Mother´s of the Plaza de Mayo

Mother´s and their families that protest the disappearance of their children along with an estimated 30,000 during the military dictatorship which took place between 1976 and 1983. They protest in the Plaza de Mayo every Thursday.
to read more copy and paste this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers_of_the_Plaza_de_Mayo

María Eva Duarte de Perón (Evita)

The mythical Eva Peron´s final resting place.

Buenos Aires

Well my pictures from Buenos Aires did not turn out as well as I thought they would, but that is okay, because during this Buenos Aires trip I had a sort of revelation about traveling. It is great to see different cities, and all the beautiful buildings and history, or to travel to different breathe taking Chilean national parks, but when asked what I am going to miss the most about Chile my answer is simply the people. And like my time in Chile, my recent trip to Buenos Aires would mean absolutely nothing without the people that I met there. Yes cities may be defined by their location, buildings, parks etc... but a city would be nothing without its people and for that reason I loved my five day trip to Buenos Aires, as I have loved my time in Chile.

I have always had a desire to see Buenos Aires, so when I learned I was coming to Chile I made sure to keep my eyes out for flights to Buenos Aires. I left last Tuesday from Concepcion for Buenos Aires, and by the hand of God I was on the same flight as 13 other Chilean friends that were on their way to the Campus Crusade for Christ Conference in Korea (but they flew via Buenos Aires). WE left Concepcion on a midnight bus for Santiago arriving at 6:30am. We hung out at a friends house until our flight at 1. I parted ways with the Campus Crusade for Christ group in Buenos Aires, and Kora and I (one of the other U of I exchange students in Chile) went to our hostel in Buenos Aires. That evening in the hostel, Kora had already gone to bed, and I was bored so I poked around the hostel hoping to meet someone that I could hang out with that night and hopefully explore the city with. I met an Argentine named Marcelo who was living in the hostel until his apartment was ready to move into. I am not going to say how old he is because yall would probably find it weird and one thing I have noticed (and I love) is that in South America age does not matter. I chatted with Marcelo for about an hour and a half that night and he became our unofficial tour guide of Buenos Aires. I really couldn´t have asked for a better situation, what better way to get to know a city than to spend time with one of its inhabitants. Marcelo had lived in Buenos Aires for 10 years, so he knew a lot of cool places to show us. Some of our activities included: stuffing our faces full of delicious Argentine steak at an all you can eat grill, attending a dinner / tango show, taking tango and salsa dance classes, touring the Boca Juniors soccer stadium, admiring the beautiful European architecture, and always being amazed to see restaurants filled with people at midnight. (The people in Buenos Aires don´t really ever seem to sleep, or atleast not during the night).

And as I said the thing I will remember the most is the people, they have a huge Italian influence, so they have a lot of the same stereotypical manerisms (loud, love to eat, and are incredibly hospitable) and they have an amazing accent.

Valdivia: Kuntsman Cerveceria

Valdivia is home to a large German immigrant population. They have left a lasting mark on Valdivia with the Kuntsman Cerveceria (brewery).

This photo is of me and Mickey.

Valdivia

This picture was taken from a Spanish fort just outside the town of Valdivia, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

We had another three day weekend here at UBB so I decided to travel to Valdivia with the two other U of I students Mickey and Kora. Valdivia is a city about 7 hours south of Concepcion, it is located between two rivers about 10 miles from the Pacific. It is a beautiful, tranquil, rainy town of about 130,000 people. It is famous for its rain, and it was also the epicenter for the most powerful earthquake in modern history a 9.5 magnitude earthquake (in the 1960´s).

We spent our one full day there visiting the Spanish fort, the Kuntsman Cerveceria, and taking a boat ride on the river.

It was a beautiful and quiet city. A great place to spend a relaxing weekend.

Vida Estudiantil Retreat

This past weekend I went on the Vida Estudiantil (Campus Crusade Chile) retreat to Dichato. Dichato is a beech town about an hour away from Concepcion. It was a great time of fellowship, worship, and fun.

One more Santiago picture

In this picture is (from left to right) Me, Luis (A friend of Pato´s), Pato, and Felipe (Pato´s brother).