Bernardo O'Higgins and sunshine!

We are on the move once again, bouncing around from city to city. We've had lots of gray skies and rain, which is a bit of a bummer. Temuco, a city that is known for its Mapuche presence, was very large but kind of disappointing. Eben and I explored the Mapuche markets, but they were like most of the other markets we have been to. We only stayed there for a day before hopping on the bus to go to Chillán.

Chillán offered some much-needed sunshine. This town is the birthplace of Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's liberator who has large statues of himself all over the country. We did some exploring, saw the earthquake-resistant cathedral right off of the gorgeous main plaza, and went to the Escuela México. The school was donated by Mexico after the earthquake in 1939 and has a library whose walls are covered by two large murals depicting the histories of Mexico and Chile. Very cool! We also checked out the indigenous handicraft market in town (more of the same).

After a day in Chillán we went down to Concepción, where O'Higgins declared independence. Yay! Concepción is a cute university town, and I really liked it there. Eben and I tried to check out the university art collection, but it was sadly closed (even though it totally was supposed to be open). Instead we weaved our way through the antique and used book market that was in the university plaza. There were so many interesting booths and was such a neat way to spend the afternoon. Eben and I managed to find some English-language books, which is always exciting in this country of Spanish-only books, so we stocked up a bit and had a little chat with one of the booksellers who had a great Latin American politics selection. :) Afterwards we went to the Galería de la Historia, which houses some really intricate dioramas of Concepción's history and several maté cups from Argentina (why? who knows). Upstairs there was an exhibit of local high schoolers' art, some of which was just okay, but there were a couple drawings that were awesome (mostly graphic design things, but very fun to look at).

Our journey to Santa Cruz, where we are now, was a bit of an adventure. We took a bus from Concepción to San Fernando, where we were told we could catch a colectivo to Santa Cruz. Except instead of going to the terminal in San Fernando (or any terminal for that matter), our bus dropped people off on the side of the highway. We have often been on large buses that stop on dirt roads or on the sides of highways to let people on, and occasionally people request to be let off at a random spot in the middle of nowhere. Never before has the bus actually refused to go to a terminal, though, in favor of staying on the highway. This was weird. So Eben and I stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do (hello, I am on the side of a Chilean highway), and then just started walking in the general direction of San Fernando. We eventually caught a colectivo taxi to the terminal and got our bus ticket to Santa Cruz, and I'm happy to report that we made it one piece. :)

So this brings me to Santa Cruz, a town where cars actually stop for pedestrians and where public garbage cans are made from used wine barrels. Arriving in any Latin American town on a Sunday is a bit frustrating because absolutely nothing is open. Neither one of our books (Footprint and Lonely Planet's Shoestring Guide) had a single hostel or hospedaje listed for Santa Cruz, and since the bus station was quite desolate when we arrived, we had no clue of where to go. Luck was with us, though, for when we popped into a video store to ask if they had any idea of where an hospedaje might be, the clerk was like, "Why yes, next door!" Sweet! So yesterday consisted of eating giant ice cream cones (apparently ice cream is important enough to warrant opening the store on a Sunday; the supermarket, not so much), drinking some carmenere (yum), and learning to play poker. Today we will be slightly more active and walk through some nearby vineyards and go on a vineyard tour later this afternoon. I like being in Wine Country!

Also, regarding Eben's last post, I have to say that rolling down the snowy volcano side was AMAZING. Yes, at one point, I completely lost control and was sliding down headfirst (then sideways, then on my stomach, then sideways again, then just flipping over and over...) with absolutely no control and an icepick in hand (not a good combination, folks), but it was the most fun I have ever had in my entire life. My God. It was every child's dream of the perfect Snow Day. Ahhhh so fun!!!!!!

The family starts arriving in 3 days! Goodbye, budget!!