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).

Cruz de Mayo.... I think

I think this was the Cruz de Mayo celebration. But whatever it was a large group of people came down our street Wednesday night singing songs, dancing, and collecting money and food for the poor.

In this picture you can see my host mom Olga dancing the Cueca in front of our house.
The Cueca is the Chilean national dance.

Sandwich in Santiago

May 1st was the international worker´s day and so we had a holiday here in Chile. Since the holiday fell on a Tuesday, Monday became sandwiched between the holiday and the weekend, so we did not have school on Monday either. (and yes they call it a sandwich).

So I decided to head to Santiago and visit some of my friends from the Campus Crusade retreat and Jesus Film Project that I went on in January.

I took the midnight bus from Concepcion arriving in Santiago at 6 am Saturday morning. I stayed at my friend Patos house for the weekend (Pato is pictured in this photo, he is the Chilean, I think you can guess which of the three he is). Pato is a student at Universidad de Santiago de Chile. His parents were out of town, so it was just him, me, and his brother in his house. I had a great time going to his church, seeing his neighborhood and meeting his neighbors. One of the things I love about Chile and especially Pato´s neighborhood is that their are always so many people out in the street. Their are usually 10 times as many people walking down the quiet neighborhood streets than their are cars.

During my time in Santiago I also met up with Diego, Betsabe, and Paty. Three other Chileans that I knew from the retreat and Jesus Film Project.

On Tuesday (my last day in Santiago) I went with George (an American on staff with campus Crusade), Pato, Diego, and Israel (a chilean staff member of Campus Crusade) to Embalse El Yeso which is about an hour and a half from Santiago. We hiked around their and had a fun time. This picture was taken there.

That night I was able to meet up with a friend from Wheaton (Brian Goetz) that I hadn´t seen for more than two years. (kind of funny that we would meet up on the other side of the world). I hung out at Brian´s apartment for about 2 hours before catching the midnight bus back to Concepcion. I made it back to Concepcion in time to catch an hour of sleep and make it to my 8am Surveying class.

"Benni" and other ridiculousness

This is a picture of Benni, the Italian who is famous here for his stand up routines which includ many Chilean grocerias (swears). I think most of the reason people love him is because for whatever reason it is funny hearing foreigners cuss. Benni is also known for his ridiculously provocative song "Enchufa" which means plug in, and you can guess where that inuendo is going.
Universidad del Bio Bio had the honor of having Benni perform for the closing party for the "Semana Mechona" (freshmen welcome week). Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately I did not understand all of Benni´s routine, but it was an experience to say the least. If you really want to see more of Benni (which I don´t recommend. You can visit his website.


This last week and a half since I returned from Pucon I have been starting to get in the school rhythm (as much as possible in Chile) It is not very uncommon for professors to cancel classes without any forewarning. I had my first test today in Topografia (surveying). I think I did alright (that is if I actually read the questions right). My teachers and classmates have been very helpful and very gracious with me.

The rain has started here in Concepcion, and unfortunately I think this will be pretty common until I leave.

My future travel plans probably include a weekend trip to Santiago next week, but other than that my larger travel plans will be put on hold until the school shuts down for protests. According to my friends, the protests happen here just about every year in May and usually result in the suspension of classes for a week or two. I thought the protests might be starting today when I saw two armored police trucks full of riot police parked outside our school this morning, but they must have been misinformed, because as of yet nothing has happened.

Well enough of my rambling. I look forward to see and especially to talk to all of you when I get back.

Chao

Volcano Villarica

Volcano Villarica.

View from the top

This is a picture of the view halfway up Volcano Villarica. Off in the distance you can see the two other snowcapped volcanoes in the area.

Climbing Down

Climbing down the volcano - a lot easier than climbing up.

Crater

Looking down into the crater of Volcano Villarica from the edge.

Volcano Villarica

This is me standing on the edge of the crater. You could see, and smell the smoke rising from the crater, and you could even hear the lava rumbling, but the crater was too deep to actually see the lava.

Pucon

For easter weekend I decided to pack up my backpack and head to Pucon for some outdoor adventure. Pucon is a small town about 5 hours south and east (towards the mountains) from Concepcion. It is famous for having just about every outdoor sport imaginable and a smoking, sometimes lava spewing volcano only miles away.

I arrived in Pucon on Thursday night and the next morning at breakfast I met another gringo, David and we decided to go rafting. David is a volunteer for the Peace Corp in Paraguay and he was on vacation with his family. We rafted on the Alto Rio Trancura and had a ton of fun, and I must say that the American raft beat out the Brasilian raft in the fact that none of us fell out.

I came to Pucon not knowing what I would do, with such options as rafting, hiking, mountain biking, climbing, and thermal baths. David had climbed the Volcano Villarica the day before I arrived, so I decided to follow suit and sign up for the Volcano climb.

I climbed Volcano Villarica on Saturday. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but we hiked half way up through cinder and the other half on top of snow/ice/glacier. We even had to use crampens and an ice pick!!

I had a ton of fun and actually met 2 other Americans that are also studying abroad in Concepcion but in a different University.

My weekend trip to Pucon was a great time, but unfortunately my Spanish suffered a little, since I pretty much only spoke English in Pucon, but it was definitely worth it.

Root Beer Float

My mom asked me if their was anything that she could bring to Chile when they came that they don´t have here and I realized that I had never seen root beer here in Chile. It turns out that none of my friends have even tried root beer. So when my family came they also brought a few bottles of delicious A&W Root Beer.
Tonight I made some root beer floats with my friends and it was a big hit. (Dr. Pepper and Seven Up Company if you are reading this Chile would be a good market for your product!)

Compañeros

This is a picture of some of my classmates (compañeros) from Civil Engineering at the Universidad del Bio Bio.

Dinner with Vida Estudiantil (Campus Crusade for Christ) Staff

While my family was here we treated Kurt and Melissa Adams and Cote to a dinner. Kurt, Melissa, and Cote are all on staff with Vida Estudiantil (Campus Crusade for Christ) here in Concepcion. They primarily work with the larger school in Concepcion (University of Concepcion). These are also the same people with whom I did the Jesus Film Trip. I also stayed with Kurt and Melissa in Santiago before and after the Jesus Film Trip before they moved to Concepcion.

It has been great to have these people here in Concepcion too, and the way that God worked all of this stuff out for this trip.

Salto del Laja

While my family was here we also went to the beautiful Salto del Laja which is a series of waterfalls about an hour and a half outside of Concepcion.

Long - Huey Family Visit

In honor of the Chilean way of keeping both your mom´s and dad´s apellido (last name), I titled this entry Long - Huey Family.

My family came to visit last week for 6 days. Some of the things that we did together are as follows. We went out to eat mariscos (seafood) with my Chilean family. We saw some of the sites and beautiful views in Concepcion and the neighboring cities. We also spent an awesome weekend at a beach resort about two hours north of Concepcion. It was a great chance for me to get away from Concepcion and to enjoy a peaceful and quiet weekend with my family (At a place that was a little nicer than the hostels that I have become accustomed to staying at).
The week with my family was a great time to see them again and to also let them see what my life looks like here in Chile.

Schmidt-Diaz Family

Finally I have a picture of myself with my host family. They have been terrific, living with them has been a very good combination of help, conversation, good cooking, and also independence. I enjoy conversing with them and spending time with them, but they also have their own life and I have a lot of friends outside of the house, so it has been working out well.
The family consists of the two parents Wolfgang Schmidt (his grandparents immigrated to Chile from Germany) and Olga Diaz. They have two kids Wolfgang (Wolf) who is 24 and in medical school in Concepcion and Karen who is 21 and is studying Phsychology at Universidad de Concepcion (the larger University in town, not the one that I attend). Romina, Wolf´s girlfriend, is also around the house a lot and has been very friendly and helpful to me (part of this might be because finally I am the first male exchange students, all the rest had been girls and their room had been right next to Wolf. I think she might have been a little jealous :))
Olga cooks me all of my meals which usually consists of a breakfast of tea, bread and crackers with jelly and manjar (the closest thing the US has to manjar is caramel). Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and we usually have one or two plates (soup and then main dish...) and fruit for desert, I sometimes eat at the School cafeteria when it is more convenient although the food is definitely better at home. Once or dinner usually consists of sandwiches and tea.

Week 2 of School

I have now completed my second week of school at Universidad del Bio Bio and I have learned a number of things about Chile, Chileans, and the University.

Showing up to class on time is like coming early. Classes usually don´t start until 10 minutes after they are supposed to.

The dating "rule" for Chileans is half your age plus 5 years. Meaning if you are 20 you can date a girl that is 15. The "rule" in the US is half your age plus 7 meaning if you are 20 you can not date a girl any younger than 17. (Im gonna stick with the US rule)

They love Reggaeton here. The dancing does not begin at the clubs until reggaeton is played. I have also seen a large amount of people wearing New York Yankees hats here and I am told that it is mostly due to the influence of Daddy Yankee (a reggaeton star).

PDA (Public Display of Affection) is the norm here. You really can´t go anywhere without seeing a couple making out.

All in all I am having a good time here. My classmates have been really friendly in inviting me to hang out with them, and I am learning as much Chilean as I am Castillan (Spanish).

Concepcion

This is a picture of the City of Concepcion.
Concepcion has between 200 and 300 thousand residents. However the entire port area including a few other large cities is somewhere around 2 million.
So far the weather has been about 65-75 degrees during the day and cool at night. This perfect weather will not last all year. Concepcion is known for it´s large amount of rain during the winter here and also it´s flooding. But right now I am loving it.

Universidad del Bio Bio

This is a picture of the front of Universidad del Bio Bio.
This school has two campuses, this one (the Concepcion campus) and also another campus in Chillan (about an hour and a half away). Their are about 5,000 students at the Concepcion Campus, and it is mostly Engineering and sciences.

First week of classes at UBB

I am now in the middle of my first week of classes at the Universidad del Bio Bio.
I moved in with my family in Concepcion on February 22nd. I spent the first week getting to know my family and the area a little better before my beginning of classes.
The school had an orientation for all of the International Students (all four of us). Three of us are from University of Illinois, and the other student is from Spain. All of the professors, secretaries, and faculty members that we met were so friendly and I already have a number of their home and cell phone numbers!!

Classes officialy began on Thursday, March 1st, but none of my started until Monday, March 5th. I am taking Ingeneria de Materiales (Mon. and Fri.), Topografia (surveying) (Mon. and Wed.), Tecnologia del Hormigon (Technology of Concrete) (Tue. and Thur.), Cultura Tradiccional Chilena (Thur.), and Danza (dance) Tradiccional Chilena (Thur.).

The classes here are much smaller than the ones that I have had at U of I, most of my classes here have between 20 and 30 students. It is also nice that I am taking mostly Civil Engineering classes because I have a couple of classes with the same people.

I have found my classmates to be very friendly once I introduced myself. I have spent the last two afternoons and evenings hanging out with some of my classmates in Civil Engineering and was even invited to their house for "once" yesterday. (Once is like dinner here, it is much smaller, usually consisting of sandwiches and tea).

I think it will be fun to go to a smaller school for a little while (5,000 students compared to 30,000 at U of I). And even though their is no on campus housing their still seems to be pretty good community amongst the students since a lot of them hang out at school all day.

Fortunately so far I have missed out on the horrible freshmen hazing (Mechoneos) that goes on at all of the Universities in Chile. Usually this event consists of Second year students raiding a class of freshmen and making them turn in one of their shoes, they then cut up their clothes (sometimes their hair), throw paint or ketchup or some other nasty stuff on the freshmen and then make them go out to the town center and beg for money. Once the freshmen has gotten enough money begging they can return to campus where they share a barbeque with their classmates and tormentors. Sounds like a great way to get to know your classmates!!!!! Here is an article with some pictures from a Mechoneos in Santiago. http://diario.elmercurio.com/2007/03/07/nacional/nacional/noticias/8D40F842-B2CD-4E67-997A-8FF5CBA84290.htm

This is all the news for now. Sorry it has been so long since the last post, until this week not much was really happening.

Perito Moreno - Los Glaciares National Park - Argentina

Sunday, February 18th. After our exhausting journey through Parque Nacional Torres del Paine we were in the mood for a mindless tour, one in which they drive you around in a big comfortable bus and tell you when to get out and take pictures. This is exactly what we got at Perito Moreno, and it was terrific!!
Perito Moreno is also on the top 3 list of places to see in Patagonia along with Torres del Paine and Mount Fitz Roy (which we did not see).
Perito Moreno is a huge glacier that was actually growing in size until the 1980´s. It has now reached a state of equilibrium in which 2 meters fall off everyday but are replaced by massive amounts of snowfall at the top of the glacier.
Perito Moreno is famous for its ruptures. You can read more about this phenomenon at this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier I just don´t feel like explaining it.
During our tour we also took a one hour boat ride that took us right up to the glacier. All in all it was a fun and relaxing end to our journey in the Patagonia. The next day we headed back to Puerto Natales. And then on Tuesday we began our 30 hour bus ride from Punta Arenas to Osorno. Upon arrival in Osorno I purchased a bus ticket for Concepcion and parted ways with Jon and Lisa (they headed back to Valparaiso). I arrived in Concepcion early Thursday morning February 22nd after 37 hours in a bus. I moved in with my family, and will begin classes late next week.

Day 5: Sunrise on the Torres del Paine

We woke up at 5am on Saturday, February 17th in order to make the one hour climb (in the dark) to the mirador to view the sunrise on the Torres del Paine. After stumbling through the dark, and then nearly getting blown off the top of the mountain(the winds were even stronger this day, I would guess gusts were up to 50+ mph, meaning at times I had to crouch down to avoid getting blown away), we got a spectacular view of the sunrise hitting the Torres del Paine. (granite pillars that rise to 2800m).

This was quite the finish to our awesome camping trip in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.

After viewing the sunrise we returned to camp, packed up and then hiked half the day down the mountain to the bus stop.

Day 4: Long hike to the Torres del Paine

This picture was taken towards the beginning of our day 4 hike, near the shore of Lago Nordenskjold.

Day 4 was definitely our hardest day of hiking. We woke up early to hike 16.6 kilometers before starting the 3 hour climb up to the base of Torres del Paine. (Towers of Pain as I like to call them). The climb to the campsite near the Torres was incredibly hard. It was very steep and their was a 30 - 40 mph wind blowing in our face the whole time, threatening to blow us off of the mountain. But we made it to the campsite and would be rewarded the next morning with one of the special treats that the park had to offer. A sunrise on the Torres del Paine.

Day 3: French Valley (without our packs!!)

On day 3 we were able to leave our tent and hiking packs at Campo Italiano and just do a day hike up into the French Valley. This was a nice break from lugging our packs everywhere, although we still covered a lot of ground this day.

This picture was taken on the way up to the French Valley. Pictures just don´t do the French Valley justice, the beauty of the French Valley is that it is almost entirely surrounded by granite towers and mountain peaks.

Once we got to the mirador (lookout) at French Valley. We decided to continue climbing to see what was over the next pass. After about an hour of hiking and climbing up rocks we were rewarded with a rare view of the back of the Torres del Paine. I say rare view because their was no path, and hardly any other people near us.

Day 2

I do not know the name of this mountain, but after hiking 21.6 kilometers on day 2 (Valentines Day) we set up camp at the base of this spectacular mountain.
Throughout the night we could hear the sound of what seemed to be thunder from the tent, but we found out that this noise was actually avalanches falling from the glacier capped mountain. Such a powerful mountain!!!

I also forgot to mention that Jon, Lisa, and I were also traveling with a German guy named Fredd. Fredd is 20 years old and is in Santiago for a year, fulfilling his German service requirement. We met Fredd at a Hostel in Punta Arenas and he was looking for people to camp with in Torres del Paine.

Day 1: Glacier Grey

We arrived at Torres del Paine at about 1:30 on Tuesday, February 13th. We then had to hike 14km (you can do the conversion). We hiked past Lago Grey (Lake Grey) and set up camp just above the magnificent Glacier Grey (seen in this photo).

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine

Lisa, Jon, and I flew down to Punta Arenas from Santiago on Sunday, February 11. Punta Arenas is the city located on the Straight of Magellan on the southernmost part of the American Continent. From Punta Arenas we took a bus 3 hours north to Puerto Natales, a smaller town which is the staging point for camping trips to Torres del Paine National Park. In Puerto Natales we rented all the gear that we would need for our 5 day 4 night camping and hiking trip at Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.
We woke up early on Tuesday morning, February 13th and took a bus from Puerto Natales to the park entrance. We first took a half hour Catamaran ride that took us past the Cuernos which you can see in this picture.

Strait of Magellan

Yesterday we arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile. Punta Arenas is a decent sized city located on the Strait of Magellan. It is amazing to think that I am just about at the end of the world right now.

We are now in Puerto Natales preparing to embark on the 5 day trek through Torres del Paine National Park.

I can´t wait to share the pictures with all of you.


Chao

Preparing for Patagonia

We (Jon, Lisa, and I) are getting ready to leave for a trip to the Patagonia. After many failed attempts to acquire bus or plane tickets we were finally able to purchase our plane tickets this afternoon for a flight tomorrow morning out of Santiago. We will fly down to Punta Arenas, but on the way back we will take the 48 hour bus ride. The 48 hours is the reason for flying one way.

We will be doing the W trek at the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. We will spend about 4 days hiking and camping through the glacier formed mountains of the Chilean Patagonia, hopefully enjoying some spectacular views of one of South Americas most amazing natural wonder The Torres del Paine.

I probably won´t be able to post any pictures, stories, or check my email. But hopefully when I return to Concepcion I will have some unbelievable pictures and stories to share with you. Keep us in your prayers as we will be doing a lot of traveling over the next two days.

Chao

Tour of the Harbor

Yesterday morning we (Lisa, Dave, Jon, and I) took a boat tour of the Valparaiso harbor. It was pretty unbelievable to see giant ships loaded up entirely with fruit! That being said the fruit here is one thing that Chile is known for and it has been delicious here. This time of year a lot of the fruit in the states comes from Chile, so next time you buy some nectarines, peaches, strawberries, plums, or apples at your grocery store they very well might be from Chile.

La Playa

We have spent the past two days at the beach. The first day at Reñaca and the second day at Viña Del Mar. This is a picture of Viña Del Mar. This beach is one of the more popular tourist destinations (especially in the summer months) of all of South America and consequently the beach is very crowded.

La Campana

This picture was taken near the top of La Campana. La Campana is the highest peak in the coastal Cordillera. Jon, Dave, and I spent about two and a half hours hiking up the mountain through the clouds and when we reached the top we finally broke through the tops of the clouds. On a clearer day you can see both the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean from this point. Darwin apparently made this place somewhat famous by writing about this fact. However, I would not trade the view that we had, we really had the feeling that we were standing on top of the world.
The mountains in the background of this picture is the Coastal Cordillera (Cordillera means range).

It´s fun to stay at the YMCA

This is a picture of the room that I have been staying in for the past week at the YMCA in Valparaiso. It has been really nice to have my own room for a little while. I am able to spread my stuff out and not worry about anything getting stolen. I will be staying here until I decide to move in with my Host Family in Concepcion. My semester at Universidad del Bio Bio will begin on March 1st.

Valparaiso II

I have had a couple of fun action packed days in Valparaiso. I have been staying in the YMCA (I even get my own room). My friend Jon Milonas lives and works at the YMCA, however this week he has been staying in a hotel up the road with his brother Dave who is visiting this week from Chicago. It has been great to sight see with the two of them. The day after watching the Bears lose the Super Bowl we hung out at the Y for the morning and then went out to the foster house where Jon volunteers (I have a lot more respect for Jon, the kids were out of control). After spending two hours with the kids we met up with two of Jon´s friends and went to a Circus (Los Tachuelos) in Viña Del Mar. The parts that I could understand were pretty hilarious.

The next day we went to La Compana, a national park about an hour away from Valparaiso. We hiked to the top of the peak, and got one of the most spectacular views that I have ever seen (I will upload pictures later), but basically we spent the entire climb in the clouds and when we reached the top we broke above the clouds and could only see clouds and other mountain peaks.

Yesterday we spent the day at the beach in Reñaca, just past Viña Del Mar. It was a very relaxing fun time. That night was Salsa night at the Y, so I had my first hour and a half of Salsa dancing lessons. It was fun, but much harder than it looks, I will need more lessons, but hopefully before I leave I will have it down.

Today we took a tour of the Valparaiso harbor in the morning and then spent the afternoon at the Viña Del Mar beach.

I will hopefully be posting pictures with more details in the next few days, but for now that is all.


Chao

Valparaiso

I took the one and a half hour bus from Santiago to Valparaiso today. I will be in Valparaiso for 1 to 3 weeks. I am staying at the YMCA here with my friend Jon Milonas. I will be helping out with some things here, day camps, English classes etc.. but I can mostly decide what I want to do. I am in Jons room right now, but will probably get a room of my own later this week. It has been so awesome how God has worked all these people out for this trip. It has really been a blessing to get to travel, see the country, meet new people, and serve God before my semester starts here.

I was able to watch the Super Bowl here at a Sports Bar in Vina Del Mar with Jon, Dave his brother, and Lisa another girl at the YMCA from New York. I was very unhappy about the result, but atleast im here and well, and it was a really fun first quarter!!!

This is a picture of the 4 of us at the sports bar, with a delicious artery clogging appetizer.

Chilean Countryside

This was our third and final location for showing the Jesus Film. We partnered with the Emmanuel Pentecostal Church in this area.

Iglesia Biblia Abierta

We showed the Jesus Film twice at this church.

Border of Argentine and Chile

This mountain/plateau marks the border between Chile and Argentina. The scenery was absolutely beautiful in the area where we showed the Jesus Film, right along the border of Chile and Argentina.

Jesus Film Project

We showed the Jesus Film to about 400 different people at 5 different locations in Chile over the course of 6 days. The Jesus Film is a movie about the last three years of Jesus life and is based off the gospel of Luke. We showed the Spanish version, but one of the other groups showed the film in Mapundungu, the language of the Mapuches.

Chi-Chi-Chi, Le-Le-Le, Viva Chile!!

Myself, Diego, and Pato striking a pose in front of the Chilean flag.

Argentinian Asado

The last night of the Campamento the Argentinians did what they are known for and grilled us all some delicious beef. They had a fire going and would shovel the burning embers under the grill to cook the meat. I am not sure exactly why they used the cardboard to cover the meat, but it came out delicious.

The Beach - Lake Alumine

Enjoying the beach on Lake Alumine, in Villa Pehuenia, Argentina, with Daniel, Diego, and Matthias. Unfortunately I got pretty sunburnt, their isn't much of an ozone layer in the south here.

Dessert at the Campamento

This is a picture of me enjoying dessert with some of the Chilean students at the Campamento in Argentina.

Lake Alumine - Villa Pehuenia, Argentina

This is the lake upon which the Campamento was located.

Campamento

Campamento located on Lake Alumine in Villa Pehuenia, Argentina. This was the location of the week long Campus Crusade retreat for students from Chile and Argentina.

Bus Ride

Loading up the bus that took us from Temuco, Chile through the Andes Mountains to Villa Pehuenia, Argentina for the Campus Crusade retreat (Campamento)

Jesus Film Project - Región de la Araucanía, Chile

We departed the Campamento on Saturday, January 27 to begin our week long Jesus Film Project amongst the Mapuche people of Chile. I was in a group of 14 students and Campus Crusade staff from Chile that would be showing the film in Icalma (just across the border of Argentina in Chile) and two other communities in the area, Merimenucu Alto and Bajo (spelling is most likely wrong).

In Icalma we were able to show the Jesus Film for Children in front of an entire camp of 230 chilean kids. The camp is a government funded project that allows underpriveliged Chilean students to enjoy a week at a camp by the lake with fun and good food. By the Lord's grace the camp director allowed us to show the story of Jesus' life in front of the entire camp.

We also showed the Jesus Film (the last three years of Jesus life taken from the gospel of Luke) in Spanish at a campsite on the lake. Their were probably about 50 people in attendance.

One other highlight of our stay in Icalma was seeing our dinner fall out of a wheel barrow. The church graciously grilled us a sheep for the last night, and early that afternoon as we were getting ready for the movie we saw a tied up sheep fall out of a wheel barrow outside of the church. Needless to say some of the girls in our group were a little heartbroken.

After two days in Icalma we traveled about a half hour down the road to Merimenucu Alto where we stayed and worked with pastor Augustin at the Biblia Abierta (Open Bible Church). We should the movie there twice and had about 30 people at each showing which is really amazing considering an hour long walk would only take you past 5 other houses. We were really in the middle of nowhere, the community had just gotten electricity the week before, but it was absolutely beautiful there.

For our last leg of the Jesus Film Trip we drove about two miles down river to Merimenucu Bajo where we stayed at the Emmanuel Pentecostal Church. This community had a few more houses and we should the movie three different times to crowds of 50, 30, and 20. One of the highlights of this stay was the grilled goat dinner that we enjoyed our final night. The pastor's family did a terrific job of seasoning and grilling the goat meat.

The Jesus Film was overall a terrific experience. It was very stretching to live in such rustic conditions and to only be able to communicate with people in Spanish. It was also heart breaking to hear some of the Mapuche's tell us that they can't come to church because their god will be mad at them. While at the same time it was extremely encouraging to see how real and powerful the message of the gospel is to the pastor's of the churches, their families, and their church bodies. I will continue to think about and pray for the Mapuche people. God is definitely working amongst them, but still many of them have a lot of barriers built up toward Christianity.

One verse that kept ringing over and over in my head during this trip was Romans 10:14-15 "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!""

I feel so blessed and so unworthy to have been the feet to bring the grace and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Mapuche people.

John 1:14
"The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Campamento - Villa Pehuenia, Argentina

I am now back in Santiago after my time in Argentina and Chile at both a Campus Crusade retreat in Argentina and a Jesus Film Project trip in Chile. I can't post any pictures right now (I left my camera plug at another apartment in Santiago, but hopefully later today I will have some pictures). I will start out by detailing my experience at the Campus Crusade retreat in Argentina.

We left for the retreat at about 10pm local time on Sunday, January 21 from Santiago, and after a long trip through the night and day we arrived at the campamento (camp) in Villa Pehuenia, Argentina at about 5 pm on Monday. Our trip included an overnight bus ride to Temuco, Chile, and then a smaller winding bus ride through the Andes Mountains and across the border into Argentina.

The scenery during the drive and at the Campamento were amazing. We passed numerous volcano formed snowcapped peaks and even traveled through a 3km long, one lane tunnel.

The Campamento is located on beautiful Lake Alumine. This lake sits in a mountain valley, has beautiful sandy shores, and cold clean water. I spent a couple afternoons laying by the lake talking with people, reading, and just enjoying the surroundings. Unfortunately their isn't much of an ozone layer and I got sunburnt pretty bad.

Their were about 60 or 70 students and staff from Argentina and Chile at the camp. Fortunately for me their were a number of Americans on staff with Campus Crusade that could help me a little bit with the language since everything was in Spanish.

The campamento was a great week of worshiping God, learning from his word, practicing Spanish, and getting to know new people. It was a great introduction to South America, and I will have some more pictures and details coming soon.

First llloooonnnnggg day in Chile

I am now spending my second day in the beautiful city of Santiago. Yesterday was a very long, somewhat action packed day. It has been very weird going from winter in Chicago where the sunsets around 4:30 to summer in Santiago where the sun doesn´t set until almost 9:00. That was really playing with my mind yesterday.

I met a lot of new people yesterday (most of the stint team from Campus Crusades here in Santiago). I also went to a Jazz festizal in the park down the street from where I am stayin these first few nights.

We leave for Argentina for the Jesus Film Trip tomorrow, so I probably won´t post for two more weeks.


Hunter

Safe and Sound in Santiago

I arrived in Santiago today and was picked up by Kurt Adams, Kurt and his wife Melissa are on staff with Campus Crusades in Chile, they are both from Colorado and have a one year old son. Kurt was able to take me to the international police station to register my Visa, so now I should be official and ready to go on the Campus Crusade retreat to Argentina and the Jesus Film Trip. I don't have any pictures yet, my exit row window seat was not very condusive to picture taking although I did have a beautiful view of the Andes standing tall through the clouds as the sun rose and our plane descended to Santiago. I am excited to be hear, and very thankful to be with some English speakers for the time being as my Spanish is a little rusty.

That's all for now,
Hunter

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Travel Itinerary

• Jan. 19 - Arrive in Santiago
• Jan.21 - Depart for Neuquen, Argentina area for Jesus Film Project
• Feb. 2 - Return from Jesus Film Project and stay with Jon Milonas at the YMCA in Valparaiso, Chile
• Mid February - Move in with host family in Concepcion, Chile
• March 1 - Start classes at Universidad del Bio-Bio