel to shower and pack our things, we went to his house and had an authentic Chilean celebration: we drank, ate, and danced.