Fiestas Patrias Adventures Part 2-Pucón

The second half of the adventures during the week of Fiestas Patrias began in Pucón. Now I mentioned in my last post how Villarrica,which is only about 15 miles from Pucón, is definitely more of a locals spot. Well, Pucón is definitely more of a tourist hang out. We got to our hostel spoke two sentences to the owner in Spanish, until we realized he was most definitely gringo...from New Zealand in fact.He was super welcoming and invited us to the kitchen for a cup of tea while our rooms were still getting prepped. After getting all settled, our group decided to split up for the day, because some of us wanted to do different activities. A couple of friends and I decided to check out Huerquehue(Air-kay-way) National Park, to try out a trail called Tres Lagos(Three Lakes). The weather was pretty cruddy,overcast and drizzly,but we decided to go for it anyway. On the short bus ride up it started to rain...then it started to snow.We looked at each other like excited Californians who barely ever see snow and said "Wow really snow?!," When we got there,some Chileans at the trailhead warned us about the large amounts of mud and growing amount of snow. We had made it all that way, so we said "ok let's do this and see how far we can go." For a while the mud was tolerable and it was worth it to trek through,since it was so beautiful! I missed seeing so much trees and greenery in one place. About an hour in, we hit patches of snow, and a half an hour later we were trudging uphill through the mud and snow slush. After a while it was too much,even with two walking sticks. So unfortunately, we had to turn back before reaching the waterfalls and lakes the trail is known for. But if we had turned back any later,we would have probably been trudging through the worst of the snow. Right when we got back to the ranger station, it really started coming down! Here's some photos to document the adventure...

The part of the hike that made me feel like I was hiking in  a fairy forest

Me in front of the lake

My friend Chang in the snow

I would have fallen so much without these sticks!

We left our initials, as a mark of our bravery!

Needless to say, it felt amazing to get back to the hostel,into warm clothes,and eat.

Day 2: Chilling Out

The weather was still really bad this day,so we slept in and used the day to explore Pucón. There were also quite a few artesian fairs here,plus a bunch of tourist agencies. After we were over exploring, we said our goodbyes to a big chunk of our group, who was continuing down south to Puerto Montt and the island of Chiloe.I wanted to save that trip for when I could dedicate more time to it, which I believe I do...there's the wonder of staying for the year! Anyways, the rest of the group and I stayed out of the downpour and had a hot chocolate and scary movie watching afternoon in our hostel. It was actually pretty fun, since we got to hang out with other hostel guests, which included a guy from Israel and a guy from Brazil. I even learned a little Portuguese...

Meu nome é Eliza. Eu sou de dos Estados Unidos. Eu gosto de comer.Eu quero practicar Portugues.

My name is Eliza. I am from the United States.I like to eat. I want to practice Portuguese. 

In some ways, Portuguese is quite similar to Spanish,but the pronunciation is also completely different in some ways. For example practicar in Spanish is pronounced like PRAC-ti-car, while in Portuguese it's softer, more like pra-she-car, with the C pronounced like "sh." Interesting stuff. 

Later that night our hostel owner Dave took us over to a local bar/restaurant to try "the best beer in the world," according to him. It was really good,but I also just thought it was cool how it was brewed an hour outside of Pucón, and made with the seed of a local Chilean tree. Wow only I can make it sound nerdy...We also had fun,because Dave knew a lot of locals so what my friends and I thought would be a half an hour stop in turned out to be two hours of chatting with Chileans. You honestly can't socialize any less than that amount of time here,but that just means you get the chance to actually have a good conversation. 

Day 3: Being extreme and hiking through more snow! 
Despite the bad weather, we were determined to do something! So a couple friends and I headed out to a trail Dave recommended to us. The weather was actually not too bad. I had too take off a bunch of layers,since I worked up a sweat going uphill the whole time!

All my layers!

Now, we may not have been hiking while it was snowing this time,but we sure were hiking through the snow! Let the photos do the talking...

My snowman Pablo

The "refugio" we turned around at

snow ball fights!

We decided to turn back after a couple hours to give ourselves enough time to catch our bus that night. Yup that night. So we got back, said our farewells to Dave-without a doubt one of the coolest hostel owners yet, and had an amazing hamburger(yay American food!) at a place called Volcan Burger(named after the giant Volcano Villarrica that looms over Villarrica and Pucon's skylines). Then it was a 10:15 p.m. bus back to reality...And reality it was. When I got home I basically started studying right away for my first "control" (midterm), which I think went o.k. It was obviously the fact that it was in Spanish that made it tough. At least my two other exams coming up will be take home! Here's to actually studying while I am abroading! Chao for now!