The title states the best part of this past week, but first I will start with Sunday.
Sunday was a rather relaxed, boring day. Had class in the morning, went into town in the afternoon, ate at a German restaurant, yet I didn't order anything German. :) I had a Churrasco Suizo. Mhhmmm Delicious. I had a great desire to go the La Recova Market, but it closed early on Sundays- just like almost everything in La Serena on a Sunday.
Since Sunday was kind of a chill day, let's move onto Monday.
Monday was definitely a Monday. Except Conversation class was so fun! Our Profe Luis brought his guitar and taught us songs Chilean songs in Spanish and we sang while he played! Tan Bacán! lol. You can find a video of this on Youtube. I will post the title soon!
At night a bunch of us went to try and go see Harry Potter. I was already not sure if I wanted to go, but decided I would tag along. To our disappointment, it was SOLD OUT. The english version SOLD OUT. So, we ate at the food court in the mall and then headed home, where I found myself some R&R.
Now for the exciting part of the week! Tuesday and Wednesday!
Tuesday we ate breakfast and immediately loaded up into a small bus, 20 of us in a small bus headed toward the Elqui Valley. It was not the most comfortable 2 hour ride, but the end result was so WORTH IT! The Elqui Valley is located on the border of the Atacama desert. It's fertile land grows grapes, papayas, lemons, and avocados. Most importantly the grapes because they are used to make one the most common liquors in Chile, Pisco. It seriously was the most breathtaking scenery I have seen thus far. We arrived to our beautiful estate, I say this because our view and cottage pretty much rocked. We got to visit the town of Vicuña and look in more artisan shops. For lunch, our bus driver, Pretty Eyes, also known as Waldo, prepared us a cookout/BBQ. It was very delicous, little sasuages and pieces of beef. The wife of my profe of Chilean Identity made a special/common Chilean pico de gallo salsa type dish and it was AMAZING. Hopefully she will give us the recipe. Next to the Cabanas we were staying at was a sort of mini mountain, to say the least, I think hill is an understatement. After dinner, me and another student Daviana (whom is terrified of heights) decided we would hike up to the top because the view was so desirable. To her surprise, we made it without her passing out! Which was great! I could have spent all afternoon, night, and days on top of this mini mountain.
We got very lucky these two days. The Elqui Valley is known for having sunny weather almost 300 days a years, but lately the clouds have been a growing problem, especially when it comes to the stars. Part of this trip included a trip to an observatory. Chile is one of the best places in the world to look at the stars. We visited Mamalluca. I can not describe to you how amazing this was. I was just at awe at the number of stars and I was humbly reminded how awesome my God is! Just to think that He knows the EXACT number of stars in the sky. UNREAL. Through one telescope we got to see Saturn and its rings. It really kind of looked like a sticker.
For dinner, we went into Vicuña, and ate at another sort of social club. They literally served us like a 1/2 of a chicken and about 5 mashed potatoes. Seems to be a pretty big trend here. Not really sure why or if it is normal or if on the other hand it has to do with us being American? Anywho. It was a great first day in the Elqui Valley.
Wednesday, I woke up bright and early so I could go horseback riding! Yes, horseback riding in the Andes Mountains, in Chile. A group of 7 of us went and the horses were great and the views were so peaceful. My horse was named Esperanza.
After that, we packed up, a sad moment, I wish we could have spent the remainder of our trip there, and headed to do some tours. First, we went to a Pisco plant, Capel. They showed us the whole process of making this liquor and then we sampled. It was gross. I am not a big fan of Pisco by itself.
Next we headed to lunch at a SOLAR Restaurant! They cook all of their dishes using the sun! A pretty neat experience. Also, ideal since they receive sunlight almost year round. The choices were goat and mashed potatoes, stew, or a Spanish vegetarian omelet. I choose the stew, but I tried the goat and it was really delicious. Almost tasted exactly like roast, but a lot more gamey flavored. The dessert experience on the other hand not tasteful. Two choices- Flan or Mote de Apricot. Upon suggestion, I ordered the Mote de Apricot. Shouldn't have. It is apricot juice, with two apricots (look like balls.... lol) and stewed corn kernels. I know that has to sound as nasty as it tasted.
After almost leaving one of the students at the restaurant because he was snoozing in the hammocks, we continued on our touring. Next stop was to the OLDEST pisco plant in Chile- Los Nichos. It was way more interesting than Capel. It was an organic grape farm run by 3 Rodriguez brothers. They created and underground cellar to store the pisco and spent alot of time here getting drunk. So much so that they started creating sort of a cemetery for those who got so drunk that they died. They even buried one of the brothers underneath the table that they gathered at. One tourist, not in our group, but that had visited previously, took a picture and in the picture appeared the ghost of someone in the cellar. Another tourist, a group of girls and one man took a group picture in the cellar and when they reviewed it they noticed an extra man peaking in on of the empty spaces. Really eerie, but very neat experience. The pisco they let us try here was very different from what we had at Capel, much stronger and hard. Supposedly better, but I didn't really enjoy either.
Lastly, to end our trip in the Elqui Valley we went to visit a very important part of this Valley, the city of Montegrande. The place where Gabriella Mistral, the first Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize was born, raised, and buried. As sort of an hommage, we visited her house and had a local Chilean play the guitar and we sang songs and read her poetry. By this time it was freezing, and only one way to deal with that was coffee and hot chocolate. A really delicious hot chocolate. Also, us girls, shared a big slice of cake. :)
Two days I will cherish and remember forever.
Of course.... Some pictures to help your get an idea. :)
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