Entry #3 - Closing in...

So from the mystical Atacama we headed back to Antofogasta, a coastal copper mining town. A friend of a friend, Keka (shout out!), let us stay with her and her mom before our trip back down south to my home away from home, Cachagua. We spent the last week there wandering the beach, eating empanadas, and reading. Oh and getting geared up for the 18th.

Getting a lesson from Luisa about chorros (and so much more). The beach here is made of shells.
I guess that's only appropriate for a city built on sand.

Keka and Luisa breakin it down to what I remember is "Smoke on the Water"

Interlude - Emily eating empanadas "Queso-Camaron Queso"

'La Vanesa' had us waiting on those steps ever' day.
Claudia has made a deal with the devil.
These things are crack.

It's hard to get back on the wagon after a 4-week binge of empanadas. I'm feeling for my lady, who no longer has a steady supply of deep fried cheese pockets available to her at all hours of the night. If you or anyone you know has an inside tip to get some in Northern Cali/Nevada, please leave a contact number in the comments box. Much appreciated. 

                                                                               - Nina And Desparate Affiliates

CACHAGUA - AKA Stinson Beach, Chile

This is by far and away the most detailed map we have seen of the area. It was in a driveway in Valpairiso and everytime we tried to take this pic, a deafening alarm would sound.
Man, knowledge IS power.

See that island? 10 whole penguins live on it. 

My neighbors.
Those of you from West Marin will understand what this means.

EH! EH! EH! PAcifiCA! PAcifiCA! PAcifiCA!
I live here! It's a school!

My kitchen/ the school office. Secretary pictured (left).

So beautiful, right?!?!?!?!
It averages about 40F degrees in here.

September 18th is Chilean Independence Day. Nerds will tell you it was actually the 11th but pshhh whatever, Luis. The important thing here is that it's CINCO DIAS DE DESCANSO!. The way the holiday fell this year, we got 5 days of meat eating, cueca dancing, and an opportunity to watch cowboys push cows around (rodeo).

Antichucho with NikiPatti

Captive audience. 

SOMEBODY got shwill on chicha.

That's whole puff's goin inside that kid's stomach.

We don't even know this kid

Entry #2 - I don't know what happened. Start from the other page.

People were laughing at us from the lift - 2 adult women tubing down a ski resort. And we were all like, "Concha tu madre! We get to trudge all the way up this giant fucking volcano and then take turns going down cuz we only have one tube between the two of us and then hitchike home all wet and cold! Haha suckers! "

Today was a good day.

We went back to Santiago and then to the Norte Grande, where lives the Atacama Desert. We rented a car (Emily learned to drive stick!), car camped, traversed salty landscapes, and generally experienced Burning Man, try as we might to get away from it.

An ominous foreshadowing.... (FYI this organization organized the protest from the week before.
Look em up: Londres 38)

Tres Marias. There was a fourth, but she wandered off to collect rocks and get a curse put on us.

This one's for you, Dad.

Tent for a new generation.

These people thought we were NUTS. But that's because they slept in a Swiss ice cream truck.

Water is 40% salt. Only for floating.

AHAHAHAHAHA

Super sabio Luis.

Alright! Quit Barkin! Here's the Blog.

Emily and Nina's Epic Adventures South of the Capricorn and East of the Easter

In chronological order......ish

Santiago de Chile

First days......

That's a wall of butter.

Translation: Place of Prayer

You might think of asking, "How was it travelling in a Catholic, male-dominated foreign country? Did people give you alot of unwanted attention?" 

If so, I'll be thinking back - "What are you talking about?"

If you're at all curious about Chile's educational system, you should read this.

The Cliff's Notes being that it's awful.

We were privy to some University protests, and got teargassed.

From Santiago we went south to Pucon, extreme sporting capital of the largely indigenous state of Araucania. We found a crater lake, got attacked by dogs, and went snow tubing. We also failed at finding the indegenous university in Temuco and instead found the dollar store (see second post).

(Note: Actual stick used to beat away pack of rabid dogs)

Oh man this guy. He fed us some line about owning the lake. We got suckered into hanging out in his shack.
But look what you got out of it!