Leaps of Faith to Puerto Varas

Let me preface this blog entry with two pieces of key information about Chile: 1) Everything is done at the last minute. Everything. 2)One of the best ways to get around is to know somebody, or somebody who knows somebody. I sometimes feel like I´m in a Jane Austin novel, touring the country and visiting "acquaintances" wherever I go.

The second leg of my 2-week winter break became a little complicado...I had been planning to do some more traveling up north this week with my host family. At the last minute, though, they were not able to travel after all, and I had to think fast to make some plans. As much as I enjoy Santa Maria, I wanted to take advantage of an entire week to see other parts of Chile. My options were limited, and I had to make a decision quick while I was still in Santiago, because traveling anywhere from San Felipe is a bit limiting. I was thinking of buying a bus ticket north to San Pedro de Atacama, where a few of the volunteers I knew (including Sara) were going. The problem was that they had bought plane tickets and had hotel and tour reservations, and in order to go I would have to go by bus, a 24 hour ride, and try to find a place to stay and get added on the tours.

But another option came up suddenly, as they tend to do here in Chile. While Sara and I were in La Serena last week we met up with one of the teachers at the school she works at in Catemu. Upon hearing that my host family was unable to travel, Marcia offered to call her nephew in the south of Chile who works at a tourist agency to see if she could get anything set up. I didn´t hear from her until about 7:30 last night, when she called me and said that everything was arranged, I could travel to southern Chile and stay with her nephew Diego and his wife. All I had to do was confirm with Diego and get a bus ticket. So I confirmed with Diego and got dropped off at one of the many bus stations in Santiago to see if there were any tickets available to Puerto Montt leaving, oh, RIGHT NOW. Of course the woman at the ticket window said no, not till tomorrow...except these few seats left on this bus leaving in an hour. So off I go into the unknown, to see a part of the country I´ve never seen before and to stay with people I´ve never met. Spontaneous as I am, this was all still really, really disconcerting.

I spent 10 hours on a bus, in a special seat that converts into a bed. I woke up and was dropped off in Puerto Varas, a little town outside of Puerto Montt, where Diego picked me up. He and his wife Claudia are about my age, and they have two children, one 10 and one 9 months old. They are exceptionally kind and attentive. Tomorrow in the afternoon we plan to go out and they´re going to show me the sights. Diego is also going to bring some information about tours home tonight, and I can see what interests me.

It all worked out, but I have to say that by the time I get back to the U.S., I may be more of a person who likes to make plans. In advance.