Andean Ski Season

After seeing some pictures of people taking advantage of the skiing down here, I debated for a while about bringing my skiis and snowshoes along for the ride down to Chile. In the end, I decided against it. I was, however, able to enjoy the flipped seasons and get some skiing done in July, and August, and September. I was never lucky enough to catch great snow... and I've heard that most of the best powder is in the south on the Argentinian side... but I've never skied in more beautiful terrain. Portillo is one of the most famous resorts here in the Andés and it even serves as the summer home for the US Ski team. Look what I found hanging on their Portillo Olympic Wall of Fame!

Nomadic Friends

Our friends Tim and Sam recently left Santiago to continue their trip after staying here to work and recharge the money for about 6 months. Good friend have been in healthy supply here, which I didn't expect before arriving, but losing high quality people is never an easy thing. It makes me miss people at home even more... especially the guy friends... as losing Tim leaves me in a bit of a man-down situation. Now I'm not complaining about all the ladies who decided to become English teachers... I'm just sayin, it's good to have some manpanionship every once and a while. You'd be surprised what some crude humor will do for the spirit.

How To Celebrate Chilean Independence

As Caitlin wrote here, we had the opportunity to enjoy the Chilean Independence Day with the family of a good friend. The family is from a coastal town called Pichilemu. It's about 3 hours southwest of Santiago and the drive was spectacular. There were mountain sections that begged to be driven on a bike and views and fantastic landscapes of rolling hills, vineyards, and forest. The rest of the weekend consisted of alternating between eating grilled meat, enjoying the coast at one of a couple different family homes, and taking in the local festival. These festivals were happening all over the country, in every town, in similar fashion. Barbecued food, handcrafted art, music, and plenty of the traditional grapewine - Chicha. Chileans are known for their ability to knock back the booze and Chicha only gives them another excuse to keep the party going. Between the flag colors, the family barbecues and apple cider-tasting Chicha...it felt like home sweet home.

Santiago Graffiti

There are so many days when I'm just doing my normal routine and wonder, "why don't I have my camera?" If there's not some really interesting cultural thing to record, there will always be some cool graffiti to check out. Here's a sampling from the area near the Santiago zoo, Bella Vista.

sad and lonely bikes

at the beginning of our time at duoc i swear every TIP i work with had a bike (ok except for shelly and laura).

the bike rack at school is looking sad and lonely these days.

deepak... got into an accident with the bike, i'm not sure if it's been fixed
allegra... bad accident with a bike and a __________ (i don't know if i'm allowed to say)
caitlin... bike was stolen
katie... tire has failed to adequately receive air and is at the present moment, deemed unrideable...

for whatever reason we're all afoot now, i think we're all the safer for it...

before my bike was stolen this one time i was riding along a thin stretch of road, where the bike lane ended and merged consequently with a very narrow two lanes of traffic... i told myself, keep riding as close to the curb as possible, as close as possible, AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE, OH MY GOD! this bus passed me with inches to spare, inches. it was clear that it made little to no attempt to avoid me. less than 2 weeks later my bike had been stolen. maybe it was a sign.